Modern Grammar - ASSIGNMENT 20 James Madison University

Instructions: This assignment will be marked as an acceptable or unacceptable effort.

1. Diagram each of the following sentences using the clues provided:
   
   1. After we left, someone turned off the lights. (adverbial clause followed by main clause)
   2. The poet kept changing the metaphors in his sonnet because they sounded awkward and ruined the poem's meter. (Look for a gerund phrase, a subordinate conjunction, and a coordinate conjunction.)
   3. The winds blew very loudly through the night, but the baby slept well. (two main clauses connected with a coordinate conjunction)
   4. We heard the university cancelled all exams. (look at the direct object of "heard" :) )
   5. That the squeaky wheel gets the grease frustrates quieter people. (Look at the subject of "frustrates." First example with an S-bar.)
   6. The knowledge that the cat hated all dogs changed Spot's perspective. (Look at what modifies the noun "knowledge" - this example is almost identical to example 18 in assignment 19))
   7. Ralph is certain that the someone knows the truth (Look at what modifies the adjective "certain" - this example is similar to example 19 in assignment 19)
   8. The singer faced the fact that he was tone-deaf. (There's an S-Bar as a "noun complement" in this sentence too, modifying "fact".)
   9. The librarian had a secret fear that his brain might be getting full.(and look for the S-BAR after the noun "fear" this time)
   10. Undoubtedly, many customers complained that the food was bland and overcooked. (Another sentential direct object, but with a complementizer.)
   11. 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.)
   12. 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 only have to choose one of the two possibilities to diagram. :) )

2. Diagram each of the following sentences, without clues:
   
   1. That egg will break if you drop it.
   2. That cookies smell delicious is a well-known fact.
   3. Whenever their parents take them to the carnival, Sally and her little brother like riding the merry-go-round
   4. To Debbie's surprise, Ben confessed that he loved her.
   5. "Gramophobia" is the fear that studying grammar is deadly.
   6. Heather is very worried that her phone's battery has died.
   7. After a careful search of our family records, we found out the truth about some of our crazy relatives.
   8. You should find out whether that position in the marketing department offers opportunities for advancement.
   9. After I fell off the bicycle everyone asked me if I was okay.(okay, one clue -- there is an indirect object before the sentential direct object in this sentence. VP --> VP NP S-BAR :) )
   10. Their changing the subject suggested that they were somewhat embarrassed.
   11. You know that I know that you wish that this sentence did not require recursion.
   12. You can tell this sentence lacks a complementizer.
3. Thinking about sentence variation:
   
   1. Without adding or deleting any words, just rearrange this sentence to make a new sentence with the exact same meaning:
      "The good part comes next."
   2. If you remove the pronoun "it" from the following sentence and then move the S-Bar at the end of the sentence to the place previously filled by that pronoun, what is the new, equivalent sentence that results?
      "It was obvious that Dracula's girlfriend was flirting with the werewolf."
   3. Write a sentence that uses existential-There.
   4. What would have to be changed about the following sentence to turn it into a sentence that can be diagrammed with our phrase structure rules?
      "This song, I adore."
   5. In which ONE of the three following sentences is the embedded sentence an S-bar? (Hints: All three embedded clauses modify nouns but two of those clauses are "relative clauses," which are not S-bars. Only certain nouns can have S-bars after them; all nouns can have relative clauses after them.)
      1. The boys whom the girls were watching flexed their muscles.
      2. I did not recognize the music that was playing on the jukebox.
      3. The manager rejected the possibility that his assistant was the real brains of the operations.