How do you find the subject? To find the subject of a sentence, find the VERB first. The VERB is the action or state of being in a sentence Then, ask Who? Or What? Committed the act. The subject will usually come before the verb.
The park ranger’s car broke down on the side of the highway. What is the verb in this sentence? Who/what broke? Subject = car Verb = broke
Subjects, Verbs, and Prepositional Phrases The subject and the verb of a sentence CAN NEVER be found in a prepositional phrase.
In the dark of the night, we found a scared little cat. In the corner, near the window, we found a little cat curled up under the table.
The understood subject In a request or a command, the subject is usually not stated. In such sentences, you is the understood subject
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? Please rake the yard. What is the verb? What is the subject? Pick up your room. What is the verb? What is the subject?
Examples: Find the subject or subjects of these sentences. Jessica and Rachel rode their bikes to the park on Thursday evening. The entire class received high grades on their Tuesdays with Morrie test. Despite being in a car accident, Joshua still arrived at school on time. The path that the ship navigates may cover close to 3,000 miles. Get your jersey ready for the game tomorrow.
Practice: Turn to page 41 in your grammar book. Complete Exercise 3 - “Identifying Subjects and Verbs” On page 42, complete Exercise 4 – “Identifying Subjects and Verbs”
What is a sentence? A sentence is a word group that contains a subject and a verb and that expresses a complete thought.
But… What is a “subject” A subject tells WHO or WHAT the sentence is about!! The subject is the thing within the sentence that is doing the action.
Now that we know what a subject is… What is a complete thought? A complete thought is a thought (group of words) that can stand alone. A complete thought = an independent clause. A complete thought makes sense when it stands by itself.
Now that we know what a sentence is… What is a fragment? A fragment is a word or word group that is capitalized and punctuated as a sentence but does NOT contain all of the essential elements: a subject, a verb and a complete thought.
A fragment CANNOT stand alone. It would not make sense if you saw it all by itself. A fragment leaves the reader wondering…. HUH??
Fragment examples: Was chosen as the best essay from over 200 essays. Is this a complete thought? What is missing? When the judges announced the winner. Is this a complete thought? What is missing?
Identify whether these word groups are a sentence or a fragment. The man in the iron mask. The dog always barked and wagged his tail. Justin had a lot of hair. After the basketball game.
Practice: Turn to page 36 in your grammar book. Complete the exercise called “Oral Practice” Determine whether each word group is a sentence or a fragment. Do Numbers 1-10
Subordinating Conjunctions When a subordinating conjunction appears at the beginning of a sentence, you will follow the subordinate clause with a comma. When a subordinating conjunction appears after the independent clause, you will not use a comma to separate the independent and dependent clauses. The subordinate clause will contain a subject and a verb, BUT it will not state a complete thought.
Examples If I go to the prom with you, you must pay for everything. You must pay for everything if I go to the prom with you. When I was fourteen, we moved to Tennessee. We moved to TN when I was twelve.
Conjunctive Adverbs Use a conjunctive adverb to join two independent clauses that share the same ideas. You may use a conjunctive adverb the following ways: ; conjunctive adverb, , conjunctive adverb,
Examples I will always love peanut butter; however, sunflower butter is much better for you. Vocabulary seems monotonous, moreover, I only memorize the words; I do not learn them.
Add to your notes: Turn to page 97 and write down the list of subordinating conjunctions. Turn to page 91 and write down the list of conjunctive adverbs.