BASIC SENTENCE

STRUCTURE
T O P I C 2
W H AT I S A S E N T E N C E ?

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W H AT I S A S E N T E N C E ?
• Subject + predicate = complete sentence.
• Subject: noun that indicates what the sentence is about
• Predicate: verb or verb phrase, object, etc., describing what is happening to the
subject (comment about the subject)
• Example:
• The girl cooked dinner
• Expresses a complete thought
• Can stand alone
• Doesn’t need another clause to explain it
• Certain words can make a complete thought less complete! What? Why?
C O N T.
• Examples--after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if,
in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether,
and while
• These are clause markers (the first word of a dependent clause).
• These words can make an independent clause (complete sentence) into a
dependent clause (incomplete sentence).
• Independent clause: subject + predicate and can stand alone
• Dependent clause: subject + predicate and cannot stand alone. Can be
identified by the clause markers.
C O N T.
INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT CLAUSE INDEPENDENT
The lion roared when the hunter appeared
The lecturer whom you saw last night lives in London
My father understands why I want to get married

• Without the clause marker, the dependent clause in the box would become
independent.
SENTENCE ROLES
• To understand sentence structures
in the English language, you must Content Words
first have a general understanding
of the types of words that are
used to make sentences.
• Noun
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
SENTENCE ROLES

The
The verb The object
subject
slot slot
slot

The
adverbial
slot
• Subject – who or what initiate the action or state
shown by the verb

• Subject usually comes at the beginning of a sentence

THE
SUBJECT • Subject always consist of noun phrase (or clause)
and when it is linked to a predicate it creates a
SLOT complete sentence

• Example:
• Miss H is trying to be funny during the class.
• Fattah and Fazura is happily married.
Object – who or what receives the action that
was initiated by the subject (a predicate).

Like the subject, it always consist of a noun

phrase or clause.

THE Objects are not always required to make a

complete sentence; they are often present. For
OBJECT example:
SLOT
In a complete sentence, some verbs can have
object after them (transitive) but some of the
verbs can’t (intransitive).
E.g: It is possible to pulled, left or drink
something but not possible to sleep, talk, or go
something.
C O N T.

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIAL

Effie pulled the car out of the mud
Katniss left the house of her at noon today
childhood
versus
Peeta talked at the talk show
Haymitch sleeps soundly
C O N T.
• Two types of objects: direct versus indirect object
• Direct object – answers the question ‘what’ or ‘who’
• Indirect object – answers the question ‘to whom’ or ’for what’
• Gary threw the ball to Owen.
• Subject : Gary
• Predicate: threw
• Direct object: the ball
• Indirect object: to Owen
• Verb usually follows the subject of a sentence (also
a predicate).

• Verb shows the action that the subject performs or

the state that the subject is in.
• Showing action – Rose beats Jenny.
THE VERB • Showing the state – Uncle Roger is funny.
SLOT
• Every English sentence must have a verb BUT can
we have a verb without a subject?
C O N T.
• Yes! The subjectless sentence is called commands. The subject is understood
to be you.

• It is generally impossible to have a complete sentence containing a subject

without a verb.

• Go!

• Marry me?
• Adverbial – part of the sentence that show us the
time (when), the place (where), the manner (how),
the reason (why), the degree (how much), etc., that
an action or state took place.

THE
• Is usually at the end of a sentence BUT can quite
ADVERBIA move freely to the front of the sentence (often
L SLOT followed by a comma).

• Most common adverbial slot is one or more

prepositional phrases, but it can be an adverb
phrase or an adverb clause.
C O N T.

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIAL

The taxi drove the up the hill to
minister the mosque
Her deteriorate very quickly
health d
The man left the because he
country wanted a job
in England.
EXERCISE IN CLASS

• The rabbit changes its color in winter

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIA

L
The rabbit changes its color in winter
1) A small bomb killed several people at the airport yesterday
2) Several young woman milk the cows this morning
3) Most of the students can speak another language
4) Jim needed a new pencil, so he bought one at the supermarket
5) The insects have attacked every trees on my block
6) Leave this house now!
7) In the fall, the leaves on the tree falls to the ground.
8) The engineer carefully removed all the accumulated oil from the gear box.
9) The children are visiting the old man and they are watering his garden.
10) Diana doesn’t take cream in her coffee
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIA
L

IDENTIFY
S , V, O ,
ADV
Clauses

Phrases

Types of Sentences
CLAUSES
1) A group of words that contains a
verb and its subject and that is
used as a sentence or a part of a Independ
sentence. ent
2) So, it is a subject and predicate clause
working together

