Parts of a Sentence
Worksheets
Can you recognize a subject, object,
predicate, and complement in an English sentence? Get some review and
practice with these parts of a sentence worksheets!
Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses
You'll need to feel
comfortable with how a sentence is constructed if you want to improve
your writing and speaking. These worksheets contain illustrations and
examples, as well as exercises and an answer key so that you can
practice the skills.
Can you find the subject and the predicate in an English sentence? Do
you remember the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs?
How about the difference between objects and complements?
It
sounds like a lot to keep in mind, but it's really not complicated.
First, we'll have a quick review of the different parts of English
sentences, and then you can practice these skills with the exercises.
For full, illustrated explanations of all these topics, review the
English parts of a sentence article.
Let's start with our quick review.
Subject
To make a sentence in English, we need two basic parts: a
subject and a
verb.
The
subject of an English sentence is the person or thing that performs the action, or that the sentence makes a statement about.
For example:
In this sentence,
Maggie is the person performing the action. What does Maggie do? She screams.
In this sentence,
the cat performs the action. How does the cat feel? It is scared.
Remember that a subject can be a
noun, a
pronoun, or a
noun phrase.
Predicate
The
predicate is
the statement that is made about the subject. It contains at least one
verb and can have more words that give more information about the
subject.
Be sure to review the article on
predicates for a full explanation.
For example:
- Fred is jumping happily through his house.
As we just saw above, the subject of this sentence is Fred.
Now, what about Fred? He
is jumping happily through his house. This is a
simple predicate because it contains
one verb. Remember that a simple predicate can have lots of other words that give more information!
- Fred is jumping, laughing, and singing.
In this sentence, we have a
compound predicate because there is
more than one verb.
Objects and transitive and intransitive verbs
In English, there are two kinds of verbs:
transitive and intransitive. Those names might sound confusing, but it's really very simple.
Transitive verbs take
objects. This means that the action of the verb
affects something else. The person or thing that the verb affects in some way is an
object.
For example:
- Gerald baked some cookies!
What did Gerald bake? He baked
some cookies. The cookies were directly affected by his action. They were baked!
Because the cookies were
directly affected by Gerald's action, they are the
direct object of the transitive verb "baked."
Now, let's imagine that Gerald had someone special in mind when he baked those cookies.
- Gerald baked his friends some cookies.
Now, we know that the cookies were directly affected by Gerald's action.
His friends were
indirectly affected by his baking because he gave them the cookies. So, his friends are the
indirect object of the verb "baked."
The
indirect object comes between the
verb and the
direct object, like in the example above.
subject + verb + indirect object + direct object |
Now, there's only one more kind of object: the
object of the preposition. These objects are very easy to identify because they always come right after a
preposition.
- Gerald baked some cookies for his friends.
In this case,
his friends are the
object of the preposition because of the preposition
for.
Complements and linking verbs
There is a special group of verbs in English called
linking verbs. They are very common and let us give more information about the subject with an
adjective or a noun that describes it.
So, this adjective or noun (or
adjective phrase or noun phrase) is the
complement! It gives more information about the subject and always follows a linking verb.
Be sure to review the articles on
complements for full, illustrated explanations.
For example:
In this sentence, the linking verb
be lets us introduce the complement
a bus driver, a noun phrase that gives more information about her.
In this sentence, the linking verb
look lets us introduce the complement
happy, an adjective that gives us more information about her.
- She becomes sleepy after she reads.
In this sentence, the linking verb
become lets us introduce the complement
sleepy, an adjective that gives us more information about her.
So, those are the basic parts of an English sentence! Now, let's get some practice with the exercises.
Exercise A: Subjects and predicates
Complete the subjects under each picture with the predicates from the table to form a complete sentence.
Predicates:
won't have time to finish all those dishes before the guests arrive! |
is having a conversation at the office. |
really has a very mess closet! |
ran because he was in a big hurry. |
forgot to put on his trousers this morning! |
Subjects:
1.
![a group of men talking](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/first-person.png)
The group of men ____________________
2.
