Understanding English Grammar

1
Understanding English Grammar

• An Introduction
• to Diagramming Sentences

2
Works Cited

• Funk, Robert Martha Kolln. Understanding
  English Grammar. 5th Ed. Boston Allyn and
  Bacon, 1998.

3
Underlying Structure

• Ten sentence patterns account for the underlying
  structure of almost all possible grammatical
  sentences in English.
• All sentences have a subject and a predicate.

4
Subject Predicate

• Test To figure out where the subject ends and
  the predicate begins, substitute a pronoun for
  the subject.
• Example The council has passed the ordinance
• It has passed the ordinance.
• This subject-predicate relationship underlies
  every sentence, even those is which the subject
  is unstated but clearly understood
• Example (you) Help! (you) Sit down!

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New Terminology

• The two basic
• constituents of every
• sentence are (1) the NP,
• or noun phrase, which is
• the same as the subject
• and (2) the VP, or verb
• phrase, which is the
• same as the predicate.

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Additional Terminology

• Phraseany group of two or more words that
  function as a unit within a sentence. Always
  includes a head, or headword, along with its
  modifiers and/or complements. (The head of a
  noun phrase is a noun, the head of a verb phrase,
  a verb).
• Clausealso a group of words, but it must have a
  subject and predicate. There is a difference
  between a sentence and a clause. Not all clauses
  are sentences and often a single sentence will
  include more than one clause.

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The Sentence Slots

• Because the variations among the sentence
  patterns are in the predicates, we group the ten
  patterns according to their verb types
• 1. the be patterns
• 2. the linking verb patterns
• 3. the intransitive verb pattern
• 4. the transitive verb patterns

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About the patterns

• The number of slots in the predicate varies
  Most patterns have two, but Pattern VI has only
  one slot, and three of the transitive patterns,
  VIII to X, each have three.
• The label in parentheses names the function, the
  role, that the slot performs in the sentence.
• The subscript numbers you see in some of the
  patterns show the relationship between noun
  phrases Identical numbers mean that the two
  noun phrases have the same referent different
  numbers denote different referents. (A referent
  is the thing (or person, event, concept, and so
  on ) that the noun or noun phrase stands for).

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The be Patterns
I NP be ADV/TP
(subject) (predicating verb) (Adverbial of time or place)
The students are upstairs
II NP be ADJ
(subj) (pred vb) (subj complement)
The students are diligent
III NP1 be NP1
(subj) (pred vb) (subj comp)
The students are scholars
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The be Patterns Explained

• The first three formulas state that when a form
  of be serves as the predicating verb, an
  adverbial of time or place (Pattern I), or an
  adjectival (Pattern II), or a noun phrase
  (Pattern III) will follow it.
• The one exception to this rule is a statement
  simply affirming existence, such as I am.
• Other one-word forms of be are am, is, are, was,
  were, being, and been the expanded forms
  include have been, was being, might be, and will
  be.

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Pattern I NP be ADV/TP

• The ADV in the formula stands for adverbial, a
  modifier of the verb.
• The ADV that follows be is, with certain
  exceptions, limited to when and where
  information.
• This slot is labeled as adverbial rather than
  simply as adverb because the adverbial
  information is often expressed by a structure
  other than a simple adverb. Adverb is the name
  of a word class adverbial names the function
  that adverbs carry out.
• One of the most common adverbial structures is
  the prepositional phrase, a two-part structure
  consisting of a prepositiona word such as in,
  out, up, down, under, between, for, fromand its
  object, most commonly a noun or noun phrase.

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Pattern II NP be ADJ

• In this pattern the complement that follows be is
  an adjectival. This slot is the subject
  complement, which both completes the verb and
  modifies or describes the subject.
• Test If youre not sure what an adjective is,
  answer this question The________NOUN is
  very________. Only an adjective will fit.
• Example The diligent student is very diligent.
• Besides adjectives, we sometimes find
  prepositional phrases filling the subject
  complement slot in Pattern II sentences. These
  are set phrases, or idiomatic expressions, that
  name an attribute of the subject
• You are out of your mind.
• She is in a bad mood.
• To figure out that such sentences do not belong
  to Pattern I, you can usually think of an
  adjective, a single descriptive word, that could
  substitute for the phrase
• You are crazy.
• She is cranky.
• You can also rule out Pattern I because such
  phrases do not supply information of time or
  place.

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Pattern III NP1 be NP1

• The NP, of course, fills the subject slot in all
  of the patterns in Pattern III a noun phrase
  following be fills the subject complement slot as
  well.
• The subject complement renames the subject be,
  the main verb, acts as an equal sign, connecting
  the subject with its complement.

