do you like to build puzzles if you do
do you have a system first I flip over
all the pieces so I can see what I'm
working with my grandmother taught me to
build the edges first then I work on one
section at a time what can I say I like
organization I like pattern let's take
some time to talk about the parts of a
sentence and how they fit together
there's a lot of pleasure when you
finally put a puzzle together and see a
pretty picture maybe you'll feel the
same about putting together clear
sentences in English learning about
sentence structure in English with
Jennifer I know not everyone loves
grammar or thinks grammar is worth
studying
but don't let words like claws and
direct objects scare you
grammar is an amazing tool and I'd like
to help you learn to use it putting a
sentence together is like building a
puzzle put the pieces in the right place
and you'll create something solid the
basic element of a sentence is a Claus a
Claus always has a subject and a verb
that's what makes a complete sentence
in everyday communication we don't
always use complete sentences that's
especially true about texting but to
express a complete idea we must build a
sentence do you know what kind of
sentences you can build often we make a
statement I love puzzles
that's a declarative sentence other
times we ask a question do you like to
build puzzles
that's an interrogative sentence
sometimes we make a request or give a
command help
that's an imperative sentence all
sentences have a subject and a verb
even an imperative sentence the subject
you is implied it's understood if you
want to review the kinds of sentences we
can make watch my video on sentence
types according to purpose we can also
classify sentences by their structure
what kind of clauses do they have
sentences can be short he's smiling
she's smart those are simple sentences
with one main Clause the clause is an
independent clause because it can stand
alone as a complete sentence not all
simple sentences are short but if we
have one subject and a verb then it's a
simple sentence compared she's smiling
subject verb the beautiful young lady
over there is smiling sweetly at us
subject verb
other sentences may have two or more
clauses joined together for example
she's smart but she's very modest he is
smiling because he's happy these are
examples of compound and complex
sentences to learn more watch my video
on sentence types according to structure
in this lesson we'll mostly focus on
simple sentences with a single clause
this will help you understand the parts
of a clause I told you that a clause has
a subject and a verb remember that the
subject can be a noun or anything that
behaves like a noun vacations can be
expensive my summer vacation was so much
fun it was so much fun playing beach
volleyball is a summertime activity we
can have compound subjects for example
hiking and swimming or too inexpensive
activities we can even use a clause as
our subject but that's for another
lesson for example you can watch my
video on embedded questions to
understand a sentence like this what I
love most is the sound of the ocean this
is no longer a simple sentence we have
more than one clause one clause is the
subject of another clauses that can
stand alone and make sense are called
independent clauses for example I love
the sound of the ocean
clauses that must be joined with another
to make sense are dependent clauses
they're dependent on another clause an
example what I love most is the sound of
the ocean what I love most cannot stand
alone it's dependent on the other Clause
what I love most is the sound of the
ocean
remember there are two basic types of
clauses independent and dependent both
have a subject and a verb but only the
independent clause can stand alone and
make sense this is the kind of clause
we'll focus on if you'd like to practice
identifying dependent clauses you can
visit my website after the subject comes
the predicate predicate is just a fancy
name for everything that follows the
subject the predicate tells us what the
subject does or what the subject is the
predicate contains the verb verbs as you
know express an action or a state try
this see if you can identify the subject
and the predicate with the verb in each
sentence the whole family traveled to a
tropical island subject predicate
there's the verb Anna Franco and many
members of their extended family met at
the resort subject predicate where's the
verb there
they had an amazing time relaxing on the
beach and enjoying watersports
subject-predicate
where's the main verb right there
there's probably no end to how many
original sentences we can make in
English however they all follow patterns
and the number of patterns is limited
there are five basic sentence patterns I
want to teach you I'll show you examples
of each one here they are some of you
may already be familiar with these
patterns but others may never have seen
these sentences before at least not
shown like this
it's okay I'll do my best to make it
easy to understand subjects verbs
objects complements and something called
adverbials it all makes sense by the end
remember knowledge is power if you want
to empower yourself by building language
skills go on to the next video as always
thanks for watching and happy studies
remember to follow me on social media
all the links are on my youtube channel