Diagraming sentence
Would you please explain this picture? (Several words are enough, please don't trouble yourself to write an abundant answer.)
At one time english grammar was taught in an almost mathematical sense.
Teachers would break a sentence into parts--subject, predicate or verb and object. These pieces were placed on a line with a "|" separating the pieces from each other.
The illustration, which I posted orginally, is not a good one since it it a bit complicated for esl.
The sentence above is "See spot run".
The you is understood so is put in parenthesis.This is better:
I hit Jim.
The diagram is;
I | hit | JimHope this explains it.
bBut what about the picture? A teacher and a running cow? (sheep?)
And what does "See spot run" mean?
Capitalize 'spot'. Spot is an animal with a spot on its side. But I'm having
trouble with the picture too. 'See Spot run' seems to me to be an imperative
sentence. It's issuing a directive. To me it is not a declarative sentence saying
that you actually see Spot running. The diagram suggests that the imperative
sentence is a declarative sentence.