- The noun Tony is the subject. The subject is the focus of the sentence.
- The phrase his eyes is a subject complement. It describes the subject, Tony.
- The direct object receives an action from a transitive verb. The transitive verb sipped transfers its action to the direct object, the wine.
Verb
Verb vs noun vs adjective: nouns name things. Adjectives describe. Verbs express what happens or what IS. The test: can it take tense (walked, will walk)? Can it take -ing? Can it follow to as an infinitive (to walk)? Yes to any → verb. English often converts freely between classes (run = noun or verb), so context decides.
A verb = action/state/occurrence word. 5 forms (base, -s, past, past participle, -ing). Carries tense, aspect, mood, voice. The one required element in every sentence.
Diagnostic: does it change for tense (walk → walked)? Can you put to before it (to walk)? Does it take -ing (walking)? → verb.
Transitive and intransitive verb
Transitive vs intransitive vs linking verb: transitive takes an object (She hit the ball). Intransitive takes NO object (She arrived). Linking verbs take a complement, not an object (She is tall). The three patterns account for almost all English sentence structures.
A transitive verb requires an object. An intransitive can't take one. Ambitransitive verbs do both.
Diagnostic: after the verb, ask "what/whom?" If there's a direct answer → transitive. If you need a preposition first (arrived at) → intransitive + prepositional phrase. If the answer describes the subject (is tired) → linking verb.
Object
Object vs subject: the subject does the action; the object receives it. The cat (subject) chased the mouse (object). In English, word order (SVO) determines which is which — subject before verb, object after.
An object is the entity a verb acts upon: direct (I read the book), indirect (I gave her a book), or prepositional (I waited for him).
Diagnostic: ask "[verb] what/whom?" after the verb. The answer is the direct object. Ask "to/for whom?" for the indirect object. After a preposition? Prepositional object.
A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate
A2 vs B1: A2 handles routine transactions and simple past narration. B1 handles connected discourse, explaining reasons, and understanding main points in clear standard speech. If you can tell what happened but not why it matters, you're still A2.
A2 is the elementary level of the CEFR: past simple, present perfect, first conditional, basic modals, and routine communication about familiar topics.
Diagnostic: can you link ideas with because, although, so that and hold a conversation beyond scripted topics? No → A2. Yes → moving into B1.
Medium
Medium vs Easy: Easy has one obviously correct answer and clearly wrong distractors. Medium has one correct answer but plausible distractors — you need to actually know the rule, not just guess from sound.
The Medium tag filters for A2–B1 challenges with realistic difficulty: one rule per question, plausible alternatives, everyday contexts.
Diagnostic: if you're scoring 90%+ on Easy, move here. If you're below 60% on Medium, go back to Easy for that topic. Target 70–80% accuracy for maximum learning.