How to Read English Long Sentences | Understanding Subject + Predicate

Hello! This is Maegami from the blog Goddess Bangs. Today, let’s dive into a key method for improving your English reading skills: understanding Subject + Predicate sentence structures.

So far, we’ve tried two quizzes focusing on this concept. For short sentences, splitting them into Subject and Predicate is relatively easy. But once you encounter advanced articles or long-form English texts, reading becomes more challenging. Many learners get frustrated and even develop a dislike for English.

Why? Traditional Japanese rote memorization methods don’t help. They’re often boring, repetitive, and don’t focus on understanding.

Learning by Understanding Structure

No matter how complex a sentence seems, understanding its structure can solve almost any reading problem. Think of this as applying critical thinking to language learning.

In high school, English grammar classes often taught articles, nouns, and other rules in isolation. Students memorized them for tests, but rarely applied them in writing or reading practice. The brain struggles to retain information without understanding it. Neuroscience even shows that we can only absorb a limited amount of information each day. Information that feels unnecessary is quickly discarded.

This means that stress, unstable emotions, or personal distractions can prevent information from being properly stored in the brain.

Instead, we’ll approach reading backwards: start by looking at the full sentence first, then break it down into its components.

Let’s Look at an Example

Here’s an excerpt from The New York Times:

“A musical about making art and a play about making money dominated the Tony Awards nominations Monday, as Broadway sought to celebrate its best work and revive its fortunes after the lengthy and damaging coronavirus shutdown.”

At first glance, this long sentence may feel intimidating. But can we split it into two parts? Absolutely!

Here’s one way:

Subject + Predicate Split:

• Subject: A musical about making art and a play about making money
• Predicate: dominated the Tony Awards nominations Monday, as Broadway sought to celebrate its best work and revive its fortunes after the lengthy and damaging coronavirus shutdown.

Notice that “sought” is the past tense of seek, meaning “tried to” or “aimed to.” Breaking down long sentences like this allows you to focus on meaning without immediately translating into Japanese—translation can distort nuance and slow your progress.

Today’s Key Concept: Parts of Speech

From this article and previous quizzes, here’s the next concept to master: Parts of Speech. Think of a long English sentence as a building. Each word is a component, like wood, nails, or screws. Understanding what “parts” make up the sentence is essential.

The main Parts of Speech are:

• Nouns
• Pronouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Other Parts of Speech

Important: You don’t need to memorize all these yet. Just noticing them is enough to activate your brain. First, focus on understanding sentence structure as a foundation.

Recommended Grammar Resource

I highly recommend the book Complete English Grammar Rules. It’s excellent for organizing your thoughts about English grammar. Use a physical book rather than an eBook—writing notes in the margins makes learning more effective. This book is a comprehensive resource, perfect for referring back to when needed.

We’ll start with Nouns in upcoming posts, gradually moving to Verbs and beyond. Remember: don’t focus on translating yet—first, practice identifying Verbs and understanding sentence structure.

Summary

At first glance, the New York Times example might seem intimidating—but breaking it down shows it’s manageable.

Relying solely on Japanese news is limiting. Translation can introduce subjectivity, so reading in English allows you to access more accurate information.

The key takeaway today: Parts of Speech. Notice them, think about them, and you’re already making progress.

English learning is about structure first, translation later. Stay curious, and enjoy discovering the components of every sentence!