INTRODUCTION
The sentence is often used to refer to a group of words of different word classes or parts of speech which are put together in such a way that they make “ a complete sense”. A full stop is conventionally used to end a sentence. The following groups of words are not sentences:
1. the students of the University
2 visit the study centre
3 nearest to their place of residence
The above groups of words are not sentences because they do not express a complete thought. The first group tells us what the writer is talking about but the writer did not complete the sentence by saying what the students did. The second group of words tells us that some persons visit the study centre but the person is not mentioned. The third group of words says very little. It does not say who was or what happened nearest to their place of residence. Nos 1-3 are therefore not sentences because some important parts are missing.
3.1 Parts of a Sentence
In order to make a complete sense, a sentence must have a subject, that is, the person or thing about whom the writer/speaker is talking; and a predicate which is what the writer/speaker has to say about the subject. These are two important terms used to describe the essential parts of a sentence. The subject is the word or group of words that tells us what or whom the speaker or writer is talking about. The predicate makes a statement about the subject. It usually tells what the subject is doing, or what is happening to the subject.
In the following sentences the subjects are italicised and the predicates
are not.
4 My sister lives at Abuja.
5 The bag contains a lot of money.
6 The staff of the English Department are very dedicated workers.
7 The bell rang repeatedly.
8 Birds fly.
Note that the predicate can be one or more words. The verb together with other words that follow it form the predicate. In No.8 Sentence the predicate is made up of only the verb ‘fly’. When the subject is more than one word, there is often a particular word about which something is said. That word is the simple subject. It is usually a noun or a pronoun. Also in the predicate (when it is more than one word) there is often a word that serves as a key to the predicate. That word is usually a verb which states the action performed or the state or condition of the subject. If the verb consists of more than one word, it is called a verb phrase. The verb by itself is called the simple predicate. In the following examples, the subject is underlined while the simple predicate is italicised.
9 The Nigerian president attended a conference in Accra.
10 The woman had many disappointments.
11 My father has bought a new house.
12 The house collapsed.
Note that as in No. 8 above, example No.12 has the simple predicate “collapsed” which is also a complete predicate since it is the only word in the predicate.
3.2 Compound Subject and Predicate
A sentence may have two or more simple subjects and two or more simple predicates. In the following sentences, two simple subjects, “Etim” and “Okon” are joined by a co-ordinating conjunction. In the next sentence, two simple predicates ‘went’ and ‘helped’ are also joined. They are therefore compound predicates.
13 Etim and Okon are brothers.
14 Ekaette went home and helped her mother.
Some sentences have both compound subjects and predicates as in the following:
15 My brother and sister washed the clothes and ironed them.
16 The students and their teachers went to the auditorium and listened to the inaugural lecture.
3.3 Sentence Fragments
Any group of words that lacks any of the two essential parts of a sentence is a sentence fragment or a fragmentary sentence. A fragment is a piece of something. It is therefore incomplete. When either the subject or a predicate or both are missing, the groups of words do not express a complete thought and is therefore not a sentence. In the following groups of words some are sentences and others are fragments.
17 Hoping to see you again. (Fragment)
18 The registrar interviewed the candidate. (Sentence)
19 Received your message this morning. (Fragment)
20 With kind personal regards. (Fragment)
Note: The use of fragmentary or incomplete sentences is an unsatisfactory way of expressing ones ideas. It must be avoided.
3.4 Sentence Elements
Every sentence must have a basic structure in order to express a complete thought. This basic structure may consist of a subject (noun or pronoun) and a predicate (verb or verb phrase) (Semmelmeyer and Bolander 1984: 85) as in the following sentence:
Birds fly.
Many sentences require a third part or an additional word or group of words in order to express a complete thought. This additional part is needed to complete the idea expressed by the verb. See the following group of words:
The teacher flogged
It contains a subject and a verb but another word or group of words is needed to give more information as regards whom or what the teacher flogged thus:
The teacher flogged the pupil.
This is a complete sentence. The noun phrase “the pupil” completes the predicate. For this reason, it is called a complement.
