Intro to Level 3 and 4
Sentence Analysis
•Level 1=Identify parts of speech
•Level 2=Identify parts of
sentence
•Level 3=Identify phrases
•Level 4=Identify clauses
Phrases
•A group of words without a
subject-&-predicate that acts like
a single part of speech.
Appositive Phrase
•An interrupting definition.
•Re-defines or explains a noun
while acting as an adjective.
•It is put (pos) beside (ap) the
noun.
Appositive Phrase
Appositive are NONessential phrases, set off
with commas:
• A jerkline skinner, Slim is admired by all for his
skill with large teams of horses.
• Lennie, a large man, has the mind of a child.
• George, a caring friend, warns Lennie to stay
away from dangerous people on the farm.
Appositive Phrase
•Lennie and George dream of
owning their own place, a farm.
•Curley, the boss’s son, picks a
fight with Lennie.
Prepositional Phrase
•Begins with a preposition and
concludes with its object(always
a noun/pronoun.)
•He ran down the road.
•They slept by the river.
“pp”s show TIME,
SPACE, or DIRECTION!
A “pp” always modifies in a way that shows:
• time (adverbial phrase answering the
question “when?”)
• space (adverbial or adjectival, answering the
question “where?” or “which one?”)
• direction (adverbial or adjectival, answering
the question “where?/ how?” or “which one?”)
Prepositional Phrase
What else should I know about “pp”s?
*Review the list of prepositions to help
identify prepositional phrases.
*If the “pp” modifies a noun, make sure
to place it next to that noun or you
will have a misplaced modifier=
CONFUSED MEANING!
Prepositional Phrase
• I read the note in the boat from Adam.
(MISPLACED “pp” = CONFUSED
MEANING!)
It sounds like Adam gave you the boat,
when actually …
• I read the note from Adam in the boat.
(Correct word order = CORRECT
MEANING)
Prepositional Phrase
•If the object of the preposition is a
pronoun, it must take the object
form.
•The letter is for him and me.
•She and I went with you and him.
Verbals
• A verb form used as a different part of speech
1. Gerund phrases (verb + ing used as noun)
2. Participial phrases (verb+-ing, -en, -t, or -ed
used as adj.)
3. Infinitive phrases (“to + verb” used as noun or
modifier:adj or adverb)
Gerund phrases
•A verb + ing that ALWAYS acts as a
noun:
•Running around the school is fun.
•The thing that make me happy is
doing my homework.
•Seeing Mrs. Santa Claus puts a
smile on my face.
Participial phrases
•(verb+-ing ,-ed, -t, or -en)
•Always “acts” as an adjective
•They must be placed next to
noun they modify!
Participial phrases
•Taking out the garbage, Neil
encountered a rat.
•Scratching his head, Atticus
squinted at the letter through
broken glasses.
•Exhausted from work, Elvis
plopped onto his couch.
Infinitive Phrases
•To + a verb used as noun, adj. or
adverb.
•To run in the sun is fun.
•She loves to smile.
•The show to watch after the news
is The Daily Show.
LET’s PRACTICE!
• Complete this chart:
Gerund
The verbal (or verbal
phrase) “LOOKS LIKE”
this…
The verbal (or verbal
phrase)
“ACTS LIKE” this …
VERB + _______
NOUN
VERB + ing, ___, en, or ___
ADJECTIVE
Participle
Infinitive
NOUN, ____, or ____
Use your chart to identify the verbals and
verbal phrases in these sentences:
• 1. Without trying, the talented volleyball player
showed her 27-inch vertical!
• 2. Whipping her beautiful tresses around, Julia
exhibited her flirtatious nature.
• 3. I find eating is far superior to sleeping though
many would argue with my biased Italian logic!
• 4. Never again will I try to drive all night without
sleeping.
• 5. Between the couch cushions I found a quarter,
some old burnt toast, and my favorite journaling pen.
ANSWERS!
• 1. Without trying (g), the talented (p) volleyball player showed
her 27-inch vertical!
• 2. Whipping her beautiful tresses around (part. p), Julia
exhibited her flirtatious nature.
• 3. I find eating (g) is far superior to sleeping (g) though many
would argue with my biased (p) Italian logic!
• 4. Never again will I try to drive all night without sleeping(ip).
• 5. Between the couch cushions I found a quarter, some old burnt
(p) toast, and my favorite journaling (p) pen.
You’ve heard of the Word Within The Word;
Here’s The Phrase Within The Phrase: EMBEDDED PHRASES…
• Yes, good writers enrich their “sentence stories”
by writing phrases within phrases.
CHALLENGE!!!!
• GO BACK to the sentences employing GERUNDS
and add to the “story” of the sentence, creating
GERUND PHRASES.
• As you create gerund phrases, add EMBEDDED
PHRASES with prepositional phrases or infinitive
phrases if you can!
Note the gerund phrases
and the embedded phrases…
• Without trying very hard, … or
Without trying to show off to her coaches, …
• . I find eating large delicious meals is far
superior to sleeping until noon …
• . Never again will I try to drive all night
without sleeping for a minimum of six hours.
Level 4: Clauses
•A clause is a group of words
containing a subject and its
predicate.
•There are two kinds of clauses:
independent and dependent
Crack the
CODE of GRAMMAR
• I = Independent
• D = Dependent
• cc = coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
• ca = conjunctive adverb (however, therefore,
thusfar, whatsoever, in spite of this, etc.)
Punctuation is a FUNCTION of the Grammar
CODE as part of the sentence analysis.
