How to Do Sentence Analysis: Subject, Predicate and 5 Solved Sentences

Sentence analysis means identifying the function of each group of words in a sentence: subject, verb, objects and adverbials. A step-by-step guide plus five solved sentences from easy to hard.

Recommended for: Grade 6 · Grade 7 · Grade 8

Sentence analysis (also called clause analysis) means working out the function each group of words has inside a sentence: who does the action (subject), what is said about them (the verb or predicate) and what extra information is added (objects and adverbials). Unlike parsing parts of speech, here you work in groups, not word by word.

Always start from the verb

The verb is the pivot of the sentence: once you have it, everything else falls into place. Ask whether it carries its own meaning (an action verb: runs, eats, has phoned) or whether it is a linking verb such as be, seem, become, which needs a word after it to complete the sense.

Only then look for the subject, by asking who? or what? before the verb. In commands the subject is an understood you: in “Close the door” nobody is named, but the subject is still there.

Objects and adverbials answer questions

Each element is recognised by the question it answers. The direct object answers whom? or what? right after the verb, with no preposition, and only appears with transitive verbs. The indirect object answers to whom? and names the receiver. The subject complement follows a linking verb and describes the subject.

Then come the adverbials, which add the circumstances: place (where?), time (when?), manner (how?), reason (why?). Do not judge by the preposition alone; the same preposition can introduce different adverbials, so the question is what counts.

A four-step method

Read the whole sentence, find the verb, find the subject, then take what is left one group at a time. Watch out for the passive voice, where the subject receives the action and the doer, if mentioned, appears at the end as the agent introduced by by.

The five sentences below get harder one step at a time, from a bare subject + verb sentence to a passive one with four extra elements. Try each on your own before checking the answer.

Solved exercises

1. Analyse the sentence: The dog barks. base

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Find the verb first: barks. It carries its own meaning, so it is the predicate (an action verb).
Ask the verb: who barks? Answer: the dog. That is the subject.
Nothing else is left, so this is a minimal sentence: subject + verb.

Answer: The dog = subject; barks = verb (predicate).

2. Analyse the sentence: Marco reads a book. base

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Verb: reads, an action verb, so it is the predicate.
Who reads? Marco: subject.
Marco reads what? a book. The question what? straight after the verb, with no preposition, identifies the direct object.

Answer: Marco = subject; reads = verb; a book = direct object.

3. Analyse the sentence: The teacher is strict. intermedio

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The verb is is, a form of be. On its own it says nothing: here it is a linking verb.
A linking verb needs a word that describes or renames the subject: strict. That word is the subject complement.
Who is strict? The teacher: subject.

Answer: The teacher = subject; is = linking verb; strict = subject complement.

4. Analyse the sentence: Tomorrow Luca will give his sister a notebook. intermedio

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Verb: will give (predicate).
Who will give? Luca: subject.
Will give what? a notebook: direct object, the thing that is given.
Will give it to whom? his sister: indirect object, the person who receives it.
When? Tomorrow: adverbial of time.

Answer: Tomorrow = adverbial of time; Luca = subject; will give = verb; his sister = indirect object; a notebook = direct object.

5. Analyse the sentence: In the garden, the neighbour's flowers were watered carefully by the children. avanzato

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Verb: were watered, a passive verb form.
What was watered? the flowers: subject. In the passive the subject receives the action instead of performing it.
Whose flowers? the neighbour's: a possessive modifier attached to the subject.
Who did the watering? by the children: the agent, introduced by by.
How? carefully: adverbial of manner.
Where? In the garden: adverbial of place.

Answer: In the garden = adverbial of place; the neighbour's = possessive modifier; flowers = subject; were watered = verb (passive); carefully = adverbial of manner; by the children = agent.

FAQ

What is the difference between parts of speech and sentence analysis?

Naming parts of speech labels each single word (noun, verb, adjective). Sentence analysis works on whole groups of words and states what job they do in the sentence: subject, verb, object, adverbial.

How do I find the subject?

Start from the verb and ask who? or what? in front of it. If the sentence is an instruction such as Close the door, the subject is the understood you, even though it is not written.

How do I tell a direct object from a subject complement?

A direct object is a different thing that receives the action (She painted the wall). A subject complement follows a linking verb such as be, seem or become and describes or renames the subject itself (She seems tired).