Sentences

By Prof. Mark McDowell, M.A.

(eslwideworld.com)

A sentence is a complete thought (at least one independent clause) and requires a subject and a predicate.?In other words, there is something that you are talking about and something that it is doing or being.?The main element of the subject is always either a noun or pronoun (or a phrase or clause that is used as a noun), and the main element of the predicate is always a verb or verb phrase.?The predicate is everything that is not the subject.

Single clause sentences take five basic forms:

1) ?lt;/span>

Subject	Verb
Dogs	bark.

2)

Subject	Verb	Direct Object
Dogs	eat	bones.

Subjects and objects are always nouns or pronouns.?A direct object receives the action of the verb.?When there is an object the verb is said to be transitive, transferring its action to the object.?Verbs are not transitive or intransitive on their own;?it just depends if there is a direct object or not.

3)

Subject	Verb	Indirect Object	Direct object
The man	gave	his son	a car

Or: The man gave a car (d.o.) to his son (i.o.).

The indirect object is the receiver of the object or message and is often a person. You could also say, “The man gave a car to his son.?lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?Here the direct object is in the form of a prepositional phrase.

4)

Subject	linking verb	Subject Complement (predicate noun or predicate adjective renames or describes the subject)
John John	became is	a baseball player. (p.n.) handsome. (p.a.)

5)

Subject	Verb	Direct Object	Object Complement (renames or describes the direct object)
She They	called elected *	him him	a coward. president.

*?Verbs used here would include: appoint, elected, chose, believe, consider, judge, made, and name.