Welcome to Step 6: Learn the Sentence
Up to now, the lessons have been focused on words. Learning phonics and decoding words is the best place to start, because words are the fundamental unit of written and oral communication. Individual words can spark ideas and mental pictures, but they are much more effective when they are grouped together in sentences.
What Is a Sentence?
It's a group of words that expresses a complete thought. What is meant by "a complete thought" is that you're not confused about what is being stated or asked in the sentence. For example, is this a sentence?
my dog
No, this is not a sentence because all this tells us is that there is a dog, and he or she is mine. Here's another example:
My dog barks at passing cars.
Is this a sentence? Yes. It expresses an understandable thought. While one might be interested in why the dog barks as passing car, the reader is not confused about the meaning of the sentence. Therefore, this sentence has done its job. To know more about the dog requires more sentences.
Sentences Have Rules
Besides expressing a complete thought, sentences have other requirements. The first word of every sentence is capitalized, and there is always appropriate ending punction depending on the type of sentence. Every sentence must have the same two specific parts in its structure. Finally, words must arranged in a predetermined order to make sense in English. This is called syntax.
It sounds complicated, right? In fact, most children can speak in understandable, three- to four-word sentences by the age of three. They have learned to create sentences with structure and syntax by listening to native speakers.
Sentences Come In Endless Varieties
Sentences vary in specific ways based on their intent and their structure. There are four basic types of sentences which were introduced in Step 2. In addition, there are four ways to structure a sentence, which will be covered in Step 3.
One of the most difficult questions relating to the sentence is this: what looks like a sentence, but isn't a sentence. That will also be among the focus of Step 3.
When one has completed this step, he or she will understand why sentences are the backbone of English communication:
- Sentences organize ideas clearly.
- The show relationships between ideas.
- They carry meaning through structure.
- They offer tremendous variety; they can be as simple or as complex as necessary.
- They make communication natural and fluent.