Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Language of Grammar: Gerunds

The last of the three verbals, gerunds usually end up being a snap for my students. Like infinitives and participles, they are also made from verbs. These ones, however, always end in –ing and perform noun jobs in sentences.  

Let’s put this in context with a few examples. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference. And don’t hesitate to jump through the other lessons for review. They are all linked in the introduction to this series through the table of contents.

SAMPLE LESSON

Here are a few examples of the various noun jobs gerunds can use in sentences.

Hopefully, you immediately recognized this sentence as a pattern five (SN LV PrN). Just in case, let’s review the script we would follow if we were classifying the sentence.

What was sinking ships?—pastime (SN)

What is being said about pastime?—pastime was (LV)

Was what?—sinking ships

Does sinking ships mean the same thing as pastime?—yes (PrN)

Since we have a predicate noun phrase that begins with a noun made from a verb that ends in –ing, we can label the whole phrase gerund predicate noun—(GPrN)

Our next sentence is simply the reverse of our first one.

Now, “sinking ships” is the gerund subject noun phrase, and “pastime” is the predicate noun.

Gerunds can also be used for objects of the preposition, first introduced in this lesson.

The prepositional phrase is “for sinking ships.”

Here is the script for that phrase.

For?—preposition (P)

For what?—sinking ships (OP)

Once again, we would go back and add gerund (G) in front of object of the preposition (OP) because “sinking ships” begins with a noun made from a verb that ends in –ing. So the full label would be GOP.

Gerunds can also be used as direct objects.

The script for a pattern two sentence (SN V-t DO) should also be familiar.

Who liked sinking ships?—Elizabeth (SN)

What is being said about Elizabeth?—Elizabeth liked (V-t)

Liked what?—sinking ships (DO)

Since we have a direct object phrase, “sinking ships,” that begins with a noun made from a verb that ends in –ing, we can label the whole phrase gerund direct object–(GDO)

Another common use for gerunds is as object complement nouns found in pattern six sentence (SN V-t DO OCN).

The script for the core parts looks like this.

Who considered Elizabeth’s hobby unfair fighting?—Spain (SN)

What is being said about Spain?—Spain considered (V-t)

Considered what?—hobby (DO)

Considered hobby what?—fighting 

Does fighting mean the same thing as hobby?—yes (OCN)

Since we have an object complement noun phrase, “unfair fighting,” that begins with a noun made from a verb that ends in –ing, we can label the whole phrase gerund object complement noun–(GOCN)

Now for the diagrams.

As you can see, the gerund is placed on a series of lines that looks like a stairwell. I like to think of the gerund as “running” up and down the steps with one floor being for nouns and the other for verbs. Since gerunds are neither, they are kind of stuck in between.

Lastly, the pedestal is somewhat optional. I tend to use it when the gerund has modifiers since it spreads out the words and affords plenty of space. Otherwise, the diagram can look squished and messy.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Ever since Queen Elizabeth turned down King Philip II of Spain’s marriage proposal, their relationship soured along with that of their respective states. Spain, the more dominant power, sought to advance itself ever further at the expense of England.

Elizabeth, knowing her country’s disadvantage but unwilling to cower, came up with a clever plan to wage secret naval warfare on Spain. She enlisted the help of William Drake, a “sea dog” or pirate of sorts, to attack and sink Spain’s ships in nearby English waters. The strained relationship between the two countries eventually came to a head, with Spain attempting to invade England in 1588.

We’ll use the story of that invasion for our practice sentences on gerunds. As always, we’ll mix in a variety of sentence patterns and other verbals.

Indeed, it cemented England as the rising power in Europe. Her preemptive strikes on Spain and her resolve to stand with her men at Tilbury were critical to the victory, which ultimately changed the course of Europe’s balance of power.

England had arrived, so to speak, and it was led by a woman. Like her or not, Elizabeth was a champion for her country and dramatically changed the world.  

