The Sentence: Subject, Predicate, Kinds of Sentences Chapter 1

The Sentence A sentence is a word or word group that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought Example: The baseball team won the championship. A sentence fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but does not contain both a subject and a verb Does not express a complete thought Example: After they won the championship. A sentence consists of two parts: subject and predicate

Subject Tells whom or what the sentence is about Example: The pitcher struck out the batter. Example: The fans cheered for the team. To find the subject ask who or what is doing something or whom or what is being talked about Who struck out the batter? The pitcher The Pitcher is the subject Who cheered for the team? The fans The fans are the subject The subject may come at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence

Simple Subject The main word or word group that tells whom or what the sentence is about Example: The nine determined players never gave up. Simple subject is players May consist of one or several words Example: The Chicago Bears have started pre-season games. Simple subject is The Chicago Bears, since it is the name of the team Usually proper nouns

Complete Subject Consists of all the words that tell whom or what the sentence is about Example: The nine determined players never gave up. Complete subject: The nine determined players Complete subject is the subject and all the words that describe the subject To find the simple subject, eliminate words until the sentence does not make sense anymore

The Predicate Tells something about the subject Example: The player ran. Predicate: ran

Simple Predicate The main word or word group that tells something about the subject Usually the verb Example: The batter swung the bat. Simple predicate: swung

Complete Predicate Consists of a verb and all the words that describe the verb and complete its meaning Example: The batter swung the bat. Complete predicate: swung the bat

The Verb Phrase Verbs that include one or more helping verbs Some simple predicates, or verbs, consist of more than one word called verb phrases Example: The team is winning the game. Verb Phrase: is winning

Compound Subject Consists of two or more subjects that are joined by a conjunction Common conjunctions used are: and, or Example: Konerko and Beckham hit a homerun. Compound subject: Konerko and Beckham

Compound Verb Consists of two or more verbs that are joined by a conjunction and that have the same subject Common conjunctions used are: and, or, but Example: The team played well but lost the game anyway. Compound verb: played, lost

Kinds of Sentences Declarative – makes a statement and ends with a period Example: Robin Ventura is the manager of the Sox. Imperative – gives a command or makes a request, most end with a period but can end with an exclamation point Example: Run to first base. Example: Stop!

Kinds of Sentences Continued Interrogative – asks a question and ends with a question mark When was the last time the Cubs won the World Series? Exclamatory – shows excitement or expresses strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point The White Sox win the World Series!