Writing a Sentence

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that tells us something.

Ama eats kenkey.

That is a sentence. It tells us what Ama does.

eats kenkey

That is not a sentence. We do not know who eats the kenkey.

A sentence makes sense on its own. When you read it, you understand it.

Try this: Which of these is a sentence?

• Kofi runs to school.
• runs to school

Every sentence starts with a capital letter

The first letter of a sentence is always a capital letter. It is a big letter.

The goat is black. My name is Abena. We go to school.

Small letters: a b c d e f g

Capital letters: A B C D E F G

Try this: Point to the capital letter at the start of each sentence.

• Kwame likes rice.
• The sun is hot.
• I am six years old.

Small letters and capital letters

Every letter has two shapes: a small one and a capital one.

Small	Capital
a	A
b	B
d	D
g	G
k	K
m	M
t	T

Some capitals look like the small letter, only bigger: c C, o O, s S.

Some look different: a A, e E, g G, r R.

Try this: Write your name. Which letter is the capital? It is the first one!

Every sentence ends with a full stop

A full stop is a small dot: .

It goes at the end of a sentence. It tells the reader: stop here, the sentence is finished.

Ama has a red dress**.** The dog barks**.** I like my school**.**

Without a full stop, the reader does not know where to stop.

Try this: Put a full stop at the end of each sentence.

• Kofi has a ball
• The hen lays eggs
• We eat banku

Capital letter at the start, full stop at the end

Here is the rule. Say it with me:

Capital letter at the start, full stop at the end.

Look at this sentence:

The cat sleeps on the mat**.**

Capital T at the start. Full stop at the end. Perfect!

Try this: Fix these sentences. Add a capital letter and a full stop.

• the goat eats grass
• my father has a car
• abena sings a song

Spaces between words

When we write, we leave a space between each word. The space is like a little gap.

Look:

Kofi likes mangoes.

Now look without spaces:

Kofilikesmangoes.

That is hard to read! Spaces help the reader.

Tip: Put your finger on the page after each word. Start the next word after your finger. This is called a finger space.

Try this: Write this sentence with finger spaces:

I am happy.

Naming words

A naming word is a word for a person, an animal, a place or a thing.

People: teacher, mother, boy, girl, Kofi

Animals: goat, hen, dog, fish

Places: school, market, church, Accra

Things: ball, book, pencil, trotro

We also call naming words nouns.

Try this: Find the naming words in this sentence:

The girl has a book.

Girl is a person. Book is a thing. Both are naming words.

Now find the naming words here: The goat is in the market. Goat is an animal. Market is a place.

Naming words around you

Look around your classroom. Everything you can see has a naming word!

• desk
• chair
• board
• window
• door
• bag

Look around your home:

• pot
• bucket
• mat
• bed
• radio

Try this: Say five naming words you can see right now. Then say five naming words you would see at the market.

Names of people and places

The names of people and places always start with a capital letter. Even in the middle of a sentence!

My friend is Ama. We live in Kumasi. Kofi goes to Tema.

Your own name starts with a capital letter. Your town's name does too. Ghana starts with a capital G.

Try this: Write the name of:

• yourself
• your best friend
• your town or village

Check: did you start each one with a capital letter?

Doing words

A doing word tells us what someone or something does.

• run
• jump
• eat
• sing
• read
• sleep
• wash
• cook

We also call doing words verbs.

Kofi runs. Ama sings. The dog sleeps.

Try this: Stand up. Your teacher says a doing word. You do it!

• Jump!
• Clap!
• Sit!
• Wave!

Every one of those is a doing word.

Find the doing word

Read each sentence. Find the doing word. What is the person or animal doing?

The hen lays eggs. Mother cooks jollof. Kwame kicks the ball. The baby cries. We wash our hands.

Try this: Say what you do at these times. Use a doing word.

• In the morning, I ...
• At school, I ...
• At home, I ...
• At night, I ...

Naming word plus doing word

A simple sentence has a naming word and a doing word.

Naming word	Doing word
Ama	sings.
The goat	runs.
Birds	fly.
Father	works.

Put them together:

Ama sings. The goat runs.

Each is a full sentence. It has a capital letter, a naming word, a doing word and a full stop.

Try this: Make sentences. Pick one naming word and one doing word.

Naming: Kofi, the dog, my sister Doing: jumps, eats, sleeps

Making the sentence longer

We can add more words to say more.

Ama sings. Ama sings a song. Ama sings a song at church.

Each sentence is right. The longer ones tell us more.

Kofi eats. Kofi eats rice. Kofi eats rice with his mother.

Try this: Make these longer. Add what, where or who.

• The dog runs.
• I read.
• Abena plays.

"I can" sentences

Here is a special kind of sentence. It starts with I can.

I can run. I can jump. I can count to twenty. I can write my name.

The word I is always a capital letter. Always! Even in the middle of a sentence.

Try this: Say three things you can do. Start with "I can".

I can ... I can ... I can ...

Write your "I can" sentences

Now write them down. Remember the rules:

1. Capital I at the start.
2. A finger space between each word.
3. A doing word after can.
4. A full stop at the end.

Kwame wrote:

I can swim. I can sweep the room. I can help my mother.

Try this: Write three "I can" sentences in your exercise book. Draw a picture next to each one.

"I am" and "I have" sentences

We can also start sentences with I am and I have.

I am six years old. I am a girl. I am in Basic 1.

I have a blue bag. I have two brothers. I have a pet goat.

Try this: Finish these sentences about yourself.

• I am ...
• I have ...
• I can ...

Say them to a friend. Then write them down.

Sentences about Ama

Read these sentences about Ama. Point to each capital letter and each full stop.