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The Language of Grammar: Participles

Once you’ve mastered infinitives, the next verbal to move onto is participles. They are also made from verbs, but they are always used as adjectives. That makes them rather easy to pick out.

In the context of sentence classification, they answer the questions what kind, which one, and how many. So, if you find a word made from a verb that answers one of those questions, you definitely have a participle.

Let’s put this in context with a few examples. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference. And don’t hesitate to jump through the other lessons for review. They are all linked in the introduction to this series through the table of contents.

SAMPLE LESSON

Participles have four different endings, including -ed, -en, -t, or –ing. To illustrate this, we’ll follow Queen Elizabeth into William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

“Excited” is a participle adjective (PAdj) because it is an adjective made from a verb that describes what kind of Globe Theatre.

“Mistaken” is a participle adjective (PAdj) because it is an adjective made from a verb that describes what kind of manners.

“Lost” is a participle predicate adjective (PPAdj) because it is an adjective made from a verb that describes what kind of she.

“Cheering” is a participle adjective (PAdj) because it is an adjective made from a verb that describes what kind of audience.

And this is what those same sentences look like in diagrams.

“Though” sets up a subordinate clause that we connect with a dotted line to the independent clause beginning with “she.” This sentence is formally termed “complex,” which we’ll explain in more detail in a subsequent lesson.

Depending on the publisher, I have seen slight variations of the participle format. The big thing, in my view, is that the word is stretched diagonally across the line. Conceptually, this design is supposed to communicate that a participle is “half adjective” (diagonal line) and “half verb” (horizontal line).

Just like with infinitives, participles need a pedestal when they are on the main horizontal line. Otherwise, they can be neatly tucked beneath it.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Though it is unlikely Queen Elizabeth dictated the subject matter of any of Shakespeare’s plays, there is little doubt he was constantly catering to her interests. Perhaps that is most obvious in Richard III. A one-time family rival, Shakespeare well-knew that Elizabeth would enjoy seeing Richard villainized on stage while making her grandfather, Henry VII, a hero.  

We will use the storyline of the play for these practice sentences. Once we are through, we will compare the fictional Richard to the historical Richard.

Shakespeare’s storyline was sensational and, to some extent, believed to be historically accurate at the time. In all likelihood, he used St. Thomas More’s biography of Richard III to support his characterization of Richard as such a detestable villain. (Even saints can make mistakes, especially when they are deliberately misled as Thomas was.)

Nevertheless, modern historians have done much to clear Richard’s name since then. Many have persuasively argued that it was Henry Tudor who killed the boys, not Richard. Then, in one of history’s most successful cover-ups, he blamed the murders on Richard.   

No matter where the truth may lie, Elizabeth most certainly liked Shakespeare’s characterization of Richard. Vilifying one of her opponents and glorifying one of her ancestors played right into her political propaganda. One can certainly imagine Elizabeth reveling in the virtuous heroism of her grandfather depicted in the play and bowing before the people of England as if she herself had slayed the monstrous Richard.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Language of Grammar: Infinitives

Before I started teaching grammar, I had no idea what infinitives were. Sure, I had heard of them, but they seemed like subject matter for grammar cocktail parties (split infinitive anyone?). No thank you! I thought.

I had never learned about infinitives in my grammar classes, and I was getting by just fine. So when I became a teacher myself, I shied away from them for the first few years. There was so much to teach already!

But then I started really getting the hang of grammar, and my lessons began to move more rapidly. I found myself having extra time at the end of the school year to keep going. There was no longer any excuse to ignore infinitives, not to mention gerunds and participles, which we’ll get to soon enough.

So if you’re not content to relegate infinitives into an obscure Jeopardy category, then this is the lesson for you!

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference. And don’t hesitate to jump through the other lessons for review. They are all linked in the table of contents found in the introduction to this series.

SAMPLE LESSON

Infinitives are generally easy to recognize because they follow a predictable pattern: to + verb. Let’s find the infinitive in the following quote by Queen Elizabeth. 

“There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.”

