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Lesson · Grade 7 · English Language Arts

Simple Sentences: One Subject, One Verb, One Complete Thought

  • Grade 7
  • English Language Arts
  • 1 min 7 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC7-EN-25

The video opens with one long sentence from a story ("The rain stopped and the kids grabbed their bikes and they raced down the hill and the dog chased them."), lights up the three "and"s that glue four ideas together, then states the rule on the right as a sum: one subject + one verb = one complete thought. The same four ideas are rewritten under it as four numbered simple sentences with each subject and verb highlighted, a second box shows that "They raced down the steep hill on their muddy bikes." is still simple because it still has one subject and one verb, and the recap line restates the rule.

Concept: Simple sentences

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

What is a simple sentence, and why do writers need them?

Here is one sentence from a story about a rainy afternoon.

Transcript

What the lesson says

What is a simple sentence, and why do writers need them?

Here is one sentence from a story about a rainy afternoon.

Four ideas are glued together with the word and, so the sentence is hard to follow.

A simple sentence has one subject and one verb, and it makes one complete thought.

Let us break the long sentence into simple sentences.

Each one has a subject: who or what the sentence is about.

Each one has a verb: what the subject does.

Each one makes one complete thought, so it can stand on its own.

Now the reader takes in one idea at a time, and the story is easy to follow.

Simple does not mean short, because a simple sentence can carry extra details.

It still has one subject and one verb, so it is still a simple sentence.

A simple sentence has one subject and one verb, and it makes one complete thought.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 7

English Language Arts, Language features, structures, and conventions: syntax and sentence fluencyBC7-EN-25

Previous: Canadian and American Spelling: Two Ways, Both CorrectNext: Compound Sentences: Joining Two Ideas with a Comma and a Joining Word

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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