NEED HELP - grammatical labels

how can i identify the grammatical labels for the following sentences?

"John said he was too busy to go out"
"i will do it if i have time"

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Bandit

how can i identify the grammatical labels for the following sentences?

"John said he was too busy to go out"
"i will do it if i have time"

One needs to look at the words and decide what thay are doing in the sentence.

The first sentence is about what John said.

John: noun, subject of sentence
said: verb, main verb

The rest is what John said. As a whole, it is a noun clause. It is a noun because it functions as the direct object of the verb "said". It is a clause because it has a subject and a verb of its own.

he: pronoun, subject of clause
was: verb, clausal verb
too: adverb, modifies "busy"
busy: adjective, predicate adjective linked to "he" by "was"
to go out: infinitive phrase "to go" + adverb "out", which modifies "go"
(The infinitive phrase, IMO, modifies "busy", so it acts as an adverb.)

"I will do it if I have time."

I: pronoun, sentence subject
will do: sentence verb, future tense, auxiliary verb + base verb form
it: pronoun, direct object of the verb "will do"

The rest is a conditional clause, introduced by "if".

if: conjunction
I: pronoun, clausal subject
have: clausal verb
time: noun, direct object of the verb "have".

The essence of the parts of speech grammar model involves the roles that words can play in a sentence. These roles determine how the words interact with each other.

Hi mikenewyork,

thanks for the great detail explaination.

can you please help me with one more?

"the meeting was postponed"

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Bandit

Hi mikenewyork,

thanks for the great detail explaination.

can you please help me with one more?

"the meeting was postponed"

Am I doing your homework here?

Why don't you try this one and I will help you? Look at the words. Look them up in a dictionary, if you must, to see which parts of speech they are. Then see how the words interact with each other.

"the meeting was postponed"

the: definite article
meeting: noun, subject of sentence
was: verb,
postponed: verb (inf)

thanks for the help

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Bandit

"the meeting was postponed"

the: definite article
meeting: noun, subject of sentence
was: verb,
postponed: verb (inf)

thanks for the help

Very good! The last word "postponed" is the past participle of the verb "postpone". When used with a linking verb, the combination can be:

1. the passive voice [to be] + [past participle]
2. linking verb plus predicate adjective (describing the subject).

In this case, I would say it is the passive voice. Somebody not mentioned postponed the meeting.

So you might want to say:

was postponed: main verb, passive voice, [form of "to be"] + [past participle of the verb "postpone"]

thanks for your time, and suggestions.
I was so confused in the beginning. (when I first recieved this assignment)

Ok, back at it.... I've got six more sentences to finish.

thanks again!

=)

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Bandit

thanks for your time, and suggestions.
I was so confused in the beginning. (when I first recieved this assignment)

Ok, back at it.... I've got six more sentences to finish.

thanks again!

=)

That's what I like in students: inspiration followed by perspiration. :wink:

I need to go out for a while, but I'll check back in.