Chapter 2

The Parts of a Sentence

Subjects, Predicates, and Complements

Much of Winston Churchill's success in leading England during World War II was due to the impact that
his speeches made upon the minds and hearts of his countrymen. In his school days Churchill was
considered a dull pupil, unable to cope with the complexities of Latin. He was made to repeat his English
courses instead. He described the effect of this in his own words:

I gained an immense advantage over the cleverer boys ... I got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary British
1
sentence which is a noble thing.

Since your elementary school days you too have been "getting into your bones" the structure of the
ordinary sentence. You began by dividing the sentence into two parts subject and predicate. Later
you learned the terms object, predicate nominative, and predicate adjective to fill out the description of
the predicate. These elements form the essential structure of all the English sentences you will ever
speak, read, or hear, no matter how varied or complex.

The following test is in two parts. It is designed to show how much information you have remembered
about these terms and how much you should review.
1
From Roving Commission: My Early Life by Winston Churchill. Copy-right 1930 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

Diagnostic Test

A. Number your paper 1-10. After the corresponding number, write the simple subject and the verb of
each of the sentences below. (The italicizing applies only to Exercise B.)

1. Some decisions require little thought.

2. Other decisions are more difficult.
3. You can send me the bill later.
4. We can now send television programs across the Atlantic by means of communication satellites.
5. The Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, Connecticut, has become famous.
6. The Pulitzer Prize Committee gave Gwendolyn Brooks the prize for poetry in 1950.
7. Bowling attracts millions of fans.
8. Many women become lawyers now.
9. Ecologists study an animal's relation to its environment.
10. Eudora Welty, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973, is a distinguished novelist.

B. List all the italicized words in sentences 1-10. After each word write the kind of complement it is:
direct object (d.o.), indirect object (i.o.), predicate nominative (p.n.), predicate adjective (p.a.).
THE SENTENCE

2a. A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought.

Consider the following group of words:

The victorious team

According to the definition, a sentence must express a complete thought. It is true that the words The
victorious team create a mental image; but, in terms of communicating a thought to the reader,
something is lacking.

To complete the thought started by the words, you must tell what the team did, or what happened to
the team, or what the team is.

INCOMPLETE THOUGHT COMPLETE THOUGHT

left the field.

was praised by the coach.
is from our school.
The victorious team lifted the coach high on their shoulders.
remained calm.
won the county championship.

NOT A SENTENCE Millions of American students now attending our colleges . . .

[thought not complete]
SENTENCE Millions of American students are now attending our colleges,
[complete thought]
NOT A SENTENCE The orchestra working together for five years . . .
[thought not complete]
SENTENCE The orchestra has been working together for five years,
[complete thought]
NOT A SENTENCE Billions each year for space research . . .
[thought not complete]
SENTENCE Billions are appropriated each year for space research,
[complete thought]

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

2b. A sentence consists of two parts: the subject and the predicate. The subject is that part about which
something is being said. The predicate is that part which says something about the subject.

subject predicate
Time flies.
predicate subject
Into the silent sea sailed the ancient mariner.
The Simple Predicate, or Verb

2c. The principal word or group of words in the predicate is called the simple predicate, or the verb.

EXAMPLES Ana ate her breakfast silently and hastily. [The complete predicate is ate her breakfast silently and hastily.
The simple predicate, or verb, is ate.] History repeats itself in a most unusual manner. [The complete
predicate is repeats itself in a most unusual manner. The verb is repeats.]

The Simple Subject

2d. The simple subject is the main word or combination of words naming the person, place, thing, or
idea about which something is being said.

EXAMPLES The idea of transmigration of souls is believed by many in India. [The complete subject is the idea of
transmigration of souls. The simple subject is idea.] Immigrants from many lands contributed to America.
[The complete subject is immigrants from many lands. The simple subject is immigrants.]

> NOTE Throughout this book the term subject, when used in connection with the sentence, refers to
the simple subject; the term verb refers to the simple predicate.

Compound Subjects and Compound Verbs

2e. A compound subject consists of two or more subjects that are joined by a conjunction and have the
same verb. The usual connecting words are and and or.

EXAMPLES Faster service and greater courtesy help increase sales, [compound subject: service . . . courtesy]
Neon, argon, and krypton are elements that do not easily combine with other materials, [compound
subject: neon . . . argon . . . krypton]

2f. A compound verb consists of two or more verbs that are joined by a conjunction and have the same
subject.

