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SENTENCES
A sentence is a meaninful linguistic construction that has a subject and a predicate and begins, in writing, with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. It means that it is an
independent clause that contains a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought. “She loves me.” is a sentence. It begins, in writing, with the capital letter S, ends with a full
stop ., and expresses a complete thought. “People eat.” is also a sentence because in writing it begins with the capital letter P, ends with a full stop ., and also expresses a complete
thought.
A. The Subject
The subject is something discussed, said, asserted, or predicated. The subject of a sentence can be in the form of a noun, pronoun, gerund, to + infinitive, noun phrase, gerund
phrase, to + infinitive phrase, or noun clause. The following are the examples of sentences with different forms of subjects.
1. English is an international language. Noun 2. She loves me. Pronoun
3. Singing is my hobby. Gerund 4. To study is our duty. To + infinitive
5. The beautiful tall white Javanese girl sitting next to me is R. A. Asmara Purbaningrum.
Noun Phrase
6. Singing a love song makes me happy. Gerund Phrase 7. To study English seriously is our duty. To + infinitive Phrase
8. Who is sitting beside me is my wife to be. Noun Clause
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B. The Predicate
The predicate is that which is discussed, said, asserted, or predicated of the subject. The predicate of a sentence must start with a finite verb or a finite verb group a finite verb is
the one which changes its form, depending on the number of the subject and the time reference. The following are examples of sentences and the brackets contain the types of
predicate used in the sentences. Examples are as follows. 1. Lucy gets up early every morning. Verb: V+
s
singular subject; present
2. Nadia went to Sydney last month. Verb: V+
ed
past
3. Bob is doing the laundry. Verb Group
singular subject; present continuous
4. I will go to America next year. Verb Group
future
5. She has been studying English for four years. Verb Group singular subject; present
perfect
C. The Simple Sentence
The simple sentence is a sentence which has only one subject and one finite verb. Examples are as follows.
1. I have a brother. I have got a brother. 2. The clerk works every day.
3. She studies hard. 4. Mother cooks rice every day.
5. Mary always gets up early.
D. The Compound Sentence
The compound sentence is a sentence having two independent clauses and joined by a
coordinate conjunction and, or, but. Examples are as follows. 1. I bought a watch and she bought a ring.
2. She loves me but I love the other girl. 3. Either do the test seriously or you will fail.
4. She asked me to make a phone call but I did not have my mobile phone with me. 5. My parents came and I felt happy.
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E. The Complex Sentence