So maybe she exaggerated a little, but it’s still a good quote, especially for our purposes. “To die” is an infinitive because it follows the “to + verb” pattern.

Okay, that’s basic enough, but to really understand infinitives, we have to put them into the fuller context of language. It’s not enough to just recognize them. We need to think about them in connection to the parts of speech. Though they look like verbs, they are not. Rather, infinitives can serve as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. When nouns, they can have multiple noun jobs: subject noun, predicate noun, object of the preposition, indirect object, and direct object.

In the example above, “to die” functions as a noun, and its jobs is that of a direct object because it answers the verb what question.

Am willing what?—to die (DO)

What kind of direct object?—infinitive direct object (IDO)

Given that infinitives are made from verbs but do not act like verbs, they are classified as verbals. Verbals themselves are not a part of speech, just as infinitives are not. They are simply one of the seemingly endless grammar classifications out there. Everything need a name, I guess.

Now for the diagram. Though it would be fun in a teacher-kind-of-way to diagram the whole sentence, we’re not ready for that yet. (The sentence structure is far beyond our current lessons.) Let’s content ourselves with diagramming just the infinitive. That’s the important part.

The top portion looks like the familiar format for a prepositional phrase. Given that “to” is often used as preposition, this makes perfect sense to my students. They just need to be reminded to look closely at the object of “to.” If the object is a noun or a pronoun, then they have found a prepositional phrase. If it’s a verb, then they have found an infinitive.

The long vertical line with the two “feet” beneath it is generally referred to as a pedestal. We use pedestals when the infinitive goes on the main horizontal line.

In many cases, infinitives consist of more than “to + verb.” When that happens, we call it an infinitive phrase, and we can classify and diagram the phrase the same way we would if the verb really were a verb. In our example, we would use this script to finish the infinitive phrase.

To die what?—deaths (DO)

How many deaths?—ten (Adj)

That phrase would look like this as a diagram.

Here’s the catch: “deaths” is not really a direct object, nor is “ten” really an adjective because they are part of the infinitive phrase. So when we classify them, we don’t need to give them individual labels. We can just put brackets around them to show they are connected to the infinitive.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Although we will never know if Queen Elizabeth really was willing to die ten times for her country, we do know that she was willing to kill multiple times for it. The martyrdom of Saint Edmund Campion is but one example. Elizabeth had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for spreading the Catholic faith, which she deemed treasonous.

Let’s use his story to practice classifying and diagramming infinitives and review our seven sentence patterns at the same time.

Here we have an infinitive adverb phrase because “to become an Anglican priest” answers the adverb question studied why.

Alternatively, you could label “however” as a conjunction. Since it is not connecting two complete thoughts, I prefer to label it as an adverb.
“Held” is a linking verb because it is not showing action. An easy way to confirm this is to see if you can substitute a being verb for “held” and retain the intended meaning.

Elizabeth’s brutal hand in killing Edmund no doubt sparked fear in the underground Catholic Club, as the Catholic leaders in England were called, but Edmund’s courage in the face of death did much to overcome that. Many were so inspired by Edmund that they, too, ended up offering their lives rather than compromising their souls.

Such is the way of martyrdom. Like the famous Christian author and historian Tertullian said during the early Roman persecutions, “The more they cut us down, the more we grow. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” It would take several decades, but Catholicism would eventually be legalized again in England. Elizabeth would have little imagined how much it had thrived in the meantime.

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The Language of Grammar: Pattern Seven

We’ve made it all the way to pattern seven! This is the point when my students start celebrating, and they feel like they’ve mastered the language of grammar. Of course there’s a lot left to learn from here, but there’s no reason not to celebrate. Mastering all seven patterns is a major accomplishment.

So here is what pattern seven looks like. It has four core parts and follows the same internal logic of pattern six, making it relatively easy to learn. First comes the familiar subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the verb-transitive (V-t), which is an action verb that sends or transfers its action to something else. The something that receives the action is called the direct object (DO). Last of all comes the object complement adjective (OCA), which modifies the direct object.

