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.

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.

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. 

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.