Lecture Two

Sentences

Sentence Structure

The sentence is a grammatical unit that is syntactically independent i.e. the sentence has to fulfill the following requirements.

1-    It needs a subject (noun or pronoun). This is usually the person, thing or concept that does the action in the sentence and is called the actor. It tells who or what the sentence is about:

e.g. Jack ran / Jill ran..................Jak and Jill ran

2-    It needs a predicate (verb or verb phrase). This is usually the action that the actor does

e.g. Jack ran

 e.g.  Jill is taller than Jack

The Sentence

• 3- 

  It has to express a complete thought i.e. the sentence should supply enough information so that you are satisfied. If the sentence reads like the following examples, you should know that something is missing:

-         Because Jack and Jill were running up the hill

-         Jack and Jill are

-         Running up the hill in order to go to university

Here are some more examples of subjects and verbs in a complete sentence

In each sentence below, find the subject and the predicate. (Draw a vertical line between the subject and the predicate. Example: The book /fell off the pupil's desk.

- 1. Ms. Phillips handed out the test booklets.

- 2. All of my friends came to my party.

- 3. Gloria studies Spanish.

- 4. Ice hockey is my favorite winter sport.

- 5. The janitor found a wool cap in the locker room.

-  6. I ate a turkey sandwich for lunch.

- 7. Toby remembered the correct answer.

-  8. My boots are waterproof.

- 9. The antique china teapot is from England.

- 10. Anne sang a medley of songs.

- 11. The librarian showed us several new books.

 12. Bobbie played tennis with Mike.