Parts of a Sentence: Examples and Explanations

If you’re learning English and want to learn the key parts of a sentence, you’re in the right place. 

When you understand how these sentence components fit together, it’s easier to read and write in English. You’ll also be able to communicate more clearly. After all, grammar and word order is not the same across languages. It’s what makes some languages so much harder to learn than others, based on your language background.

This guide contains explanations and examples to help you see how English sentences work. We’ll define the basic sentence elements, discuss simple sentences, and finally build up to more advanced sentence structure.

Learn English actively with Busuu

The English lessons you need

Jump into the right English lessons for you with a placement test and tailored courses like English for Exam Success and English Pronunciation.

Interactive exercises, powered by AI

Build confidence and strengthen your writing and speaking skills with unique AI exercises designed and tested by language learning experts.

Support and feedback from a community of learners

Make sure your English is on point with tips and tricks from fluent English speakers when you join Busuu’s supportive community of learners like you.

Breaking down the parts of a sentence: Examples and explanations

Let’s start with a quick review.

Basic sentence elements: The parts of speech

When we talk about the parts of a sentence, we’re really talking about the elements that make up a complete sentence. These sentence components are different from parts of speech like nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives. 

That said, knowing the parts of speech will help a lot when you learn about the parts of a sentence. There’s plenty of overlap – certain word classes are typically aligned with certain sentence parts, so if you’re a little shaky on your parts of speech, take a moment to review them now.

What exactly is the difference between parts of speech and parts of a sentence?

Parts of speech are the different types of words. “Bird” is a noun. “Happy” is an adjective. “Eat” is a verb. We use these different types of words like building blocks to form a sentence.

Parts of a sentence, on the other hand, refer to a word or phrase’s position in a sentence and its function in context. A noun might become a subject or an object. Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers.

As you can see, understanding one can help you tackle the other. 

Now that we know the difference between parts of speech and parts of a sentence, let’s take a closer look at the parts of a sentence.

Simple sentence structure: Parts of a sentence 

A sentence is a complete thought. To start, let’s master the simplest sentences and the pieces that go into them. These are called simple sentences, and they have a subject and a verb.

Subject

The subject of the sentence is the person, place or thing that is either taking action or being described. 

The subject can be a noun or pronoun. It can be a single word or a phrase. The subject comes at the beginning of the sentence.

For example:

A bird sings.

The cat is sleeping.

Budapest is rainy.

Jess wants ice cream.

The trees are budding.

The sun is warm.

In these sentences, the subject is a noun – bird, cat, Budapest, Jess, trees, sun.

The subject can also be a pronoun, as in these sentences:

He laughs.

We feel happy.

Verb

The verb is the action word that tells you what is happening in a sentence. If someone or something is taking action, the verb specifies that action. A verb can also describe a condition or state of being. The verb comes after the subject in a sentence.

When we talk about the simplest English sentences, we usually say that they have subject-verb or subject-verb-object sentence structure.

These sentences have a subject-verb structure:

He laughed.

A bird sings.

The cat is sleeping.

These have a subject-verb-object structure:

Jess eats ice cream.

I wear sweaters.

They have a nice house.

Object

As you can see from the examples above, not every sentence has an object. But many do! The object of the sentence is whoever or whatever receives the action of the sentence, and it typically follows the verb.

For example:

A bird sings a song.

I wear sweaters.

They have a nice house.

These all have direct objects. We’ll look at indirect objects shortly, but let’s take a pause and practice this for now.

Practice

See if you can identify the subject, verb, and – if applicable – direct object of these sentences:

1. You eat salad.

2. Jeff makes marshmallows.

3. Lithuanians like loud music.

4. Sheila has a kangaroo.

(The answers are after the “Pro Tip” below.)

Next, try doing it yourself! Write three simple sentences, using only the subject-verb or subject-verb-object structure like you see here.

Pro Tip: You might see people use the word “predicate” instead of “verb” and “object” when talking about basic English grammar. 

A predicate is the entire phrase, starting with the verb, that indicates what is being done or a state of being. In traditional grammar, it usually includes the rest of the sentence after the subject. 

So, for example, let’s look at the sentence “You go to the mall.” “Go” is the verb, but “go to the mall” is the predicate. Similarly, in “We feel happy,” “feel” is the verb but “feel happy” is the predicate. 

Answers to practice sentences:

1. Subject: You Verb: eat Object: salad

2. Subject: Jeff Verb: makes Object: marshmallows

3. Subject: Lithuanians Verb: like Object: loud music

4. Subject: Sheila Verb: has Object: a kangaroo

Why Busuu is the best place to learn English grammar

Award-winning language lessons, designed by experts

Whether you want to keep working on mastering English compound sentences or are ready to tackle other tricky English grammar, Busuu has the right lessons to get you where you want to go. Busuu’s bite-sized lessons are designed by language learning experts to make sure you learn as efficiently as possible and retain what you learn.

Comprehensive lessons, targeted practice

When you learn with Busuu, you can choose to take one of our Complete English courses (in UK or US English) or to focus on topics like English for Academic Study, Travel or Essential Business Skills. Then you’ll use smart tools to practice the topics you find most challenging and review what you’ve learned for maximum retention.

