Transcript subject verb

A subject tells whom or
what the sentence is about.
 Aunt Louise found a
beautiful antique lamp at the
garage sale.
 The kitten with the white
paws is called Boots.
 Where are your mittens,
Kris?
 How surprised we were!
To find the subject, ask WHO or WHAT
is doing something or ABOUT WHOM
or WHAT something is being said.
Laughing and running down the street were two
small boys.
Who were laughing and running down the street?
Two small boys
A sealed envelope rested near the edge of the
desk.
What rested near the edge of the desk?
A sealed envelope
Are Dalmatians very good watchdogs?
About what is something being said? Something is
being said about Dalmatians.
Can horses and cattle swim?
What can swim? Horses and cattle can swim.
To find the subject in a
question, turn the question
into a statement. Then, ask
WHO or WHAT is doing
something or ABOUT WHOM
or WHAT something is being
said.
QUESTION
Did they win the race?
STATEMENT
They did win the race.
Who did win?
They did.
They is the subject.
The complete subject consists of all
the words that tell whom or what the
sentence is about. The simple subject
is part of the complete subject.
The simple subject is the main word or
word group that tells whom or what
the sentence is about.
The dangerous trip over the mountains took
four days.
The complete subject is the dangerous trip—the
simple subject is trip.
In the last forty years, he has missed seeing
only one home game.
The complete AND simple subject is he.
Pacing back and forth in the cage was a
hungry tiger.
The complete subject is a hungry tiger—the
simple subject is tiger.
Joey arrived late for the dance.
The complete AND simple subject is Joey.
As you can see in the following
examples, the simple subject may
consist of more than one word.
EXAMPLES




Stamp collecting is my father’s
favorite hobby.
Containing over eighty million
items, the Library of Congress is
the nation’s largest single library.
Madeleine Albright was
appointed secretary of state.
Accepting the award was Leo
Kolar.
The simple subjects in the four
preceding examples are all
compound nouns.
The subject of a sentence is
never in a prepositional
phrase.
EXAMPLES

Several of the players hit
home runs.


[Who hit home runs? Several
hit home runs. Players is part of
the prepositional phrase of the
players.]
At the end of our street is a
bus stop.

[What is? Bus stop is. End and
street are parts of the
prepositional phrases At the
end and of our street.]
Sometimes crossing out the
prepositional phrases in a
sentence can help you find
the subject.
EXAMPLES
The girl in the red boots is
Marlene.
The boy at school looked
around the gym.
The book by J.R. Rawlings
sold millions of copies.
The predicate of a sentence
tells something about the
subject.
The complete predicate
consists of a verb and all the
words that describe the verb
and complete its meaning.
EXAMPLES




Marco’s brother delivers
pizzas.
Under a large bush sat the tiny
rabbit.
Does this copier staple and
fold documents?
How talented you are!
Where is the
predicate
located?
Sometimes the complete
predicate appears at the
beginning of a sentence.
EXAMPLES


On the tiny branch perched a
chickadee.
Covering the side of the hill
were wildflowers.
Part of the predicate may
appear on one side of the
subject and the rest on the
other side.
EXAMPLES


Before winter many birds fly
south.
Yesterday the movie star
signed autographs.
How can I find
the simple
predicate?
The simple predicate, or verb, is the
main word or word group that tells
something about the subject.
A simple predicate may be a oneword verb, or it may be a verb phrase
(a main verb and one or more helping
verbs).
EXAMPLES
These books are available in the
media center.
Our English class is reading the novel
Frankenstein.
The musicians have been rehearsing
since noon.
In this book, the term verb generally
refers to the simple predicate.
What about
those other
words around
the verbs?
The words not (–n’t) and
never, which are frequently
used with verbs, are not
part of a verb phrase. Both
of these words are
adverbs.
EXAMPLES
She did not believe me.
They haven’t left yet.
The two cousins had never
met.
I will never eat there again!
A compound subject consists of
two or more connected subjects
that have the same verb.
The most common connecting
words are and and or.
EXAMPLES

Keshia and Todd worked a
jigsaw puzzle.
 Either Carmen or Ernesto
will videotape the ceremony
tomorrow.
 Among the guest speakers
were an astronaut, an
engineer, and a journalist.
A compound verb consists of two or more
verbs that have the same subject.
A connecting word—usually and,or , or but—
is used between the verbs.
EXAMPLES

The dog barked and growled at the
stranger.

The man was convicted but later was
found innocent of the crime.

Some plants sprout, bloom, and wither
quickly.

You can leave now or wait for the others.
Notice in the last sentence that the
helping verb can is not repeated
before wait. In compound verbs, the
helping verb may or may not be
repeated before the second verb if
the helper is the same for both verbs.
 Both the subject and the verb of
a sentence may be compound.
In such a sentence, each subject
goes with each verb.
EXAMPLE

The guide and the hikers sat inside
and waited for the storm to pass. [The
guide sat and waited, and the hikers
sat and waited.]
There are times when a sentence
may contain more than one
subject or verb without containing
a compound subject or a
compound verb.
EXAMPLES
Noah entered the race, and he won.
[compound sentence]
SUBJECT VERB
Sentence: Khahn laughed.
Khahn
laughed
Start with a horizontal line, the
simple subject ALWAYS goes
first, draw a vertical line, then the
verb or verb phrase follows!
Sentence: Niyat was singing.
Niyat was singing
Diagram It!
A graphic organizer for a sentence
A sentence may be
classified, depending on its
purpose, as
 Declarative
 Imperative
 Interrogative
 Exclamatory
A declarative sentence
makes a statement and
ends with a period.
EXAMPLES
Miriam Colón founded the
Puerto Rican Traveling
Theatre.
Curiosity is the beginning of
knowledge.
Lani wondered why the sky
looks blue.
An imperative sentence gives a
command or makes a request. Most
imperative sentences end with a
period. A strong command ends with
an exclamation point.
EXAMPLES
John, please close the door. [request]
Do your homework each night. [mild
request]
Stop her! [strong command]
The subject of an imperative sentence is
always you. Often the you is not stated. In
such cases, you is called the understood
subject.
EXAMPLES
[You] Do your homework each night.
[You] Stop her!
John, [you] please close the door. [John is a
noun of direct address identifying the
person spoken to in the sentence. The
understood subject is still you.]
An interrogative sentence
asks a question and ends
with a question mark.
EXAMPLES
What do you know about
glaciers?
Was the game exciting?
How do diamonds form?
An exclamatory sentence
shows excitement or strong
feeling and ends with an
exclamation point.
EXAMPLES
What a sight the sunset is!
How thoughtful Tim was to rake
the leaves!
Sarah won the VCR!