Modern Grammar - Some Practice Sentences James Madison University

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: Here are some sentences that you can use to practice determining the constituency of sentences, drawing trees that represent that constituency, and/or identifying construction types. Some of these sentences focus on challenging combinations of some of the more complex sentence structures we've covered, so look at them carefully. Answers will be available on Blackboard by the end of the day, Saturday, 4/30. I'll also be happy to answer any questions at the review session (Monday, 5/2, 7pm, Keezell G9). Please note, however, though that practicing these sentences should NOT be thought of as a substitute for studying notes, previous assignments, etc! The sentences on the test will not necessarily be exactly like these...

Tree Diagramming:

1. The moon is full.
2. A piece of the puzzle disappeared.
3. This sounds like a complete sentence.
4. The very precocious child invented a better mousetrap.
5. The sweet, little lamb with the soft, woolly coat belongs to Mary.
6. The runner collapsed at the end of the race.
7. I may have been dreaming.
8. Every good boy deserves fudge.
9. The scientist hid his secret notes in the largest beaker on the highest shelf in his lab.
10. The children examined the elephant's big, floppy ears carefully.
11. The overly serious man laughed in the end, and this was very good for him.
12. All men are mortal, but some words are immortal.
13. The drunk claimed that the monster watched the very old man with enormous eyes. (Structurally ambiguous with 2 possible trees!)
14. The small, rather meek prince hoped the strong princess would save him.
15. My friends have a cat and two dogs but they would prefer a potbellied pig or a goat.
16. The driver asked if the officer was joking or being serious when she said she would ticket him.
17. Everyone was astonished that Quayle knew the national anthem.
18. That time heals all wounds might be an overstatement.
19. When we saw Mona Lisa's smile, we understood the claim that art reveals human nature.
20. The landlord preferred that her tenants give the rent to her weekly.
21. If you do not know the answer, we believe that you should think about it for ten minutes before you take a guess.
22. That this is the last sentence on the list is a shame.

Identify constructions in the following sentences as being (or containing) examples of preposing, inversions, noun complements, adjective complements, extrapositions, it-clefts, existential-there clauses, and appositives. (Note that more than one construction may be present in an example sentence.) Also, three sentences are explicitly marked as containing relative clauses. See if you can find the relative clause in each of those sentences and can see why those clauses are not noun complement clauses. :

1. It is odd that nobody will eat my meatloaf.
2. From the cave emerged a horrible monster.
3. There should not be a green crust on this cake.
4. Away it went!
5. The mime was certain that everyone liked his performance.
6. After her hair turned green, Flora had a long talk with Gidget, her new hairdresser.
7. Only people who are tone-deaf can listen to that song. (contains a relative clause)
8. The old castle, which was shrouded in fog, looked like the setting for a gothic film. (contains a relative clause)
9. It was Elton John who wrote "Candle in the Wind," a song about Marilyn Monroe.
10. Most dentists are disliked, but this particular dentist, everyone likes.
11. The hypothesis that there are multiple universes is a hypothesis that some novelists find very intriguing. (contains a relative clause)
12. It seems probable that JMU that will win the finals.

Finally, turn the following two sentences into one complex sentence by turning one of the sentences into a relative clause inside the other one.:
Jody wrote the poem. The poem won an award.