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  #1  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 11:21
Baffled
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Default Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

I've been asked to identify the grammatical structure in the bracketed sections of the following sentences.

(a) When I arrived at the station the train [left]
(b) When I arrived at the station, the train [was leaving]
(c) When I arrived at the station the train [had left]

(a) She [had] her house [painted]
(b) She [had painted] her house

(a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette
(b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes

(a) You [must see] him
(b) You [must have seen] him

I've not been able to locate pertinent information via the internet and I have limited English resources in Southeast Asia, where I've been staying for the past few months.

Could anyone please help me with this or point me to resources that could help me? I'm quite baffled.
  #2  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 11:33
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Have a go at answering them. People will be able to offer better help with an idea of where you're struggling.
  #3  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 11:59
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

This was what someone else responded with. I'd came up with the same answers for the first set of sentences, but I was not successful in finding resources on the internet to help figure out the rest.

(a) When I arrived at the station the train [left] Past Simple
(b) When I arrived at the station, the train [was leaving] Past Progressive
(c) When I arrived at the station the train [had left] Past Perfect

(a) She [had] her house [painted] Past Perfect, Causative Verb
(b) She [had painted] her house Past Perfect

(a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette Infinitive
(b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes Gerund

(a) You [must see] him Modal Present
(b) You [must have seen] him Modal Past

Can anyone point me out to online resources to learn the grammatical structures for future reference?
  #4  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 12:19
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Quote:
Originally Posted by MissPride View Post
This was what someone else responded with. I'd came up with the same answers for the first set of sentences, but I was not successful in finding resources on the internet to help figure out the rest.

(a) When I arrived at the station the train [left] Past Simple
(b) When I arrived at the station, the train [was leaving] Past Progressive
(c) When I arrived at the station the train [had left] Past Perfect

(a) She [had] her house [painted] Causative construction
(b) She [had painted] her house Past Perfect

(a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette Infinitive
(b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes Past tense + Gerund

(a) You [must see] him Modal Present
(b) You [must have seen] him Modal present perfect

Can anyone point me out to online resources to learn the grammatical structures for future reference?
These are my suggestions.

Any good resource that covers verbs in a consice manner will give you the information you need.

This one is quite good

ENGLISH PAGE - Verb Tense Tutorial

Google gerund, causitive (similar to passive) and modal verbs for info on the other subjects.

Last edited by colloquium; 22-Sep-2008 at 20:33.
  #5  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 12:27
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

MissPride, the answers that Talshanir gave you are not 'grammatical structures'.

First, you'll need to know the basic sentence patterns:

1. S-V Angry customers complain.
2. S-V-O The manager helped us.
3. S-LV-N Her decision was a mistake.
4. S-LV-Adj My friend looked pale.
5. S-V-IO-O Her cousin showed visitors the capital.
6. S-V-O-OC They called the benefactor a saint.
7. S-V-O-Adj We painted the house green.

Learn more here http://www.aum.edu/uploadedfiles/Sen...icPatterns.pdf

Second, you'll need to see what grammatical structures look like and how they work. Try this quiz here Quia - Troublesome Grammatical Structures
  #6  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 12:31
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Try, also, here English Grammar Structures Explainations Reference Sheets and Guides for ESL EFL
  #7  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 12:33
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Thank you so much - the two parts that you gave suggestions for were the two that I was rather iffy about, actually. Good to know that I was on the right track with that hunch. Thank you for the link - I'll check it out after posting this response. I'm going to look into resources dealing with modals. If you have any more resource suggestions, please feel free to further enlighten me!
  #8  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 12:45
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Thank you for your response, Soup!

I was asked to identify the grammatical structures for the parts that I bracketed only. The only thing that made sense to me given that request was to seek out the verb form/tense. It seems like I was on the right track given the links featured in English Grammatical Structures. Was I incorrect?

The quiz was fun (scored a 100% - yay, hehe). I'm a native English speaker and can understand the language and its odd nuances just fine. I simply never learned the actual names of grammatical structures, because, well, the educational system didn't bother too much with it. Sad that I've been learning more on my own over the internet than I did in school.
  #9  
Old 22-Sep-2008, 14:52
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Default Re: Requesting Help with Identifying Grammatical Structures

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baffled View Post
I've been asked to identify the grammatical structure in the bracketed sections of the following sentences.

(a) When I arrived at the station the train [left] (Two action happened at the same time.)
(b) When I arrived at the station, the train [was leaving] (While an action was going on, the other occurs.)
(c) When I arrived at the station the train [had left] (An action took place before another.)

(a) She [had] her house [painted] (Passive: She asked somebody to paint the house.)
(b) She [had painted] her house [Active: the house was painted by herself. She did not ask someone else to paint it for her as (a) above.]

(a) He stopped [to smoke] a cigarette (She stopped. Then, she smoked a cigarette.)
(b) He [stopped smoking] cigarettes (He didn't smoke anymore.)

(a) You [must see] him (Necessity:an action that needs to be done now.)
(b) You [must have seen] him (Speculation: an action that have been done in the past.)

I've not been able to locate pertinent information via the internet and I have limited English resources in Southeast Asia, where I've been staying for the past few months.

Could anyone please help me with this or point me to resources that could help me? I'm quite baffled.
(Not a teacher.)

Last edited by Deepurple; 22-Sep-2008 at 14:58.
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