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Here is a simple sentence about Henry’s second daughter, Elizabeth, next in the line of succession after Mary.

To classify this sentence we would follow a simple script.

Who considered herself clever?—Elizabeth (SN)

What is being said about Elizabeth?—Elizabeth considered (V)

Considered whom?—herself (DO)

Since we have a direct object, we can go back to the verb and label it transitive—(V-t)

Considered herself what?—clever

Does clever mean the same thing as herself?— no, clever modifies herself (OCA)

So the only difference with pattern six is that the object complement modifies the direct object, making it an adjective, instead of meaning the same thing as it. It really is that simple!

And, it gets even better. Pattern seven diagrams are the same as pattern six.

You probably noticed that this is a comparatively short sample lesson. That’s because I previously went into so much detail on pattern six, which is the foundation for pattern seven. If you need clarification, just go back to pattern six. If not, continue on to the practice sentences.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

All of our practice sentences will revolve around Queen Elizabeth. She is such a prominent historical figure, I am going to take her story a little at a time. For this post, I am focusing on some of her overarching characteristics and style of rule. There will be time to get into finer details later. As always, I am going to mix other patterns along with pattern seven.

She’s not so beloved in my classroom, however. We spend considerable time studying Saint Edmund Campion, and it’s hard to like Elizabeth in that context. Similarly, we study William Shakespeare and Elizabeth’s patronage therein, and it’s hard to ignore the propagandist impact she had on turning family rivals like Richard III into monsters through Shakespeare’s plays.

Despite these criticisms, my students generally agree Elizabeth deserves all the fanfare she’s been awarded throughout history. She was extremely good at managing the affairs of state in tandem with the politics of her personal cult. In a way, she redefined power itself. Generations of leaders, both male and female, have borrowed from her playbook.

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The Language of Grammar: Pattern Six

My students feel no small sense of pride (and relief) when we get to pattern six. That’s because it’s the most advanced pattern yet, combining earlier sentence structures in a new way, and it’s the second to last pattern of all. Better still, pattern six is almost identical to pattern seven, so mastering six is really key. We refer to it as the beginning of the end of our sentence patterns.

Pattern six has four core parts. First comes the familiar subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the verb-transitive (V-t), which is an action verb that sends or transfers its action to something else. The something that receives the action is called the direct object (DO).

Wait. That sounds like pattern two. And so it does—until we add one more core part.

Last of all comes the object complement noun (OCN), which is a word that means the same thing as the direct object.

Now you’re probably scratching your head just like my students do and asking, “Isn’t that like a predicate noun?” Yes, it is! The only difference is that predicate nouns match subject nouns, while object complement nouns match direct objects.

Okay, that’s a lot to take in all at once. Let’s break this down with some visuals for review and  comparison.

Pattern One
Pattern Two
Pattern Three
Pattern Four
Pattern Five
Pattern Six

Notice that pattern six starts off in a linear fashion, moving from the subject noun, to the verb-transitive, to the direct object. Then, it suddenly doubles back with the object complement noun. In a way, pattern six blends the logic of pattern two and pattern four.

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Here is a simple sentence about Henry’s oldest daughter, Mary, which shows the internal logic of pattern six.

To classify this sentence we would follow a simple script.

Who crowned Mary queen?—England (SN)

What is being said about England?—England crowned (V)

Crowned whom?—Mary (DO)

Since we have a direct object, we can go back to the verb and label it transitive—(V-t)

Crowned Mary what?—queen

Does queen mean the same thing as Mary?—yes (OCN)

With a little practice, my students quickly learn to recognize pattern six sentences. Since they start off so similarly to pattern two, it becomes rather easy to tack on the last part of the question and answer flow to identify the object complement noun.

The only tricky part can be figuring out which word is the direct object and which is the object complement noun. Happily, they just have to remember that the direct object always comes first. 

Now for the diagram.