![a boy running](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/idiom-hurry.jpg)
Jimmy ____________________
3.
![a woman with a very messy kitchen](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/hyperbole-dishes.jpg)
Marie ____________________
4.
![a businessman with no trousers on](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/all-speech.jpg)
Mr. Fredrickson ____________________
5.
![a man with a messy closet](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/idiom-closet.jpg)
Craig ____________________
Exercise B: Direct objects
Underline the
direct object in the following sentences.
1.
![a doctor and patient](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/forms.png)
Dr. Rodriguez gave his patient advice.
2.
![a man with a red block in his hand](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/definite-article-the.png)
The man is holding the red block.
3.
![a barbershop quartet singing](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/quartet.png)
They are singing a song for their audience.
4.
![a mailman with a heavy bag](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/mail.png)
He is carrying a heavy bag of mail today!
5.
![mothers with their children](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/moms-and-kids.png)
The mothers are pushing their children in the park.
Exercise C: Indirect objects
Complete
the sentences below by adding the indirect object in the correct place
in each sentence. The indirect object is in parentheses () after the
sentence.
1.
![a man giving good news over the phone](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/goodnews2.png)
He is giving some good news!
(his sister)2.
![a man cooking](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/cook3.png)
He is making dinner.
(his children)3.
![a musician with a guitar](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/blues.png)
Johnny is playing a blues song.
(the audience)4.
![a boy with his friends](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/kids.png)
The little boy has told a joke.
(them)5.
![a boy painting a picture](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/painter3.png)
My son painted a beautiful picture!
(me)Exercise D: The object of the preposition
Use the prepositions from the table to complete the sentences below. The object of the preposition is in
bold.
1.
![a man at a part](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/party-2.png)
Ted threw a party _____
his best friend.
2.
![a tired traveler](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/wearytraveller.png)
The tourist carried his bags _____
the hotel.
3.
![a girl on thin ice in winter](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/thinice.png)
Lily is afraid to step _____
the ice.
4.
![a man throwing his monitor in the trash](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/trash2.png)
He kicked his computer monitor _____
a big trash can.
5.
![three kids in the back seat of a car](https://www.really-learn-english.com/image-files/trip2.png)
Penny has to sit _____
her brothers.
Exercise E: Linking verbs and complements
Match
the correct complements from Table B with the subjects and linking
verbs from Table A. Use the pictures in Table A to help.
Table A: Subjects and linking verbs
1. The mother and her little baby seem
|
2. That garbage smells
|
3. In the evening, Geoff becomes
|
4. The boy looks
|
5. Peter is
|
Table B: Complements
a. sad. |
b. very happy! |
c. a farmer. |
d. terrible. |
e. tired. |
Answer Key
Exercise A: Subjects and predicates
1. The group of men
is having a conversation at the office.
2. Jimmy
ran because he was in a big hurry.
3. Marie
won't have time to finish all those dishes before the guests arrive!
4. Mr. Fredrickson
forgot to put on his trousers this morning!
5. Craig
really has a very mess closet!
Exercise B: Direct objects1. Dr. Rodriguez gave his patient
advice.
2. The man is holding
the red block.
3. They are singing
a song for their audience.
4. He is carrying
a heavy bag of mail today!
5. The mothers are pushing
their children in the park.
Exercise C: Indirect objects1. He is giving
his sister some good news!
2. He is making
his children dinner.
3. Johnny is playing
the audience a blues song.
4. The little boy has told
them a joke.
5. My son painted
me a beautiful picture!
Exercise D: The object of the preposition1. Ted threw a party
for his best friend.
2. The tourist carried his bags
to the hotel.
3. Lily is afraid to step
on the ice.
4. He kicked his computer monitor
into a big trash can.
5. Penny has to sit
between her brothers.
Exercise E: Linking verbs and complements1. The mother and her little baby seem
very happy.
2. That garbage smells
terrible.
3. In the evening, Geoff becomes
tired.
4. The boy looks
sad.
5. Peter is
a farmer.
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