In the English language: the sentence. Sentences must have two

key parts—a subject and a predicate—and express a complete

thought. The subject (grass) names what the sentence is talking

about. The predicate is a verb or verb phrase (grows) that tells us

something about the subject. The subject of a sentence may be

singular, meaning that there is only one subject. Subjects may

also be compound, meaning they have more than one subject:

The grass and the flowers grow.

The predicate may also be singular or compound. For example,

here the predicate is singular: I ate a bowl of spaghetti. In the

following example, the predicate is a compound: I ate a bowl of

spaghetti and drank two glasses of milk.

WHAT IS A CLAUSE?

Like sentences, clauses are groups of words that have a subject

and a predicate. Clauses may be independent or dependent. An

independent clause stands alone and expresses a complete idea

as in this example: Ximena walked on the grass. When a sentence

has more than one independent clause, it is called a compound

sentence. In compound sentences, independent clauses are joined

by a connecting word or conjunction (and, but, or, for, nor, so, or

yet). In the following example, the independent clauses are underlined:

Ximena walked on the grass, but she didn’t get her new shoes

wet.

A dependent clause does not express a complete thought:

though it was wet. When a dependent clause stands alone, it is called

a sentence fragment.To make a complete thought, a dependent

54 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS

clause needs an independent clause: Though it was wet, Ximena

walked on the grass. Sentences that contain an independent clause

and a dependent clause are called complex sentences.

Quick tip: To identify a sentence fragment or dependent

clause on the TOEFL exam, look for the following joining words,

called subordinating conjunctions. When a clause has a subordinating

conjunction, it needs an independent clause to complete

an idea.

after because once though when

although before since unless where

as, as if if that until while

Practice

Underline the independent clauses in the following sentences.

Find the answers on page 82.

1. I went for a walk downtown and mailed your letter.

2. If it is hot tomorrow, let’s go to the beach.

3. The 20-foot-tall, long-necked giraffe is the tallest living

animal on Earth.

4. The log-cabin quilt was probably designed as a way to give

a second life to unwieldy but warm fabrics salvaged from

suits and coats.

PARTS OF SPEECH

A word can be classified as a different part of speech depending

on how it works in a sentence. For example, the word quiet can

be a noun, verb, or adjective; add –ly and it can function as an

adverb. This table lists the parts of speech:

STRUCTURE 55

Part of

Speech Function Examples

noun names a person, Emma, cat, girl, Elm

place, thing, or Street, vase, pen, New

concept York, weather

pronoun takes the place of a I, you,he, she, us, they, this,

noun so that the that, themselves, somenoun

does not have body, who, which

to be repeated

verb describes an action, swim, becomes, is,

occurrence, or state seemed, hoping

of being

helping combines with other forms of be, do and have;

verb verbs (main verbs) to can, could, may, might,

create verb phrases must, shall, should, will,

that help indicate would

tenses

adjective describes nouns and green, content, awake,

pronouns; can also small, heavy, happy; that

identify or quantify (e.g., that car); several

(e.g., several dogs)

adverb describes verbs, adjec- quickly, slowly, suddenly,

tives, other adverbs, always, very, yesterday

or entire clauses

prep- expresses the relation- in, on, around, above,

osition ship in time or space between, underneath,

between words in a beside, with, upon

sentence

56 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

She don’t or she doesn’t? You might easily pick out the second

version as the correct match between subject and verb. However,

some instances of subject-verb agreement are trickier—even for

native speakers of English.

Subject-verb agreement is when the subject of the sentence

correctly matches the verb in number. If the subject is singular,

the verb is singular. If the subject is plural, the verb is plural.

Singular: Betto feeds the birds every day.

Plural: Betto and Josephine feed the birds every day.

Subject-verb agreement can be confusing, however. Look

out for problem verb forms and the other common pitfalls listed

below.

■ The subject I—Even though I is a single person, it

usually takes the plural form of the verb: I look. I do.

■ The verb to be—The irregular verb to be (be, am, is, are,

was, were) is a problem verb because of the unusual way

it is formed. Remember never to use the be form after a

subject.

I be going is incorrect.

I am going is correct.

■ Doesn’t/don’t, Wasn’t/weren’t—These verb

constructions can confuse writers. Doesn’t (does not) and

STRUCTURE 57

wasn’t (was not) are singular. Don’t (do not) and weren’t

(were not) are plural. (I takes the plural form, don’t)

I don’t want to leave. I wasn’t in class yesterday.

She doesn’t want to leave. We weren’t in class yesterday.

■ Words or phrases that follow a subject—A common

error in making subject-verb agreement is confusing a

phrase (words or phrase that follow a subject) with the

subject of the sentence. When you read, be careful to

locate the true subject of the sentence. Subject and verbs

are underlined in the following examples.

One of the boys is missing.

The paintings by Pedro Reiss are bold and commanding.

The president, along with three members of his Cabinet,

returned to Washington today.

■ Singular nouns that end in s—Some words like

measles, mumps, news, checkers or marbles (games), physics,

economics, sports, and politics are singular despite their

plural form, because we think of them as a single thing.

Some are singular or plural depending on how they are

used in a sentence.

The news begins at 6 p.m.

Aerobics is a great way to get in shape and reduce stress.

■ Pronoun subjects—Pronouns are misused often in

speech and writing. Some pronouns are always singular,

whereas others are always plural. A few can be either

singular or plural. Each, either, neither, anybody, anyone,