Plain English Part 88

The busy, industrious men with families work hard.

The busy, industrious men with families work hard in the factory.

Our simple predicate, _work_ is now enlarged. It is modified by the adverb, _hard_ and the adverb phrase, _in the factory_. So our complete predicate is now, _work hard in the factory_.

+404.+ These sentences with the simple subject and the simple predicate and their modifying words and phrases form simple sentences.

+A simple sentence is one which expresses a single statement, question or command.+

+405.+ A simple sentence, therefore, will contain but one subject and one predicate. The subject may be a compound subject and the predicate may be a compound predicate, but still the sentence expresses a single thought. For example: _The boys sing_. This is a simple statement with a simple subject and a simple predicate. Then we may say: _The boys sing and play_. We still have a single statement, but a compound predicate, _sing and play_.

Now we may make a compound subject, and say, _The boys and girls sing and play_, but we have still a single statement, for both predicates are a.s.serted of both subjects. So, _The boys and girls sing and play_, is a simple sentence.

If we say, _The boys sing and the girls play_, we have a compound sentence, composed of two simple sentences, _The boys sing_, _The girls play_.

If we say, _The boys sing while the girls play_, we have a complex sentence formed of the simple sentence, _The boys sing_, and the dependent clause, _while the girls play_.

+406.+ Now let us sum up our definitions:

+Every sentence must contain two parts, a subject and a predicate.+

+The subject of a sentence is that part about which something is said.+

+The predicate is that part which a.s.serts something of the subject.+

+The simple subject of a sentence is a noun, or the word used in place of a noun, without modifiers.+

+The simple predicate is the verb or verb phrase without its modifiers.+

+The complete subject of a sentence is the simple subject with all of its modifiers.+

+The complete predicate of a sentence is the simple predicate with all of its modifiers.+

+A simple sentence is one which expresses a single statement, question or command.+

+A complex sentence is one containing an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.+

+A compound sentence is one containing two or more independent clauses.+

+A clause is a part of a sentence containing a subject and a predicate.+

Exercise 1

In the following sentences the simple subject and the simple predicate are printed in _italics_. Find all of the modifiers of the subject and all of the modifiers of the predicate, and draw a single line under the complete subject and two lines under the complete predicate.

1. Beautiful _pictures hang_ on the wall.

2. Those elm _trees grow_ rapidly every year.

3. A terrible _storm broke_ unexpectedly at sea.

4. The clear, crystal _water runs_ swiftly to the sea.

5. The beautiful _flowers fade_ quickly in the heat.

6. The happy, boisterous _children play_ at school every day.

7. The st.u.r.dy _oak_ in the forest _stands_ bravely through every storm.

8. Their arching _tops_ almost _speak_ to us.

9. A _cry_ of joy _rings_ through the land.

10. The _leaves_ of the trees _flutter_ in the wind.

11. Great _clouds_ of smoke _float_ in the air.

Exercise 2

Note carefully the following simple sentences. Each of these groups of two words will suggest ideas and pictures to you. Lengthen each sentence by adding modifiers to the simple subject and to the simple predicate so as to make a fuller and more definite statement. For example: _Ships sail_. This is a simple subject and simple predicate. We add adjectives and an adjective phrase and adverbs and an adverb phrase as modifiers and we have, as follows:

The stately _ships_ in the bay _sail_ proudly away to foreign sh.o.r.es.

Snow melts.

Winds blow.

House stands.

Boys run.

Soldiers fight.

Tides flow.

Children play.

Ships sail.

Guns boom.

Women endure.

ANOTHER ELEMENT

+407.+ You will note that all of these verbs which we have used in these sentences have been complete verbs as _hang_, _grow_, _runs_, _fade_, etc. A complete verb, you will remember, is a verb that does not need an object or a complement. It is complete within itself. It may be modified by an adverb or an adverb phrase, but when you leave off these modifiers you still have complete sense.

In any of the sentences above you may cross out the adverb or the adverb phrase which modifies the verb and you will still have complete sentences. For example:

Great clouds of smoke float in the air.

Here, the adverb phrase, _in the air_, may be omitted and still we have complete sense, thus:

Great clouds of smoke float.

+408.+ The incomplete verbs, however, require either an object or complement to complete their meaning.

Incomplete verbs are of two kinds; those that express _action_ and those that express _state_ or _condition_.

An incomplete verb that expresses action requires an object which is the receiver of the action expressed in the verb, so we have another element which enters into the simple sentence, when we use an incomplete verb.

For example:

The busy man makes shoes.

In order to complete the sentence, we must use an object with the incomplete verb _makes_. To say, _The busy man makes_, is not enough. We must have an object which is the receiver of the action expressed in the verb, _makes_. Verbs of action often have two objects. One object names the _thing_ that _receives_ the action and the other names the _thing_ indirectly _affected_ by the action. For example: