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Practice Identifying Subjects and Verbs

The document discusses the basic parts of a sentence: the subject and the verb. It defines the subject as usually being a noun that names a person, place or thing. It defines the verb as usually following the subject and identifying an action or state of being. Examples are provided of sentences where the subject is identified as a noun and the verb shows action or links the subject to a describing word. Pronouns are discussed as words that can take the place of nouns. Objects are discussed as receiving the action of the verb. Practice exercises are provided to identify subjects, verbs and objects in sample sentences.

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Vicmyla Mae A. Cabonelas
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672 views4 pages

Practice Identifying Subjects and Verbs

The document discusses the basic parts of a sentence: the subject and the verb. It defines the subject as usually being a noun that names a person, place or thing. It defines the verb as usually following the subject and identifying an action or state of being. Examples are provided of sentences where the subject is identified as a noun and the verb shows action or links the subject to a describing word. Pronouns are discussed as words that can take the place of nouns. Objects are discussed as receiving the action of the verb. Practice exercises are provided to identify subjects, verbs and objects in sample sentences.

Uploaded by

Vicmyla Mae A. Cabonelas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Subjects and Verbs

A sentence is commonly defined as "a complete unit of thought." Normally, a


sentence expresses a relationship, conveys a command, voices a question, or
describes someone or something. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a
period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

The basic parts of a sentence are the subject and the verb. The subject is usually
a noun--a word (or phrase) that names a person, place, or thing.
The predicate (or verb) usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state
of being. See if you can identify the subject and the predicate in each of the following
short sentences:
 The hawk soars.
 The widows weep.
 My daughter is a wrestler.
 The children are tired.
In each of these sentences, the subject is a noun: hawk, widows, daughter,
and children. The verbs in the first two sentences--soars, weep--show action and
answer the question, "What does the subject do?" The verbs in the last two
sentences--is, are--are called linking verbs because they link the subject with a word
that renames it (wrestler) or describes it (tired).
For additional practice in recognizing these key elements in a sentence,
see Exercises in Identifying Subjects and Verbs.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in a sentence. In the second
sentence below, the pronoun she stands for Merdine:
 Merdine danced on the roof of the barn during the thunderstorm.
 She was waving an American flag.
As the second sentence shows, a pronoun (like a noun) may serve as the
subject of a sentence. The common subject pronounsare I, you, he, she, it,
we, and they .

Objects

In addition to serving as subjects, nouns may also function as objects in sentences.


Instead ofperforming the action, as subjects usually do, objects receive the action
and usually follow the verb. See if you can identify the objects in the short sentences
below:
 The girls hurled stones.
 The professor swigged coffee.
 Gus dropped the aquarium.
The objects--stones, coffee, aquarium--all answer the question what: What was
hurled? What was swigged? What was dropped?
As the following sentences demonstrate, pronouns may also serve as objects:

 Before eating the brownie, Nancy sniffed it.


 When I finally found my brother, I kissed him.
The common object pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.

The Basic Sentence Unit

You should now be able to identify the main parts of the basic sentence unit:
SUBJECT plus VERB, or SUBJECT plus VERB plus OBJECT. Remember that the
subject names what the sentence is about, the verb tells what the subject does or is,
and the object receives the action of the verb. Although many other structures can be
added to this basic unit, the pattern of SUBJECT plus VERB (or SUBJECT plus VERB
plus OBJECT) can be found in even the longest and most complicated structures.

Practice in Identifying Subjects, Verbs, and Objects

For each of the following sentences, identify the word in  bold  as a subject, a verb, or
an object. When you're done, compare your answers with those at the end of the
exercise.
(1) Mr. Buck donated a wishbone to the Museum of Natural History.
(2) After the final song, the drummer hurled his sticks at the crowd.
(3) Gus smashed the electric guitar with a sledge hammer.
(4) Felix stunned the dragon with a ray gun.
(5) Very slowly, Pandora opened the box.
(6) Very slowly, Pandora opened the box.
(7) Very slowly, Pandora opened the box.
(8) Thomas gave his moonpie to Bengie.
(9) After breakfast, Vera drove to the mission with Ted.
(10) Even though it rarely rains here, Professor Legree carries his umbrella wherever
he goes.

Answers
1. verb; 2. subject; 3. object; 4. object; 5. subject; 6. verb; 7. object; 8. verb; 9. subject;
10. verb.
Name ______________________________________________ Date ________________________ Period ___

Additional Practice: Identifying Subject and Verbs

Exercise A: Identifying Subjects and Verbs: For each of the following sentences, decide whether the
word in  bold  print is the subject or the predicate. Label it with a S or V AND draw an arrow to the
word to which it relates.

1. The dog shivered.


2. An owl shrieked.
3. The moon disappeared behind the clouds.
4. We waited.
5. For a moment, nobody even breathed.
6. A light rain fell on our heads.
7. The leaves trembled.
8. Our hearts beat faster.
9. Then the black sky opened up.
10. Furious flames lit up the night.

Exercise B: Identify the parts of these sentences – cross out prepositional phrases, before
underlining subjects and circling predicate. Be sure to again, draw an arrow from the predicate,
or main action, back to the “who or what” (the subject) which is doing the action.

11.Mr. William Herring is the jolliest man I know.

12.His outward features reflect the delightful character within.

13.His hair is red and frizzy, like Orphan Annie's.

14.His head is fat and round.

15.He has small, dark, hamster-like eyes.

16.His eyes peer inquisitively from behind metal-rimmed glasses.

17.His small mouth is always formed into a friendly grin.

18.His thick neck connects this funny head to an egg-shaped torso.


19.He has two fat arms with plump hands and fingers shaped like hot dogs.

20.On one of these fingers is a diamond-studded gold ring.

21.The gleam of the ring matches the brilliance of Mr. Bill's smile.

22.His Santa Claus belly, girded by a cowboy belt, hangs over the sort of baggy trousers that went

out with leisure suits and platform shoes.

23.Mr. Bill's shoes, however, are invisible beneath his trousers.

24.Still, his walk is distinctive.

25.In fact, he seems to roll rather than walk.

26.He rolls to the rhythm of his own laughter.

27. His students roll right along with him.

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