PARTS OF A

SENTENCE
Every complete sentence contains two parts: a
SUBJECT and a VERB.

1. SUBJECT
The subject is:
To find the subject, first find the verb. All the words
that come before the verb are the SUBJECT.

Judy and her dog run on the beach every morning.

subject verb
Can you find the subject in
each sentence below?

1. My little brother broke his

finger.
2. His Uncle Bob, who was 47,
asked for directions.
3. Those soldiers carried guns.
4. Our babysitter arrived late.
The subject of a sentence may be:

1. A noun: Birds have feathers.

2. A pronoun: They went home.
3. A noun phrase: The best defense against the atomic
bomb is not to be there when it goes off.
4. A gerund/infinitive: To watch / Watching the sunrise is
pleasant.
5. A clause: What he said was true.
Say the subjects in the following sentences:

1. The love of money is the root of all evil.

2. Good books are worthy companions.

3. To be ready for storm is the duty of every sailor.

4. Whatever he did was misunderstood.

5. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has done much

good by its teachings.

6. To pay his bills regularly is the characteristic of an honest man.

There are 2 types of subjects:
SIMPLE and COMPOUND

1. Simple Subject: A simple Subject is composed of a single pronoun,

noun or noun phrase.

Example: The black dogs ran across the beach.

2. Compound subject: When a sentence has two or more subjects, it's

called a compound subject.

The individual elements in a compound subject are joined by words

like and and or, or pairings like either/or and neither/nor.

Example: Neither Mike nor his son was tired.

Look at the simple subject in
each sentence below.

1. My little brother broke his

finger.
2. His Uncle Bob asked for
directions.
3. Those soldiers carried guns.
4. Our babysitter arrived late.
Look at the compound subject in each
sentence below.

1. My little brother and my cousin broke

their fingers.
2. Her Uncle Bob and Betty asked for
directions.
3. Those soldiers or agents carried guns.
4. Neither our babysitter nor her friend
arrived early.
2. THE VERB
The verb signals an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.
You can’t have a sentence without a verb!

There are 2 types of verbs: SIMPLE and COMPOUND

1. Simple Verb : When a subject has one verb, it has

a simple verb.

Example: They jogged all the way down the lane.

2. Compound Verb : When a subject has two or more verbs, it

has a compound verb.

Example: They skipped and jogged all the way down the lane.
There are 5 types of compound verbs:

1. Prepositional verb - believe in

2. Phrasal verb - take away

3. Verb with a helping verb - was walking

4. Compound single-word verb - overburden

5. Verbs with a conjunction – played and lost

Look at the simple verbs in each sentence
below.

1. My little brother broke his finger.

2. Those soldiers carried guns.
3. Our babysitter arrived late.
Look at the compound verbs below.

1.I will take away the used parts. (phrasal verb)

2.Will the new balance carry over to the next bill? (prepositional verb)
3.The new employee didn't know what to ask for. (prepositional verb)
4.The little boy was telling me all about the fair. (verb with an auxiliary verb)
5.He decided to air-condition the room. (compound single-word verb)
 There is an optional part of a sentence: OBJECT. It
is the part that gives meaning to the verb.

There are 2 types of objects:

1. Direct Object
2. Indirect Object

1. Direct Object : A direct object is the receiver of action within a sentence.

The direct object in “He hit the ball” is the ball.

1. Indirect Object : The indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the
action of the verb is performed.

Sherazade told the sultan a marvelous story.

NOTE!

An INDIRECT object is used with DIRECT objects in a

sentence all the time, never alone!

He gave all four walls a new coat of paint.

all four walls : indirect object
a new coat of paint : direct object
Decide whether the words in bold are direct objects or indirect
objects.

1. He offered her a flower.

2. My father bought us a new TV set.
3. John sold me his car.
4. I wish you good luck.
THANK YOU!