The five main parts of a sentence are:
- Subject
- Predicate
- Object
- Indirect Object
- Subject Compliment
Every word in a sentence plays a specific role in that sentence. Although sentence structure can be quite complicated, this article will focus on the most basic parts of a sentence.
The Basics
The most basic sentence contains a subject and predicate.
For example:
I ran.
Pretty simple, huh? The simplest sentences contain just the most basic elements of a subject and predicate: a noun an a verb. However, life isn’t always simple and neither are our sentences.
The Subject
The subject is the person, place or thing performing the action of the sentence. It is what the sentence is about. A simple subject contains a noun or pronoun and can include modifying words, phrases or clauses.
For example:
He…
The clown…
The smiling clown…
The smiling clown wearing a polka-dotted tie and gigantic orange shoes…
As you can see, your subject can be fairly simple or complex. You can use just a noun without any modifiers, or you can dress things up and use adjectives, phrases and clauses to give your reader as much detail as you choose.
The Predicate
The predicate of a sentence tells your reader the doing or being of the sentence. At its simplest, a predicate contains a verb and nothing else, as you saw in the first example. Most sentences contain other elements like direct object, indirect objects and subject compliments to give sentences complexity, detail and meaning.
For example:
The clown made balloon animals.
The clown juggled chainsaws.
The clown lurked ominously in the shadows.
Using additional sentence elements can help you expand your simple sentences into compound sentences, complex sentences and compound-complex sentences.
The Direct Object
The direct object receives the action of the sentence. It is the thing being done to, rather than the thing doing, e.g., the book that was read, the ball that was thrown, the class that was taken, etc. It is usually a noun or pronoun and can be simple (the boy) or more complex (the boy jumping on a pogo stick).
For example:
The clown made a balloon animal shaped like a swan.
The clown rode a tiny unicycle.
The clown played a combination tuba/drum/cymbal/xylophone one-man-band musical instrument.
The Indirect Object
The indirect object tell us to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is being done. Indirect objects are much rarer than direct objects, but they help create stories in your writing.
For example:
The clown made the party-goers balloon animals.
The clown brought a pony for the children.
The Subject Compliment
A subject compliment either renames or describes the subject, and is usually a noun, pronoun or adjective. You will often see a linking verb (often a be verb: am, is, are, were, be, being, been) when you see a subject compliment.
For example:
The clown is a master chainsaw juggler.
The clown seems like a nice enough guy, but can be a little strange.
Grammaphile 