Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 1
Week Three Grammar: Subject, Verb & Object
What I Need To Know From This Lesson
 How to check for subject & verb agreement
 Basic sentence order in English
 Noun, Adjective and Verb Phrases
Teaching Notes
1. Review what the students need to know from this lesson. Remind them
what they learned in the reading lesson last week – refer to their Exit
Tickets.
2. Exercises on pages 3 through 5: copy back to back enough for each
student.
3. Make a few copies of the answers on pages 6 and 7.
4. End with Exit Ticket.
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 2
Subject examples
Subject
1.) Teaching is an exciting job.
The person or thing a sentence is
about.
Sarah plays football.
(subject)
Object examples
The person or thing affected by the
sentence’s verb.
We were listening to music.
(verb)
(object)
Phrase
A small group of words that act as a
meaningful unit within a clause but do
not stand alone.
I was living in York, where I worked.
(phrase)
3.) Is your aunt feeling better?
(object)
Object
(subject)
2.) Mark came to our house for dinner.
Direct object:
(directly affected by verb action)
I bought her some flowers to say sorry.
Indirect object:
(person or thing benefiting from action of
main verb)
I bought her some flowers to say sorry.
Phrase examples
Noun phrase:
A pile of books was on the desk.
Verb phrase:
Tomorrow, we will be going to the park.
Adjective phrase:
The wedding was really beautiful.
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 3
Simple Sentences
The basic unit of writing in English is the simple sentence. It comprises:
A subject
a verb
My brother
an object
drives
a bus
Exercise One: Subject-Verb Agreement
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. We (starts / start) at dawn.
2. Ali (hurries / hurry) to the front.
3. He (climbs / climb) quickly.
4. The rest of us (struggles / struggle) to keep up.
5. He (finds / find) the mushrooms.
6. Fatima (am / is / are) excited.
7. She (texts / text) her friends.
8. ‘Hey everyone, I (am / is / are) gathering mushrooms!’
9. Ali (step / steps) in a muddy puddle.
10. ‘I (prefer / prefers) eating mushrooms to finding mushrooms.’
Exercise Two – Agreement with Collective Nouns
Note the following:
 The travellers speed towards home.
 The group of travellers speeds towards home.
Group is a collective noun and demands a singular verb.
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. The party (was / were) six-strong.
2. There (was / were) a guide with many years’ experience.
3. The family of four (was / were) new to safaris.
4. We (was / were) watching the sun rise over the Kenyan lake.
5. Alice and Michael (was / were) teary at the beauty of the moment.
6. Two bees (was / were) buzzing around the guide.
7. The entire swarm of bees (was / were) annoyed with us.
8. Then a herd of elephants (was / were) alarmed by the noisy bees.
9. The elephants (was / were) charging so we ran for our lives.
10. Consequently, my luggage (was / were) lost on the way to the hotel.
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 4
Exercise Three – Nouns and Verbs Which are Not Close to Each Other
Highlight the subject and verb in the following sentences.
1. I cracked the whip.
2. The horse, woken from its lethargy, ambled into motion.
3. The road, twisting across the floodplain like a toddler’s drawing, beckoned
with the answer to my quest.
4. But the horse, even though well-fed, well-watered and well-rested,
refused to walk at more than a plod.
5. Impatient, furious, incensed at the unreliability of animals, nevertheless I
did no more than grit my teeth at the funereal pace.
Exercise Four – Subject Verb Object Variations
Mostly in English the structure of a sentence is:
Subject
Verb
Object
He
took
the plane
Sometimes a sentence has an indirect object:
Subject
Verb
Object
He
took
the plane
Indirect Object
to Doha:
Sometimes the object is not stated but understood:
He
flew
to Doha (object: himself)
Highlight the direct object (if there is one) in the following sentences.
1. The ferry left the pier at 6.05 pm.
2. It bustled upriver.
3. At 8.07 pm a hippopotamus head-butted the boat.
4. The mast snapped.
5. The captain told the passengers to remain calm.
6. My mother grabbed her handbag.
7. I watched the hippo roar.
8. The captain shone a bright light into the animal’s eyes.
9. Startled, the hippo dived deep into the river.
10. The captain beached the ferry on the bank.
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 5
Exercise Five – Noun Phrases
Noun phrases work in the place of nouns.
e.g. Noun: passengers
Noun Phrase: The flightload of passengers.
Highlight the noun phrases in the following sentences.
