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.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Language of Grammar: Introduction

Grammar was an intimidating subject when I first started teaching. Much like my students, I worried about remembering all the rules, not to mention all the exceptions to the rules. Unlike my students, I had the teacher edition of the textbook. Lucky me!

Once I mastered the material, I was able to start really developing my teaching philosophy. This blog series is going to breakdown what that consists of and offer several sample lessons complete with instructions. I hope it will prove useful to anyone interested in learning the language of Grammar.

LANGUAGE-BASED GRAMMAR INSTRUCTION

I used to draw the majority of the material for my Grammar lessons from textbooks, my favorite being Shurley English. Now, I use the textbook more as a pacing guide to ensure I am teaching all the key concepts for my age group. It’s great for drills and quick reinforcement, which are absolutely essential for the learning process.

That said, I find a language-based Grammar class that focuses on sentence classification and diagramming most beneficial and rewarding for students. We work with well-written sentences to understand all sorts of concepts, from parts of speech to types of sentences and more. It not only shows the practical application of rules in a meaningful, interesting context, but it also draws on critical thinking skills in a highly logical fashion.

SENTENCE CLASSIFICATION

Sentence classification is a method of labeling all the words in a sentence according to their “jobs.” Let’s take a look at an example.

“I” is a subject pronoun, “love” is a verb, “the” is an article adjective, and “Renaissance” is a direct object. Don’t worry if that feels confusing at the moment. It will become clearer after the first lesson or so.

Notice that word “jobs” are not necessarily the same as parts of speech. For example, a noun is a part of speech, but its job in a sentence can be subject noun, object of the preposition, direct object, indirect object, and predicate noun. Likewise, “Renaissance” is a proper noun, which is here used as a direct object.

By figuring out the job a word plays, students gain a much deeper understanding of the English language than simply looking at parts of speech. Sure, every child should learn to tell the difference between nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. But it’s how those words are used together in a sentence that matters.

Word jobs look at those relationships in a formulaic way that tends to be easy to internalize. Better still, it can be scripted aloud with a question and answer flow that engages students and allows them to immediately self-correct.

Using the example above, I might say, “Who loves the Renaissance?” The class would respond, “I—subject pronoun.”

Next, I would ask, “What is being said about I?” The class would respond, “I love.”

“Love what?” I would continue. “Love the Renaissance,” the students would respond.

Finally, I would simply state, “The.” The class would say, “Article adjective.”

That’s pretty much it. As the teacher, I initially prompt the students for every sentence, but they soon learn how to do it themselves. The back and forth is extremely engaging in what might otherwise be somewhat boring and overwhelming. Instead, much like a math problem, students learn the “formula” for identifying word jobs. In the process, they gain a keen understanding of the internal logic of sentences.

To assist in this process, I frequently recite a set of memorization questions that drill students on the definitions of the various parts of speech and the types of jobs they can play. Here is a copy, which you may want to keep as a handy reference for the upcoming lessons.

Grammar Memorization QuestionsDownload
SENTENCE DIAGRAMMING

Even if you never learned how to sentence diagram, you have probably seen them before. Diagrams are “drawings” that connect words according to their relationship to one another in a sentence. In contrast to classification, which is very auditory, diagramming is very visual.

Let’s take a look at the same sentence.

Each diagram line is “coded” with meaning. “I” and “love” and “Renaissance” are on the main horizontal line, thereby indicating they are the most important. The vertical line that separates “I” from “love” shows that everything in front of it is part of the complete subject and everything after it is part of the complete predicate. The other small vertical line shows that “Renaissance” is the direct object of “love.” “The” is on a diagonal line, showing that it modifies “Renaissance.”

Again, don’t worry if that sounds confusing. I will break it down more systematically in the coming lessons. For now, just consider it an example of what diagrams look like and how they communicate information.

“That looks hard!” parents often say when they visit during a Grammar class and see a row of students classifying and diagramming at the board while the rest do the same at their desks.

Well, it is, and it isn’t. With clear, well-paced instruction and plenty of interesting practice, students move through and master each lesson with relative ease.

What’s more, many tell me it’s fun. No, I’m not just talking about the high-flyers or kids trying to win brownie points. Nearly all of my students jump at the chance to classify and diagram at the board. They say it’s like putting together a puzzle. After they connect one of two pieces, they uncover the hidden “picture” or logic behind the individual parts.

As a teacher, there’s nothing like seeing a student complete a sentence classification and diagram. They begin with a quizzical look but that soon turns into one of focus and determination. By the end, their entire presence is one of triumph.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  1. Pattern One: Subject Noun + Verb
  2. Pattern Two: Subject Noun + Verb-transitive + Direct Object
  3. Pattern Three: Subject Noun + Verb-transitive + Indirect Object + Direct Object
  4. Pattern Four: Subject Noun + Linking Verb + Predicate Noun
  5. Pattern Five: Subject Noun + Linking Verb + Predicate Adjective
  6. Pattern Six: Subject Noun + Verb-transitive + Direct Object + Objective Complement Noun
  7. Pattern Seven: Subject Noun + Verb-transitive + Direct Object + Object Complement Adjective
  8. Mixed Patterns: Infinitive
  9. Mixed Patterns: Participle
  10. Mixed Patterns: Gerund
  11. Mixed Patterns: Simple Sentences
  12. Mixed Patterns: Compound Sentence
  13. Mixed Patterns: Complex Sentence
  14. Mixed Patterns: Compound-Complex Sentence
  15. Authentic Sentences #1
  16. Authentic Sentences #2

I hope you enjoy these lessons! Feel free to share and reproduce them with attribution.