Notice it looks like a combination of pattern two and pattern four. Because of that similarity, my students have a relatively easy time mastering the format.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Let’s keep working with Queen Mary, next in the line of succession after her brother Edward. Since, as we previously learned, Edward died prematurely without even the chance to marry, he had no heirs and reluctantly passed the crown onto her.

Mary thus became England’s first female monarch to rule alone, marking a fundamental shift in gender politics that would eventually give way to the so-called modern era.

That’s right! Mary is the “farmer’s wife” from “Three Blind Mice.” The mice represent three influential Protestants whom she had killed. She is also featured in “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.” In that one, her “garden” is made of the dead she tortured and killed with “silver bells,” “cockle-shells,” and “pretty maids all in a row.”
“App” stands for appositive, which is a repetitive name for something. In this case, “Elizabeth” is a repetitive name for “sister.” The first name is always the subject noun, and the second name is the appositive.
She was advised to kill Elizabeth but chose instead to imprison her in the Tower of London.
His intentions were fundamentally driven by a quest for power, but Mary did not seem to realize that during their courtship.

Mary’s story is a sad one. She was born into one of history’s most tumultuous families, separated from her mother at a young age, and denied even a chance to visit her on her death bed. When Mary did become queen, she was constantly in danger of being overthrown. Her marriage was more or less a sham, as Philip made open advances toward Elizabeth and readily supported naming her heir.  

Nevertheless, Mary’s personal charisma and political acumen were so lacking that history has little sympathy for her. It has reduced her entire rule to a Protestant witch hunt and, not surprisingly, infamously dubbed her “Bloody Mary.”

What is surprising is that Elizabeth, a Protestant, would persecute and kill even more Catholics during her rule and yet gain the undying love of her people. We’ll start looking at Elizabeth’s long and complex history in the next lesson on pattern seven.  

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The Language of Grammar: Pattern Five

Once you understand pattern four sentences, pattern five are a snap. They share the same internal logic, so it actually works well to learn them simultaneously.

Like pattern four, pattern five has three core parts. First comes the familiar subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the linking verb (LV), which ties the subject to the predicate in a two-directional way. Last comes the predicate adjective (PA), which modifies the subject noun.

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Here is a simple sentence about Henry that shows the internal logic of pattern four.

To classify this sentence, we would use the following script.

Who was angry?—Henry (SN)

What is being said about Henry?—Henry was (V)

Was what?—angry

Does angry mean the same thing as Henry?—no, angry modifies Henry (PA)

Go back to the verb. —was (LV)

If you compare this question and answer flow with the one for pattern four, you will notice that everything is the same until we get to the fourth question about whether or not the predicate matches the subject. In pattern four, the answer to this question is YES, they DO match. But, in pattern five, the answer is NO, they DO NOT match. Nevertheless, they are connected in that the predicate adjective adds more meaning to the subject noun. In this example, “angry” explains what kind of person Henry is.

This is what it looks like in a diagram.

The difference between pattern four and pattern five is so subtle, they follow the exact same format when it comes to diagramming.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

For better or worse, it’s time to say goodbye to Henry and move onto his children. We will begin with his youngest child, Edward, who took the crown next in succession thanks to the practice of primogeniture explained in this post. These sentences combine pattern four and five.

“Son” matches “Edward,” so this sentence is pattern four.
“Pale” and “thin” modify “he,” so this sentence is pattern five.
“King” matches “Edward,” so this sentence is pattern four.
“Distressed” modifies “kingdom,” so this sentence is pattern five.
“Protestant” modifies “kingdom,” so this sentence is pattern five.

His rule was so short because he died prematurely at the age of fifteen, leaving a very complicated line of succession in his wake. Being so young and unwed, he had no heirs.

Thus, his eldest sister, Mary, who had previously been declared illegitimate, managed to ascend the throne despite Edward’s opposition. We’ll look at her reign in the next lesson on pattern six.

