Basic Sentence Structure: Understanding Subject, Verb And Object

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A sentence is a set of words that expresses a complete thought, idea, or statement. It is the largest independent unit of grammar. To be considered a sentence, it must typically contain a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is or does).

For example: “Many people found this book helpful.”. Here, the subject is “Many people,” so the predicate is “found this book helpful.” One of the basic sentence structures of the English language is: Subject + Verb + Object

Subject	Verb	Object
The cat	chased	the mouse.
We	will watch	a movie later.
Grandmother	told	us a story.
The girl from my class	presented	An excellent speech.

Subject: A noun or pronoun that performs the ‘action.’
Verb: The action or state
Object: A noun or pronoun that receives the ‘action.’

Subject

In English grammar, the word ‘subject’ is used to talk about the person or thing (a noun or pronoun) that does the ‘action.’ Usually, the subject comes before the verb. So, the subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is performing the action.

Examples: Mahir plays football everyday. Here, the subject (who performs the action) is Mahir.

Predicate: The predicate is the part of a sentence that tells something about the subject. The predicate always includes a verb and sometimes an object. The easiest way to identify the predicate is to exclude the subject; whatever remains is the predicate.

Examples (the predicates are in bold):

Rudra finished his homework. Here, the subject (who performs the action) is Rudra. What is said about Rudra? That he finished his homework. So “finished his homework” is a predicate.
Spain is in Europe.
Traveling is fun.
Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
The short, blonde-haired boy lives across the street.

Exceptions:

1. In sentences beginning with there or here, the subject of the sentence comes after the verb. Example:

There are five books on the table. (Subject: five books)
Here comes the bus. (Subject: the bus)

2. In commands, the subject is often implied (you). The predicate consists of the verb and the rest of the sentence. Example:

Stand up! (Implied subject: you)
Close the door. (Implied subject: you)

3. If a sentence starts with a compound subject, the predicate describes what both subjects are doing. Example:

Israq and Afra are reading a book. (Subject: Israq and Afra)
Dogs and cats need proper care. (Subject: Dogs and cats)

4. In a compound sentence joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), each part has its own subject and predicate. So, the predicates belong to their respective parts. Example:

Mitu likes cricket, but Ritu likes football. (1st part’s subject- Mitu, 2nd part’s subject- Ritu)
Sakib is singing, and Zidan is dancing. (1st part’s subject- Sakib, 2nd part’s subject- Zidan)

Important: Remember, a predicate always contains a verb.

Object

An object is a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb in a sentence. It usually comes after the verb and answers the questions “what?” or “whom?”

Subject	Verb	Object
Saba	was eating	a sandwich. (Noun)
Saba	was eating	a sandwich and fries. (Noun phrase)
Saba	liked	them. (Pronoun)

Direct and Indirect Objects: There are two types of objects: direct and indirect.

Direct Object: A direct object is a noun or pronoun that directly receives the action of the verb. If a sentence has only one object, you can easily say that it is a direct object. A direct object answers the question “What?” or “Whom?” after an action verb. Example:

She bought a book. (She bought what? $\rightarrow$ a book)
They invited Sami to the party. (They invited whom? -> Sami)

Indirect Object: A noun or pronoun that receives the direct object. An indirect object answers the question “To whom?” or “For whom?” after an action verb. Example:

She gave her friend a book.
She gave what? $\rightarrow$ a book (Direct Object)
She gave a book to whom? $\rightarrow$ her friend (Indirect Object)
Grandmother told us a story.
Grandmother told what? $\rightarrow$ a story (Direct Object)
Grandmother told a story to whom? $\rightarrow$ us (Indirect Object)

Verb

A verb is a word that expresses an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist). It is one of the most important components of a sentence because to form a correct sentence, you must include at least one verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive. The forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives. Example: