Download First two steps in dissecting a sentence

Grammar Notes
Eight parts of speech:
PACVIN
pronoun
preposition
adjective
adverb
conjunction
verb
interjection
noun
Seven Functions of a Noun:
First two steps in dissecting a sentence:
1. Read and understand what the sentence is stating.
Get a mental picture of the sentence in your head.
2. Find and analyze the verb or verbs in the sentence.
A verb of BEING shows tense (past, present, etc.) or links other parts
of the sentence.
Most Common Verbs of Being:
am
is
are
was
were
be
being
been
become
shall
will
would
could
should
may
might
can
must
*has
*have
*had
*do
*does
*did
The verbs with * in front of them can also be expressing an action
depending on how they are used in the sentence.
I did my homework.
I have $5.00 in my pocket.
Step 3 - Finding the subject
Find the subject of the sentence by asking “who” or “what”
before the verb that was found.
Example: Across the street ran the frightened little boy.
Ask yourself WHO RAN? – if you don’t get an answer ask WHAT
RAN?
Make sure you do it exactly as we said – ask the questions
BEFORE THE VERB!
Example: That woman is his mother.
Example: Mr. Rossi will be coaching the team next year.
 The subject must be a ___________ or a ______________.
 When you say the subject and the verb it must make
sense. Boy ran – man is – Mr. Rossi will be coaching – girl
kicked – student did
 The subject must be doing the action or is the main thing
in the state of being.
 Command sentences.
 Contractions.
 There can be two or more subjects in a sentence.
STEP 4:
Decide which highway you are going to travel. You will be on
either the “DO Highway” or the “3-P Parkway”.
Which road you will take is determined by the verb that you
found and analyzed. Remember that when you analyze the verb
you determine if the verb is expressing an action or whether it is
a linking or helping verb.
You will travel the DO Highway if the verb is an action verb
You will travel the 3-P Parkway if the verb is a linking verb.
Points about the DO.
 DO must be a noun or a pronoun.
 DO receives the action from the subject.
 To find the DO you MUST do the following:
o State the subject
o Then the verb
o Then ask what or whom
EXAMPLE: The girl kicked the ball.
Kicked is an action verb (we are now on the DO Highway)
Who kicked? Girl kicked. Girl is the subject.
Then ask yourself: Girl kicked what? Girl kicked ball.
Ball is the direct object.
 Not all sentences with an action verb will have a DO.
EXAMPLE: I ran home. (Home is an adverb not a DO.)
 When you state the SUBJECT – ACTION VERB – DIRECT
OBJECT in that order the words must make basic sense.
EXAMPLE: Girl kicked ball
A DIRECT OBJECT is a noun or a pronoun that receives the action of
a verb.
My older sister grew a beard.
The mayor rewarded the criminal for his good deed.
At Town Day I ate a hamburger and a hotdog.
She tapped the window gently.
Billy ate spaghetti and meatballs for lunch.
This tree produces coconuts.
Phillis Wheatley wrote poetry about her life as a slave.
Mary slammed the door as she left the room.
Welcome to the 3-P Parkway
The 3-P’s are:
 Predicate noun – a noun that comes after a verb of BEING and is
the same as a subject
Ex #1: That man is his father.
“is” is the verb a LINKING VERB; therefore you know you’re on the 3P Highway.
Who is??? Man is, therefore man is the subject. Since you’re on the
3-P Parkway, see if there is a noun that comes after the verb of being
(is) that is the same thing as the subject- MAN = FATHER
therefore father is a predicate noun.
Ex #2: Mrs. Jones will become the new Commissioner of
Education.
“will become” is the verb; therefore we are on the 3-P Parkway again.
Who will become??? Mrs. Jones, so Mrs. Jones is the subject.
Is there a word or words that comes after will become that is the same
as Mrs. Jones???
MRS. JONES = COMMISSIONER of EDUCATION
Therefore Commissioner of Education is the predicate noun.
Ex #3: He is the new coach.
HE = COACH
Therefore, coach is the predicate noun.
PREDICATE PRONOUN: a pronoun that comes after a verb of being
and is the same thing as a subject.
THIS IS THE SAME AS A PREDICATE NOUN ONLY IT IS A
PRONOUN!!!!
EX: The winner will be he.
 “will be” is the verb
 “winner” is the subject
 “he” is the predicate pronoun since it comes after a verb of
‘being’ and is the same as the subject
 winner = he
NOTE: It is possible to have a PN and a PPN in the same sentence.
EX:



The best competitors were John and she.
“were” is the verb
“competitors” is the subject
“John” is a PN since it comes after “were” and is the same as
the subject
 “She” is a PPN since it comes after were and is the same as the
subject
 competitors = John & she
Predicate Adjective: is an adjective that comes after a verb of “being”
and describes the subject.
EX: John was angry.




