English I Sentence of the Day 16

Today's sentence is from "Once More to the Lake":


One summer, along about 1904,

my father rented a camp on a lake

in Maine and took us all there for

the month of August.

For an audio lesson (recorded in class on 10/28), click here.

English IV SoD 19: Complex Sentence

Today's sentence comes from "Beowulf":

They had seen me boltered in the blood of enemies
when I battled and bound five beasts,
raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea
slaughtered sea-brutes.

For an audio lesson (recorded in class on 10/25), click here.

English IV S o D 7

Now that you've completed Sentence Basics Lessons 1 to 5, let's put your skills to work on a sentence from our reading. Today's sentence comes from Barbara Lazear Ascher's "The Boxman."

Then, as if dogged by luck,

he set out again and

discovered, behind the sign at the

parking garage, a plastic Dellwood box,

strong and clean, once used to deliver

milk.

Pick out main parts!

Bracket off prep phrases:

Then, as if dogged [by luck], he set out again and discovered, [behind the sign] [at the parking garage], a plastic Dellwood box, strong and clean, once used to deliver milk.

• "Out" is not the start of a  prepositional phrase here because there is no noun after it to complete the phrase.

Find the verbs:

Then, as if dogged [by luck], he set out again and discovered, [behind the sign] [at the parking garage], a plastic Dellwood box, strong and clean, once used to deliver milk.

Check to see which verbs are predicates:

Dogged. Who or what dogged? There is no answer to that question, therefore dogged is not a predicate. In fact, it is a past participle and is working as a modifier.

Set out. Who or what set out? He.

• He is the subject, therefore "set out" is a predicate. "Set out" is a phrasal verb, meaning the verb's action is expressed with a combination of verb and preposition.

He set out who or what? There is no answer, so there's no direct object.

Who or what discovered? He

• He is the subject. "Set out" and "discovered" share the subject "he." This is called a compound predicate.

He discovered who or what? box (in the phrase "a plastic Dellwood box")

• "Box" is the direct object. The two commas in this sentence surrounding the prepositional phrases word like a bridge linking the verb discovered to its direct object.

Who or what used? There is no answer, so used is not a predicate. Used is a past participle that works as a modifier.

There is only one clause in this sentence, therefore this is a simple sentence.