Grammar for Grade 9 Episode II: Parts of a Sentence

What’s a Sentence? In order to be a sentence, a group of words needs several things: – A subject (may be “understood”) – A predicate – A complete thought (and only ONE of these) Also, it must BEGIN with a capital letter and It must END with end punctuation (a period, an exclamation mark or a question mark).

Subject and Predicate The sentence is divided into subject and predicate. Here are some examples, with the subject in bold and the predicate in {braces}: – Judy {jogs.} – Mandeep and Michaela {hate Mr. Fedyna’s class.} – Neither my mother nor I {like beets.} – Everyone {goes to the Hamptons in the summer.}

To Find the Subject Locate the verb in the sentence (it could be an action verb or a linking verb), Then ask yourself, “Who?” The answer is the subject. – Jogging down the street, I tripped on my shoelace. Verb: tripped. Who tripped? “I” did. “I” is the subject. – Nobody on the soccer team swims. Verb: swims. Who swims? “Nobody on the soccer team” –so that’s your subject.

Simple/Complete Subjects The complete subject is all of the words that are the subject, including adjectives and phrases that are part of the answer to “who?”. The simple subject is the noun or pronoun (occasionally more than one) that actually performs the action. – Nobody on the soccer team swims Complete subject: Nobody on the soccer team Simple subject: Nobody – The French exchange student, Rene, is bossy. Complete subject: The French exchange student, Rene Simple subject: student

Simple/Complete Predicates Likewise, a complete predicate is the verb plus all the words that modify or give information about the verb. The simple predicate is just the verb itself. – Jon has gone to the library three times this week. Complete predicate: has gone to the library three times this week Simple predicate: has gone

Compound Subjects and Predicates These are simple subjects and predicates that are made of more than one word. For example – Her uncle and she visited the museum, walked for hours, and bought ice cream. Simple subject: uncle and she (noun and pronoun; they are both doing the action, and we got rid of extra information) Simple predicate: visited, walked and bought (the subject performed ALL THREE actions. Because each of these has more than one word, they are a compound subject and compound predicate.

Direct Object A direct object follows a transitive verb. – Remember that a transitive verb is a certain kind of action verb. (Episode I: Parts of Speech) – Linking verbs cannot have direct objects. – Intransitive verbs don’t have direct objects either. Direct Objects can be nouns, pronouns, phrases or clauses.

Finding the Direct Object Find the verb, and ask yourself “what?” or “who?”. The answer is the direct object. Examples: – Ziggy kicked Chandpreet in the shin. Verb = kicked. Kicked who? Chandpreet. “Chandpreet” is the direct object. – Barbra hates biting her fingernails. Verb = hates. Hates what? Biting her fingernails. “Biting her fingernails” is the direct object.

One More Direct Object Bit Direct objects can also follow verbals (infinitives, gerunds and participles). – To see my new car, Bob entered the garage. Verbal (infinitive) = to see; direct object = my new car More about this is coming in Episode III: Phrases

Indirect Objects In order to have an indirect object, a sentence must first have a direct object. The indirect object answers the question “to what or whom?”, or the question “for what or whom?” about the direct object. – Mark passed the ball to George. Passed what? The ball = direct object Passed the ball to whom? George = indirect object

Indirect Object Examples Tony paid the mechanic $200 to fix the brakes. – Paid what? $200 = Direct Object – Paid the money to whom? The mechanic = Indirect Object Jan handed me a stapler. – Handed what? A stapler (Direct object) – Handed it to whom? To me. (Indirect object) She bought Kyle a sandwich. – Bought what? A sandwich (D.O.) – Bought it for whom? For Kyle (I.O.)

Object Complements Object complements follow direct objects and describe or identify them by answering the question “What?”. Object complements can be adjectives, nouns, or pronouns. They are often used with the following verbs: – Think, call, find, appoint, elect, make, name, choose.

Object Complement Examples He thought the trial useless. – He thought what? The trial – direct object. – He thought the trial what? Useless- object complement Since “useless” describes a noun (trial), it is an adjective. They named her Queen for a day. – They named who? Her- direct object – They named her what? Queen - object complement (Queen is a noun)

One More O.C. Example Consider the job yours. – Consider what? The job (d.o.) – Consider the job what? Yours (object complement...and it’s a pronoun)

Subject Complements Subject complements identify or describe subjects. Predicate nominatives (or predicate nouns) are one kind of subject complement. They can follow any linking verb (Episode I: Parts of Speech). They identify the subject: – Kiri Te Kanawa is a Maori. – She has become a diva.

Another Subject Complement Predicate adjectives are another type of subject complement. They describe the subject and must follow a linking verb. – Julie’s boss seemed angry. – She also looked tired and overworked.