EXAMPLES The librarian stamped the book and gave it to the student, [compound verb: stamped . . . gave] Charity
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, [compound verb: bears . . . believes . . . hopes]

How to Find the Subject of a Sentence

Most often we expect to find the subject at the beginning of the sentence and the verb following the
subject. But this need not be so. For example, in the sentence "Out of the stillness came the sound of
laughter," the verb precedes the subject. A simple way to identify the subject is as follows:

1. First find the verb (the simple predicate).

2. Then ask yourself the question "Who or what . . .?"

EXAMPLE Driven by instinct, the herd of reindeer moves south each winter. [The verb is moves. Who or what moves?
The answer is herd, the subject.]

This procedure will aid you in selecting the subject from the most complicated and involved sentences.
There are several additional ways to help you locate the subject in certain special cases.
1. In sentences expressing a command or request, the subject is always understood to be you, even
though the word you may not appear in the sentence.

EXAMPLES You sit down this very minute. [You is expressed.] Don't forget to write. [You is understood.] Please take
this letter, Kate. [You is understood.]

Subject and Predicate >

2. The subject of a sentence is never in a prepositional phrase.

EXAMPLES Flocks of birds surrounded the tower. [Verb: surrounded. Who surrounded? Flocks. Flocks is the subject.
Birds is not the subject. It is in the phrase of birds.]
Neither of the scientists could give an explanation of the phenomena. [Verb: could give. Who could give?
Neither. Neither is the subject. Scientists is not the subject. It is in the phrase of the scientists.]

3. To find the subject in a question, turn the question into statement form.

QUESTION Do you know Helen Keller's birthplace?

STATEMENT You do know Helen Keller's birthplace, [verb: do know; subject: you]

4. The word there (or here) is never the subject, of a sentence except in a sentence like the one you are
now reading.

EXAMPLES There is the famous Mono Lisa. [Verb: is; subject: Mona Lisa. In this sentence the word there is an adverb
indicating location.]
There is a famous writer in this little town. [Verb: is; subject: writer. There in this sentence is called an
expletive. It indicates that a subject will follow the verb. Sometimes the word it may be used as an
expletive: It is annoying to wait for someone.]

EXERCISE 1. Number your paper 1-20. After the proper number write the simple subject and verb of
each sentence. Identify the verb, but first copy the subject and then write the verb after it. Be certain to
include all parts of compound forms and all words in a verb phrase.

1. There are many unverified legends and conjectures about the

life of William Shakespeare.
2. Actual facts concerning his life remain few.
3. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, a market town
about eighty miles from London.
4. Records establish the dates of the baptisms of his children
as 1583 and 1585.
5. Another known fact is the date of his death, April 23, 1616.
6. None of Shakespeare's contemporaries set down a record of
the poet's life.
7. The life and works of a mere dramatist were not thought
important enough to merit a biography.
8. In the eighteenth century James Bos well wrote The Life of
Samuel Johnson, an entertaining account of the life and
times of the great English lexicographer and wit.
9. This classic has been read with enjoyment for nearly two
hundred years.
 10. Boswell's book, unlike many of the full-length biographies
of the next century, was an accurate and faithful record.
11. Many nineteenth-century biographers relied on their imagination,
not on real facts.
12. One example of a nineteenth-century biography is the life of
George Washington by Parson Weems.
13. The lack of adequate research and the use of imaginary facts
make this account of America's first President very unreliable.
14. Lytton Strachey revolutionized the writing of biography with
the publication of Eminent Victorians in 1918.
15. Strachey's biographical portraits used some imaginary details
but were based on careful historical research.
16. This combination of well-documented fact and psychologically
true detail soon became popular.
17. Today biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs flood the bookstores.
18. The private lives of politicians, generals, and other notables
fascinate the reading public.
19. Have you read any good biographies lately?
20. Borrow a good biography from the library.

COMPLEMENTS

By definition a sentence expresses a complete thought. Some sentences express a complete thought by
means of a subject and verb only.

s v
Duty calls,
s v
She arrived.

Sometimes even briefer sentences are possible, like Stop!, or Run!, in which the subject you is
understood. Most sentences, however, have in the predicate one or more words that complete the
meaning of the subject and verb. These completing words are called complements.

EXAMPLES The legislature passed the bill.

The President gave the astronaut a medal.
Virginia Woolf was a well-read woman.
The sea looks choppy.
The group elected Consuela president.

