“From the ceiling hung the chandelier” Here the chandelier is the subject, even though it follows the verb, and the ceiling is the object even though it precedes the verb.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

This cup

on the table.

Some people

on rollercoasters.

My family

restaurant

runs

Jed and Jethro

drank

the moonshine

A simple sentence always has a subject. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which is “doing” something.

A simple sentence always has a verb. This is a verb, or verb phrase, which tells what the subject is doing.

A simple sentence may, or may not, also have an object. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which tells to whom or what the action is being done.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

The dog ran home First, identify the verb.

Next, identify the subject-noun (or noun phrase).

If there is another noun or noun phrase which follows the verb and completes the action in some way – that is the object

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

• The dog barked.

• The car crashed.

• The sky is falling.

• My back is aching.

• Your computer has crashed Sometimes a simple sentence doesn’t have an “object” – just a subject and verb.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

• John put… • Ralph laid… • I gave… • The dog is… • I will get… But subjects and verbs do not necessarily make a complete simple sentence.

The simple sentence must form a complete thought.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

But just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean a simple sentence is necessarily short.

The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object

Here we have a single subject, a single verb, and a single object.

The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep , ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

Noun (object) Noun (subject) verb

The Basics: Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles

The rest of the words are: modifiers, prepositions, articles, and conjunctions.

The happy , yet strangely and down the grimy clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up streets of London in the fog.

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs

There are two kinds of modifiers.

Words which modify nouns are called “adjectives.” The happy , yet strangely clean and down the grimy chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up streets of London in the fog.

Adjectives modifying “chimneysweep.” Adjective modifying “streets.”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs

Words which modify verbs are called “adverbs.” The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

Adverbs modifying the verb “ran”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs

But adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs.

The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

Adverb modifying adjective “clean.”

The Basics: Prepositions

Prepositions are words which tell about the position of something and come

before

a noun. (“Pre” = before. Therefore, prepositions indicate position and come before.) The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

Prepositions revealing direction and position

The Basics: Prepositions

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

On In Beside

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Through

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Under

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Behind

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Across

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Around

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

Near

The Basics: The Preposition Cube

With

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition

Joining two nouns: •The streets of San Francisco •Hair of the dog •Bay of Pigs Joining a noun to a verb • Singing of freedom and joy • Speaking of penguins • Thinking of radiators As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb.

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition

Joining a noun and adjective • Swift of foot • Lean of limb • Warm of heart As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb.

Joining a noun to an adverb • Sprightly of gait • Fleetingly of importance • Hardly of interest

The Basics: Articles

So what are the rest of the words here? common is “the.” Some are modifiers. There are two types of modifiers.

happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

But “the” isn’t the only article.

The Basics: Articles

hats those people wore to this rodeo had effect on our mayor.

There are two major types of articles: “definite” and “indefinite.” Both types are similar in that they point to a noun.

The Basics: Articles

• The book • This book • That book • Those books • These books A “definite” article points to one or more specific nouns.

The Basics: Articles

• A book • An apple An “indefinite” article points to an unspecified instance of a noun.

The Basics: Putting It All Together

Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains.

The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

verb Subject-noun Object-noun Modifier: Adverbs Modifier: Adjectives Prepositions Articles

The Basics: Putting It All Together

Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains.

The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

ran chimneysweep streets of London strangely, quickly, cheerfully happy, clean, grimy up, down, in The (three times) verb Subject-noun Object noun (note the joining “of”) Modifier: Adverbs Modifier: Adjectives Prepositions Articles

The Basics: Putting It All Together

So what are these remaining words? The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

yet in the fog Conjunction (in this case) Another object, this time as a prepositional phrase.

The Basics: A Recap

 There are several types of words:      Verbs Nouns Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs Articles: Definite and Indefinite.

Prepositions – with “of” being a special instance

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

• To understand sentences, you must understand clauses.

• Every clause has a verb. Or to put it another way, every verb has a clause.

• There are two types of clauses: •Independent •Dependent.

• An independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence.

• In other words – an independent clause is a simple sentence. A dependent clause is a partial simple sentence.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

• At the most, there are three sections to a clause: • the predicate (the verb and its modifiers) • the subject (the subject-noun and its modifiers) • the object (the object-noun and its modifiers)

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

Here is a sentence composed of an independent and a dependent clause.

The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

• Since the verb is the backbone of every clause, we begin by locating the verbs.

• There are two verbs in this sentence: • missed • had fallen

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

• Next we find the words modifying the verb The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

• “missed” is modified by “narrowly.” • “had fallen” is not modified by anything

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

The combination of the verb and its associated modifiers gives us our predicate – shown in brackets.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

Next we locate the subject-nouns.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road.

The subject “had fallen.” noun is the noun doing the action. Therefore, “car” is the subject noun of “missed,” and “which” is the subject-noun (pronoun) of

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

Then we find the modifiers and auxillary words associated with each subject-noun.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road.

• For “car” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” • For “which” there are no associated words.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

The subject noun and its associated words form the “subject” of the clause – shown in square brackets.

[The

car

] (narrowly missed) the tree [

which

] (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

Now we look to see if there are any object-nouns. These are the nouns to which the action is being done.

[The

car

] (narrowly missed) the tree [

which

](had fallen) across the road.

The thing the car “missed” is the “tree.” The thing the “which” had fallen across was the “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

And as before, we find what words are associated with the object-nouns.

[The

car

] (narrowly missed) the

tree

[

which

](had fallen) across the

road

For “tree,” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” For “which,” there is a definite article associated with it, but following it is a preposition, “across.” Since

prepositions always start phrases

(with the exception of “of”), then “across” is also associated with “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

The object nouns and their associated words form the “object” of each clause – shown in curly brackets.

[The

car

] (narrowly missed) {the

tree}

[

which

](had fallen) {across the

road

Sentences & Clauses: Independent & Dependent

The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

This leaves us with two clauses: "The car narrowly missed the tree” This clause can stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore an “independent clause.” “which had fallen across the road” This clause can’t stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore a “dependent clause.”

Sentences & Clauses: A Recap

    All sentences are either complete simple sentences, or combinations of complete and incomplete simple sentences.

A complete simple sentence is composed of a subject, a verb, and sometimes an object – always in the SVO order.

A complete simple sentence can also be called an “independent clause.” It forms a complete thought A partial simple sentence can also be called a “dependent clause.” It has a subject and verb (no object) but cannot stand on its own as a full sentence. It doesn’t form a complete thought.