Basic Sentence Construction

 

The Grammatical Hierarchy There are four grammatical units forming the grammatical hierarchy-- 1. word A word is a distinct element of speech formed by letters to create a specific meaning. 2. phrase A phrase is a group of two or more words that functions either as a noun, verb, adjective, or another part of speech. 3. clause A clause is a group of two or more words that contains a subject and a verb that can or cannot portray a complete thought. Sometimes, it can be a simple sentence. 4. sentence A sentence takes the highest rank in this hierarchy. It can be in three types-- a simple sentence, compound sentence, or complex sentence. word Every existing word has its unique specific meaning and usage. The dictionary proves that fact. When a word is looked for in a dictionary, its meaning can be found, and it can be seen which part of speech it belongs to (noun, pronoun, adjective, etc.). Some dictionaries even add example sentences to help illustrate how the word is used. phrase A phrase forms when two or more words combine to create another meaning or simply to create another grammatical unit (noun, verb, etc.) For example, there are three words available-- the article a, the adjective beautiful, and the noun vase. Combining these words, the phrase "a beautiful vase"  can be formed. This phrase functions as a noun--noun phrase to be exact. Unlike a clause, a phrase does not have both a subject and a predicate, although it functions as one or the other that consists of the clause. clause A clause can either be dependent or independent. And either which, it must contain a subject and a predicate. The subject may contain a noun phrase and the predicate a verb phrase. A dependent clause cannot stand alone, while an independent clause can. A dependent clause usually starts with a dependent marker word known as a subordinating conjunction. It needs an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Otherwise, it cannot portray a complete thought. Examples: "Whenever I see her."/ " ... whenever I see her."/  "Whenever I see her, ..." "Because she is young."/ "... because she is young."/ "Because she is young, ..." An independent clause can stand alone, and it expresses complete meaning. And it forms a simple sentence because a simple sentence must have a subject and a verb. Examples:          "Rocky ate an apple."           "Belinda gives Rocky a card." Click to read more about Dependent and Independent Clauses phrase = two or more words clause = one or more phrases sentence = one or more clauses sentence A sentence usually contains one or more clauses. It has three types. simple sentence = one independent clause compound sentence = two independent clauses complex sentence = one independent clause and one dependent clause Click to read more about the Three Types of Sentences COMPONENTS OF A SIMPLE SENTENCE A sentence can have at least one independent clause. structure of a simple sentence An independent clause must have both a subject and a verb. Some grammarians would tell "a subject and a predicate. Basically, a predicate is everything in the sentence that follows the subject. It is made up of at least one finite verb, the action of which is performed by the subject. But not all finite verbs are action verbs. Not all sentences should contain an action verb. But it is sure that every sentence must have a verb. It is, therefore, safer to say that a(n) sentence/simple sentence/independent clause must have a subject and a verb, and it may or may not contain 1. complements, 2. participles, 3. objects, or 4. modifiers. It always depends on the thought or situation. And whatever it includes, it may and may not change its meaning. The basic and simplest pattern is S + V “Mandy writes.” - a complete sentence. Meaning: Mandy writes. Whatever she writes (poems, novels), it depends, as long as the fact that what she writes is understood. Whatever the thought and structure may be, the basic pattern must always be there.  Like this-- some sentences contain a direct object. Usually, they are put after the verbs. See the example below. S + V+ DO “Mandy writes a poem.” The direct object is one directly affected by the verb in that sentence. In this sentence, "writes" is the verb, and the direct object is the "poem". Some sentences contain both direct and indirect objects. S + V + IO + DO “Mandy writes Keith a poem.” The indirect object is one receiving the direct object. It is indirectly affected by the verb's action. In this sentence, "Keith" is the indirect object because it receives the poem Mandy writes. The "poem" is the direct object because it is the one directly affected by the verb's action "writes" done by the subject "Mandy." Learn more about direct and indirect objects Aside from direct and indirect objects, sentence patterns may contain complements too. There are four types of complements.  1. Object Complements word/phrase that describes the direct object of the sentence 2. Adverbial Complements 3. Adjective Complements 4. Subject Complements TRYING Object Complements Object Complements are words/phrases that describe the direct object of the sentence. S + V + DO + OC “The company appointed Mandy auditor.” company - subject appointed - verb Mandy - direct object auditor - objective complement      - the word 'auditor' is a noun the same as the word 'company' and the name 'Mandy'. But auditor is the objective complement because it describes or renames the direct object, Mandy. She can now be called an auditor. Learn more about complements  Back to the basic sentence structure: S + V If not participles, objects, and complements, a sentence may also contain modifiers. Modifiers are either adverbs or adjectives that modify/describe another part of the sentence. They may appear as part of either the subject or the verb predicate, depending on what they are describing. This means that modifiers appear in different parts of the sentence. And they add, emphasize, or change the meaning of that sentence. Examples: “Mandy writes.” = S + V “Mandy diligently writes.” = S + modifier + V The word 'diligently' is an adverb and it modifies the verb 'write'. It describes how Mandy writes. “Hardworking Mandy diligently writes.” = modifier + S + modifier + V