1. education
2. english as a second language

Mrs. Julee Rodgers
Spain Park High School
Hoover, Alabama
Cross out prepositional
phrases first!
Subject
VERB
ACTION
Transitive
LINKING
Intransitive
Direct
Object
Indirect
Object
Subject
Complement
Predicate
Nominative
Object
Complement
Predicate
Adjective



The bears from Stygia ate my watermelon pickles
after the tea party on the hill.
The bears from Stygia ate my watermelon pickles
after the tea party, on the hill.
Then, you will be left with
the basic parts of the sentence.

The action or being word in the sentence is the
easiest to find.
For example:
Sentence: My koala jumped over the sewing machine.
Step 1:
My koala jumped over the sewing machine.
Step 2: My koala jumped over the sewing machine.
Subject does the verb’s action.
S
V
 The mongoose hollered at me.

S
V
Gypsies danced in the moonlight.

S
V
The old woman sold crumbs for the birds.



The verb will decide the rest of the sentence parts.
ASK: Is it ACTION or LINKING?
Easy: Just find out if it is linking.
(To see how, go to next slide.)
2 ways to know:
1. know the list of linking verbs, then
2. substitute an equal sign (=) for the verb
(alphabetical order, easy to memorize!)
Forms of “to be” (am, is, are, was…)
appear
seem
become
smell
feel
sound
grow
stay
look
taste
remain
turn
A linking verb MUST have a subject complement after it:




Subject – linking verb – subject complement.
My emu – smelled – flowery.
The duck – appeared – tipsy.
The bouncer – sounded – tough.
So, if you have a linking verb in the sentence and there is
a word after it, you can substitute an equal sign for the
verb to check that you have a linking verb.

Substitute an equal sign for the verb
to check for a linking verb
Subject – linking verb – subject complement.
Subject

= subject complement.
My emu smelled flowery.
My emu = flowery.

The duck appeared tipsy.
The duck = tipsy.

The bouncer sounded tough.
The bouncer = tough.
 Sentence
must have pattern of
Subject – Linking Verb – Subject Complement
 Subject
Complement will be either
Predicate Nominative (a noun)
or
Predicate Adjective (an adjective)

Always comes after a linking verb.

Subject – Linking Verb – Subject Complement


Can be a noun (predicate nominative)
OR
Can be an adjective (predicate adjective)
Subject – linking verb – subject complement (predicate nominative)



Your car was a waste of money.
The bartender became king of the planet.
The Zulu warrior remained a leader of his men.
Subject – linking verb – subject complement (predicate adjective)



The clock became depressed about Daylight Savings Time.
Sleeping Beauty remained dreamy for years.
Her flowers grew taller in the sunshine.
1.
a.
b.
Charlie only seems quiet and withdrawn.
Predicate Nominative
Predicate Adjective
2. This desk is my podium during lectures.
a. Predicate Nominative
b. Predicate Adjective
3. That train robbery remains an unsolved mystery.
a. Predicate Nominative
b. Predicate Adjective
4. The soaked and exhausted scouts looked miserable.
a. Predicate Nominative
b. Predicate Adjective
Action Verb
 First, you have to find out:
TRANSITIVE or INTRANSITIVE?
 TRANSITIVE has a DIRECT OBJECT
 INTRANSITIVE has NO OBJECT
 So, skip down to finding out if you have a direct
object or not.
ASK:
 verb who?
 verb what?
For example:
The aardvark wrestled the armadillo.
wrestled who? wrestled what?
wrestled the armadillo
armadillo = direct object
The cat ate my flowers.
ate who? ate what? ate flowers. flowers = Direct Object

The chimp aced the test.
aced who? aced what? aced test. test = DO

The turtle bit me.
bit who? bit what? bit me. me = DO

The monk rang the bells at sunset.
rang who? rang what? rang bells. bells = DO

…the Action Verb is Transitive.
(That’s all that transitive means.)


Subject – Action Verb Transitive – Direct Object

If there is no answer to verb who? verb what?,
you have an Intransitive Verb.
For example:
The bear slept in his cave.
slept who? slept what? No Answer = no DO
= verb is intransitive.
Early astronomers observed the heavens
constantly.
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
astronomers
constantly
observed
heavens
2. When she visited our class, Ms. Bailey brought us
weather maps and other data.
a. class
b. us
c. Ms. Bailey
d. maps, data
3. She teaches college students weather forecasting.
a. she
b. students
c. teaches
d. forecasting
4. The spacecraft photographed the surface of Venus.
a. surface
b. photographed
c. spacecraft
d. Venus
 Then
check for Indirect Object
ASK:
 verb to whom?
 verb to what?
 verb for whom?
 verb for what?
ASK:
 verb to whom? verb to what?
 verb for whom? verb for what?
For example:
 The cheetah sent me an invitation. (DO = invitation)
sent to whom? sent to me. me = Indirect Object
Beverly made Wog a cake. (DO = cake)
made for whom? made for Wog. Wog = IO

