Dog eats bone in backyard.

Meaning: A dog is putting a bone into its mouth and swallowing it, in the area of land behind a house.

Choice of Words: Dog is a noun that refers to a type of animal that is often kept as a pet. Eats is a verb that describes the action of putting food into your mouth and swallowing it. Bone is a noun that refers to the hard part of an animal's body that connects its muscles to its skeleton. In is a preposition that indicates a position inside something. Backyard is a noun that refers to the area of land behind a house.

Alternative Expressions

The dog ate a bone in the backyard.

Meaning: This sentence tells us that a specific dog consumed a bone in an outdoor area behind a house.

Choice of Words: The words "the dog" specify which dog is being referred to. "Ate" is the past tense of "eat", which means to consume food. "A bone" is a type of food that dogs often enjoy. "In the backyard" tells us where the action took place.

A dog was eating a bone in the backyard.

Meaning: This sentence tells us that an unspecified dog was in the process of consuming a bone in an outdoor area behind a house at a specific time in the past.

Choice of Words: The indefinite article "a" is used before "dog" to indicate that any dog could be performing the action. "Was eating" is the past continuous tense of "eat", which means that the action was ongoing at a specific time in the past. "A bone" is a type of food that dogs often enjoy. "In the backyard" tells us where the action took place.

The dog ate its bone in the backyard.

Meaning: This sentence tells us that a specific dog consumed a bone that belongs to it in an outdoor area behind a house.

Choice of Words: The possessive pronoun "its" is used to indicate that the bone belongs to the dog. "Ate" is the past tense of "eat", which means to consume food. "Its bone" emphasizes that the bone specifically belongs to the dog. "In the backyard" tells us where the action took place.

Related Expressions