Sentence Patterns

Terminology
● S = Subject
● V = Verb
● DO = Direct Object
● IO = Indirect Object
● OC = Object Complement
● LV = Linking Verb
● PN = Predicate Nominative
● PA = Predicate Adjective
Sentence Patterns

● S-V
● S-V-DO
● S-V-IO-DO
● S-V-DO-OC
● S-LV-PN
(noun)
● S-LV-PA
(adjective)
 Nouns Review
● A noun is sometimes, but not always, a
word which refers to a person, place, or
object and may also refer to an idea, a
quality, a collection, or an action.
● Reading is fun!
● Thinking is important.
 Examples
● Not a noun: ● Is a noun:
● The Smith house is down ● The principles of
the street. democracy are important.
● I work at a Santa Clarita ● Compassion is a trait I
school. value.
● The pencil sharpener is ● That group of stories is
broken. interesting.
● She lost her phone. ● I enjoy hiking with my
friends.
 Function in the sentence
● Subject: ________ is fun.
● Direct Object: I enjoy _________.
● Indirect Object: I gave _____ the book.
● Predicate Nominative: My hobby is ______.
● Object of the Prep: By ________, we won the game.
● Object Complement: They named the child ________
● Objects of verbals and the subject of the infinitive

● Don’t worry if you are confused. You will know the sentence patterns
by the end of the semester!
S-V
● The dog eats.
● The dog is eating.
● The dog is outside.
● The dog is in the house.
● The dog jumps over the house.
Subject-Verb-Direct Object
● The d.o. is always a noun
● The d.o. will always follow an action verb- an
action that you can do to someone or to
something
● The d.o. will answer the question WHO or
WHAT
● The d.o. will NEVER be in a prepositional phrase
(cross them out!)
S-V-DO
●The dog eats food.
●The dog is eating my lunch.
●I grab my lunch.
●The dog bites my hand.
More Examples
● John fed his dog in the morning.
● Alyssa ate the orange with her lunch.
● David bought the motorcycle with his
Christmas money.
● Jonathan earned an A on his essay.
 Keep practicing!
● The girl in the pink sweater is also wearing a
fuzzy white scarf around her neck.
● The principal of the school cancelled school on
the Friday before Spring Break at the last
moment on Thursday.
● My dog eats her food from a glass bowl on the
floor in the kitchen and drinks her water from a
metal bowl on the floor by the glass bowl.
● On your gel board, write one sentence with a
subject, verb, direct object, and prep phrase
 Try it out!
● Write five sentences of your own. Make sure that the
verbs are actions you can do to someone or something.
● Each sentence must have a prep phrase and a direct object
● Cross out all prep phrases
● Label the Subject, Verb, and Direct Object.
 Indirect Objects!

● There must be a direct object

● Therefore, there must be an action verb
● The indirect object will always come BEFORE the
d.o.
● The indirect object answers the questions TO
WHOM, TO WHAT, or FOR WHOM
● The i.o. is NEVER in a prep phrase
● The i.o. is ALWAYS a noun
 S-V-IO-DO
● The dog brought me his bone.
● I gave him a treat.
● I sent my cousin a photo of my dog.
Verbs commonly used with
indirect objects:

● SEND
● LEND
● BRING
● GIVE
Examples:
● Kevin sent Kailey a rose for her birthday.
● Scotty lent me five dollars for lunch.
● Adam brought his teacher an apple on
Monday.
● Can you give your mother a message for
me?
 Indirect Objects
Indirect Objects can be rephrased as
prepositional phrases after the direct object:

● The dog brought his bone to me. (prep phrase)

● The dog brought me his bone. (indirect object)
● I sent a photo of my dog to my cousin. (prep ph.)
● I sent my cousin a photo of my dog. (indirect object)
 Questions???
● Did you send the letter with the picture?
● Would you lend me a thousand dollars?
● Will Sarah bring Tina a cup of coffee on
Friday?
● Can I give you this movie to watch over the
weekend?
Other verbs that work?
● I bought you a car for your birthday.
● She found her sister a dress for the
party.
● Joe emailed Lisa a list of things to do.
● His mom wrote him a note.
Try it out!

