Subjects,
Predicates, and
Objects
Review: Parts of Speech
Write the sentences in the blank space provided, and
label each word with its part of speech.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Circus parades were long and elaborate.
They arrived in town by train.
Night parades seemed especially exciting.
Wow! Those electric lights and torches glowed so
brightly!
5. Animals rode in velvet-draped cages.
Review: Parts of Speech
1. Circus (adj) parades (N) were (V) long (adj) and
(conj) elaborate (adj).
2. They (pro) arrived (v) in (prep) town (n) by (prep)
train (n)
3. Night (adj) parades (n) seemed (v) especially (adv)
exciting (adj).
4. Wow! (int) those (adj) electric (adj) lights (n) and
(conj) torches (n) glowed (v) so (adv) brightly (adv).
5. Animals (n) rode (v) in (prep) velvet-draped (adj)
cages (n).
Complete Subjects and Predicates
• A sentence is a group of words with two main
parts: a complete subject and a complete
predicate.
• Together, these parts express a complete
thought.
Complete Subjects and Predicates
• A complete subject is the noun, pronoun, or
group of words acting as a noun, plus any
modifiers, that tells who or what the sentence
is about.
• The complete predicate is the verb or verb
phrase, plus any modifiers or complements,
that tells what the complete subject of the
sentence does or is.
Complete Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects
Complete Predicates
The elegant boat
still sails majestically.
A girl wearing a yellow scarf will meet you at the ferry.
Wheat germ
is very nutritious.
Complete Subjects and Predicates
Cowboys roamed.
Buffalo Bill delivered mail.
Pony express riders carried packages more than 2000 miles.
The service lasted for eighteen months.
Complete Subjects and Predicates
Although the complete subject usually comes first,
occasionally part of a complete predicate will be found at the
beginning of a sentence with the rest at the end.
Yesterday my social studies class visited a Wild West
exhibit.
At the exhibit, we saw a collection of Wild West
memorabilia.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Exercise 1: Recognizing Complete
Subjects and Predicates
1.Ellen and her friends visited the Museum
of Modern Art.
2.You will need a good college dictionary
and some other reference texts.
3.Rounding the bend, we saw the old village
store under an immense tree.
4.Everyone must pass the same entrance
examinations.
5.The end of the play was not at all
surprising.
Sentence or Fragment?
FRAGMENTS
The room in the attic.
Welcomed the visitors.
On a cool, damp morning.
COMPLETE SENTENCE
The room in the attic remained
closed for many years.
My grandparents and I
welcomes the visitors.
On a cool, damp morning, I left
to join the navy.
Exercise 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Choose to lead the team. S
Suddenly, at the crack of dawn. F
The house is fenced on three sides. S
The assistant principal of the high school. F
Near the top of the mountain range. F
Simple Subjects and Predicates
• The simple subject is the essential noun,
pronoun, or group of words acting as a noun
that cannot be left out of the complete
subject.
• The simple predicate is the essential verb or
verb phrase that cannon be left out of the
complete predicate.
SIMPLE SUBJECTS AND SIMPLE PREDICATES
Complete Subjects
Complete Predicates
Tickets for the rodeo
sold quickly.
The writer’s children
published all of his early poetry
in 1868 but none of his
sketches.
The tiny nation of San Marino
has always received most of its
income from the sale of postage
stamps.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects Complete
Predicates
A sudden
threatened the
developing storm coastline.
The state of Alaska has attracted
settlers from many
other states.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects Complete
Predicates
A sudden
threatened the
developing storm coastline.
The state of Alaska has attracted
settlers from many
other states.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects Complete
Predicates
A sudden
threatened the
developing storm coastline.
The state of Alaska has attracted
settlers from many
other states.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects Complete
Predicates
A sudden
threatened the
developing storm coastline.
The state of Alaska has attracted
settlers from many
other states.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Complete Subjects Complete
Predicates
A sudden
threatened the
developing storm coastline.
The state of Alaska has attracted
settlers from many
other states.
Exercise 3: Subjects and Verbs
Draw a vertical line between the complete subject
and complete predicate. Underline each simple
subject once and each simple verb twice.
1. Cattle herders worked up to twenty hours a day.
2. They drove cattle up and down the Chisholm
Trail.
3. Sources of water were sometimes not easily
found.
4. Natural predators hunted the cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes often occurred late at
night.
1. Cattle herders |worked up to
twenty hours a day.
2. They drove cattle up and down the
Chisholm trail.
3. Sources of water were sometimes
not easily found.
4. Natural predators hunted the cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes often
occurred late at night.
1. Cattle herders |worked up to
twenty hours a day.
2. They | drove cattle up and down the
Chisholm trail.
3. Sources of water were sometimes
not easily found.
4. Natural predators hunted the cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes often
occurred late at night.
1. Cattle herders |worked up to
twenty hours a day.
2. They | drove cattle up and down the
Chisholm trail.
3. Sources of water | were sometimes
not easily found.
4. Natural predators hunted the cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes often
occurred late at night.
1. Cattle herders |worked up to
twenty hours a day.
2. They | drove cattle up and down the
Chisholm trail.
3. Sources of water | were sometimes
not easily found.
4. Natural predators | hunted the
cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes often
occurred late at night.
1. Cattle herders |worked up to
twenty hours a day.
2. They | drove cattle up and down the
Chisholm trail.
3. Sources of water | were sometimes
not easily found.
4. Natural predators | hunted the
cattle.
5. Wild buffalo stampedes | often
occurred late at night.
Subjects in Different Kinds of
Sentences
• In most sentences, the subject comes before
the verb. This is called normal word order.
• In some sentences, however, the verb comes
first, and the word order is inverted.
• If there is a problem finding the subject,
change the sentence back to normal word
order, placing the subject first.
Subjects in Different Kinds of
Sentences
HARD-TO-FIND SUBJECTS
Problem Sentences
In Normal Word Order
On the hill is a barn.
A barn is on the hill.
There is someone in the
Someone is in the house.
house.
Here is your notebook.
Your notebook is here.
Where have you been?
You have been where?
Hang up the phone.
You hang up the phone.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.
Exercise 4
1. There are three strange men in your
office.
2. Have the grandparents arrived yet?
3. Near the bank of the river was an old
canoe.
4. Where can my notebooks be?
5. Here are the books from the library.