The Parts of the Sentence

The parts of the sentence are a set of terms for describing how people construct sentences from smaller pieces. There is not a direct correspondence between the parts of the sentence and the parts of speech, the subject of a sentence, for example, could be a noun, a pronoun, or even an entire phrase or clause. Like the parts of speech, however, the parts of the sentence form part of the basic vocabulary of grammar, and it is important that you take some time to learn and understand them.

(Also see Sentences, or follow the links to see more on a topic)

Subject	Predicate	Objects
Complements	Phrases	Clauses

Ø Subject

The subject of a sentence is the noun---or word group acting as a noun---that performs the action expressed in the predicate of a sentence or clause. The subject may be one word:

Sally loves chocolate. The subject may be in a noun phrase:

· Seeing the parade was exciting.

Predicate

The predicate is the part of the clause or sentence that says something about the subject. In other words, the part of the sentences that is not the subject and its modifiers is the predicate. A predicate can be one word or several words, not all of which are verbs.

Compound verbs are two or more verbs joined by a conjunction, (in this sentence, the word and) and relating to the same subject. The subject of the following sentences is cobra:

· The cobra saw the dog coming closer and raised itself into striking position.

· The cobra hissed, opened its hood, and prepared to strike.

Complete predicates are all the words in a clause or sentence except the subject and its modifiers:

· The cobra saw the dog coming closer and raised itself into striking position.

· The agile dog moved from side to side rapidly, trying to corner the cobra.

Ø Objects

The object of a sentence can be a noun, pronoun, or word group that acts as a noun, and receives the action of a verb or is influenced by a transitive verb, verbal (a word derived from a verb, i.e., gerund, infinitive, and participle), or a preposition. (More on Objects)

Direct object: Receives the action of a verb or verbal and frequently follows it in a sentence. Direct objects are often needed to complete the thought of a sentence. "Rueben reads the newspaper." "Reuben reads" is a complete sentence, but it doesn't express the complete thought. Reuben reads what? He reads the newspaper.

Indirect object: Tells for whom, to whom, or to what something is done. "Reuben reads his grandmother the newspaper." Reuben reads the newspaper to whom? to his grandmother. Grandmother is the indirect object. Pronouns are also used as indirect objects: "Reuben reads her the newspaper." Indirect objects often come between the verb and the direct object.

The sentence could also be: "Reuben reads the newspaper to his grandmother." The prepositional phrase to his grandmother is the indirect object of the sentence.

Object of Preposition: Objects follow prepositions and are linked by them to the rest of the sentence. (See Prepositional Phrase)

Complements (See also Complements page).

A word or word group that completes the meaning of a subject, an object, or a verb.

1. Subject complement: Follows a linking verb and modifies or refers to the subject. It may be a noun (also known as a predicate noun or nominative) or an adjective (also known as a predicate adjective).

Olivia is pretty. (The adjective pretty is a subject complement; it describes the subject, Olivia.)
Annie is an English teacher. (The noun phrase English teacher is also a subject complement; it describes Annie.)

2. Object complement: Follows and modifies or refers to a direct object.

Blake considers American television silly. (television is the direct object. silly describes television; it is the object complement.)
The judges elected her Miss Brazil, 2002. (Miss Brazil is the object complement, describing the direct object her.)

3. Verb complement: This is a direct or indirect object of a verb. It may be a noun, pronoun, or word or word group acting as a noun.

Aunt Gertie gave Patty my dessert. (Patty is the indirect object, my dessert is the direct object of the verb gave. Both are considered verb complements.)

The Phrase

A phrase is two or more words that do not contain the subject-verb pair necessary to form a clause. Phrases can be very short or quite long.

Ø Noun Phrases

A noun phrase includes a noun a person, place, or thing and the modifiers either before or after which distinguish it. The pattern looks like this:

optional modifier(s) + noun + optional modifier(s)

Noun phrases function as subjects, objects, and complements:

The shoplifted pair of jeans caused Nathaniel so much guilt that he couldn't wear them.

Jerome adopted a cat that refused to meow.

With her love of Shakespeare and knowledge of grammar, Jasmine will someday be a great English teacher.

Ø Verb Phrases

Sometimes a sentence can communicate its meaning with a one-word verb. Other times, however, a sentence will use a verb phrase, a multi-word verb, to express more nuanced action or condition. A verb phrase can have up to four parts. The pattern looks like this:

auxiliary verb(s) + main verb + verb ending when necessary

example:Should have been writing

Should, have, been = auxiliary verbs; write = main verb; writing = verb ending.

Ø Prepositional Phrases

At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a preposition and end with a noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the preposition. The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. These are the patterns for a prepositional phrase:

preposition + noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause

preposition + modifier(s) + noun, pronoun, gerund, or clause

example:Underneath the sagging yellow couch

Underneath = preposition; the, sagging, yellow = modifiers; couch = noun.

Ø Infinitive Phrases

An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to + simple form of the verb]. It will often include objects and or modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:

infinitive + object(s) and/or modifier(s)

example: To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of vegetarianism

Infinitive Phrases as noun

was Aaron's hope for their date at a nice restaurant.

