Freshman Language and Comp Semester 1 Lesson 4 Study Guide

A SUBJECT tells whom or what the sentence is about.

A PREDICATE says something about the subject.

A COMPLEMENT is a word or word group that completes the meaning of a verb.

A DIRECT OBJECT is a noun, pronoun, or word group that tells who or what receives the action of a verb or shows the result of the action.

An INDIRECT OBJECT is a noun, pronoun, or word group that often appears in sentences containing direct objects. An INDIRECT OBJECT tells to whom or to what ( or for whom or for what ) the action of a transitive verb is done.

A PREDICATE NOMINATIVE is a word or word group that is in the predicate and that identifies the subject or refers to it.

A PREDICATE ADJECTIVE is an adjective that is in the predicate and that modifies the subject.

A DECLARATIVE SENTENCE makes a statement and ends with a period.

An IMPERATIVE SENTENCE gives command or makes a request. Most imperative sentences end with a period. A strong command ends with an exclamation point.

An INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE asks a question and ends with a question mark.

An EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE shows excitement or expresses strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point.

A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE includes a preposition, the object of the preposition and any modifiers of that object.

• A PARTICIPLE is a verb that can be used as an adjective.
• Present PARTICIPLES end in -ing.
• Past PARTICIPLES usually end in -d or -ed.

A GERUND is a verb form ending in -ing that is used as a noun.

An INFINITVE is a verb form that can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Most INFINITIVES begin with " to ".

A CLAUSE is a word group that contains a verb and its subject and that is used as a sentence or as part of a sentence.

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE expresses a complete thought and can stand by itself as a sentence.

A SUBORDINATE ( OR DEPENDENT ) CLAUSE does not express a complete thought and cannot stand by itself as a sentence.

An ADVERB CLAUSE generally tells how, when, where, why, how much, to what extent, or under what condition the action of a verb takes place.

An ADJECTIVE CLAUSE is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun.

A NOUN CLAUSE is a subordinate clause that is used as a noun.

A SIMPLE SENTENCE contains one independent clause and no subordinate clauses. It may have a compound subject, a compound verb, and any number of phrases.

A COMPOUND SENTENCE contains two or more independent clauses and no subordinate clauses.

A COMPLEX SENTENCE contains one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause.

A COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE contains two or more independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause.