Parts of a Sentence Subject and Predicate Every
Parts of a Sentence
Subject and Predicate • Every sentence has a subject and a predicate. – The subject is usually a noun or a pronoun. (Also called the noun phrase) • Indicates who is speaking, who is being spoken to, or who or what is being spoken about – The predicate typically begins with the verb and includes any objects and complements (Also called the verb phrase) • Information about the subject-what the subject is or is doing
Subject • Simple subject-a main noun or pronoun that performs the action alone – Amber drove to class. • Complete subject-a noun phrase that includes the main noun or pronoun and its modifiers (adjectives, articles, etc. ) – The shiny new car was just what she asked for. • Compound subject-consists of two or more main nouns and/or pronouns (and modifiers) – My sister and I left the house. – Ben and Jerry make ice cream. – Stella and her cute puppy walked to the park.
Other types of subjects • The dummy subject-a subject with no concrete reference – There is little evidence to the contrary. – It is raining cats and dogs. • The hidden subject-a subject that is implied to come before imperative sentences (commands) – Sit down. – Go to bed.
Predicates • Simple predicate-the important verb or verb phrase in a sentence. – Jody ran to the store quickly. • Complete predicate-the entire verb phrase and modifiers/complements that tells what the complete subject is or does – Jody ran to the store quickly. • Compound predicate-two or more verb phrases that have the same subject and are connected with a coordinating conjunction – Jody ran to the store quickly and bought milk.
Clauses • There are many types of clauses, including adverb, subjunctive, elliptical, noun, and adjective. • A clause is a group of words that contains a subject-verb relationship. • Don’t confuse a clause with a phrase; a phrase is a group of words that DOES NOT contain a subject-verb relationship. – Ex. “running down the street” or “from the box”
Independent Clause (IC) • This clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone. – When they do stand alone, they are called complete sentences. – When they are part of compound or complex sentences, it’s important to know what is an independent and what is a dependent clause, so you know what punctuation to use. • Helps to avoid comma splices/run-on sentences
IC Examples • • • Mary wrote a book today. She memorized the poem. He found a dog. (complete sentence) I didn’t mean to do it. I did it anyway.
Dependent Clauses (DC) • These clauses do not express a complete thought, and cannot stand alone as a sentence. They still contain a subject-verb relationship. – If you make it stand alone, the DC is a fragment. • Also called a subordinate clause • They depend upon an independent clause to make sense.
How to recognize DCs • A clause is a dependent clause when it begins with a subordinate word: – Some examples are: Who, when, while, which, that, because, unless • Examples: – because I said so – where she went – what he knows
Types of Dependent/Subordinate Clauses • Adverb clause • Adjective clause • Noun clause
Adverb Clauses • Adverb clauses provide information about what is going on in the main (independent) clause: where, when, or why. – When the movie is over, we'll go downtown. – John wanted to write a book because he had so much to say about the subject.
Adjective Clauses • Adjective clauses work like multi-word adjectives. – My brother, who is an engineer, figured it out for me. – The bridge that collapsed in the winter storm will cost millions to replace. • Notice how these clauses could be considered independent in certain situations. – Questions or with a proper reference for the pronoun
Noun Clauses • Noun clauses can do anything that nouns can do. – What he knows is no concern of mine. – Do you know what he knows? – What can you tell me about what he has done this year?
Let’s review fragments and run-ons! • Fragment—a piece of a complete thought that has been punctuated like a sentence – Phrases, dependent clauses, or any incomplete word group • Run-on—two sentences (ICs) that are run together without proper punctuation and/or connecting words – Fused sentence—two sentences are written together without any punctuation at all – Comma splice—two sentences are written together when a comma is used between two sentence without any connecting words (subordinating conjunctions)
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