This document provides an overview of subjects, verbs, and other parts of speech in sentences. It defines the subject as the person, place, thing or idea that the sentence is about. Verbs express action and tell what the subject is doing. There are also linking verbs that connect the subject to something said about it, and helping verbs that combine with the main verb. The chapter discusses identifying subjects and verbs, and provides examples of sentences with prepositional phrases crossed out and subjects and verbs highlighted.

1. ENGLISH ESSENTIALS
E. Buchanan

2. CH. 1 SUBJECTS & VERBS

3. Ch. 1 Subjects and Verbs
• What is the subject of a sentence?
• It is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is
about.
• The subject is also called the ―who or what‖ word.
• To find the subject, ask yourself, ―Who or what is this
sentence about?‖ OR ―Who or what is doing something in
this sentence.‖

4. Ch. 1 Subjects and Verbs
• Who is the subject in the following sentences?
• Luis is studying.
• Mary is reading Double Luck
• Luis is what the first sentence is about. He is the ―who‖
that is doing something…studying. The second sentence
also answers the questions of ―Who is doing something in
the sentence?‖ The answer is Mary. Mary is the person
that is reading Double Luck.

5. Ch. 1 Subjects and Verbs
• What part of speech is a subject?
• A subject will always be a noun or a pronoun.
• What is a noun?
• A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
• What is a pronoun?
• A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun
• I, you, he, she, it, we, they

6. Verbs
• What do verbs do?
• Verbs express action
• They tell what the subject is doing
• You can find an action verb by asking ―What does the subject do?‖
• Let’s look at the sentences from the first slide.
• Luis is studying.
• Mary is reading Double Luck
• What is Luis doing?
• Studying (the verb)
• What is Mary doing?
• Reading (the verb)

7. Linking Verbs
• Some verbs do not show action.
• They are called linking verbs.
• Linking verbs like is, are, was, and were join (or link) the subject
to something that is said about the subject.
• For example, in the sentence Mrs. Buchanan is a teacher, the
linking verb is connects the subject Mrs. Buchanan with what is
said about her – that she is a teacher.

8. Helping Verbs
• Some verbs consist of more than one word—a helping
verb plus the main verb. Here are some examples of
verbs containing more than one word:
1. Valeria has written the answer on the board.
• The verb is has written
2. The plane was landing slowly on the tarmac.
• The verb is was landing

9. Helping Verbs
• The verb of a sentence never begins with to. For
example:
1. Julie is going to write the answer on the board.
• The verb of the sentence is is going. It is not write or to write.
2. The balloons seemed to hang in the air.
• The verb of the sentence is seemed. It is not hang or to hang.
Here are some helping verbs:
Forms of he
Be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
Forms of have
Have has had
Forms of do
do, does, did
Special verbs
Can, could, may, might, just, ought (to), shall,
should, will, would

10. Prepositional Phrases
• A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins
with a preposition and ends with a noun. Common
prepositions are:
About, after, as, at, before, between, by, during, for,
from, in, into, like, of, on, outside, over, through, to,
toward, with, and without
• As you look for the subject of a sentence, it may help to
cross out any prepositional phrases that you find.
• The coffee from the leaking pot stained the carpet.
• One of my classmates fell asleep during class.
• The woman on that motorcycle has no helmet
• The cracks and booms during the thunderstorm were scary.

11. Let’s practice
• Write out the sentence below. Then cross out the
prepositional phrases. Next underline the subject of each
sentence once and the verb of each sentence twice.
• Dogs at the animal shelter wait for a good home.
• Dogs at the animal shelter wait for a good home

12. More Practice
• Write out the sentence below. Then cross out the
prepositional phrases. Next underline the subject of each
sentence once and the verb of each sentence twice.
• The frozen fish on the counter defrosted quickly.
• The frozen fish on the counter defrosted quickly

13. More Practice
• Write out the sentence below. Then cross out the
prepositional phrases. Next underline the subject of each
sentence once and the verb of each sentence twice.
• The computer’s screen went blank without warning.
• The computer’s screen went blank without warning.