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The basic structure of an English Sentence 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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