Can someone validate my diagram and sentence? Bill sat on the bed in his pyjamas

[HeartShape]

Hi,

I have some questions:

1. Can someone confirm if this sentence and diagram is correct?

a) Bill sat on the bed in his pyjamas.

2. Since the phrase PP (in his pyjamas) is a modifer it can appear before the Head-Verb rule and after as in:

b) "Bill in his pyjamas sat on the bed" or "Bill sat on the bed in his pyjamas". Is that correct?

3. We can also stack modifers as in:

c) Bill sat on the bed in his pyjamas in his room => Bill sat on the bed [in his pyjamas] [in his room]. Is that correct?

4. And finally, are the following two also correct: (d) is correct but (e) is incorrect because of no comma?

d) In his pyjamas, Bill sat on the bed.
e) [STRIKE]In his pyjamas Bill sat on the bed.[/STRIKE]

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, HeartShape:

I cannot answer your question, but I can share some information that may interest you.

1. Adverbials of direction tend to precede adverbials of position.

a. "He ran around the track at the park."
b. "He ran at the park around the track" is questionable.


2. "June arrived at 10 o'clock with her usual flair."

a. "Shorter adverbials tend to occur before longer ones" in many cases.

3. "Josh was born at 2 a.m. on July 8th in 1947."

a. Three time adverbials. Most specific one tends to come first and the most general one last.

4. "He was born in a small town in Wyoming,"

a. Two position adverbials. (See 3a for explanation.)


Source: Marianne Celce-Murcia and Diane Larsen-Freeman, The Grammar Book An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course (1983), pages 15 - 17.

 

[HeartShape]

Thanks. I went ahead and diagrammed your last sentence for fun.

"He was born in a small town in Wyoming,"

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Thank you very much for your diagram.

I, too, love diagramming.

In my case, however, I understand only a little bit of the Reed-Kellogg system.

When I first joined this grammar helpline, there used to be a gentleman who regularly posted Reed-Kellogg diagrams. I very much miss him.



Best wishes

 

[HeartShape]

NOT A TEACHER


Thank you very much for your diagram.

I, too, love diagramming.

In my case, however, I understand only a little bit of the Reed-Kellogg system.

When I first joined this grammar helpline, there used to be a gentleman who regularly posted Reed-Kellogg diagrams. I very much miss him.



Best wishes

Hi,

Keep in mind I have only just started learning the tree diagram so I'm not too sure if it's correct.

Here's a diagram for the Reed-Kellogg system for the same sentence. Enjoy.

 

[TheParser]

Here's a diagram for the Reed-Kellogg system for the same sentence. Enjoy.

NOT A TEACHER

1. Thanks a million for the diagram. I DID enjoy it!

2. I have only one comment.

a. You feel that "in a small town" and "in Wyoming" both modify the verb "was born."

i. No doubt you are correct.

b. I am wondering, however, if there might be another possible reading.

i. I agree that "in a small town" does modify the verb, but I have the sense that "in Wyoming" modifies "in a small town."

Mona: Where were you born?

Raul: In a small town.

Mona: Where was that small town?

Raul: in Wyoming.



Have a nice weekend!

 

[HeartShape]

NOT A TEACHER

1. Thanks a million for the diagram. I DID enjoy it!

2. I have only one comment.

a. You feel that "in a small town" and "in Wyoming" both modify the verb "was born."

i. No doubt you are correct.

b. I am wondering, however, if there might be another possible reading.

i. I agree that "in a small town" does modify the verb, but I have the sense that "in Wyoming" modifies "in a small town."

Mona: Where were you born?

Raul: In a small town.

Mona: Where was that small town?

Raul: in Wyoming.



Have a nice weekend!

Hi,

I did think about that. I chose to seperate them because you said "Two position adverbials".

If we ask the question "which town?" it describes the town as an adjective. My tree even reflects this if that is considered correct.


I have updated both diagrams to reflect the changes. Again, I'm not sure if the tree diagram is correct though.

Thanks.

 

[HeartShape]

I think there is a mistake in the tree diagram in post #7. I have updated accordingly to reflect correction.

Instead of saying "town in Wyoming" I now have it as "a small town in Wyoming" as the noun phrase.

 

[HeartShape]

Hello,

I just validated my tree diagram. My tree diagram of the sentence "Bill sat on the bed in his pyjamas" is right all along.

It's exactly the same one as I posted in my first post.

[S [NP Bill] [VP sat [PP on the bed] [PP in his pyjamas]]]

gives the following diagram: :-D

And for anyone interested in validating their tree diagram you can do so here: http://ironcreek.net/phpsyntaxtree/?