Page:Practical Text-Book of Grammatical Analysis.pdf/15

2 is a combination of words without a predicate and can illustrate, but cannot express an idea, as, Spring returning, the swallow comes.

is a phrase developed, and contains a predicate, as, When spring returns, we may expect the swallow.

It has now been seen that the simplest sentence we can frame must necessarily consist of at least two words—the, which must be a noun or its equivalent; and the , which must be a verb. But a sentence consisting of only two words is in its barest and most rudimentary form. The following example illustrates how both the subject and predicate may be extended:—

A simple sentence contains only one (however extended that subject may be), and one  or finite verb (however extended that finite verb may be).

A finite verb is a verb not in the infinitive mood. A verb in the infinitive mood is simply a verbal noun, and cannot assert or perform any of the functions of the verb proper.

The may consist of—
 * 1. A single verb, as:
 * Fire burns.