Simple Sentences!

A simple sentence is made up of one independent clause.

It can stand by itself because it has two important things.

???A SUBJECT and a VERB—it’s one complete

thought that makes sense all by itself.

I ran to my house.

Simple Sentence:

• A sentence that has one independent clause

Independent Clause:A group of words that 1)Makes a complete statement2)Has a subject and a verb

An example of a simple sentence or independent clause:

Susan ran.

subject verb

I am happy.

What must every sentence have?

• A SUBJECT• A VERB (PREDICATE)

(If it doesn’t have these two things, it’s a sentence fragment—an incomplete sentence)

What part of speech is the subject of a sentence?

• The NOUN (person, place, thing, idea).• The subject is what the sentence is about.

bat ball girl window dog love stairs pizza Mr. Jones school hair car octopus Joseph marker book

fire headache slippers honesty snow firefly mom

Types of nouns:

• John went for a walk. (person)• The town was quiet. (place)• Eggs rolled onto the floor. (things)• Peace is here at last. (idea)

What’s the other part of a simple sentence called?

• The VERB (or predicate).• The verb shows the subject’s state of being or

action. It tells what the subject is or does.

run slide peel see hear jump fly cry laugh live love hop skip talk crawl swim play sleep march

learn yawn be have is am

Types of verbs:• Sally sneezed. (action-physical)• John thinks. (action-mental)• Jordan is my friend. (linking verb)• Paul may have jumped. (helping verbs)

is

Common linking verbs:• be• is• are• am• were• was• appears• seems• looks

(Verbs that show a state of “being,” not action.)

Sue is happy!

Helping Verbs

C H A D B. S W I Mcanhas am do be shall will is maycould have are does been should would might

had did being was mustwere

REMEMBER!

• An independent clause is a group of words that makes a complete statement (has a subject and a verb).

(That means that the group of words makes sense all by itself).

EXAMPLES:Susan ran.

Mr. Morton was lonely.

Questions??????

VERB-SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

To identify the subject and verb of a sentence, you will use a two-step process:

• STEP ONE:Look for the VERB (action or state of being

word) in the sentence and write a “V” above it.

Kevin reported the theft.v

Once you’ve found the verb, you need to complete the second step.

• STEP TWO:Ask yourself “who or what (verb)?” to find the

subject.

v

Kevin reported the theft.s

Let’s look at another example:

Paula is an astronaut.STEP ONE: Is there an action verb (something

you can do?)

v

Paula is an astronaut. (linking verb)

After we find the verb, what is the next step in the verb-subject identification procedure

(step two)?• Ask the “who/what ____?” question to find

the subject.

v

Paula is an astronaut.s

STEP 1: Look for the action or linking verb first.

STEP 2: Ask yourself “who or what _____?” to find the subject.

Subject-Verb Identification:

Time for some practice (in your notebook)!

1. Jane went to the pool. s v

Jane went to the pool.2. Paul is a very nice guy.

s v

Paul is a very nice guy.

3. Mr. Morton wrote Pearl a poem. s v

Mr. Morton wrote Pearl a poem.

4. I love chocolate ice cream.s v

I love chocolate ice cream.5. Dad is strict. s v

Dad is strict.6. Kathy has a son named Jimmy. s v

Kathy has a son named Jimmy.7. Oranges taste good. s v

Oranges taste good.

Noun Phrases s v

• The old gray horse limped down the road. s v

• The silver-winged plane soared. s v

• Johnny’s baby sister cried for hours.

The old gray horse

The silver-winged plane

Johnny’s baby sister

Verb Phrases v

• The bus must have gone by now.v

• The grapes have been moldy.v

• My sister is working tonight.

s

s

s

BRAIN BREAK!

• STAND UP AND STRETCH!!!!!

Beware of the imposters! They are trying to trick you…

Beware of the imposters! They are trying to trick you…

• NOT and NEVER are never ever verbs!!

• Prepositional phrases(behind the wall, in the sink, over the lake)

• Infinitives(to run, to play, to fly, to be, to jump…)

CROSS THEM OUT WHEN YOU SEE THEM!

