SENTENCE 



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SENTENCE 



A simple sentence is one which, whether long 

 or short, consists of but one subject and one 

 predicate and makes a single assertion: The 

 bells (subject) are ringing (predicate); The 

 bells of that old village church, cast more than 

 a hundred years ago (subject), still have a most 

 musical chime (predicate). 



A compound sentence consists of two or more 

 simple sentences, each of which makes its own 

 complete assertion. Usually these two or more 

 clauses are joined by a coordinate conjunction 

 such as and, or, but: Bells are ringing (first 

 clause) AND whistles are blowing (second 

 clause). 



A complex sentence consists of one inde- 

 pendent clause that is, a clause that can 

 "stand alone" and one or more dependent or 

 subordinate clauses : The bells are announcing 

 (independent clause) that the new prohibition 

 law has been passed by Congress (subordinate 

 clause). A sentence may be both complex and 

 compound; as, The bells which you hear are 

 hung in the tower and are over a hundred years 

 old, or The bells are ringing and the whistles 

 are blowing because the longed-for news has 

 come at last. 



Order of Subject and Predicate. The usual 

 arrangement is to place the subject and its 

 modifiers first, and the predicate and its modi- 

 fiers following. When the complete subject 

 precedes the complete predicate, the sentence 

 is said to be in the natural order. If there is 

 any deviation from this arrangement, the sen- 

 tence is said to be in the inverted or transposed 

 order. 



The transposed order is particularly common 

 in poetry, where it is used for euphony and 

 rhythm. When employed in ordinary prose, 

 it is with the idea generally of adding emphasis 

 and strength by bringing the important word 

 or words into the position of importance the 

 beginning of the sentence. For example, when 

 we say, A marvelous organizer was Kitchener 

 of Khartum, we construct a far more impressive 

 sentence than if we said, Kitchener of Khartum 

 was a marvelous organizer. Other illustrations 

 of the inverted arrangement are as follows: 

 For five long days the battle raged; Up sprang 

 the Little Colonel; Into each life some rain 

 must fall; Many a backward glance did we cast 

 at the little town sleeping so quietly in the 

 autumn sunshine ; That he should have done so 

 was only to be expected. 



Analyzing the Sentence. The analysis of a 

 sentence consists in stating its classification and 

 separating it into its component parts; that is, 



indicating the subject and its modifiers, if any, 

 the predicate and its modifiers, and the function 

 performed by each word, phrase and clause. 

 See ANALYSIS for complete discussion and 

 analysis of a type sentence. 



In analysis the transposed sentence is changed 

 over to the natural order and the interrogative 

 sentence to the declarative form. For purposes 

 of analysis, therefore, the inverted sentence, 

 A hale old man is he, and the question, Is he a 

 hale old man? both read, He is a hale old man. 

 To analyze such a construction as What do you 

 want me to do? we change it to, You do want 

 me to do what? If the sentence is imperative, 

 the implied subject you must generally be sup- 

 plied in analysis ; as, [ You] write your name on 

 this dotted line. 



Diagram of a Sentence. The diagram of a 

 sentence is merely a graphic representation of 

 the analysis. It is a picture that shows, by 

 straight lines, what work is done by each ele- 

 ment and in what relations the different ele- 

 ments stand to one another. The following 

 type sentences are diagrammed according to the 

 Reed & Kellogg method, which has been widely 

 adopted as being both simple to construct and 

 easy to grasp. Diagramming is not so widely 

 used as it once was. 



SIMPLE SENTENCE : Travel is a great educator. 

 Travel is \ educator 



Explanation: The principal parts of the sen- 

 tence simple subject and simple predicate are 

 written on the heavy line, which is cut at right 

 angles to mark the division between the two 

 parts. On the lighter slanting lines are written 

 the less important parts of the sentence the 

 modifiers. The short, oblique line separating is 

 and educator indicates that the noun is the com- 

 plement fcf the verb ; if it cut the main line at 

 right angles, it would indicate the object of the 

 verb (see next diagram). 



COMPOUND SENTENCE : Travel^ and you possess 

 the world. 



[You] 



travel 



; and 

 possess ! 



world 



Explanation: Since the independent clauses 

 which make up any compound sentence are of 

 equal rank, each one is indicated by a heavy 

 line. The direct object world is separated from 

 its verb by a short line drawn at right angles to 

 the main line. Only transitive verbs, of course, 

 can take an object in this manner. 



