Simple Sentences

Simple sentences are independent clauses.

They contain a subject and a predicate.

(Part 5)

Rule 6: Simple sentences can have a compound predicate.                    e.g: Marianne sang, danced, and played the violin with equal                  competence, passion, and enthusiasm. (compound                  predicate)              Her last semester in school, the brilliant student received top                marks on all her final exams, graduated with honors, and was                         interviewed for a junior faculty position at the university.             (compound predicate; verbs separated by modifiers)

Exercise E. Identify the subject and predicate in these simple sentences.

Circle the simple subject and underline the compound simple predicate .

1. The telephone on the principal’s desk rang and rang and then suddenly

    stopped ringing.

2. Who is coming to the party and bringing the ice cream?

3. Several of the trees at the arboretum had leafed out already and were

    looking very full and beautiful.

4. The man in the brown raincoat slipped quietly around the corner and hid in

    a dark doorway.

5. Wash and dry your hair first thing in the morning.

6. Will you sing me a song, show me a few dance steps, and then tell me a

    story?

7. The girls hurried home with their packages under their arms, rushed up

    the steps into the family room, and dropped all the boxes on the floor in

   front of their mother.

8. He didn’t eat anything for supper or drink anything at all that evening.

9. Will the three of you please come over here, sit down on this bench, and

fill out these forms?

10. Last week she walked in the park for several hours in the morning, had a

      healthy and delicious lunch with her friend in the middle of the afternoon,

      and then slept like a log all night long.

Answer Key

Exercise E

(subject / verb)

1. telephone / rang, rang, and stopped

2. who / is coming and bringing

3. several / had leafed and were looking

4. man / slipped and hid

5. you (understood) / wash and dry

6. you / will sing, show, and tell

7. girls / hurried, rushed, and dropped

8. he / did eat or drink

9. three / will come, sit, and fill

10. she / walked, had, and slept