Sentence is a series of words arranged into a meaningful unit. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark—a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. A grammatically complete sentence consists of an independent group of words that has a subject and a predicate. The predicate must include a finite verb. Such a verb, with a subject, can form a sentence—for example, The lightning flashed.
The group of words The potatoes cooking has a subject, but it is not grammatically complete because it lacks a finite verb. The potatoes are cooking is a grammatically complete sentence because it has a subject and a finite verb. When the potatoes are cooking is not a sentence because it is not an independent group of words. The word when makes it a subordinate clause. Sentences must be main clauses. See Clause .
Subject and predicate.
The subject of a sentence consists of a noun or another word used as a noun, plus its modifiers. The subject tells what is being spoken about. In The latest issue of the magazine arrived today, the subject is issue. The modifiers are The, latest, and of the magazine. Together, the six words form the complete subject. In Vigorous bicycling is good exercise, the subject is bicycling. Its modifier is vigorous. The two words together make up the complete subject.
A predicate consists of a finite verb, along with its object or complement and their modifiers. The finite verb may be transitive, intransitive, or a linking verb. A transitive verb passes the action from the subject to a direct or indirect object. The meaning of an object may be completed by a noun or adjective called a predicate complement. An intransitive verb describes a completed action and needs no object. A linking verb connects the subject with a predicate noun, pronoun, or adjective that completes the meaning of the subject and is called a subjective complement. See Verb .
As a unit, the predicate tells something about the subject. In Our class sold homemade cookies, sold homemade cookies says something about the subject Our class. The verb is sold; the object is cookies, and its modifier is homemade. Together, they form the complete predicate. In The young boy became very ill, became very ill comments upon the subject The young boy. Became is the verb; ill is the predicate complement, and very is its modifier. Together, they form the complete predicate.
A compound subject consists of two or more nouns: Hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water. A compound predicate consists of two or more finite verbs: Water can be frozen into a solid or can be heated into a gas.
Sentence classifications.
A sentence can be classified by its purpose. If the purpose of a sentence is to state a fact, it is a declarative sentence: I found a dollar. If it asks a question, it is an interrogative sentence: Did you find a dollar? If it gives a command or makes a request, it is an imperative sentence: Lend me a dollar, please. If it expresses strong feeling, it is an exclamatory sentence: How lucky I was to find a dollar!
A sentence can also be classified by its grammatical form. A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate: The wind blew fiercely. But either the subject or the predicate can be compound: Oranges and lemons are citrus fruits has a compound subject. The cat snarled and scratched has a compound predicate.
A compound sentence joins two or more simple sentences. They are joined with a conjunction, such as and, but, or, for, nor, or yet: I wrote her, but she did not reply. A complex sentence consists of a main clause and one or more subordinate or dependent clauses: Animals bite when they are teased or when they are attacked.
Sentence patterns.
The variety of English sentences may be shown by examining how several basic sentence patterns can be changed. Such basic patterns are sometimes called kernels.
Basic sentence patterns can be added to, reduced, combined, and rearranged in many ways. The construction of sentences affects the clarity, emphasis, and pace of speaking and writing. A speaker varies sentences naturally, but a writer must do so consciously. Changing the parts of a sentence to vary a basic pattern is called transformation. Below are some transformations.
1. Some patterns may be changed from the active voice to the passive voice.
Kernel: The city sponsored the parade. Passive: The parade was sponsored by the city.
2. All patterns may be transformed into emphatic and negative statements.
Kernel: She lives nearby. Emphatic: She does live nearby. Negative: She does not live nearby.
3. All patterns may be transformed into various questions.
Kernels: They picked berries. They were picking berries. Yes-and-no question: Did they pick berries? Information question: When did they pick berries? Intonation question: They picked berries?
4. Many patterns may be changed into imperative statements.
Kernel: You compared the two boats. Imperative: Compare the two boats.
5. Many patterns may be transformed into exclamatory statements.
Kernel: We were happy. Exclamatory: How happy we were!
6. All patterns may be changed into subordinate structures of different kinds.
Kernels: Paul was a good captain. Paul sailed to Easter Island. Subordination: Paul, who was a good captain, sailed to Easter Island. Paul, a good captain, sailed to Easter Island. As Paul was a good captain, he sailed to Easter Island.
7. Most patterns may be transformed into statements introduced by there or it.
Kernels: Seven versions of that song are known. The song is well known. There transformation: There are seven known versions of that song. It transformation: It is true that the song is well known.
8. Many patterns may be compressed into modifiers.
Kernel: The cherries tasted sweet. Modification: The sweet-tasting cherries …
9. Many patterns may be combined to form compound structures.
Kernels: My glasses fell. My glasses broke. Combination: My glasses fell and broke.
10. The parts of many patterns may be transposed to other positions in the sentence.
Kernel: He kept down the price. Transposition: He kept the price down.
Sentence fragments
are common, especially in speech. Sentence fragments appear after many questions. For example, the question Where were you? could be answered by the phrase At the beach. The answer is a sentence fragment that stands for the complete sentence (I was) at the beach.
Diagraming
is a form of sentence analysis that shows how each part of a sentence is related to another. The diagram below for the sentence Travel is a great educator divides the subject from the verb, the verb from its complement, and the complement from its modifiers.
Diagraming serves primarily as a teaching device. The forms of diagraming vary from the traditional model above to extremely complex diagrams used by modern linguists.
