BASIC SENTENCE

STRUCTURE
 PARTS OF SENTENCES: SUBJECT,
PREDICATE, OBJECT, INDIRECT OBJECT,
COMPLEMENT
Every word in a sentence serves a
specific purpose within the structure of
that particular sentence. According to
rules of grammar, sentence structure can
sometimes be quite complicated. For the
sake of simplicity, however, the basic
parts of a sentence are discussed here.
The two most basic parts of a
sentence are the subject and predicate.
SUBJECT
The subject of a sentence is the
person, place, or thing that is
performing the action of the
sentence. The subject represents
what or whom the sentence is
about. The simple subject usually
contains a noun or pronoun and
can include modifying words,
phrases, or clauses.
PREDICATE
The predicate expresses
action or being within the
sentence. The simple
predicate contains the
verb and can also contain
modifying words, phrases,
or clauses.
 The subject and predicate make up
the two basic structural parts of any
complete sentence. In addition, there
are other elements, contained within
the subject or predicate, that add
meaning or detail. These elements
include the direct object, indirect
object, and subject complement. All of
these elements can be expanded and
further combined into simple,
compound, complex, or
DIRECT OBJECT
The direct object receives
the action of the
sentence. The direct object
is usually a noun or pronoun.
The man builds a house.
The man builds it.
INDIRECT OBJECT
The indirect object indicates to
whom or for whom the action of
the sentence is being done. The
indirect object is usually a noun
or pronoun.
The man builds his family a house.
The man builds them a house.
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
A subject complement either renames or
describes the subject, and therefore is
usually a noun, pronoun, or
adjective. Subject complements occur when
there is a linking verb within the sentence
(often a linking verb is a form of the verb to
be).
The man is a good father. (father = noun
which renames the subject)
The man seems kind. (kind = adjective which
describes the subject)
Note: As an example of the
difference between parts of
speech and parts of a
sentence, a noun can function
within a sentence as subject,
direct object, indirect object,
object of a preposition, or
subject complement.
APPOSITIVES—WHAT
THEY ARE AND HOW TO
USE THEM
An appositive noun or noun
phrase follows another noun or
noun phrase in apposition to it;
that is, it provides information
that further identifies or defines
it. Such “bonus facts” are framed by
commas unless the appositive is
restrictive (i.e., provides essential
APPOSITIVES—WHAT
THEY ARE AND HOW TO
USE THEM
What is an appositive?
At its heart, an appositive is bonus information.
Example
Hermione Granger, a witch at Hogwarts School, is
accomplished at spells.
The core of this sentence is Hermione Granger is
accomplished at spells. A witch at Hogwarts
School is an appositive noun phrase that gives us
additional information about Hermione Granger.
APPOSITIVES—WHAT
THEY ARE AND HOW TO
USE THEM
Example
The Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel’s masterpiece,
can be found on the Champs de Mars.
This is a sentence about where the Eiffel
Tower can be found.
The appositive phrase Gustave Eiffel’s
masterpiece tells us a bit more about the
sentence’s subject noun, Eiffel Tower.
APPOSITIVES—WHAT
THEY ARE AND HOW TO
USE THEM
My childhood friend, Anne-Marie, loved
horses.
Here, the core sentence is My childhood
friend loved horses. It works as a sentence on
its own, but the appositive, the proper
noun Anne-Marie, gives the reader
supplemental information about my friend. It
renames her.
TRANSITIVE AND
INTRANSITIVE VERBS —
WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE?
A verb can be described
as transitive or intransitive based on
whether it requires an object to
express a complete thought or
not. A transitive verb is one that only
makes sense if it exerts its action on an
object. An intransitive verb will make
sense without one. Some verbs may be
