My Big Fat Grammar Project

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My Big Fat Grammar Project
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To the Teacher

• Welcome to My Big Fat Grammar Project. The BFGP
  takes students through the patterns of sentences
  in the English language. As youll see, each of
  the patterns is explained and expanded. The
  patterns are also diagrammed. Your job is to
  present ONE pattern at a time. The students job
  is to create a book, booklet, binder, or poster
  that demonstrates understanding of each pattern.
  They do this by composing 3 sentences for each of
  the patterns. To make the BFGP interesting,
  attractive, and fun, they should choose a theme,
  the quirkier the better (giraffes, earthworms,
  ice cream). The BFGP is a work of art Each
  sentence should take up a full page (or sizable
  portion of a poster) and be illustrated with
  either original drawings, cut-outs from
  magazines, or clip art.
• The patterns are shown on the next screen.

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To the Teacher

• We have three action verb patterns
• 1. The intransitive verb pattern Noun verb
• 2. The transitive verb pattern Noun verb
  noun (direct object)
• 3. The complex transitive pattern Noun Noun
  (indirect object) verb direct object
• And we have thee linking verb patterns
• 1. Noun BE Subject complement (The subject
  complement can be adverbial information,
  adjectival information, or nominal information)
• 2. Noun OTHER LINKING VERB Subject
  complement (same as above, except that some
  other linking verbs do not need a
• subject complement, ex Sometiimes, sneakers
  smell.

Fear not! All of this will be explained and
illustrated in the screens that follow.
NB This is a simplified version of sentence
pattern taxonomy, representing only the most
common patterns. I used the BFGB for ninth grade
students, but it can be used just as well with
other levels.
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To the Teacher

• Do the math The student ends up with 12
  sentences, each carefully written, illustrated,
  categorized, analyzed, and diagrammed, on a
  particular theme.
• Twelve sentences may not seem like a lot, but
  once students understand the major sentence
  patterns of English, they are ready to hang all
  kinds of information on sturdy frames.
• The terminology for the BFGP sentence, subject,
  predicate, slots, noun, verb direct object,
  indirect object, transitive verb, complex
  transitive verb, intransitive verb linking verb,
  helping verb, passive voice, progressive action,
  subject complement, adverbial, adjectival, nominal

Fear not! All of this will be explained and
illustrated in the screens that follow.
NB This is a simplified version of sentence
pattern taxonomy, representing only the most
common patterns. I used the BFGB for ninth grade
students, but it can be used just as well with
other levels.
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The Action Verb Patterns

• Intransitives
• Transitives

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Noun Verb

• The Intransitive Verb Pattern
• Katherine laughed.

This sentence has two slots Subject Verb
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An intransitive verb is an action verb that
allows for completeness, needing no other words
in the sentence.
Subject
Verb
Katherine
laughed.
This sentence has two required slots.
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An intransitive verb is an action verb that
allows for completeness, needing no other words
in the sentence.
will laugh
Subject
Verb
laughs
is laughing
was laughing
Katherine
Laughed.
has laughed
This sentence has two required slots.
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Make 3 Sentences in the Noun Verb Pattern
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Noun Verb Noun

• Transitive Verb Direct Object

loves
Raymond
Everybody
Subj.
This sentence has three slots Subject Verb
Direct Object
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Noun Verb Noun
Loves whom or what?

• Transitive Verb Direct Object
• Everybody loves Raymond.

Raymond.
This sentence has three slots Subject Verb
Direct Object
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Transitives

• Transitive verbs take direct objects.
• Direct objects answer whom or what
• to the (action) verbs.

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Make 3 Sentences in the Noun Verb Noun
(direct object) Pattern
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Transitives

• Complex transitive verbs take
  objects as well as direct objects.

indirect
Indirect objects answer to whom, for whom,
to what, for what to the direct object.
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Sentences having indirect objects

• Claudia gave Ramon an eyebrow stud.

Claudia
stud
gave
an
eyebrow
Object
Ramon
indirect object
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Sentences having indirect objects

• Verbs about giving and verbs about showing like
  to take indirect objects.

I
am sending
money.
you
Indirect Object
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Make 3 Sentences in the Noun Noun (indrect
object) Verb Noun (direct object) Pattern
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Now, we come to the LINKING VERB patterns
Lets learn about BE IS AM ARE WAS WERE BE BEING
BEEN
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Three Uses of BE

• As a main verb, to express existence
• My teacher is a werewolf.

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Three Uses of BE

• As a helping verb, to express
• progressive action
• My teacher was turning into a werewolf.

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Three Uses of BE

• As a helping verb,to form the passive voice
• Many students were attacked at night.

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Pattern BE nominal

• A nominal is a word or group of words that does
  the work of a noun (a noun and its modifiers). A
  nominal may be a single word, a phrase, or a
  clause. You can tell where a nominal begins and
  ends by replacing it with a pronoun. Whatever
  words the pronoun eats up would be one nominal.
  (Another test is to use the word something to
  replace a nominal.)
• A ferret is a type of weasel.

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A ferret is a type of weasel.
is
(Something) is (something). (Something)
(something). Subject item Subject complement
item Same referents on both sides of the verb
This clause has three slots.
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Pattern BE Adjectival

• BE a subject complement that is
• an adjectival
• An adjectival is to an adjective what a nominal
  is to a noun a single word, a phrase, or a
  clause that does the work of an adjective, ie. to
  answer Which one? What kind? or How many?

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Pattern BE Adjectival

• A ferret is furry.

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A ferret is furry.
is
furry.

BE verb singular present tense
Adjectival Subj. Complement
NP (noun phrase) Subject
Note that this clause can be expressed in the
form of a phrase the furry ferret.
This sentence has three slots.
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A ferret is furry and funny.
furry
is
ferret
and

funny
a
BE verb singular present tense
NP (noun phrase) Subject
Note that this clause can be expressed in the
form of a phrase the furry ferret.
Adjectival Subj. Complement
This sentence has three slots.
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The BE Patterns

• BE Adverbial Information
• BE Adverbial
• (An adverbial is to an adverb what an adjectival
  is to an adjective and what a nominal is to a
  noun, ie. a single word, phrase, or clause that
  answers the questions that adverbs answer after
  linking verbs, adverbials usually answer where?
  or when?)
• A ferret is in the garage.

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A ferret is in the garage.
is
(Something) is (somewhere). (Something) is
(happening at some time).
This clause has three slots.
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My birthday was yesterday.
was
yesterday
(Something) is (somewhere). (Something) is
(happening at some time).
This clause has three slots.
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Make 3 Sentences in BE Patterns
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THE OTHER LINKING VERB PATTERNS

• Sense verbs
• Look, sound, smell, taste, feel
• Seem, become, grow

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Pattern Linking Verb Adjective

• Linking Verb Predicate Adjective
• This ice cream tastes delicious.

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This ice cream tastes delicious.
delicious
tastes
NP Subj
Subject complement Predicate Adj.
(linking) verb
Note In a Pattern 4 sentence, the subject
complement Is an adjective, not an adverb.
Hence I feel bad (not badly).
This sentence has three slots.
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Linking Verb Noun Pattern
Linking Verb Noun
She became a famous doctor..
She
became
Subj.
(linking) verb

Subject complement Predicate noun.
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Make 3 Sentencesin Other Linking Verb Patterns