Tugas 4 - Bahasa Inggris Bisnis 2

Steps for Toefl Grammar and Structure

The Basic Unit of Writing: Sentences and Sentence Structure

When we write, we express our ideas in sentences. But what is a sentence, anyway?

SUBJECTS , PREDICATES , AND OBJECTS

A sentence is the basic unit of thought in the English language. It is composed of two essential parts—a sub- ject and a predicate—and it must express a complete thought. The subject of a sentence tells us who or what the sentence is about. The predicate tells us something about the subject. Thus, in the following sentence:

The snow is falling.

The word snow is the subject. It tells us what the sentence is about—who or what performed the action of the sentence. The verb phrase is falling is the predicate. It tells us the action performed by (or information about) the subject.

The subject of a sentence can be singular or compound (plural):

I ate a large pizza.                   Ted and I ate a large pizza.

singular subject                      compound subject (two subjects performing the action) The predicate can also be singular or compound:

I ate a large pizza.                   I ate a large pizza and drank a liter of soda.

                  singular predicate                   compound predicate (two actions performed by the subject)

In many sentences, someone or something “receives” the action expressed in the predicate. This person or thing is called the direct object. In the sentences below, the subject and predicate are separated by a slash (/) and the direct object is underlined:

I / ate a large pizza.                 (The pizza receives the action of being eaten.)

Jack / loves Jill.                            (Jill receives the action of being loved.)

Sentences can also have an indirect object: a person or thing who “receives” the direct object. In the sen- tences below, the direct object is underlined and the indirect object is in bold:

I / gave Xiomara a gift.            (Xiomara receives the gift; the gift receives the action of being given.)

The teacher / threw the            (The children receive the party; the party receives the action of

children a surprise party.        being thrown.)

Verbs

Verbs are the agents of action in a sentence. They are the “heart” of a sentence because they express the action or state of being of the subject:

It rains a lot in Seattle. (action)

I feel really good about this deal. (state of being)

The poor cat is starving. (state of being)

Chester smiled broadly. (action) 

Verbs have five basic forms :

1. Infinitive base: the base form of the  verb  

plus the word to. 

to go       to be       to desire       to arrange

To indicate tenses of regular verbs (when the action of the verb did occur, is occurring, or will occur), we use the base form of the verb and add the appropriate tense endings.

2. Present tense: the verb form that expresses what is happening now.

I am glad you are here. Chester smiles a lot.

The present tense of regular verbs is formed as follows:

SINGULAR                            PLURAL

first person (I/we)          base form (dream)              base form (dream) second person (you)     base form (dream)                base form (dream) third person (he/she/it, they) base form + -s/-es (dreams)base form (dream)

3. Present participle: the verb form that describes what is happening now. It ends in -ing and is accom- panied by a helping verb such as is.

Chester is smiling again.

They are watching the stock market very carefully.

NOTE: Words that end in -ing don’t always function as verbs. Sometimes they act as nouns and are called gerunds. They can also function as adjectives (called participial phrases).

Present participle (verb):            He is eating the plastic fruit!

Gerund (noun):                          That plastic fruit is not for eating!

Participial phrase (adjective):    The sleeping baby awoke when the phone rang.

(You will learn more about gerunds later in this chapter.)

4. Past tense: the verb form that expresses what happened in the past.

It rained four inches yesterday. The cat felt better after it ate.

5. Past participle: the verb form that describes an action that happened in the past and is used with a helping verb, such as has, have, or had.

It had rained for days.

Chester has not smiled for days.

Then please click the link below to get a more complete learning ...

Sumber : http://elibrary.bsu.az/kitablar/1095.pdf