Answer:
Clearly written, complete sentences require key information: a subject, a verb and a complete idea. A sentence needs to make sense on its own. Sometimes, complete sentences are also called independent clauses. A clause is a group of words that may make up a sentence. An independent clause is a group of words that may stand alone as a complete, grammatically correct thought. The following sentences show independent clauses.
Independent Clause: We went to the store. Independent clause: We bought the ingredients on our list, and then (independent clause): we went home.
All complete sentences have at least one independent clause. You can identify an independent clause by reading it on its own and looking for the subject and the verb.
Subjects
When you read a sentence, you may first look for the subject or what the sentence is about. The subject usually appears at the beginning of a sentence as a noun or a pronoun. A noun is a word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. Common pronouns are I, he, she, it, you, they, and we. In the following sentences, the subject is underlined once.
Malik (underlined) is the project manager for this project. He (underlined) will give us our assignments.
In these sentences, the subject is a person: Malik. The pronoun He replaces and refers back to Malik.
The computer lab (underlined) is where we will work. It (underlined) will be open twenty-four hours a day.
In the first sentence, the subject is a place: computer lab. In the second sentence, the pronoun It substitutes for computer lab as the subject.
The project (underlined) will run for three weeks. It (underlined) will have a quick turnaround.
In the first sentence, the subject is a thing: project. In the second sentence, the pronoun It stands in for the project.
Tip
In this chapter, please refer to the following grammar key:
Subjects (underlined) are underlined once. Verbs (underlined) are underlined twice. LV means linking verb, HV means helping verb, ad V means action verb.
Compound Subjects
A sentence may have more than one person, place, or thing as the subject. These subjects are called compound subjects. Compound subjects are useful when you want to discuss several subjects at once.
Desmond (underlined) and Maria (underlined) have been working on that design for almost a year. Books, magazines (underlined) and online articles (underlined) are all good resources.
Prepositional Phrases
You will often read a sentence