Where does one sentence stop?
Read this line.
“I have a dog he is brown”
Something feels crowded. Read it again slowly. There are two whole ideas sitting in one line.
- I have a dog
- he is brown
Each one has a naming part and a telling part. Each one is a whole idea. So this is not one sentence. It is two, and they need two periods.
“I have a dog. He is brown.”
Notice what changed. A period went in after “dog”, and “he” got a capital letter because it is now the first word of a new sentence.
Find the seam
To split a crowded line, look for the place where one idea finishes and a new naming part starts.
| Crowded line | First idea ends | Written correctly |
|---|---|---|
| the sun came out we went outside | after out | The sun came out. We went outside. |
| my cat hid under the bed she was scared | after bed | My cat hid under the bed. She was scared. |
| Leo made lunch it was good | after lunch | Leo made lunch. It was good. |
A mistake to watch for
Some children think a period goes wherever you would take a breath. That is not the rule. Plenty of long sentences would leave you out of breath and still need only one period at the very end.
The real question is whether a whole idea has finished. One whole idea, one period.
Your turn
Each line holds two telling sentences. Write them correctly.
- “the phone rang I answered it”
- “we made a snowman he had a carrot nose”
Check your answers
- “The phone rang. I answered it.”
- “We made a snowman. He had a carrot nose.”
Remember
- One whole idea gets one period.
- Two whole ideas need two periods and two capital letters.
- A period is not a place to breathe.