Diagramming Sentences Modified by Dr Sunny Williams Modified

Diagramming Sentences Modified by Dr. Sunny Williams Modified from www. vhinkle. com/lang/DIAGRAMMING_SENTENCES. ppt

Diagramming Sentences • We can diagram a sentence to show its structure and to see how its parts are related. We can diagram sentence a

Start with a horizontal line. Artists paint • Write the simple subject and verb on the line. • Artists paint. • Separate them with a vertical line that crosses the base line.

Another example: Birds are singing • Birds are singing. • Write the simple subject and the COMPLETE verb on the line. • Separate them with a vertical line that crosses the base line.

You Try • Rain is falling.

What if we describe the subject? artists te len Ta Adjective paint d Notice, the first word of the sentence is capitalized here. • Talented artists paint. • “Talented” describes “artists. ” • Write it on a diagonal line below the word it describes.

You Try Cute puppies will play.

What if we describe the verb? artists paint ll we te len Ta Adverb d • Talented artists paint well. • “Well” describes how they paint. • Write it on a diagonal line below the word it describes.

You Try • The man ran slowly.

What if you have a compound subject or predicate? Tom and Bob are studying. Tom Bob a n d are studying

You Try • The boy and his father play.

You Try • Can you figure this out? Suzie sings and dances.

To find direct objects… • First, check to see if the verb is an action verb. • If yes, say the verb and then ask whom or what. • If there is an answer, the answer is the direct object. • We baked cookies. They called her. • I love football.

What if there is a direct object? artists paint pictures ll we te len Ta d • • What do artists paint? Talented artists paint pictures well. Write the direct object after the verb. Draw a vertical separator which stops at the line.

Have you noticed? Artists paint • The vertical line that separates the subject from the verb crosses the base line. pictures • The vertical line that separates the verb from the direct object stops at the base line.

You Try • We sang songs. • My mom baked cake.

What if we describe the direct object? artists pictures paint c d Talented artists paint realistic pictures well. What kind of pictures do artists paint? “Realistic” describes “pictures. ” Write it on a diagonal line under “pictures. ” sti ali re ll we te len Ta • •

To find indirect objects… • First find a direct object. If there is no direct object, there is no indirect object. • After you have the direct object, say the direct object and then ask “for whom/what or to whom/what” • Smart husbands buy wives flowers. • Buy—action verb. Buy what? Flowers-DO. For whom? Wives--IO

What if we have an indirect object? husbands ar Sm t • • buy flowers wives Smart husbands buy wives flowers. Is there a direct object? Action verb? Whom or What? Flowers—For whom or to whom? Wives—Indirect Object

You Try • We will give Tom a piece. • The band played the child a special song.

What if there is a prepositional phrase? artists pictures of tic lis a re ed nt le Ta • • paint people Talented artists paint realistic pictures of people. What do artists paint pictures of? “Of people” describes the pictures. Write it on a frame under “pictures. ”

Try a different prepositional phrase. artists paint d tic lis a re on te len Ta • • canvas pictures Talented artists paint realistic pictures on canvas. Where do artists paint pictures? “on canvas. ” How, when, and where describe verbs. Write it on a frame under “paint. ”

Build a new sentence. • Hamsters run

Describe the hamsters. Energetic hamsters run er En tic ge

Where do hamsters run? Energetic hamsters run on wheels. hamsters run on er En wheels tic ge Adverb Prepositional Phrase Tells where they run.

What kind of wheels? Energetic hamsters run on exercise wheels. hamsters run on er En wheels e cis er ex tic ge “exercise” describes wheels

You Try • The yellow bus stopped by the sign.

You Try • On Monday, we went to school.

Practice another sentence. • Hamsters eat

What do hamsters eat? Action Verb? Eat what? • Hamsters eat seeds “Seeds” is the direct object. It follows the verb, after a vertical separator.

What kind of seeds? • Hamsters eat sunflower seeds. Hamsters eat seeds su nf lo w “Sunflower” describes “seeds. ” Write it on a diagonal line under “seeds. ” er

Have you noticed? • Only subjects, verbs, and objects • Go on the horizontal line. • Words that describe them go below them on diagonal lines. monkeys eat bananas et e sw in th y r ng Hu trees e

Predicate Adjectives and Predicate Nouns/Nominatives • PAs and PNs follow LINKING VERBS and modify or rename the subject. • We are happy. • The class is large. • It is a band. • They are boys.

Linking Verb Trick • Some verbs can be linking or action depending on the sentence—grow, smell, taste, etc. • It is an action verb if it is actually doing the action. The tree fell down. • It is a linking verb if it connects something in the predicate to the subject. The apple tastes good. Here the apple isn’t actively tasting. • Trick: If you can replace the verb with is, then it is usually a linking verb. The apple is good.

What if you have a linking verb? • Tweety is yellow. Tweety is subject verb yellow Subject Complement or Predicate Adjective What follows a linking verb renames or describes the subject. It is a complement, not a direct object.

What if you have a linking verb? • Tweety is yellow. Tweety is subject verb yellow Subject complement Because the complement describes the subject, the dividing line tilts back toward the subject.

Try another sentence. • Sylvester is a cat. Sylvester is cat a • Cat = renames Sylvester. • Cat = predicate noun.

Add more description. • Poor Sylvester is a frustrated predator. Sylvester is predator or d te ra st fru a Po • Predator = renames Sylvester. • Predator = predicate noun.

Other linking verbs • The pot of brains smells suspiciously rancid. In this sentence, the pot is not actively smelling the brains, so smell is a linking verb here. pot smells rancid ly us cio • Rancid = describes the pot. • Rancid = predicate adjective. i sp su of e Th brains

What about compound sentences? Sam studied math, and he aced the test. Sam studied math and he aced test th e

You Try • We went to the store, but we forgot milk.

You Try • Jack and Sam play football, and they run track.

You Try • My mom called, but I missed it.

What about complex sentences with adjective clauses? • Dashed lines connect dependent clauses to the main sentence elements that they modify. (Adjective Clauses)

What about complex sentences with adjective clauses? You choose a color that you like. You choose you like That is a relative pronoun. color a that That you like modifies color—tells which color to choose.

You Try • My neighbor, who is Mr. sick, is kind.

You Try • You are picking the doctor who you want.

You Try • Dad called the game that we watched.

What about complex sentences with adverb clauses? • Subordinating conjunctions are written on the dashed line. (Adverb Clauses) • The dashed line connects the dependent clause to what it modifies.

What about complex sentences with adverb clauses? He left early because he felt sick. He Because is a subordinating conjunction left because he felt sick “Because he felt sick” is an adverb clause telling why he left.

You Try • After the game ended, we ate pizza.

You Try • We missed the movie because traffic was bad.

You Try • Since it is visual, diagramming helps me.