Which term describes a sentence that expresses a complete thought and is made up of a subject and predicate (verb)?

• A. Declarative Statement
• B. Noun Phrase
• C. Simple Sentence
• D. Compound Sentence

Answer: (C)

A simple sentence is a sentence that expresses a complete thought and consists of one independent clause with a subject and a predicate. The subject is who or what the sentence is about, and the predicate contains the verb and what is said about the subject. Because there is only one independent clause, it presents a single idea in one clear line. For example: The sun rises in the east. It has a subject (The sun) and a predicate (rises in the east), and it conveys a complete thought. A noun phrase alone cannot express a complete thought because it lacks a verb. A declarative statement describes the function of the sentence (it makes a statement) but doesn’t specify its structure. A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses, so it expresses more than one complete thought. This description matches a simple sentence.