Wednesday, 4 May 2022

EF6 5 class- earthquakes, safety, simple sentences

 Simple Sentences


Four types of sentences-

simple   compound   complex   compound-complex


simple sentence- most basic form of a sentence in English, simple but powerful, very useful


A simple sentence is one independent/main clause that has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. 


clause – a group of words with a subject and a verb, S+V

e.g. The cat is sleeping.


Most teachers says: one simple sentence – a complete idea


Subject and a Verb

Subject and a Predicate


e.g. The old dog was walking slowly around the park with a stick in his mouth.


main subject – just one word, noun ‘dog’

complete subject- main subject plus andy modifers, adjectives, articles

‘the old dog’


verb – action word ‘was walking’

verb= simple predicate

complete predicate – verb plus everthing else

‘was walking slowly around the park with a stick in his mouth.’




SIMPLE SENTENCE- S V, Subject + Predicate


Notice that there are some important requirements for a simple sentence:

1. Must have a subject and a verb.

2. Must express a complete thought.

3. Must only have one clause.

4. ** Begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.

** For all sentences.


Examples of Simple Sentences:

1. Joe went to the store. SV

2. BC is experiencing severe flooding in many areas around the province. SV

3. Sarah and Jessie are going swimming. SSV

4. Trudeau and Biden met this week for high level discussions. SSV

5. The frog jumped and landed in the pond. SVV

6. The nurse took the patient’s blood pressure and checked his heart rate.

7. Keep your eyes open for bargains. NO SUBJECT- implied subject “You”

Imperative- command, tell someone to do something

8. Is this your phone?

Interrrogative - question


(You) Be careful!  don’t say ‘you’, everybody understand that it is there,

implied subject – imply(v) – suggest something but not say it out loud


5. The pizza smells delicious. SV

6. There is a fly in the car with us.

‘Here’ and ‘there’ are not subjects. They always point to something else.

There is/are people on the street. subject verb agreement

There is/are a person on the street.


subject verb agreement Here is your cell phone.

Here are your keys.

***#1 mistake that everyone makes***

Here are your cell phone. XXX

Here is your keys. XXX


TRICKY subject verb agreement – verbs change to match the subject

e.g. Mary live lives in Vancouver. agr


NOTE: At a college level, mistakes in subject verb agreement are a big deal.


7. Look on top of the refrigerator for the key. “you” implied subject- imperative

8. Please close the door. sounds more polite

9. Close the door, please.

10. Take the dog for a walk, please.

11. Please take the dog for a walk.


12. Will you help me with the math homework? Interrogative-

ask a question – flip the verb around

You are happy today.

Are you happy today? Interrogative


13. I will pick you up today. verb will pick – simple future

14. Will you pick me up today? will ... pick – still one verb, not two verbs SV

will – helping verb, modal, modal auxiliary

will go

We will go hiking tomorrow.

Will you go with us?


can see

You can see the fireworks from my house.

Can you see the fireworks from my house?


10. The music is too loud. SV


Adapted from :https://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/simple_sentence_examples/445/



Forms of simple sentences:

-SV subject verb

My dog is asleep.

The ice cream looks delicious.

Vancouver is a nice city.


-SSV subject subject verb

The rivers and trees are beautiful.

Your sister and mother fight all the time.

Peanut butter and bananas go well together.


-SVV subject verb verb

Sara swims and plays volleyball at the community centre.

Clouds come and go.

Friends come and go. 


-Imperative – command sentence, tell somebody to do something

(You) Come in. implied subject  We don’t say ‘you’, but that’s what we mean.

Be careful, please.   Please be careful.

Watch your step, please.   Please be careful.

Watch out.

Stay safe.

Shut up!

Drop dead! – strong words for fighting, like with kids

Get out!

Sit down.

Have a cookie.

Sleep well.

Eat healthy.

Stay cool.

Sit! Stay!

Stay tuned.

Get ready.


-Interrogative- question

What time is it?

Who are you talking to?

What are you doing tomorrow?

Is that your dog?

Would you like to have some tea?

Where is the book?

What’s for dinner today?


Extra information to explore:

-https://englishgrammarhere.com/example-sentences/50-examples-of-simple-sentences/

-https://examples.yourdictionary.com/simple-sentence-examples.html


HW Write a few examples of simple sentences of your own, from your own imagination. 

Styles: SV   SSV   SVV  Imperative   Interrogative

You don’t have to do them all. Write just a few if you are busy. Email a few to me by tonight. We will share these tomorrow in class. We will go over some of them tomorrow.

You can send me a few of your examples by email: ahaley@vsb.bc.ca 

Email subject: Name, class, simple sentence homework


Lert’s choose some vocab from “Ramadan”.

1. SV lunar(adj)

2. SSV faith(n)

3. SVV provide(v)

4. SV energy(n)

5. Imperative donate(v) donation(n)

6. Interrogative sunset(n)

7. SVV meal(n)

8. profit(n) SV

9. interest(n) SSV

10. celebrate(v) celebration(n) SVV




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