Simple Sentences

You already know that a simple sentence has a subject and a verb. Now you will learn how to make your sentences longer and more interesting by adding extra information.

What You'll Learn

How to expand a simple sentence by telling who, what, where, and when
How to add details to a sentence without changing it into two sentences
How to spot which part of a sentence answers who, what, where, or when

When to Use

Telling who did something: "My elder brother kicked the ball." (We added who to make the sentence clearer.)
Telling what happened: "The girl ate a bowl of noodles." (We added what she ate.)
Telling where it happened: "The children played at the playground." (We added where they played.)
Telling when it happened: "Dad washed the car on Saturday morning." (We added when he washed it.)

How to Form

The Basic Simple Sentence

Every simple sentence starts with a subject and a verb.

Part	What It Tells Us	Example
Subject	who or what	The cat
Verb	the action	slept
Result	a simple sentence	The cat slept.

Expanding with Who, What, Where, When

You can add extra details to a simple sentence. Each detail answers a different question.

Question	What to Add	Short Sentence	Expanded Sentence
Who?	more about the person	The boy ran.	The tall boy ran.
What?	an object or thing	Mum cooked.	Mum cooked chicken rice.
Where?	a place	We played.	We played in the garden.
When?	a time	She reads.	She reads every night before bedtime.

Adding More Than One Detail

You can add two or more details to the same sentence. The sentence is still a simple sentence because it has only one subject and one verb.

Details Added	Example
what + where	The boy flew a kite at the beach.
where + when	We ate at the hawker centre after school.
who + what + where	My grandmother baked cookies at home.
who + what + when	My friend Ali brought his lunch box today.

Key Rules

A simple sentence has one subject and one verb: Even after you add details, the sentence must still have only one subject doing one action. "The cat slept on the sofa" is one simple sentence.
Adding details does not change the sentence type: You can make a simple sentence longer, but it stays a simple sentence as long as there is only one subject-verb pair.
Where and when usually come at the end: Place details like "at the park" or "in the morning" at the end of the sentence. "She danced at the school hall yesterday."
Who details go at the start: Details about who (like "my little sister" or "the kind old man") usually come at the beginning as part of the subject. "The kind old man fed the birds."

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
The boy played. At the park.	The boy played at the park.	"At the park" is not a sentence by itself; it must be part of the sentence
Ate a sandwich at recess.	Tom ate a sandwich at recess.	The sentence is missing a subject (who ate the sandwich?)
My sister in the morning brushed her teeth.	My sister brushed her teeth in the morning.	"In the morning" should come at the end, not between the subject and the verb
The cat slept. The cat was on the warm mat.	The cat slept on the warm mat.	You do not need two sentences; add "on the warm mat" to the first sentence

Clue Words

Question words that help you expand a sentence:

who, what, where, when

Common "where" words and phrases:

at, in, on, near, under, beside, at the park, in the classroom, at home, at the hawker centre

Common "when" words and phrases:

today, yesterday, tomorrow, in the morning, at night, after school, on Monday, every day, last week

Tip: After you write a sentence, ask yourself the four questions: Who? What? Where? When? If you can add an answer to any of them, your sentence becomes more interesting!

Practice Tips

Start short, then grow: Write a short sentence like "The dog barked." Then ask: Where did the dog bark? When did it bark? Add the answers one at a time. "The dog barked in the garden at night."
Use the question check: Read your sentence and ask who, what, where, and when. If the sentence does not answer at least two of these questions, try adding more detail.
Keep it as one sentence: Make sure you do not accidentally write two sentences. If you have two subjects doing two different actions, you have gone too far. Keep only one subject and one verb.

Quick Reference

Question	What It Adds	Example Detail	Full Sentence
Who?	the person/thing	my best friend	My best friend drew a picture.
What?	the object	a big red kite	Ben flew a big red kite.
Where?	the place	at East Coast Park	We cycled at East Coast Park.
When?	the time	after school on Friday	She practised piano after school on Friday.

Simple Sentences (P2) (Primary 2)