A complement completes the meaning expressed by a verb. So every sentence has the basic structure containing a subject and a verb (S.V.) or a subject, a verb and a complement (S.V.C.). The type of complement required by a particular verb depends on the type of verb, that is, the class of verb used.
3.5 Complementation
Complementation is tied up with classes of verbs. This is because verbs are classified depending on the type of complements they take as transitive, intransitive or linking verbs.
Complements of Transitive Verbs
Verbs which express action that passes from the performer to the person or thing affected take direct object complements as in the following examples:
The mechanic repaired the car.
She sang a song.
He refused my invitation.
I saw Grace.
In each of the above sentences, the italicised words are affected by the action of the verb. They are the direct objects. This is to say that the verbs in the above sentences are transitive verbs and they take direct objects as a complement.
There are verbs which take two objects: the direct object and the indirect object. The indirect object tells to whom or for whom the action is performed. The indirect object is often used after certain verbs: get, give, lend, offer, read, tell, buy, send, show, make, pay etc. In the sentences below, the indirect objects are italicised.
The teacher read his pupils a story.
She made me a fine dress.
My father gave his driver a Christmas bonus.
Complements of Intransitive Verbs
Verbs that do not express actions that pass from the doer to the receiver are intransitive verbs. This means that intransitive verbs do not take direct objects because even though they express action the effect of the action is not felt by someone or something. In the following example the intransitive verbs take no objects.
Alice is singing.
In the above example nobody is suffering the effect of the singing. If the sentence were
Alice is singing a song;
then the action of singing would affect the song so to say. Similarly, in the sentence;
She dances gracefully;
there is no direct object and the action does not pass from the doer to the receiver. The verb ‘is singing’ and ‘dances’ are therefore intransitive. Intransitive verbs take adverbial complements where necessary.
Alice is singing melodiously. (Adverb of manner)
She arrived before nightfall (Adverbial of time)
Some verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively. It is necessary to watch out for when there is a direct object in which case the verb will be transitive and intransitive when the complement is an adverbial. Study the following:
The time-keeper rang the bell.
The bell rang repeatedly.
We met the visitors.
We met last week.
Complements of Linking Verbs
Linking Verbs do not express action. They express conditions and states. They have very little meaning of their own but express various ideas in relation to the subject. Their main purpose is to link the subject with some word in the predicate that gives the sentence a meaning. It is for this reason that they are referred to as linking verbs.
A linking verb is always followed by a subject complement. A subject complement is simply a noun, pronoun or adjective which refers to the same person or thing as the subject. A linking verb therefore links the subject to the noun or adjective often referred to as predicate noun or adjective or pronoun. Some common linking verbs are: be, feel, look, smell, appear, keep, stay, remain turn, sound, prove.
In the following sentences, the predicate noun, adjective or pronoun is not direct objects but subject complements.
My sister is intelligent. (Predicate adjective).
She became a medical doctor (Predicate noun).
This is she. (Predicate pronoun).
A linking verb cannot make a complete predicate. It always requires a subject complement. That means that My Sister is* or she became* or This is* cannot stand on their own as ‘she cried’ can. They require something to complete the predicate; and as earlier stated linking verbs take subject complements.
3.6 Sentence Patterns
Depending on the type of verb, the complement of a verb can be an object, adverbial, a subject complement or a group of words functioning as any of the above. There are therefore five basic sentence elements in the traditional classification. Note that these five basic elements are classified as four elements in some models. In the Systemic Grammar Model for instance, four basic grammatical units SPCA are identified. We have identified the three types of complements depending on the classes of verb here, which in addition to the subject and the verb (predicator) add up to our five elements.
Subject - S
Verb - V
Object) Direct Object - 0d
Indirect Object - 01
Adverbial - A
Complement) Subject Complement - Cs
Object Complement- C0
* Note*The starred options are incorrect usages
Of the five sentence elements: S V O A C, the subject and verb are constant; they are always present while the object, adverbials or complements are variable. Their presence depends on the pattern of sentence and the type of verb.
Also, the elements
O can be direct Od, or Indirect Oi
C can be Cs or Co that is subject or object complement
A can be adverbial of time, place, manner, condition, reason etc.
Using the five elements SVOAC the following sentence structures or patterns are possible:
V - Sing
SV - She is singing.
