Basic Sentence Patternsand Basic Sentence Parts

Basic Parts of a Sentence

• Subject• Verb• Prepositional Phrase• Direct Object• Indirect Object• Predicate Nominative• Predicate Adjective

S-V vs. S-V-PP

• She ran.• She ran around the track.• They talked.• They talked to her parents.• He played.• He played with his Legos.

Transitive Action Verbs

• All of the previous sentences used ACTION verbs. Not only that, they used TRANSITIVE action verbs. That means, the verbs can stand alone – they don’t NEED an object to follow them. Notice the difference with intransitive action verbs:

1. She wrote …2. She baked …3. He threw …

What’s missing in these sentences??? A DIRECT OBJECT.

Direct Objects

1. She wrote a letter.2. She baked a cake.3. He threw the ball.

• Direct Objects receive the action of the verb. They help to finish the thought and complete the sentence.

• This pattern is labeled S-V-DO.

So what’s an INDIRECT OBJECT?

• An indirect object tells TO WHOM or FOR WHOM something is done. It will always come BEFORE a direct object.

1. She wrote her friend a letter.2. She baked her mom a cake.3. He threw John the ball.

• This pattern is labeled S-V-IO-DO.

S-V-IO-DO vs. S-V-DO-PP

• She wrote her friend a letter.• She wrote a letter to her friend.

• She baked her mom a cake.• She baked a cake for her mom.

• He threw John the ball.• He threw the ball to John.

Label the following Sentence Patterns:

1. The zebra climbed on the giraffe.

2. He gave the giraffe a hug.

3. Both animals looked across the horizon

4. The giraffe placed the zebra on the ground.

5. They relaxed.

Linking Verbs• Some verbs do not convey

action but rather a state of being. Many of these verbs are forms of to be.

• Others include sensory words such as look, felt, sound, taste, and feel.

1. The room is …2. The boys are …3. She will be…4. My mom felt …5. The flowers smelled …

Subject Complements

• Linking verbs must be followed by a subject complement – either a predicate nominative (noun) or predicate adjective – to form a complete thought.

• These sentences are labeled with S-V-PN or S-V-PA.

• The room is empty.• The boys are cousins.• She will be a senior.• My mom felt tired.• The flowers smelled

fragrant.

Linking Verb or Action Verb?

• She tasted the cupcake.• It tasted delicious.

• She looked at the baked goods.

• They looked beautiful.

• The cupcakes smelled sweet.

• She smelled the cupcakes.

Sentence Variety

• Sometimes, for the sake of variety, it helps to MIX UP your sentence patterns.

• Yoda does this a lot. Notice here:

PP-DO-S-V

Label these patterns:

1. Into the tree the elephant reached.

2. On his back legs stood the elephant.

3. The leaves to him tasted good.

4. Delicious the leaves in the tree are.

5. A large mammal the elephant is.

Where is the subject?

“Understood” Subjects

• In imperative, or “command” sentences, the subject is understood to be the singular or plural “you.”

• (You) be soft.• (You) do not let the

world make you hard.• (You) take pride …

Where is the subject?

Pronouns come in both SUBJECT and OBJECT forms. Which pronoun is correct?

1. Mark gave the flowers to (she/her) and Sue.

2. The ice cream is for my brother and (I/me).

3. (She/her) and her brother like to go to the park.

4. My mom and (I/me) prefer to go shopping.

And finally …