CM 2
Ms Yilmaz Stéphanie
Sentence functions
GS, GV, CO, CC
Maïlys & Djibril
What are the functions in a sentence?
The function of a word is the role it plays in the sentence.
Here are the different functions that word groups can perform:
Subject function.
Verbal group function
The circumstantial complement function
The verb complement function: COD / COI
1. the subject function
You can ask the question: Qu'est-ce qui? or Qui est-ce qui? before the verb.
You can replace the subject with a pronoun.
You can frame the subject with c'est...qui or ce sont..qui.
Example:
Little Louis plays in the schoolyard.
They want to remember this moment for the rest of their lives.
2. Verbal group function
The verbal group is a group whose nucleus is a verb.
The verbal group itself can be broken down into several groups.
How to find the Verbal Group?
We ask the question: What does the subject do?
3. The circumstantial complement function
Circumstantial complements are non-essential complements that specify the circumstances in which an action takes place.
The circumstantial complement is a word or group of words that gives us details about the action described in the sentence.
How do you find the circumstantial complement in a sentence?
The questions "when?", "where?", "in what way?" are asked.
4. verb complement function: COD / COI
The direct object complement (D.O.C.)
- The D.O.C. is part of the verbal group.
- It specifies the action of the verb.
- To find the D.O.C. in a sentence.
we ask the question who? or what? after the verb.
Ex: The students are doing an exercise. She listens her teacher.
5. The indirect object complement (IOC)
The COI is part of the verbal group.
It specifies who or what the action expressed by the verb is about
The COI is separated from the verb by a preposition:
à , de, pour, aux, contre, ....
It answers the questions: to whom? to what? from whom? of what? with whom?
Ex: Children like this clown.
