Mrs. Joten’s Fabulous Grammar Cheat Sheet
SUBJECT
The subject of a sentence is who or what is doing something in the sentence. It has to be a noun
or a pronoun.
Example: The little bird flew out of the nest. (The bird is the one doing something—flying.)
VERBS—ACTION VERBS
An action verb gives an action that the subject performed (thought, ran, talked, said, etc.). This is
what the subject is doing, has done, will do, etc.
Example: The little bird flew out of the nest. (Flying was the action taken by the bird.)
VERBS—LINKING VERBS
A verb could also be a linking verb (is, am, was, looks, appears, seems, becomes, smells, etc.),
connecting the subject to a predicate noun, predicate pronoun, or predicate adjective. This is not
really an action that is physically performed or can be observed.
Example: The cake seems to be done. (Seems to be is a linking verb. It is not really a physical
action that the cake has performed and that can be observed, but it links “cake” to “done”.)
FINDING THE COMPLEMENTS
Ask yourself a question framed like this: Subject
Verb What?
If there is no answer to the question, there is no direct object, predicate noun, predicate pronoun,
or predicate adjective. If there is an answer to this question, that word is the complement in the
sentence.
Example: Jason jogged this morning. Question to ask: Jason jogged what? There is no answer to
this question, one cannot “jog” something in this context, so there is no direct object, etc.
Example: Jason drew a funny picture in math class. Question to ask: Jason drew what? The
answer is: picture. Picture is the complement.
AFTER YOU’VE DETERMINED A SENTENCE HAS A COMPLEMENT, YOU HAVE TO
DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF COMPLEMENT IT IS.
DIRECT OBJECTS
Question to ask: Subject Verb What?
If you have already asked yourself a question framed like this, Subject Verb What? You need to
determine whether the word that answered that question is a direct object. A direct object is the
item receiving the action of the verb. It is being acted on by the verb.
Example: Jason drew a funny picture in math class. Question to ask: Jason drew what? Answer:
Picture. Picture is a direct object because the picture is the thing that was drawn—it received the
action of the verb. Direct objects will ALWAYS be nouns or pronouns.
PREDICATE NOUNS
Question to ask: Subject Verb What?
The answer to the “Subject Verb What?” question may not be a direct object. It could be a
predicate noun. A predicate noun has to be a NOUN. It could replace the subject. One is saying
that the subject IS that thing. You could even switch the subject and the predicate noun around
and it would still make sense.
Example: Mr. Smith is the teacher. Question to ask: Mr. Smith is what? Answer: Teacher
(drop ‘the’). Teacher is a noun. Mr. Smith (the subject) is that thing—a teacher. You could
switch the subject and the predicate noun around—you could say “The teacher is Mr. Smith” and
it would still make sense. You know it is not a direct object because ‘teacher’ was not acted on
by the verb is. How could it be? That makes no sense.
PREDICATE PRONOUNS
Question to ask: Subject Verb What?
The word you use to answer the question “Subject Verb What?” might be a predicate pronoun. A
predicate pronoun is similar to a predicate noun in that it could replace the subject. The sentence
is stating that the subject IS that thing (pronoun). The only difference is that this word has to be a
pronoun (me, I, you, we, us, him, her, them, few, they, many, one, etc.). Pronouns are words that
are used to replace nouns.
Example: I am the chosen one. Question to ask: I am what? Answer: One (drop ‘chosen’). One
is a pronoun. The sentence is stating that I (the subject) am that thing—the one. So one is a
predicate pronoun.
PREDICATE ADJECTIVES
Question to ask: Subject Verb What?
If the answer to the “Subject Verb What?” question is an adjective (describes a noun), then it is a
predicate adjective. It is a word that describes the subject. It appears after a linking verb.
Example: The wet cat was angry. Question to ask: Cat was what? Answer: Angry. Angry is an
adjective describing the cat (the subject).
INDIRECT OBJECTS
Subject Verb (Direct Object) To whom?For whom?
Indirect objects are weird. They’re the only complements that cannot be found by asking
“Subject Verb What?” You have to ask a question framed like this: Subject Verb (Direct Object
if there is one) To Whom/For Whom?
Example: I sang to the class. Question to ask: I sang to whom? Answer: class (drop ‘the’).
Notice there is no direct object in this sentence. That’s okay.
Example: She gave a sandwich to my friend. Question to ask: She gave (a) sandwich to whom?
Answer: (my) friend. {Omit words like a, the, my, etc. in front of the answer.}
NOUNS OF DIRECT ADDRESS
A noun of direct address is used when one writes a sentence as if he/she is speaking directly to
someone and gives his or her name or title. Nouns of direct address are set off by commas. A
noun of direct address has to be a NOUN!
Example: Mary, I see that you’re late again. (Mary is the noun of direct address—NODA.)
Example: Really, Alex, I cannot believe you said that! (Alex is the noun of direct address.)
Example: There was a time I liked to visit you, Grandpa. (Grandpa is the NODA.)