Cerritos College Court Reporting Program
Prof. Sherry Perkins
Sentence Patterns
1. S, V
intransitive verb
2. S, V, SC
intransitive/linking verb
3. S, V, DO.......transitive verb
4. S, V, IO, DO
transitive verb
5. S, V, DO, OC
transitive verb
Subject Complement
(SO):
Either describes (adj.) or renames (noun) the subject.
The child is clever (adj.)
The child is a genius (n.).
Note:
subjective complement (n.) = predicate noun
predicate nominative
subjective complement (adj.) = predicate adjective
Direct Object (DO):
The noun that receives the action named by a transitive
verb. You find it by asking “What?” of the transitive verb.
Indirect Object (IO):
Answers “to whom” or “For whom/” Thus, “She sang a lullaby,”
is a Pattern 3 sentence, but “She sang the children a
lullaby,” is a Pattern 4 sentence.
Objective Complement
(OC):
TEST: John sent Mary a letter. John sent a letter to Mary.
A noun that renames the direct object or an adjective that
describes the direct object.
TEST: The insertion of to be between the complements (We
appointed Jones [to be] our representative.
Tenses
present
past
future
present perfect
past perfect
future perfect
=
=
=
=
=
=
Verbs
transitive
intransitive
=
=
infinitive
linking
=
=
Adjectives:
Adverbs:
“How?”
“When?”
“Where?”
Sentences
Simple:
Compound:
Complex
I
I
I
I
I
I
earn.
earned.
shall earn.
have earned.
had earned.
shall have earned.
the action “goes across” to some noun that receives the action
Does not transfer its action to an object. The best way to
recognize an intransitive verb is to spot the lack of a noun
answering the question “What?” after the verb. In some Pattern 1
sentences, the purpose of the statement is simply to say that the
subject exists.
to be
used with No. 2 sentence pattern
describes nouns and pronouns
modifies anything except nouns
(manner) We worked hard.
(degree) I could barely hear you.
(time) I’ll see you later.
(frequency) We often go on picnics.
(place) There he sat.
(direction) I moved forward in the bus.
One independent clause.
Two or more independent clauses. Use a comma when joined by a
Coordinating Conjunction. Use a semicolon when no Coordinating
Conjunction is used.
One independent clause and a least one dependent clause.
D:\106730270.doc
Cerritos College Court Reporting Program
Prof. Sherry Perkins
Subordination/Clauses: Subordinate or dependent clause which is defined as a
subject-verb combination that cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Adverb
It provides information, it modifies the verb. The most common types
Clause:
of adverb clauses answer direct questions about the action: “When?”
(time); “Where?” (place); “Why?” (cause); and “How?” (manner).
The conjunction -- the structural signal of subordination -- is not
an isolated word standing between the two clauses. It is part of the
subordinate clause. In such a sentence as, “We left the house after
the rain stopped,” the unit “the rain stopped” could stand alone as
an independent clause. But the clause is made dependent by the
inclusion of after, which makes the clause dependent (subordinate).
Special structures:
a.) A clause modifying an adjective subjective complement and
subordinated by that is sometimes unexpressed: I’m sure (that) you
are wrong.
b.) Elliptical clauses:
Mary is older that I (am).
If (you are) unable to attend, call me.
While (she was) preparing lunch, Mary cut her finger.
Adjective or
relative
Clause:
Noun
Clauses:



1.
Function: to modify a noun or a pronoun.
Position: Follows the noun or pronoun that it modifies.
Subordinators:
relative pronouns (who, whom, which, that), which function within
the adjective clause as subjects, direct objects, or objects of
prepositions
2. relative adjectives (whose, which)
3. relative adverbs (when, where) introduce adjective clauses in
combinations meaning “time when” and “place where.”


Restrictive Clause: not set off by commas
Nonrestrictive Adjective Clause: set off by commas

A group of words containing a subject-verb combination and a
subordinating word. A noun clause can perform the same function
as a regular noun: a noun clause can be a subject, direct object,
subjective complement, object of a preposition, or appositive.
One common use of a noun clause is as a delayed subject: (It is
unfortunate that you were delayed.)
A noun unit inserted into a sentence to rename another noun that
usually immediately precedes the appositive.
TEST: You can’t deny the fact that she has real talent.
[The fact is that she has real talent.]


