 Senate Structure and Punctuation This free English lesson is sponsored by the following English learning sites. Senate Structure and Punctuation Basic Senate Structure Let's start with the six basic Senate patterns in English. Subject Verb Subject Verb Object Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Subject Linking Verb Noun Subject Linking Verb Adjective Subject Linking Verb Adverb All sentences are built around a subject and verb. The subject and verb are the heart of the sentence. Sentences with action verbs Here's some sample sentences with action verbs. Subject Verb Jane sleeps Subject Verb Object John eats pizza Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object Jen gave me an apple. Sentences with linking verbs Linking verbs connect the subject with the rest of the sentence, but the subject does not perform an action. The verb is like an equal sign. Subject Linking Verb Noun Sam is a doctor. Subject Linking Verb Adjective Pam is busy. Subject Linking Verb Adverb Cam is here. Combining sentences. We will focus on simple sentence structures, but these combining principles apply to all. Notice the use of AND in these sentences. Subject Verb Jack is eating Subject and Subject Verb Jack and Jill are eating. Subject Verb and Verb Jack is eating and drinking. Other sentence structures. We can also combine other types of sentences in similar ways. Subject Verb Object and Object Jay eats bread and cheese. Subject Linking Verb Adjective and Adjective Ray is tall and handsome. Subject and Subject Linking Verb Noun May and Fay are doctors. Subject and Subject Linking Verb Adverb Kay and Shay are here. Conjunctions AND, BUT, OR, SO When you combine sentence elements with these words, consider the number of subjects and verbs. Generally, if there is only one subject or one verb, you do not need a comma. If there are two subjects and two main verbs, you will need a comma between the first verb and the second subject. Subject Verb, comma, and Subject Verb Jack eats and Jill drinks. Jack eats, but Jill drinks. More examples. The usage of commas. Jack drinks coffee and tea. No comma necessary. Jack and Jill drink tea. No comma. Jack and Jill drink coffee and tea. Two subjects, but one verb. No comma necessary. Jack drinks coffee, comma, and Jill drinks tea. There are two subjects and two main verbs. Jack drinks coffee, comma, but Jill drinks tea. Ready for some practice? Tell whether commas are needed in the following sentences. Feel free to pause the video if you need more time. Answers. They love pizza and spaghetti. No comma. Tammy likes pizza, but Timmy likes tacos. Grady and Katie are over there. He is a lawyer, comma, and his wife is a doctor. We like soccer, comma, but we don't like baseball. Mr. Collins is tough but friendly. Joe and his brother are businessmen. There's more to learn about sentence combining. This video is mostly about coordination. Coordinators are words like and, but, or, so, for, yet. Examples. Do you like coffee or tea? I like Chinese food. So I eat it a lot. He lives in the city, yet he never goes to the shows. In other videos, we will deal with other types of connecting words, such as although, because, however, therefore. Hope that was helpful. Please see our other videos and web pages for related information. Basic sentence structure. Conjunctions and linking words. Coordinators. Click on the links in the description below. Thanks for watching. For more information, check out these websites.