The Importance of Understanding Subjects and Verbs
Subjects and Verbs are the core grammatical units of all sentences. They are also called
the “building blocks”. They are considered the building blocks they determine grammar,
and you may construct the sentence around them.
How do you find the subject and verb? A subject commits the action and the verb
receives the action.
For example: The elephant drove the car.
Elephant is the subject. The elephant is committing the verb.
And drove is the verb; it’s what the elephant is doing.
You may build upon this core in many ways:
The pink elephant drove the car.
The angry pink elephant drove a brand new car.
The angry pink elephant, named Justin, drove a brand new car to Sally’s house.
The angry pink elephant, Justin, who is my neighbor, drove a brand new car to
Sally’s house and to the store.
Although the sentences change, the subject and verb still remain elephant and
drove
Activity: Underline subject once and verb twice.
1.
The pink elephant is in my evening class.
2.
I went to a party at the pink elephant’s house.
3.
Last week, I saw a pink elephant driving a brand new car.
4.
Mary took the pink elephant to the park.
5.
The pink elephant laughed.
6.
Several pink elephants gathered in the town square.
7.
Most pink elephants prefer Saturdays as their day off.
Now try this activity on your own and see how many you answered correctly.
Underline subject once and verb twice.
1.
The thunder ended the baseball game.
2.
The test directions confused the students.
3.
The fog rolled into the cemetery.
4.
Yoko invited her friends to dinner.
5.
A green fly stung her on the ankle.
6.
Every other night, garbage trucks rumble down my street on their way to the river.
7.
The elderly man sat for a few minutes.
8.
With their fingers, the children drew pictures on the steamed window.
9.
The curious child stared silently at the shopping mall Santa.
10. Cotton shirts feel softer than polyester ones.
More rules about subjects and verbs:
A sentence may have more than one subject, more than one verb or several subjects and
verbs.
The pink elephant’s heart skipped and pounded.
Mary Lou and Jerry Jay are both pink elephants.
Ronald McDonald and the pink elephant shook hands then threw punches at one
another.
No verb preceded by to is ever the verb of the sentence.
The pink elephant’s car began to sputter on the freeway.
Helping verbs must be included as part of the verb.
The pink elephant is leaving IBM.
The pink has been to Nepal.
The pink elephant has not been to his doctor in over a year.
Words like not, just, never only and always are not part of the verb, although they may
appear within the verb.
The pink elephant did not finish his paper before class.
The pink elephant was just voted homecoming queen last week.
Prepositional Phrases:
A prepositional phrase is simply a group of words that begins with a preposition.
Common prepositions:
About
At
By
On
before
into
in
from
inside
through
to
between
The subject and verb will never be within a prepositional phrase. Cross out
prepositional phrases when you are looking for subject and verb.
Activity: Underline subject once and verb twice and cross out any prepositional
phrases.
1.
Under my pillow, I found a quarter left by the tooth fairy.
2.
One of the yellow lights at the school crossing began flashing
3.
The comic pages of the newspaper have disappeared.
4.
In spite of my efforts, Bob dropped out of school
5.
During a rainstorm, I sat in my car reading magazines.
Now try this activity on your own and see how many you answered correctly.
Underline subject once and verb twice and cross out any prepositional phrases.
1.
A burning odor from the wood saw filled the room
2.
At first, sticks of gum always feel powdery on your tongue
3.
Vampires and werewolves are repelled by garlic
4.
Three people in the long bank line looked impatiently at their watches.
5.
The driving room had pasted wet leaves all over the car.
6.
She has decided to find a new apartment
7.
The trees in the mall were glittering with tiny white lights.
8.
The puppies slipped and tumbled on the vinyl kitchen floor.
9.
Tony and Lola ate at Pizza Hut and then went to a movie.
10. We have not met our new neighbors in the apartment building.
Quiz: Underline subject once and verb twice and cross out any prepositional
phrases.
30 pts.
1. A cloud of fruit flies hovered over the bananas.
2. Candle wax dripped onto the table and hardened into pools.
3. Nick and Fran are both excellent poker players.
4. The leaves of my dying rubber plant resembled limp brown rags.
5. During the first week of vacation, Ken slept until noon every day.
6. They have just decided to go on a diet together.
7. Psychology and graphic design are my favorite subjects.
8. The sofa in the living room has not been cleaned for over a year.
9. The water stains on her suede shoes did not disappear with brushing.
10. Fred was caught in traffic and, as a result, arrived late for work.