Grammar for Grade 9

1. Grammar for Grade 9 Episode II: Parts of a Sentence

2. What’s a Sentence? • In order to be a sentence, a group of words needs several things: • A subject (may be “understood”) • A predicate • A complete thought (and only ONE of these) • Also, it must BEGIN with a capital letter and • It must END with end punctuation (a period, an exclamation mark or a question mark).

3. Subject and Predicate • The sentence is divided into subject and predicate. Here are some examples, with the subject in bold and the predicate in {braces}: • Judy {jogs.} • Mandeep and Michaela {hate Mr. Fedyna’s class.} • Neither my mother nor I {like beets.} • Everyone {goes to the Hamptons in the summer.}

4. To Find the Subject • Locate the verb in the sentence (it could be an action verb or a linking verb), • Then ask yourself, “Who?” • The answer is the subject. • Jogging down the street, I tripped on my shoelace. • Verb: tripped. Who tripped? “I” did. • “I” is the subject. • Nobody on the soccer team swims. • Verb: swims. Who swims? “Nobody on the soccer team” –so that’s your subject.

5. Simple/Complete Subjects • The complete subject is all of the words that are the subject, including adjectives and phrases that are part of the answer to “who?”. • The simple subject is the noun or pronoun (occasionally more than one) that actually performs the action. • Nobody on the soccer team swims • Complete subject: Nobody on the soccer team • Simple subject: Nobody • The French exchange student, Rene, is bossy. • Complete subject: The French exchange student, Rene • Simple subject: student

6. Simple/Complete Predicates • Likewise, a complete predicate is the verb plus all the words that modify or give information about the verb. • The simple predicate is just the verb itself. • Jon has gone to the library three times this week. • Complete predicate: has gone to the library three times this week • Simple predicate: has gone

7. Compound Subjects and Predicates • These are simple subjects and predicates that are made of more than one word. For example • Her uncle and she visited the museum, walked for hours, and bought ice cream. • Simple subject: uncle and she (noun and pronoun; they are both doing the action, and we got rid of extra information) • Simple predicate: visited, walked and bought (the subject performed ALL THREE actions. • Because each of these has more than one word, they are a compound subject and compound predicate.

8. Direct Object • A direct object follows a transitive verb. • Remember that a transitive verb is a certain kind of action verb. (Episode I: Parts of Speech) • Linking verbs cannot have direct objects. • Intransitive verbs don’t have direct objects either. • Direct Objects can be nouns, pronouns, phrases or clauses.

9. Finding the Direct Object • Find the verb, and ask yourself “what?” or “who?”. The answer is the direct object. • Examples: • Ziggy kicked Chandpreet in the shin. • Verb = kicked. Kicked who? Chandpreet. • “Chandpreet” is the direct object. • Barbra hates biting her fingernails. • Verb = hates. Hates what? Biting her fingernails. • “Biting her fingernails” is the direct object.

10. One More Direct Object Bit • Direct objects can also follow verbals (infinitives, gerunds and participles). • To see my new car, Bob entered the garage. • Verbal (infinitive) = to see; direct object = my new car • More about this is coming in Episode III: Phrases

11. Indirect Objects • In order to have an indirect object, a sentence must first have a direct object. • The indirect object answers the question “to what or whom?”, or the question “for what or whom?” about the direct object. • Mark passed the ball to George. • Passed what? The ball = direct object • Passed the ball to whom? George = indirect object

12. Indirect Object Examples • Tony paid the mechanic $200 to fix the brakes. • Paid what? $200 = Direct Object • Paid the money to whom? The mechanic = Indirect Object • Jan handed me a stapler. • Handed what? A stapler (Direct object) • Handed it to whom? To me. (Indirect object) • She bought Kyle a sandwich. • Bought what? A sandwich (D.O.) • Bought it for whom? For Kyle (I.O.)

13. Object Complements • Object complements follow direct objects and describe or identify them by answering the question “What?”. Object complements can be adjectives, nouns, or pronouns. • They are often used with the following verbs: • Think, call, find, appoint, elect, make, name, choose.

14. Object Complement Examples • He thought the trial useless. • He thought what? The trial – direct object. • He thought the trial what? Useless- object complement • Since “useless” describes a noun (trial), it is an adjective. • They named her Queen for a day. • They named who? Her- direct object • They named her what? Queen - object complement (Queen is a noun)

15. One More O.C. Example • Consider the job yours. • Consider what? The job (d.o.) • Consider the job what? Yours (object complement...and it’s a pronoun)

16. Subject Complements • Subject complements identify or describe subjects. • Predicate nominatives (or predicate nouns) are one kind of subject complement. They can follow any linking verb (Episode I: Parts of Speech). They identify the subject: • Kiri Te Kanawa is a Maori. • She has become a diva.

17. Another Subject Complement • Predicate adjectives are another type of subject complement. They describe the subject and must follow a linking verb. • Julie’s boss seemed angry. • She also looked tired and overworked.