PARTS OF SENTENCES
Unit 2
SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
Parts of Sentences Unit
Love stinks.
Do these two words make a sentence?
Subject/Predicate


A grammatical sentence contains a subject (who
or what the sentence is about) and a predicate
(what the subject is or does) and expresses a
complete thought.
“Love” is the subject of the sentence and “stinks” is
the predicate.
 These
words have multiple meanings and can act as
different parts of speech than they’re being used as
here. It depends on their purpose. Here, though, love is
a noun and stinks is a verb.
Subject/Predicate


A sentence’s subject often contains a noun and a
sentence’s predicate contains a verb.
New York Times Article
 On
your own paper please write a list of any nouns
you find interesting or challenging and any verbs you
find interesting or challenging (two lists).
Subject/Predicate

Let’s discuss the article:
 Do you believe that chess saved Shawn
Martinez’s life?
 How could both of these perspectives be
supported by quotes from the article?
(specific quotes)
 How would Shawn Martinez answer this
question?
Subject/Predicate



Groups (I’ll number you off)
In your groups you will show all of your lists and
choose 2 nouns and 2 verbs.
Please write your 2 nouns and 2 verbs on the
provided index cards (1 on each).
 You
must define the word and cite where it was found
in the article. (groups use dictionaries in back of room)

Word Wall on board
Subject/Predicate





Each group will now mix and match all of the words on
the word wall to create 5-6 original sentences.
You will use the nouns as the subjects and the verbs as
the predicates.
Add words and change tense in order to create
challenging sentences.
Underline the subject with an “s” underneath, underline
predicate with a “p” underneath!
Present your sentences on board.
Subject/Predicate Practice

Please get a Lang. Textbook out of the bookshelf in
the back of the room or under your desk.
 Starting
on page 327 you need to define the following
words:
 Subject
 Complete
Subject
 Simple Subject
 Predicate
 Complete Predicate
 Simple Predicate
 Do
Exercises 4-6
PHRASES
Parts of Sentences Unit
“Night” Activity

Read excerpt from “Night” by Elie Weisel
 As
a review that is going into our next lesson please
answer the parts of speech questions.
 #1-13
 This
will take some time, make sure you focus and do your
best!
 You will work in groups but you must turn in your own
answers in your own packet. Discuss the questions with your
team, the questions are intricate.
 If you do not work diligently you will work alone.
Phrases
A phrase is a group of words that do not
contain both a subject and a verb. Collectively,
the words in the phrases function as a single
part of speech.
 We are going to look at 6 different types of
phrases. A few of those 6 types have subtypes as well.

Phrases

Examples:
Colors can influence the way we feel about a place or
thing.
 A room painted white often seems larger than it is.
 Painting something orange draws people’s attention to it.
 Studies show that more women than men seem to prefer red.
 Green, the color of many things in nature, relaxes people.

Phrase Practice
Determine whether the underlined
word group in each of the following
sentences is a phrase or not. If it is
write phrase for that number, if it is
not write not a phrase for that
number.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Please place the keys on the table.
They decided to watch a movie.
The glasses are on the shelf.
Enrique became excited when he heard the news.
Jimmy, fearing a low score, studied diligently for his
exam.
In 1934, my grandfather came to the United States.
The clothes in the corner should be donated to charity.
Casper, a master of the violin, is learning to play the
guitar.
Before she left home, Helena ate breakfast and read a
magazine.
Hiding under the bed, my shoes were lost forever.
Prepositional Phrases

A preposition plus its object and any modifiers.

Common Prepositions Include:
 To,
around, under, over, like, as, behind, with, outside,
etc…

Prepositional phrases may function as adjectives or
as adverbs.
Prepositional Phrases

Adjective Prepositional Phrases:
 Tell
which one, what kind, how many, and how much, or
give other information about a noun, a pronoun. A
prepositional phrase that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Examples:
 The
store around the corner is painted green. (Which
store is it? The store around the corner.)
 The girl with the blue hair is angry.
Prepositional Phrases

Adverb Prepositional Phrases
 Tell
how, when, where, why, to what extent, or under what
condition about a verb, an adjective, an adverb. A
prepositional phrase that modifies a verb, adjective, or
other adverb.

