Language Structures — Practice


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 SENTENCE ANALYSIS

Look at the following sentences and make remarks on their logical and grammatical structures.

    Click on green dot beside each sentence to verify if your analysis matches the one suggested here.

    Remark: when no verbal mode is indicated, indicative mode is implied.

  1. An airplane was flying low over the hills. 
  2. Kicking and screaming shall take you nowhere. 
  3. Marco hates hiking on deforested mountains. 
  4. The rescuers are highly trained specialists. 
  5. The discovery of America took place in 1492 and was effected by Spanish crews. 
  6. I never believed that you had hidden the papers which you were given by our lawyer. 
  7. To be able to write a great hit song is not within the means of any of the composers you suggest. 
  8. That we should beg their approval is something I cannot accept. 
  9. We arrived early in order to obtain front row seats, in spite of our concern that the match would be cancelled due to the strike of public transport. 
  10. Winning €1 million is not easy. 
  11. After decompressing, start reading the speech.htm file. 

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SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

Sentence 1: An airplane was flying low over the hills

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This sentence consists of one clause only (it is a simple sentence).
The clause has a core ("An airplane was flying") and two complements:

  1. a complement of manner: "low"
      [Remark: usually "low" is an adjective within a noun bundle, as in "A low ceiling".
      Here however, it does not qualify a noun, it qualifies a verb ("was flying"), so it is not an adjective, it is an adverb. Recall that "adverb" is a grammar term, from a logical perspective is a complement.]
  2. a complement of place / dynamic type: "over the hills"
Logical analysis
    An airplane: subject
    was flying: predicate (intransitive: no object needed)
    low: complement of manner
    over the hills: complement of place
Grammatical analysis
    An airplane: noun bundle, consisting of:
    • "An": Determiner > Article / Indefinite
    • "airplane": Noun > Concrete / Common / Neuter / Singular
    "was flying": Verb > Indicative / Past progressive
    "low": Adverb
    "over the hills": Adverb, made up of:
    • "over": preposition
    • "the hills": Noun Bundle, consisting of:
      • "the": Determiner > Article, definite
      • "hills": Noun > Concrete / common / neuter / plural

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Sentence 2: Kicking and screaming shall take you nowhere

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We met a similar pattern at the very beginning of this documentation: "Winning $1 million is not easy".

"Winning", "kicking", "screaming" are gerunds. And gerunds compress plenty of information in just one word.

This sentence may be decompressed into:

  • When you kick and scream you do something which takes you nowhere.
Seen in this light, the sentence is a complex one of the nested kind, where the subject is inflated into a sub-clause(1): "You kick and scream".

Logical analysis

Kicking and screaming: Subject
Shall take: Predicate (transitive: object needed)
You: Object
Nowhere: complement of place (dynamic kind)

Grammatical analysis

Kicking: verb "to kick", (gerund / present)
And: conjunction
Screaming: gerund of "to scream", present tense
Shall take: verb "to take" > future tense
You: personal pronoun
Nowhere: adverb (of place)

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Sentence 3: Marco hates hiking on deforested mountains

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While in Kicking and screaming shall take you nowhere we had a clause performing as subject, here we have a clause ("hiking on deforested mountains") performing as object in the shadow pattern "somebody hates something".
Once again, we are dealing again with a complex sentence of the nested kind.

Logical analysis

Marco: Subject
Hates: Predicate (transitive: object needed)
Hiking: Object
On deforested mountains : complement of place
[However, hiking on deforested mountains is what Marco hates — not hiking per se(2). Logically, "hiking on deforested mountains" is a unitary element.
(Deforested is the past participle of verb "to deforest". It is here used as an adjective.)]

Grammatical analysis

Marco: Noun > Concrete / Proper
Hates: Verb > 3rd person singular, present tense
    [cannot be set in progressive tense, because designates a permanent state]
Hiking: Same as Kicking in sentence 2 above: a gerund, behaves as a noun
On: Preposition
Deforested mountains: Noun bundle
    [Deforested: Adjective (of Past Participle origin)]
[Mountains > Noun > Concrete / Common / neuter / plural]
    [Zero-article: Article is missing to stress that he hates bare mountains in general]

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Sentence 4: The rescuers are highly trained specialists

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This a "simple" sentence (only one clause in it).

