Basic Elements of A Sentence

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE…
These elements can be represented by the symbols S (subject), V (verb), O (object), C

(complement), M (modifier) and + they are identified in the ff. examples:
1. Nobody came. Simple subject followed by intransitive verb (a verb that does
S V not require an object).
2. We have time. Subject followed by transitive and its necessary object.

S V O
3. Her father is a lawyer Subject preceded by a modifier, then followed by a

M S V C linking verb and its noun complement.
4. They washed and polished the car. Compound verb connected by and.
Each of these four sentences says something about its subject. What it says about the
subject is called a predicate. The predicate may be just an intransitive verb, a transitive
verb and its object (example 2), or a linking verb and its complement (example 3). The
subject and one of these basic forms of the predicate make a basic or kernel sentence.
The most common subjects are nouns and pronouns, but a group of words (a phrase) may
also serve as a subject, as in the following examples:
Most of the books were damaged.
The end of the story puzzled me.
When a group of words has a subject and a verb of its own, it is called a clause. A clause,
too, may serve as the subject of a sentence.
What everyone wants is more time.
Verbs- may be single words or phrases, but never clauses. When they require an object to
complete the predicate, they are called transitive verbs as in “He caught the ball”, in
which the transitive verb ‘caught’ is completed by the direct object ‘ball’. When a verb
does not require an object to complete a predicate, it is called intransitive, as in ‘I
refused’; ‘They arrived’., ‘The child cried’.
Many verbs may be transitive or intransitive according to the structure of a sentence: ‘She
sings (transitive) the National Anthem at every game’. or ‘She sings (intransitive)
beautifully’.
A verb is called a linking verb when it completes the predicate by linking the subject to a
following noun or adjective. Ex.
She telephoned a doctor.
She became a doctor.
In both sentences, ‘doctor’ is necessary for a complete predicate. In the first sentence
‘doctor’ is the object of the transitive verb ‘telephoned’, because the doctor received the
action performed on the doctor. The verb ‘became’ merely links the subject to the doctor.
In such sentences we may say that doctor is not the object but the ‘complement’ of the
verb. In the following sentences, adjectives are complements of linking verbs:
Mary looks tired.
That offer seems reasonable.

My father remained unconvinced.
The most common linking verb is some form of the verb ‘to be’ ( is, are, was, were, have
been and so on ), but become, get, feel, look, seem, smell, taste and some other verbs may
serve as links between the subject and the complement.
EXERCISE 10 Identify each of the elements and underline as a subject, verb, object, or
complement by writing the appropriate letter above it.
1. They tried it and it worked.

2. Nobody likes her; she is too sarcastic.
3. That dog looks vicious.
4. Those who trust you will not need an explanation.
5. I doubt that he will go, but I’ll ask him.
6. Did you get the tickets?
7. Part of the sentence is illegible.
8. They paid you a compliment.
9. The trouble with Liezel is that she is too sensitive.
10. We discovered that it was our fault.
In general, a modifier describes a subject, object, complement or another modifier or tells

where, when, why, how or under what conditions the action of the verb takes place. The
following sentences illustrate these uses:
Old soldiers never die. (Modifies the subject)

We had a second chance. (Modifies the object)
Honesty is the best policy. (Modifies the complement)
They came early. (Modifies the verb – tells when)
What do you have on your hand? (Modifies the verb – tells where)
I will go, if you pay my fare. (Modifies the verb – tells under what condition)
She had a disturbingly hostile look. (Modifies the modifier hostile)
Connectives (or conjunctions) are sentence elements that join other elements in a
sentence. They usually come between the elements they join. The two most common
types are coordinating and subordinating connectives. A coordinating connective (and,
or, nor, but, either…or, neither …nor, yet) joins two grammatically similar elements:
He fought cleverly and courageously. (Connects two adverbs)

I’ll do it, but I won’t like it. (Connects two main clauses)
A subordinating connective does two things: it joins two clauses and subordinates one to
the other. Thus, if we change “He is angry. He is tired.” to “He is angry because he is
tired”. We have connected two main clauses and reduced the second one to a subordinate
clause by the use of the subordinating connective because. In the following examples the
subordinate clauses are in parentheses and the connectives:
I don’t know (why he did it).

