Download The basic structure of an English Sentence Subject + Verb + Object

The basic structure of an English Sentence
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Subject + Verb + Object (+ phrases and modifiers)
o At its absolute shortest, a sentence can be one word- a verb
 (also an interjection but we don’t care about those)
This is useful to know because it gives you the very basic building blocks of a sentence
o You will always have a verb
o That verb will always have subject
o That subject will be a noun, pronoun, or noun-like word
o Depending on the verb, you might also have an object
o The object receives the action of the verb
Verbs
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Verbs are words that convey action or states of being
Action Verbs – verbs that require their actor to DO something. Something is being
DONE
o Ask yourself…is this something that a person can do?
 If yes, action verb
Linking Verbs – verbs that link the subject with information about that subject. They are
things that ARE, states of being
o Ask yourself…can I replaces this verb with a form of the verb “to be” and not
change the meaning of the sentence.
 If yes, it’s a linking verb
o Forms of the verb be, become, and seem are always linking
Action verbs can be further divided into transitive and intransitive verbs
o Object- the thing being acted upon
o Transitive verbs have objects
 The action is being done to something
o Intransitive verbs do not have objects
 The action is being done by the subject, but nothing is receiving the action
o Linking verbs will never have objects
 Instead, they have predicate nouns and predicate adjectives
o Is there anything here being acted up?
 Remember- Objects are nouns, so anything in the sentence functioning as
a noun can potentially be an object
Really quick on subjects
o a subject is a noun or pronoun that does the action in the sentence, or is described
by the linking verb
o Pretty much always comes before the verb
o Find the verb, then ask yourself, what is DOING or BEING this verb?
Modifiers- adjectives and adverbs
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Adjectives are words or phrases that modify nouns and pronouns
o They answer the following questions about the nouns and pronouns they modify
 Which one?
 What kind?
 How many?
o Nearly always come before the words they modify
 Predicate adjectives come later
 Adjective phrases can come later as well
Adverbs are words or phrases that modify verbs, adverbs, and adjectives
o They answer the following
 How
 Where
 Where
 To what degree
 Why
o They can come in many different parts of the sentence
 Often before the words the modify but by no means always
 When modifying an adjective or adverb, frequently before
 When modifying a verb, can show up before or after
o Often, but not always, end in –ly
 Adverbs modifying verbs tend to
 Other adverbs tend not to
Phrase and Clauses
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A CLAUSE has all the parts necessary for a sentence. It is a group of words with a
subject and verb, along with all required objects and included modifiers
o This is not always a complete sentence on its own
o Clauses can be MAIN clauses (or IDENPENDENT) if they can stand on their
own
o They can be SUBORDIANTE (or DEPENDENT) if they cannot
A PHRASE is a group of words that adds information to a sentence. It is NOT a clause,
and can never stand alone as a complete thought
o Phrases can be adj., adv., or nouns, depending on the type
Prepositional Phrases
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A prepositional phrase is a phrase the begins with a preposition, and which contains an
object of that preposition (a noun or pronoun)
o It tells you more about the sentence
o Can be an adjective or adverb
o Structure: Preposition + modifiers (if any) + object of the preposition
o Usually answer “which on” “where” or “when”
Infinitive Phrases
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A phrase that begins with “to,” which is followed by a verb
Structure: to + verb + any objects and modifiers
Functions as an adj., adv., or noun
Participle Phrase
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A phrase that begins with a participle and contains modifiers, objects
A participle is a verb that has been turned into an adjective
Present participle
o Verb + -ing
Past participle
o Verb + -past tense (usually –ed)
Always an adjective
Gerund Phrase
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A phrase that begins with a verb + -ing
A gerund is always a noun
Find the verb with the –ing ending, and figure out what it is doing in the sentence
Clauses
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We can separate clauses into two categories: complete thoughts and incomplete thoughts
Complete thought
o One or more main clauses (independent clause) plus any incomplete thoughts that
are properly joined to them
o Subject + verb + phrases, objects, modifiers = main clause
o ALL COMPLETE THOUGHTS will have at least one main clause
Incomplete thoughts
o Subordinate clause (dependent clause)
 Main clause made subordinate by a subordinating conjunction
 Subordinating conjunction + subject + verb + modifiers, etc.
 Sub. Conj. are generally transitional words. They have specific meanings
that convey the relationship between the clauses they link
o Relative clause (adjective clause)
 A main clause made relative by the addition of a relative pronoun or
relative adverb
 Pronouns- who whom whose which that
 Adverbs- when where why what
 Relative pronoun or adverb + subject + verb + etc.
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 Relative pronoun as subject + verb + etc.
o Incomplete thoughts cannot stand on their own
o They are typically made incomplete by the ADDITION of a word, rather than by
a word being missing
 Fragments
Sentence types
o Simple
 One main clause
o Compound
 Two or more main clauses joined with FANBOYS (coordinating
conjunction)
 Main clause + , + FANBOYS + main clause …
 Main clause + ; + main clause …
 At least two subjects and verbs, and at least one FANBOYS
o Complex
 One main clause with one or more subordinate/relatives clauses joined
with sub. Conj., relative pronouns, relative adj.
 Subordinate clause + , + main clause
 Main clause + subordinate clause
 Relative clauses are trickier
 At least two subjects and verbs, and at least one joining word (sub. Conj.,
relative pronouns, relative adj.)
o Compound-complex
 Two or more main clause and one or more sub./relative clauses, all
properly conjunctioned
 At least three subjects and verbs, and at least two joining words
o To identify types of sentences
 First, find the verbs
 Second, find their subjects
 If you only have one pair- simple sentence
 If you have two pairs
 FANBOYS joining them means compound
 Something else joining them means complex
 If you have three or more pairs
 If all conjunctions are FANBOYS, compound
 If all conjunctions are not FANBOYS, complex
 If you have at least one FANBOYS and one not FANBOYS,
compound-complex
o Simple sentence
 I have a game tonight.
o Compound sentence
 I have a game, but I am not ready.
o Complex sentence
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 Because I am DM for the game tonight, I am not ready.
o Compound-complex
 I have a game tonight, but I am not ready because I am DM and I didn’t
have time to prepare.
Fragments
o A sentence fragment is an incomplete thought
o Most sentence fragments for writers of your level are
 Phrase pretending to be clauses
 Incomplete clauses pretending to be complete
o Fix by adding to a nearby related sentence
Run-ons
o Two or more clauses that are not properly joined together
o Most run-ons for writers of your level are compound sentences that are missing a
FANBOYS, and often a comma as well
o Fix by properly punctuating