Download Sentence Structure - Minooka Community High School

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Property of Minooka Community High School
A
sentence is a word group that contains
a subject and a verb that expresses a
complete thought.
• EX: The magazine’s essay contest for tenth-
grade American history students ends
Tuesday.
A
sentence fragment is a word or word
group that is capitalized and punctuated
as a sentence but that does not contain
both a subject and a verb or that does not
express a complete thought.
• EX: Was chosen as the best one from over two
thousand entries.
• EX: When the judges announced the winner.
 Sentences
consist of two basic parts:
subjects and predicates.
 Subjects
tell whom or what the sentence
or clause is about.
 Predicates
subject.
tell something about the
SUBJECTS
Some residents of the desert
PREDICATES
Particularly noteworthy is
PREDICATES
can survive a long drought.
SUBJECTS
the Australian frog.
 The
main word or word group that tells
whom or what the sentence is about is
called the simple subject.
 The
complete subject consists of the
simple subject and any words or word
groups that modify the simple subject.
 EX: A
dog with this pedigree is usually
nervous.
 Complete
subject: A dog with this
pedigree
 Simple
subject: dog
 EX: Both
of these cockatiels are for
sale.
 Complete
subject: Both of these
cockatiels
 Simple
subject: Both
 The
simple predicate, or verb, is the
main word or word group that tells
something about the subject.
 The
complete predicate consists of the
verb and all the words that modify the
verb and complete its meaning.
 EX: Spiders
snare their prey in
intricate webs.
 Complete
predicate: snare their prey in
intricate webs
 Simple
predicate: snare
 EX: Rosa
has been looking for you all
morning.
 Complete
predicate: has been looking
for you all morning.
 Simple
predicate: has been looking
 Commonly
used helping verbs:
AM
DID
HAS
MIGHT
WAS
ARE
DO
HAVE
MUST
WERE
CAN
DOES
IS
SHALL
WILL
COULD
HAD
MAY
SHOULD
WOULD
 The
subject of a verb is NEVER in a
prepositional phrase.
A
prepositional phrase consists of a
preposition, the object of the preposition,
and any modifiers of that object.
• EX: for the team
• EX: on the top shelf
through the years
at all times
 DO
NOT mistake a noun or pronoun in a
prepositional phrase for the subject of
the sentence.
 EX: One
of my cousins has visited Ghana.
[Who has visited? One has visited]
 EX: On
top of the building is an up-todate observatory. [What is?]
 The
word here or there may begin a
sentence, but it is almost never the
subject. Often there or here is used as an
adverb telling where.
• EX: There are your gloves. [What are? Gloves
are. Gloves is the subject. There tells where
your gloves are.]
 Questions
usually begin with a verb, a
helping verb, or a words such as what,
when, where, how, or why. In most cases,
the subject follows the verb or part of the
verb phrase.
• EX: Where is your parakeet?
• EX: Did you make the team?
 In
a question that begins with a helping
verb, the subject generally comes
between the helping verb and the main
verb.
• EX: Were your friends early?
• EX: Where did the horse cross the river?
 In
a request or command, the subject is
usually not stated.
• EX: [YOU] Please rake the yard.
• EX: [YOU] Pick up the fallen branches.
 When
a request/command includes a
name, the name is not the subject but a
noun of direct address. You is still the
understood subject.
• EX: Jason, [YOU] wash the dishes.
A
compound subject consists of 2+
subjects that are joined by a conjunction
and that have the same verb.
• EX: Mr. Olivero and his daughter planted the
garden.
• EX: Either Mr. Olivero or his daughter
planted the garden.
A
compound verb consists of 2+ verbs
that are joined by a conjunction and that
have the same subject.
• EX: At the street festival, we danced the
rumba and sampled the meat pies.
• EX: I have written the letter and addressed
the envelope but have not gone to the post
office yet.
A
complement is a word or word group
that completes the meaning of the verb.
• EX: That book is an autobiography.
• EX: Bob felt confident.
• EX: Joey hit a home run.
A
subject complement is a word or word
group that completes the meaning of a
linking verb and identifies or modifies
the subject.
• EX: We may be the only ones here.
• EX: Roscoe seems worried.
• EX: Did you know that Lani is a soccer
player?
A
predicate nominative is a word or word
group that is in the predicate and that
identifies the subject or refers to it.
 Nominative=noun!!
• EX: Some caterpillars become butterflies.
• EX: She is the next speaker.
A
predicate adjective is an adjective that
is in the predicate and that modifies the
subject of a sentence or a clause.
 ADJECTIVE=DESCRIBES
NOUN/PRONOUN!!!
• EX: You look happy.
• EX: When she left, Nora appeared calm.
A
direct object is a noun, pronoun, or
word group that tells who/what receives
the action of the verb or shows the result
of the action.
 DIRECT OBJECTS=NEVER IN A
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE. Cross them out!!!
• EX: I took my little sister to the movies.
• EX: Tom was driving his car.
 An
indirect object is a noun, pronoun, or
word group that often appears in
sentences containing direct objects. An
indirect object tells to whom/what (or for
whom/what) the action of a verb is done.
 An I.O. has to have a D.O.—CANNOT
STAND ALONE!!!
• EX: Meli read us her report.
• EX: They fed the horses some oats.
• EX: Juan left you a message.
 1.Declarative: makes
a statement and
ends with a period.
• EX: Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for
literature in 1993.
 2. Imperative: gives
a command/makes a
request. Most end with a period; strong
command ends with exclamation point.
• EX: Be careful.
• EX: Wait!
 3. Interrogative: asks
a question and ends
with a question mark.
• EX: Can you speak English?
 4. Exclamatory: shows
excitement/expresses strong feeling and
ends with an exclamation point.
• EX: What a beautiful day this is!