Ama is six years old. She lives in Cape Coast. She has a brother called Kofi. Ama likes to sing. She can dance very well.

Did you find five capital letters at the start? Did you find five full stops at the end?

Try this: Now say five sentences about you. Use the same pattern.

Sentences about the market

Kofi went to the market. He wrote what he saw.

I saw tomatoes. I saw big fish. A woman sold oranges. A man carried a big sack. I bought a sweet.

Each sentence is short and clear. Each one starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.

Try this: Think about a place you went. Write three sentences about what you saw. Start with "I saw".

Put the words in order

The words in a sentence must be in the right order.

goat The eats grass.

That is mixed up! Put it right:

The goat eats grass.

Try this: Put these words in the right order. Remember the capital letter and full stop.

• ball a has Kofi
• school to go We
• mangoes likes Ama
• hot is sun The

Find the mistake

Abena wrote some sentences. Each one has a mistake. Can you find it?

1. the hen is brown. (No capital letter at the start.)

2. My bag is red (No full stop at the end.)

3. i can jump. (The word I must be a capital letter.)

4. We live in accra. (Accra is a place. It needs a capital letter.)

Try this: Write all four sentences the correct way.

A question is a sentence too

Some sentences ask something. They end with a question mark: ?

What is your name**?** Where is Kofi**?** Do you like rice**?**

A question still starts with a capital letter. But instead of a full stop, it ends with a question mark.

Try this: Which of these is a question?

• I like fish.
• Do you like fish?

Ask a friend a question. Then write it down with a question mark. Remember: capital letter at the start, question mark at the end.

Reading your sentence aloud

After you write a sentence, read it aloud. Your ears will tell you if something is wrong.

Read this:

Kofi the ball.

Something is missing! There is no doing word. Fix it:

Kofi kicks the ball.

Read this:

Ama runs.

Good. It makes sense.

Try this: Write a sentence. Read it aloud to a friend. Ask: "Does it make sense?"

Writing neatly

Neat writing is easy to read.

• Sit up straight.
• Hold your pencil gently, not too tight.
• Make your capital letters tall.
• Make your small letters small.
• Keep your letters on the line.
• Leave finger spaces.

Look at Kwame's writing:

I can read.

The capital I is tall. The small letters sit on the line. There are spaces. There is a full stop.

Try this: Copy "I can read." as neatly as you can.

Sentences about animals

Animals do many things. Write a sentence for each one.

• The hen ... (lays eggs, pecks, runs)
• The goat ... (eats, jumps, bleats)
• The dog ... (barks, sleeps, plays)
• The fish ... (swims)
• The bird ... (flies, sings)

Kofi wrote:

The hen lays eggs. The goat eats grass. The dog barks at night.

Try this: Write three animal sentences. Check: capital letter, naming word, doing word, full stop. Read each one aloud to a friend.

Sentences about my family

Think about the people in your home.

My mother cooks. My father drives a trotro. My sister reads books. My brother plays football. My grandmother tells stories.

Each person is a naming word. Each one does something — a doing word.

Try this: Write a sentence about each person in your family. Say what they do.

Sentences about my school

Abena wrote about her school:

My school is big. My teacher is kind. I sit near the window. We sing in the morning. I play with Ama at break.

Try this: Write four sentences about your school. Here are some starters:

• My school is ...
• My teacher ...
• I like ...
• At break, I ...

Read your sentences aloud. Does each one start with a capital letter and end with a full stop?

Two sentences together

You can write two sentences, one after the other. Each one gets its own capital letter and full stop.

Kofi has a dog. The dog is brown.

Two sentences! See the full stop after dog, and the capital T after it.

I went to the market. I bought an orange.

Try this: Write two sentences about what you did yesterday. Read them aloud. Can you hear where the first one stops?

Punctuation chant

Say this chant. Clap on the bold words.

Capital letter, start it right, Full stop at the end, hold it tight, Finger space between each word, Read it out so it can be heard!

Say it again faster!

Try this: Teach the chant to someone at home.

Sentence check-list

Before you say "I am finished", check your sentence:

1. Does it start with a capital letter?
2. Does it have a naming word (who or what)?
3. Does it have a doing word (what they do)?
4. Are there spaces between the words?
5. Does it end with a full stop (or a question mark)?
6. Does it make sense when you read it aloud?

If you can say yes to all six, your sentence is excellent!

Try this: Check this sentence: the goat jump. How many things need fixing?

My own little story

Now write four sentences about your day. Here is Ama's:

I woke up early. I ate porridge. I walked to school with Kofi. I can read a book now.

Four sentences. Four capital letters. Four full stops.

Try this: Write your four sentences. Draw a picture. Read it to your class.

What we have learnt

Well done! You can now:

• Say what a sentence is.
• Start a sentence with a capital letter.
• End a sentence with a full stop.
• Leave finger spaces between words.
• Find naming words (people, animals, places, things).
• Find doing words (run, eat, sing).
• Write "I can", "I am" and "I have" sentences.
• Use a capital letter for I and for names.
• Check your sentence before you finish.

Keep writing every day!

Learn more

• BBC Bitesize Primary — lessons and games on sentences, capital letters and full stops
• Starfall — free reading and writing activities for early readers
• Oxford Owl — free e-books and tips for parents helping children to write
• NaCCA — Ghana's curriculum body, where the Basic 1 English standards come from

Watch more

Think about it

1. What two things must every sentence have at the start and at the end?
2. Can you say three naming words and three doing words from your home?
3. Why does the word "I" always get a capital letter?
4. What happens if you forget the spaces between words?
5. What can you do that you could not do last year? Say it as an "I can" sentence.