two sentence analysis and tree structures

[thezelva]

ok so i have a sentence



It was soon after leaving college that I finally bought an instrument of my own.
it = Subject
was = Predicator
and what's left is Subject Complement. or is there anything else?

the other sentence is

The case, which opens in the High Court on Thursday, has led to the discovery of 300 boxes of documents filling 110ft of shelving.



The case ... on Thursday = S

has led = P
to the discovery .... of shelving = Direct object


i'd like to clear this out first and then continue ...

[5jj]

The case, which opens in the High Court on Thursday, has led to the discovery of 300 boxes of documents filling 110ft of shelving.

The case ... on Thursday = S
has led = P
to the discovery .... of shelving = Direct object


iI'd like to clear this out up first and then continue ...

I am not an analyser of sentences, but I can say that 'to the discovery .... of shelving' is not the direct object of anything. The only direct object in that sentence is '110 ft of shelving', the direct object of 'filling'

[thezelva]

Oh no ... That's not good.

Do you have any idea what that could be then? Adverbial of some kind?

[philo2009]

ok so i have a sentence



It was soon after leaving college that I finally bought an instrument of my own.
it = Subject
was = Predicator
and what's left is Subject Complement. or is there anything else?

The main clause predicate is 'was...college', in which 'soon...college' - structurally a prepositional phrase - serves as an adverbial complement to 'was'. There then follows a further complemental element in the form of the subordinate clause 'that...own'.

[TheParser]

ok so i have a sentence



It was soon after leaving college that I finally bought an instrument of my own.
it = Subject
was = Predicator
and what's left is Subject Complement. or is there anything else?

the other sentence is

The case, which opens in the High Court on Thursday, has led to the discovery of 300 boxes of documents filling 110ft of shelving.






The case ... on Thursday = S

has led = P
to the discovery .... of shelving = Direct object


i'd like to clear this out first and then continue ...

(1) This is great fun. May I try? (My attempt at analysis is based on

our beloved Reed-Kellogg diagramming system.)

*****

(2) It = subject.

That I finally bought an instrument of my own. = noun clause in apposition with "it." (explains what "it" is.)

was = linking verb.

after leaving college. = prepositional phrase that serves as a subjective complement (refers to "it").

soon = prepositional phrase modifying the whole prepositional phrase.

*****

(3) The case = subject.

which opens in the High Court on Thursday. = adjective clause modifying "the case."

has led = verb.

to the discovery = prepositional phrase modifying "has led."

of 300 boxes = prepositional phrase modifying "discovery."

of documents = prepositional phrase modifying "boxes."

filling 110 feet = participial phrase modifying "documents."

of shelving = prepositional phrase modifying "feet."

[philo2009]

A couple of minor quibbles:

soon = prepositional phrase modifying the whole prepositional phrase.
??
'Soon' is an adverb, not a phrase of any kind... - a typo perhaps?
*****

(3) The case = subject.

to the discovery = prepositional phrase modifying "has led."

A complement rather than a modifier.

[TheParser]

A couple of minor quibbles:

(1) Yes, the "soon" matter was a typo. My mind was racing ahead to

"prepositional phrase" later on in the sentence. That's why proofreaders

are so important. I hear some newspapers are laying off proofreaders,
and this has led to more typos in some newspapers.



(2) has led (to the discovery). What is the difference between

"modifying" and "complementing"? I do not understand. Please

explain to me. Does it mean that "to the discovery" is essential to

the sentence? That it makes no sense to end a sentence with

"has led"?

Thank you for any guidance.

[philo2009]

Does it mean that "to the discovery" is essential to

the sentence? That it makes no sense to end a sentence with

"has led"?

Thank you for any guidance.

Precisely!

[Haylee Schreiter]

ok so i have a sentence



It was soon after leaving college that I finally bought an instrument of my own.
it = Subject
was = Predicator
and what's left is Subject Complement. or is there anything else?

Well, let's see... This is what I think... The subject is indeed "it" and it has an appositive/noun clause that is "that I finally bought an instrument of my own" but don't forget that "of my own" is a prepositional phrase. The verb is "was" and "soon" is a predicate adjective. The part of the sentence left,"after leaving college" is a prepositional phrase and within the prepositional phrase is a gerund phrase "leaving college".

[Haylee Schreiter]

Here I have a sentence... Let's see how good you are

The great idea which pleased the tourist was to give the llamas bad anime so they would lose their minds.