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The Language of Grammar: Pattern Four

While the first three sentence patterns build off of one another, that is not so with pattern four. It follows a totally different internal logic.    

Pattern four sentences have three core parts. First comes the familiar subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the linking verb (LV), which ties the subject to the predicate in a two-directional way. Last comes the predicate noun (PrN), which means the same thing as the subject noun. And there’s the difference in the logic of the sentence: the subject and predicate “match.”

Let’s take a minute and compare patterns one, two, three, and four by way of a visual.

Pattern One
Pattern Two
Pattern Three

Notice that the first three patterns all move from the subject noun toward the predicate in a linear, one-directional way. Now, look at how that changes with the pattern four sentence.

Pattern Four

In a pattern four sentence, the subject noun and the predicate noun can be flipped because they mean the same thing or nearly the same thing. Put differently, they are two ways of saying the same thing. 

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Here is a simple sentence about Henry that shows the internal logic of pattern four.

To classify this sentence, we would use the following script.

Who was king?—Henry (SN)

What is being said about Henry?—Henry was (V)

Was what?—king

Does king mean the same thing as Henry?—yes (PrN)

Go back to the verb. —was (LV)

You probably noticed that the script questions started off the same as the other patterns until we got to “was what?—king.” In a pattern two or three sentence, we would label the answer to the “verb what?” question as a direct object. But that doesn’t work here because “king” is not receiving any action from the verb. And the reason it’s not receiving action is because “was” is not an action verb in the first place. It’s a linking verb, which, incidentally, is made from a being verb.

It’s helpful, though not necessary, to have students memorize the being verbs and discuss how they can be used as linking verbs in pattern four sentences. Nevertheless, as long as they understand the question and answer flow, they develop an intuition about the different types of verbs because of how they are connected to the sentence as a whole.

This brings us to a second, related point.

Up until now, you may have been wondering why the verb question for classifying focuses on what is being said about the subject noun instead of asking what the subject noun does. The reason is that not all verbs are action verbs. While we could focus on what the subject noun does for patterns one, two, and three, that focus becomes mute in pattern four since linking verbs show no action.

To keep things consistent and help students memorize the question and answer flow, it is much better to always ask the same question. Thus, that question should focus on what is being said about the subject noun.

Let’s see what this looks like as a diagram.

Happily, it’s almost exactly the same as a pattern two. The only difference is that the line that separates the linking verb from the predicate noun is slanted. I personally imagine the slant as the beginning of a “link” that would circle back to the subject noun.  

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Now it’s time to try classifying and diagramming pattern four sentences. We’ll mix in pattern two sentences for comparison. Our focus is on Saint Thomas More, a man caught between serving his king, Henry VIII, and his God. 

“Became” is a linking verb in this sentence because it connects the subject noun and predicate noun in an interchangeable way. We can test this by trying to substitute a more obvious linking verb in its place, like “was.” If the meaning works, then it’s definitely a linking verb.
“PNA” stands for possessive noun adjective. We have two in the sentence: “king’s” and “God’s.” We would ask, “Whose loyal servant?–king’s (PNA).” Likewise, “Whose servant first?–God’s (PNA).”
We’ll deal with compound sentences in a subsequent post. For now, notice that the conjunction “but” is set on a staircase that connects the verb in the first complete thought to the verb in the second complete thought.

In doing so, Thomas firmly upheld the Church’s opposition to Henry’s divorce. Perhaps that sounds trivial by today’s standards, but Thomas well knew there was much more at stake than the king of England’s marital preferences. The very legitimacy of the Church’s authority was being called into question.

As God’s servant first, Thomas preferred to sacrifice his own life than undermine the Church in any way. No wonder he was instantly declared a saint by the people.

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The Language of Grammar: Pattern Three

Before I adopted a language-based approach to studying grammar, pattern three sentences were one of the hardest. Now, dare I say, they are one of the easiest. I hope you will think so, too, by the end of this lesson.