● Write five sentences of your own!

● Each sentence must have a
subject, verb, d.o., i.o. and prep
phrase.
● Label your sentences!
 Object
Complement

● S-V-DO-OC
 The Objective Complement

● An objective complement is an
adjective or a noun that appears
with a direct object and describes
or renames it.
● These do not occur often.
 Object Complements
Object Complements can either be nouns or
adjectives. They restate the direct object.

● I made my dog angry. (angry = adjective)

● I consider my dog a good companion.
(companion = noun)
Rules
● Objective complements do not occur often.
● They are often used with the following verbs:
● Appoint
● Name
● Make
● Think
● Call
More rules...
● An objective complement can only
be found in a sentence with a direct
object.
● To determine if a word is an
objective complement, say the verb
and the direct object, then ask
What?
 S-V-DO-OC

● The girl named her dog Bingo.

● The girl considered her dog intelligent.
Examples
● Ben called his dog Rover.
(Called his dog what?)

● The beautician made Anne’s hair short

and curly.
(made Anne’s hair what?)
 Recognizing the OC

● The neighborhood bully considered Martin a

friend.

● A card for Father’s Day makes my dad very

happy.

● That pleasant woman called me kind and

helpful.
● Mr. Fenston thinks other people obstinate.

● John’s uncle makes everyone welcome.

● Her friends nominated Jane president.

● The ointment made the wound less red and sore.

● Impulsively, she painted the doors to the
dining room pink.

● The boss appointed Ms. Brady chairwoman.

● Such experiences make life worthwhile.

Try it out!

Write five of your own sentences with

subjects, verbs, direct objects, and object
complements.
Label everything!
 Predicate Nominatives -
S - LV - PN
● There must be a linking verb (state of being
verb)
● The pn means the same thing as the subject
● The pn is NEVER in a prep phrase
● The pn is ALWAYS a noun
● The pn is ALWAYS on the RIGHT side of the
linking verb
What is a linking verb?
● Is
● Am
● Are
● Was
● Were
● Be
● Being
● Been
Other verbs
● Appear ● Seem
● Become ● Smell
● Feel ● Sound
● Grow ● Stay
● Taste
● Look
● Turn
● Remain
Examples:
● John is the captain.

● Is Tom the president of the class?

● I am the teacher.

● You are the student.

More examples:
● Chicago pizza is the best.

● My favorite hobby is gardening.

● Three miles is a long way.

● My computer is a new model.

Try it out!

● Write five sentences of your own and label

the subject, l.v. and p.n. in each.
S-LV-PA
Predicate Adjectives!
● There must be a linking verb
● A predicate adjective describes the subject
● The predicate adjective is NEVER in a prep
phrase
● The predicate adjective is always an adjective
● The predicate adjective is ALWAYS on the
right side of the verb
S-LV-PA
● The dog is hungry.
● Lunch tastes good.
● I feel replete.
● I become tired.
Examples
● Maren is beautiful!
● Matt appears sick.
● This exam looks difficult.
● That argument was nasty.
● His smile is very attractive
N.B.: A PA and a PN can never be
in the same sentence (clause).
● He is an intelligent man.
● She is a brilliant doctor.
● They are my best friends.
● Her cake was the best.
● That joke was the worst.
More examples to label
1. Her voice on the telephone sounded
muffled.
2. After work Eugene’s muscles felt stiff and
sore.
3. The mayor’s policy is important to our city.
4. My sandwich at the beach was gritty and
inedible.
5. Joan grew kinder and more understanding.
 WARNING!
Some verbs can be either linking or active!

● Yes: He grew tired.

● No: He grew vegetables.
● Yes: The perfume smells good.
● No: The perfume tester smells well.
● Yes: The soup tastes salty.
● No: I will taste the soup.
Try it out!

● Write five sentences with predicate

adjectives and label all parts of the
sentence.
 Put it all together!
● Write a paragraph which includes the
following sentence patterns:
● S-V
● S-V-DO
● S-V-IO-DO
● S-V-DO-OC
● S-LV-PN
● S-LV-PA