Basic Sentence Structure PDF

BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE Parts of Sentences: Subject, Predicate, Object, Indirect Object, Complement Every word in a sentence serves a specific purpose within the structure of that particular sentence. According to rules of grammar, sentence structure can sometimes be quite complicated. For the sake...

BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE Parts of Sentences: Subject, Predicate, Object, Indirect Object, Complement Every word in a sentence serves a specific purpose within the structure of that particular sentence. According to rules of grammar, sentence structure can sometimes be quite complicated. For the sake of simplicity, however, the basic parts of a sentence are discussed here. The two most basic parts of a sentence are the subject and predicate. SUBJECT [Who] The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action verbs of the sentence. The subject represents what or whom the sentence is about. The simple subject usually contains a noun or pronoun and can include modifying words, phrases, or clauses. The man... PREDICATE The predicate expresses action or being within the sentence. The simple predicate contains the verb and can also contain modifying words, phrases, or clauses. The man / builds a house. The subject and predicate make up the two basic structural parts of any complete sentence. In addition, there are other elements, contained within the subject or predicate, that add meaning or detail. These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject complement. All of these elements can be expanded and further combined into simple, compound, complex, or compound/complex sentences. DIRECT OBJECT The direct object receives the action of the sentence. The direct object is usually a noun or pronoun. The man builds a house. The man builds it. INDIRECT OBJECT The indirect object indicates to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is being done. The indirect object is usually a noun or pronoun. The man builds his family a house. The man builds them a house. SUBJECT COMPLEMENT A subject complement either renames or describes the subject, and therefore is usually a noun, pronoun, or adjective. Subject complements occur when there is a linking verb within the sentence (often a linking verb is a form of the verb to be). -The man is a good father. (Father = noun which renames the subject) -The man seems kind. (Kind = adjective which describes the subject) Note: As an example of the difference between parts of speech and parts of a sentence, a noun can function within a sentence as subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, or subject complement. Adverbs of Definite Frequency [How] Adverbs of definite frequency occur at the beginning or the end of a sentence. Common ones are hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Other ones are once a month, every month, and every other month. In each one, month can be replaced with hour, day, week, or year Examples: Every day, some employees go out for lunch. Some employees go out for lunch every day. Adverbs of Indefinite Frequency Adverbs of indefinite frequency include always, usually, never, often, very often, rarely, sometimes, seldom, once in a while, repeatedly, typically, hardly ever, and occasionally. Adverbs of indefinite frequency occur in the middle of the sentence. Where exactly it is placed depends on the type of verbs in the sentence. There are three possible places: 1. Between the subject and the main verb UNLESS the verb is a form of be: is, am, are, was, were. Examples: -She often takes her vacation in winter. -The employees always work until seven. -The manager usually arrives first at the staff meetings. 2. After the be verb form when it is the main verb. Examples: -She is often ill in winter. -The employees are always working until seven. -The manager is usually the first person to arrive. 3. Between the helping verb and the main verb. This is always true, even when the main verb is a verb form of be. Examples: -She has often gone on vacation in winter. -The employees can always work until seven. -The manager will usually arrive first at the staff meetings. Incorrect: The owners have been rarely unreasonable. Correct: The owners have rarely been unreasonable. SENTENCE TYPE Sentences come in a variety of shapes and lengths. Yet whatever their shapes and lengths (or types), all sentences serve one of only a few very basic purposes. Sentence Type Sentence variety is not about mere novelty; it is about meaning. You can avoid boredom (yours and your readers') and choppiness by varying your sentence types. Longer, more complex sentences can increase the impact of a shorter, simpler sentence. Every sentence is one of the following types.  Simple  Compound  Complex  Compound/Complex In order to vary your writing, you want to be able to construct sentences of each kind. To master these four types, though, you really only need to master two things: independent and dependent clauses. This is because the four types of sentences are really only four different ways to combine independent and dependent clauses. What is the difference between Independent and Dependent clauses? Independent clauses are essentially simple, complete sentences. They can stand alone or be combined with other independent clauses. Dependent clauses are unfinished thoughts that cannot stand alone; they are a type of sentence fragment and must be joined to independent clauses. The simple sentence A simple sentence is simple because it contains only one independent clause: -Justin dropped his Agricultural Economics class. A simple sentence is not necessarily short or simple. It can be long and involved, with many parts and compound elements. But if there is only one independent clause, it is, nevertheless, a simple sentence. The following example has a single independent clause with a single subject (Justin) and a compound verb (gulped, swallowed, groaned, and decided): Justin gulped down his fourth cup of coffee, swallowed a Tylenol for his pounding headache, groaned, and decided he would have to drop his Agricultural Economics class. The compound sentence When you join two simple sentences properly, you get a compound sentence. Conversely, a compound sentence can be broken into two complete sentences, each with its own subject and its own verb. You can join simple sentences to create compound sentences either of two ways: -With a semicolon -With a comma and coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) For example, the following pairs of independent clauses can be joined either way: -Homer has Basic Plant Science on Mondays and Wednesdays; Environmental Horticulture conflicted with his schedule. -Homer has Basic Plant Science on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Environmental Horticulture conflicted with his schedule. (Be aware that if you join two simple sentences improperly, you do not get a compound sentence; you get a run-on, most likely either a comma splice or a fused sentence. The complex sentence A complex sentence is a sentence that contains both a dependent and an independent clause. In the following example, both clauses contain a subject and a verb, but the dependent clause has, in addition, the dependent-making words even though. If you start the sentence with the dependent-making words (or subordinating conjunction), place a comma between the clauses. On the other hand, if you start with the independent clause and place the dependent-making words in the middle of the sentence, do not use a comma: -Even though Eva took Turf Management just to fill out her schedule, she found it unexpectedly interesting. -Eva found Turf Management unexpectedly interesting even though she took it just to fill out her schedule. The compound-complex sentence A compound-complex sentence combines at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. The punctuation rules remain the same: the two simple sentences are joined by one of the two methods described above, and the dependent clause is punctuated (or not) depending on whether it precedes or follows an independent clause. In the following example, the dependent-making word signaling the beginning of the dependent clause is while: -Homer was already in class, and Eva was in the lab while Justin was sleeping off his headache. -While Justin was sleeping off his headache, Homer was already in class, and Eva was in the lab. -Homer was already in class while Justin slept off his headache; Eva was in the lab.