Pattern three sentences have four core parts, which distinctly draw from pattern two. First comes the subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the verb-transitive (V-t), which is an action verb that sends or transfers its action to something else. The something that receives the action is called the direct object (DO). Here’s the tricky part: the direct object is then received by an indirect object (IO).

Let’s put this in context with an example. Be sure to download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Taken as a whole, all pattern three sentences are about giving something to something else. No doubt Henry VIII was very generous in his own way, so let’s continue working with him.

To classify this sentence, we would follow a simple script.

Who gave Anne flowers?—Henry (SN)

What is being said about Henry?—Henry gave (V)

Gave what?—flowers (DO)

Since we have a direct object, we can go back to the verb and label it transitive—(V-t)

Gave flowers to whom?—Anne (IO)

Okay, hopefully that is simple enough. With practice, my students quickly internalize the script and learn to prompt themselves in order to classify sentences on their own. Indirect objects feel rather abstract when defined in isolation. But, as soon as you look at them in connection to all the other core parts, they tend to come into focus.

Now, let’s see what this looks like as a diagram.

Notice that this pattern three diagram looks just like a pattern two diagram but with the addition of two extra lines: the blank diagonal one attached to “gave” and the horizontal one built off of it that says “Anne.” Now ask yourself if that combination looks familiar.

It should! It’s exactly the same format we use for prepositional phrases, the difference being there is no preposition to place on the diagonal line. (After all, it’s not a prepositional phrase but an indirect object). If we were to imagine one, there are two that would make sense, and they are: to and for. Both of those prepositions show relationships based on giving and receiving.

So, one way to test whether or not we have a pattern three sentence is to imagine to or for in front of the indirect object. If the sentence makes sense, then you know it’s a pattern three. One caveat—if to or for is actually in the sentence, then they are setting up a prepositional phrase, not a pattern three sentence.

Alternatively, we could have said, “Henry gave to Anne flowers.” It means the same thing as the example but sounds awkward, so I flipped it.

Conceptually, the sentence above is exactly the same as our pattern three sentence example, but it’s no longer pattern three. It’s pattern two with a prepositional phrase.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Now it’s time to try classifying and diagramming pattern three sentences. We’ll mix a few pattern one and two sentences in as well to help our story flow more naturally. Our focus is on Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the man Henry VIII first commissioned to obtain his annulment from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

PPA stands for possessive pronoun adjective, which refers to a pronoun that owns something. The question we would ask is, “Whose divorce?–Henry’s (PPA).”
“Not” is often mistakenly classified as a verb, but it is always an adverb. The question we would ask is, “Did approve how?–not (Adv).”

That didn’t stop Henry, of course. As we know from our pattern two lesson, he went on to divorce Catherine anyway. In doing so, he rejected the authority of the pope and declared himself the head of the Church in England, thereby sowing the seeds for the birth of the Anglican Church.

Our next major player in this drama is St. Thomas More, and we will look at him next in connection to pattern four sentences.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Language of Grammar: Pattern Two

Once you have learned how to classify and diagram pattern one sentences, the next step is to learn pattern two sentences. They have three core parts.

First comes the subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. Next comes the verb-transitive (V-t), which is an action verb that sends or transfers its action to something else. The something that receives the action is called the direct object (DO).

Before we get started with examples, take a moment and download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

SAMPLE LESSON

Pattern two sentences are all about the verb-transitive. If students understand their function, then everything else falls into place. Let’s take a look at a few to see how they are used in sentences.

Aside from the fact that Henry has some serious anger management issues, you probably noticed that each verb-transitive is directly connected to an object. We can establish that connection by taking the verb-transitive and simply asking what after it.

Pounded what?—fist

Kicked what?—door

Lowered what?—hatchet

If there were no answer to the what question, then we would have to conclude that the verb was not a verb-transitive. Here are some sentence examples with verbs that are not transitive.

The first two examples have action verbs, but they are not transitive because their action does not go anywhere, so to speak. Yes, there are prepositional phrases that follow the verbs, but prepositional phrases can’t receive action. Remember, they show relationships between ideas. They establish context. As such, the first two sentences are pattern one.

