Name
Lesson
7
Date
Subjects in Unusual Order
Teaching
In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb. In some sentences,
however, subjects may come after the verb, come in between the verb phrase,
or not appear at all.
Are you excited?
CHAPTER 1
In most questions, the subject comes after the verb or between parts of the
verb phrase.
Have you been to the city? (Have been is the
VERB SUBJECT
SUBJECT
verb phrase)
The subject of a command, or imperative sentence, is usually you. Often, you
doesn’t appear in the sentence because it is understood.
Study the map carefully.
VERB
(The implied subject is You.)
In an inverted sentence, the subject comes after the verb.
Into the car climbed the eager family.
VERB
SUBJECT
In some sentences beginning with the words here or there, the subject follows the
verb. To find the subject, look for the verb and ask who or what.
Here is the road to the city. (What is here?)
There are the hotels listed in the book. (What are there?)
Finding Subjects and Verbs in Unusual Positions
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc.
In the following sentences, underline the simple subject once and the verb or verb
phrase twice. If the subject is understood, write You in parentheses on the line.
1. There are many museums in the city.
______________
2. Will we visit any of them?
______________
3. Here is the new science museum.
______________
4. Is the planetarium show at one o’clock?
______________
5. Look at the schedule for the time.
______________
6. Around the corner came a huge robot.
______________
7. Was Mom surprised?
______________
8. There were many visitors at the laser show.
______________
9. Are you searching for the gift shop?
______________
10. Here is an exhibit on space travel.
______________
11. Near the satellite model was a large picture of Jupiter.
______________
12. Take a picture of Dad in the space suit.
______________
13. How much do you remember from that display?
______________
GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK 19
Name
Lesson
7
Date
Subjects in Unusual Order
More Practice
A. Writing Sentences
EXAMPLE Over the high fence stretched the tall giraffe.
The tall giraffe stretched over the high fence.
1. Was the city zoo an interesting place?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In the bird enclosure swooped a bald eagle.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Near the monkey exhibit stood a large group of school children.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Were the crocodiles in the small lake?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5. On a tree branch sat a colorful parrot.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Writing Sentences
Rewrite each sentence as an inverted or imperative sentence. You may choose to
add Here or There. If you write an imperative sentence, write (You) after it. Then
underline each subject once and each verb twice in your new sentence.
EXAMPLE The subway traveled around the city.
Around the city traveled the subway.
1. You can pay your fare at the subway entrance.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Tall buildings reached into the blue sky.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. The art museum is at the end of the bus line.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4. You must see the monument in front of City Hall.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Many restaurants are near our hotel.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
20 GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc.
CHAPTER 1
In the following sentences, underline the simple subject once and the verb twice.
Then rewrite each sentence so that the subject comes before the verb.
Name
Lesson
7
Date
Subjects in Unusual Order
Application
A. Revising Using Different Sentence Orders
Was our family trip to the city exciting? To many museums traveled our
happy group. All over the science museum were unusual exhibits. In the
planetarium was an interesting show about the stars. At the art museum were
beautiful pictures. Through the zoo walked our family. Around the city by
subway and bus traveled our family. Did we enjoy eating in the different
restaurants around our hotel? Would we like to visit the city again someday?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Revising Using a Variety of Sentence Orders
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc.
The writer of this paragraph decided always to use the usual word order of subject
before verb. Rewrite the paragraph, this time using many kinds of sentence orders.
Write at least two sentences in which the subject comes before the verb. Write at
least two sentences in a more unusual order, with the subject after the verb.
Many parents and children spend time together on vacation. Some families
travel to the seashore. Other families go to the mountains. A few families sail
among tropical islands on large cruise ships. Some families go to exciting
amusement parks. Parents and children may visit historical sites far away from
home. Other families stay in their own town. They might explore nearby
museums or zoos. The best vacation of all is just being together as a family.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND MECHANICS BOOK 21
CHAPTER 1
The writer of this paragraph decided never to use the usual word order of subject
before verb. In all of the paragraph’s sentences, the subject is found in an unusual
position or is understood. Rewrite the paragraph. Use a variety of sentence orders
to improve the paragraph.