Basics of Sentences making -1:
We express our thoughts, desires, necessities, requirements, feelings to others through, gestures (smile), sounds (Oh), words (Yes/No), sentences (Thank you very much), Questions (What are you doing?) etc.
A sentence is a group of words made by a speaker to say something to others.
When we speak a sentence, we should have a subject to speak about and we should also tell something about the subject. In other words, we do two things when we make a sentence.
1.We say the name of a person or place or thing. The name of the person place or thing is called the subject.
Jack is an expert swimmer.
The weather is fine.
The Siberia is the Coldest place on the Earth.
2. We say/speak something about the person or thing. The part of the sentence that gives some information about the person, place or thing is called predicate.
The Thing refers to anything
Jack is an expert swimmer.
The weather is fine.
The Siberia is the coldest place on the earth.
Generally, the subject comes at the beginning of the sentence (before predicate), but sometimes it may come after predicate.
Here comes Shane.
The Subject can be a Noun, Noun Phrase, Pronoun, Abstract noun, common noun, Adjective, Actions, Interrogative pronoun etc.
Noun ( cat, man, chair etc.)
e.g. A cat is a small animal.
A cat is sitting on the fence.
Noun phrases Is a group of words ( A cat on the wall, A man on the street, The chair at the end of the row etc.) e.g. A cat on the wall is ready to jump
NOTE: A noun phrase might contain several interconnected words (e.g. a cat on the wall). A noun phrase should be considered a single word unit when making sentences. In the above examples (Noun and Noun Phrase) the subject in both the sentences takes the verb is.
Pronoun (Personal): I, we, you, they, he, she and it
e.g. I am a student.
We are Indians.
Proper noun ( New York, Indian ocean, Alex, President Obama etc.)
e.g. New York is a Big city.
Abstract noun ( Intelligence, Virtue etc.)
e.g. Intelligence is the human trait.
Common noun ( Sea, lake, peak, animal, uncle, etc.)
e.g. Animals are not human.
Adjective (The rich, the poor, Cold etc.)
e.g. Obesity is a disease. (Rich = rich people).
Actions (Swimming, watching, wrestling etc.)
e.g. Swimming is a good exercise.
Interrogative pronoun e.g. What, Which, who whom whose.
e.g. What is your name?
Where do you live?
There are some sentences that don’t require subject at all. Look at the following sentences:
1. When someone does a favour to you, say
Thank you very much.
Thanks
That’s very kind of you.
Thanks a lot.
2. When you require someone’s help, ask
Could you please hold this for some time?
Would you please mind moving a little bit?
Please help me, lift this bag.
3. When you want to interrupt someone’s talk/ privacy say
Excuse me Or May I?
4. When you didn’t hear something, say
Pardon me/excuse me / could you please repeat that/sorry.
5. When you cause harm to others unintentionally.
I am sorry, I am extremely sorry, sorry for, Sorry I didn’t.
6. Appreciating someone. That’s it, fantastic, marvellous, well-done etc.
7. When you are introduced to someone for the first time, say
Hello, glad/pleased/happy, to meet you.
8. When some asked for information and you don’t know that, say
Sorry, Sorry I don’t know, Sorry I am not aware of this/that.
9. Wishing/Greeting people or Taking leave
12.01 a.m. Up to 11.59.a.m. Good morning
Exactly at 12.00 noon: Good noon
12.00 noon to 4.00 p.m.: Good afternoon
4.00 till 12.00 midnight: Good evening
After 12.00 midnight: Good morning
Goodbye./Goodnight./See you/see you soon.
10. Parting with someone.
Day time: Say good day, see you/see you soon, bye etc.
Evening: Say goodnight/ bye/see you (up to 11.59 p.m.)
Good day/night is same as saying bye.
11. Issuing commands/orders (Imperative sentences).
e.g. Don’t move.
Sit down etc.
In imperative sentences, the subject is left out.
Imperative sentences are command/order type sentences e.g. don’t shout
Don’t shout (= you don’t shout) the subject you is left out.
Sometimes tag question is added at the end, ‘don’t shout, will you?’
12. Good wishes on someone’s
Birthday – Happy grand day, congratulation
New year – Wish you a very happy/prosperous new year
Marriage – Wish you a very happy married life/congratulation
Achievement – Well done/excellent/marvellous + congratulation + firm handshake.
There are some sentences that require dummy subjects in the sentence structure – We shall see this in future posts.
It and there are the two dummy subjects used in English
e.g. It is impossible to bend a tree.
There is no alternative to hard work.