The last sentence definitely does not have a verb-transitive because “was” is not even an action verb. It’s a linking verb, which we’ll get to later when we learn patterns four and five. Since “was” has no action in the first place, it certainly can’t send action to anything.

Finally, let’s try diagramming our pattern two sentence examples.

Each core part goes on the main horizontal line in the same order they appear in the sentence. We use a long vertical line to separate the subject noun and the verb-transitive because that signals the separation between the complete subject and the complete predicate. Yes, that means the direct object is part of the predicate because it is connected to the verb. As such, we only use a short vertical line to separate the two.

Go back to the previous lesson for a review of the modifier questions for adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

Now for the fun part. Let’s try classifying and diagramming some pattern two sentences about Henry VIII and his six wives.

And there you have the tragic tale of Henry VIII’s six wives. We’ll look at some of the other players in this great drama in the next lesson on pattern three sentences.  

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Language of Grammar: Pattern One

The best place to start classifying and diagramming is with a pattern one sentence. In its most basic form, it consists of only two words. The first word is the subject noun (SN), or who or what the sentence is about. The second word is the verb (V), or what is being said about the subject noun.

Before we get started with examples, take a moment and download the grammar memorization questions as a cross-reference.

Grammar Memorization QuestionsDownload
SAMPLE LESSON  

Let’s take a look at a pattern one sentence.

In the example, “Henry” is the subject noun because the sentence is about him, and “ruled” is the verb because that is what is being said about him. Of course, it’s kind of a boring sentence, but it is a sentence. We know that because it’s a complete thought by itself. As such, the subject noun and the verb are the sentence’s core parts. 

If we want to make it more interesting, we just add a few modifiers. Adjectives (Adj) are good modifiers to start with. They add meaning to nouns and pronouns. They show “what kind,” “which one,” and “how many” of something. Here is an example.

“King” is an adjective because it says what kind of person Henry is. “VII” is also an adjective. It says which Henry the sentence is about.

Next, let’s try an adverb (Adv) modifier. Adverbs add meaning to verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They show “how,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “to what extent” of something.

“Self-righteously” is an adverb because it shows how he ruled.

(Incidentally, I say it was self-righteously because Henry would not listen to the reason of men such as St. Thomas More who warned him of the dangers of breaking with the Church in order to satisfy his more carnal appetites. Likewise, Henry was very clever at justifying his actions as being for the sake of securing a male heir, allegedly “for the kingdom.”)

Okay, the sentence has gotten a lot more interesting, but it still lacks context. That’s where prepositional phrases come in handy.

Prepositional phrases start with a preposition (P) and end with an object of the preposition (OP). Collectively, their function is to show the relationship of one idea to another idea. Some prepositional phrases function as adjectives; others function as adverbs.

By adding “over England” we now have an adverb prepositional phrase that modifies “ruled.” Specifically, it tells us where Henry ruled.

Prepositions should either be memorized or so familiar as to be immediately recognizable.

Let’s add a few more prepositional phrases and see what happens.

We now have three prepositional phrases. “Over England” still explains where he ruled. “From 1509” explains when he ruled. “To 1547,” however, shows how many years he ruled past 1509. As such, we have to build the diagram like this.

Notice that “to 1547” is drawn off of “1509.” That makes it an adjective prepositional phrase because 1509 is a noun, not to mention that the phrase answers an adjective question.

PRACTICE SENTENCES

To round out the lesson, here are several more pattern one sentences about Henry VIII that include adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. 

“CV” stands for “Compound Verb,” meaning there are two verbs in the sentence.
Compound core parts get stacked one on top of the other. The one on top should be the first one to appear in the sentence.

Poor Henry! (Note my sarcasm.) When we get to pattern two sentences in the next lesson, I’ll be able to fill in more of the racy details like who he married and what happened to each of them. For now, we have to content ourselves with generalities.