Sentence components

Sentence components (also known as parts of a sentence) are the building blocks that work together to form a complete, grammatically correct sentence. Understanding these is essential in grammar, writing, and natural language processing (NLP).

🧱 Main Components of a Sentence

1. Subject

The person, thing, or idea that the sentence is about; it performs the action.

• The dog barked loudly.

2. Predicate

Tells what the subject does or is; contains the verb and any accompanying words.

• The dog barked loudly.

🔹 Core Elements of the Predicate

3. Verb (Predicate Verb)

The action or state of being.

• She runs every morning.
• They are happy.

4. Object

Receives the action of the verb.

• Direct Object: Receives action directly.
  • He reads books.
• Indirect Object: Benefits from the action.
  • She gave him a gift.
    (“him” is the indirect object, “a gift” is the direct object)

🧩 Additional Components

5. Complement

Completes the meaning of the subject or verb.

• Subject Complement: Renames or describes the subject (often after linking verbs like be, seem, become).
  • He is a teacher.
• Object Complement: Renames or describes the object.
  • They elected her president.

6. Modifier

Adds information (adjectives, adverbs, phrases, clauses).

• The tall man walked quickly.
• The book on the table is mine. (prepositional phrase modifier)

🧠 Sentence Structure Example

The little boy (subject) kicked (verb) the ball (direct object) over the fence (modifier).

Summary Table:

Would you like a diagram (like a sentence tree) to visually break down sentence components?