He did not say (when he would return).
You may go (whenever you please).
In these examples the subordinating connective comes between the clauses it joins. But a
subordinate clause may precede the main clause, and then the connective will come at the
beginning of the sentence:
Exercise: Using subordinating connectives as clues, enclose in parentheses all
subordinate clauses in the following sentences, and state whether they act as subjects,
objects, complements or modifiers:
1. I will do whatever you say.

2. What he told me is none of your business.
3. The book that I bought cost two hundred pesos.
4. The man who is wearing the red shirt is his uncle.
5. If that is how you feel, why don’t you leave?
6. The people who live in that house moved to Manila.
7. He said that he was terribly embarrassed.
8. This is the house that I want.
9. When you are ready, call me.
10. I would like to know why he did it.
Verbs and Verbals.
Much of the trouble with verbs comes from the failure to distinguish verbs from verbals.
A verbal is derived from a verb but does not act as one in a sentence.
Wrestling is a body-building sport.

To wait is sometimes not easy.
He spoke in a threatening term.
‘Wrestling’ and ‘to wait’ are the subjects of their sentences; ‘threatening’ modifies
‘terms’. Verbals are of three types: infinitives, participles and gerunds. Infinitives are
verbals of the type to do, to choose, to be seeking, to have said. Usually, but not always,
they begin with the infinitive marker ‘to’. They often serve as subjects, objects or
complements and may occasionally act as modifiers.
‘To do that’ takes nerve. (Infinitive phrase is the subject)

He asked ‘to be excused’. (Infinitive phrase is object of ‘asked).
He seems ‘to be worried’. (Infinitive phrase is a complement of ‘seems’).
I bought it ‘to read’, if I have time ‘to spare’. (Infinitives are modifiers.)
A participle is a word or phrase that is derived from a verb but acts as a modifier. The
present participle ends in ‘ing’ (crying, smiling, wondering). Most past participles end in
‘ed’ (disgusted, abused, inspired), but many are irregular (chosen, grown, kept, sang).
The following sentences illustrate forms and uses of participles:
His fighting days are over. (Present participle modifies subject).

He is a fighting fool, (Present participle modifies complement).
‘Discouraged’ by the lack of public support, the mayor resigned. (Past participle
modifies mayor).
Henry wrote a poem about a ‘deserted’ village. (Past participle modifies ‘village’, the
object of ‘about’).
‘Having been deserted’ by her husband, she supported the family. (Passive form of
past participle modifies subject ‘she’).
A gerund, or verbal noun, has the same form as the present participle but is used as a
subject, object, or complement in a sentence.
‘Thinking’ is hard work. (Gerund is subject of ‘is’).

That will take some ‘doing’. (Gerund is object of ‘will take’)
What bothers them is his ‘swearing’. (Gerund is compliment of ‘is’).
Exercise: Identify infinitives, participles, and gerunds in the following sentences and tell
whether they act as subjects, objects. Complements or modifiers.
1. Nobody wants to tell him.

2. This is a thrilling story.
3. The course requires too much reading.
4. To play as well as she does take more time than I can afford.
5. A drunken man is usually a bore.
6. Disappointed by the results, he gave up the experiment
7. With screeching brakes, the car came to a jarring stop.
8. That will take some thinking.
9. Not to have invited her would have caused trouble.
10. Feeling sorry for yourself will not solve the problem.

Basic Elements of A Sentence

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Basic Elements of A Sentence

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Basic Elements of A Sentence

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE…

These elements can be represented by the symbols S (subject), V (verb), O (object), C

2. We have time. Subject followed by transitive and its necessary object.

3. Her father is a lawyer Subject preceded by a modifier, then followed by a

Most of the books were damaged.

The end of the story puzzled me.

What everyone wants is more time.

She telephoned a doctor.

She became a doctor.

Mary looks tired.

That offer seems reasonable.

1. They tried it and it worked.

In general, a modifier describes a subject, object, complement or another modifier or tells

Old soldiers never die. (Modifies the subject)

He fought cleverly and courageously. (Connects two adverbs)

I don’t know (why he did it).

1. I will do whatever you say.

Verbs and Verbals.

Wrestling is a body-building sport.

‘To do that’ takes nerve. (Infinitive phrase is the subject)

His fighting days are over. (Present participle modifies subject).

‘Thinking’ is hard work. (Gerund is subject of ‘is’).

1. Nobody wants to tell him.

You might also like