SUBJECT
Definition: The subject of a sentence is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that precedes and governs the main verb. The subject is the part of the sentence that performs an action or which is associated with the action.
For example:
* Reno plays the guitar
* The subject "David" performs the action of "playing the piano".
* The police interviewed all the witnesses.
* The subject the police performs the action of interviewing all the witnesses.
To determine the subject of a sentence, first isolate the verb and then make a question by placing "who?" or "what?" before it. Having identified the Subject, we can see that the remainder of the sentence tells us what the Subject does or did. We refer to this string as the "predicate" of the sentence.
For example:
* Who plays the guitar?
=> "Reno" ( = Subject)
=> "plays the guitar" ( = predicate) tells us what Reno does.
* Who interviewed all the witnesses?
=> "The police" (= Subject)
=> "interviewed all the witnesses" ( = predicate) tell us what the police did.
Subjects can either be "simple", "compound" or "complex"
- Simple Subject : Composed of a single pronoun, noun or noun phrase.
- Complex Subject : A complex subject consists of a noun phrase and any words, phrases, or clauses that modify it.
For example:
* The man who had followed us inside walked over to the telephone.
=> central noun: man
=> complex subject: the man who had followed us inside
* The superior performance of La Traviata pleased the wealthy audience.
=> central noun: performance
=> complex subject: the superior performance of La Traviata
- Compound Subject : A compound subject consists of two or more noun phrases (and their modifiers if any) joined together with a coordinating conjunction.
For example:
* The man and the woman walked over to the telephone.
=> The compound subject here is the whole phrase, "the man and the woman."
* Neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission pleased the wealthy audience.
=> Again, the whole phrase, "neither the superior performance of La Traviata nor the excellent wine at intermission," is the subject. The phrase answers the question, "What pleased the wealthy audience?"
======================================================
VERBS
Definition: Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an action (do, throw, run), existence (be), possession (have), or state (know, love) of a subject. To put it simply a verb shows what something or someone does.
For example:
* Rudi rides a bicycle.
* Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Rudi performs - the action of riding a bicycle.
* We buy some books to learn English verbs.
* In this example, the action word is "to buy". It tells us that the subject "we", that is the person who performs the action of the verb is "buying some books".
The verb tense shows the time of the action or state. Aspect shows whether the action or state is completed or not. Voice is used to show relationships between the action and the people affected by it. Mood shows the attitude of the speaker about the verb, whether it is a declaration or an order. Verbs can be affected by person and number to show agreement with the subject.
======================================================
The Grammatical Subject Complement in English
Although nouns and adjectives most frequently function as the subject complement of sentences, five grammatical forms can perform the grammatical function of subject complement in the English language. Both native speakers and ESL students must learn and understand the five forms that can function as the subject complement in order to speak and write English fully and correctly. The five grammatical forms that can function as the subject complement are:
1. Noun phrases
2. Adjective phrases
3. Prepositional phrases
4. Verb phrases
5. Noun clauses
Subject complements are defined as words, phrases, and clauses that follow a copular or linking verb and refer back to modify or describe the subject. Subject complements are grammatical constituents embedded in the predicate of clauses.
Noun Phrases as Subject Complements
The first grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of subject complement is the noun phrase. Noun phrases are defined as phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun plus any modifiers or complements. For example, the following italicized noun phrases function as subject complements:
*My favorite subject is grammar.
* The professor is an exceptionally intelligent person.
* My sister became a mother last night.
Traditional grammars generally use the term predicate nominative to refer to noun phrases functioning as subject complements.
Adjective Phrases as Subject Complements
The second grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of subject complement is the adjective phrase. Adjective phrases are defined as phrases that consist of an adjective plus any modifiers or complements.
The first grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of subject complement is the noun phrase. Noun phrases are defined as phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun plus any modifiers or complements. For example, the following italicized noun phrases function as subject complements:
*My favorite subject is grammar.
* The professor is an exceptionally intelligent person.
* My sister became a mother last night.
Traditional grammars generally use the term predicate nominative to refer to noun phrases functioning as subject complements.
Adjective Phrases as Subject Complements
The second grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of subject complement is the adjective phrase. Adjective phrases are defined as phrases that consist of an adjective plus any modifiers or complements.
======================================================
Modifiers
Modifiers
are all of those adjective or adverb words, phrases, or clauses that change
(modify) the meaning of other words, phrases or clauses. Although they take
many forms, there are only two kinds of modifiers-adjective and adverb.
1. Adjective
Modifiers:
Adjective modifiers
always and only modify nouns or noun equivalents: noun words, pronouns, certain
verbals and verbal phrases, and noun clauses. They may be "pure"
adjectives (e.g. red, slow, large, good, etc.); they may be verbal adjectives
(certain infinitives and all participles); they may be adjective phrases
(certain prepositional phrases, some infinitive phrases, and all participial
phrases); or they may be adjective clauses.
2. Adverb
Modifiers:
Adverb
modifiers modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and adjective and adverb
phrases and clauses. They may be "pure" adverbs (e.g. slowly, down,
well, etc.); they may be verbal adverbs (some infinitives); they may be adverb
phrases (some prepositional phrases and some infinitive phrases), or they may
be adverb clauses.
Sumber :
Yebex. Desember 2009. “Subject, Verb, Complement & Modifier”. http://yebeblog.blogspot.co.id/2009/12/subject-verb-complement-modifier.html. Diakses
pada 23 april 2016