Always between Action Verb and Direct Object.
Subject – Action Verb Trans – INDIRECT OBJECT – Direct Object
1.
Ms. Bailey gave our class a lecture on weather.
a. lecture
b. class
c. weather
d. Ms. Bailey
2. By building a well, we gave the South American
villagers a chance.
a. well
b. building
c. villagers
d. chance
e. we
3. She offered the class her opinion.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
4. She offered the class her opinion.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
5. Mrs. Hines showed us pictures of the first
thermometers from the seventeenth century.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
6. In turn, these records provide meteorologists
statistics.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
…check for Object Complement
Object Complement Verbs
• these verbs may indicate an object complement
• verbs meaning “make” or “consider”
appoint
find
call
keep
choose
make
color
paint
consider
render
elect

Always AFTER the Direct Object
Subj. – Action Verb Trans – Direct Object – Object Complement
(See examples next slide.)

S
AV-T
DO OC
My giraffe painted my study purple.

S
AV-T DO
OC
The gerbils elected Marty president.

S
AV-T
DO
OC
Maudie found his manners horrendous.

S AV-T DO
OC
The rat called the cat a tramp.
Direct Object = Object Complement
From examples in previous slide:
study = purple
Marty = president
manners = horrendous
cat = tramp

1. The committee selected Spain Park the winner of
the Blue Ribbon Award for Academic Excellence.
a. committee
b. Spain Park
c. winner
d. Award
2. Gail considers astronomy the most compelling
science.
a. science
b. Gail
c. astronomy
d. compelling
3. I have always found botany fascinating.
a. I
b. always
c. fascinating
d. botany
4. We, on the other hand, consider her starstruck.
a. We
b. hand
c. her
d. starstruck
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Cross out prepositional phrases.
Find verb.
Find subject (does verb’s action).
Go back to verb: action or linking?
Check for linking: list, = sign.
If linking, name subject complement
as noun or adjective (PN or PA).
If action verb, find direct object to
decide transitive or intransitive.
8) If no direct object, verb is intransitive
and sentence analysis is complete.
9) If direct object, check for indirect
object.
10) If no indirect object, check for object
complement.
7)
1.
Subject – action~intransitive verb
2.
Subject – action~transitive verb – direct object
3.
Subject – action~transitive verb – indirect object – direct object
4.
Subject – action~transitive verb – direct object – object complement
5.
Subject – linking verb – subject complement (predicate nominative)
6.
Subject – linking verb – subject complement (predicate adjective)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
S AV-I
The ostrich sang.
S AV-T DO
The ostrich sang an aria.
S AV-T IO
DO
The ostrich sang me an aria.
S AV-T
DO OC
The ostrich made the aria beautiful.
S
LV SC(PN)
The ostrich was a singer.
S
LV SC(PA)
The ostrich was fantastic.
1.Cross out prepositional
phrases first!
3. Subject
2+4. VERB
5. ACTION
7. Transitive
5 .LINKING
7. Intransitive
6. Direct
Object
8. Indirect
Object
6. Subject
Complement
7. Predicate
Nominative
8. Object
Complement
7. Predicate
Adjective
Divide the complete subject and complete predicate
by choosing the two words where the division
occurs.
1.
My friend Helen wants to be a teacher.
a. My | friend
b. Helen | wants
c. friend | Helen
d. wants | to

2. Suddenly, several passengers spotted a giraffe and
several lions.
a. SS- passengers
SP-spotted
b. SS- several
SP- spotted
c. SS- giraffe
SP- and
d. SS- several passengers
SP- spotted
3. Clouds of dust around the van obscured our vision.
a. SS- dust SP-around
b. SS- dust SP- obscured
c. SS- clouds of dust SP- vision
d. SS- clouds SP- obscured
4. The fans in the stadium cheered for the Spain Park
Jags.
a. stadium cheered
b. fans in the stadium
c. cheered for the Spain Park Jags
d. cheered
5. Gabriella will take her science project to the state
fair.
a. will
b. will take her project
c. will take
d. will take her project to the state fair
6. Neither the drama teacher nor the club president
can decide.
a. Neither, nor
b. drama, president
c. drama, club
d. teacher, president
7. Directors can add elements, but cannot save a weak
script.
a. can add, can save
b. add, save
c. can, add
d. save, weak
8. On its surface, tiny Mercury resembles our moon.
a. surface
b. Mercury
c. moon
d. resembles
9. The new CEO gave the old boss a smooth
transition.
a. new
b. boss
c. smooth
d. CEO
e. transition
10. Our science teacher, Mrs. Hines, sent Ms. Bailey
an invitation.
a. teacher
b. Mrs. Hines
c. Ms. Bailey
d. invitation
11. She offered the class her opinion.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
12. Weather stations once gave others information on
current conditions by telegraph.
a. direct object
b. indirect object
13. My name became official on June 9, 1990.
a. Predicate Nominative
b. Predicate Adjective
14. Mr. Kravitz may become our new history teacher.
a. Predicate Nominative
b. Predicate Adjective
15. Our science club chose Gail the chairperson.
a. club
b. Gail
c. science
d. chairperson
16. Our science club chose Gail the chairperson.
a. club
b. Gail
c. science
d. chairperson