Definitions and Examples of Basic Sentence Elements

Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular
font = prepositional phrase

Independent clause: An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It contains a

subject and a verb and is a complete idea.

 I like spaghetti.
 He reads many books.

Dependent clause: A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be attached to

an independent clause to become complete. This is also known as a subordinate clause.

 Although I like spaghetti,…

 Because he reads many books,…

Subject: A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that does an action. Determine the
subject in a sentence by asking the question “Who or what?”

 I like spaghetti.
 He reads many books.

Verb: Expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. Determine the
verb in a sentence by asking the question “What was the action or what happened?”

 I like spaghetti.
 He reads many books.
 The movie is good. (The be verb is also sometimes referred to as a copula or a
linking verb. It links the subject, in this case "the movie," to the complement or the
predicate of the sentence, in this case, "good.")

Object: A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that receives the action. Determine the
object in a sentence by asking the question “The subject did what?” or “To whom?/For
whom?”

 I like spaghetti.
 He reads many books.

Prepositional Phrase: A phrase that begins with a preposition (i.e., in, at for, behind, until,
after, of, during) and modifies a word in the sentence. A prepositional phrase answers one
of many questions. Here are a few examples: “Where? When? In what way?”

 I like spaghetti for dinner.

 He reads many books in the library.
English Sentence Structure
The following statements are true about sentences in English:

 A new sentence begins with a capital letter.

 He obtained his degree.

 A sentence ends with punctuation (a period, a question mark, or an exclamation

point).
 He obtained his degree.

 A sentence contains a subject that is only given once.

 Smith he obtained his degree.

 A sentence contains a verb or a verb phrase.

 He obtained his degree.

 A sentence follows Subject + Verb + Object word order.

 He (subject) obtained (verb) his degree (object).

 A sentence must have a complete idea that stands alone. This is also called an
independent clause.
 He obtained his degree.

Simple Sentences
A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an object and
modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.
Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular
font =prepositional phrase
Here are a few examples:

 She wrote.
 She completed her literature review.
 He organized his sources by theme.
 They studied APA rules for many hours.

Compound Sentences
A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. These two independent
clauses can be combined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon.
Key: independent clause = yellow, bold; comma or semicolon = pink, regular font;
coordinating conjunction = green, underlined
Here are a few examples:

 She completed her literature review, and she created her reference list.
 He organized his sources by theme; then, he updated his reference list.
  They studied APA rules for many hours, but they realized there was still much
to learn.

Using some compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety.

 She completed her literature review, and she created her reference list.
 He organized his sources by theme; then, he updated his reference list.
 They studied APA rules for many hours, but they realized there was still much
to learn.

Using some compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety.

Complex Sentences
A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the sequence/time (since,
while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.
If a sentence begins with a dependent clause, note the comma after this clause. If, on the
other hand, the sentence begins with an independent clause, there is not a comma
separating the two clauses.
Key: independent clause = yellow, bold; comma = pink, regular font; dependent clause
= blue, italics
Here are a few examples:

 Although she completed her literature review, she still needed to work on her
methods section.
 Note the comma in this sentence because it begins with a dependent clause.

 Because he organized his sources by theme, it was easier for his readers to
follow.
 Note the comma in this sentence because it begins with a dependent clause.

 They studied APA rules for many hours as they were so interesting.
 Note that there is no comma in this sentence because it begins with an
independent clause.

 Using some complex sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety.

Compound-Complex Sentences
Sentence types can also be combined. A compound-complex sentence contains at least
two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Key: independent clause = yellow, bold; comma or semicolon = pink, regular font;
coordinating conjunction = green, underlined; dependent clause = blue, italics

 She completed her literature review, but she still needs to work on her
methods section even though she finished her methods course last semester.
  Although he organized his sources by theme, he decided to arrange them
chronologically, and he carefully followed the MEAL plan for organization.
 With pizza and soda at hand, they studied APA rules for many hours, and they
decided that writing in APA made sense because it was clear, concise, and
objective.
 Using some complex-compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence
variety.
 Pay close attention to comma usage in complex-compound sentences so that the
reader is easily able to follow the intended meaning.

Noun as Adjective
As you know, a noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a word
that describes a noun:

adjective noun

clever teacher

small office

black horse

Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first
noun "acts as" an adjective.
 noun as noun
adjective

history teacher

ticket office

race horse

The "noun as adjective" always comes first

If you remember this, it will help you to understand what is being talked about:

 a race horse is a horse that runs in races

 a horse race is a race for horses
 a boat race is a race for boats
 a love story is a story about love
 a war story is a story about war
 a tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
 tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
 a computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
 a bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Just like a real adjective, the "noun as adjective" is invariable. It is usually in
the singular form.

Right Wrong

boat race boat races NOT boats race, boats races

 Right Wrong

toothbrush toothbrushes NOT teethbrush, teethbrushes

shoe-lace shoe-laces NOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces

cigarette cigarette NOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes

packet packets packets

In other words, if there is a plural it is on the real noun only.

A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for example
news, billiards, athletics). When we use these nouns "as adjectives" they are
unchanged:

 a news reporter, three news reporters

 one billiards table, four billiards tables
 an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers

Exceptions: When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports,

customs, accounts, arms), we use them in the plural form:

 clothes shop, clothes shops

 sports club, sports clubs
 customs duty, customs duties
 accounts department, accounts departments
 arms production

How do we write the "noun as adjective"?

