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In English a sentence has three parts - subject, verb and object.

subject - who or what is doing it

verb - how it is done

object - what it is done to

The only major change in structure is between an active and a passive sentence. In the passive we are more interested in the object instead of the subject so:

Shakespear wrote Hamlet - active sentence

Hamlet was written by shakespear - passive sentence

In both examples above the verb still describes the action, the past writing of a play, the difference is on the emphasis of what we, the reader, are interested in - the writer or the play.

The verb is used to state how (what) the subject is doing (to) something. So Yes, the verb does state what the subject does, is or has in a sentence but only if we consider an active sentence. In the passive we are not interested in the subject but rather the object.

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Actually, all sentences have 2 part: a subject (the who part) and the predicate (the what part that tells what the subject does). Actually, that is a 2nd grade level language arts skill. Take it from a teacher with 11 years+ experience.

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infogirl commented 2 months 2 weeks ago

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This answer is correct, based on http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/sentences_core_parts.htm Two core parts of a sentence, subject and verb. A source would have been helpful, but it is the right answer.