Sentence structure review

A phrase is...

• a group of words expressing an idea but without a verb.

• a sentence with a subject, verb and object.

• an independent clause.

• a simple sentence.

Which of these is a phrase?

• once in a blue moon

• Once in a blue moon, I eat cake.

• The giant black bear climbed the tree.

• The thief escaped before the police arrived.

A clause is...

• when many ideas are combined into one.

• a punctuation convention used to join ideas.

• a noun or noun group that has adjectival phrases.

• a grammatical unit containing a verb, a subject and sometimes objects.

Which of these is a clause?

• Yesterday,

• After the concert.

• The chef cooked cake.

• The soft, fluffy tabby kitten,

What is the verb/process in this simple sentence?

The creature slithered into the water.

What is the noun/participant in this simple sentence?

The creature slithered into the water.

What is the adverbial/circumstance in this simple sentence?

The creature slithered into the water.

"Australia retained the ashes."

The subject in this sentence is...

Answer explanation

Remember our sentences should have a subject + verb (+ object).

Ask "who or what is (verb)?" to find the subject.

Australia is the subject because they are the ones controlling the verb, i.e. they retained something.

"Australia retained the ashes."

The verb in this sentence is...

Answer explanation

Remember our sentences should have a subject + verb (+ object).

Ask "what is happening?" to find the verb/process.

"Australia retained the ashes."

The object in this sentence is...

Answer explanation

Remember our sentences should have a subject + verb (+ object).

A sentence doesn't have to have an object but they often do.

In this case, "the ashes" are impacted by the actions of the subject, i.e. the ashes were retained by the subject Australia.