The sentence is a simple little thing. We use it every day. The sentence pervades everything we do, in all parts of our life. We see it so much that the poor little guy is taken for granted. It’s time to give the sentence its due and get to know it a little bit better.
The two important parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. Everyone has probably heard of a subject and may even know what it is. The predicate, on the other hand, might not be as familiar.
The Predicate
The predicate shows an action or relationship. The simple predicate has only one verb or verb phrase, as in the following sentence –
The balloon popped.
A complete predicate has a verb, or verb phrase with a modifier, along with words that get the action or complete the verb. The following sentence is an example of this –
The waitress brought us our dessert.
Patterns in a Predicate
When linking verbs, like is or seems, are present, this is a subject complement pattern. This obviously means that the subject is completed. This is what a subject complement pattern looks like –
Bob’s computer is too slow.
Object patterns in the predicate occur when the sentence tells us who or what gets the action. This is done usually with a transitive verb and a direct object. Here is an example –
His boss denied his vacation time
An object pattern can also occur with a transitive verb and a direct object. This lets us know to or for whom the action is taken. It looks like this –
Bob’s pastor chose him for the Elder’s board.
The subject is something most people are familiar with. The subject is basically the topic of the sentence. A simple subject is a noun or pronoun. They can be singular, plural, or compound, containing and or or. A complete subject is a simple subject with all of its modifiers.
A sentence with a simple subject looks like this –
Computers have advanced quickly.
A sentence with a complete subject looks like this –
Every computer in the survey department got the virus.
While the subject usually is in the front of the sentence, there are times to look for it in others places. When a sentence contains there is/are or here is/are the subject is put after the verb. You can also flip the subject and verb to add emphasis to a sentence.
A question usually puts the subject between helping and main verbs. An imperative sentence, a request or a command, seems to drop the subject. It’s there, but implied as you. No matter where the subject is placed, the most important thing is that it exists, even when just implied.
Knowing every single rule of the sentence for ordinary life isn’t so important. Knowing the basics, though, helps get your message across clearly. That’s really what our language is for, getting our message out for others to see.
