Chapter 1: Basics of Sentences and Parts of Speech

What is a word?

A word is an element of a sentence that has a meaning. It has two parts. one is the root  and another is Prefixes/Suffixes

• Root is the (i.e the main part of the word). Example: Cat
• Prefix is the part of word that is added to the beginning of the root word. Ex: re-, dis-, over-, un-
• Suffix is the part of the word that is added to the end of root word. Ex: -s, -en, -ate

Prefix and Suffix are added to the root word to indicate things like- whether the noun is plural or singular, or the verb is in the past tense, etc.

Example of suffix: (i) root- cat ; Suffix- s in cats
Example of prefix: (i) root- perform;   Prefix- out in outperform

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a set of words that is complete in itself.

/* Sentence, words ka collection jo ki ek complete meaning de kisi sense me.*/

Parts of Sentence

A sentence may have the following parts in it.

(i) Subject, (ii) Predicate, (iii) Object, (iv) Indirect Object and (v) Complement

We will understand each part one by one.

(i) Subject– The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action of the sentence. The subject represents what or whom the sentence is about.

/* sentence ka wo hissa (person, place, or thing) jo koi kaam kar raha hai ya jiske bare me baat ki jar rahi hai sentence me.*/

Example of subject: The dog is clever.

Here in the sentence we are talking about the dog. Hence dog is the subject.

(ii) Predicate– it is the part of a sentence containing a verb (something which is done) and stating something about the subject. The predicate is the entire part of the sentence except the subject.

Example of predicate: The dog is clever.

Here in the sentence we are talking about the dog. Hence dog is the subject. Is clever tells something more about the dog, hence “is clever” is the predicate in this sentence.

(iii) Object- It is the part of the sentence on which the action is being done i.e it receives the action of the sentence.

/* Jispe kaam kiya jar aha hai.*/

How to identify the object?– The easiest way to identify the object is to ask the question who or what after the verb.

Example: Rahul eats fish.

Here Rahul is the subject who does something. He eats. But What does he eats? He eats fish. Hence fish is the object.

/* Jo kaam kar raha hai wo subject. Rahul is eating. Hence he is the subject.

Jispe kaam ho raha hai wo Object. Jisse khaya ja  raha hai wo Object. Hence fish is the object.*/

(iv) Indirect Object- A sentence can sometimes have two objects. One of these is the direct object and another is an indirect object. The indirect object indicates to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is being done.

/*Indirect object shows ki- Kiske liye kaam kiya jar aha hai. To identify it ask the question for whom/to whom*/

Example: The man builds a house for his family.

Here Subject: man (because he builds the house)- Jo kaam kar raha hai.

Direct Object: house (jispar kaam ho raha hai)- builds what?

Indirect Object: his family (kiske liye)- for whom?

(v) Complement- A subject complement either renames or describes the subject. It can be a noun, pronoun, or adjective. It is usually followed by – to be, is, are.

Example: My shirt is torn and dirty.

Here shirt is the subject. Torn and dirty describes the subject and is the complement. It is also the predicate in this case.

Example: Harish’s teacher called him a troublemaker.

Here troublemaker describes the subject Harish and hence troublemaker is the complement.

Parts of Speech

Parts of speech are the building blocks of a language. The part of speech indicates how the word in a any sentence, functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence.

When we build any sentence, we use different types of words and each word has its own function in that sentence.

There are eight parts of Speech. These are: (i) noun (ii) pronoun (iii) verb (iv) adjective (v) adverb (vi) preposition (vii) conjunction and (viii) interjection

(i) Noun– A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns can function as different part of sentence, within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, complement. Example: dog, cat, Sushant.

(ii) Pronoun– It is a word which is used in place of noun. Example He, She, It, They.

Example: Sushant was a good actor. He has done multiple hit movies.

Here Sushant is the noun (person) and he is pronoun which is being used in place of Sushant.

(iii) Verb– The verb in a sentence expresses action, state or being. Ex: work, sing, dance, shout.

/* Jo kaam kiya ja raha ho */

Example: He hit six consecutive sixes in his last game of cricket. (Kya action kiya?- hit six)

Will you help me with cooking?

(iv) Adjective– As the name suggests, it adds something extra to noun/pronoun. In other words, it describes the noun/ pronoun.

Example: The cute girl brought me a very long letter.

Here cute describes the noun girl (person) and long describes the noun letter (thing).

(v) Adverb– It adds to the meaning of verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often end in -ly. Mostly it answers the questions of when, where, how, why. Example: quickly, silently.

Example: My friend sings beautifully.

Here sings is a verb and beautifully is an adverb. How does my friend sing?- Sings beautifully.

(vi) Preposition– It links a noun to another word. It comes before a noun/pronoun and connects it to another part of the sentence. Ex: to, at, from.

Example: We don’t have a coffee maker at work.

The printer is on the table next to the computer.

(vii) Conjunction- It joins sentences, words, phrases, or clauses. Example: and, but, when.

Example: I saw her while I was driving my car.

(viii) Interjection- It is a word used to express emotion. Ex: Oh!, Wow!, Oops!

The parts of speech have been summarised in the table below:

These were some basic concepts that will help you in understanding a sentence and our further series in English Grammar.