Elements of Sentence Construction
Subjects and Predicates
Parts of speech have specific tasks to perform when they are put together in a sentence.
A noun or pronoun functions as the sentence subject when it is paired with a verb functioning as the sentence predicate.
Every sentence has a subject and predicate.
A subject can be a noun or pronoun that is partnered with an action verb.
Example:
Sometimes a verb will express being or existence instead of action.
Example:
Sometimes we use sentences in which a subject is not actually stated, but is, nevertheless, understood in the meaning.
Example:
A sentence like this gives an order or a request to someone.
Because we use such statements when we are talking directly to someone, we omit the word you. It is understood in the sentence. Therefore, in statements like this one, we say the subject is
you (understood).
This kind of sentence is an imperativesentence.
A predicate is a verb that expresses the subject s action or state of being.
Example:
Sometimes the predicate will be composed of two or three verbs that fit together - the main verb preceded by one or more auxiliary (helping) verbs.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To be a predicate, a verb that ends in -ing must ALWAYS have a helping verb with it. An -ing verb WITHOUT a helping verb cannot be a predicate in a sentence.
A subject and predicate may not always appear together or in the normal order, as the following examples show:
Phrases
A phrase is a group of related words that
1. does not express a complete thought
2. does not have a subject and predicate pair
One type of phrase is a prepositional phrase.
Examples:
Another kind of phrase is a verbal phrase.
Examples:
Even though these phrases contain nouns (pronouns) and/or verb forms, none of the nouns/pronouns/verbs are subjectsor predicates. None of them work as a partnership.
Also, these phrases do NOT express complete thoughts.
Clauses
Words and phrases can be put together to make clauses.
A clause is a group of related words that contain a subject and predicate.
Note the difference between phrases and clauses in the following examples:
Only one of the clauses is a sentence.
Clause #1 gives a thought or an idea that is COMPLETE, that can stand by itself, independent of other words.
However, clause #2 gives an INCOMPLETE thought or idea, one that cannot stand by itself, one that needs some more words to make it whole. The word after changes the meaning, making the thought incomplete. After reading this clause, we are left hanging.
These two clauses illustrate the two kinds of clauses:
independent clauses and dependent clauses
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject, a predicate, and a complete thought.
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate, but does NOT express a complete thought.
Compounding Sentence Elements
Words, phrases, and clauses may be joined to one another inside a sentence with a conjunction.
The coordinating conjunctions and, but,or, and nor may join subjects, predicates, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses within a sentence. This process is called "compounding."
The following examples show the process of compounding
WORDS
PHRASES
DEPENDENT CLAUSES
When entire independent clauses (simple sentences) are joined this way, they become compound sentences.
المادة المعروضة اعلاه هي مدخل الى المحاضرة المرفوعة بواسطة استاذ(ة) المادة . وقد تبدو لك غير متكاملة . حيث يضع استاذ المادة في بعض الاحيان فقط الجزء الاول من المحاضرة من اجل الاطلاع على ما ستقوم بتحميله لاحقا . في نظام التعليم الالكتروني نوفر هذه الخدمة لكي نبقيك على اطلاع حول محتوى الملف الذي ستقوم بتحميله .
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