Modern Grammar - ASSIGNMENT 17 James Madison University

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

Draw a phrase structure tree diagram for each of the following sentences. (There is some more practice with recent grammatical constructions as well as some first practice examples for sentential direct objects, sentential subjects, noun complements, and also so-called "adjective complements.")

1. The directions say we should have used every screw.
2. That your dog writes poetry seems unlikely.
3. That three minutes can feel like an eternity is a bizarre fact.
4. That farmer thinks that his cows have magical powers.
5. The lady will throw her glove to the knight, if he requests it sweetly.
6. That the cafeteria put peanut butter and pickles in the same sandwich disturbed the cafeteria's customers.
7. Because the students are experts at grammar, that this sentence has multiple clauses does not bother them.
8. The actor doubted if he would get a part in the new sitcom. (Hint: remember that "if" can be a complementizer...)
9. Gloating that you got a great job angers your job-hunting friends. (A gerund with a sentential D.O.! :) )
10. You know that I know that you hate that analyzing this sentence requires recursion. (This is the trickiest one! Try starting with the littlest sentence on the far right and building up from there...)
11. After winter ends but before summer sets in, millions of geese will migrate.
12. The possibility that the lion loved the mouse occurred to me. (There's a noun complement here.)
13. They seem happy that the lion loved the mouse. (This sentence contains an ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENT, which is like a noun complement but combines with an AP instead of with an N-bar. The rule is the following: AP --> AP S-bar. Give it a try!)