Two parts, one sentence
You know that a sentence tells who or what, and tells what happens. Those two jobs have names.
- The naming part tells who or what the sentence is about.
- The telling part tells what happens.
Older students call these the subject and the predicate. Both names mean the same thing.
Split them apart
Here are four sentences cut into their two parts.
| Naming part | Telling part |
|---|---|
| Leo | claps |
| The bus | stops at my school |
| My cat | sleeps on the mat |
| Ten ducks | swim in the pond |
The naming part comes first in each one. The telling part finishes the idea.
How to find each part
Read this sentence.
“Ava feeds the fish.”
Ask who or what is this about? The answer is “Ava”. That is the naming part.
Ask what happens? The answer is “feeds the fish”. That is the telling part.
Notice that the telling part can be more than one word. So can the naming part.
“The old brown dog barks.”
Naming part: “The old brown dog”. Telling part: “barks”.
A mistake to watch for
Look at this group of words.
“Leo and Ava”
There are two names in it. It still is not a sentence. Two naming parts do not add up to one sentence. There is no telling part, so the idea stops before it finishes.
“Leo and Ava rake the leaves.”
Now there is a telling part, so the idea is whole.
Words to know
- naming part: the part that tells who or what the sentence is about
- telling part: the part that tells what happens
Your turn
Name the two parts of each sentence.
- “The rain stops.”
- “My little sister sings.”
- “Six bugs crawl up the wall.”
- “Leo drops his cup.”
Check your answers
- Naming part: “The rain”. Telling part: “stops”.
- Naming part: “My little sister”. Telling part: “sings”.
- Naming part: “Six bugs”. Telling part: “crawl up the wall”.
- Naming part: “Leo”. Telling part: “drops his cup”.
Remember
- Every sentence has a naming part and a telling part.
- Either part can be one word or more than one word.
- Two names with no telling part is still not a sentence.