 TRANSITIVE AND
INTRANSITIVE VERBS —
WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE?
The word transitive often makes people
think of transit, which leads to the mistaken
assumption that the
terms transitive and intransitive are just fancy
ways of describing action and nonaction. But
these terms have nothing to do with whether a
verb is active or not. A better word to
associate with transitive is transfer.
A transitive verb needs to transfer its action
HOW TO IDENTIFY A
TRANSITIVE VERB
Transitive verbs are not just verbs that
can take an object; they demand objects.
Without an object to affect, the sentence
that a transitive verb inhabits will not
seem complete.
Please bring coffee.
In this sentence, the verb bring is
transitive; its object is coffee, the thing
that is being brought. Without an object
HOW TO IDENTIFY A
TRANSITIVE VERB
Please bring.
Bring what, or who? The
question begs itself because
the meaning of bring demands
it.
HERE ARE SOME MORE
EXAMPLES OF TRANSITIVE
VERBS AND THEIR OBJECTS.
The girls carry water to their village.
Juan threw the ball.
Could you phone the neighbors?
I caught a cold.
She loves rainbows.
Lila conveyed the message.
HOW TO IDENTIFY AN
INTRANSITIVE VERB
An intransitive verb is the opposite of
a transitive verb: It does not require an
object to act upon.
They jumped.
The dog ran.
She sang.
A light was shining.
LINKING VERBS: DEFINITION AND
EXAMPLES
Linking verbs are verbs that
don’t show an action but rather
describe the subject. While verbs
like walk or jump represent an
action, linking verbs
like be or seem add more details to
the subject, such as “he seems
nice” or “she is an architect.”
WHAT IS A LINKING VERB?
Unlike other verbs, linking verbs do not show
an action—or more accurately, the only action
they show is merely existing. Linking verbs
simply explain the state of the subject, such
as what it is or how it looks.
I am thirteen years old.
She seems sad today.
This place looks like a mess!
WHAT IS A LINKING VERB?
Linking verbs define the subject or add
more details about it. That
means sensory verbs like appear, look,
feel, smell, sound, or taste can act as
linking verbs when they describe the
subject.
Dinner smells burnt.
The cat’s fur felt silky.
 HOW DO YOU USE LINKING
VERBS?
Every sentence has two parts: a subject
and a predicate. The subject is a noun
that performs the action of the verb and
typically comes at the beginning of a
sentence. With normal verbs, the
predicate describes the action done by
the subject, as with this example:
Tamara went to the store.
 THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF
A SENTENCE
A sentence has two basic elements:
the subject and the predicate. The
subject is always a noun, a pronoun, or a
group of words acting as a noun. It is
what the entire sentence is about.
Meanwhile, the predicate contains a verb
that describes the subject. Take note,
verbs do not always have to be action
verbs. Lastly, subjects and predicates
Verb, on the other hand, is a
word or group of words that
describes an action or state.
A transitive verb has an
object.
An intransitive verb does
not have an object.
In the following examples, the
subjects are in bold, while the
predicates are italicized:
Grandma is awake.
He makes cakes and cookies.
 Aside from the subject and
predicate, sentences also contain
objects. We have two kinds of objects
in English grammar: Direct and
Indirect object.
A Direct Object refers to the
person or thing affected by the action
of the verb. (He bought a ball.)
An Indirect Object usually refers
to the person who ‘benefits’ from the
 Additionally, we have the complement.
A complement tells us something about the
nature of the Subject or Object. There are two
types of complements: Subject Complement
and Object Complement.
Subject Complement = She is happy. S=C
Object Complement = He made her
happy. O=C
And lastly, we have the modifier. A modifier is
a word or group of words that modifies another
word or group.
 THE 5 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
IN ENGLISH

