Subjects and Verbs - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Subjects and Verbs (Predicates)Slide2

Subjects

A

subject

is ALWAYS a NOUN or PRONOUN and it is what is “doing” the VERB.

Nouns

are the names of people, places, things, and ideas

Pronouns

are what take the place of a noun

(he, she, it, they, I,

etc

…)

Verbs

are words that show the action or state of “being” of a subjectSlide3

Locating Subjects and Verbs

To avoid writing a fragment, look for the subject and verb in a sentence.

To

find the subject

,

ask

“

Which

word tells what or who this sentence is about

?”

Once

you have the answer (the subject),

then

ask,

“

What does the subject do?” or

“

What is being done to the subject

?”

This

will help you locate the verb.Slide4

Locating Subjects and Verbs (cont’d)

In some sentences, it’s easier to find the verb first

.

In

this case, ask

“

Which word states the action or

state of “being”

in this sentence

?”

This

question should help you locate the verb.

Then

ask,

“

Who or what is

“doing” or “being” the

action of the

sentence

?”

The

resulting word or words will be the subject.Slide5

Compound Subjects

A

compound subject

consists of two or more subjects. These subjects may be joined by a conjunction such as and or

or

.

The

campers and hikers

repelled the mosquitoes with insect spray.

Flies, gnats, and bees

are always buzzing around the garbage can.

Neither the

horse

nor the

driver

looked tired.Slide6

Compound VerbsA

compound verb

consists of two or more verbs. These verbs may be joined by a conjunction such as

and

,

but

,

or

, or

nor

.

I neither

saw

them nor

heard

them.

Randy

left

school and

ran

to the gym.

She

sneezed

and

coughed

all day.Slide7

Compound Subjects and VerbsSome sentences

contain

both a

compound subject

and a

compound verb

.

My

father

and

brother

swatted

at the fly but

smacked

each other in the head instead.

The

dog

and

cat

eyed

each other,

circled

warily, and then advanced into combat.Slide8

Hard to Find Subjects (declarative sentences: makes a statement

[

.

])

FYI:

The words

Here

and

there

are

NEVER the subject

of a sentence!

There

are

the

buses

. (buses/ are)

There

are

the downtown

buildings

. (buildings/are)

Here

is

the

ticket

for your trip. (ticket/is)

There

is

money

in the cash register (money/is)

The downtown

buildings

are

there. (buildings/are)

The

ticket

for your trip

is

here. (ticket/is)

Money

is

the cash register there. (money/is)Slide9

Hard to Find Subjects (interrogative sentences

: asks a question [?])

Some

interrogative sentences

use

subject-

verb

order. Often, however, the word order of an interrogative sentence is

verb

-

subject

.

Which

car

gets

the best mileage

?

Is

the City

Zoo

open

in the morning

?

Do

they

own

that

house

?

Where

will

the

dance

be held

?

Where

are

we

going

?

The

dance

will be held

where

?Slide10

Hard to Find Subjects (imperative sentences: gives an order or direction

[

. / !

])

The subject of an

imperative sentence

is usually “implied” rather than specifically

“stated.”

In

imperative sentences

, the

subject

is

understood to be YOU

.

Examples

: First

,

visit

the Sears Tower.

First

, [

you

]

visit

the Sears Tower.

After

the tour,

come

home right away.

After

the tour, [

you

]

come

home right awaySlide11

Hard to Find Subjects (exclamatory sentences: conveys strong emotion [!])

In some

exclamatory sentences

, the subject appears before the verb. In others, the verb appears first. To find the subject, rearrange the sentence in subject-verb order.

Examples

:

What

does

he

know

!

Go

now!

(

subject understood: [

You

]

go

now! )

In other exclamatory sentences, both the

subject and verb may be unstated

.

Example

: Fire

!

subject and verb unstated:

([

You

]

watch

out for the fire!}