Parts of a Sentence

A sentence can be defined as "a group of words that expresses a complete thought." It can be as simple as two words: Pilots fly. A sentence can also involve more complex patterns.

Every sentence has a subject—the topic or idea you are discussing—and a predicate— what you have to say about it. The predicate part of the sentence contains the verb and tells what the subject of the sentence is doing, or relates something about the subject:

Officers need academic as well as technical skills.

The subject of this sentence is Officers. The verb is underlined; the sentence predicate is in red.

The most frequently used sentence structure in English is made up of a subject, a verb, and an object—the part of the predicate that receives the action of a verb. The S-V-O sentence, as it is called, is the most direct way of making a point or stating a fact:

When the verb in the sentence does not express an action, but describes a state of being, the latter part of the sentence is known as the subject complement (SC).

Phrases and Clauses

A group of words in a sentence that does not contain a subject and verb is called a phrase:

• the relief effort
• academic and technical skills

When a group of words contains both a subject and a verb it is called a clause:

• Canadian forces participated
• NDHQ coordinated

The subject of the first clause is "Canadian forces"; the verb is "participated." The subject of the second clause is "NDHQ"; the verb is "coordinated."

In order to know how to fix common errors in sentence structure and to write more effective and interesting sentences, you need to understand the difference between two types of clauses: independent and dependent.

• An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence; it communicates a complete thought.
  
• A dependent clause does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence. It depends on some other part of the sentence: the independent clause.

Often a dependent clause begins with a word such as Although, When, While, Until, etc. These words are called subordinators.

Here the clause beginning "While..." does not communicate a complete thought; it is dependent on the main part of the sentence, the independent clause beginning with the subject "non-combatants."