Ed (Vavra) is right, of course--Considering the possibilities inherent in compound-complex sentences, it would be better to say, "A sentence contains _at least_ one complete thought," as in this example:
>Having explained what a sentence was, the teacher took up the students' papers and placed them on the desk while the students were preparing their materials for their next assignment.
--several "thoughts" (actions) going on at once in such a sentence.
It has always seemed to me that the "complete thought" of that old statement was meant to suggest something more along the lines of a "grammatically correctly stated and demarcated action(s) or state(s)," which would, of course, normally include a subject and a predicate. But calling it a "complete thought" was a weak way of expressing that idea.
But I may be way off the mark. If so, you guys can correct me.
Tim
Tim Hadley
Research Assistant, The Graduate School
Ph.D. candidate, Technical Communication and Rhetoric
Texas Tech University
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Edward Vavra
Sent: Mon 10/10/2005 3:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Each sentence contains a thought
Ed,
My problem with "Each sentence contains a thought" is that most sentences contain several thoughts. I can't remember if I gave the following explanation on this list recently, but .....
He lives in a house. (1 thought)
The house is green. (1 thought)
He lives in a green house. (1 thought?)
Ed
>>> [log in to unmask] 10/10/2005 2:54:41 PM >>>
Dear Folks,
I have my own ideas on this, but I wondered what some of you might say---succinctly, if possible---to someone who made the assertion: "Each sentence contains a thought." They are talking about the written language and about American English.
Ed To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
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To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
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