Prepositions:Prepositions:

Prepositions are words that show the relationship of an object to the rest of the sentence. They show time, place, or manner.

The mouse ran under the table.

35 Most Common Prepositions35 Most Common Prepositions

• About

• Above

• Across

• After

• Against

• Among

• Around

• At

• Before

• Behind

• Beside

• Between

• Beyond

• By

• Down

• During

• Except

• For

• From

• In

• Into

• Near

• Of

• Off

• On

• Over

• Past

• Through

• Throughout

• To

• Toward

• Under

• Until

• Up

• With

Prepositional Phrases:Prepositional Phrases:

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (the object of the preposition).

Examples: – We ate popcorn during the movie.– I gave the book to him.

IMPOSTERS!

Beware of the imposters! They are trying to trick you…

• NOT and NEVER are never ever verbs!!

• Prepositional phrases(behind the wall, in the sink, over the lake)

• Infinitives(to run, to play, to fly, to be, to jump…)

Focus!!!!

• Take a seat folks!

Watch out for the

Imposters! v

• My friend could never play after school. v

• Joe’s uncle is not following his new diet. v

• The contract might have been signed today.

s

s

s

Sometimes the verb comes first…

v• Down the street moved the cars.

v• Will you go to the movie tonight?s

s

More Imposters…infinitives.

v• Chad hoped to go sledding.

(NEVER choose a word with “to” in front of it as the verb).

s

More than one subject? Compound subject.

v• Bill and Sue want to go to the movie.

v• Jason and his friends work together.

s s

s s

v• Joe, Craig, and Dan went to buy a dog.

• Did Marty and Kathy travel 500 miles?

s s s

vs s

More than one verb? Compound verb.

v v• Sally swam and played all afternoon.

v v• The dogs had barked and jumped all day.

s

s

Try these simple sentences!

v v• Jill and Beth laughed and smiled at the

exciting news. v

• JM and Century had a football game v and filled the stadium.

s s

s s

Simple Sentence Formulas

• S V (subject-verb)I went to the store.

• S S VJohn and I went to the store.

• S V VI swam in the pool and ran in the park.

• S S V VThe dogs and cats ran and jumped in the yard.

v v

v

v

vvs

s

s

s

s

s

Time for a worksheet!

Is this a simple sentence?

• Hide!

What about this?• Ice melts.

Is this a simple sentence?

• The ice melts quickly.

Is this?• The ice on the river melts quickly under the

warm March sun.

OK…is THIS a simple sentence??

• Lying exposed without its blanket of snow, the ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb—ONE complete thought:

• Ice melts.• The ice melts quickly.• The ice on the river melts quickly under the

warm March sun.• Lying exposed without its blanket of snow,

the ice on the river melts quickly under the warm March sun.

As you can see, a simple sentence can be quite long. It’s a

mistake to think that simple sentences are only short

sentences.A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb—it is one complete

thought—an independent clause.

Simple sentence practice!In your notebook, write down and label the subject and the

verb (don’t forget the helping verbs)!

1. Fish are jumping in the pond.2. The cat is purring in the sunshine.3. The mouse scurried under the refrigerator.4. I thought about the question first.5. Mark ate all the pizza.

Still simple sentences, except more words have been added to the basic sentence pattern. In your notebook, write down the subject and the

verb.

6. A light brown deer walks quietly through the forest.

7. The deer stops at the edge of a meadow.

8. A stream runs through the meadow.

9. Small animals are moving through the grass.

10. The little deer moves cautiously forward.

Here are some examples of SIMPLE SENTENCES:• The package arrived in the mail.

• The dog barked.• Sally cried.• Stop! (What is the subject of this

sentence?)

What is missing?

• Ran into town.

• The growling dog.

• In the Pacific Ocean.

Both of the following are simple sentences:

The horse galloped.

The black horse galloped smoothly to the barn with her colt.

Complete sentences or fragments?

• During the winter.• Please water the fern.• I have a mosquito bite.• A week from Friday.• And asked a question.• An interesting package arrived.• My favorite cousin.