ENGLISH 1N (Remedial English)

MODULE 2

SENTENCES
Words are combined to make up sentences. A sentence is a complete thought. Almost everything you
read is made up of sentences. Every word in a sentence is, of course, one of the eight parts of speech. A
sentence might contain more than one instance of a certain part of speech (for example, four nouns, or three
verbs, or five adjectives) and does not need to contain all the parts of speech. In fact, hardly any sentence would
contain all eight parts of speech. However, remember that each word in a sentence is one of the eight parts of
speech. Each word in a sentence also performs a certain function in the sentence. These functions will be
described in this chapter. The function a word performs in the sentence is not always the same as its part of
speech. “Parts of speech” refers only to these eight words: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective (and article), adverb,
preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
Knowing how sentences are formed and what a sentence requires will help your writing.

Lesson One: Subjects

Every sentence has a subject. The subject is the who or what that the sentence is about. The subject of
the sentence is always a noun or a pronoun (or a group of words that functions as a noun, but don’t worry about
that right now.) The subject is usually whatever or whoever is doing the action of the verb. The subject is often
the first word in a sentence, but not always. There are sometimes introductory words, phrases, or clauses.
However, the subject usually does come before the verb it belongs to, wherever that might be in the sentence.
Every sentence needs a subject (or more than one). To find the subject, first find the verb and ask who is doing
the action. If there are two subjects, generally joined with a conjunction (for example, Jack and Jill), we call that
a compound subject.

1. The man tied his shoes. (The subject is man.)

2. Everyone is going to the movies. (The subject is everyone, a pronoun.)
3. Who is knocking at the door? (The subject is who.)
4. After school, she and I always do our homework. (The subjects are she and I; remember that more
than one subject is called a compound subject.)
5. Do you know who is at the door? (The subject is you.) In a question, it is often easier to find the
subject and the verb if you make the question a statement: You do know who is at the door.

Complete Subjects
Sometimes adjectives or phrases are part of a subject, along with the noun or pronoun. The entire subject
is called the complete subject. For example:

(complete subject) (complete predicate)

The girl in the blue dress / is walking toward the school.

In the above sentence, the girl in the blue dress is the complete subject. The verb phrase (It simply refers
to the verb and any helping verb with it) is is walking, which is also the simple predicate. The complete
predicate is is walking toward the school, which is the whole sentence without the complete subject.

Lesson Two: Predicates

The predicate of the sentence is the verb. The verb, along with any helping verbs it may have, is called
the simple predicate. The complete predicate is actually the whole sentence except for the subject. Every
sentence needs at least one verb.

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Lesson Three: Objects
Like subjects, objects are always nouns or pronouns (or groups of words that function as a noun). Unlike
subjects and verbs, sentences do not need to have objects to be complete sentences. However, most sentences
have objects. There are three kinds of objects a sentence might have: direct, indirect, and objects of
prepositions. A sentence can have any combination of the three types of objects, or no object at all.

Direct Objects
Direct objects receive the action of the verb. If you ask what? or who? about the verb, the answer will be
the direct object. Here are some examples:

I threw the ball at Jim. (Threw what? The ball is the direct object.)
We ate pizza for dinner last night. (Ate what? Pizza is the direct object.)
Last week, I wrote three papers for history class. (Wrote what? Papers is the direct object. Three
is an adjective describing how many papers. It doesn’t really matter if you include that as
part of the direct object.)
We walked to the movies yesterday afternoon. (Walked what? The sentence doesn’t answer this
question, so there is no direct object.)You might think to the movies would be the direct
object. However, it doesn’t answer who? or what? and it is a prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrases are not direct objects, nor will any part of a prepositional phrase be a
direct object.)
We walked the dog around the block. (Walked what? Dog is the direct object here. So unlike in
the previous example, the verb walked has a direct object here.)

Verbs that have a direct object in a particular sentence are called transitive. Verbs without a direct object
are called intransitive. Some verbs are usually transitive; others are always intransitive. Other verbs can be
either transitive or intransitive, depending on the sentence.

Indirect Objects
Indirect objects come between the verb and the direct object. You cannot have an indirect object unless
you also have a direct object, but you can have a direct object without an indirect object. Examples will help
here!

