Tuesday Notes: Sentence Parts & Phrases
SUBJECT (s) —the main word (or word group) in the complete clause/sentence
1) must be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or infinitive
s (infinitive) s
Examples: (To err) is human. Many (people) say I am the coolest person.
2) It can NEVER be in a prepositional phrase
s
Example: During the night, (I) thought I heard a monster in the closet
3) “There” and “here” are never the subject of a sentence.
s
Example: There are many (birds) in the park.
s
There were three (kittens) cowering under the porch.
*SUPER BIG HINT: either (1) turn the sentence around—Many birds are in the park. Or
(2) remove the “there are/were” and look at the sentence that follows.
4) The subject can be a “you understood.” This happens usually when a command is issued to someone or something. The “you” is not stated, but it is UNDERSTOOD that you are talking to someone, whom you would call “you.”
Example: Bring me the remote control, please. (You bring it.)
VERB
µ transitive verb (vt) — takes a direct object. Must be an action verb.
See the word “trans” in the word “transitive”? Trans is a prefix meaning “across”—a “transitive” verb is one that conveys its action across onto another word—in other words, it transfers action, generally onto another noun (or noun-ish word) or pronoun.
Transitive Verb: The mailman gave me a letter. “Gave” is a transitive verb because it transfers
the action onto the “letter.” GAVE WHAT? The letter.
µ intransitive verb (vi) — does NOT take a direct object.
Intransitive Verb: I left yesterday. “Left” does not transfer action onto anything.
“Yesterday” is simply an adverb describing when “I” left.
Intransitive verb: I am happy.
*NOTE: ALL LINKING VERBS ARE INTRANSITIVE.
COMPLEMENT—completes the meaning of the subject and the verb.
Different types:
µ direct object (do)
o is a noun or pronoun
o follows an action verb
o is never in a prepositional phrase
o TO FIND IT, ASK: “Subject? Verb? What?”
Example: “I like grammar.” Subject? I. Verb? Like. What? Grammar.
µ indirect object (io)
o is a noun or pronoun
o comes before a direct object
o is never in a prepositional phrase
o TO FIND IT, ASK: “Subject? Verb? Direct object? To or for whom or what?”
Example: “He gave me the paper.” Subject? He. Verb? Gave. What? Paper. To whom? Me.
µ predicate nominative (pn)
o is a noun or pronoun
o follows a linking verb and RENAMES the subject
o TO FIND IT, ASK: “Subject? Linking verb? What?”
Example: “He is a nice guy.” Subject? He. Linking verb? Is. What? Guy.
µ predicate adjective (pa)
o is an adjective
o follows a linking verb and DESCRIBES the subject
o TO FIND IT, ASK: “Subject? Linking verb? What?”
Example: “He is nice.” Subject? He. Linking verb? Is. What? Nice.
µ Appositive/appositive phrase (appos)
o Noun or pronoun that follows or renames another noun or pronoun
Example: My son Beck likes trains. Ansley, my daughter, loves to dance.
µ Object of preposition (op)
o Follows the preposition to answer “what?”
Example: The key is under the rug. [Under “what?” = rug (object of preposition) ]
* If there’s no object, it’s not a preposition!
µ Object of infinitive (oi)
o Follows the infinitive to answer “what?”
Example: I want to eat pizza. [Eat “what?” = pizza (object of infinitive) ]
µ Object of gerund (og)
o Follows the gerund to answer “what?”
Example: I like eating pizza [Eating “what?” = pizza (object of gerund) ]
µ Object of participle (o par)
o Follows the participle to answer “what?”
Example: Riding his bike, he struggled up the hill. [Riding “what?” = bike (object of participle) ]
µ Prepositional phrase (prep ph)
o Group of words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun or pronoun
o Can act as an adjective (I want a room with a view.) or an adverb (His house is on the lake.)
µ Gerund Phrase (ger ph)
o Gerund plus its modifiers and objects
Example: Writing long essays can be fun.
µ Participle phrase (part ph)
o Participle plus its modifiers and objects
Example: Running down the hall, he bumped into the principal.
µ Infinitive phrase (inf ph)
o Infinitive plus its modifiers and objects
Example: He likes to eat pepperoni pizza.
µ Subject of Infinitive
o An infinitive sometimes has a subject: Jessie asked me to help her.
o If the subject of the infinitive is a pronoun, use the objective case.
µ Objective complement
o Noun or adjective that follows the direct object and answers “what?”
Example: The movie made me sad. [Me is the direct object.]
*HINT:
Complete Tuesday’s work in the following order to help make the process accurate and easier! Find the:
1) Find the VERB
- Decide if it’s transitive (action verb) or intransitive (linking verb)
2) Find the SUBJECT (ask who or what is completing the verb)
3) Use the chart below to label additional information depending on the verb type
Direct Object Indirect Object
ACTION VERB A noun or pronoun You CANNOT have an indirect
Decide if the action that receives the action object without a direct object.
verb is transitive. of the transitive verb. Is the noun/pronoun that comes
If the action verb is between the verb and the direct
intransitive, then you object.
have no complement.
VERB
Decide whether
it is ACTION or
LINKING. Predicate Adjective
An adjective that follows a linking verb and
describes the subject.
LINKING VERB
Decide if the word that
follows the linking verb
is an adjective or a
noun/pronoun.
Predicate Nominative
An noun/pronoun that follows a linking verb and
renames the subject.