More Simple Sentences

Review:

A simple sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought, and it must have a subject and a verb (predicate - some grammar books use the word predicate, but I will use verb). A verb shows action or state of being. Examples: The bell rang. The boy is here. The subject tells who or what about the verb. Examples: The bell rang. The boy is here.

When finding the subject and the verb in a sentence, always find the verb first and then say who or what followed by the verb. Example: The bell rang. Find the verb - rang. Now say who or what rang? The bell rang. Bell is the subject.

Do you remember the four types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory?

The subject and predicate are the two parts of the sentence. Right now we are looking at simple sentences.

Warm-Up: Try this pre-test -- see how you do (it is fairly difficult so don't worry if you miss some)

Some sentences begin with an introductory there. It is never the subject. The subject will always come after the verb in such a sentence. There can also be an adverb. To be an introductory there, it must meet these rules:

• It must be the first word of a sentence (Sometimes a prepositional phrase out of its normal order can come before it.);
• It cannot mean where; It must be with a state of being verb.
• The introductory there doesn't fit grammatically with the rest of the sentence as we will find most other words do. Examples: There is some food in the refrigerator. Is is the verb. Who or what is? Food is. Food is the subject. In the refrigerator there is some food. Moving the prepositional phrase does not change the introductory there.

When you have a sentence like "there is/are" or "it is/are" the "it" or "there" are called "expletives" . Many languages don't have them, so when you translate into English you have to put it in to make the sentence sound sensible.

Instructions: Find the subject and verb in these sentences. (remember to look for what the "there" stands for)

1. There may not be time for an encore.

2. In the mail box, there was no mail.

3. There has been no letter today.

4. There weren't many men at the meeting.

5. In the snow there were many tracks.