Identifying Structure Elements in Sentences Quiz

Clause Structure

• A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.
• It can function as a complete sentence (independent clause) or as part of a sentence (dependent or subordinate clause).

Dependent and Independent Clauses

• Dependent clause: "When the sun sets." (cannot stand alone as a complete sentence)
• Independent clause: "She went for a walk." (can stand alone as a complete sentence)

Phoneme to Sentence Structure

• One or more phonemes make a morpheme.
• One or more morphemes make a word.
• One or more words can be combined to form a group.
• One or more groups are often combined to form a clause.
• One or more clauses can be combined to form a sentence.
• One or more sentences can be combined to form a discourse.

Group Types

• Nominal Group (NG): functions as Subject, Object, Complement, and sometimes Adjunct.
• Verbal Group (VG): functions as Predicator.
• Adverbial Group (AdvG): functions as Adjunct.
• Prepositional Group (PG): functions as Adjunct and as a qualifier of a Nominal Group.
• Adjectival Group (AdjG): functions as Subject/Object Complement.

Examples of Group Types

• S(NG) P(VG) O(NG): "The lovely little lady married a big handsome man."
• S(NG) P(VG) O(NG) A(AdvG): "The Vice Chancellor, Prof Mike Faborode, would be finishing his tenure this June."
• S P O OC: "Sade found Emeka a pig."
• S(NG) P O CO (AdjG) A(PG): "Ngozi's father's wealth made her attractive to suitors from Delta State."
• S P C(AdjG): "Sherifat is quite pretty."

Nominal Group (NG)

• The term Nominal Group (NG) refers to a word or group of words headed by a noun (or pronoun in some cases) that can function as the Subject, Object, or Complement in the English clause structure.
• The English Nominal Group has a composite structure that is often described as (m) h (q).
• h stands for head; m stands for modifier and q stands for qualifier.
• While h is obligatory in the NG structure, (m) and (q) are optional items.

Components of Nominal Group

• M – Modifier: items that come before the head word, including determiners, numerals, adjectives, and nominal items.
• H – Head: the nucleus of the Nominal Group, which can stand alone for the group if forced to select the key word.
• Q – Qualifier: groups of words that post-modify the head word, including relative clauses, prepositional groups, reflexive pronouns, and nominal groups.

Test your knowledge in identifying the structure elements in sentences with this quiz. Learn about subjects, predicates, clauses, and sentence structures.