Hello PWP students!<\/p>\n
We’ve reached chapter 3 in Hopper’s textbook and\u00a0been introduced to the basics of the great emblem of this grammar course, the Diagram<\/em>. In addition to being\u00a0a main\u00a0focal point\u00a0in the class, diagrams can be extremely confusing!<\/p>\n Here is a recap on important basics to understanding diagrams:<\/p>\n First of all, remember the definition of phrase. This is important since it’s phrases that we will be diagramming.<\/p>\n Phrase<\/strong>: this term refers to a set of words that belong together because they function as a grammatical unit (eg., “the hot rod”\u00a0is\u00a0the unit of\u00a0a noun phrase)<\/p>\n In\u00a0a diagram, a phrase has two aspects that are identified: Form and Function (hence, it is called a “form-function diagram”)<\/p>\n Forms<\/strong>: labels for categories like “verb”, “noun”, “adjective”; and labels for phrases like “Noun Phrase” and “Predicate Phrase”<\/p>\n -Forms are represented in the top “tree” part of the diagram<\/p>\n Functions: <\/strong>(what the phrase is doing in the sentence, or the purpose that it serves) labels such as “Subject”, “Predicate”, “Modifier”, “Determiner”, etc.<\/p>\n -Functions are represented in the underlined section\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0diagram, underneath the sentence.<\/p>\n Every sentence that we\u00a0will be working with\u00a0is made up of two basic phrases: The Noun Phrase (NP)\u00a0and the Predicate Phrase (PredPhr). \u00a0When you diagram a sentence, after\u00a0you\u00a0start the tree diagram\u00a0by labeling the sentence\u00a0with\u00a0the overarching “S” form\u00a0label, \u00a0the NP and PredPhr\u00a0are the first two phrases that you will identify. <\/strong>Identify their forms (NP and PredPhr), and then identify their functions (Subject and Predicate). (See p. 48<\/strong> of Hopper’s textbook)<\/p>\n Example Sentence<\/strong>:<\/p>\n The\u00a0hot rod whizzed down the street.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 Two basic phrases of sentence:<\/strong><\/p>\n “The hot rod” And “whizzed down the street”<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 – Forms<\/strong>:<\/p>\n “the hot rod” = NP<\/p>\n “whizzed down the street” = PredPhr<\/p>\n – Functions:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>NP function (the hot rod)\u00a0= Subject<\/p>\n PredPhr function (whizzed down the street)\u00a0= Predicate<\/p>\n <\/p>\n See chapter 3 for visuals of this diagramming process. Understanding the basic form-function categories of NP and PredPhr is just the beginning before we dissect each of those phrases down to\u00a0every single\u00a0word’s form and function. Keep up the good practice! If you have any questions or simply want someone to practice with, please stop by Laurentide\u00a0and see either Cheyenne or\u00a0Olivia (that’s me:)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello PWP students! We’ve reached chapter 3 in Hopper’s textbook and\u00a0been introduced to the basics of the great emblem of this grammar course, the Diagram. In addition to being\u00a0a main\u00a0focal point\u00a0in the class, diagrams can be extremely confusing! Here is a recap on important basics to understanding diagrams: First of all, remember the definition of … Continue reading English 362: Glorious Diagrams!<\/span>