The English language is messy, and many times analyzing for grammatical elements is not always as obvious as the simple examples that we use on the content pages. So to assist your ability to analyze all the different texts you may encounter as you read, we want to offer a few more sample analyses of more difficult texts.

For these more complicated examples, we review some or all of the key features discussed in Section 6. Please review these examples closely, trying to understand the analysis or the choices made. As always, if you have any questions, please ask your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.

Complicated Example #1

My brother died and the seas were still, but not in the usual way; the wind did not blow, the leaves of the trees were still, the earth did not shake, the rivers did not swell, the sky was blue in that eternally deceptive way— innocent, as if it could never change; everything was itself, just the way it would be no matter what happened, but the world had changed for my father, and I believe now that he felt small again, insignificant, helpless against life itself taking a course indifferent to his own wishes.

Clauses and Clause Types

1. My brother died  - Independent - Type I - DIED is an intransitive verb.
2. the seas were still - Independent - Type III - BE main verb (WERE) followed by an adjective (STILL) that modifies the subject.
3. the wind did not blow - Independent - Type I - BLOW is an intransitive verb.
4. the leaves of the trees were still - Independent - Type III - Again, BE main verb (WERE) followed by an adjective (STILL) that modifies the subject.
5. the earth did not shake - Independent - Type I - SHAKE is an intransitive verb.
6. the rivers did not swell - Independent - Type I - SWELL is an intransitive verb.
7. the sky was blue - Independent - Type III - Again, BE main verb (WERE) followed by an adjective (BLUE) that modifies the subject.
8. as if it could never change - Adverbial Subordinate Clause - Type I - AS IF preceding the clause creates a subordinate clause. CHANGE is an intransitive verb.
9. everything was itself - Independent - Type IV - BE main verb (WAS) followed by a nominal that renames the subject (ITSELF is a reflexive pronoun).
10. [that] it would be - Adjectival Relative - Type I - deleted THAT creates an adjectival relative clause that modifies THE WAY. Although uncommon, in this case, BE is an intransitive verb.
11. what happened - Adjectival Relative - Type I - WHAT creates an adjectival relative clause that modifies MATTER (which is a nominal in this case). HAPPENED is an intransitive verb.
12. the world had changed for my father - Independent - Type I - This clause follows a coordinating conjunction, so it is independent. CHANGED is an intransitive verb.
13. I believe - Independent - Type V - BELIEVE is a transitive verb requiring a direct object: I BELIEVE [something]. The direct object is a nominal THAT-clause (see below).
14. that he felt small - Nominal That-Clause - Type III - THAT creates a nominal that-clause, which functions as the direct object of BELIEVE. FELT is a linking verb followed by an adjective (SMALL) that modifies the subject.

Complicated Example #2

Go ahead, make your jokes Mr. Jokey joke-maker, but let me hit you with some knowledge, quit now, save yourself the embarrassment of losing with these losers in Las Vegas, La Fleur. 

Clauses and Clause Types

1. [you] Go ahead - Independent - Type I 
2. [you] make your jokes - Independent - Type V
3. [you] let [something] - Independent - Type V
4. [THAT] me hit you - Nominal That-Clause - Type V
5. [you] quit now - Independent - Type I
6. [you] save yourself the embarrassment - Independent - Type V

• On the one hand, all of these can be analyzed as fragments, but, as we will discuss in Section 7 that writers often make stylistic choices, especially when depicting dialogue.
• The tricky one is the deleted that as direct object of LET. In a syntax course, we would dig a lot deeper. But this is sufficient for analyzing on the surface level.
• LOSING WITH THESE LOSERS is a gerund phrase.

Complicated Example #3

The curd commercialism of America, its materializing spirit, its indifference to the poetical side of things and its lack of imagination and of high unattainable ideals, are entirely due to that country having adopted for its national hero a man who, according to his own confession, was incapable of telling a lie, and it is not too much to say that the story of George Washington and the cherry-tree has done more harm, and in a shorter space of time, than any other moral tale in the whole of literature. 

Clauses and Clause Types

1. [4 NOMINAL CLAUSES - compound subject] are entirely due - Independent - Type III
2. who . . .was incapable - Adjectival Relative Clause - Type III
3. it is not too much - Independent - Type IV 
4. that the story . . . has done more harm - Nominal That-Clause - Type V

• HAVING ADOPTED is a non-finite verb phrase, not a clause
• ACCORDING TO HIS OWN CONFESSION is a non-finite verb phrase, not a clause
• TELLING A LIE is a gerund phrase
• TO SAY is an infinitive phrase

Complicated Example #4

I saved you. I saved this city and all your worthless lives. I should have let Stannis kill you all. Yes, father. I'm guilty. Guilty. Is that what you want to hear? 

Clauses and Clause Types

1. I saved you - Independent - Type V
2. I saved this city and all your worthless lives - Independent - Type V
3. I should have let Stannis kill you all - Independent - Type V
4. Stannis kill you all - Nominal That-Clause - Type V
5. I'm guilty- Independent - Type III
6. Is that what you want to hear? - Independent - Interrogative - (underlying clause is Type IV)
7. what you want to hear - Nominal Interrogative Clause (subject complement of the underlying clause) - Type V

• Yes, father. is a fragment, not a clause.
• Guilty. is a fragment, not a clause.
• Notice that there is an interrogative clause embedded in the interrogative. They are not the same thing. And while I would identify it as an interrogative clause (THAT IS [something], I would also accept an argument for it as an adjectival relative clause, if you analyze what you see on the surface level: THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR.

After reading through these sample analyses, please go to the practice exercises page to further develop your analytical skills.