294. We are ready now to analyze sentences containing adverbial clauses. In analyzing such sentences we should state as soon as we come to an adverbial clause, (1) what it denotes and (2) what part of speech its introductory word is. We should not analyze any dependent clause in detail, however, until we have completed our analysis of the principal clause.
Model.—The lion fixed his great hind claws in the softer skin of the crocodile’s throat, and ripped it open as one would rip a glove.
This is a complex, declarative sentence.
The subject is the lion. The predicate is fixed his great hind claws in the softer skin of the crocodile’s throat, and ripped it open as one would rip a glove.
The predicate is compound, the two parts being joined by the conjunction and. The first predicate verb is fixed. It is completed by the direct object his great hind claws, and then modified by the prepositional phrase in the softer skin of the crocodile’s throat. The base word of the object is claws; it is modified by the adjectives hind and great, and by the possessive pronoun his. The base word of the object of the preposition in is skin. It is modified by the adjectives softer and the, and by the prepositional phrase of the crocodile’s throat. The base word of the object of the preposition of is throat; it is modified by the possessive noun crocodile’s, which is modified by the adjective the.
The second predicate verb is ripped. It is completed by the direct object it and the objective complement open, and then modified by the adverbial clause of manner as one would rip a glove, which is introduced by the subordinate conjunction as.
The subject of this clause is the adjective pronoun one. The predicate is would rip a glove. The predicate verb is would rip. It is completed by the direct object a glove.
Exercise.—Analyze the following sentences. When you write the analysis of a sentence, use abbreviations, and instead of writing out a group of words in full, as is done in the model, write only the first and last words of the group with a dash between them. Be sure to underline all words quoted from the sentence.
1.
He looks the whole world in the face,For he owes not any man.2. The young lion was growing so fast that the milk of three goats was scarcely sufficient for him.
3.
When the glorious sun is set,When the grass with dew is wet,Then you show your little light.4. When Charles was studying shorthand, his mother read sermons to him for an hour every morning, so that he might have practice in the writing of long words.
5. If you save the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.
6.
Where the purple violet grows,Where the bubbling water flows,Where the grass is fresh and fine,Pretty cow, go there and dine.7. Tommy, though he was getting a big boy, retained some of the habits of a baby.
8. I was sitting on the top rail of the front fence, when a party of gypsies went by on their way to a camp.
9.
The day is done, and the darknessFalls from the wings of night,As a feather is wafted downwardFrom an eagle in his flight.10. Whenever you see many drones, you will find plenty of young bees.
11. After the robins have pinched and shaken all the life out of an earthworm, as Italian cooks pound all the spirit out of a steak, and then gulped him, they stand up in honest self-confidence, expand their red waistcoats with a virtuous air, and outface you with their bold calm eyes.
12. Moti Guj, the elephant, never trampled the life out of his master Deesa, for, after the beating was over, Deesa would embrace his trunk, and call him his love and his life and the liver of his soul, and give him some liquor.
13. If imitation be the sincerest form of flattery, the mischief of the monkey should be regarded more leniently.
14. I liked dolls well enough, though my assortment was not a choice one.
15. Her nails were so hard that they would yield to the scissors only after a day’s soaking in hot soapsuds.
16.
His words were shed softer than leaves from the pine,And they fell on Sir Launfal as snows on the brine.