Becoming a “Parts of Speech” Detective

The process of questioning

Section Two

By Melanie Owens

In the last session we began looking at simple sentences. A simple sentence is a

group of words that expresses one complete thought

#1 Subject(Main noun)

#2 Verb/Predic

ate

#3Adverbs

#4 Adjectives

We continue to examine simple sentences by asking questions. To move forward we need

to add the patterns found in simple sentences. We have shown the beginning

sequence of questions for all of the patterns.• Subject- Verb/Predicate

• Subject- Linking Verb- Predicate Adjective

• Subject- Linking Verb- Predicate Noun

• Subject- Verb- Direct Object

• Subject- Verb- Direct Object- Object Complement

• Subject- Verb- Indirect Object- Direct Object

We are ready to ask the questions about the Subject- Linking Verb- Predicate Adjective

PatternWe start in the same way:

#1 Subject(Main noun)

#2 Verb/Predic

ate

#3Adverbs

#4 Adjectives

When we are at the verb question phase of the process (step #2) we may change the question to

How does the subject exist?Linking verbs show a state of being, not an

action.The following are common linking verbs, but there are others.

•Am

•Is

•Is being

•Are

•Are being

•Was

•Was being

•Were

•Has

•Has been

•Have been

•Will have been

•Had been

•Are being

Sentence patternSubject- Linking Verb- Predicate Adjective

Jeff’s sports car is Italian

Jeff’s sports car is Italian

Step #1- Who or what is doing something in the sentence? =Subject

Step #2- How does the subject exist? = Linking Verb

Step #3- Ask the adverb questions about the verb- Where? When? Why? How?

In this sentence there are no adverbs.

Step #4- Ask the adjective questions- What kind? Which one? How many?

Label the adjectives

Step #5- Is there an adjective which follows a linking verb and describes the subject?

This is the Predicate Adjective and is labeled- PA

SLVAdj Adj PA

Did you think that Jeff’s was the subject? It can’t be! It doesn’t answer the Subject

question and it shows possession. When a noun or pronoun is describing

another noun or is possessive it is called an ADJECTIVAL. It is still labeled Adj.

Jeff’s sports car is Italian

A. Chili verde tastes spicy hot and delicious.

B. The cat is large and heavy.

A. Predicate adjectives may be combined with other adjectives.

B. Predicate adjectives may be compound using conjunctions.

Sentence patternSubject- Linking Verb- Predicate Noun

Donald may be our next president.

Step #1- Who or what is doing something in the sentence? =Subject

Step #2- How does the subject exist? = Linking Verb

Step #3- Ask the adverb questions about the verb- where? When? Why? How?

In this sentence there are no adverbs.

Step #4- Ask the adjective questions- What kind? Which one? How many?

Label the adjectives

Step #5- Is there an noun which follows a linking verb and renames the subject?

This is the Predicate Noun and is labeled- PN

S LV PNDonald may be our next president

HV AdjAdj

A. Mr. Manwaring is a doctor.B. Mary became a professional basketball

player.C. Harry was a singer and dancer.

A. Predicate nouns may have articles.

B. Predicate nouns may have adjectives.

C. Predicate nouns may be compound using conjunctions.

That is the question sequence for predicate adjectives and predicate nouns.

We will examine the other sentence patterns in the next session.