Birds fly.
The aeroplane has landed.
SVA - She is singing beautifully.
Funke dances gracefully.
Femi came immediately.
SVC - My brother is a doctor.
He is very successful.
He has become a commissioner for Health.
SVO - I ate the meat.
The students played basketball.
My father paid my fees.
SVOO - They gave their friends presents.
She lent me her book.
My father bought my mother a new pair of shoes.
SVOC - His father named him his heir.
I made her my successor.
The company nominated my brother the managing director.
SVAC - She was formerly a beauty queen.
I will remain forever grateful
SVOCA They elected him chairman each year.
SVOA - My father put the money in the bank.
She hid her handbag somewhere.
The students spent their public holiday at the beach.
Thus there can be the following sentence patterns.
One Element - V
Two Elements
-
SV
Three Elements
-
SVO
- SVC
- SVA
Four Elements
-
-
SVOO
SVAC
- SVOC
- SVOA
Five Elements - SVOCA
NOTE: It should be noted that a sentence maybe a word as shown
above. In this case either the subject or predicate is implied.
With transitive verbs the following types of sentence patterns are
possible:
SVO - I drank the beer
SVOO - She gave me the beer
SVOA - He poured the beer into my glass;
On the other hand, the following patterns are possible with intransitive verbs:
SV - You are joking
SVC - You are humorous
SVA - Your friend is in the car
With linking verbs only the following patterns are possible:
SVC - She is beautiful.
SVAC - She was formerly a beauty queen.
It is important to note that any of the sentence elements can be a word, a phrase or a clause as the following sentences show:
SVO SVA SVA
-
-
-
Ekaette ate yams (words)
The pen was seen in the bag (SVA= phrases).
The biro pen was seen where it was kept (A=
Clause).
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE (SAE) 1
Which of the following groups of words are complete sentences and
which are fragments?
1. The sound of the car.
2. The sound of the car alerted us
3. A desirable habit.
4. Singing in the hall.
5. The dress you gave me.
6. Under the table.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE (SAE) 2
In the following sentences, which of the verbs have direct object
complements and which of them do not.
1. The bus leaves at noon.
2. The bus leaves the passengers who are late.
3 She cooked rice and stew.
4. She cooks very well.
5 The taxi has arrived.
6 The taxi has arrived Lagos City
7 Did you meet?
8 Did you meet at the airport?
9 The boys are playing.
4.0 CONCLUSION
This unit has explained clearly how a typical English sentence is structured. You have also learned about the parts that make up a complete sentence in English, as well as the elements and acceptable sentence patterns that can be observed in the language. This has further made it clear that the English language has rules that guide the correct formation of a given sentence structure.
5.0 SUMMARY
The following are the important points made in this unit:
A sentence is a group of words of different word classes which are put together in such a way that it expresses a complete
thought.
A complete sentence must have a subject and a predicate which can be simple or complex.
A group of words which lacks any of the essential parts is called a fragment.
A complement completes the meaning expressed by the verb. The
nature of the verb determines the type of complement. Transitive
verbs take direct and/or indirect objects; intransitive verbs take adverbial
complements when necessary while linking verbs take subject complements.
There are five basic sentence elements in the traditional
classification; these are: Subject(S), Verb (V), Object (O),
Adverbial (A) and Complement(C) often represented as
SVOAC.
Of the five elements, the verb is the compulsory element while the other elements are optional.
Sentences can be formed using the five elements as follows: V,
SV, SVO, SVA, SVOO, SVAC, and SVOAC (See Section 6.0
above)
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA) 9
With suitable examples, discuss verb classes and complementation in
English.
7.0 REFERENCES / FURTHER READINGS
Eka, D. (1996) Elements of Grammar and Mechanics of English.
Uyo: Samuf Educational.
Quirk, R. and Greenbaum, S. (1980). A University Grammar of English, Longman, London .
Semmelmeyer, M. and Bolander, D. (1984) Instant English Handbook. Illinois: Career Publishing Inc.
Udofot, I. and Ekpenyong , B. (2004) A Comprehensive English
Course for Schools and Colleges. Lagos: Quantum Co. Ltd .
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