Unit 3: Reading
Subjects and Verbs
Help
In Unit 3, you will learn
how nouns, pronouns,
In Unit 2, you learned about the eight parts of speech and how and verbs function as
these word categories are the basic building materials of
subjects and verbs of
sentences. Understanding the grammatical roles these parts of sentences. You will also
speech play will help you make good choices when composing
learn about regular and
irregular verbs, verb
sentences,
tenses, subject-verb
paragraphs, and
agreement, active and
multi-paragraph compositions.
passive voice, and
Subjects and verbs make up all sentences. Of course, there are terminal punctuation.
certain guidelines that must be followed when creating
A. Subjects
sentences. At the very least, sentences must have one subject,
1. Nouns
one verb, and punctuation. In addition, they must be complete
2. Pronouns
thoughts. These basic sentence structures can be more easily
a. Personal
understood by examining their base parts:
b. Demonstrative
c. Possessive
Words that identify the actor in a
d. Interrogative
Subjects sentence or tell what/who a sentence is
e. Indefinite
about.
3. Understood
Words that either describe what action
"You"
the actor is doing or provide a link to
Verbs
4. Gerunds
the condition/state of being of the
5. Infinitives
subject.
B. Verbs
Symbols that tell readers when a
Punctuation
1. Action and
sentence ends.
Linking
Verbs
All sentences contain at least one subject and one verb.
a. Action
Sentences that contain a single subject and a single verb are
b. Linking
called simple sentences. Recall the sentence Seals Perform
c. Helping
from PARTS OF SPEECH AT WORK in Unit 2. The sentence has
2. Regular
one subject and one verb:
and
Seals perform.
Irregular
Verbs
Seals is the subject; seals identifies the actor or who this
3. Verb Tense
sentence is about. Perform is the verb; perform describes
4. Subjectwhat action the actor is doing. And the two words create a
Verb
meaningful, complete thought. In addition to containing a
Agreement
single subject and a single verb, simple sentences can also
5. Active and
contain one subject and multiple verbs OR multiple subjects
Passive
and one verb OR multiple subjects and multiple verbs. Look at
Voice
the sentences below.
C. Terminal
One subject and one
verb:
Children play.
Two subjects and one Basketballs and volleyballs
verb:
bounce.
One subject and two
verbs:
Sharks swim and hunt.
Punctuation
1. Period
2. Exclamation
Mark
3. Question
Mark
Two subjects and two Juan and Alex talk and
verbs:
laugh.
Of course, simple sentences like these aren’t the types of sentences that you will find in
academic and professional writing, mostly because they don’t provide readers much
information. However, simple sentences are a good place to start. Understanding what
creates simple sentences is important because you can eventually expand them so that
you can use the expanded sentences in your writing.
Read about Subjects.
Created Thu 16 May 20132:01 AM BST
Last Modified Wed 17 Sep 2014 6:00 PM BST