1. The convoy of buses left the depot.
2. They travelled along the spaghetti of roads crossing the city.
3. At the hill of ten flags they formed up in a straight line.
4. The best of the drivers stood in front of the row of his peers.
5. He held up the flag of his country and shouted, ‘Long life to all drivers of
buses and conductors of passengers!’
Exercise Six: Verb Phrases
Verb phrases work in the place of verbs.
e.g. Verb: ran
Verb Phrase: was running.
Highlight the verb phrases in the following sentences.
1. The captain was worried about the fuel.
2. He radioed the control tower.
3. ‘I am running short of fuel.’
4. The control tower answered, ‘You are cleared to land on runway three.
5. The captain clapped his hands.
6. ‘We will survive this flight after all!’
Exercise Seven: Adjectival Phrases
Adjective phrases work in the place of adjectives.
e.g. Adjective: fast
Adjectival Phrase: really fast.
Highlight the adjectival phrases in the following sentences.
1. The toddler saw the toweringly high pile of blocks beside the sandpit.
2. She took three shaky steps and fell down.
3. Undaunted, she climbed to her newly discovered feet and started again.
4. She edged around the viciously sharp angle of the sandpit.
5. With a devilishly dangerous swing she toppled the blocks.
6. The thoroughly satisfied toddler laughed and shouted, ‘More! More!’
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 6
Exercise One: Subject-Verb Agreement - Answers
1. We start at dawn.
2. Ali hurries to the front.
3. He climbs quickly.
4. The rest of us struggle to keep up.
5. He finds the mushrooms.
6. Fatima is excited.
7. She texts her friends.
8. ‘Hey everyone, I am gathering mushrooms!’
9. Ali steps in a muddy puddle.
10. ‘I prefer eating mushrooms to finding mushrooms.’
Exercise Two – Agreement with Collective Nouns - Answers
1. The party was six-strong.
2. There was a guide with many years’ experience.
3. The family of four was new to safaris.
4. We were watching the sun rise over the Kenyan lake.
5. Alice and Michael were teary at the beauty of the moment.
6. Two bees were buzzing around the guide.
7. The entire swarm of bees was annoyed with us.
8. Then a herd of elephants was alarmed by the noisy bees.
9. The elephants were charging so we ran for our lives.
10. Consequently, my luggage was lost on the way to the hotel.
Exercise Three - Nouns and Verbs Not Close to Each Other - Answers
1. I cracked the whip.
2. The horse, woken from its lethargy, ambled into motion.
3. The road, twisting across the floodplain like a toddler’s drawing, beckoned
with the answer to my quest.
4. But the horse, even though well-fed, well-watered and well-rested,
refused to walk at more than a plod.
5. Impatient, furious, incensed at the unreliability of animals, nevertheless I
did no more than grit my teeth at the funereal pace.
Week 3 Grammar – Subject, Verb and Object - 7
Exercise Four – Subject Verb Object Variations - Answers
1. The ferry left the pier at 6.05 pm.
2. It bustled upriver.
3. At 8.07 pm a hippopotamus head-butted the boat.
4. The mast snapped.
5. The captain told the passengers to remain calm.
6. My mother grabbed her handbag.
7. I watched the hippo roar.
8. The captain shone a bright light into the animal’s eyes.
9. Startled, the hippo dived deep into the river.
10. The captain beached the ferry on the bank.
Exercise Five – Noun Phrases - Answers
1. The convoy of buses left the depot.
2. They travelled along the spaghetti of roads crossing the city.
3. At the hill of ten flags they formed up in a straight line.
4. The best of the drivers stood in front of the row of his peers.
5. He held up the flag of his country and shouted, ‘Long life to all drivers of
buses and conductors of passengers!’
Exercise Six: Verb Phrases - Answers
1. The captain was worried about the fuel.
2. He radioed the control tower.
3. ‘I am running short of fuel.’
4. The control tower answered, ‘You are cleared to land on runway three.
5. The captain clapped his hands.
6. ‘We will survive this flight after all!’
Exercise Seven: Adjectival Phrases - Answers
1. The toddler saw the toweringly high pile of blocks beside the sandpit.
2. She took three shaky steps and fell down.
3. Undaunted, she climbed to her newly discovered feet and started again.
4. She edged around the viciously sharp angle of the sandpit.
5. With a devilishly dangerous swing she toppled the blocks.
6. The thoroughly satisfied toddler laughed and shouted, ‘More! More!’