Subject + Linking Verb + Complement ( S – LV – C)

Subject + Intransitive Verb ( S – IV )
Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct Object ( S – TV – DO )
Subject + Transitive Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
( S – TV – IO – DO )
Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement
( S – TV – DO – OC)
1. Subject + Linking Verb + Complement ( S - LV -
C)
The first basic sentence pattern in English we have the
S–LV–C. This includes a subject, a linking verb, and a
complement. Linking verbs are the types of verbs that
join the subject with an adjective or another noun.
Some commonly used linking verbs include be, am, are,
is, was, were, and seem.
Apart from linking verbs, we can also use sense verbs
to make this type of sentence pattern. A sense verb is a
verb that describes one of the five senses: sight,
hearing, smell, touch, and taste.
On the other hand, a subjective complement is a word
 THE 5 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
IN ENGLISH
Consider the order of the subject, linking/sense
verb, and complements in the following
sentences:
1. She looks happy.
S: She
LV: looks
C: happy
 THE 5 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
IN ENGLISH

2. Orange and Yellow are bright colors.

S: Orange and Yellow
LV: are
C: bright colors
 THE 5 BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
IN ENGLISH

3. The food tastes bad.

S: The food
LV: tastes
C: bad
2. Subject + Intransitive Verb ( S - IV )
When learning the basic sentence patterns, the
S–IV pattern is the simplest sentence type. It
includes just a subject and an intransitive verb.
Grammatically, intransitive verbs do not need a
direct object. Unlike transitive verbs, verbs
belonging to this type don’t answer the question
“what?”. In most cases, dynamic and locomotive
verbs (or verbs that express movement) belong
to this sentence pattern.
Also, this pattern uses verbs that are in the base
form and doesn’t need supporting information.
This means that the thought of the sentence was
Below are sample sentences
with the S-IV sentence
pattern.
1. She swims.
2. The book fell.
3. Peter marches.
4. Peter sneezed.
5. Evil exists.
3. Subject + Transitive Verb +
Direct Object ( S - TV - DO )
This time let’s move on to the third
basic sentence patterns in English we all
are familiar with: the S–TV–DO
pattern. This pattern includes a subject,
a transitive verb, and a direct object.
Here, we use transitive verbs, which
means that we need a direct object. The
trick here is to make sure our verb
In the sample sentences we have
below, the subject, transitive verb,
and direct object are placed in a
fixed order.
1. They are baking cookies and cakes.
S: they
TV: are baking
DO: cookies and cakes
2. The batter hit the ball.
S: The batter
TV: hit
DO: the ball
3. She teaches English.
S: She
TV: teaches
DO: English
 4. Subject + Transitive Verb +
Indirect Object + Direct Object ( S -
TV - IO - DO )
Next in the list of basic sentence
patterns is the S–TV–IO–DO
sentence. This type includes a subject, a
transitive verb, an indirect object, and a
direct object. If you have forgotten what
indirect and direct objects are.
In the sentences below, you’ll
1. Mary lent Josh money.
S: Mary
TV: lent
IO: Josh
DO: money
2. Ana taught her the answer.
S: Ana
TV: taught
IO: her
DO: the answer
3. He gave him the money.
S: He
TV: gave
IO: him
DO: the money
5. Subject + Transitive Verb + Direct
Object + Object Complement ( S - TV -
DO - OC)
The last basic sentence pattern we have in
English is the S–TV–DO–OC sentence type. This
sentence pattern includes a subject, transitive
verb, direct object, and an objective
complement. Unlike subjective complements,
objective complements describe a direct object.
The object complement in this sentence
pattern refers to a specific description of the
direct object being done by the subject, with the
1. She called the boy attractive.
S: She
TV: called
DO: the boy
OC: attractive
2. They painted the house blue.
S: They
TV: painted
DO: the house
OC: blue
WHAT IS A GERUND AND
WHAT IS ITS FUNCTION?
A gerund (pronounced JER-und) is a
verb that’s acting as a noun. By that,
we mean that the verb—the word
that describes the action that’s
happening, like “biking,” “thinking,”
“running,” or “speaking”—becomes
a thing, a concept that can now be
the sentence’s subject, direct object,
indirect object, or the object of a
TYPES OF GERUNDS
1. Subject: Biking is my newest hobby.
2. Subject complement: My preferred commuting
method is biking.
3 Direct object: I love biking.
4 Indirect object: My sister gave biking a try.
5 Object complement: I see myself biking every
day.
6 Object of a preposition: I blocked out a few hours
this Sunday for biking.
1. Helping a friend is an automatic yes in
your book.
2. Individuals may even get mad for saying
no to them.
3. Won‘t people see you as jerk in refusing
to help them?
4. Her pastime, baking cakes, proved very
lucrative.
5. Our art teacher encouraged
experimenting on different colors.
6. She suggested going to museum.
7. The miser hated spending money.
8. Staying at home is her form of
relaxation.
9. He is afraid of hurting your
feelings.
10. Her par time job, encoding data,
gave her extra money.