Sentences: What makes a sentence complete?

In the above poem, do you think the verses contain complete sentences and/or sentence fragments? Try to answer the question on your own after reading the following explanation on what makes a sentence complete or incomplete, and then look out for a post next week, 25/1/2025, which will provide our response to it.

A complete sentence can be defined as a complete thought. A very basic structure of a sentence may include a subject, verb and object. Of course, as is the case with the English language often, it can get complicated and a subject and verb may suffice to make the combination a complete sentence! Therefore, rather than looking at the elements that make up a sentence, it would be better to see if the sentence contains a complete thought. If it does, it is a complete sentence. If it doesn't, then it is incomplete or a sentence fragment.

She kicked the ball.

`She' is the subject or doer of the action while `kicked' is the action or the verb, and `the ball' is the object which is on the receiving end of the action.

I exist.

`I' is the subject and `exist' is the verb (state of being). There is no object here but it is a complete sentence because that is all the speaker wants to say and hence, it contains a complete thought.

Additional Examples: Which of these are complete sentences and which are not complete sentences?

Even though I studied hard.

I tried my best to persuade her.

The mighty waves thundered.

While the game was on.

Waiting at the sidelines.

The incomplete sentences are the following since they do not include complete thoughts:

Even though I studied hard.

While the game was on.

Waiting at the sidelines.

The use of `even though', `while' and `waiting' indicates that the writer has more information to disclose.

1. I studied hard but something contrary to what would normally happen took place. What was it? We are not told.  However, if we add that information, as shown in the next sentence, then the sentence will be complete since the `full' thought is offered to the reader.  Even though I studied hard, I failed in the exam.

2. Again, something happened `while the game was on'. Therefore, to complete the sentence, I could add: A man ran onto the pitch while the game was on.

3. We have no idea what to make of the `waiting at the sidelines'. Waiting is a gerund, that is, a verb ending in `ing' and used as a noun.  If I were to convert the given example to the following: Waiting at the sidelines is a bad idea, then the `waiting at the sidelines' becomes a gerund phrase, that is, it becomes a noun - the subject of the verb `is'.

 The remaining two, which are repeated below, are complete sentences since they complete the thoughts that need to be expressed.

I tried my best to persuade her.

The mighty waves thundered.