Instructions: Read, study, and learn this lesson. Then do the exercise.  When you are satisfied that you understand the lesson, take the test.

When we write something, whether we are telling a story or giving instructions, the writing must be clear enough so that the reader knows exactly what we mean without having to guess at any of the details. To make sure that the whole message is understood, we make our thoughts complete by writing in sentences. The main parts of a sentence are the subject and predicate.

Sentences

1. Therefore, a sentence is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought.

2. A sentence must tell about its subject, which is someone or something.

3. The sentence should also tell the reader something about the person or thing it is referring to, which is the subject.

4. The predicate is the part that tells something about the subject.  It is also known as the action part of the sentence.

5. In the following examples, when the subject and predicate are marked as separate parts of a sentence, the subject part is unmarked and the predicate part is in bold type.

6. In most sentences, the subject comes before the predicate.  For Example: Most of the students in our school take a summer vacation away from home.

7.  Sometimes the predicate comes before the subject part of the sentence.

Example: Strange and unusual is my new look.

Note: Students can identify the subject with a single underline. The predicate will be in plain text.

Example: My new look is strange and unusual.

 Instructions: For this exercise, write each sentence on a separate sheet of paper and draw one line under the subjects and leave the predicates unmarked:

 1. Mom drove us to school.

2. Mom has driven us to school.

3. Henry drove as though he had driven all of his life.

4. We drove to Honolulu yesterday.

5. My brother drove the same car for ten years.

6. My brother has driven the same car for ten years.

7. I broke my glasses.

8. Louis broke his CD player after I had broken mine.

9. Mr. Cannon broke his own record.

10. Mr. Cannon has broken his own record.

Test, Lesson 24

Instructions: Use a separate sheet of paper and answer the following questions.  Look back if you need to.

1. What is a sentence?

2. What does a sentence tell about?

3. Who does a sentence tell about the person or thing to which it is referring?

4. What does the predicate part of a sentence do?

5. How are the subject and predicate marked?

6. What usually comes first in a sentence, the subject or predicate?

7. Write two sentence showing how the predicate comes before the subject part of the sentence.

Instructions: Draw one line under the subject and leave the predicate unmarked.

1. Mom drove us to school.

2. Mom has driven us to school.

3. Henry drove as though he had driven all of his life.

4. We drove to Honolulu yesterday.

5. My brother drove the same car for ten years.

6. My brother has driven the same car for ten years.

7. I broke my glasses.

8. Louis broke his CD player after I had broken mine.

9. Mr. Cannon broke his own record.

10. Mr. Cannon has broken his own record.