- English
- Classes 1-2
- 3 min read
Making simple sentences
A sentence tells a complete thought. Learn to build simple sentences with a capital letter, a naming word and a doing word.
Let us begin
The big idea
When we put words together in the right order, we make a sentence. A sentence says something that makes sense. Let us learn how to build one.
A sentence tells a complete thought. 'The dog runs.' is a sentence. 'The dog' is not a sentence, because it does not tell us what the dog does.
Every sentence has two main parts. One part tells who or what the sentence is about. The other part tells what that person or thing does.
A sentence begins with a capital letter. A telling sentence ends with a full stop. The order of the words matters too: 'Dog the runs' does not make sense.
Worked examples
See how it works
A short sentence
Ravi plays. The word Ravi tells who. The word plays tells what he does. The sentence starts with a capital R and ends with a full stop.
Making it longer
The cat sleeps. The cat sleeps on the bed. The second sentence also tells where. You can add more words, but a sentence still needs a who and a what-it-does.
Fixing a muddle
The words 'sings the bird' are mixed up. Put them in order and you get: The bird sings.
Try it at home
Sentence strips
You will need
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors or your fingers for tearing
What to do
- Write a short sentence on a strip of paper, for example: We eat rice.
- Cut or tear the strip so that each word is on its own piece.
- Mix up the pieces.
- Put the pieces back in the right order.
- Check that your sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
- Mix up the pieces and ask someone at home to put them in order.
Ask a grown-up: Help with the scissors, or just tear the paper.
Practice sheet
Check what you learned
Practice sheet: Making simple sentences (Classes 1-2, English)
- Which one is a sentence: 'the red ball' or 'The ball is red.'?
- What mark do we put at the end of a telling sentence?
- Put the words in order: sleeps / The / baby
- Fill in the missing word: ___ sun is hot.
- Rewrite correctly: mina eats rice
- In 'Dev runs fast.', which word tells who?
- In 'Birds fly.', which word tells what the birds do?
- Put the words in order: school / go / We / to
- Make a sentence using the words mango and sweet.
- Write your own sentence about your favourite fruit.
Answer key
Answers: Making simple sentences
- The ball is red. It tells a complete thought, starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
- A full stop (.).
- The baby sleeps.
- The. (The sun is hot.)
- Mina eats rice. (Capital M, and a full stop at the end.)
- Dev.
- fly.
- We go to school.
- The mango is sweet. (Other correct sentences are fine, such as: I like the sweet mango.)
- Any complete sentence, for example: I like mangoes.