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Diagramming Sentences
Parts of Speech Review
1.
2.
Noun—Person, place, thing, or abstract idea (can function as a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject
complement, object complement, or appositive)
a.
Nouns can be gender-specific, though less commonly than in the past (actor/actress, waiter/waitress)
b.
Nouns can be singular or plural (echo/echoes)
c.
Nouns can be possessive (mother’s) (Possessive nouns often function as adjectives in a sentence. Ex. My
mother’s purse is pink.)
d.
Nouns can be proper (Monday) or common (chair)
e.
Nouns can be concrete (perceivable through five senses—floor, chalkboard, table) or abstract (not
perceivable through five senses—afterthought, childhood)
f.
Nouns can be countable (has a singular and plural form—book/books) or non-countable (does not have a
plural form and refers to something you usually would not count—oxygen, furniture)
g.
Nouns can be collective (names a group of things, animals, or persons—flock, herd, class)
Verb—Asserts something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being
a.
A verb may stand alone (ran) or consist of a verb phrase (were running)
b.
A verb may be conjugated according to tense and number (to run, runs, ran, has run, have run, will run)
c.
A verb may be transitive (with an object that follows—The dog ate his food.) or intransitive (with no object
that follows—The dog ate.)
3.
Adjective—Modifies a noun or pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying; adjectives may be possessive,
demonstrative, interrogative, or indefinite (see pronouns below)
4.
Adverb—Modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause; indicates manner, time, place, cause, or
degree and answers such question as “how,” “when,” “where,” or “how much”
5.
a.
Examples: The seamstress quickly made the wedding dress. Unfortunately the bank closed at three today.
b.
Adverbs can be conjunctive and join two clauses together (however, therefore, incidentally, etc.)
Preposition—Links nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the
preposition introduces called the object of the preposition. The preposition and the noun or pronoun that follows it
comprise the prepositional phrase.
a.
The book is on the table. (prepositional phrase=on the table)
b.
She read the book during class. (prepositional phrase=during class)
6.
Pronoun—Can replace a noun or another pronoun to make sentences less cumbersome and repetitive
a.
Pronouns can be personal (refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person—
I/you/she, number—him/they, gender—he/she, and case—I/me)
b.
Pronouns can be subjective (act as the subject of a sentence—I/you/he/she/they/we/it) or objective (act as
the object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase—me/you/her/him/them/us/it)
c.
Pronouns can be possessive
i.
Possessive Pronouns can function as a subject (mine/yours/hers/his/ours/theirs) OR
ii.
Possessive Pronouns can function as an adjective (my/your/her/his/our/their)
d.
Pronouns can be demonstrative (this/that/these/those) and can act as subjects or adjectives
e.
Pronouns can be interrogative (who/whom/which/what/whoever/whomever/ whichever/whatever) and
can act as subjects, objects, or adjectives)
f.
Pronouns can be relative and link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause (I will read whichever
manuscript arrives first.)
g.
Pronouns can be indefinite (referring to an identifiable but not specified person or thing—
all/another/any/each/everyone/etc.)
h.
Pronouns can be reflexive (referring back to the subject of the clause or sentence (Diabetics give
themselves insulin shots several times a day.)
i.
Pronouns can be intensive (used to emphasize its antecedent—I myself believe that aliens should abduct
my sister.)
7. Conjunction—Hookin’ up words and phrases and clauses
a. Conjunctions can be coordinating (and/but/or/nor/for/so/yet)
b. Conjunctions can be subordinating (we saw them as dependent clause markers earlier this year—because/
before/if/that /though/until/when/whether/while/etc.)
c. Conjunctions can be correlative (always appear in pairs—both/and, either/or, whether/or, not only/but
also, etc.)
8. Interjection—Added to a sentence to convey emotion; not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence
(Ouch, oh no, hey, good lord, etc.)