Ø Participle Phrases

A participle phrase will begin with a present or past participle. If the participle is present, it will dependably end in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a consistent ed. Irregular past participles, unfortunately, conclude in all kinds of ways [although this list will help]. Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle phrase will often include objects and/or modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:

participle + object(s) and/or modifier(s)

Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence.

example: Shrunk in the dryer, the jeans hung above John's ankles.

Shrunk in the dryer modifies the noun jeans.

Ø Gerund Phrases

A gerund phrase will begin with a gerund, an ing word, and will often include other modifiers and/or objects. The pattern looks like this:

gerund + object(s) and/or modifier(s)

example: Susie tried holding the slippery trout, but the fish flipped out of her hands and splashed back into the stream.

Holding the slippery trout = direct object of the verb tried.

Ø Absolute Phrases

An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participle with any accompanying modifiers or objects. The pattern looks like this:

noun + participle + optional modifier(s) and/or object(s)

Clauses

A group of related words containing a subject and a predicate. See Phrases and Clauses.

1. Main (independent) clause: An independent clause can stand by itself as a complete sentence.

Amos left work early because his mother was ill. (Amos left work early is a complete sentence.)
Maggie loves pizza when it has extra cheese. (Maggie loves pizza is a complete thought.)
Charlie has had a backache because he tried to lift the cow. (Charlie has had a backache is a complete thought.)

2. Subordinate (dependent) clause: A subordinate clause cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.

Amos left work early because his mother was ill. (because his mother was ill is not a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone as a sentence.)
Maggie loves pizza when it has extra cheese. (when it has extra cheese is not a complete thought.)
Since he tried to lift the cow, Charlie has had a backache. (Since he tried to lift the cow is not a complete thought.)

Subordinate, or dependent clauses are introduced by using a subordinating conjunction. A subordinating conjunction is a word which joins a dependent clause and an independent clause together.

Punctuation

Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.

Punctuation is used to create sense, clarity and stress in sentences.

You use punctuation marks to structure and organise your writing. The most common of these are: the period (or full stop in British English), the comma, the exclamation mark, the question mark, the colon and semi-colon, the quote, the apostrophe, the hyphen and dash, and parentheses and brackets. Capital letters are also used to help us organise meaning and to structure the sense of our writing.

Ø The Comma

1. a series of phrases

On my birthday I went to the cinema, ate dinner in a restaurant,and went dancing.

2. a series of nouns

The meal consisted of soup, fish, chicken, dessert and coffee.

3. a series of adjectives

She was young, beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
Note: if an adjective is modifying another adjective you do not separate them with a comma - e.g. She wore a bright red shirt.

4. a series of verbs

Tony ran towards me, fell, yelled, and fainted.

5. a series of clauses

The car smashed into the wall, flipped onto its roof, slid along the road, and finally stopped against a tree.

Ø The period

1. to mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation.

I was born in Australia and now live in Indonesia.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

2. to indicate an abbreviation

I will be in between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Note: Dr and Mr and Mrs and Ms do not take a full stop nor do most abbreviations taken from the first capital letters such as MA Phd CNN

3. special case - three dots

The Lord's Prayer begins, 'Our Father which are in Heaven...'

4. fullstop after a single word

"Goodbye."
"Hello."

Ø The Question mark:

1. At the end of all direct questions

What is your name?

2. Do not use the question mark for reported questions

He asked me what my name was?

General notes:

1. Don't forget to place a question mark at the end of long sentences that contain a question

2. Sometimes a question mark can be placed within a sentence

Ø The Colon

1.You use a colon only after an independent clause.

2.You may not use a colon between a verb and its object or subject complement, or between a preposition and its object.

Ø The Dash

Placing parenthetical statement between dashes has the opposite effect; it emphasizes the material.

Article

An article is a word (or prefix or suffix) that is with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope.

Types

Within each type, languages may have various forms of each article, according to grammatical attributes such as gender, number, or case, or according to adjacent sounds.

1. Definite article

· Children know the fastest way home.

The latter sentence refers to children in general, perhaps all or most of them.

2. Indefinite article

· She had a house so large that an elephant would get lost without a map.

3. Partitive article

· Do you want (some) coffee? (or, dialectally but more accurately, Do you want some of this coffee?).

4. Negative article

· No man is an island.

· No dogs are allowed here.

Subject-Verb Agreement

1. The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.

Everyone has done his or her homework.
Somebody has left her purse.

Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending on what they're referring to.

Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.

On the other hand, there is one indefinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or plural; it often doesn't matter whether you use a singular or a plural verb — unless something else in the sentence determines its number.

None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
None of you claim responsibility for this incident?

None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their precludes the use of the singular verb.

2. Some indefinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also) certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though.

3. Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).

The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.

The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.

4. The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.

Neither of the two traffic lights is working.

Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.

5. The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb.

Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.

Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.

Are either my brothers or my father responsible?

Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

References:

Finch, G. 2000. Linguistic terms and concepts. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Kroeger, Paul 2005. Analyzing grammar: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Miller, J. 2011. A critical introduction to syntax. London: continuum.
Osborne, Timothy, Michael Putnam, and Thomas Gross 2011. Bare phrase structure, label-less structures, and specifier-less syntax: Is Minimalism becoming a dependency grammar? The Linguistic Review 28: 315-364.
Sobin, N. 2011. Syntactic analysis: The basics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

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