Basic Sentence Parts

JO I. BARTOLATABUCAL

Complete Subjects and Predicates

A sentence is a group of words with two main parts: a complete subject and a complete predicate. Together these parts express a complete thought.

The complete subject contains the noun, pronoun or a group of words acting as a noun (plus their modifiers) that tells who or what the subject is about. Located in the complete predicate is the verb or verb phrase (plus any modifiers and complements) that tells what the subject does or is.

Examples:

CS CP  Flowers bloom.

A bell-clanging street car moved through the intersection

The candidate’s pragmatic impressed the approach to fiscal problems voters attending the

rally last Thursday 

Exercise A. Recognizing CS and CP.

Morning came quickly. (2) Long before sunrise, the alarm clock rang. (3) Sluggishly, we dragged ourselves from a restful sleep. (4) At five o’ clock, we left the dock. (5) We were sailing out on the bay on a yacht equipped with every convenience. (6) From bow to stern, the boat measured forty feet. (7) During the night, a fog had crept in. (8) It greatly limited visibility and made the air cold. (9) Sophisticated directional equipment led us through the fog. (10) Inside the cabin, we were dry, warm and eager to begin deep-sea fishing.

Fragments

A fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought.

In conversations, fragments do not

really present a problem since repetition, tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions all help to communicate meaning. In writing, the reader is alone with the page and cannot go to the author for clarification.

Exercise B. Correcting sentence fragments.

His mother, a gentle, yet strong woman. Stepped from the boat after a rugged trip across the

Atlantic. Before taking a bite. Into the sky filled with dark thunderclouds. The car’s hood, hot from the sun’s rays. Sat around the campfire, roasting marshmallows. The spider wove a beautiful, yet deadly web. An alligator with its thick, bumpy hide and enormous

jaws. My traveling companion carrying a lightweight

suitcase aboard the plane. Under the weight of numerous responsibilities

Simple S and V

The simple subject is the essential noun, pronoun or group of words acting as a noun that cannot be left out of the complete subject. The simple predicate is the essential verb or verb phrase that cannot be left out of the complete predicate

What is the action verb or linking verb (SP)? Then ask who or what before it (SS).

Complements

Some sentences are complete with just a subject and a verb. The meaning of many sentences however depends on additional words to finish the idea. To complete the meaning, a writer must add complements.

  A complement is a word or group of words

that completes the meaning of the predicate of a sentence.

 

Complements

1. Direct Object (DO) – a noun or pronoun or a group of words acting as a noun that receives the action of a transitive verb. (Ask whom or what after the action verb)

The student verbalized his thoughts.

The manager reprimanded his subordinate.

Exercise. Underline the direct object.

(1) Georgia O’Keeffe spent her early years in the Midwest. (2) Later, she studied art in Chicago and New York. (3) From 1912 to 1914, she supervised art teachers in the public schools in Amarillo, Texas. (4) From 1916 to 1918, she directed the art professors at a college in Canyon, Texas. (5) In New York, she later married, Alfred Stieglitz, a famous American photographer. (6) Stieglitz displayed O’Keefe’s paintings in the art gallery. (7) The desert had inspired O’Keefe. (8) She earned fame for her paintings of the Southwest. (9) Many of the paintings contain rocks, animal bones and flowers. (10) From 1949, O’Keeffe made her permanent home in New Mexico.

2. Indirect Object (IO)- an indirect object is a noun or pronoun that appears with a direct object and names the person or thing something is given to or done for. (Ask Whom/What after the verb to find the direct object. Then ask To or for whom /To or for what? after the DO to find the IO). The IO almost always sits squarely between the V and the DO. It will never follow the direct object, and never be the object of the preposition to or for.

Examples. The teacher taught the class Public Speaking. The judge gave the jury instructions.

Exercise: Identify whether the underlined is a DO, an IO or OP

They bought a condominium for their daughter.

The university granted the incoming freshmen a four-year scholarship.

The builder showed the prospective owners some special additions to the house.

Our club made ice cream for the picnic.

I ordered you a shirt from the catalog

3. Objective Complement (OC)-an adjective or noun that appears with a direct object and describes or renames it. They occur only with such verbs as appoint, call, consider, declare, elect, judge, label, make, name, select or think. Say the V and DO and ask what?

Examples: The president made him an ambassador. History judged Abraham Lincoln a fine President. They declared the chairman incompetent. 

Exercise

We named our puppy (noun) The board considered the company’s

new president (adjective). All my friends appointed me (noun) The court judge the defendant

(adjective) They named the twins (nouns)

Subject Compliment (predicate nominative & Predicate adjective) – a noun or pronoun or adjective that appears with a linking verb and tells something about the subject of the sentence.

Predicate Nominative – is a noun or pronoun that appears with a linking verb and renames, identifies or explains the subject of the sentence.

  Ex. The winner is Vincent.  Predicate Adjective – a noun or pronoun that appears with a

linking verb and describes the subject of the sentence  Ex. Your reasoning seems logical. 

Exercise

After my course in Astronomy, I became an avid stargazer.

The rain clouds appeared distant. The unruly child became gloomy and

belligerent. The juice tasted bitter and warm. She is a mother and a wife.