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Sentence PartsThe 4 Basic Parts of a Sentence

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What’s a sentence?

• Here are 3 Sentences:• The woman laughed.• After the comedian told a joke, the woman laughed.• After the comedian told a joke, the woman laughed

until her sides hurt, causing her to clutch her ribs and shake violently with tears bursting from her eyes.

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What makes a sentence?

• As you can see from the previous examples, sentences can be any length.

• Regardless of how short or long a sentence is, it needs two parts: a subject (a noun) and a predicate (or verb that completes the thought).

• The subject tells us who or what. (noun)• The predicate tells us what about it. (verb)

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These two parts connect to form a

basic sentence, also known as an

independent clause.

Who or what?

The woman

What about it (her)?

laughed.

5These two parts connect to form a stable structure.

Another way to think about a sentence is to compare its structure to that of a bike: the subject is one wheel, and the predicate is the other wheel.

Children play.Students studied.

We could have just one word in each wheel…

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The neighborhood children play basketball at the community center.Students in the biology lab studied cells under a microscope.

…But most of the time our ideas include more details, so we add extra words to the wheels.

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We can make the wheels bigger by adding…

Adjectives

• Old magazines are stacked under the kitchen table.

• Meditation helps create a peaceful mind and healthy body.

Adverbs

• We carefully loaded the van with furniture.

• The driver realized immediately that he had missed the exit.

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We can also bring in additional information in the form of baskets.

These baskets need to be attached to a bike (basic sentence) and CANNOT

stand alone.

These baskets can be placed on the front, in the middle, or at the back of the bike.

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One type of basket that we can add is a phrase. A phrase lacks a subject and a verb.

• In the stormy weather, it was dangerous to drive.

• On Friday morning, we decided to go to the beach.

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We can also place these baskets on the back of the bike.

• It was dangerous to drive in the stormy weather.

• We decided to go to the beach on Friday morning.

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Another type of basket is a dependent clause.

• A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot stand on its own.

• These clauses can often be identified by a dependent clause marker.

Common Dependent clause markers:After

AlthoughAs

WhileWhen

IfEven though

BecauseUntil

Unless

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Dependent clauses can be added to the front or the back of the bike.

When the music began,everyone started to dance.

Everyone started to dance when the music began.

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More dependent clauses…

Who works part-time

Which includes a swimming pool

That is parked in my driveway

Another kind of dependent clause begins with the relative pronouns who, which, and that. These clauses usually serve to add additional information to the sentence (like a basket) and must be attached to an independent clause (the bike).

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These baskets go after the word they describe and can sometimes be placed in the middle of the bike.

• Frank, who works part-time, will be our guide.

• The new fitness center, which includes a swimming pool, will open on February.

• The car that is parked in my driveway is Henry’s.

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Points to remember...

• Sometimes we have baskets that are disconnected from their bikes. These are called fragments. Fragments are just a part of a sentence and may lack a subject or a predicate.

• I was not responsible. When I was sixteen.

• Let’s rent the same movie. That we saw last weekend.

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We can correct these fragments by attaching them to a sentence.

When I was sixteen, I was not responsible.

Let’s rent the same movie that we saw last weekend.

18Sentence Variety

Baskets are excellent ways to create sentence variety. Once we have a stable structure, we can add a variety of baskets on the front, in the middle, or on the back.

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We can add a variety of baskets on the front.

• Earlier this spring, the tunnel was closed because of flooding.• Eight months ago, we bought a truck.• By the time we got home, it was dark.• Irritable after a long day at work, we took a nap before studying.

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… a variety of baskets in the middle

• My little brother, unable to sleep, turned on the light.

• The elderly couple, walking slowly up the driveway, waved at their grandchildren.

• A modern art gallery, funded by a million dollar grant, is under construction.

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… and a variety of baskets on the back

• After Jeff bought a hybrid, he was able to get good gas mileage.

• A gentle rain fell throughout the night, lulling us to sleep.

• We are building a home with Habitat for Humanity, which is a national volunteer program.