Syntax Clauses and their elements

Every sentence consists of clause elements or consituents  Subject (S)  Predicate (P)  Objects, direct and indirect (dO, iO)  Subject complement (sC)  Object complement (oC)  Adverbials (Adv)  Agent (Ag) (Only in passive voice)

Subject  The subject is the thing/person which one can say is the topic of discussion.  She sings poorly.  The monster has been killed  The man with the golden gun fired away.  Your mother’s health is improving.

Predicate  Comments on the subject. Describes an action.  Always consists of at least one verb  She sings poorly.  The monster has been killed  The man with the golden gun fired away.  Your mother’s health is improving.

Direct object  The person or thing that the action of the verb is directed towards.  I ate a large pizza (dO)  The pilot saw an UFO (dO)  Tells us who benifits from the verb’s action  My agent gave me a job. (iO)  Rick sent his boyfriend a birthday card (iO) Indirect object

Subject complement  Occurs after the verb but descibes the subject of the sentence.  The sC is tied to the subject.  My mother was a dentist. (sC)  The horses are very beautiful. (sC)

Object complement  Also occurs after the verb.  Describes the direct object  We consider her the best candidate for the job (cO)  I found the new guy very handsome (cO)

Adverbials  Provides descriptive information about the verb’s action.  Answers the questions: When? Why? In what manner? In what way? How? Where?  We crushed grapes in the wooden tub. Adv  We stomped on the grapes fiercly (adv/adv)

Agents  Only in passive form  Active Voice: The chairman wrote a letter.  Passive voice: The letter was written by a chairman (Ag)