CHAPTERI

V
SUBJECT,
VERB,
COMPLEMENTandMODI
FIER.
a.Subj ect
TheSubj ecti st heagentoft hesent encei nt heact ivev oice.Subjecti stheper sonor
thingt hatdoest heact i
onoft hesent ence, andsubj ectnor mall
ypr ecedest hev erb.
Not e: Ev er ysent encei nEngl ishmusthav eaSubj ect
e.g. Cof f
eei sdel i
cious
Mi lkcont ainscal cium
Thesubj ectmaybeanounphr ase.Anounphr asei sagr oupofwor dsendi ngwi t
ha
noun.( itCANNOTbegi nwi thapr eposi tion) .
e.g. Thebooki sont het abl e
Thatnewr edcari sJohn’ s
Insomesent encest her eisnotat ruesubj ect.Howev eritandt her ecanof t
enactas
pseudo- subj ect sandshoul dbeconsi der edassubj ect s.
e.g. I ti sani cedayt oday
Ther ewasaf ireint hatbui l
dingl astmont h
b.Ver b
TheVer bf oll
owst hesubj ect, i
tgener allyshowst heact ionoft hesent ence.
Not e: Ev er ysent encemusthav eav er b
e.g. Johndr iv est oof ast
Theyhat espi nach
Thev er bmaybeav er bphr ase.Av er bPhr aseconsi st sofoneormor eauxi l
iari
es
andonemai nv erb.Theauxi l
iariesal way spr ecedet hemai nverb.
e.g. Johni sgoi ngt oMi ami t
omor row
(auxi li
ar yi s;mai nv er bgoi ng)
Janehasbeenr eadingt hatbook
(auxi liaryhas, been; mai nv er br eadi ng)
c.Compl ement
Acompl ementcompl et est hev erb.I tissi mi lartot hesubj ectbecausei tisusual l
ya
nounornounphr ase, Howev er ,i
tgener allyf oll
owst hev erbwhent hesent encei sin
theact ivev oice.
Not e: Ev er ysent encedoesnotr equireacompl ement .Thecompl ementCANNOT
begi nwi thapr eposi ti
on.
e.g. Hewassmoki ngaci gar ette
Johnboughtacakey esterday
d.Modi fier
Modi fiert ell
st het ime, placeormanneroft heact ion.Ver yof t
eni tisapr epositional
Phr ase.
Preposi tional Phr asei sagr oupofwor dst hatbegi nswi t
hapr eposi tionandends
withanoun.
Not e: Amodi fi
eroft imeusual lycomesl asti fmor et hanonemodi fi
eri spresent.
e.g. ofpr eposi ti
onal phr ases
i
nt hemor ning, att heuni versity,ont het able
Amodi fiercanal sobeanadv erboranadv erbi
al phr ase: Lastnight ,hurri
edly,next
year ,out door s, yest erday
e.g. Johnboughtabookatt hebookst ore
modi
fi
erofpl
ace

Ji
l
lwasswi
mmi
ngi
nthepool
yest
erday
modi
fi
erofpl
ace modi
fi
eroft
ime

Not
e:
Themodi fiernormall
yfol
l
owst hecomplement,
butnotal
ways.Howev er
,the
modi f
ier
,especiall
ywhenitisapreposi
ti
onal
phrase,
usual
lycannotseparat
ethe
verbandt hecompl ement
.
e.g.Shedr ovethecaronthestr
eet
v
erb compl
ement

Exer
cise1
I
denti
fythesubject
,verb,complementandmodi
fi
eri
neachofthefol
l
owi
ngsent
ence.
Remembert hatnoteverysent
encehasacomplementormodi
fier
.
Example:Ji
l
l /i
sbuying/anewhat/i nthest
ore
subj
ect v
erbphr
ase compl
ement modi
fi
erofpl
ace

1.Geor ge/i scooki ng/di nnert onight

2.Henr yandMar ci ahav ev i
sitedt hepr esi
dent
3.Weeatl unchi nt hisr estaur antt oday
4.Patshoul dhav eboughtgasol iney ester
day
5.Tr eesgr ow
6.I twasr ai ni ngatsev eno’ clockt hismor ning
7.Sheopenedherbook
8.Har ryiswashi ngdi shesr ightnow
9.Sheopenedherbook
10.Paul ,William, andMar rywer ewat chingtelevi
sionafewmi nutesago.
Exercise2
Identi
fyingSubj ect , Verb, Compl ementandModi fi
er
Mar kthesubj ect ,v erb,compl ementandmodi fi
erinthefoll
owingsentences.Usean
“S”for subject ,“V”f orver b,“C”f orcompl ementand“ M”f ormodifi
er.NOTE:
Remembert hatnotal lsen t
en cesh aveac omplementormodifi
er
.Al
so,somesenten
cesca
n
havemor eth anon emodi f
ie r
Examp l
e s:
Juan/ise ati
n g/t ac os/a tt hen ewr estaurant
.
S V C M
Thegirl
s/a ret a l
k i
n g/t oth eb oys.
S V C
Ma donna/isp e rformi ng/t on i
ght.
S V M
1.J err
yop e ne dh i
sp re
sen t.
2.Mr .Johns ondr inksc offeee verymor n
ing.
3.Bi r
dsf l
y.
4.Th edogc h a se dt hec atu pthet re
e .
5.Th ewi ndbl e wv i
ol ent
ly.
6.J immys cor e dag oa latthes oc cerma tchl
astSatu
rday.
7.Th eyr anin sidequ i
ckl
y.
8.Bi l
l,
Ge orgea n dAl icebou gh tCDsa tthemu si
cstor
etoday.
9.Th eba rr
e lrol l
e ddownt h eh i
ll
.
10.Terryiswa tchingt el
evi
s i
on