Logical analysis

The rescuers: Subject
Are highly trained specialists: Predicate
    [of the TO BE + QUALIFIER kind]
[TO BE > "are"]
[QUALIFIER > "highly trained specialists" - a noun bundle]

Grammatical analysis

The rescuers: Noun Bundle
    [with "Noun (rescuers) + Determiner (the)"]
    [Rescuers: Noun > Concrete / Common / Plural]
    [The: definite article, because specific rescuers are meant, not any rescuer]
Are: Verb > at 3rd person plural, indicative mode, present tense [not progressive: it designates a permanent trait]
Highly: Adverb (of manner)
    [or better: an intensifier, something which steps up the "being trained" level]
Trained specialists: Noun bundle
    [Adj. Trained (originates from verb "to train", past participle); noun "specialists" > concrete / common / plural]

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Sentence 5: The discovery of America took place in 1492 and was effected by Spanish crews

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This is not a "simple" sentence because two clauses are there instead of one.
Nor is it a "complex" sentence, because neither clause governs the other: either clause can be removed:

  • take away "The discovery ... took place in 1492" and you are left with something which still stands "The discovery of America was effected by Spanish crews";
  • on doing the reverse, what is left - "The discovery of America took place in 1492" - is also a self-standing clause.
    They do share the same subject ("the discovery of America") out of shorthand expediency, not because of mutual dependence.
Hence it is a "compound" sentence.

Logical analysis

1st clause
The discovery of America: subject
    ["of America" is a complement added to subject "The discovery" (it is not an apposition, because this is juxtaposed, i.e. set beside with no connector.]
Took place: predicate
    [intransitive kind, same meaning as "happened"]
In 1492: complement of time

2nd clause
The discovery of America: implicit Subject
    [not repeated, because it is shared by the 1st clause as well]
Was effected: predicate, passive construction, past tense
By Spanish crews: (agent) complement

[REVERSAL INTO ACTIVE:
    Spanish crews (new subject) effected (predicate, transitive, object needed) the discovery of America (object)]

Grammatical analysis

The only term worth noting is "BY" — a preposition
All other grammatical comments are the same found in previous sentences.

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Sentence 6: I never believed that you had hidden the papers which you were given by our lawyer

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This is a complex sentence of the nested kind. Its shadow pattern is "I never believed something", where something is expanded into two clauses:

  1. You have hidden something
  2. Our lawyer gave you something.
The 1st subordinate is the real object:
I never believed >> that (a conjunction) You had hidden the papers.
The 2nd subordinate elaborates on the information given in the first subordinate: those papers had been given to you by our lawyer.

Logical analysis

1st clause

Nothing new to add to comments made in preceding sentences.

Grammatical analysis

New term worth noting: "which" (a relative pronoun playing a connecting role between the two clauses).

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Sentence 7: To be able to write a great hit song is not within the means of any of the composers you suggest

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Logical comments

A complex sentence, basically of the nested kind but with an external element grafted into it: "(the ones whom) you suggest". Thus this complex sentence is a hybrid, where the nested pattern is dominant but the star-like is also present.
  • The shadow pattern is: "something cannot be attained by somebody".
    • "Something" (the subject in the pattern) = Writing a hit song.
    • "Somebody" (the agent complement in the pattern): the musicians you are suggesting

Grammatical comments

Worth noting: phrase "is not within the means" can be re-worded as "(those composers…) CANNOT write a musical hit" - i.e. MODAL verb "can" in negative form would serve the same purpose.

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Sentence 8: That we should beg their approval is something I cannot accept

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Logical comments

Once again: complex sentence of the nested kind (with the object blown-up into a clause: "us requesting their approval").
Shadow sentence pattern: Somebody ("I") cannot accept something ("begging their approval").