1. The news that you brought us is welcome. [Adjective clause]
2. The news that Bob has recovered is welcome. [Noun clause]
If you remember that an adjective clause is a describer and that
an appositive noun clause is a renamer, you can see that in the first
sentence the clause describes -- in fact, identifies -- the noun
news, but is does not actually tell us what the news is. In the
second sentence the clause does not: It tells us what the news is.
Remember the be test. “The news is that you brought us...” does not
make sense, but “The news is that Bob has recovered...” does;
therefore the second clause is a noun clause in apposition.
Which/That Test
In adjective clauses, but not in noun clauses, which can be
substituted for that. “The news which you brought us...”. The news
which Bob has recovered...” does not make any sense.
D:\106730270.doc
Cerritos College Court Reporting Program
Prof. Sherry Perkins
Subordination/Phrases: A phrase is a group of related words that does not contain a
subject and a verb in combination.
Prepositional
Consists of a preposition, a noun or a pronoun used as its object,
Phrase:
and any modifiers of the object. Most prepositional phrases are
used as adjectives or adverbs, but can also be used as nouns:
Most of my friends (adj.) live in the East (adv.).
Before lunch (noun) is the best time for the meeting.
Gerunds:
A noun formed by using the -ing form of the verb either on the
simple form (studying) or on an auxiliary (having studied, being
studied, having been studied). It can appear anywhere a noun
might appear: subject, direct object, renaming subjective
complement, object of preposition, or (rarely) appositive.
Single-word gerund
Studying demands most of my time. [Subject]
I usually enjoy studying. [Direct Object]
My main activity is studying. [Renaming subjective complement]
You won’t pass the course without studying. [Object of
preposition]
Might I suggest to you another activity: studying? [Appositive]
Because gerunds are formed from verbs, are “verbal nouns,” gerunds
can be followed by a direct object or a subjective complement.

He enjoys walking in the snow.
[The gerund has no complement]
 She enjoys building model airplanes.
[Airplanes is the direct object of the gerund building.]
 He enjoys being helpful. He enjoyed being elected treasurer.
[Helpful is the subjective complement of the gerund being;
treasurer is the subjective complement of the passive gerund being
elected.]
 She enjoyed telling us the good news.
[Us is the indirect object and news is the direct object of the
gerund telling.]
 He enjoyed making our vacation pleasant.
[Vacation is the direct object and pleasant is the objective
complement of vacation.]
Infinitives:
To is called the sign of the infinitive. Infinitive unites are
used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
Forms: to study, to have studied, to be studying, to have been
studying, to be studied, to have been studied. Some infinitive
phrases have subjects (We wanted her to run for office).
 Special structures:
1. “For” sometimes introduces a phrase that has a subject.
[For you to criticize his work would be presumptuous.]
2. A phrase with a subject but without the marker “to” is often
used as a direct object following one of these verbs: let,
help, make, see, hear, watch:
[Mother let us mix the cookie dough.]
[Ms. Jones heard the man threaten the cashier.]
Participial:
A participial phrase modifies a noun or pronoun, and consists of a
participle plus its modifiers and/or complements. There is a
strong similarity between an adjective clause and a participial
phrase:
A man who was wearing a black mask grabbed the microphone.
[Adjective clause. Mask is a direct object of the verb.]
A man wearing a black mask grabbed the microphone.
D:\106730270.doc
Cerritos College Court Reporting Program
Prof. Sherry Perkins
[Participial phrase.
Mask is a direct object of the participle.]
Like the adjective clause, the participial phrase can be either
restrictive or nonrestrictive. If restrictive, the phrase always
follows the word it modifies. Nonrestrictive phrases may stand
after the noun, at the beginning of the sentence, and occasionally
at the end of the sentence.
Troublesome Verbs:
TAKES AN OBJECT
set, set, set
raise, raised, raised
lay, laid, laid
present, past, perfect
D:\106730270.doc
TAKES NO OBJECT
sit, sat, sat
rise, rose, risen
lie, lay, lain