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 Finding Clauses
Practice Exercise # 10

Directions:  [Work through the text one sentence at a time.]
1. First place parentheses ( ) around every prepositional phrase.
2. Underline every subject once, every finite verb twice, and label complements (PA, PN, IO or DO). [Reminder: A predicate adjective describes the subject; a predicate noun "equals" the subject; an indirect object is someone or thing "to" or "for" whom (or what) the action of the verb is performed. Any other complement has to be a direct object.]
 

The text is:
      One Sunday in a Midwest city, a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"
Note: In creating these pages, I cannot create a double underline. I will therefore underline both subjects and finite verbs once, but subjects will be in green; finite verbs in blue.
Work your way through the text one sentence at a time.

Sentence # 1

The first sentence is:
     One Sunday (in a Midwest city), a young childwas "acting up" (during the morning worship hour).
Review Prepositional Phrases Review S/V/C patterns.

Because there is only one S/V/C pattern, all we need to do is put a line at the end of the sentence. The sentence is the main clause.
     One Sunday (in a Midwest city), a young childwas "acting up" (during the morning worship hour)./

Sentence # 2

The second sentence is:
The parentsdid their best(DO) to maintain some sense (of order) (in the pew) but were losing the battle(DO).
Review Prepositional Phrases Review S/V/C patterns.

The "but" joins the "did" and the "were losing" as equal finite verbs of "parents" in one pattern. Because there is only one S/V/C pattern, all we need to do is put a line at the end of the sentence. The sentence is the main clause.
The parentsdid their best(DO) to maintain some sense (of order) (in the pew) but were losing the battle(DO)./

Sentence # 3

The third sentence is:
Finally, the fatherpicked the little fellow (DO)up and walked sternly (up the aisle) (on his way) out.
Review the S/V/C patterns for an explanation of the "*Was it*."
Review Prepositional Phrases Review S/V/C patterns.

Since there is only one S/V/C pattern (again with a compound finite verb), it has to be a main clause. Put a vertical line at the end of the sentence.
Finally, the fatherpicked the little fellow (DO)up and walked sternly (up the aisle) (on his way) out./

Sentence # 4

The fourth sentence is:
Just (before reaching) the safety (of the foyer), the little onecalled loudly (to the congregation), "Pray (for me)! Pray (for me)!"
Review Prepositional Phrases Review S/V/C patterns.

With more than one S/V/C pattern, we need to start at the end and work backward. The "Pray" pattern, with its understood subject ("You"), clearly ends with "for me." We thus have two identical clauses. Are they subordinate or main? To answer that, we need to see if they chunk to something outside themselves. A little looking should indicate that they both answer the question "called what?" Thus both clauses function as direct objects of called, and because main clauses cannot so function, both clauses are subordinate.
Just (before reaching) the safety (of the foyer), the little onecalled loudly (to the congregation), "[DO of "called"Pray (for me)!] [DO of "called"Pray (for me)!]"
We are down to one unanalyzed S/V/C pattern (centered on "called"), so all we need to do is to put a vertical line at the end of the sentence. 
Just (before reaching) the safety (of the foyer), the little onecalled loudly (to the congregation), "[DO of "called"Pray (for me)!] [DO of "called"Pray (for me)!]"/
Note that this main clause is the same as the sentence. A clause is an S/V/C pattern and all the words that chunk to it.
The "Pray for me!" clauses are part of the main clause because they are the complements of "called."
If you are interested:
     You could probably explain the function of every word in this sentence:
     "Just" functions as an adverb, modifying the adverbial prepositional phrase "before reaching."
     The phrase "before reaching" is adverbial because it indicates when they "called," and thus functions as an adverb to "called."
     In "the safety," "the" is an adjective to "safety." Although we have not studied verbals, you can probably see that "safety" is the direct object of "reaching."
    "The" and "little" are adjectives to "one."
     "Loudly" is an adverb to "called."