We write the "noun as adjective" and the real noun in several different ways:

 two separate words (car door)

 two hyphenated words (book-case)
  one word (bathroom)

There are no easy rules for this. We even write some combinations in two or
all three different ways: (head master, head-master, headmaster)
How do we say the "noun as adjective"?
For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:

 shoe shop
 boat-race
 bathroom

Can we have more than one "noun as adjective"?

Yes. Just like adjectives, we often use more than one "noun as adjective"
together. Look at these examples:
car production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing cars

noun as noun as noun

adjectiv adjective
e

costs

production costs

car production costs

England football team coach: we are talking about the coach who trains the
team that plays football for England
 noun as noun as noun as noun
adjectiv adjective adjective
e

coach

team coach

football team coach

England football team coach

England football team coaches

Note: in England football team coach can you see a "hidden" "noun as
adjective"? Look at the word "football" (foot-ball). These two nouns (foot+ball)
have developed into a single noun (football). This is one way that words
evolve. Many word combinations that use a "noun as adjective" are regarded
as nouns in their own right, with their own dictionary definition. But not all
dictionaries agree with each other. For example, some dictionaries list "tennis
ball" as a noun and other dictionaries do not.
government road accident research centre: we are talking about a centre
that researches into accidents on the road for the government
 noun as noun as noun as noun as noun
adjective adjectiv adjective adjective
e

centre

research centre

accident research centre

road accident research centre

government road accident research centre

Newspapers often use many nouns together in headlines to save space. Look
at this example:

BIRD HEALTH RESEARCH

CENTRE MURDER
MYSTERY
To understand headlines like these, try reading them backwards. The above
headline is about a MYSTERY concerning a MURDER in a CENTRE for
RESEARCH into the HEALTH of BIRDS.
Note, too, that we can still use a real adjective to qualify a "noun as adjective"
structure:
 empty coffee jar
  honest car salesman
 delicious dog food
 rising car production costs
 famous England football team

The 12 Basic English Tenses

Structure: How do we make the tense?

Use: When and why do we use the tense?

Some lessons look at additional matters, and most of them finish with a quiz
to check your understanding.

 Present Simple
I do, I do do
 Present Continuous
I am doing
 Present Perfect
I have done
 Present Perfect Continuous
I have been doing
 Past Simple
I did, I did do
 Past Continuous
I was doing
 Past Perfect
I had done
 Past Perfect Continuous
I had been doing
 Future Simple
I will do
 Future Continuous
I will be doing
  Future Perfect
I will have done
 Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been doing

Preposition

Definition:

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a word in

the sentence and the word that is the object of the preposition.
You have just finished the Modifiers Module. You learned that adjectives
tell which one, what kind, how much, and how many about a noun or
pronoun. You learned that adverbs tell where, when, how, and to what
extent about verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
Sometimes the answers to those questions take more than one word. Often
those phrases are prepositional phrases.
Which one: The flower in the vase is a peony.
What kind: The umbrella with the polka-dots is Mary Anne's.
Where: We will be going to the movies.
 When: My lunch period is after science.
How: You are walking on your tiptoes.
Definition:

A phrase is a group of words working together that does not have both a
subject and a verb. Phrases usually act as a single part of speech. (We
will get to that part later.)
Prepositions can never be alone, so it makes sense to learn about
prepositions in their phrases. Any lone preposition is actually an adverb.
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a word in the
sentence and the word that is the object of the preposition.
In the previous examples:
In shows the relationship between the flower and the vase.
With shows the relationship between the umbrella and the polka-dots.
To shows the relationship between where we are going and the movies.
After shows the relationship between our lunch and science class.
On shows the relationship between how we are walking and our tiptoes.
Definition:

The object of the preposition is the noun following the preposition that
the preposition is relating to something in the sentence.
In the previous examples, the objects are vase, polka-
dots, movies, science class, and tiptoes.
Hint:
To find the object of the preposition ask "What?" after the preposition.
The flower in the vase is a peony.
You found in - ask "In what?" Answer - vase. Try it with the other
examples.
Definition:

A prepositional phrase is the preposition, the object of the preposition,

and all the modifiers between the two.
in (preposition) the vase (object)
with (preposition) the polka-dots (object)
to (preposition) the movies (object)
after (preposition) science class (object)
on (preposition) your tiptoes (object)
Never memorize a list of common prepositions. That can be confusing
because sometimes those same words act as adverbs. It is better to
understand how they show a relationship.

Some Common Prepositions

Prepositions of time: after, around, at, before, between,

during, from, on, until, at, in, from, since,
for, during, within

Prepositions of place: above, across, against, along, among,

around, at, behind, below, beneath,
beside, between, beyond, by, down, in,
inside, into, near, off, on, opposite, out,
over, past, through, to, toward, under,
underneath

Prepositions of at, for, on, to, in, into, onto, between

direction/movement:

Prepositions of manner: by, on, in, like, with

Other types of by, with , of, for, by, like, as

prepositions:
Do you need to know what categories they fit into? Not really. It's just a way to
sort them. Remembering time, place, direction, and manner might help you
remember what prepositions do.
Hint:
The word to is often a preposition, but it is just as often part of an
infinitive verb. If the word after to is a verb, to is not a preposition.
Preposition: I want to go to Florida for vacation.
Infinitive Verb: I want to go to Florida for vacation.
Hint:
Think of prepositions as arrows.
→ to, at, for...
← from, next to...
↔ with, between...
↑ above, on...
↓ in, inside, under, below...