Now that you've completed Sentence Basics Lessons 1 to 6, let's put your skills to work on a sentence from "My Landlady's Yard":
So I go ahead and drag around a
green hose despite my perception
that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out onto this
desert, an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as
to any Aztec deity (don’t water a couple of days
and watch how fast it dries away).
Let's pick out main parts!
First bracket off prepositional phrases: So I go ahead and drag around a green hose despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert], an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as [to any Aztec deity] (don’t water a couple [of days] and watch how fast it dries away).
Note, "ahead," "around,"and "out" are sometimes prepositions, but in this sentence, they are helping the verbs express their actions, therefore they are phrasal verbs.
Next underline verbs: So I go ahead and drag around a green hose despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert], an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as [to any Aztec deity] (don’t water a couple [of days] and watch how fast it dries away).
We don't have to underline "offering" here because we know that -ing verbs need helping verbs to take a subject. "Offering" is a participle and is acting as a modifier.
Who or what goes ahead? I. "I" is the subject.
I go ahead who or what? The question makes no sense, so there's no complement.
Who or what drags around? I. "I" is the subject.
Both verbs share the same subject, therefore these verbs are part of a single clause. This is an example of compound-predicate.
I drag around who or what? A hose. "Hose" is the direct object.
Who or what is pouring out? Gold. "Gold" is the subject.
Note, "liquid" cannot be the subject because it is separated from the verb with a single comma. The two commas surrounded "colorless liquid" act like a bridge, allowing us to move from the verb "is pouring out" to the subject "gold."
Who or what don't water? This verb is an imperative verb. It is giving a command, therefore the subject is understood to be the reader, or "you."
You don't water who or what? This question makes no sense so there's no complement.
Who or what watch? This verb is an imperative verb. It is giving a command, therefore the subject is understood to be the reader, or "you."
You watch who or what? "How fast it dries away." This is a noun clause acting as direct object.
Who or what dries? It. "It" is the subject.
It dries who or what? There is no answer, so no complement.
This sentence contains a whooping five clauses:
So I go ahead and drag around a green hosedespite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert]don’t water a couple [of days]watch how fast it dries away
Two of the clauses are dependent:
despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert]how fast it dries away
The rest are independent. Thus this is a compound-complex sentence.
The portion of the sentence that is set off with parenthesis is a sort of aside, as if the author is leaning over and whispering a comment to the audience.
So I go ahead and drag around a
green hose despite my perception
that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out onto this
desert, an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as
to any Aztec deity (don’t water a couple of days
and watch how fast it dries away).
First bracket off prepositional phrases: So I go ahead and drag around a green hose despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert], an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as [to any Aztec deity] (don’t water a couple [of days] and watch how fast it dries away).
Note, "ahead," "around,"and "out" are sometimes prepositions, but in this sentence, they are helping the verbs express their actions, therefore they are phrasal verbs.Next underline verbs: So I go ahead and drag around a green hose despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert], an offering as unquenchable and ruthless as [to any Aztec deity] (don’t water a couple [of days] and watch how fast it dries away).
We don't have to underline "offering" here because we know that -ing verbs need helping verbs to take a subject. "Offering" is a participle and is acting as a modifier.
Who or what goes ahead? I. "I" is the subject.
I go ahead who or what? The question makes no sense, so there's no complement.
Who or what drags around? I. "I" is the subject.
Both verbs share the same subject, therefore these verbs are part of a single clause. This is an example of compound-predicate.I drag around who or what? A hose. "Hose" is the direct object.
Who or what is pouring out? Gold. "Gold" is the subject.
Note, "liquid" cannot be the subject because it is separated from the verb with a single comma. The two commas surrounded "colorless liquid" act like a bridge, allowing us to move from the verb "is pouring out" to the subject "gold."Who or what don't water? This verb is an imperative verb. It is giving a command, therefore the subject is understood to be the reader, or "you."
You don't water who or what? This question makes no sense so there's no complement.
Who or what watch? This verb is an imperative verb. It is giving a command, therefore the subject is understood to be the reader, or "you."
You watch who or what? "How fast it dries away." This is a noun clause acting as direct object.
Who or what dries? It. "It" is the subject.
It dries who or what? There is no answer, so no complement.
This sentence contains a whooping five clauses:
So I go ahead and drag around a green hosedespite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert]don’t water a couple [of days]watch how fast it dries away
Two of the clauses are dependent:
despite my perception that gold, colorless liquid, is pouring out [onto this desert]how fast it dries awayThe rest are independent. Thus this is a compound-complex sentence.
The portion of the sentence that is set off with parenthesis is a sort of aside, as if the author is leaning over and whispering a comment to the audience.