Parts of a Sentence

PARTS OF A SENTENCE 

THE 5 PARTS OF A SENTENCE INCLUDE: SUBJECT, SIMPLE PREDICATE, DIRECT OBJECT, INDIRECT OBJECT, SUBJECT COMPLEMENT 

INSTRUCTOR: MATT WEBER

SUBJECT

WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT  

• The subject or simple subject is the noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. 
• ONE WORD 

• Ex. Dickinson wrote poetry 
• Ex. We went to school yesterday. ( went=verb/action)

• The complete subject includes the simple subject + all of its modifiers.

• Ex. Every student finished the exam. 
•  Every modifies student which does the action, finishing the exam. 

• Subject Pronouns - I, You, He, She, it, we, you, they (pronouns for subjects)

• Can be sentence subjects
• Indefinite pronouns - Someone, Somebody, Nobody, No One, Everybody
• Indefinite pronouns are always singular subjects 

• Object Pronouns - Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, You, Them (pronouns for Objects)

PREDICATE 

WHAT WE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE SUBJECT 

THE PREDICATE IS THE VERB AND OTHER WORDS THAT ARE ABOUT THE SUBJECT AND IS THE SIDE OF THE SENTENCE THAT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT THE SUBJECT. 

• The Simple Predicate is the verb.

• Ex. Thoreau went to see his mother.

• In this sentence went is the verb(simple predicate) and Thoreau is the simple subject. 

• The Complete Predicate is everything that is said about the subject. 

• Ex. Thoreau went to the cabin near the pond and lived simply. 

• In this sentence Thoreau is still the simple subject and went is still the simple predicate but the statement “went to the cabin near the pond and lived simply” is the Complete Predicate. 

• Predicate usually means the simple predicate 

• Compound Verb : when a subject in a sentence has two verbs 

• In a sentence a compound verb can be a predicate

DIRECT OBJECT

THE DIRECT OBJECT IS A NOUN OR PRONOUN 

A DIRECT OBJECT IS A NOUN, OBJECT PRONOUN, OR INDEFINITE PRONOUN THAT RECEIVES THE ACTION OF THE ACTION VERB.

• Ex. Homer writes stories
• Ex. I asked someone
• Ex. she helped you and me 

• Writes, asked, and helped are all the action verbs

• The action verb is called transitive, when there is a direct object, because the verb carries a transit of energy from the subject to the object. 
• When the action verb does not act on a direct object, we call the action verb intransitive. 

Transitive Action Verb: The hungry traveler gobbled his food.

Intransitive Action Verb: The hungry traveler gobbled noisily.

Passive Voice Action Verb: The food was gobbled noisily.

Linking Verb: The traveler was hungry.

INDIRECT OBJECT

THE NOUN OR PRONOUN THAT IS LOCATED BETWEEN THE ACTION VERB AND THE DIRECT OBJECT AND THAT IS INDIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE ACTION 

• The indirect object cannot come after the direct object
• Ex.  She told him the anecdote
• Ex.  Hamlet gave Polonius an equivocal answer

• Him and Polonius are Indirect objects that come after the action verb and in between the Direct Object. 

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

The subject complement is the noun, pronoun, or adjective that is linked into an equation with the subject by a linking verb. 

A SUBJECT COMPLEMENT IS A NOUN, SUBJECT PRONOUN, INDEFINITE PRONOUN, OR ADJECTIVE THAT COMPLEMENTS THE SUBJECT 

IT IS LINKED TO THE SUBJECT BY A LINKING VERB

• It almosts in a sense renames the subject. 
• Ex. Shelly was Byron's friend.
• The main linking verb is to be. 

• It smells Acrid

• Predicative Nominative : when the subject is a noun or a pronoun
• Predicative Adjective :  when the subject complement is an adjective 

We need a AVP to have a direct and Indirect object in a clause

We need a linking verb to have a subject complement