Expanding Sentences: The Five W’s
WHO?
WHAT?
WHEN?
WHERE?
WHY?
A sentence is …?
• a series of words that explore one
idea
• and starts with a capital letter - a
capital letter.
• a series of words that end with a fullstop.
• It usually has a subject, an object and
a verb (e.g. The dog bit the cat - dog
is the subject, bit is the verb, cat is
the object).
The dog bit the
cat…subject- verb - object
Short example
 “Mrs. Nabozny
went fishing. ”
 This is short & its
meaning is clear.
 It has a “who” and
a “doing what.”
 BUT CAN IT BE
BETTER?
This is a simple sentence:
Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.
EXPAND it by answering…WHEN?
Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.
This sentence describes who, what, and when:
Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.
EXPAND it by answering…WHERE?
Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at
Lake Wallenpaupack.
This sentence answers who, what, when, and where:
Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing
at Lake Wallenpaupack.
 EXPAND it by answering…WHY?
 Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at
Lake Wallenpaupack so she could catch a
big catfish!
When writing sentences, think about
using the 5 w’s!





WHO? Mrs. Nabozny
WHAT? went fishing
WHEN? last August
WHERE? at Lake Wallenpaupack
WHY? to catch a big catfish
 A SASSY SENTENCE:

Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at
Lake Wallenpaupack to catch a big catfish!
Please don’t go on vacation!!!
Making simple sentences longer
- The dog sat in the suitcase.
 The tired dog sat
in the suitcase.
 The dog, which was
anxious and
worried, sat in the
suitcase.
 The tired dog,
which was anxious
and worried, sat in
the suitcase in
front of the old
closet.
 In these examples,
the sentence has
been extended by
adding details to
the sentence.
 The 5 w’s will help
you write better
sentences.
 Think: who, what,
when, where, why.
In your own writing, try to use at
least 3 of the 5 W’s in your
sentences.
Who, What, When, Where, Why
 On your whiteboard…
 Make this sentence better…
I went for a walk.
Now this one:
He ate ice cream.