Adult Grammar Help

[Guest ryentzer]

Hello, I'm currently reading "When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People". In trying to internalize the concepts of the grammar review chapter I am having trouble run parsing the following sentence.

 

Socrates laid the foundation for many of the concepts used in philosophy today.

 

I understand the parts of speech for most of the words in this sentence but I'm not sure about the word "used". What would its POS be? Is it part of the prepositional phrase? "Concepts" is the object of the PP "of the concepts" right? So where does "used" fit in?

 

 

If you have or know of a English grammar and/or composition book that would be good for the "where was i during english class" adult I would be appreciative. My goal is to become a solid grammarian to supplicate my Bible and greek study.

 

Thanks for your help. :)

 

P.S. If you find any grammatical errors in any of the above sentences please kindly point them out.

[MommyThrice]

Yes, "concepts" is the subject of the PP. However, the PP also has the verb "used," so that makes the PP a dependent clause. If you were to diagram the sentence, "of" goes on a diagonal line (under many) then on the horizontal line- where you would place the subject - you draw another line up on a stem (which I can't do here) and "concepts/used" goes up on that line. Under "used" is another PP "in philosophy today."

 

I like to use the Rod & Staff Grammar Handbook to answer questions, but you have to know where to look. If I were just starting out, I think the easiest way is just to read through the section on diagrams. Better than explaining how to diagram is to just look at the diagrams - they will make sense pretty quickly.

 

I also like Mary Daly's Book of Diagrams. This book is not a "how to" grammar book. It is literally a book of diagrams. It really made it all very clear to me.

 

BTW, I know some people think diagramming is not an important goal and, to a certain extent, I agree. However, for me, diagramming isn't the goal, but it helps me understand how the words in a sentence relate to one another. I'm just a visual person.

 

HTH,

Tracie

[Guest ryentzer]

Thank you for your response. Is this the book you referred to? The R&S English Manual?

 

I actually began working through a diagramming workbook a few months ago, but it contained numerous errors and inconsistencies and proved to be more frustrating than beneficial.

[MommyThrice]

Yes, that is the book.

 

And here is Daly's First Whole Book of Diagrams...

http://hedgeschool.homestead.com/diagrams.html#anchor_19

[ekarl2]

Hello, I'm currently reading "When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People". (period goes inside the quotes) In trying to internalize the concepts of the grammar review chapter,(a comma goes after two or more introductory prepositional phrases) I am having trouble run(probably a typo:001_smile:) parsing the following sentence.

 

Socrates laid the foundation for many of the concepts used in philosophy today.

 

I understand the parts of speech for most of the words in this sentence but I'm not sure about the word "used". What would its POS be? Is it part of the prepositional phrase? "Concepts" is the object of the PP "of the concepts" right? So where does "used" fit in?

 

 

If you have or know of an English grammar and/or composition book that would be good for the "where was i during english class" adult,(you need a comma after an introductory adverb clause) I would be appreciative. My goal is to become a solid grammarian to supplicate my Bible and greek study.

 

Thanks for your help. :)

 

P.S. If you find any grammatical errors in any of the above sentences please kindly point them out.

 

 

USED is a participle. It's a verbal that acts like an adjective and modifies a noun.

 

The baseline is : Socrates l laid l foundation

 

FOR MANY is a prepositional phrase diagrammed off LAID

OF THE CONCEPTS is a prepositional phrase diagrammed off MANY (tells you which)

USED is a participle diagrammed off CONCEPTS (tells you which)

IN PHILOSOPHY is a prepositional phrase diagrammed off USED (tells you where)

TODAY is an adverb diagrammed off USED (tells you when)

 

 

Parsing will only get you so far. When it comes to advanced grammar, diagramming is REALLY helpful.

 

I would normally NEVER correct someone's post, but since you asked, I edited it for you.

 

I know of a text you might want to use. PM me.

 

I congratulate you for doing this work as an adult. It's not easy!:tongue_smilie:

 

blessings,

[Guest ryentzer]

Thank you for taking the time to respond and for the corrections. It's the only way I'll improve! :001_smile:

 

PM sent.

[MommyThrice]

Thanks for the correction, Erin. Believe it or not, I've been sitting here looking at that dumb diagram on my white board all day going back-and-forth over USED. It's just some grammar sickness, I guess. Some people can just ignore grammar - I have to find the answer before I can rest!

 

Tracie

[MBM]

Erin, could you PM the title of the text to me, too?

 

Thanks!