ENG103 WEEK 1, PART 3: Subject and Verbs Slide 1 Introduction Welcome to the third part of week one of English

one-ohthree Writing Fundamentals. In the previous lesson we discussed the controlling ideas as a topic sentence. In this lesson we will discuss subjects and verbs. Next Slide: Slide 2 Objectives After you complete this lesson, you will be able to: Identify subjects and verbs; Identify subjects and verbs as key elements in sentence structure; Define prepositional phrases; Differentiate between verbs and verbals; and List the three different types of verbals. Next Slide: Slide 3 Subject & Verb The two most important parts of any sentence are the subject and the verb. The subject is who or what causes the action or expresses a state of being. The verb indicates what the subject is doing or is being. Many times, the subject and verb taken together carry the meaning of the sentence. Consider this example: The women left for work. Women is the subject and left is the verb. The subject women and the verb left indicate the basic content of the sentence while providing structure. Next Slide:

Slide 4

Nouns & Pronouns

Nouns are naming words. Nouns may name persons, animals, plants, places, things, substances, qualities, or ideas. A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. Pronouns that can be used as subjects of sentences may represent specific persons or things and are called personal pronouns. These include: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, and they. Indefinite pronouns refer to nouns in a general way: each, everyone, nobody, and somebody.

Slide 5

Compound & Implied Subjects

Next Slide: A subject may be compound. That is, it may consist of two or more subjects, usually joined by and or or, that function together. For example: The prosecutor and the attorney for the defense made opening statements. Here, the compound subject is prosecutor and attorney. A subject may be implied, or understood. An imperative sentence a sentence that gives a command has you as the implied subject. Such as: Sit in that chair, please. Other examples are shown on this slide. Next Slide:

Slide 6

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition a word such as at, in, of, to, or with - and one or more nouns or pronouns with their modifiers: at the time, by the jury, in the courtroom, to the judge and the media, with controlled anger. Be careful not to confuse the subject of a sentence with the noun or pronoun in a prepositional phrase. The object of a preposition cannot be the subject of a sentence. Consider this example: The car with the dents is mine. The subject is car and with the dents is the object of the preposition with and cannot be the subject of the sentence. Also the words here and there are adverbs and cannot be subjects. An example is: There is no problem. Here,

problem is the subject. Next Slide:

Slide 7

Verbs

Verbs show action or express being in relation to the subject of a sentence. Action verbs indicate movement or accomplishment in idea or deed. Here are some examples: She sees the arena. Here sees is the action verb. He bought the book. Here bought is the action verb. They adopted the child. Here adopted is the action verb. Being verbs indicate existence. Being verbs include: is, was, were, am, and are. Next Slide:

Slide 8

Verbs (continued)

Verbs may occur as single words or as phrases. A verb phrase is made up of main verb and one or more helping verbs. Here is an example of a verb phrase: The judge has presided over many capital cases. Here the verb phrase is has presided. His rulings seldom are overturned on appeal. Here the verb phrase is are overtunred. Do not confuse verbs with verbals. Verbals are verblike words in certain respects, but they do not function as verbs. They function as other parts of speech. There are three kinds of verbals: An infinitive is made up of the word to and a verb. A gerund is a verblike word ending in I-N-G that acts as a noun. An example is: Retrieving her e-mail was her main objective. Here the gerund is retrieving.

And a participle is a verblike word that usually has an I-NG or an E-D ending. An example of this type of verblike word is shown on this slide. Next Slide:

Slide 9

Location of Subjects and Verbs

Although the subject usually appears before the verb, it may follow the verb instead. Shown on this slide are four examples of sentences that include the verb before the subject. Verb phrases are often broken up in a question. Do not overlook a part of the verb that is separated from another in a question such as Where had the defendant gone on that fateful night? If you have trouble finding the verb phrase, recast the question, making it into a statement: The defendant had gone where on that fateful night? The result will not necessarily be a smooth or complete statement, but you will be able to see the basic elements more easily.

Slide 10

Summary

Next Slide: We have reached the end of this lesson. Lets take a look at some of the major points of this lesson. The subject carries out the action or expresses the state of being in a sentence. The verb indicates what the subject is doing or is being. You can recognize the simple subject by asking who or what causes the action or expresses the state of being found in the verb. A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition; a word such as at, in, of, to, or with. Verbals are verblike words in certain respects, but they do not function as verbs. There are three types of verbals: Infinitive, gerund, and participle. And although the subject usually appears before the verb,

it may follow the verb instead.