Direct and Indirect Objects

Transitive verbs require a direct object to complete their meaning. They may also be followed by an
indirect object.
2g. The direct object of the verb receives the action of the verb or shows the result of the action. It
answers the question "What?" or "Whom?" after an action verb.

Except when it ends in -self (myself, himself), the object of a verb never refers to the same person or
thing as the subject.

EXAMPLES Susan defeated Steve at tennis. [Susan defeated whom?]

Drought destroyed the crops. [Drought destroyed what?]

Drought destroyed crops

the

NOTE The diagrams are given to help those students who

have already studied diagramming. No attempt is made in this book to teach diagramming. However, for
review purposes, the following principles should be remembered. On the main horizontal line the
subject is followed by a vertical line which crosses the main line and separates the subject from the
verb. Another vertical line, which does not cross the main line, follows the verb and separates it from
the direct object. A single-word modifier slants downward from the word it modifies. An indirect object
(p. 33) is represented on a horizontal line attached to the verb by a slanted line. The following diagram
illustrates the basic sentence pattern.

subject verb dir. obj

ind. obj

A predicate nominative or predicate adjective (p. 35) is separated from the verb by a slanting line:

Subject verb pred. nom.

adj.

Sometimes there may be a compound direct object: Beethoven composed sonatas and symphonies.

sonatas
Beethoven composed
symphonies

2h. The indirect object of the verb precedes the direct object and usually tells to whom or for whom the
action of the verb is done.1
1
If the word to or for is used, the pronoun or noun following it is part of a prepositional phrase; it is not an indirect object. Like
subjects, objects of verbs are never part of a prepositional phrase. The principal gave her the award. [Her is the indirect
object.] The principal gave the award to her. [Her is part of a phrase.]

The indirect objects in these sentences are in bold-faced type.

EXAMPLES His artistic skill won him many honors.

Skill won honors

his artistic him many

The senator gave Jaime and me a copy of her speech.

Senator gave copy

a of
The Jaime speech

And her
me

The Objective Complement

To complete their meaning, some action verbs require an additional complement following their
objects. This additional complement is called an objective complement because it refers to the object; it
may be a noun or an adjective.

They named Mary secretary. [The noun secretary refers to the direct object Mary and helps to complete the meaning of the
verb named. It is an objective complement.]

They named Mary secretary

Everyone considered him foolish. [The adjective foolish modifies the direct object him and helps to
complete the meaning of the verb considered. It is an objective complement.]

Everyone considered him foolish

Only a few verbs meaning "make" or "consider" take an objective complement: elect, appoint, name,
choose, render, make, consider, etc.

His refusal to pay rendered the contract null and void. (made the contract null and void]
He scrubbed the floor clean, [made the floor clean]
EXERCISE 2. Number your paper 1-10. Copy after the proper number the objects of the verb in each
sentence (do not include modifiers). After each object write d.o. for a direct object or i.o. for an indirect
object. Some sentences contain more than one object.

1. Meteorologists are discovering more secrets about the weather every year.
2. Often the weather defies prediction.
3. But meteorologists serve us well, by and large.
4. Weather bureaus save travelers much time and effort.
5. The daily weather maps in the newspapers offer everyone benefits undreamt of in the past.
6. They chart the weather on a national and sometimes global scale.
7. Sometimes jet travel yields strange results because of meteorologists.
8. Travelers boarding planes in the bright sun carry raincoats to protect themselves from rain 500
miles away.
9. Meteorology has put the weather more or less in order.
10. At least, it has guaranteed us a certain amount of predictability in a risky situation.

Subject Complements

A complement that follows a linking verb1 is either a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective.
These complements refer to (describe or explain) the subject.
1
The common linking verbs are the forms of the verb be (am, is, are, was, were, be, been) and the following: become, seem,
grow, appear, feel, smell, taste, remain, sound, stay.

2i. A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun complement that refers to the same person or thing as
the subject of the verb. It follows a linking verb.

is

Adele Rogers St. John

EXAMPLES. Adele Rogers St. John is a famous journalist. [Journalist refers to the subject Adele Rogers St. John.]

Adele Rogers St. John is journalist

a famous

The Twin Cities are St. Paul and Minneapolis. [compound predicate nominative]

St. Paul
Twin Cities are and
The Minneapolis
2j. A predicate adjective is an adjective complement that modifies the subject of the verb. It follows a
linking verb.

EXAMPLES The sea is calm. [The predicate adjective calm modifies the subject sea.]

sea is calm
the

Illuminated manuscripts are rare and valuable.