Examples:
 Oscar
is painting his house with the help of his friends.
(How is he painting his house? With the help of his
friends.)
 Sally is coloring outside the lines.
Prepositional Phrase Practice

What is an “ode”?
A lyrical poem characterized usually by
elevated feeling and style. Odes
celebrate something in life.
“Ode to the Sprinkler”
Read “Ode to the Sprinkler” by Gary
Soto
 Complete Activity 4 and Activity 5 about
prepositional phrases.
 In Activity 5, disregard the instructions in
the middle of the sheet about index
cards.

Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases

Infinitive: a verb form that can be used as a
noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Most
infinitives begin with “to.”
 to fly, to draw, to become, to enter, to stand,
to catch, to belong
Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases

Infinitive Phrase: the word “to” plus a verb. Can
function as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.
 To
dance gracefully is my ambition. (here the IP is the
subject of the sentence)
 Her plan to become a millionaire fell through when
she lost her job (IP modifies plan; functions as an
adjective)
 She wanted to become a veterinarian. (noun – direct
object of “wanted”)
 John went to college to study engineering. (tells why
he went, so it’s an adverb)
Appositives and Appositive Phrases

Appositive: a noun or pronoun placed beside
another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it.
 The
Drama Club will be performing a play about the
mythological hero Perseus. (The appositive “Perseus”
identifies the noun “hero”…both are nouns)
 Only two eight-graders, Saul and I, auditioned for the
lead role. (the compound appositives “Saul” and “I”
identify the noun “eighth-graders”)
Appositives and Appositive Phrases

Appositive Phrases: consists of an appositive and its
modifiers.
 The
restaurant’s specialty is spaghetti, an Italian dish
made with noodles, sauce, and various spices. (The
appositive phrase identifies the noun “spaghetti”)
 Spaghetti, one of the restaurant’s specialties, is an
Italian dish made with noodles, sauce, and various
spices. (The appositive phrase identifies the noun
“spaghetti”)
 Babe Ruth, a world famous baseball player, broke
many world records.
Participles and Participial Phrases

Participle: a verb form (past or present) acts like an
adjective.

Present Participles end in –ing
Our soccer team had a winning season. (Winning modifies
season.)
 Shivering with cold, we decided to go indoors. (Shivering modifies
we.)


Most past participles end in –d or –ed.
We visited a Spanish mission established in the 1600s.
(Established modifies mission.)
 The swollen river overflowed its banks. (Swollen modifies river.)

Participles and Participial Phrases

Participle phrase: consists of a participle and any
modifiers or complements the participle has.
 The

entire phrase is used as an adjective.
Examples:
 Blinded
by the light, Sarah walked into the concert
hall.
 Swimming for his life, John crossed the English
Channel.
Gerunds and Gerund Phrases

Gerund: a verb form ending in –ing that is
used as a noun.
 Skiing is my favorite sport. (subject of the
verb is.)
 My hobby is fishing.
 Sam enjoys rock climbing.
 We should give snorkeling a try.
Gerunds and Gerund Phrases

Gerund phrase: a gerund and any modifiers or
complements the gerund has.





The entire phrase is used as a noun.
Walking in the moonlight is a romantic way to end a
date. (subject of a sentence)
He particularly enjoyed walking in the moonlight with
his girlfriend. (direct object)
He wrote a poem about walking in the moonlight.
(object of the preposition)
Walking the dog is not my favorite task. (subject)
Absolute Phrase

Absolute Phrase: a group of words consisting of a
noun or pronoun, an “ing” or “ed” verb, and any
modifiers that are around it.
 Simpler
definition: An absolute phrase contains a noun
or pronoun followed by a participle.
 They modify the whole sentence rather than just a part
of it.
 They are always set off from the rest of the sentence
with a comma or pair of commas (or dashes)
Absolute Phrase

Examples:
 Their minds whirling from the avalanche
of information provided by their teacher,
the students made their way thoughtfully to
the parking lot.
 His head pounding, his hands shaking, his
heart filled with trepidation, the young man
knelt and proposed marriage to his
sweetheart.