Gramática inglesaI

Practice: syntactic analysis1

Identify the subordinate and coordinated clauses which occur in the following
fragments from the novel My Family and Other Animals:

A. We would strip beneath the olives and walk out into the warm, bright water, to drift
over the rocks and clumps of seaweed, occasionally diving to bring up something that
caught our eye (…).

We would strip beneath the olives

a

and (coordinator)
b walk out into the warm, bright water,
1[to drift over the rocks and clumps of seaweed,
2 [occasionally diving
3[to bring up something 3.a(that caught our eye)]3]2]1
A. Compound sentence: there is coordination between the two main clauses (a) and
(b). Clause (b) is itself superordinate to (1), an adverbial to-infinitive clause of purpose,
which includes two subordinate adverbial clauses:
(2) Adverbial –ing clause with a circumstantial function (“supplementive”
clause), which is in turn superordinate to clause (3), an adverbial to-infinitive clause of
purpose with a complex NP, where (3a) functions as a constituent of a noun phrase:
(3a) Relative clause acting as a postmodifier of “something”

B. Treading water and peering down, we could see below the shining, narrow fronds of
green and black weeds growing close and tangled, over which we hung like hawks
suspended in air above a strange woodland.

1
Main clauses have been underlined. Brackets have been used to enclose postmodifiers in
a complex NP. Nominal and adverbial subordinate clauses have been enclosed within
square brackets ([]).
 1[Treading water]
and
2[peering down],
a we could see below the shining, narrow fronds of green and black weeds
a.1 (growing close and tangled),
a.2 (over which we hung like hawks
a.2.1 (suspended in air above a strange woodland))a.2.
B. Complex sentence:
(1) and (2): coordinated adverbial -ing clauses with a circumstantial function.
(“supplementive” clauses)
a. Main clause with two complex NPs:
(a.1) Non-finite –ing clause acting as a postmodifier of “weeds”
(a.2) Relative clause acting as a postmodifier of “weeds”
(a.2.1) Non-finite –ed clause acting as a postmodifier of “hawks”

C. In the clearing among the weed-bed lay the sea-slugs, perhaps the ugliest of the sea
fauna. (…)
C. Simple sentence

D. No one could say that the sea-slugs led interesting lives.

a No one could say
1[that the sea-slugs led interesting lives].
D. Complex sentence
1. Nominal that-clause: Od

E. Dully they rolled on the sand, sucking in the sea with monotonous regularity.
a Dully they rolled on the sand,
1[sucking in the sea with monotonous regularity].
E. Complex sentence
1. Adverbial –ing clause with a circumstantial function (“supplementive” clause)

F. It was hard to believe that these obese creatures could defend themselves in any way,
or that they would ever need to, but in fact they had an unusual method of showing their
displeasure.
a It (anticipatory) was hard
1[to believe
2[that these obese creatures could defend themselves in any way,
or (coordinator)
3[that they would ever need to],
but (coordinator)
b in fact they had an unusual method
(of b.1 [showing their displeasure]).

F. Compound sentence: There is coordination between (a) and (b).

Clause (a) is itself superordinate to (1):
(1): nominal to-infinitive clause acting as a postponed Subject, in turn
superordinate to (2) and (3)
(2) and (3): coordinated nominal that-clauses acting as direct objects of
“believe”
Clause (b) includes a complex NP with a nominal –ing clause acting as
prepositional complement with a postmodifying function.