Modern Grammar - ASSIGNMENT 19 James Madison University

Instructions: This assignment will be marked as an acceptable or unacceptable effort. Taking time to go slowly and carefully, diagram each of the following sentences. Remember that you have practiced all the basic types of constituents and just need to find combinations.

1. To my surprise, the words on the first page of that author's new novel sent shivers down my back for hours. (nothing new - just a lot of PPs again :) )
MORE SENTENCES WITH GERUND PHRASES:

2. Finding gerunds is easy.
3. That friendly monkey started giving the little girl pieces of its fruit.
4. Your ignoring the facts will not change the situation.
5. Actually, some people do like dancing in their bare feet.
NOW SOME SENTENCES WITH SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS:

6. Because the invisible monster smells like rotten eggs, we know its location.
7. John seemed normal before he ate that old man's strange mushrooms. (First sentence with an adverbial clause after the main clause)
8. Although the guests did not leave early, the party was quiet and rather boring. (both a subordinate conjunction and a coordinate conjunction are in this sentence)
9. The lady threw her gloves and handkerchief to the knight when he requested it sweetly.
10. The employees get a raise if they increase production or if the company's stock splits. (note that there's a coordinate conjunction of adverbial clauses here!)
11. After the nervous babysitter turned off the lights, she became scared of the shadows in the old house because she was familiar with the dark rumors about that neighborhood. (Don't panic -- just find the three clauses and see how two of them work as adverbial clauses. )

NOW SOME PRACTICE WITH AN S-BAR (OR EVEN JUST AN S) USED AS A SENTENTIAL DIRECT OBJECT:

12. The actor doubted if he got a part in the new sitcom. (Hint: remember that "if" can be a complementizer sometimes instead of a subordinate conjunction.)
13. Undoubtedly, many customers complained that the food was bland and overcooked. (Another sentential direct object, but with a different complementizer.)
14. The directions say we need every screw. (no complementizer)
15. We heard the university cancelled all exams.
16. We suggested that someone write down our good deeds because they saved the world from a big disaster. (There is a sentential direct object and an adverbial clause here. FYI, there is a structural ambiguity here concerning which VP the adverbial clause modifies, but you can just diagram one of the two possibilities. :) )

NEXT, TRY AN S-BAR AS A "SENTENTIAL SUBJECT":

17. That the squeaky wheel gets the grease frustrates quieter people. (Look at the subject of "frustrates." Hint: It's not "grease." :) )

AND FINALLY.. TRY TO CONSIDER SOME OTHER USES OF S AND S-BAR ("NOUN COMPLEMENTS" AND "ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS"):

18. The revelation that the lion loved the mouse shocked everyone. (Look at what modifies the noun "revelation". Yes, the embedded clause (still an S-BAR) is acting fair similarly to a PP modifying an N-bar. For the new rule, just find the right PP rule and change PP to S-BAR!)
19. She is afraid that her feet grow larger on a daily basis. (And here, the embedded S-BAR clause is modifying the adjective "afraid" just as a PP would do.)