Grammar for Grade 9
Episode II:
Parts of a Sentence
What’s a Sentence?
• In order to be a sentence, a group of words
needs several things:
– A subject (may be “understood”)
– A predicate
– A complete thought (and only ONE of these)
• Also, it must BEGIN with a capital letter and
• It must END with end punctuation (a period,
an exclamation mark or a question mark).
Subject and Predicate
• The sentence is divided into subject and
predicate. Here are some examples, with the
subject in bold and the predicate in {braces}:
– Judy {jogs.}
– Mandeep and Michaela {hate Mr. Fedyna’s class.}
– Neither my mother nor I {like beets.}
– Everyone {goes to the Hamptons in the summer.}
To Find the Subject
• Locate the verb in the sentence (it could be an
action verb or a linking verb),
• Then ask yourself, “Who?”
• The answer is the subject.
– Jogging down the street, I tripped on my shoelace.
• Verb: tripped. Who tripped? “I” did.
• “I” is the subject.
– Nobody on the soccer team swims.
• Verb: swims. Who swims? “Nobody on the soccer
team” –so that’s your subject.
Simple/Complete Subjects
• The complete subject is all of the words that are
the subject, including adjectives and phrases that
are part of the answer to “who?”.
• The simple subject is the noun or pronoun
(occasionally more than one) that actually
performs the action.
– Nobody on the soccer team swims
• Complete subject: Nobody on the soccer team
• Simple subject: Nobody
– The French exchange student, Rene, is bossy.
• Complete subject: The French exchange student, Rene
• Simple subject: student
Simple/Complete Predicates
• Likewise, a complete predicate is the verb plus
all the words that modify or give information
about the verb.
• The simple predicate is just the verb itself.
– Jon has gone to the library three times this week.
• Complete predicate: has gone to the library three times
this week
• Simple predicate: has gone
Compound Subjects and Predicates
• These are simple subjects and predicates that
are made of more than one word. For example
– Her uncle and she visited the museum, walked for
hours, and bought ice cream.
• Simple subject: uncle and she (noun and pronoun; they
are both doing the action, and we got rid of extra
information)
• Simple predicate: visited, walked and bought (the
subject performed ALL THREE actions.
• Because each of these has more than one
word, they are a compound subject and
compound predicate.
Direct Object
• A direct object follows a transitive verb.
– Remember that a transitive verb is a certain kind
of action verb. (Episode I: Parts of Speech)
– Linking verbs cannot have direct objects.
– Intransitive verbs don’t have direct objects either.
• Direct Objects can be nouns, pronouns,
phrases or clauses.
Finding the Direct Object
• Find the verb, and ask yourself “what?” or
“who?”. The answer is the direct object.
• Examples:
– Ziggy kicked Chandpreet in the shin.
• Verb = kicked. Kicked who? Chandpreet.
• “Chandpreet” is the direct object.
– Barbra hates biting her fingernails.
• Verb = hates. Hates what? Biting her fingernails.
• “Biting her fingernails” is the direct object.
One More Direct Object Bit
• Direct objects can also follow verbals
(infinitives, gerunds and participles).
– To see my new car, Bob entered the garage.
• Verbal (infinitive) = to see; direct object = my new car
• More about this is coming in Episode III:
Phrases
Indirect Objects
• In order to have an indirect object, a sentence
must first have a direct object.
• The indirect object answers the question “to
what or whom?”, or the question “for what or
whom?” about the direct object.
– Mark passed the ball to George.
• Passed what? The ball = direct object
• Passed the ball to whom? George = indirect object
Indirect Object Examples
• Tony paid the mechanic $200 to fix the brakes.
– Paid what? $200 = Direct Object
– Paid the money to whom? The mechanic =
Indirect Object
• Jan handed me a stapler.
– Handed what? A stapler (Direct object)
– Handed it to whom? To me. (Indirect object)
• She bought Kyle a sandwich.
– Bought what? A sandwich (D.O.)
– Bought it for whom? For Kyle (I.O.)
Object Complements
• Object complements follow direct objects and
describe or identify them by answering the
question “What?”. Object complements can
be adjectives, nouns, or pronouns.
• They are often used with the following verbs:
– Think, call, find, appoint, elect, make, name,
choose.
Object Complement Examples
• He thought the trial useless.
– He thought what? The trial – direct object.
– He thought the trial what? Useless- object
complement
• Since “useless” describes a noun (trial), it is an
adjective.
• They named her Queen for a day.
– They named who? Her- direct object
– They named her what? Queen - object
complement (Queen is a noun)
One More O.C. Example
• Consider the job yours.
– Consider what? The job (d.o.)
– Consider the job what? Yours (object
complement...and it’s a pronoun)
Subject Complements
• Subject complements identify or describe
subjects.
• Predicate nominatives (or predicate nouns)
are one kind of subject complement. They can
follow any linking verb (Episode I: Parts of
Speech). They identify the subject:
– Kiri Te Kanawa is a Maori.
– She has become a diva.
Another Subject Complement
• Predicate adjectives are another type of
subject complement. They describe the
subject and must follow a linking verb.
– Julie’s boss seemed angry.
– She also looked tired and overworked.