THE SENTENCE

​GRAMMAR MOMENT

​THE SENTENCE

​In formal spoken or written English, every sentence must be complete. The basic rule is that all sentences must have a subject (S), which can be a pronoun, a noun, or a noun phrase, and a verb (V), which can also be a verb phrase. In many cases, the verb can be followed by a direct object (O). Please take a look at the following examples.

​She works. (S) +(V)
Fish swim. (S) +(V)
The children played. (S) +(V)
The bus driver needs a break. (S) +(V) +(O)
My mother liked the movie. (S) +(V) +(O)

​Every sentence must have a subject. The imperative sentence is an exception to this basic rule, because the subject, you, is understood. Imperative sentences are used to instruct someone to do something

​Examples
Go to class.
Pick up your mess, please.
Read the question carefully.

​Verbs that do not require a direct object are called intransitive verbs. Some common intransitive verbs exist and appear. As illustrated in the following examples, they are typically used with prepositional phrases.

​Examples
It is possible that life existed on Mars millions of years ago.
Black smoke rose from the burning tires.

Drag and Drop

Rewrite each verb phrase as a complete sentence by adding a subject.

Placeholder

an Italian dish called ​

Placeholder

.​

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

eating

mac and cheese

Drag and Drop

​

Placeholder

have worked in Jakarta for two years.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

I

Someone

Multiple Choice

Which of the following choices is incorrect?

________ purchased it last week.

• It

• He

• They

• We

Multiple Choice

What part of the sentence have you just added?

• Subject

• Object

• Verb

• Intransitive verb

Multiple Select

Which of the following is a good subject for this verb and object in the sentence below?

_________is awful.

• That man

• Cats

• The food here

• The movie

• Men

Multiple Choice

What part of the sentence is shown in the example below?

__________looks comfortable.

• Subject

• Object

• Verb

• Noun Phrase

Multiple Choice

What could a possible answer be to the previous example

_____________looks comfortable.

• That chair...

• The counter in the kitchen....

• My dog's house...

• The bird's cage...

Multiple Choice

Complete the sentence with the most correct answers

....went to the theatre.

• I hated the show

• The girls

• Funny hats were

• I saw Cats

​To summarise...

​The basic rule is that all sentences must have a subject (S), which can be a pronoun, a noun, or a noun phrase, and a verb (V), which can also be a verb phrase.

​The imperative sentence is an exception to this basic rule because the subject, you, is understood.

​Verbs that do not require a direct object are called intransitive verbs.

​If you have not scored 80% or above, please ask your teacher to allow you to do this tutorial again.