In a message dated 8/17/06 10:31:49 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:


> I think the key to finding the  main verb is to understand the concepts of 
> subject and predicate. ' Who is doing what" is certainly useful.  But one way 
> to help students call on their inner grammar to find the line between 
> subject and predicate is to substitute a pronoun for the subject.
> 

Agreed, Martha.   For me this works every time with the exceptions you 
mentioned (questions and inversions) and sentences like the following:

A woman who knows her grammar will have no trouble meeting men.
She who knows her grammar will have no trouble meeting men.

However, for me the larger problem is that this approach presupposes that 
students know what the subject is.   The same students who are having difficulty 
finding the verb are, more than likely, going to have trouble identifying the 
subject.


Peter Adams

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