PARTS OF A

SENTENCE
GRAMMAR: UNIT 6

SENTENCE
A sentence is a grammatically complete group of
words that express a thought.
A sentence fragment is a group of words that is
not grammatically complete.
FRAGMENT: Went to the movies.
FRAGMENT: When he received his award.
SENTENCE: They had dinner before they went
to the movies.
SENTENCE: Leo cried softly when he received
his award.

SENTENCE
Every sentence has one of FOUR purposes:
Declarative sentences make a statement. They end with a
period.
Ex. He shouldnt win the election.
Ex. I want to go to that party.
Imperative sentence make a command or a request. They end
with either a period or an exclamation point.
Ex. Read the book.
Ex. Remember to clean your room.
Interrogative sentences ask a question. They end with a
question mark (obviously).
Where did I leave my shoe?
Exclamatory sentences express strong feelings. They end with
an exclamation point.
That is the most attractive person Ive ever seen!

TYPES OF SENTENCES
Daniel needs to buy new shoes.DECLARATIVE
I hate this song! EXCLAMATORY
Go to the store and buy me some
Oreos. IMPERATIVE
Do I need to do this? INTERROGATIVE
I need to go to the store to buy
Oreos. DECLARATIVE
Move away from me.IMPERATIVE
Study these notes so you can pass
your test. IMPERATIVE

SUBJECT
The subject is the part of the sentence that names
the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence
is about.
The simple subject is the key word or words in the
subject.
The complete subject is made up of the simple
subject and ALL OF its modifiers.
Ex. The controversial, award-winning movie has
been praised for its cast of beautiful actors
SIMPLE SUBJECT: The movie
COMPLETE SUBJECT: The controversial, awardwinning movie

PREDICATE
The predicate is the part of the sentence that tell what
the subject does, what it is, or what happens to it.
The simple predicate is always verb or verb phrase
that tells something about the subject.
The complete predicate contains the verb and ALL of
its modifiers, objects, and complements.
Ex. The controversial, award-winning movie has been
praised for its cast of beautiful actors.
SIMPLE PREDICATE: has been praised
COMPLETE PREDICATE: has been praised for its cast
of beautiful actors

CORRECTING SENTENCE
FRAGMENTS

1. Attach it. Join the fragment to a complete sentence before or

after it.
FRAGMENT: Because he was bored. He read the book.
REVISED: He read the book because he was bored.
2. Add some words. Add the words needed to make the group of
words grammatically correct.
FRAGMENT: When I go to Universal next week.
REVISED: Im going to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
when I go to Universal next week.
3. Drop some words. Drop the conjunction that creates a
fragment
FRAGMENT: And if he goes to the party, Ill be upset.
REVISED: If he goes to the party, Ill be upset.

FINDING THE SUBJECT

In an inverted sentence, the verb comes before
the subject.
Down came the rain.
V
S
Across the hall are the offices and labs.
V
S
S
Not inverted:
Several of my novels have won literary awards.
S
V

CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
1. Separate them. Add end punctuation and a capital letter
to separate the sentences.
RUN-ON: He was so annoying he sat by me and I almost
died.
CORRECTED: He was so annoying. He sat by me and I
almost died.
2. Use a conjunction. Use a coordinating or correlative
conjunction preceded by a comma.
RUN-ON: They want to go to the movies there is nothing
worth watching.
CORRECTED: They want to go the movies but there is
nothing worth watching.

CORRECTING RUN-ON
SENTENCES
3. Try a semicolon. Use a semicolon to separate two
sentences.
4. Create a clause. Turn one of the clauses into a
subordinate clause.
RUN-ON: I went to school I noticed everyone was
mysteriously missing.
CORRECTED: When I went to school, I noticed that
everyone was mysteriously missing.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT

OBJECTS

A direct object (DO) is a noun or pronoun that receives the

action of an action verb.
Ex. They asked her what she wanted for her birthday.
Ex. His landlord is raising the rent.
An action verb that takes an object is called a transitive verb.
An action verb that doesnt take an object is called an
intransitive verb.
An indirect object is a noun or pronoun that answers the
questions to whom or for whom or to what or for what
following an action verb
Ex. You better hand me (IO) that remote control (DO).
Ex. For their anniversary, he bought her (IO) Chipotle (DO).

DIRECT AND INDIRECT

OBJECTS
subj.

action verb

direct obj.

action verb

indirect obj direct obj.

Andy brought a flower.

subj.

Andy

brought
flower.

me

PREDICATE NOMINATIVES
Sometime a sentence is incomplete even though it
has a subject and verb.
Ex. The music sounds. (music = subject, sounds =
verb)
A linking verb needs a subject complement a noun
or an adjective in order to express a complete
thought.
Ex. The music sounds terrible.
Ex. The lead singer of the band is leaving.
Subject complements fall into one of two categories
predicate nominatives and predicate adjective

PREDICATE NOMINATIVES
AND PREDICATE ADJECTIVES
Predicate nominative: a noun or pronoun that
follows a linking and RENAMES OR IDENTIFIES
the subject of the sentence.
Ex. My teacher is Ms. Mendoza.
Ex. The lead singer of the band was Bernie
Sanders.
A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a
linking verb and modifies or describes the subject.
My chicken bowl tasted amazing.
His twitter rant was ridiculous.