Depende
nt clause
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
1) An independent clause (or main) clause expresses a complete thought and
can stand by itself as a sentence.
2) When an independent clause stands alone, it is called a sentence.
3) The term ’independent clause’ is usually only used when a clause is joined
with another clause.
4) Example:
• My mother drove me to school, but my brother rode his bicycle.
DEPENDENT CLAUSE
1) A dependent (or subordinate) clause does not express a complete thought
and cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.
2) A group of words with both a subject and verb but is a fragment (doesn’t
form a complete thought).
3) Subordinate clauses are joined with independent clauses to express a
complete thought – can’t function alone!
4) May appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence
C O N T.
• Example:
• Subordinate clause: if they do not win
• Sentence: If they do not win, they will have to practice harder next year.
• Sentence: They will have to practice harder next year if they do not win.
TYPES OF DEPENDENT
CLAUSES

Adjective Adverbial
Clause Clause
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
1) Adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun
by telling what kind or which one.
2) This clause serve as the adjective (or one of the adjectives) for the
sentence.
3) Adjective clauses begin with conjunctions or pronouns – that, who,
whom, whose, which.
4) Example:
The house where I grew up in England.
The building that they built in Kuala Lumpur sold for a lot of money.
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
1) Adverbial clause is the dependent clauses that modify verbs, adjective or
adverb.
2) Remember the marker words?...it is called subordinate conjunctions. It
helps us to signal an adverbial clause.
3) Example: I will drive wherever the road takes me.
4) Remember! When moving an adverbial clause to the front of a sentence,
you need to use comma. BUT if you are not moving it to the front, don’t use
comma!
C O N T.

Subordinate Subordinate Subordinate

Conjunctions Conjunctions Conjunctions
• after • in order that • until
• although • since • when
• as • so that • whenever
• because • than • where
• before • though • wherever
• if • unless • while
LET’S PRACTICE 
• Identify any clauses and name what it is:
• The hostess wouldn’t seat us because the restaurant was closed.
• Have you played with the game that I bought for you?
• I am not responsible for what my cats do when I am not home
• We can go swimming when it is warmer outside
• If you promise to let his band play, Edward will come to your party
• The car that she is driving is not hers
LET’S PRACTICE ANS
• The hostess wouldn’t seat us because the restaurant was closed - AdvC
• Have you played with the game that I bought for you? – AdjC
• I am not responsible for what my cats do when I am not home. AdvC
• We can go swimming when it is warmer outside. AdvC
• If you promise to let his band play, Edward will come to your party. AdvC
• The car that she is driving is not hers. AdjC
PHRASES
• Group of words:
• A group of related words that is used as a single part of speech and that
does not contain BOTH a verb and its subject.
• Contains only a subject OR only a predicate (NOT BOTH)
• So, it is a group of words related to the subject only or predicate only.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
1) A preposition + the noun or pronoun that the preposition is affecting + any
adjectives that modify the noun.
2) A preposition + the object of the preposition + any modifiers of that object:
The man lived under the bridge
The cat is under the umbrella next to them
3) Prepositional phrases modify adjectives or adverbs and are called either
adjective phrases or adverb phrases.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