Additional terms:
a) A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows the result of the action. It answers the
question "What?" or "Whom?" after an action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb.
a. Ex. I like candy. (direct object=candy)
b) An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done and who
is receiving the direct object. There must be a direct object to have an indirect object. Indirect objects are usually
found with verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer. An indirect object is always a
noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase.
a. Ex. Give me the candy. (indirect object =me)
c) An objective complement, like a subjective complement, can either be a noun or adjective and modifies the direct
object in a sentence.
a. Ex. They consider the candy delicious. (objective complement=delicious)
Sentence Patterns
The be Patterns
I.
II.
Noun Phrase (NP) be adverbial of
time and place
NP
Ex. The students are upstairs.
students
III.
be
students are
The Linking Verb Patterns
IV.
be
NP1 (predicate noun)
Ex. The students are scholars.
students
diligent
are
scholars
V.
linking verb
predicate adjective
Ex. The students seem diligent.
students
NP1
Ex. The students are diligent.
are
NP
predicate adjective
seem
NP1
linking verb
NP1 (predicate noun)
Ex. The students became scholars.
diligent
students
became
scholars
The Intransitive Verb Pattern
VI.
NP
intransitive verb
Ex. The students rested.
students
rested
The Transitive Verb Patterns
VII.
NP1
transitive verb
NP2 (direct object)
VIII.
Ex. The students studied their assignment.
students
studied
NP1 trans. verb NP2 (indirect obj.) NP3 (direct obj.)
Ex. The students gave their teacher an assignment.
assignment
students
gave
assignment
teacher
IX.
NP1
trans. verb
NP2 (dir. obj.) ADJ (obj. comp.)
Ex. The students consider their teacher intelligent.
students
consider
teacher
intelligent
X.
NP1
trans. verb
NP2 (dir. obj.)
NP3 (obj. comp.)
Ex. The students consider the course a challenge.
students
consider course
challenge
Classifying Sentences:
Identify the underlined portions of each sentence as either be verb (bv), linking verb (lv), intransitive verb (iv), transitive verb
(tv), subjective complement (sc), direct object (do), indirect object (io), objective complement (oc), or prepositional phrase (pp).
Then label each sentence according to sentence pattern (see previous sheet in packet).
1.
The neighborhood kids drive my mother crazy. (Pattern _______________)
2.
She describes them as a menace to the neighborhood. (Pattern _______________)
3.
On Friday the weather suddenly turned colder. (Pattern _______________)
4.
Yesterday Luis bought himself an expensive leather coat at Nordstrom’s. (Pattern _______________)
5.
England’s soccer fans have a reputation for wild behavior. (Pattern _______________)
6.
My boss at the pizza parlor promised me a raise. (Pattern _______________)
7.
Hector’s party broke up at midnight. (Pattern _______________)
8.
The voters elected Bill Clinton president in 1992. (Pattern _______________)
9.
Joe cut himself a huge piece of cake. (Pattern _______________)
10. Alaska became the fiftieth state in 1959. (Pattern _______________)
11. According to the 1980 census, Wyoming is our least populous state. (Pattern _______________)
12. Some people consider Minnesota’s winters excessively long. (Pattern _______________)
13. Our team plays Indiana in the Holiday Invitational Tournament on Saturday night. (Pattern _______________)
14. I ordered you a cheeseburger with onions. (Pattern _______________)
15. Professor Moore assigned the class six chapters for Monday. (Pattern _______________)
Diagramming Practice (Use the sample patterns and diagrams in the packet to help you fill in these blank diagrams. You will
use each pattern once):
1.
That dog is so cute! (Pattern _______________)
2.
The students elected Barbara chairperson. (Pattern _______________)
3.
Terry seems really sweet. (Pattern _______________)
4.
We made up. (Pattern _______________)
5.
John is a guitarist. (Pattern _______________)
6.
My sister is outside. (Pattern _______________)
7.
My uncle remained a bachelor. (Pattern _______________)
8.
Jim’s father bought him a new car. (Pattern _______________)
9.
Our team won the game. (Pattern _______________)
10. The teacher made the test easy. (Pattern _______________)