Homework Help for Elementary School: Sentence Structure

Elementary Sentence Help

Nouns and Subjects

All sentences must contain a noun and a subject. Nouns are people, places, things or ideas. The subject is who or what the sentence is talking about. In the examples below, the subject is in bold.

The dog is small.

Billy threw the ball.

The runner sprinted around the track.

Verbs

Sentences must also have verbs. Verbs refer to the action that takes place in the sentence. They relate directly to the subject of the sentence.

The dog is small.

Billy threw the ball

The runner sprinted around the track.

Adjectives

Adjectives are not always necessary, but they add to a sentence by describing the nouns and subjects in greater detail. At the elementary level, you'll generally find the adjectives listed before the nouns.

The black dog is small.

Billy threw the bouncy ball.

The fast runner sprinted around the huge track.

Punctuation

Punctuation marks help you organize your sentences. You will usually find them at the end of statements or questions. Periods, question marks and exclamation points are the main ones you'll work with as an elementary student.

Periods

Periods (.) are placed at the end of direct statements. They also follow indirect questions.

I like turtles.

The sky is blue.

She asked if you know what time it is.

Question Marks

Question marks (?) are placed at the end of questions. You'll also add them to the end of sentences that are part statement and part question.

How are you today?

Are we there yet?

You don't believe me, do you?

Exclamation Points

Exclamation points (!) are used to show excitement. They can also be used to portray anger.

That is incredible!

You're my hero!

I can't believe you did that!

Capitalization

In your sentences, be sure to capitalize proper nouns and places. Months and days of the week should be capitalized as well. In addition, the first word of a sentence should be capitalized, and also the first word after a colon (:) at the beginning of a formal statement.

My name is Johnny.

Cindy's birthday is on Friday next week.

George Washington was the first President of the United States.

The teacher made the following announcement to the class: There will be no homework over the winter break.