Sentence Constituents, their Functions and Relations

The two most important constituents (immediate constituents) within a sentence are the NP (Subject) and the VP (Predicate). The NP is usually the simplest of the two immediate constituents, either in its basic form as a single noun or a noun + determiner, or in its extended form a noun + a modifier (see examples above). The NP (Subject) will usually come first in English with exception to the command or imperative sentence.

Sit down.

The NP will always be explicitly present in all sentences. This can be confusing for ELLs coming from a Latin language background, whose tendency in their L1 is to eliminated the NP (Subject).

English:   It is raining.      It is 5:00 o’clock.      They told me about the accident.
Spanish:  Esta lloviendo.   Son las 5:00 pm.      Me contaron sobre el accidente.

The NP is also simple because it expresses only two grammatical categories that agree with the predicate; they are number (singular/plural) and person (1st , 2nd, and 3rd). The rest of the grammatical categories present in the sentence (tense, correlation, aspect, mood and voice) are expressed through the VP (Predicate).

The VP (Predicate) is the most complex constituent of a sentence. It expresses all seven grammatical categories present in every sentence:

• number (singular or plural)
  
• person (subject agreement)
  
• tense (present, past, future)
  
• correlation (anterior, simultaneous, and posterior)
  
• aspect (progressive, non-progressive)
  
• mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative)
  
• voice (passive or active)
  

Let’s see these categories expressed in the following sentence.

Both family members had been trying to share the profits of the sale.

• person - 3rd (they)
• number – plural (both)
• tense – past (had)
• correlation – anterior or perfect (past perfect - had been)
• aspect – progressive (trying)
• mood – indicative (finite or conjugated verb form)
• voice – active (subject is doer of action)