Lesson 146 - Parts of the Sentence - Noun/Pronoun Review

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A simple sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought, and it must have a subject and a verb (predicate - some grammar books use the word predicate, but I will use verb). When finding the subject and the verb in a sentence, always find the verb first and then say who or what followed by the verb. For more information see Lesson 95.

A predicate nominative or predicate noun completes a linking verb and renames the subject. Predicate nominatives complete only linking verbs. That is such verbs as the helping verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been; the sense verbs: look, taste, smell, feel, sound; and verbs like become, seem, appear, grow, continue, stay, turn. For more information see Lesson 102.

A direct object receives the action performed by the subject. The verb is always an action verb. To find the direct object, say the subject and verb followed by whom or what. If nothing answers the question whom or what, you know that there is no direct object. The direct object must be a noun or pronoun. The predicate nominative or the direct object will never be in a prepositional phrase. For more information see Lesson 109.

An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames the noun or pronoun that it follows. It is set off by commas unless closely tied to the word that it identifies or renames. Appositives should not be confused with predicate nominatives. A verb will separate the subject from the predicate nominative. An appositive can follow any noun or pronoun including the subject, direct object or predicate nominative. For more information see Lesson 128.

Nouns or nominatives of address are the persons or things to which you are speaking. They are set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas, may have modifiers, and are not related to the rest of the sentence grammatically. You can remove them and a complete sentence remains. For more information see Lesson 131.

Transitive active verbs are the verbs in sentences with a direct object. Transitive passive verbs have the subject receiving the action with the doer in a prepositional phrase or omitted in the sentence. The verb in the transitive passive voice always has is, am, are, was, were, be, being, or been as an auxiliary or helping verb. Intransitive verbs have no receiver of the action. They are classified as intransitive complete or intransitive linking. Intransitive linking are sentences with a predicate nominative or predicate adjective. Intransitive complete are all the verbs that don't fit one of the other kinds of transitive or intransitive verbs. For more information see Lesson 116.

Instructions: Find the verbs, subjects, predicate nominatives, direct objects, appositives, and nouns of address in these sentences and tell whether the verb is transitive active (ta), transitive passive (tp), intransitive linking (il), or intransitive complete (ic).

1. The man with an armful of presents tripped and fell.

2. Into the clearing staggered the wounded soldier.

3. The company president, Mr. Mabey, lost his temper.

4. Wilma, where did you put my book?

5. Shelley, Keats, and Byron are famous poets.

--For answers scroll down.

Answers:

1. tripped / fell = verbs (ic), man = subject

2. staggered = verb (ic), soldier = subject

3. lost = verb (ta), president = subject, temper = direct object, Mr. Mabey = appositive (possibly noun of address)

4. did put = verb (ta), you = subject, book = direct object, Wilma = noun of address

5. are = verb (il), Shelley/Keats/Byron = subjects, poets = predicate nominative

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