A complete sentence expresses a complete thought and is made up of both a subject and a verb. In an incomplete sentence, one of these parts is missing. Examine complete and incomplete sentences through examples and learn how to turn incomplete sentences into complete ones. Updated: 10/14/2021
What Is a Complete Sentence?
A complete sentence must have two essential parts: a subject and a verb. A subject is a noun (a person, place, thing, or idea) that tells us what the sentence is about. A subject tells us ‘who’ or ‘what.’ The verb is the action of the subject, or it may be a linking verb. The part of the sentence that contains the verb is called the predicate. If either of these two essential parts is missing, the sentence is incomplete.
Another way to tell if a sentence is complete or incomplete is to see if the sentence expresses a complete thought. If there is not a complete thought, if you feel left hanging when you read the sentence, it probably is incomplete.