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The Sentence Patterns Be Verbs

• I NP be ADV/TP
• II NP be ADJ
• III NP1 be NP1

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Linking Verb Patterns
IV NP Linking verb ADJ
(subj) (pred vb) (subj comp)
The students seem diligent.
V NP1 Lnk verb NP1
(subj) (pred vb) (subj comp)
The students became scholars.
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The Linking Verb Patterns

• Linking verb applies to all verbs other than be
  complemented by a subject complementan
  adjectival or a noun phrase that describes,
  characterizes, or identifies the subject.

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Pattern IV NP V-lnk ADJ

• In these sentences an adjectival fills the
  subject complement slot.
• The adjectival describes or names an attribute of
  the subject, just as in Pattern II.
• Pattern IV is a common category for verbs of the
  senses (taste, smell, feel, sound, look).
• Just as in Pattern II, an adjectival
  prepositional phrase (an idiom) can fill the
  subject complement slot.

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Pattern V NP1 V-lnk NP1

• In this pattern a noun phrase fills the subject
  complement slot following the linking verb.
• Just as in Pattern III, both NPs have the same
  referent.
• Become and remain are among the most common verbs
  of Pattern V.

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The Optional Slots

• Adverbials can appear in every sentence pattern.
• Many of our sentences include information beyond
  the basic requirementswords or phrases that
  answer such questions as where, when, why, how,
  how often, and the like.
• Pattern I has the required ADV/TP, but it can
  also include optional adverbials.
• No matter where they occur, all adverbials are
  diagrammed as modifiers of the verb.
• Adverbs can be modified with words like very,
  known as qualifiers.

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The Sentence Patterns Linking Verbs

• IV NP V-lnk ADJ
• V NP1 V-lnk NP1

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Pattern VI NP V-int

• An intransitive verb has no complementno noun
  phrase or adjectivalfollowing.
• Most Pattern VI sentences have other information,
  often adverbials.
• Pattern VI looks a lot like Pattern I, but in
  Pattern I, the adverbial information is not
  optional.

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Exceptions to Pattern VI

• There are thousands of intransitive verbs. Among
  them are a few verbs that require an adverbial to
  make them complete
• Reside My best friend resides in Roswell.
• Sneak The boys sneaked past the guard.
• Glance She glanced at her watch.
• These are not given a new pattern since the
  number is so small.

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Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

• A phrasal verb consists of a verb combined with a
  preposition-like word, known as a particle
  together they form an idiom.
• An idiom is a set expression that acts as a unit
  (i.e. made up).
• Test adverbs can be shifted without a change in
  meaning, whereas a particle cannot (i.e. up we
  jumped vs. up we made)
• Test replace the phrasal with a one word synonym
  (i.e. gave incapitulated, broke upended).

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The Sentence Patterns Intransitive Verbs

• VI NP V-int

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Pattern VII NP1 V-tr NP2

• The one method of distinguishing transitive verbs
  that works almost every time is the recognition
  that the two noun phrases have different
  referents.
• An exception occurs when the direct object is
  either a reflexive pronoun (John cut himself) or
  a reciprocal pronoun (John and Mary love each
  other).
• Dont forget about transitive phrasal verbs
• Ex. He came by his fortune in an unusual way.

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Pattern VIII NP1 V-tr NP2 NP3

• All three NPs have different referents.
• You have the option of shifting the indirect
  object to a position following the direct object,
  where it will be the object of a preposition.
• Ex. The students gave their professor their
  homework OR The students gave their homework to
  the professor.
• The same system of identity applies in Pattern
  VIII when reflexive or reciprocal pronouns fill
  the indirect object slot, as they sometimes do.
• Ex. Jill gave herself a haircut OR We gave each
  other identical Christmas presents.

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Pattern IX NP1 V-Tr NP2 ADJ

• In this pattern the direct object is followed by
  a second complement, as adjective that modifies
  or describes the direct object this is the
  object complement.
• Pattern IX is a small class, with relatively few
  verbs, most of which appear equally often in
  Pattern VII, where they take the direct object
  only.

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Pattern X NP1 V-tr NP2 NP2

• TEST To discern between patterns IX and X, check
  whether you can insert the words to be between
  the direct object and the following slot.
• Ex.
• Taro finds his job easy. (X)
• Taro found his job easily. (IX)
• Pam found her job the hard way. (IX)
• Pam finds her job a challenge. (X)

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Pattern X NP1 V-tr NP2 NP2 continued

• Sometimes the object complement is signaled by
  as, which we call an expletive, or operator.
• Ex. We elected Tom as our secretary.
• We refer to him as Mr. Secretary.
• I know him as a good friend.

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The Sentence Patterns Transitive Verbs

• VII NP1 V-tr NP2
• VIII NP1 V-tr NP2 NP3
• IX NP1 V-tr NP2 ADJ
• X NP1 V-tr NP2 NP2