WHAT IS A SENTENCE,ANYWAY?

This chapter teaches you about the basic unit of
communication in the English language: the sentence.

Grammar concepts to know:

• subject—the part of a sentence that names the
person, thing, or idea
• predicate—the part of a sentence that contains
“the verb that tells”
• clause—a groups of words with a subject and a
predicate
• independent clause—a clause that can stand
alone and express a complete thought
• dependent clause—a clause that needs an independent
clause to complete its meaning
• complex sentence—a sentence containing an
independent clause and a dependent clause
• compound sentence—a sentence containing
two or more independent clauses


A sentence is the basic unit of thought in the
English language. This chapter will help you learn to write a complete, coherent sentence.

THE PARTS OF A SENTENCE
A sentence has both a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.
For example, read the following.

The snow is falling.
This is a sentence because it names a thing (snow) and tells us something about
it (that it is falling). It also expresses a complete thought.

The Subject
The part of the sentence that names the person, thing, or idea is called the subject.
The subject can be one word or several words. The complete subject consists
of the person, thing, or idea and all of its modifiers, such as adjectives and adverbs.
The complete subjects are highlighted in each of the following sentences.

A loud argument broke out at the game.
The young,worried pilot read the storm warning.
The newspaper article mentioned our newest menu item.

Every complete subject contains a simple subject. The simple subject, which
is a noun or pronoun, is the most important word in the complete subject. It is
the word that names the person, thing, or idea the sentence is about. Look at the
complete subjects highlighted in the previous sentences.Which word is the most
important in each complete subject? The simple subjects are highlighted below.

A loud argument
The worried, young pilot
The newspaper article


The Predicate
The part of the sentence that contains the verb that explains something about the
subject is called the predicate. The predicate can be one word or several words.
The complete predicate consists of the verb and all of its modifiers. The complete
predicates are highlighted in each of the following sentences.

A loud argument broke out at the game.
The young, worried pilot read the storm warning.
The newspaper article mentioned our newest menu item.
Mrs. Dawson is our most difficult customer.
My neighbor rarely complains about snow.

Every complete predicate also contains a simple predicate, or verb.The simple
predicate is the word that shows action or helps to make a statement about the
subject. Look at the complete predicates highlighted in the sentences above.
Which word shows action or helps to make the statement about the subject? The
simple predicates are highlighted below.

broke out at the game
read the storm warning
mentioned our newest menu item
is our most difficult customer
rarely complains about snow

COMPOUND SUBJECTS AND PREDICATES
A sentence can have more than one subject joined by and, or, or nor that shares
the same verb. This is called a compound subject. The compound subjects are
highlighted in the following examples.

Horace and Beth both asked for a promotion.
Hannah and Terri are the shift supervisors in this department.

A sentence can also have a compound predicate: more than one simple
predicate that shares the same subject. The predicates may be joined by and, or,
or nor.

Dimitri wrote a letter and sent it to the personnel department.
Horace called his supervisor and asked for a meeting.

CLAUSES
Like sentences, clauses are groups of words that have a subject and a predicate.
Clauses are either independent or dependent.

Independent Clauses
Independent clauses are groups of words in a sentence that can stand alone,
because they express a complete thought. The simple sentence consists of one
independent clause:

The snow is falling.

Sometimes, more than one independent clause is included in the same sentence,
which is known as a compound sentence.When this happens, the clauses are separated
by a comma and a conjunction, or joining word (and, but, or, for, nor, so,
yet). The independent clauses are underlined in the following sentences.

I gave her good advice, and she took it.
My dentist pulled my wisdom teeth, but it didn't hurt as badly as I
thought it would.
I don't like Brussels sprouts, and my sister doesn't either.

Dependent Clauses

Dependent clauses, also known as subordinate clauses, are groups of words in a
sentence that have a subject and predicate but can’t stand alone because they don’t
express a complete thought. They are dependent on independent clauses.

When I saw the snow was falling

An independent clause can complete the thought:

When I saw the snow falling, I went to get my snow shovel.

Sometimes, sentences are made up of one independent clause and one or more
dependent clauses. These are known as complex sentences. In the following sentence,
the independent clause is in bold and the dependent clause is underlined.

I put on my heavy coat when I saw the snow was falling.

very very informative, keep sharing.

very apt piece soz!! u reminded me of my most fav' teacher who was my english teacher and she taught us these v v minute details and basics at an early stage!!

thanks a lot dear for having refreshed my so sweet memoirs~


tc

tabassum'

nice sharing


by the way main hamesha have being aur been k use main marr kha jate hooo ager app koi asi sharing ker de jis se mujhay in k istamal ko samajhney main asani hoo to mehrbani hoo g


keep sharing

Informative post
Thanks for sharing

Insha'Allah! I'll try my best