[compound predicate adjective]

rare

manuscripts are and

Illuminated valuable

Normally, complements follow the verb. Occasionally, they may precede the verb for the purpose of
emphasis.

Sweet are the uses of adversity. [Sweet is a predicate adjective modifying the noun uses. Normal order: The uses of
adversity are sweet.]

NOTE Like subjects and objects, predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives are never in a
prepositional phrase.

EXERCISE 3. Number your paper 1-15. After the proper number, write the predicate nominatives or
predicate adjectives in each of the following sentences; identify each with the abbreviation p.n. or p.a.

1. The Mississippi River is one of the world's longest rivers.

2. Was Ferber the author of Giant and So Big?
3. After the five-mile march, the soldiers felt tired.
4. Jeanette Rankin was a congresswoman of action and will power.
5. Studying is an art that can be learned.
6. A well-designed room should be beautiful and functional.
7. The people of the Renaissance were eager for knowledge of Greece and Rome.
8. Because of the long ordeal, she looked wan and weary.
9. The Tower of London is an ancient fortress.
10. The gray skies became clear at noon.
11. In his later years King Henry VIII grew enormously fat.
12. The cavalry horses remained quiet under fire.
13. My aunt seemed happy that afternoon.
14. The playwright Ibsen grew bitter with the years.
15. The modern scientist is an expert in research methods.

CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES

2k. Sentences may be classified according to their purpose.

Sentences may have four purposes: (1) to make a statement; (2) to ask a question; (3) to command or
request; (4) to exclaim.

(1) A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement.

EXAMPLE Nuclear physics has become a new branch of learning since 1945.

(2) An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a question.

EXAMPLE Have you seen a sculpture by Augusta Savage?

(3) An imperative sentence is a sentence that gives a command or makes a request.

EXAMPLES Be ready to leave at noon.

Please pick up your term paper in my office.

(4) An exclamatory sentence is a sentence that expresses strong feeling or emotion.

EXAMPLE Oh, what a week it was!

One advantage of speech over writing is that by a change of tone or emphasis we can convey different
meanings with the same words.

Shakespeare is the greatest writer the world has ever known.

[declarative]
Shakespeare is the greatest writer the world has ever known?
[Interrogative; the speaker is questioning the statement.)
Shakespeare is the greatest writer the world has ever known!
[Exclamatory; you can almost hear the speaker's voice rise
for emphasis.]

Without the inflection of the speaker's voice, the different meanings of this sentence are communicated
by punctuation.

REVIEW EXERCISE. Number your paper 1-10. Copy after the proper number the subject, the verb, and
the complements in each sentence. After each complement, tell what kind it is, using abbreviations as
follows: direct object d.o.; indirect object, i.o.; predicate adjective, p.a.

predicate nominative, p.n.

1. The story of the Donner Party is tragic and terrible.
2. In 1846 a schemer gave the pioneers directions for a new route to California.
3. A heroic story of that journey is the story of Tamsen Donner.
4. Tamsen Donner was a forty-five-year-old woman from Illinois.
5. She carried books, school supplies, and water colors for a new school in California.
6. In the Sierra Nevadas snow trapped the pioneers.
7. Tamsen Donner's husband injured his hand, and he became so ill that he could not travel with the
rescue team.
8. Forced to choose between husband and children, Tamsen Donner gave the rescue team her three
young girls.
9. Tamsen Donner attended her husband until his death.
10. Tamsen Donner lost her life also, but the children reached California safely.

SUMMARY OF SENTENCE PATTERNS

Every sentence has two basic parts-subject and predicate. Within the subject there is a simple subject,
usually called just the subject; within each predicate there is a simple predicate, usually called the verb.
Some sentences consist of subject and verb only.

s v
Horses gallop.

Modifiers may be added to the subject and verb without changing the basic pattern of such a sentence.

s v
The swift horses gallop over the plains.

Complements, which are additions to the predicate, create other sentence patterns. Because there are
different kinds of complements, each produces a different sentence pattern. The seven common
sentence patterns are

s v
Mary reads.
s v D.O.
Mary reads fairy tales.
S v i.o. D.O.
Mary reads John fairy tales.
s v D.O. OBJ. COMP. (ADJ.)
Fairy tales make John dreamy.
s v D.O. OBJ. COMP. (NOUN)
He imagines himself king.
s v P.N.
John is a dreamer.
s v P.A.
He looks sleepy.