clause patterns (1)

8/13/2019 Clause Patterns (1)

1/4

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES-ENGLISH DIVISION

English 1

College English

Study Guide 2

On basic sentence patterns (REVISED)grestella

Learning objectives:

1. To understand the need for studying basic sentence patterns2. To identify basic sentence patterns3. To identify the elements of a clause/sentence4. To give examples for each sentence pattern

I. Why do we need to study basic sentence patterns?

The skill in identifying basic sentence patterns is a useful grammaticaltool. If you are able to identify the elements of asentence or clause, then you will 1)know which elements can be combined and 2) judge if the verb agrees with the subject.

The skill is particularly useful in combining sentences.

II. What are the basic sentence patterns?

Subject-Linking verb-Complement (S-LV-C). Complement can either be predicate adjective or predicate nominative. Subject-Intransitive verb (S-IV) Subject-Transitive verb- Direct Object (S-TV-DO) Subject-Transitive verb-Direct Object-Objective Complement (S-TV-DO-OC) Subject-Transitive verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object (S-TV-IO-DO)

A.S-LV-CThe linking verb (usually a be-verb or a sense verb) connects the subject to the complement, which renames

(predicate nominative) or describes (predicate adjective) the subject.

Examples:

She is my mother.S LV C (PN)

The complement (mother) identifiesthe subject (she). Who is the mother? She.

The boys stood firm.S LV C (PA)

In cases such as the example above, people often mistake the verb stood as an intransitive verb (firm modifies stood).

However, stood actually connects the subject (boys) to the predicate adjective (firm).

Tips:


2/4

Aside from the be verb, verbs that may function as linking verbs include those that 1) indicate state of beingsuchas (and sometimes it helps when you memorize these) look, seem, smell , taste, and sound, and 2)those that

indicate a change of condition or resultsuch as become, get, go, turn, break, among others.

In identifying the elements of the sentence, be wary of pre-modifiers such as articles.When you are asked towrite the subject, for instance, do not include the pre-modifiers. Ex. My first grade teacher is unforgettable. The

subject is teacher, less the pre-modifiers.

B.S-TV-DOIn this pattern, the verb requires an object to which the action is done. This verb is called transitive. The objectto which the action is done is called the direct object.

Tip: The direct object answers the question what after the transitive verb. Example: She studies social issues. She studies

what? Social issues. Social issues is the direct object.

Examples:

I wrote a letter.S TV DO

I wrote what? Letter (direct object).

We passed the schoolhouse.S TV DO

In the second example, you might think that the verb passed is intransitive (does not require an object) and the phrase

the schoolhouse is not an object because it indicates location. However, please keep in mind that the schoolhouse here

functions as a locative objectthat answers the question what? for verbs of travel or motion (pass, surround, climb, jump,

turn, among others).

C.S-TV-DO-OCThe difference between the S-TV-DO pattern and the S-TV-DO-OC is the presence of objective complement

in the latter. The objective complement comes after the direct object and completes its meaning. It renames or describesthe direct object in the same way the subjective complement does the subject.

Examples:

We found him alive.S TV DO OC

The OC states the condition or attribute of the direct object.Tip: If the word/s that come/s after the DO describe/s the

object, not the verb, then it is an objective complement. Ex. He yielded his arms limply to the ropes. Does limply modify

the DO arms? No. It modifies yieldedand is an adverb. Therefore, the pattern is S-TV-DO, not S-TV-DO-OC.

! However, there is an exception. The OC can take the form of a prepositional phrase that may modify the verb and answer

the question how. It is usually preceded by prepositions as and for. Ex. They treated us as second-class citizens. The

OC is as second class citizens.

Barbons drove her mad.S TV DO OC

We know Jing to be a fool.S TV DO OC


3/4

The objective complement can be introduced with the infinite to be, as in the case of the example above .

D.S-TV-IO-DOThe direct object answers the question What?. The indirect object answers the question For

whom/what?.

Example:

She gave me roses.

S TV IO DO

For whom are the roses? For me. Therefore, the IO is me.

What if the IO is expressed in the form of prepositional phrase? The pattern will be transformed from S-TV-IO-DO to S-TV-

DO (with adverbial modifier in the end). Ex:

She gave me roses. She gave the roses to me.

S TV IO DO S TV DO AM

E. S-IVAn intransitive verb does not require an object or a complement and the entire phrase (subject and verb) can stand

alone.

Example:

I walked.

S IV

I walked in the park.

S IV AM (prepositional phrase that modifies the verb)

She is sleeping.

S IV

Tip: Many intransitive verbs are phrasal verbs; they take adverb particles like on, over, for, among others. Ex. The show

went on for hours. The verb is went on and the adverbial modifier is for hours.

III. Special cases

A. The introductory It

Remember that in a sentence preceded with an it, the subject is not it!

Ex.

That Wormwood will conquer the land is a big possibility.

S LV C

But finite clauses like That Wormwood will conquer the land are often suspended because of rhetorical purposes and it

introduces the clause. In that case, the pattern becomes

It is a big possibility that Wormwood will conquer the land.

LV C S


4/4

B. The introductory There

Ex.

No one is singing. There is no one singing.

S IV S

IV

Tip: In the case of it and there patterns, always transform the sentence in such a way that the it and there are

eliminated.That will make it easier for you to identify the pattern.

C. The passive construction

Ex.

Almost all the time, the pattern for a sentence in passive form is S-LV-C.

She was elected yesterday.S LV C (PA)

The word electedbecomes predicate adjective. When you transform an active sentence to passive form, the transitive

verb becomes a participle (predicate adjective that describes the subject).

clause patterns (1)

Documents