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.