Sentence Death Judge ˈsentəns Life Jail/Prison Passed Punishment

• a jail/prison sentence
• a light/heavy sentence
• to be under sentence of death
• the judge passed sentence (= said what the punishment would be).

sentence

1. a set of words expressing a statement, a question or an order, usually containing a subject and a verb. In written English sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop/period (.), a question mark (?) or an exclamation mark/exclamation point (!).
2. the punishment given by a court
• a jail/prison sentence
• a light/heavy sentence
• to be under sentence of death
• The judge passed sentence (= said what the punishment would be).
• The prisoner has served (= completed) his sentence and will be released tomorrow.

Extra Examples

• Complete the following sentence: ‘I love dictionaries because…’.
• Cooke was so nervous he could barely string a sentence together.
• Does the sentence contain an adverb?
• He can barely form a grammatical sentence.
• He has been in prison for two months under sentence of death.
• He has begun a life sentence for Carol’s murder.
• He spent a week in custody awaiting sentence.
• He tells her not to end her sentences with prepositions.
• He turned state’s evidence in return for a reduced sentence.
• He was imprisoned under sentence of death.
• He will have to serve a life sentence.
• I came across the following sentence in a paper recently…
• I kept reading the same sentence over and over again.
• Peter finished Jane’s sentence for her.
• She could face a long prison sentence.
• She punctuated her sentence with a well-aimed kick at his right shin.
• The US Supreme Court recently upheld both of these sentences.
• The argument can be distilled into a single sentence.
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment.
• The judge imposed the mandatory sentence for murder.
• The judge will pass sentence on the accused this afternoon.
• The offence carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
• This type of assault carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
• Troy uttered one last sentence.
• Try to keep your sentences short.
• an eight-year sentence for burglary
• ex-felons who have completed their sentences
• the mandatory minimum sentence
• the opening sentence of the novel
• She was given a life sentence.
• The judge passed sentence.
• The prisoner has served his sentence and will be released tomorrow.
• a death sentence
• a jail/prison sentence
• to be under sentence of death

Word Origin

• Middle English (in the senses ‘way of thinking, opinion’, ‘court's declaration of punishment’, and ‘gist (of a piece of writing)’): via Old French from Latin sententia ‘opinion’, from sentire ‘feel, be of the opinion’.