Grammatical comments

A modal ("cannot") joins verb "accept".

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Sentence 9: We arrived early in order to obtain front row seats, in spite of our concern that the match would be cancelled due to the strike of public transport.

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Logical comments

This is a complex sentence of the star-like kind:

  • There is a main clause at the centre of the network linking the various clauses:
    We arrived early (Main clause)
  • There is s purpose subordinate:
    in order to have front row seats
    or, re-phrasing it to make the clause core stand out more:
    we were pursuing the aim of sitting in the front (1st Subordinate clause)
  • There is a subordinate emphasising the risk of failure
    It might all have been for nothing (2nd Subordinate clause)
  • And, depending on this last subordinate, there is an additional subordinate clarifying why there was a risk (a causal subordinate):
    Transport stoppage might have led to the cancellation of the match (3rd Subordinate clause)

Grammatical comments

Let us analyse all terms from a grammatical viewpoint.

    To refresh which terms are grammatical, click here.
    Click on green dots to check your solutions with those suggested here.

  • We 
  • arrived 
  • early 
  • in order 
  • to obtain 
  • front row seats 

  • in spite of 
  • our concern 
  • that 
  • the match 
  • would be cancelled 

  • due to 
  • the strike 
  • of 
  • public transport 

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Sentence 10: Winning €1 million is not easy.

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This sentence was introduced in #1.3 to make the point that a subject can be anything meant to be the focus of a statement.

Logical comments

At the stage this example was made, it was considered to be a clause because sentences had not been discussed yet.
Now we recognise it as a complex sentence of the nested kind.

  • The shadow pattern is something is not easy and we may take that as the main clause.
  • Within it, the element something is expressed as a sub-clause: winning €1 million, with €1 million being the object of winning;

      To be noted:
      "winning" is a gerund, that is a verb performing as a noun.
      In this case however it is evident that we have a sui generis(3) noun, because its nature of verb still transpires in that "to win" may be used transitively and here an object ("€1 million") is indeed attached to the gerund form.

  • is not easy: a predicate of the 1st pattern.

Grammatical comments

  • As just mentioned, "winning" is the gerund mode, present tense of verb "to win". Fundamentally, it is a transitive verb (something has to be won: from a battle or war to a card game). However, in some contexts, it is synonym of "to triumph" and, when that is the case, it is used intransitively.
  • €: the symbol for "euro" or "euros" - a common, concrete noun; in this sentence it is plural.
  • 1 million: a numeral determiner, more precisely a cardinal number.
  • is: verb "to be", indicative mode, present tense, 3rd personal singular.
  • easy: a qualifier (adjective).

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Sentence 10: After decompressing, start reading the speech.htm file.

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This is an instruction commonly found in computing, telling what to do after downloading a compressed package of documentation.

Logical comments

This may either be analysed as a simple sentence (= an isolated clause) or as a complex sentence of the star-like kind - depending on the level of sophistication. Let us begin by seeing it as a simple one.

  • Start reading the speech.htm file is the clause core.
    Identifying its subject is a bit tricky because the predicate start reading is an order. We however realise that - since the clause is not in passive form - the subject is the one who performs the operation indicated by the predicate, in other words the subject is whoever receives that order / recommendation. (Remember though that, with clauses in passive form, the subject is not the performer, but the one affected by the operation being performed.)
    The remaining elements of the core are the predicate (start!) and its object (reading the speech.htm file)

      Warning: the direct object of start! is reading which, being in fact another verb used as noun, has in turn an object of its own (the speech.htm file). In viewing this example as a simple sentence we must turn a blind eye to such refinements and reading the speech.htm file is taken as a lump object.

  • After decompressing may be viewed as a time complement stating "when" the reading operation is to be performed.

      To be noted:
      "decompressing" is a gerund but, unlike in the preceding exercise, no object is attached to it. That allows us to gloss over its verbal origin and look at it as a noun like any other. The expression then becomes a time complement like in "after sunset".

