Sentences are Complicated

Over the last week I discovered how complicated sentences really are. I bettered my understanding of transitive and intransitive verbs. Linking verbs were added to the list. And finally, sentence structure was introduced, and explored.

After last week it became clear that transitive verbs require a direct object. The students studied their assignment. The transitive verb is studied, and the direct objective is their assignment. An intransitive verb; however, does not require a direct objective. The students rested, or, The cows chewed. Notice, intransitive verb sentences are never accompanied by a direct objective. SO, transitive and intransitive verbs are clear, but how about linking verbs?

Linking verbs were introduced this week, and they link a subject with a description of the subject. We also learned that this description may be in the form of a noun or adjective. For example, The beer tastes bitter. Tastes is the linking verb because it links beer with bitter. There still may be some confusion regarding linking verbs. Another way to think of sentence featuring a linking verb is to look for a subject compliment, instead of a direct objective. In the sentence, This cat feels tired, tired is a subject compliment. Thus, feels is the linking verb. If I am confused, and you are reading this, please feel free to comment and correct me, as I do not enjoy being confused.

Finally, something I’m still vague about. On Thursday we discussed the different sentence structures, including; simple sentences, compound sentences, run on sentences, and comma spliced sentences. Although this discussion was riveting, I had a difficult time following as closely behind it as I desire. That is, I am confused about compound sentences, and I am confused about semi-colon use. I know we didn’t spend too much time going over these two concepts, and I hope we spend more. I guess what I don’t fully understand is what, explicitly, constitutes a full sentence? A subject, verb, and direct objective? Because that confuses me as to whether or not a sentence featuring an intransitive verb is a full sentence. How do I know if a sentence is run on? For example, The students laughed, and the teacher slouched. Is the precious sentence a comma splice, or run on, or both? And, as always, how do I teach this in my classroom?


ABRAHAM LINCOLN DIDN'T FEAR GETTING ASSASINATED; HE LIVED IT.

Apostrophes and Parts of Speech

What have I learned so far in terms of grammar and punctuation? Thus far, English 326 has taught me about apostrophe usage, different types of verbs, and how to identify various parts of speech in a sentence. Explicitly, I want to discuss what I have learned about transitive and intransitive verbs. Additionally, I will explain the ways in which I am now prepared to appropriately use apostrophes.
First of all, before the previous class session in which transitive and intransitive verbs were introduced, I had no idea there were different types of verbs. Take the next two sentences, for example. “Bob walked to the bus stop.” “Bob walked.” Two weeks ago I would say “walked” was the verb. And I would move on. Not anymore. I now know that the first sentence features a transitive verb because there are two objects. This is a more conventional sentence structure. The next sentence features an intransitive verb because walked is not tied to an object, which is a more unconventional sentence structure. This brings me to the next breakthrough in grammar and punctuation I experienced.
Due to hardcore attention to sentence structure, I am now equipped with a stronger understanding of the parts of speech, and how they are properly used. I know that adjectives describe nouns, and that they also feature comparative and superlative forms. I have investigated the essence of adverbs and understand how they describe verbs, adjectives, or another adverb. Adverbs are awesome. I greatly appreciate “move- ability” test. For example, if one wants to identify whether a word is an adverb or adjective one can simply “move” the word around and find out. “Specifically, I want the red dog.” Or, “I want the red dog, specifically.” Specifically is an adverb because it can be moved.
Finally, I am endowed with a better understanding of apostrophes. That is, I understand the difference between “Tiger Woods golf club” and “Tiger Woods’s golf club” and “Tiger Woods’ golf club.” The first sentence I am actually confused about. But, the next two are sentences showing Tiger’s possession over the golf club. “Woods’s” is the new style to show possession for a noun ending in “s,” while “Woods’” is the older style to show possession.





Question: I am a little confused still concerning the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. For my explanation I said that intransitive verbs lack an object. Is it that simple, or am I missing part of the explanation? Does an intransitive verb always appear at the end of a sentence?




Pattern of the day: I think it was Garth Brooks who said, “AND THE THUNDER ROLLS.”
AND THE SONG IS GOOD.