SUBJECTS, VERBS, & ACTIVE/PASSIVE VOICE

WHAT IS A SENTENCE?

A sentence is a group of words or phrases that

contains the following:
One (1) complete thought
At least one (1) independent phrase
At least one (1) subject and one (1) verb
 Identifying Types of Subjects

 Simple subject: a single person, place, or topic is the focus of thought.

 Thunder frightens Henry.
 Gerund subject: a gerund, a word ending with –ing, is the point.
 Laughing reduces stress.
 Action/being subject: a phrase expresses the focus of thought.
 What one does speaks louder than what one says.
 IDENTIFYING TYPES OF SUBJECTS, CONT.

 Action/being subject: a suggestion or command is the focus of thought.

 [You] Make a difference by voting.
 Compound subject: two or more people, places, objects, or topics are the
subjects of a focused thought.
 Florida, Texas, and California produce over 11 million tons of citrus per
year.
 IDENTIFYING THE TYPES OF VERBS

Linking verbs: connect the subject to a word that renames, describes, or

defines the subject.
 Common linking verbs = am, is, appear, become, feel, smell, etc.
 The ice cream is cold.
 A tsunami wave looks like a massive, sky-high wall of water.
Helping verbs: are used with a main verb to create a verb phrase.
 Common helping verbs = do, have, must, will, etc.
 Did the tornado destroy the town?
 Jermaine has bought supplies.
 IDENTIFYING THE TYPES OF VERBS, CONT.

Action verbs: show the behavior of the subject.

 Justin and Mia prepared for the upcoming storm.
 Officials alerted the public to the flash flood threat.
 VERBS VS. PREPOSITIONS

 Finding & Eliminating prepositional phrases

 Preposition = a word that has a noun or pronoun as its object and
states a relationship between its object and another word.
 Common prepositions = about, of, with, in, around, etc.
 The world (of work) is changing.
 One (of the best nuts) to eat (for good health) is the walnut.
 Much (of an effective manager’s time) is spent listening (to others),
working (out problems), and providing feedback (for
improvement).
IDENTIFYING VERBS & VOICE

Active Voice Passive Voice

 My roommate wrote the play.  The play was written by my roommate.
 Billy threw the baseball.  The baseball was thrown by Billy.