    Now let us redo our analysis in a less simplistic way, recognising that we have a complex sentence of the star-like kind (or a nested+star-like hybrid, if also the cascaded objects above mentioned under Warning are to be solved).

    • The main is Start reading the speech.htm file.
    • After decompressing is is a subordinate which may be paraphrased in the form After you have decompressed the package (where the "package" object is no longer left implicit).

    Grammatical comments

    • "after" is a preposition.
    • "decompressing" is a verb whose infinitive is "to decompress": the mode is gerund, the tense present.
    • "start" is imperative mode of verb "to start".
    • "reading" is present gerund of "to read".
    • "the" is a determiner - more precisely a definite article (which, in English, is the same for singular and plural nouns).
    • speech.htm: is a proper, singular noun.

        To be noted:
        It is proper because it identifies a particular file within a package. It is not capitalised, as all proper nouns should be, because computing language simplifies most orthographic rules.

    • "file", a common, concrete, singular noun.

        To be noted:
        speech.htm and "file" are elements of the same noun bundle and should be considered as a unit - like the expression "New York City"; in regard to this, you may also want to refresh the notion of apposition        .

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    FOOTNOTES

    (1) – At the risk of being fastidious, that is not even a clause.
    "You kick and scream" is shorthand for
    "You kick and you scream", which is a compound sentence.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    (2) – "Per se" is Latin for "in itself".

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    (3) – "Sui generis" is Latin for "of its own kind".

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Personal pronoun, 1st person, plural
      [Don't say here that "we" is the subject, because "subject" is a logical notion and the analysis we are now performing draws on grammar, not logic.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Verb "to arrive", past tense (of the indicative mode).
      [It would be wrong to say that the verb form is "active".
    "To arrive" is intransitive, cannot have an object. Only transitive verbs can either be in active or passive construction.
    For intransitive verbs, that distinction makes no sense.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Adverb of time
      [Don't say that "early" is a "time complement", because "complement" is a logical notion, not a grammatical one.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A prepositional phrase

      More in detail:
    • in: preposition
    • order: an abstract noun
      [but "in order" — taken as a phrase — means: "for", "for the purpose of"]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Verb "to obtain", infinitive mode (present tense), active form
      [Past infinitive is: "to have obtained"
    Present infinitive, but passive form is: "To be obtained"
    Past infinitive, passive form: "to have been obtained"]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A noun bundle built around "seats" (a concrete, common, neuter, plural noun).
    Bundled with "seat" are: "front" (an adjective), "row" (an adjective)
    The article determiner is missing, because any front row seats would be fine, no particular seats are being sought — provided they are front row.
      ["Front" and "row" are really nouns like "seat", but here they are qualifying which seats we are talking about, so they perform as adjectives bundled with noun "seats".
    In a clause like "The front of the building crumbled", "front" would perform as noun.
    In a clause like "The available rows of chairs could accommodate all the visitors", "rows" would perform as noun.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    An adverbial phrase.
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    A noun bundle consisting of:

    • possessive determiner "our",
    • noun "concern": abstract, singular.
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    A conjunction linking "concern" to the segment "the match would be cancelled".
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    Noun bundle consisting of:

    • determiner "the" (an article, definite),
    • noun "match": abstract, singular.

      ["Match" is not a concrete noun, because we can take pictures of, or kick, the players, the ball, we can mow the grass of the field, but "match" is a mental construction combining all these elements into a competitive struggle.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Verb "to cancel" (passive form), joined with modal "would".
      [In a language other than English, the verbal mode would be subjunctive, because this is not a matter-of-fact statement about something happening. Concern is being expressed about something which might occur.
    English can express this through "would", a modal, but subjunctive ("... concern that the match be cancelled") could be used too.

    The passive construction hinging on "be cancelled" has no explicit "agent". The implicit one is the person with authority for canceling matches.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    An adverbial phrase.
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    Noun bundle consisting of:


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    A preposition.
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    Noun bundle consisting of:

    • adjective "public",
    • noun "transport": abstract, singular.

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