It would be impossible to recognize its meaning without the context of a particular sentence. In fact, even within a sentence, a word that can be categorized as a certain part of speech can function in more than one way. This book describes the ecology of the Everglades. Book is a noun in both of these sentences, yet in the first it serves as the subject of the verb describes, while in the second it serves as the direct object of the verb need. Knowing a word's part of speech tells only part of the story, we have to recognize the part it plays in the pattern or structure of a particular sentence.
S V DO Babies drink milk.
OC Babies make parents proud. Recognizing subjects As described in the previous section, almost every sentence has a stated subject, which identifies whom or what the sentence is about. Depending on the number and kinds of modifiers, subjects can be as plain as one word or far more complex. Those who sit in the bleachers have the most fun. Baseball and softball developed from cricket.