2. • A sentence is a word
or word group that
contains a subject
and a verb and that
expresses a complete
thought.
• Ex. The students are
studying
3. • A sentence is comprised of
a complete subject and a
complete predicate.
The simple subject is
always found in the
complete subject.
The verb is always found in
the complete predicate.
The simple subject may be a
noun or a pronoun.
The verb may be LV or AV.
4. • The complete subject is the
noun/pronoun and all its
modifiers.
S
• Ex. Middle division exams
(at our school) require
preparation.
5. • The complete predicate is
the verb, its modifiers and
complements, if any. It
often begins with the verb.
LV
• Exams (at our school) are
a real experience (for
everyone).
6. • When looking for the parts of a sentence,
follow these steps:
– Look for and place parentheses around
prepositional phrases because neither the
simple subject nor simple predicate can be in
a prep phrase.
– Find the verb—AV or LV.
– To find the subject, ask “who/what”
and repeat the verb.
S LV
Middle school exams (at Berkeley) are
a real experience (for everyone.)
7. • The predicate of a sentence may also
contain a complement.
• There are four kinds of complements:
• 1. Direct object - a noun/pronoun that
comes after an action verb and answers
the questions “whom” or “what” after an
action verb.
S-AV-DO
S S AV DO
• Ajay and Mike told a joke (to us).
8. • 2. Another complement that comes after an
action verb is an indirect object.
• The indirect object is also a noun/pronoun and
must come between an AV and the DO.
• It answers the questions “to whom,” “to what,”
“for whom,” and “for what.”
• S-AV-IO-DO
S AV
IO IO DO
• Taylor brought Amber and Hannah one (of
Mr. Johnson’s famous cookies.)
• There can only be an IO if there is a
DO.
9. • 3. One complement that must follow a LV is a
predicate nominate (PN).
• A PN is a noun/pronoun that follows a LV and
renames the subject.
S-LV-PN
S LV PN S
• Speros is a football player, and Hannah and
S LV PN
Andreas are swimmers.
• A PN sentence can be turned around without
changing the meaning of the sentence.
S LV PN
• A football player is Speros.
10. • 4. The fourth complement is a
predicate adjective (PA).
• It is an adjective in the predicate
that follows a LV and modifies
the subject noun.
• S-LV-PA
S LV PA
• All students are very talented
(in many different ways.)
11. • All parts of a sentence may
be compound:
• compound subject
• compound verb
• compound DO
• compound IO
• compound PN
• compound PA
S S AV
Alex and Alexis have similar
DO DO
names and backpacks.
12. S S S S LV
• Amanda, Eddie, Peter, and Michael are
PA
AV DO
always extremely quiet but love English.
• The complete subject of both verbs
(are and love) is Amanda, Eddie, Peter,
and Michael.
13. • When identifying the verb, you must
include the helping verb(s), or your answer
will be considered wrong.
S HV HV AV
Ex.: All students have been studying and
AV
preparing (for exams).
