Hello,
a complete sentence includes at least a subject and a predicate.
Complete sentence?
What do I need to have to make a complete sentence?
More
4 Answers By Expert Tutors
Harris B. answered • 08/11/21
Tutor
4.4
(11)
Business Academic Tutor
A sentence is a complete thought. You can use a diagram to divide a sentence. Usually, a sentence has a subject, predicate and object. A sentence without a subject is incomplete sentence.
Ruediger T.
To explain exactly what a 'sentence' is is famously impossible. Linguists have counted over 100 different definitions, and all are disputed. A lot of sentences don't have objects, and some don't even have subjects (the latter, of course, depending on your definition - does an imperative perhaps have an 'implied subject' ?). The same goes, perhaps even more surprisingly, for 'word' - any definition you come up with will eventually be shown its limitations. But these are highly theoretical problems. The idea of a "complete thought" does have some validity but it is really more about conventions about what makes an acceptable syntactical unit between a capital letter and a dot.
Report
08/12/21
A complete sentence includes the following: Capital Letter, Subject Noun, Predicate Verb, Complete Thought, and Terminal Punctuation. i.e. Sally ran for student class president.
Mark M.
What about an imperative such as Stop!
Report
08/11/21
A complete sentence has a subject, a verb and a complete thought. If any one of those parts is missing, your sentence is not complete!
Mark M.
What about an imperative such as Stop!
Report
08/11/21
Naomi D.
tutor
Great question Mark!! With "Stop!" the subject is the "understood you". This is the case with many imperative sentences. The subject "you" is understood, because the reader or listener understands the speaker or writer means the 2nd person in the conversation. If I read, "Stop!" I understand, the writer means me; thus, "you" is the unwritten, understood subject. Stop is the verb, and this is indeed a complete thought! Great question!!
Report
08/11/21
Ruediger T.
Some argue that an utterance like "Stop!" is more like an exclamation (similar to "God!" or "Oh no!") because otherwise it would clash with their definition of 'sentence'.
Report
08/15/21
Naomi D.
tutor
This is a great discussion! I would have to say that interjections are different than imperative sentences. Shouting out interjections such as "Wow!" while in the context of a conversation may make sense, are not complete sentences because they lack both a subject and a verb. The imperative command or request can always have an "understood you" to the beginning and make since, thus having both a subject and a verb with a complete thought. Saying, "You, stop!" makes sense while saying, "You, wow!" makes no sense at all!
Report
08/15/21
Still looking for help? Get the right answer, fast.
Ask a question for free
Get a free answer to a quick problem.
Most questions answered within 4 hours.
OR
Find an Online Tutor Now
Choose an expert and meet online. No packages or subscriptions, pay only for the time you need.
Mark M.
What about an imperative such as Stop!08/11/21