SUBJECTS AND VERBS
SUBJECT: who or what the sentence is talking about.
VERB: what the subject is doing or being.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES: a group of words with an
object; an object can never be a subject; be certain
that your verb agrees with the true subject and not
the object of a prepositional phrase.
COMPOUND SUBJECTS: two or more subjects all doing
the same thing (no comma with the conjunction).
COMPOUND VERBS: the subject is doing (or being) two
or more different things (no comma with the
conjunction).
COMPOUND SENTENCE: two or more subjects doing (or
being) two different things (needs a comma with the
conjunction).
EXAMPLES:
1. Oscar goes to the store.
(subject)(verb)(prepositional phrase)
2. Mary stays at home.
(subject) (verb) prepositional phrase)
3. Oscar and Mary eat dinner at Luciano’s.
(compound subject)(verb)(direct object) (P.P.)
4. Paulette sees them and waves to them.
(subject) (compound verb)
5. Oscar and Mary see Paulette and wave to her.
(compound subject) (compound verb)
6. A woman in high-heels steps on Paulette’s toe.
(subject) (prep. phrase) (verb) (prep. phrase)
7. Paulette cries in pain, and the lady apologizes.
(subject)(verb) (subject)(verb)