- When will this work be commenced?
In this sentence, work is the subject of the sentence and will be commenced is the verb phrase. If you should write this in assertive form, it would be:
- This work will be commenced when?
By paying close attention we can easily distinguish the verb phrases even when they are used in the inverted form or when they are separated by other parts of speech.
LET US SUM UP
415. The elements of a sentence are the words, phrases or clauses of which it is composed.
A simple sentence is one which contains a single statement, question or command.
A simple sentence contains only words and phrases. It does not contain dependent clauses. The elements of a simple sentence are:
| The complete subject | { | The simple subject—the noun, or the word used in place of the noun— and all its modifiers. |
| The complete predicate | { | The simple predicate—the verb, and all its modifiers. |