The Simple Sentence: Subjects and Verbs

The Subject:

• The unit about which something is being said.

• Always contains a noun or a pronoun

The Predicate:

• The unit that says something about the subject.

• Always contains a verb

The Noun:

• Names something, such as a person, place, thing, quality, or idea.

o Common noun – names a member of a group or class and is not capitalized.

 man, relative, city, school, object, animal,

o Proper noun – refers to a named individual in a group or class.

 Mr.Dien, Uncle Baha, Penang, Permatang Tok Jaya High School, BMW,
Mickey Mouse, Nemo, etc.

The Pronoun:

• A word that substitutes for a noun.

o Personal pronouns substitute for definite persons or things:

 I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

o Demonstrative pronouns substitute for things being pointed out:

 this, that, these, those.

o Indefinite pronouns substitute for unknown or unspecified things:

 each, either, neither, one, anyone, somebody, everything, all, few, many,
and so on.

o Possessive pronouns substitute for things that are possessed:

 mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
The Verb:

• a word that expresses action, existence, or occurrence by combining with a subject to

make a statement, to ask a question, or to give a command.

o Can be an action verb like rattle, throw, smash, or explode.

 My truck rattles noisily.

 The bomb exploded loudly.
 She listened quietly.

o Can be a describing or linking verb like is, are, was, were, seem, and become.

 Your house is very big.

 They are very quiet today.
 She was my friend.
 We were tired for days.
 The long chapter seemed difficult.
 I became lazy during the trip.
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