parts of speech: all

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me what are the parts of speech of the words in the following sentence ?

All is well that ends well.

all = indefinite pronoun ?
is = verb
well = descriptive adjective
that = relative pronoun
ends = verb
well = adverb ?

Thank you in advance.
Hela

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Hela:

1. I believe that you are 100% correct.

a. I believe that for the sake of analysis and in order to use the wonderful Reed-Kellogg diagramming system, we

would have to reorder some words:

i. All that ends well is well.

(a) "All" is a so-called indefinite pronoun. (Although one expert * asks "What is indefinite about" it?)

(b) "is" is a linking verb.

(c)"well" is an adjective that refers to "all." (And as another book ** says, "all" often means "everything.")

(d) Since we know that it is a lie to say that in this world "All [everything] is well," we have to qualify "all."

(i) In other words, all/everything that ends well is well. (An adjective clause that modifies "all.")

[After analysis and diagramming, you can change it back to its customary order: All is well that ends well.]

Hopefully, Mr. Antonson will find time to draw a diagram for us.


James

* Dr. Paul Roberts, Understanding Grammar (1954), page 85.
** Dr. Randolph Quirk et al, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985), page 382.

 

[Frank Antonson]

James,

I agree completely.

I am so out of practice with diagramming online, that I may have to wait until I have time to "re-start".

Frank