Sentence
A sentence is composed of several words or groups of words. It is larger than a phrase, but smaller than a paragraph. However, if we simply say that sentences contain words, we are missing an important fact, namely, that the sentence has subparts working together within the sentence. Most sentences contain at least a subject and a verb, for example, Julie vient, but may also contain other groups of words, for example Viens-tu à la danse ce soir?
Grammatical functions
Nouns can have different functions, depending on how they are involved in the verbal action. The main functions are subject, direct object and indirect object. You should be familiar with these since they are important for determining agreement with the verb.
Subject
The subject is usually the noun that precedes the verb and is often in control of the verbal action. For example, in the sentence My sister gave the book to my brother. The subject is My sister. Subjects can also be pronouns or peoples names, e.g.: I gave the book to him, Amy gave the book to her.
Direct object
The direct object tends to be the noun that comes directly after the verb. For example, in the sentence My sister gave the book to my brother, the direct object is the book. Another way to think of the direct object is that it usually answers the question "what?", e.g.: She gave what? ... the book. In French, direct object pronouns (le, la, les, etc.) come before the verb, e.g.: Ma soeur le donne à mon frère ("My sisters gives it to my brother").
Indirect object
The indirect object tends to be the noun that follows a preposition (it does not follow the verb directly). In the sentence My sister gave the book to my brother, the indirect object is my brother (since it follows the preposition to).
Agreement
BonPatron