The Parts of the Sentence

 Every complete sentence must have at least one subject and one verb.  Although it is not necessary to have one in a sentence, many sentences also have at least one object.

Subject  The subject of any sentence is the person, place, object, or idea that the sentence is about.  The subject is the noun doing the action or being linked to a description.  The subject of a sentence is always a noun, a pronoun, or a noun phrase.  The subject can be singular or plural.

Verb  Action verbs indicate what the subject is doing, will do, or has done.  Linking verbs link the subject to a description of it or to a word that renames it.  Helping verbs are verbs that come before a main verb, creating a verb of more than one word.

Object  The object of a sentence, like the subject, is always a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase.  The object is not doing anything.  The object is receiving the action that the subject is doing.

Sentence Patterns: The Basic Structure of a Sentence. Most simple sentences follow this basic pattern: SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT The boy threw the ball.

Sentence Patterns: The Basic Structure of a Sentence. Inverted sentences are sentences in which the subject comes after the verb instead of before it. There are no excuses. Here are the files. Why did you break the dish? VERB + SUBJECT + OBJECT = inverted construction SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT = normal construction

Phrases and Clauses Since sentences are groups of words, it is important to distinguish between two important definitions.  Phrase -- a group of related words that does NOT have both a subject and verb.  Clause -- a group of related words with BOTH a subject and verb. Which of the two can a sentence be? If every sentence must have a subject and a verb, the answer is a CLAUSE.

Parts of a Sentence Practice identifying these parts when you read any sentence.