Sentence Structure and Grammar

• A sentence contains both a subject and a verb, expressing a complete thought.
• A sentence begins with a capital letter and concludes with appropriate punctuation.
• Sentence fragments lack either a subject, a verb, or do not express a complete thought.
• The subject identifies who or what the sentence is about.
• The predicate tells something about the subject.

Simple, Complete & Compound Subjects

• The simple subject is the main word or word group identifying the sentence's focus.
• The complete subject encompasses all words describing who or what the sentence is about.
• Compound subjects involve two or more subjects joined by a conjunction sharing the same verb.
• The simple predicate, or verb, is the main word or word group indicating the subject's action.
• The complete predicate includes the verb and all modifiers that describe the verb and its meaning.
• Compound predicates consist of two or more verbs connected by a conjunction with the same subject.
• A verb phrase comprises a main verb and one or more helping verbs.
• Helping verbs can assist in identifying the verb phrase.

Direct & Indirect Objects

• A direct object (DO) is a noun, pronoun, or word group that receives the verb's action.
• Direct objects answer the questions "whom?" or "what?" after a transitive verb.
• Direct objects never appear in prepositional phrases.
• A transitive verb is a verb that requires an object and includes the receiver of the action in the sentence.
• An indirect object (IO) appears in sentences with direct objects, indicating to whom, to what, for who or for what the verb's action is done.
• A sentence with an indirect object always has a direct object.
• If "to" or "for" precedes a noun or pronoun, that noun or pronoun is part of a prepositional phrase and cannot be a direct object.

Action, Linking & Helping Verbs

• A verb expresses action or a state of being.
• Action verbs indicate physical or mental activity and can be transitive or intransitive.
• Linking verbs connect the subject to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject.
• Linking verbs can often be replaced with an "=" sign.
• Forms of "be" (am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be) are linking verbs.
• Helping verbs assist the main verb in expressing action or state of being.
• A verb phrase includes a main verb and one or more helping verbs.

Adverbs & Prepositions

• An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
• Adverbs answer questions such as where, when, how, how much, to what extent, how long, and how often.
• A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word, often describing time, location, or direction.
• Prepositions always have an object, while adverbs do not.

Conjunctions & Interjections

• A conjunction joins words or word groups.
• Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) connect similar elements, and are usually preceded by a comma.
• Correlative conjunctions (both...and, either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, whether...or) are pairs that join words or word groups used in the same way.
• Subordinating conjunctions introduce an adverb clause.
• An interjection expresses emotion and has no grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence.
• Interjections are usually followed by an exclamation point, or sometimes set off by a comma.
• Strong interjections end with "!", mild with "," or ".", and weak with "?".

The Phrase

• A phrase is a group of related words used as a single part of speech, lacking both a subject and verb.
• A verb phrase has no subject.
• A prepositional phrase includes a preposition, its object, and any modifiers, lacking both a subject and a verb.
• An independent clause contains both a subject and verb, forming a complete thought.
• A dependent clause contains both a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought.
• A prepositional phrase includes a preposition, the object of the preposition, and any modifiers of that object.
• The noun completing the prepositional phrase is the object of the preposition.
• Articles (the, a, an) or other modifiers can appear in the prepositional phrase.
• Modifiers between the preposition and its object are part of the prepositional phrase.
• Prepositional phrases should not be confused with infinitives that start with "to."

Participles & Infinitives

• A verbal is a word formed from a verb but used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
• A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective.
• Present participles end in "-ing."
• Past participles typically end in "-ed" or "-d."
• A participle phrase includes a participle with its modifiers and complements, functioning as an adjective.
• A participle should be placed next to the word it modifies.
• An infinitive is a verb form that can be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb, mostly beginning with "to."
• An infinitive phrase consists of the infinitive and its modifiers and complements.

The Clause

• A clause is a word group containing a verb and its subject, used as part of a sentence.
• An independent clause expresses a complete thought.
• A subordinate (dependent) clause does not express a complete thought on its own and is often punctuated as a sentence fragment.
• Independent clauses can be joined by coordinating conjunctions.
• Subordinate clauses sometimes follow a subordinating conjunction.
• Subordinate clauses require at least one independent clause to form a complete sentence.
• Subordinate clauses may appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.

Types of Sentence Structure

• A simple sentence contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.
• A simple sentence may have a compound subject, verb, or both.
• A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses and no dependent clauses.
• Independent clauses in a compound sentence are usually joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
• A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
• A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects require singular verbs; plural subjects require plural verbs.
• The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following the subject.
• Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a definite person, place, thing, or idea.
• Singular indefinite pronouns include anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everyone.
• Plural indefinite pronouns: both, few, many, several.
• Indefinite pronouns like all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural based on the sentence's meaning.
• For these pronouns, the number is often determined by the object of the prepositional phrase following the subject.
• Subjects joined by "and" usually take a plural verb.
• A compound subject naming only one person or thing takes a singular verb.
• Collective nouns are singular in form but name a group.
• Collective nouns take a singular verb when referring to the group as a unit and a plural verb when referring to individual parts or members.
• Some plural nouns (electronics, civics, measles, news) take singular verbs.
• An expression of an amount may be singular or plural depending on its use.
• Expressions of measurement (length, width, area) are usually singular.
• Titles of creative works, organizations, or countries generally take singular verbs.

Test your knowledge of sentence structure, including compound subjects, verb phrases, direct and indirect objects, and compound predicates. Explore transitive verbs, subject placement, participle phrases, and infinitive phrases, and subordinate clauses.