Diagramming the Sentence Types 

Below are diagrams for the sentences in the Sentence Pattern Practice exercise. The sentences appear in a random order in the exercise, so the order below will probably be different from the order you saw on the practice page.

These sentences can be diagrammed using the techniques we have studied:

bullet Christmas vacation is coming very soon.

bullet WSSU celebrates Homecoming every fall.

bullet Many people find basketball very exciting.

bullet Hawkeye is a handsome cat.

bullet Sentence patterns seem difficult at first.

 
bullet A possum often eats Hawkeye's leftover food.

bullet Autumn colors make the WSSU campus particularly beautiful.

bullet The weather has been very changeable recently.

bullet Neo-Gothic architecture is often very beautiful.

bullet The new statue makes Dr. S. G. Atkins the center of the WSSU campus.

bullet In spite of all the commercialism, Christmas remains my favorite time of year.

bullet The WSSU Sculpture Garden includes several very striking works of art.

The sentences below contain structures we have not yet learned how to diagram:

bullet WSSU's campus has become modern and very attractive. (Modern and attractive are form a compound SC-Adj.)

bullet Exciting and unusual sights appear on campus on Founder's Day. (Exciting and unusual are connected by and, which needs to be included on the diagram.)

bullet Reading Day gives everyone a chance to prepare for exams. (To prepare is an infinitive, a nonfinite verb. It is not a prepositional phrase, but it is diagrammed the same way.)

bullet The Biggers murals in O'Kelly Library give students and faculty a chance to appreciate great art in everyday life. (In this sentence the indirect object (students and faculty) is compound, and to appreciate is an infinitive.)

bullet Santa flies through the air in a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer. (In this sentence, pulled is another kind of nonfinite verb, a participle. Participles are diagrammed on a structure like the one used for prepositional phrases, but they are written on both the diagonal and the horizontal line.)

bullet Dr. Simon Green Atkins made establishing a school his life's work. (Here the nonfinite verb is a gerund, the -ing form of a verb being used as a noun. Notice the "pedestal" we use to put a phrase or clause on a horizontal line.)

bullet Students who study hard deserve success! (This is a complex sentence, one that includes a dependent clause. Who study hard modifies Students. The sentence as a whole fits pattern 2, but the dependent clause follows pattern 1.)

bullet At graduation, the university awards diplomas to students who have earned them. (In this complex sentence who have earned them modifies students.

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