Adjective Adverb
Phrase Phrase
ADJECTIVE PHRASE
1) An adjective phrase is a prepositional phrase that is used to modify a
noun or pronoun by telling what kind or which one.
2) BUT how is this different than an adjective clause?
3) Adjective phrases begin with prepositions, while adjective clauses
begin with conjunctions or pronouns.
C O N T.
• Prepositional phrase when used as an adjective:
• Adjective; Mr. King chose the blue tie
• Adj. Phrase: Mr. King chose the tie with the blue stripes
• Adj. Clause; Mr king chose the blue tie because he favors blue color.
C O N T.
1) An adjective phrase modifies a noun or pronoun and generally come
after the words they modify.
2) They answer the same questions single-word adjectives answer: What kind?
Many/much? Which one? How?
3) Examples:
• The store with the neon sign is open.
• Maya is a soccer player from Florida.
• Their enthusiasm for soccer brought them together.
ADVERB PHRASE
1. An adverb phrase is a prepositional phrase that is used to modify a verb,
an adjective or another adverb by pointing out where, when, in what
manner, or to what extent.
2. BUT how is this different than an adverbial clause?
3. Adverb phrases begin with prepositions. Adverbial clauses begin with
subordinate conjunctions.
C O N T.
• Prepositional phrase when used as an adverb:
• Adverb: The team will reach the field soon.
• Adverb phrase: The team will reach the field by noon.
• Adverb clause: The team will reach the field before the event start.
C O N T.
1) An adverb phrase modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb and answers
the same questions: When? Where? How? To what extent?
2) Examples:
• We got our new puppy at the animal shelter.
• A puppy is always ready for a game.
• He barks loudly for a puppy.
ADJ PHRASE VS ADV PHRASE
1) Adjective phrases usually follow the word or words they modify.
2) Adverb phrases may appear at various places in sentences.
• Example:
• At dusk we went inside to eat dinner
• We went inside at dusk to eat dinner
• We went inside to eat dinner at dusk
ADJ PHRASE VS ADV PHRASE
• 3. An adverb phrase may be followed by an adjective phrase that modifies
the object in the adverb phrase.
• Example:
• The boat landed on an island near the coast
• The cat is under the umbrella next to them
LET’S PRACTICE 
• Identify whether the phrase is an adjective phrase or adverb phrase:
• The house across the street is falling.
• The cat fell down the well.
• The words inside the book were difficult to read
LET’S PRACTICE: ANSWER
• Identify whether the phrase is an adjective phrase or adverb phrase:
• The house across the street is falling down – adjective phrase
• The cat fell down the well – adverb phrase
• The words inside the book were difficult to read – adjective phrase
LET’S PRACTICE 
• Identify the prepositional phrase and whether it is an adjective or adverb
phrase:
• The car near the house belongs to Jimmy
• She ran towards the fire.
• The light upon the hills burns brightly.
• The store past Barnes and Noble is still open
• The car drove off the edge of the cliff.
LET’S PRACTICE: ANSWER
• Identify the prepositional phrase and whether it is an adjective or adverb
phrase:
• The car near the house belongs to Jimmy – adjective phrase
• She ran towards the fire – adverb phrase
• The light upon the hills burns brightly – adjective phrase
• The store past Barnes and Noble is still open – adjective phrase
• The car drove off the edge of the cliff – adverb phrase; adjective
phrase
PHRASE/CLAUSE PRACTICE 
• Are the following groups of words a phrase or a clause?
• at the store
• Gina came into the store
• although I could not play
• The running water
• from earlier centuries
PHRASE/CLAUSE PRACTICE:
ANS
• Are the following groups of words a phrase or a clause?
• at the store - phrase
• Gina came into the store – clause (independent)
• although I could not play – clause (dependent)
• The running water - phrase
• from earlier centuries - phrase
PHRASE/CLAUSE PRACTICE 
• before a hurricane occurs
• I took a quick jog
• through the winter months
• during the rainy season
• Since airports need room
PHRASE/CLAUSE PRACTICE:
ANS
• before a hurricane occurs – clause (dependent)
• I took a quick jog – clause (independent)
• through the winter months - phrase
• during the rainy season - phrase
• Since airports need room – clause (dependent)
B R E AT H E 
ALLAHUMMA RABBI YASSIR WA LA TU’ASSIR.
SENTENCE TYPES

Compoun
Simple Complex
d

Compoun
d-
complex
SIMPLE SENTENCE
• A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause:
• I like SpongeBob
• It contains a subject and a verb
• It can be short or long:
• Art and Archeology reflect and explain Jerusalem’s history
• It does not contain any dependent clause.
COMPOUND SENTENCE
• A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses:
• I like SpongeBob and I like Plankton – 2 independent clauses
• The independent clauses are joined by a comma, a semicolon, or a
coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
• Punctuation of compound sentences:
• Semicolon: SpongeBob makes Krabby patties; they are delicious.
• Comma and a conjunction: SpongeBob makes Krabby patties, and they
are delicious.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
• A complex sentence consist of one independent clause and one or more
dependent clauses.
• Because he makes me laugh, I like SpongeBob.
• You should visit the Krusty Krab if you are hungry.
• The main clause and each dependent clause have their own subjects and
verbs: those in the main clause are called the subject of the sentence and the
main verb.
COMPOUND-COMPLEX
SENTENCE
• A compound-complex sentence consists of two or more independent clauses
and one or more dependent clauses:
• Because they make me laugh, I like SpongeBob, and I like Plankton.
• As he was leaving for school, Larry remembered to take his lunch, but
he forgot the report that he had finished the night before.
BASIC STRUCTURE OF
SENTENCE
• A simple sentence = 1 independent clause
• A compound sentence = 2 or more independent clauses joined by a comma
and a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon.
• A complex sentence = 1 independent clause + 1 or more subordinate
(dependent) clauses
• A compound-complex sentence = 2 or more independent clauses + 1 or
more subordinate clauses.
C O N T.
Structure Examples

Simple Sentence I received your letter last week.

Ali and Abu will sell the tickets.

Compound Sentence One group addressed the envelopes, and another sorted
them by ZIP code.

Complex Sentence Although the old photograph had faded badly, we could
still see many details.

Compound-complex I turned on the heat as soon as we arrived, and now the

Sentence house is warm