“was” is the verb
“John” is the subject
“angry” is the predicate adjective
angry describes John
EX: The scene in the play must have been extraordinary.
 “must have been” is the verb
 “scene” is the subject
 “extraordinary” is the PA since it comes after the verbs of
“being” and describes the subject
 Extraordinary describes scene NOT play – (remember “in the
play is a prepositional phrase.)
Step 5 in Dissecting a Sentence
Prepositions: There are at least 55 prepositions – if you remember
the Preposition Song that Mrs. Z taught it will help you immensely.
What prepositions do:
1. Show a relationship to a noun or pronoun that comes after it.
EX: John walked up the stairs.
‘up’ is the prep.
‘stairs’ is the noun in the relationship.
2. A preposition must ALWAYS have an object of the
preposition. The object of the prep is the noun pr pronoun
which comes after the prep and has a relationship with the
prep.
EX: Across the street ran the small child.
‘Across’ is the prep.
‘street’ is the OP (object of preposition)
3. A preposition will be the first word of a prepositional phrase.
A PP begins with the prep and ends with the OP. It also
includes any words which come between the prep and the
OP. (The OP will always be the last word of the PP.)
EX: The fireman ran [into the dangerously burning building.]
‘into’ is the prep
‘building’ is the OP
EX: [Over the beautiful majestic mountains] the couple watched
the setting sun.
‘over’ is the prep
‘mountains’ is the OP
NOTES: All the words between the prep and the OP will always
be adjectives, adverbs, or conjunctions. Nothing else can be
between the prep and the OP except these three parts of speech.
Most of the time the words between the prep and the OP will be
adjectives since they will be describing the OP.
Step # 6: Indirect Objects
Step # 7: Find the adjectives and adverbs.
Adjectives and adverbs describe other words in the sentence.
Adjectives:

Nouns

Pronouns
Adverbs:

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs
YOU MUST KNOW THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!
When seeing if a word is an adjective, ask these questions.




Which one?
What kind?
How many?
Whose?
Definition of an adjective:
An adjective is a word that describes, limits, or points out a noun or
pronoun.
Notes:

'the', 'an', 'a' are called articles but they function as adjectives.
They limit and point out.

Many times numbers will be nouns since they limit a noun.

Most of the time colors will be adjectives.

Sometimes adjectives come after the words they modify.
John's wallet was found in the dark hallway.
The beautiful budding cherry blossom trees were seen by the kids in
the park.
Nine kids ate lunch in the office.
Nine is my favorite number.
The old man, tired and frazzled, feel asleep at his desk.
Adverbs answer the following questions:

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

To what extent?

Under what conditions?
Notes:

Many adverbs end in 'ly'.

very, when, where, why, not, never, ever, always - are almost
always adverbs since they answer "to what extent?"

Many times days of the week function as adverbs.

Sometimes a word that always seems to be a noun will function
in a sentence as an adverb.
I saw here there.
I will see you tomorrow.
He worked hard on the project.
She performed exceedingly well.
He finally did his homework.
The lonely old man sat quietly on the bench feeding the hungry
pigeons.
She is never mean to other people.
I will see you Tuesday.
I will see you on Tuesday.
I will be home later today.
Step #8 CLAUSES:
 A clause is a group of words containing at least a subject
and a verb.
 For every verb that has its own subject, that's how
many clauses you will have in the sentence.
When the game ended, we went home.
I ate pizza and drank soda at the party.
After the storm the clouds disappeared.
After the storm ended the clouds disappeared.
Simple sentence: 1 Independent Clause.
Compound sentence: 2 or more Independent Clauses.
Complex Sentence: 1 Independent Clause and at least
1 Subordinate Clause.
Compound Complex: 2 or more Independent Clauses
and at least 1 Subordinate Clauses.




Independent clause: makes sense
Subordinate clause: does not make sense
Adverb clause – begins with a subordinate conjunction
Adjective clause – begins with a relative pronoun
Subordinate Conjunctions
when
where
why
while
than
before
after
since
if
until
although
whenever
wherever
because
 A subordinate conjunction will always be the
first word of a sub. clause that functions as an
adverb clause.
Adjective Clauses:
Relative Pronoun:
who
which
whom
that
whose
 A pronoun that takes the place
of a noun that comes before it.
The man who is walking down the hall was
the best coach in the Valley.
The relative pronoun is the FIRST word of the adjective
clause. It will function as a subject, DO, OP, or adj.
The girl whose necklace was broken is very upset.
The book in which Ponyboy is the narrator was written by S.E. Hinton.
The player who is sitting on the bench
has not played well.
The dog that ate my homework is very smart.
That dog is very smart.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound/Complex
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
1
2 (or more)
1
2 (or more)
0
0
1 (or more)
1 (or more)
The game that was played last night ended in a tie.
I will not stop teaching grammar until you understand
everything.
We went to the museum after we ate dinner.
After dinner we went to the movie.
Joe, Tom, Pete, Harry, and Lloyd went to the store and
bought and ate soda, cookies, and ice cream.
Dan, who can be annoying, is very popular with the kids,
although he is annoying.
F-A-N-B-O-Y-S
Appositives