Download The Basics & Finding Subjects and Objects

The Basics & Finding
Subjects and Objects
Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives,
Adverbs, Linking Verbs,
Prepositions, Subjects, &
Objects
What is a noun?
• A noun NAMES a person place thing or
idea.
• Find the nouns in the following
sentence:
• 3:10 to Yuma is an exciting film with an
unusual ending.
• Nouns: 3:10 to Yuma, film, ending
What is a Pronoun?
• A pronoun replaces a noun or another
pronoun.
• Ex. he, she, it, their, one, that
• He went to the party but left it early.
• IMPORTANT: Nouns and Pronouns
are ALWAYS either Subjects or
Objects
What are the two types of
Proper Verbs?
Active Verbs
• Express actions
• Ex. run, jump, laugh, think
Linking Verbs
•
•
•
•
express a state of being
act like equal signs (=)
5 senses: look, sound, taste, feel, smell
To be verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be,
being, been, will be
What is a preposition?
• A word that links an object to other
words in the sentence using time and
space.
• Any word that can describe an object’s
position in relation to a box.
• On, in, around, above, below, beside
inside…
Special Prepositions
• What if there is more than 1 box?
•
Between 2 boxes
•
Among 3 or more boxes
• Uncommon Prepositions: like, unlike, except,
about, as
• Time Prepositions: before, after, during
9 Most Common Prepositions
• On
• In
• Of
• For
• From
• To
• With
• At
• By
Subjects and Objects
• What is the subject of the following
sentence?
• One of the candidates running for the
position of president of the United States is
going to win.
How to Find Objects
• The first noun or pronoun after a
preposition is an object.
• The first noun or pronoun after a verb
or verbal is an object.
• Exception: The first noun or pronoun after
a linking verb is not an object.
How To Find the
Subject of a Verb
• Find the verb.
• Find the 1st noun or pronoun before the verb.
• Is that noun or pronoun an object?
• No=subject
• Yes=keep looking before for the next noun or
pronoun
• If you can’t find the subject before the verb,
then it is always the first noun or pronoun
after the verb.
What are Verbals(Verb
Forms)?
• Verbals are words that look like verbs
but ARE NOT verbs.
Verb-ings
• If there is a helping verb in front of a verbing = proper verb
• Ex. I am running.
• If the verb-ing describes a noun = adj =
present participle
• Ex. The running man is my favorite dance.
• If the verb-ing names an action = noun =
gerund
• Ex. Running is my favorite thing to do.
• Ex. I like running.
Past Tense Verbs
• If the past tense verb expresses an
action = proper verb
• Ex. I completed the test.
• If the past tense verb describes a noun
= adj = past participle
• Ex. The completed test is 3 pages long.
Infinitives
• Infinitives = to verb
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Nouns
• Infinitives are NEVER PROPER VERBS!!
• How can you tell when “to” is a preposition or
an infinitive?
• Look at what comes after it:
• to noun = preposition
• to verb = infinitive
Verbals (Verb Forms)
• Participles (Past and Present)
• Gerunds
• Infinitives
Part Two: Why was all that
basic stuff important?
• Subject/Verb Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement
• Singular Nouns= ( ) no “S”
• Singular Verbs=(S)
• The girl walks.
• Plural Nouns= (S)
• Plural Verbs=( )
• The girls walk.
“I”
• plural in the present tense
• Except for “am”
• Ex. I walk to the store. Walk w/ no “s”
=plural
• Singular in the past tense
• I was at the store. Was=singular
“You”
• Always plural in both past and present
tenses.
• Ex. You walk to the store.
• Ex. You were in class.
Compound Subjects
Connected w/ and
• If the two nouns connected are two
separate things = plural verb
• If the two nouns connected comprise
one idea = singular verb
• Ex. Peanut butter and jelly is / are my
favorite sandwich.
• Ex. Peanut butter and jelly is / are what
I need from the store.
Compound Subjects Connected with
nor, or, neither...nor, or either... or
• The part of the subject closest to the verb
determines if the verb is singular or plural.
• Ex. Neither the strawberries nor the milk
is/are spoiled.
• Ex. Neither the milk nor the strawberries
is/are spoiled.
• My parents or I am/is/are going to fill out the
paperwork.
Other words that seem like
connectors…
• As well as, together with, and along
with
• These words seem like connectors but they
are NOT; they all end with prepositions, so
the first noun or pronoun after each of these
is an OBJECT not part of the subject.
• Ex. The girl along with her mother is/are
going to the store.
• The subject is “The girl” not “The girl along
with her mother”
The Following Words are
ALWAYS SINGULAR
• Each, One, Neither, Either
Every
Body
One
Thing
Any
“
“
“
Some
“
“
“
No
“
“
“
Try these…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Neither of the girls was/were happy.
Either of the cars is/are satisfactory.
Each of the students was/were present.
One of the students isn’t/aren’t present.
Everyone is/are happy.
Someone was/were in the room.
One of many…
• “One of many” when one is the subject
=singular.
• One of the dogs is/are brown.
• One of the girls was/were on the team.
• “One of many that, which, or who” =plural.
• In this case, that, which, or who is the subject and
refers to the many.
• Ex. One of the dogs that is/are brown is sleeping.
• Ex. She is one of the girls who is/are on the team.
There and Here
• There and Here are expletives: words that
refer to a subject that comes AFTER the verb.
• Look for the first noun or pronoun after the
verb to determine if the verb should be
singular or plural.
• Ex. Here is/are your car keys.
Vs.
• Ex. Here is/are your key.
Portion Words
• When the subject of a sentence is a
portion word (all, half, some, percent,
none), look at what the portion word is
referring to to determine if the verb
should be singular or plural.
• Ex. Half of the pie has/have been eaten.
• Ex. Half of the pies has/have been eaten.
Lump Sums vs. Individual Units
• Lump Sums=Singular
• Twenty dollars is the price of the item.
• Individual Units=plural
• Twenty dollar bills are spread on the table.
Singular words that sound
plural
• School Subjects: Mathematics,
Economics, Physics, Language Arts
• Ex. Physics is my favorite subject.
• News
• The news is always bad.
Singular Words that Sound
Plural and Require a Plural Verb
• Glasses
• Pants
• Scissors
• My glasses are broken
• My pants have a hole in them.
• Keep in mind that if you add “Pair of” before
these words they are singular because “pair”
is now the subject and pair singular.
Basic Sentence Structure
• Clauses and Phrases
Clauses
• A group of words with a subject/verb
relationship.
• There are two types of clauses:
• Independent: can stand alone as a
complete sentence.
• Dependent: cannot stand alone because it
has a dependent connector in front of it.
Dependent Connectors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Although
Though
That
Which
Who/Whom
Because
When
If
Where
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Before
After
Why
As
Like
Despite
What
How
Examples
• She is going to the park.
• Independent Clause
• Because she is going to the park
• Dependent Clause
• I went to the store.
• Independent Clause
• After I went to the movies
• Dependent Clause
Phrases
• A group of words with NO subject/verb
relationship
• Purpose: to describe/modify
• Ex. In 2006, the country…
• Ex. After dinner, we…
• Ex. The boy running down the street
was…
• Ex. One must have a business plan to
run a company.
A sentence must have…
• An independent clause to be complete.
• I went to the store.
• Complete
• Driving to the movies after dinner, when
she saw an accident.
• Fragment
• Fragment: a sentence without an
independent clause