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Our language organizes thoughts into sentences. As a core, these sentences have a two-part structure.
For simplicity and easy reference, we can represent the two parts as follows:
1. SUBJECT PREDICATE
This two part structure is so basic that a thought doesn't feel complete when one part is missing. Both
are needed for a complete sentence. Of course most sentences are longer and more sophisticated than
those above, but even the most complex sentences are based on this two part principle. Learning to
recognize it, to listen for it, and to use it are the first steps to mastering English sentence structure.
SUBJECT PREDICATE
SUBJECT VERB/COMPLEMENT
The verb is the word or cluster of words actually naming the action performed by the subject.
The complement comes after the verb. It may do a number of different things, but most often it's the
receiver of the action performed by the subject and named by the verb:
SUBJECT VERB/COMPLEMENT
Here John is an agent, the one doing something. "Hit" names the action he's performing, and "the ball"
receives the effect of the action. Not all cases are so clear, however. Sometimes the complement
modifies the subject, as in "John is tall." Here, "tall" doesn't receive the effect of the action. In fact, there
doesn't seem to be any action at all, unless we consider merely existing to be an action. But such cases
need not cause problems as long as we recognize the basic pattern and sense that it has been
completed. For us, as writers, a detailed understanding of linguistics is secondary. Learning to use the
language effectively comes first.
For now, it's enough to say that the basic pattern upon which English sentences are built is:
SUBJECT VERB / COMPLEMENT
S V /C
Carla is / happy.
Each of these is a simple sentence. Because it can stand by itself as a complete sentence, it's also called
an independent clause. Because it often serves as the foundation of a much longer sentence, it's
sometimes called a base clause. What we call it, though, is less important than learning to sense its
presence in every sentence we build.
Activities
4.1 Some word groups listed below contain a subject and predicate and are therefore complete
sentences. Others do not and can therefore be considered fragments or parts of sentences. If the word
group is a sentence, put an S in the corresponding space. If it is a fragment, put an Fr in the space.
4.2 The following word groups are all simple sentences. Label the subject, the verb, and the
complement by writing the appropriate letter above each.