The Sentence
*** A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought.
I.
Parts of a Sentence
A. Complete Subject
- The main who or what being talked about in a sentence and all the words
which help identify it, including prepositional phrases.
- Ex. The tall man in the blue shirt won the prize.
B. Simple Subject
1. The main who or what in the complete subject.
2. Usually one word and never in a prepositional phrase (Beware the of)
Ex. The tall man in the blue shirt…
C. Complete Predicate
1. The part of the sentence that says something about the subject.
2. Everything not in the complete subject.
Ex. The tall man in the blue shirt won the prize.
D. Simple Predicate / Verb
1. An action word or state of being. The main word(s) in the complete
predicate.
Ex. … won the prize.
2. Types
a. Main
o A one-word verb or the last word of a verb phrase
- b. Helping
o In order to have a helping verb, you must have a verb phrase (a 2, 3,
or 4 word verb). The only words which can be helping verbs are the
be, do, have, and others verb groups words.
3. Verb Groups
Be: am, are, was, were, is, be, been, being
Do: do, did, does, done, doing
Have: have, has, had, having
Others: may, might, must, could, should, would, can, will, shall
E. Compound Subjects and Verbs
1. Compound means “more than one”
2. Compounds count as one unit and are joined by and, but, and or
II.
III.
Ex. Alicia, Debie, and Anna are best friends. (one subject unit)
Ex. Kofi reads, writes, and speaks very well. (one verb unit)
Order of a Sentence
A. Natural
- The whole complete subject comes before the whole complete predicate
- Ex. The bushy-tailed squirrel quickly scampered up the tree.
B. Inverted
- All or part of the complete predicate comes before the complete subject
- Ex. Up the tree quickly scampered the bushy-tailed squirrel.
- Ex. Quickly the bushy-tailed squirrel scampered up the tree.
Kinds of Sentences
A. Declarative
1. Makes a statement
2. Ends with a period (.)
B. Interrogative
1. Asks a question
2. Ends with a question mark (?)
3. Usually in inverted order
C. Imperative
1. Gives a command or makes a request
2. Ends with an exclamation point (!) or a period (.)
3. 3.Usually has a subject of “you” understood (not stated)
D. Exclamatory
1. Expresses strong feeling
2. Ends with an exclamation point (!)