The Definition and sample of Subject, Verb, Complement, and Modifier

Sentences (all clauses, for that matter) are made up of at least two of these four basic parts: subjects, verbs, complements, and modifiers. The sentence (and the independent and dependent clause as well) must have an explicit or implicit subject and verb. In most standard written English sentences, the subject and verb are explicitly stated, and you are certainly encouraged to favor that practice in your writing for academic or career situations.

A normal sentence consists of at least one subject and one predicate. The predicate is the part of the sentence that has the main verb, and tells what the subject did, has done, is doing, or describes the subject. Predicate may also contain a complement and a modifier. Modifier itself may contain a direct object in form of noun phrase, noun clause, or prepositional phrase.

In conversational English, however, you will frequently encounter the verbless sentence, that is a complete thought without an explicitly stated verb: [Bring me] "Three cokes, please." [I was] "Glad to help!" "What a test!" [that was.] In imperative sentences, on the other hand, it is the subject that is implied rather than the verb. The subject is usually the unstated second person personal pronoun you. Many of the directions in this book, for example, use an implicit subject: [You] "Work exercises I through 10; then [you] check your answers on page 57."

The typical sentence that you will write for college or career writing situations will have explicitly stated subjects and verbs and will most often also have complements and modifiers. We will be examining the distinguishing characteristics of each of the parts as well as their relationship to each other in this chapter. However, since all subjects and most complements are nouns or noun equivalents, a few words about case forms are appropriate at this point.

A Normal Sentence
A Simple Sentence
Subject	Verb	Complement
Subject	Verb	Object	Modifier
		Noun, Noun Phrase, Noun Clause, Adjective or Prepositional Phrase	Modifier of time or modifier of place

A. Subject

The subject is the cause, agent, person or thing doing the action. It usually takes form as a noun phrase with a head noun, a determiner and possibly some modifiers. It may also take form as a phrase or a clause. The characteristics of a subject in a sentence :

1.  A subject can be a word or a phrase

2.  A subject is a noun (a person or a thing) or its pronoun

3.  A subject can be singular (a person or a thing)

4.  A subject can be plural (persons or things)

5.  Normally a subject preceedes a verb

Plural and Singular Subject

It is a must to identify whether a subject of a sentence plural or singular. In an English sentence, a sigular subject uses a singular verb and a plural subject uses a plural verb, which is called subject and verb agreement.

Example :

The rain was very heavy last night. -> singular subject

(Hujan sangat lebat tadi malam. -> Hujan sebagai subjek tunggal)

Students are not going to the dance party tomorrow. -> plural subject

(Para siswa tidak akan pergi ke pesta dansa itu besok. -> Para siswa sebagai subjek jamak)

  

B. Verb

In a simple sentence, a verb usually comes after the subject. It can be a word or a phrase which contains a simple form of verb, an adverb, a modal or an auxiliary. The form of a verb must agree with the form of the subject. A singular subject uses a singular verb and a plural subject uses a plural verb. The agreement applies particularly for Simple Present Tense and the sentences which use be (am, are, is) or (have, has) as a main or as a helping verb.

Example :

Nadia is a very smart girl. (Nadia adalah seorang gadis yang cerdas)

They will be here this evening. (Mereka akan berada di sini nanti sore)

He has been a teacher since last year. (Dia sudah menjadi guru sejak tahun lalu)

Table – Singular and Plural Verbs

  

Characteristic	Treatment	Plural	Singular	Indonesia
The last letter is “h” or vowel except “e” huruf terakhir “h” atau huruf hidup kecuali “e” (kalau “e” hanya tambah “s”)	Add “es” Tambahkan “es”	do go forego catch touch punch slash screech stretch pitch	does goes foregoes catches touches punches slashes screeches stretches pitches	melakukan pergi mendahului pergi menangkap menyentuh meninju meringis melengking(suara) membentangkan menembak/melempar sasaran
The last letter is “e” Huruf terakhir “e”	Add “s” Tambahkan “s”	drive hate make nurse raise rise take	drives hates makes nurses raises rises takes	mengendarai benci/enggan membuat merawat/memelihara membesarkan bangkit/terbit mengambil
The last letter is “y” preceeded by a consonant Huruf terakhir “y” didahului huruf mati	Change “y” to “ies” Ganti “y” menjadi“ies”	try cry fry dry carry accompany bury comply deny aplly	tries cries fries dries carries accompanies buries complies denies applies	mencoba menangis menggoreng mengeringkan membawa menemani mengubur mematuhi(aturan) menyangkal menerapkan
The last letter “y” preceeded by vowel Huruf terakhir”y” didahului huruf hidup	Add “s” Tambahkan “s”	stay lay pay pray delay convey convoy	stays lays pays prays delays conveys convoys	tinggal meletakkan membayar berdoa menunda menyerahkan mengiringi/beriringan
The last letter is a consonant Huruf terakhir huruf mati	Add “s” Tambahkan “s”	pack read put screw tear break jump	packs reads puts screws tears breaks jumps	kemas baca meletakkan mengobeng merobek memecah melompat

C. Complement

A complement is one or more elements required by the subject or verb to complete the meaning of the sentence. It may be a direct object (He gave a gift.), an indirect object (He gave me a gift.), a predicative complement (He is good.) or some other element.

D. Modifier

Modifiers are words or phrases that give additional detail about the subject discussed in a sentence. Since these words enhance the reception of a sentence, they tend to be describing words such as adjectives and adverbs. In addition, phrases that modify tend to describe adjectives and adverbs, such as adjective clauses and adverbial phrases.

Example to all :

Subject	Verb	Complement	Modifier
We	have	a meeting	this afternoon
Kami ada rapat siang ini
She	has	a cat	at home
Dia punya seekor kucing di rumah
Nobody	want	you to leave	today
Tidak seorang pun meninginkan kamu pergi hari ini
The lawyer	asked him	to sign a statement	this morning
Pengacara itu meminta dia menandatangani satu pernyataan tadi pagi
He	likes	to drive	in a desert
Dia senang mengemudi di gurun

Exercise
Identify the subject, verb, complement, and modifier in each of the following sentence.

1.  You shall be at home before dinner

2.  He goes to campus by motorcycle

3.  The car has two seat belts on the front seats

4.  Talking to a stranger may not comfortable

5.  Susi’s hobby is swimming in a beach

Answer

1.  You / shall be / at home / before dinner.

(subject) / (verb) / (modifier of place) / (modifier of time)

2.  He / goes / to campus by motorcycle.

(subject) / (verb) / (complement)

3.  The car / has / two seat belts / on the front seats.

(subject) / (verb) / (complement) / (modifier)

4.  Talking to a stranger / may / not comfortable.

subject (gerund) / (verb) / (complement)

5.  Susi’s hobby / is / swimming / in a beach.

(subject) / (verb) / (complement) / (modifier of place)

Source :

Sihombing, Binsar. English Grammar Comprehension. Jakarta : Grasindo (link)
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/sent-subjpred.html
http://www.grammarly.com/handbook/sentences/modifiers/2/what-are-modifiers/