Mastering Complex Predicates with Adverbs and Helping Verbs

GrammarSongs by Melissa

This educational video provides an advanced grammar lesson on identifying subjects and predicates, specifically focusing on complex predicates that begin with adverbs or helping verbs rather than the main action verb. It serves as a progression from basic sentence structure concepts, reviewing the fundamental definitions of complete sentences before introducing syntax where the predicate does not immediately start with the main verb. The video uses whiteboard-style animation to visually deconstruct sentences, highlighting how adverbs and helping verbs function as part of the complete predicate. Key themes include sentence analysis, parts of speech (nouns, proper nouns, verbs, adverbs, helping verbs), and syntax strategies. The video explicitly teaches that the predicate consists of everything in the sentence that is not the subject. It clarifies the role of modifiers (adverbs) and auxiliary verbs (helping verbs) in setting time, tense, or mood, and demonstrates that these words belong to the predicate even when they appear before the main action verb. This resource is highly valuable for upper elementary and middle school English Language Arts classrooms where students are moving beyond simple sentences. It offers a clear, repeatable strategy for sentence analysis: identifying the subject first to easily isolate the predicate. The step-by-step guided practice with specific examples (Abigale eating vegetables, a brown dog going to the vet) allows teachers to pause and check for understanding, making it an excellent tool for direct instruction or remediation on sentence structure.