Modern Grammar - ASSIGNMENT 21 James Madison University

Instructions: This assignment will be marked as an acceptable or unacceptable effort. To get full credit, do at least parts A and C. (I recommend trying at least some of B sooner rather than later too, but you'll get answers for all sentences to use for studying purposes.)

1. FIRST, MORE PRACTICE DIAGRAMMING SENTENCES WITH HINTS (including some from the last assignment):
   1. 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 of VPs.)
   2. The winds blew very loudly through the night, but the baby slept well. (Expect two main clauses connected with a coordinate conjunction)
   3. That the cat hated all dogs changed Spot's perspective. (Look at the subject of "changed," which is not the noun phrase "all dogs.")
   4. The directions say we need every screw. (a sentential direct object, no complementizer)
   5. Undoubtedly, many customers complained that the food was bland and overcooked. ( sentential direct object with "that" as a complementizer. )
   6. The actor doubted if he got a part in the new sitcom. (A Sentential direct object with "if" as the complementizer.)
   7. That the squeaky wheel gets the grease frustrates quieter people. (A sentential subject for the verb "frustrates" )
   8. That those fish can fly seems very unlikely. (another sentential subject)
   9. Ralph believes that someone knows the truth. (Look for the sentential direct object of "believes".)
   10. That you are not heating any water on your stove means that we are not having tea today. (Look for a sentential subject and a sentential direct object!)


2. NEXT, MORE PRACTICE BUT NO HINTS:
   
   1. After we left, someone turned off the lights.
   2. That egg will break if you drop it.
   3. That cookies smell delicious is a well-known fact.
   4. Whenever their parents take them to the carnival, Sally and her little brother like riding the merry-go-round.
   5. To Debbie's surprise, Ben confessed that he loved her.
   6. After a careful search of our family records, we found out the truth about some of our crazy relatives.
   7. You should find out whether that position in the marketing department offers opportunities for advancement.
   8. Their changing the subject suggested that they were somewhat embarrassed.
   9. We heard the university cancelled all exams.
   10. Without telling him, the bank has reinvested his money and combined all his accounts. (well, okay, one clue: even an NP inside a PP can be a gerund noun phrase...)
   11. Because you look fearful when we talk about grammar you must think studying grammar can be dangerous.
   12. Heather worried that her phone's battery had died.
   13. After I fell off the bicycle everyone asked me if I was okay.
   
   
3. FINALLY, YOUR FIRST PRACTICE WITH THE LAST NEW COURSE MATERIAL-- SENTENCES FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY (See Part B of the handout "Types of Clauses Including Some Transformations and also see a more detailed handout on "Relative Clauses."):
   
   1. Find the description of "APPOSITIVES" and try to ADD an appositive to any appropriate spot in the following sentence: His masterpiece was on exhibit at the Louvre.
   2. Similarly, look at the description of "INVERSION" and then attempt to UNDO the inversion that created the marked word order in the following sentence: Out of the mouths of babies come words of wisdom.
   3. After looking at the description of "TAG-QUESTIONS," ADD a tag-question to the following sentence: They haven't stopped carrying frozen yogurt.
   4. Attempt to TRANSFORM the following into an "EXTRAPOSITION" by moving the sentential subject to the end of the sentence and adding a "filler-it" pronoun at the beginning: That his toenails are green worries him. (Hint: The transformation may actually make this sentence sound more ordinary and natural to you even though extraposition is a more specialized form.)
   5. "IT-CLEFTS" are not the same as extrapositions, though they do have in common the use of a meaningless "filler-it" in subject position. It-CLEFTS highlight some constituent from a canonical sentence by moving it out of that basic sentence and placing it in front, complete a new "It BE ____" construction. The part of the sentence that was the original, canonical part becomes something similar to a relative clause.
      For the two examples below, FIND the "clefted constituent" (i.e., the words that fill in that blank) and UNDO the transformation, recreating the original sentence. (ex. "It was the turtle that won the race in the end" becomes "The turtle won the race in the end" :) )
      1. It was Igor who rang the bell.
      2. It was the crazy choreography that the actors disliked.
   6. Try to come up with YOUR OWN EXAMPLE of a "PREPOSED" sentence. (see description in the handout)
   7. Which of the following is an "EXISTENTIAL-THERE" sentence? (hint: the other examples involve a more obviously meaningful pro-locative "there" making a spatial/locational reference. :) )
      1. There is always room for improvement.
      2. He is there.
      3. There goes that strange new guy.
   8. Underline the sentence inside the larger sentence below that serves as the description of the particular thing that the children are afraid of (i.e, find the "ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENT"):
      The children are afraid that the sky is falling.
   9. Finally, use the handout on relative clauses to consider the following sentences and try to determine which single ONE out of all of them has a "NOUN COMPLEMENT" following a noun in the sentence rather than an example of a more common, but also more syntactically elaborate "RELATIVE CLAUSE" modifying a noun. Brief reminder: Noun complements are ordinary sentences with a complementizer in front of them (S-bars). Relative clauses, in contrast, either contain a specialized relative pronoun or determiner that is at the front of the sentence (sometimes by moving there) or that has a missing/deleted constituent, such as a missing direct object. Crucially, only a select few nouns--generally ones with meanings related to concepts like thoughts, beliefs,and communication-- allow noun complements. ALL nouns allow relative clauses, even proper nouns!
      1. The winning player says he has skills that the other players lack.
      2. The losing player has proof that the others were cheating.
      3. The butler whom we employ is quite reliable.
      4. Styrofoam, which is a non-biodegradable material, is filling up our landfills.
      5. The individual whose shoes we stole must have cold feet.
      6. Grady, who has never seen a ghost, believes in them wholeheartedly, nonetheless.