BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Parts of Sentences: Subject, Predicate, Object, Indirect Object, Complement

Every word in a sentence serves a specific purpose within the structure of that particular
sentence. According to rules of grammar, sentence structure can sometimes be quite
complicated. For the sake of simplicity, however, the basic parts of a sentence are discussed
here.

The two most basic parts of a sentence are the subject and predicate.

SUBJECT

The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the
sentence. The subject represents what or whom the sentence is about. The simple subject
usually contains a noun or pronoun and can include modifying words, phrases, or clauses.

The man . . .

Subject – the noun or nouns that perform the action

Example: The dog jumped.
The subject of this sentence is the noun, dog, because it is performing the action of jumping.
Example: Dogs/and/cats sleep.
The subjects of this sentence are the nouns, dogs and cats. This is called a compound
subject because there is more than one subject performing the same action.

PREDICATE

The predicate expresses action or being within the sentence. The simple predicate contains the
verb and can also contain modifying words, phrases, or clauses.

The man /  builds a house.

The subject and predicate make up the two basic structural parts of any complete sentence. In
addition, there are other elements, contained within the subject or predicate, that add meaning
or detail. These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject complement.

1
All of these elements can be expanded and further combined into simple, compound,
complex, or compound/complex sentences.

DIRECT OBJECT

The direct object receives the action of the sentence. The direct object is usually a noun or
pronoun.

The man builds a house. 

The man builds it.

Object – the noun or nouns that receive the action

Example: The/child/drank milk.

The object of this sentence is the noun, milk, because the child is drinking the milk. The milk
is/receiving/the/action.

INDIRECT OBJECT

The indirect object indicates to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is being
done. The indirect object is usually a noun or pronoun.

The man builds his family a house. 

The man builds them  a house.

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

A subject complement either renames or describes the subject, and therefore is usually a noun,
pronoun, or adjective. Subject complements occur when there is a linking verb within the
sentence (often a linking verb is a form of the verb to be).

The man is a good father. (father = noun which renames the subject)

The man seems  kind. (kind = adjective which describes the subject)

To understand sentence structures in the English language, you must first have a general
understanding of the types of words that are used to make sentences.

2
The Parts of Speech

One way to begin studying basic sentence structures is to consider the traditional parts of
speech (also called word classes): nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, and interjections. Except for interjections ("ouch!"), which have a habit of
standing by themselves, the parts of speech come in many varieties and may show up just
about anywhere in a sentence. To know for sure what part of speech a word is, we have to
look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

Subjects, Verbs, and Objects

The basic parts of a sentence are the subject, the verb, and (often, but not always) the object.
The subject is usually a noun—a word that names a person, place, or thing. The verb
(or predicate) usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state of being. An object
receives the action and usually follows the verb.

Adjectives and Adverbs

A common way of expanding the basic sentence is with modifiers—words that add to the
meanings of other words. The simplest modifiers are adjectives and
adverbs. Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Prepositional Phrases

Like adjectives and adverbs, prepositional phrases add meaning to the nouns and verbs in
sentences. A prepositional phrase has two basic parts: a preposition plus a noun or
a pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition.

4 TYPES OF SENTENCES

1/ Simple sentence

3
 A simple sentence contains one independent clause.
What’s an “independent clause”? It’s one subject followed by one verb or verb phrase. It
expresses a single idea.
Examples of simple sentences:
 I‘m happy.
 Robert doesn’t eat meat.
 My brother and I went to the mall last night.
 This new laptop computer has already crashed twice.
Notice that a “simple sentence” isn’t necessarily short. The subject can be a single word like
“I” or “Robert,” or it can be a double subject like “my brother and I,” or it can be multiple
words describing a single person/object, like “This new laptop computer.”

2/ Compound sentence
A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a linking word (and, but, or, so,
yet, however).
Each independent clause could be a sentence by itself, but we connect them with a linking
word:
 I‘m happy, but my kids are always complaining.
 Robert doesn’t eat meat, so Barbara made a special vegetarian dish for him.
 My brother and I went to the mall last night, but we didn’t buy anything.
 This new laptop computer has already crashed twice, and I have no idea why.
Note that each sentence has TWO subjects and TWO verb phrases.

3/ Complex sentence
A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
A dependent clause cannot be a complete sentence by itself.

 I’m happy, even though I don’t make much money.

 Robert, a friend I’ve known since high school, doesn’t eat meat.
 After getting home from work, my brother and I went to the mall last night.
 This new laptop computer, which I bought yesterday, has already crashed twice.
4/ Compound-complex sentence
A compound-complex sentence contains 3 or more clauses: 2 independent and at least
1 dependent clause.

4
 I’m happy, even though I don’t make much money, but my kids are always
complaining since we can’t afford to buy the newest toys.
Independent clauses: “I’m happy” and “my kids are always complaining”
Dependent clauses: “even though I don’t make much money” and “since we can’t afford to
buy the newest toys”
Linking word: “but”
 Robert, a friend I’ve known since high school, doesn’t eat meat – so Barbara
made a special vegetarian dish for him.
Independent clauses: “Robert doesn’t eat meat” and “Barbara made a special vegetarian
dish for him”
Dependent clause: “a friend I’ve known since high school”
Linking word: “so”
 After getting home from work, my brother and I went to the mall last night,
while my sister stayed home and studied.
Independent clauses: “My brother and I went to the mall last night” and “my sister stayed
home and studied”
Dependent clause: “After getting home from work”
Linking word: “while”
 This new laptop computer, which I bought yesterday, has already crashed twice;
however, I have no idea why.
Independent clauses: “This new laptop computer has already crashed twice” and “I have no
idea why”
Dependent clause: “which I bought yesterday”
Linking word: “however”