Designed to help you overcome common language learning hurdles

Many online language learners do great on short quizzes, but stumble when it comes to actually using their new language skills in real-life situations. That’s why Busuu’s courses include built-in opportunities to practice writing and speaking, both with thoughtfully crafted AI tools and with real English speakers from the Busuu Community.

Sentence components in more advanced sentences

Of course, the sentences we’ve looked at so far are very simple. Let’s learn the rest of the sentence parts. These parts will help you build more complicated and interesting sentences.

Indirect objects

Besides the direct objects we looked at earlier, English sentences often have indirect objects. Indirect objects are whoever or whatever receives the direct object.

In these sentences, the indirect object is bolded:

Jeff makes marshmallows for a restaurant.

I bought you a sweater.

A bird sings me a song.

An easy way to identify an indirect object is to ask what the verb is acting on – in the last sentence, does the bird sing “me” or does it sing “a song”? It sings a song. The song is for me. Cover up the indirect object and the sentence still makes sense (and the meaning doesn’t change dramatically!). The indirect object just adds more detail.

Modifiers

“Modifier” is the term we use for any word or phrase that modifies another word or phrase. They include adjectives and adverbs. They can also be adverbial or adjectival phrases, prepositional phrases and even dependent clauses.

Adjectives, as you might recall, modify nouns and pronouns – like “yellow hat,” “hot summer” or “damp room.” 

Adverbs modify verbs, like “ran quickly,” “sang sweetly” or “always called.” 

For example: 

A small bird sings me a sweet song.

I happily wear soft sweaters.

She threw a big, red ball.

Eloise quickly visited the store.

Adjectival phrases are longer phrases that function like an adjective, modifying a noun. Think “the girl with the hat,” “the black and white cat,” “the train that goes under the bridge.” 

Adverbial phrases are, similarly, longer phrases that function like an adverb – “he ran as quickly as he could,” “she almost always arrived on time,” “they looked around carefully.”

All of these are considered modifiers in a sentence, as are dependent clauses, like the bolded phrases in the following sentences:

Your dog found the bag with the treats, as I knew he would.

Once the sun goes down, we’ll walk down to the beach.

As you can see, there’s a wide range of modifiers available to you! When using modifiers, just make sure you keep an eye out for misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Adjuncts & complements 

Feeling like the structures of some sentences are still fuzzy? Complements and adjuncts can help you understand.

Complements are words and phrases that are necessary to the meaning of a sentence. There are certain verbs, like “to be,” “to have,” “to feel” and “to put,” that always or almost always require a word to follow them in order to make sense.

Looking back at some of those earlier examples:

Budapest is rainy.

Jess wants ice cream.

We feel happy.

Lithuanians like loud music.

Sheila has a kangaroo.

I put a statue of you in my backyard.

Without these words, you would not have a clear sentence expressing what was intended.

Adjuncts, on the other hand, are words and phrases that add meaning, context or style, but build on a sentence that is already complete and makes sense without them.

Jeff makes marshmallows at his house.

Your dog found the bag with the treats.

We waited for over an hour.

Finally, I found my umbrella under the couch.

Practice with more complicated sentences

Here are three sentences. Identify the subject and verb and any direct or indirect objects. 

1. Finally, I found my umbrella under the couch.

2. When Lisa was getting married, her best friend baked her a beautiful cake.

3. The owl feels happier after night falls.

Remember: 

• Who (or what or where) is doing the action? 

• What are they doing? 

• Who or what is receiving that action?

Answers to practice sentences mentioned above:

Number 1 Answers:

• Subject: I

• Verb: found

• Direct object: my umbrella

Number 2 Answers:

• Subjects: Lisa; her best friend

• Verbs: was getting; baked

• Direct object: a beautiful cake

• Indirect object: her

Number 3 Answers:

• Subjects: the owl; night

• Verbs: feels; falls

Mastering the four sentence structure types

There are, of course, more complicated sentences in English. There are four basic sentence structures, some of which you’ve seen in examples in this guide, and some of which are a bit more advanced.

They are

• Simple sentences

• Compound sentences

• Complex sentences

• Compound-complex sentences

To get you started, here’s an example of each sentence type:

Simple: I go to work.

Compound: I go to work, and you go to the library.

Complex: After I eat breakfast, I go to work.

Compound-complex: After I eat breakfast, I go to work, and you go to the library.

Use what you know about subjects, verbs, objects and modifiers to start to see how these sentences fit together. Once you feel ready, there are Busuu guides to help you tackle sentence structure!

Here’s why you should learn English with Busuu

You’re well on your way to becoming a compound sentence champion. The best way to keep practicing? With Busuu. Let’s review what makes Busuu the best app to learn English:

• Learn with our Complete English Course in US or UK English, or target your learning with dedicated courses like English for Travel, English Pronunciation or English for Exam Success.

• Build your confidence with AI-powered features and exercises that encourage you to practice speaking out loud and writing improvised text.

• Focus on the language skills you need with lessons designed by language-learning experts to be both efficient and effective.

• Study with targeted, smart review features that help you review the vocabulary and grammar you struggle with most.

Build your confidence with a supportive community of learners to give you feedback on your English grammar and help you grow.