Quick Guide to 4-Level Sentence Analysis
Level
POSp
Label
Parts of speech
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Noun
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Verb
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Pronoun
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Adjective
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Adverb
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Interjection
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Conjunction
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Preposition
Notes
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POSe
P
C
Parts of a sentence
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Subject
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Predicate
Distinctions
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Direct object
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Indirect object
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Predicate
nominative
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Predicate
adjective
Phrases
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Appositive
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Prepositional
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Verbal
Verbal Phrases
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Gerund
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Participial
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Infinitive
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Clauses
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Sentence
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Independent
Dependent
Structure
Simple
Compound
Complex
CompoundComplex
Sentence Purpose
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Interrogative
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Imperative
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Declarative
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Exclamatory
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Possessive pronouns (his, her, their, etc.) act like adjectives but are still pronouns.
Verbs express action or a state of being. Verbs that are not acting like verbs should be labeled accordingly (participle, gerund, or infinitive).
Identify whether verbs are helping, linking, or action.
o
Linking verbs express a state of being (be, being, am, is, was, were, shall be, will be, has been, have been, had been, shall have been,
will have been, should be, would be, could be, can be, should have been, would have been, could have been, appear, become, feel,
grow, look remain, seem, etc.).
Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
Adverbs modify verbs, adverbs, or other adjectives.
Prepositions show relationships (about, above, across, after, at, before, behind, beside, between, by, down, during, except, for, from, inside, into,
like near, of, off, onto, outside, over, since, through, toward, until, without, etc.)
Identify whether conjunctions are coordinating (FANBOYS), correlative (neither…nor, not only…but also, etc.), or subordinating (after, although,
as, as if, as long as, as soon as, because, before, even though, if, in order that, once, since, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever,
where, wherever, whether, while, etc.). Subordinating conjunctions introduce subordinate, or dependent, clauses.
o
Sometimes prepositions can be used as subordinating conjunctions! If so, label them as conjunctions, not prepositions.
The subject is what or whom the sentence is about; the predicate says something about the subject. (The simple predicate is always the verb.)
If you have an action verb, look for a direct object.
o
A direct object is a noun, pronoun, or word group that tells who or what receives the action of the verb.
o
If you have a direct object, you may have an indirect object, which is a noun, pronoun, or word group that tells to whom or to what
the action was directed.
If you have a linking verb, look for a subject complement, which names or describes the subject. There are two types: predicate nominative
and predicate adjective.
o
A predicate adjective follows a linking verb and modifies or describes the subject.
o
A predicate nominative follows a linking verb and renames or refers to the subject.
Phrases are word groups that do not include subject/predicate pairs.
A prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition. The noun or pronoun in the phrase is the object of the preposition (this is different
than a direct object).
An appositive phrase is a noun or pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it. It’s additional information about
another noun or pronoun.
A verbal phrase uses a verb form as a part of speech other than a verb. There are three kinds: gerund, participial, and infinitive. A verbal phrase
includes the verbal and all of its modifiers.
o
A gerund is a verb ending in –ing and is used as a noun.
o
A participle is a verb ending in –ing or –ed and is used as an adjective.
o
An infinitive is a verb form that begins with “to” and is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

“To” is often a preposition. If it is followed by a noun or pronoun, it’s usually a prepositional phrase. If it’s followed by a verb,
it’s usually an infinitive phrase.
A clause includes a subject and a predicate.
An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence; a dependent clause cannot.
A dependent clause can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
o
Adjective clauses often begin with relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, and that.
o
Adverb clauses often begin with subordinating conjunctions and tell us how, when, why, where, how much, to what extent, or under
what conditions something occurred.
o
Noun clauses often begin with the following words: that, what, whatever, when, whenever, where, whether, who, whoever, whom,
whomever, or why.
Sentence structure is determined by clauses. (The clauses do not have to be in the exact order listed below.)
o
IND = Simple
o
IND + IND = Compound
o
IND + DEP = Complex
o
IND + IND + DEP = Compound-Complex
A declarative sentence states a fact or makes an observation.
An imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request. It often has the implied “you” as a subject.
An interrogative sentence asks a question (using a question mark).
An exclamatory sentence exclaims something (using an exclamation mark).