Sentence Basics
Identify subjects, predicates, phrases, clauses, fragments, and run-ons. Revise sentences for completeness and clarity.
A lesson of English 9, in Language, Grammar, and Vocabulary, about 25 minutes.
Sentence Basics: Subjects, Predicates and Phrases
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to find the subject and predicate of any sentence, tell a phrase from a clause, and name the job each part is doing.
Every Sentence Makes a Claim About Something
Strip a sentence back and two things are always left: something being talked about, and what is being said about it.
The tired student finished her essay.
Something: the tired student. What is said about it: finished her essay.
That is not a rule to memorize, it is what a sentence is. Miss one of the two and you do not have a sentence, you have a fragment, which is the single most common thing a red pen circles.
The two halves have names.
- The subject is what the sentence is about
- The predicate is everything said about it, and it always contains the verb
Label It: The Two Halves
Every sentence below splits into a subject and a predicate. Put each label on the part it names.
The Subject Is Not Always One Word
"The tired student" is three words, and all three are the subject. The noun at its center is the simple subject, and the whole group is the complete subject.
The tired student finished her essay. simple subject: student · complete subject: the tired student
The same is true of the predicate. The verb at its center is the simple predicate; everything said about the subject is the complete predicate.
The reason this matters is agreement. A verb agrees with the simple subject, not with the nearest noun, which is why this sentence is wrong:
The box of old records were heavy.
The subject is box, not records. One box. It should be was.
Find It: The Complete Subject
Select the complete subject in each sentence. Tap the first word, then the last.
A Phrase Is a Group of Words Doing One Job
A phrase is a group of words with no subject and verb of its own, working together as a single unit.
$$\text{on the warm windowsill} \qquad \text{after the storm} \qquad \text{running for the bus}$$
The most common kind is the prepositional phrase: a preposition, then a noun, plus whatever describes it.
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