Independent Clause (I)
These make sense independently;
they can stand alone to deliver a
complete thought without
confusion or ambiguity.
•Billy went to the party.
Dependent Clause (D)
•These do not make sense
independently; they cannot stand
alone, for they cause confusion and
questions that must be answered by an
independent clause.
•If Billy went to the party,(needs an “I”).
Dependent Clause (D)
•If Billy went to the party, his
parents will freak out.
• Because Billy went to the party,
he was grounded for 20 weeks.
•Even though Billy went to the
party, he didn’t get into trouble.
How to recognize a
Dependent Clause (D)?
Dependent clauses can begin with one of the following words:
a subordinating conjunction (ABBI SAW A WUWU
conjunction)
• if, as, since, when, because, although, after, until, unless,
whenever, where, wherever, while
• as if, as long as, but that, even if, except that, ever since, if
only, in case, just as
a relative pronoun:
• who, whose, whom, which, that
Practice:
Circle the D clauses
• After she ate her pumpkin pie, she fell asleep.
• The Thanksgiving feast would have been even
better if there had been more desserts!
• I knew that Uncle Jimmy would smoke a smelly
cigar while the ladies cleaned up the dishes.
• Because my family is so competitive, my brothers
have been known to overeat just to see who can
consume the most in a single meal.
Four Sentence
Structures
1. Simple sentence
I = Independent clause
2. Compound sentences =
 I, cc, I = Two or more independent clauses joined
by coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
I; I = Two or more independent clauses joined by a
semicolon
 I; ca, I = Two or more independent clauses joined
by the combination semicolon conjunctive adverb
Four Sentence
Structures
3. Complex sentence
•I D or D, I or D, I D =
Independent clause joined to
dependent clause
4. Compound/Complex
•I, cc I D or D,I , cc I or ID; ca, I =
Contains both compound and
complex clause structures
Punctuation is a
FUNCTION of Grammar!
I, cc I
I; I
ID
D, I
I; ca, I
I, cc I
•Comma before coordinating
conjunction in compound
sentence (Beyonce Rule – comma
“to the left” of the FANBOY)
ex.: Jeremy went to the party, and
his best friend, Jake, joined him.
I;I
•Semicolon between two
independent clauses
ex.: Billy went to the party; his
parents never knew.
ID
•No comma after independent
clause in a complex sentence.
•Billy went to the party because
they were servings burgers.
D,I
•Comma after introductory
dependent clause in complex
sentence.
•Because they were serving
burgers, Billy went to the party.
Don’t be a CODE breaker!
Why do you think it is a grammar error to join
two independent clauses with only a
coordinating conjunction or (gasp!) no
punctuation?
• IccI or II (incorrect because…?)
• Billy went to the party yet he didn’t get
caught. (incorrect because…?)
• Billy went to the party he didn’t get caught.
(incorrect because…?)
BEWARE the RUN-ON
SENTENCE!
• A run-on sentence may occur either by
FUSING (i.e., jamming two independent clauses
into one sentence without punctuation!)
OR
SPLICING (i.e., connecting two independent
clauses with a comma…NOT GOOD!)
Fusing can be hazardous
to your grammar!
• Parties are so much fun they are usually a
place to dance and meet new people.
• You better get directions I got lost the last
time I went to Ella’s house.
• Do you really think Halloween is the best
holiday Christmas is much better.
FIX these…!
Splicing can hurt!
I, I = a “comma splice”
• Billy went to the party, he didn’t get caught.
(incorrect because…?)
• He had chores to do all weekend, Billy was
not a happy kid. (incorrect because…?)
• Mom and Dad don’t trust their son, they
hope Billy learns to follow rules for his own
safety. (incorrect because…?)
FIX these, please!
L4 analysis steps!
• 1. Go BACK to level 2, parts of sentence, to find the S-V
“partners”; CIRCLE those “couples”!
• 2. Each S-V “couple” = a clause. Use your knowledge
of conjunctions and punctuation to identify the type of
clause (I or D).
• 4. Directly under the circled “couple(s)” write the
CODE, carrying down the punctuation, i.e., CODE the
structure on line 4.
• 5. NAME the structure of the sentence.
• 6. NAME the purpose of the sentence.
Identify the
sentence structure
Candy regrets not shooting his own dog.
Because Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, he
has regrets.
Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, and he
regrets that decision.
Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, and he
regrets that decision because the dog was
his responsibility.
Identify the
sentence structure
Candy regrets not shooting his own dog.
(simple=I)
Because Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, he has
regrets.(Complex=D, I)
Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, and he regrets that
decision. (Compound=I, cc I)
Candy didn’t shoot his own dog, and he regrets that
decision because the dog was his responsibility.
(Compound-Complex/I, cc I D)
Identify the
sentence structure
Carlson epitomizes the lonely ranch hand; however, he
doesn’t understand the friendship Lennie and George
share.
Although George loves Lennie like a brother, he realizes
he must stop him from killing again.
Mentally handicapped people faced discrimination during
this time period and had few options in life.
Crooks dreams of having friends; he tells Lennie about
his childhood home and friends he had.
Identify the
sentence structure
Carlson epitomizes the lonely ranch hand; however, he
doesn’t understand the friendship that Lennie and George
share. (compound/complex=I; ca, I D)
Although George loves Lennie like a brother, he realizes that
he must stop him from killing again. (complex=D, I D)
Mentally handicapped people faced discrimination during
this time period and had few options in life. (simple=I)
Crooks dreams of having friends; he tells Lennie about his
childhood home and friends he had. (compound=I;I)