Elements of a sentence

Clauses
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A clauses are made up of five elements Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial
The clown/ made/ the children/ happy / at the party.

Clause elements
1. Subject: this is the main person or thing that the clause is about. It performs the action described, so it usually comes before the verb.
The clown made

2.
3.

Verb: the second element

Object: normally follows the verb and is usually who or what has had something done to it.
The children

4.

Complement: gives more information about the subject or the object.

happy

5.

Adverbial: Give more information about the verb in terms of When Where How something is done
at the party.

Clause Types
There are seven clause types:
Type Example

S+V
S+V+O S+V+O+O S+V+C S+V+O+C S+V+A S+V+O+A

She / fell.
He / closed / the gate. Tom / gave / me / a screwdriver. They / were / hungry I / found/ the film/ disturbing. She / Smiled / broadly. I / caught / the train / yesterday

Identify the elements

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. My brother lent me his jacket. He considered the verdict unjust. The tree toppled. The sea was rough. The waves lashed the shore. The audience cheered enthusiastically. I ate the burger hungrily.