I threw the ball at James. (The direct object is ball— answers threw what?)
Jane ate three pieces of cake. (The direct object is pieces—ate what? The direct object is not cake
because cake is part of a prepositional phrase. You won’t find the direct or indirect object in a
prepositional phrase.)
I gave her a gift. (Gift is the direct object—gave what? The indirect object is her.)
Mom baked me a cake. (The direct object is cake— baked what? The indirect object is me.)

Some verbs lend themselves to having indirect objects, but there are many verbs that will never have an
indirect object. It is rare to make a grammatical mistake with indirect objects, so don’t worry. Do note,
however, the following two sentences that mean the same thing:
She gave me the tickets to the concert.
She gave the tickets to the concert to me.

In the first sentence, me is the indirect object (tickets is the direct object). In the second sentence, there
is no indirect object. To me is a prepositional phrase.

Objects of a Preposition
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition (for example, in, out, up, down, with, along, between,
etc.), usually followed by an article (a, an, or the), and then always by a noun or pronoun. This noun or pronoun
is the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:

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 Jimmy ran up the stairs. (Stairs is the object of the preposition up.)
In Paris we saw the Eiffel Tower. (Paris is the object of the preposition in. There is no article in this
phrase.)
Something is stuck between the pages. (Pages is the object of the preposition between.)

✎ We mentioned compound subjects and objects. Any type of object can be compound. Verbs can be
compound too. Here are some examples:

Jack and Jill came down the hill. (compound subject— Jack and Jill)
We ate and drank until we were stuffed! (compound verb—ate and drank)
He read mysteries and science fiction most of the time. (compound direct object—mysteries and science
fiction)
Maddie baked my sister and me a pie. (compound indirect object—my sister and me)
He sent the memo to my boss and me. (compound object of the preposition—my boss and me)

Lesson Four: Predicate Words

Linking verbs do not have objects. Because linking verbs function as equal signs in a sentence, there is
no receiver of the action of the verb. Linking verbs have predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives (nouns)
that may look like objects. Here are some examples of predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives.

I am a writer. (Am is a linking verb, so writer is not an object. Since writer is a noun, it is called a
predicate nominative.)
I am happy. (Am is a linking verb, so there is no object. Since happy is an adjective, it is called a
predicate adjective.)
It seems cold outside. (Seems is a linking verb, so there is no object. Cold is a predicate adjective.)
This cookie tastes stale. (Tastes is a linking verb here, so there is no object. Stale is a predicate
adjective.)

✎ Remember that a linking verb connects the words before and after it. It functions as an “equal” sign in the
sentence. The subject and the predicate word are equal. In the examples at the beginning of this lesson, I is the
“same” as writer and happy. However, when there is an action verb, there is no linking of words before and
after the verb. In the example I threw the ball, threw is not linking I and ball. I am not equal to a ball!

Lesson Five: The Four Kinds of Sentences

Here we will identify the kinds of sentences by describing what the sentence is doing.

Declarative Sentence
A declarative sentence makes a statement and generally has a period at the end of it. Here are two
examples:
I am changing jobs next week.
We all enjoyed the concert last night.

Interrogative Sentence
Interrogative sentence is a fancy name for a sentence that asks a question. This type of sentence would
generally end with a question mark. Here are two examples:

Which movie do you want to see?

Did you ask her if she has the report ready?

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✎ On the other hand, I asked her if she had the report ready is not a question even though the word asked is
there. It is simply a declarative sentence, or a statement.

Imperative Sentence
Imperative sentence is a fancy name for a sentence that gives a command. These sentences usually end
with a period. Here are two examples:

Please do your chores now.

Go to the store and get some salad for dinner.

✎ When you look at most commands, they do not seem to have a subject. For example, you might tell your
dog, “Sit.” While that may not look like a sentence (since it is only a verb), it is actually a sentence. Most
commands do not have a subject visible in the sentence. However, there is an implied subject, which is usually
indicated in grammar books by putting the subject in parentheses. What is the subject? You. It is the person you
are talking to:
(You) please do your chores now.
(You) go to the store and get some salad for dinner.

Exclamatory Sentence
An exclamatory sentence expresses emotion (usually excitement of some type) and ends with an
exclamation point. Notice that sometimes an interrogative (question) or imperative (command) can be treated as
an exclamatory sentence, although most of the time the sentence is declarative said with emotion. Here are
some examples:

There is a fire in the garage!

Don’t crash into that car! (also imperative)
What do you think you’re doing! (also interrogative)

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