Parts of a Sentence

The Subject and the Verb

The Subject and Verb

SUBJECT = Nouns (people, places, things); this
is who or what does the action and is what the
sentence is about.
VERB = action verbs (dancing, running,
laughing) and STATE OF BEING verbs (is, am,
are, were, was, had been, etc.)

Parts of a Sentence
DEFINITION: A sentence is a word group that
contains a subject and a verb and that
expresses a complete thought.
Sentences begin with a CAPITAL letter.
Sentences end with a period, question mark, or
exclamation point!

Sentence Fragments
A sentence fragment is a word group that
looks like a sentence but is missing any of the
following:
a subject, or
a verb, or
a complete thought.

Fragment: Was a well-known ragtime pianist.

Sentence: Scott Joplin was a well-known ragtime pianist.

Fragment: A butterfly with bright blue wings and long

antennae.
Sentence: A butterfly with bright blue wings and long antennae
landed on me.

Examples

Practice
Warriners Handbook, page 5-6
Exercise 1
This half of the classroom,
do #1-10

This half of the classroom,

do #11-20

Subjects
and
Predicates

Sentences can be
broken into two (2) parts:
subjects and (verb)
predicates.

A subject tells whom or what the

sentence is about.
A simple subject is the main
word or word group that tells
us what the sentence is
about.
Ex: He won the game.
A complete subject consists of
all the words that tell whom or
what the sentence is about.
Ex: A number of
students went to the
movies this weekend.

Dont forget:
- The simple subject is
always part of the
complete subject.
- The simple subject may
be more than one word.
- The subject often comes
in the first half of a
sentence, BUT NOT
ALWAYS.

Practice: Simple Subject vs. Complete

Subject
Identify the underlined parts as either the SIMPLE subject or the COMPLETE subject:

1. People throughout Latin America enjoy going out to a ballgame.

2. The all-American sport of baseball has been very popular there for a long
time.
3. As a result, the Caribbean Baseball Leagues were formed more than fifty
years ago.
4. Each year the teams in Latin America play toward a season championship.
5. That championship is known as the Caribbean World Series.

The predicate part of a sentence

tells something about the subject.
The simple predicate, or
VERB, is the main word or
word group that tells us
something about the subject.
Ex: I love donuts.
The complete predicate
consists of a verb and all the
words that describe the verb
and complete its meaning.
Ex: Many people around
the world love donuts.

Dont forget:
- The simple predicate may be
a single verb but may also be
a verb phrase.
- The simple predicate is
always a part of the complete
predicate.
- The predicate often comes in
the second half of a
sentence, BUT NOT
ALWAYS.

Practice: Simple Predicate vs. Complete

Predicate
Identify the underlined parts as either the simple or complete predicates:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Marcos brother delivers pizzas.

Does this copier staple and fold documents?
On the tiny branch perched the robin.
Many birds fly south in the winter.
The books are located in the media center.

Subject or Predicate?
1. Under a large bush sat the tiny rabbit.
2. He wrote the diary in a secret code.
3. Athletes must practice every day and eat healthy diets for peak
performance.
4. It is Thursday.
5. Thousands or artists are setting up their works for Art Prize.
6. A ton and half of groceries may seem like a big order for a family
of five.