Sentences
Introduction
If someone asked you to define a sentence, do you think you could? You might be tempted to say, “No way!” I bet you do know a sentence when you see it. Prove me right; pick out the sentence from these four groups of words:
* Throughout people's ears grow entire their lives.
* Grow throughout people's entire ears lives their.
* Entire throughout lives ears grow people's their.
* People's ears grow throughout their entire lives
Each of the four groups contains exactly the same words, but only one is a sentence: the last one. You were able to pick out the sentence so easily because you have an innate knowledge of how English works—knowledge you have absorbed from reading, speaking, listening, and watching.
But perhaps you need a little more work on sentences. Maybe you're not sure about the different kinds of sentences and how they're used. That's what you'll learn here. First, you learn about the two main parts of the sentence: the subject and the predicate. Then I teach you the four different types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Next come the four different sentence functions. Along the way, you learn how to fix the two most common sentence errors: fragments and run-ons.
Subject and Predicate
Sentence: Stop!
Sentence: You stop!
Sentence: You better stop right now.
Each of these three word groups is a sentence. That's because they each meet the three requirements for a sentence. To be a sentence, a group of words must …
* Have a subject (noun or pronoun).
* Have a predicate (verb or verb phrase).
* Express a complete thought.
A sentence has two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject includes the noun or pronoun that tells what the subject is about. The predicate includes the verb that describes what the subject is doing. Here are some examples of complete sentences.
Subject--------------------------------- Predicate
You ------------------------------------------ stop!
New York City -------------------------is called the “Big Apple.”
The forward with the knee brace ---------- made 10 baskets.
Seek and Ye Shall Find
Being able to recognize the subject and the verb in a sentence will help you make sure that your own sentences are complete and clear. To check that you've included the subject and verb in your sentences, follow these steps:
1. To find the subject, ask yourself, “Self, what word is the sentence describing?”
2. To find an action verb, ask yourself, “Self, what did the subject do?”
3. If you can't find an action verb, look for a linking verb. For example: Herman is the winner. “Is” is the linking verb.
Hidden Treasures
Some sentences are not that cooperative about the placement of their subject and verb, however. In most sentences, the subject will come before the verb. Not so with questions. In a question, the verb often comes before the subject. Here are some examples:
Is the frog in the freezer?
The subject of the sentence is “frog.”
Are you traveling this weekend?
The subject of the sentence is “you.”
To find the subject in a question, rewrite the question as a statement. The question “Is the frog in the freezer?” becomes “The frog is in the freezer.” Now the subject, frog, is in the usual position before the verb.
It can be equally tricky to find the subject in sentences that start with here or there. Remember that here or there never function as the subject of a sentence. For example:
Here is your frozen frog.
The subject of the sentence is “frog.”
There goes the frog, all nicely defrosted.
The subject of the sentence is still Mr. Frog.