In today's article we are going to explain step by step how to parse a compound sentence. To do this, we will use the following sentence as an example:
I think this time she will wear the dress you suggested to the party
We will begin the analysis by locating the links and verbs that we have in the sentence; In this case, we observe the presence of two links that introduce subordinate clauses (que and que) and three verbs (I believe, I will carry and you advised). Next, we will look for the subject and the predicate of the main verb, that is, of that verb that does not belong to any subordinate (I think). We see how this verb is in the first person singular and, therefore, its subject can only be the personal pronoun yo, which is omitted. Consequently, the rest of the sentence constitutes the predicate of the verb to believe. Thus, we have:
– Noun Phrase / Subject 1: I (omitted).
– Verb Phrase / Predicate Verb 1: I think this time she will wear the dress you suggested to the party.
Now we will analyze the different elements that make up the predicate:
The verbal nucleus is I think and as a complement to this verb we first have a subordinate noun as a direct object (I think this time she will wear the dress you advised her to the party). We know what kind of subordinate she is and thefunction it performs, because the link is the conjunction that and can be replaced by the pronoun lo, a pronoun used to find the object of a sentence (I think this time she will wear the dress you recommended to the party > I think so). We will continue, then, looking for the subject and the predicate of the verbal nucleus of this subordinate (will take); this time, the subject is also omitted (her) and the predicate forms the rest of the sentence. Thus we have:
– Noun Phrase/Subject 2: She (omitted).
– Verb Phrase / Verb Predicate 2: this time she will wear the dress you suggested to the party.
The verbal nucleus of this subordinate is will take and the complements that appear are the following:
– The circumstantial complement of time constituted by the noun phrase this time, which answers the question when?
– The circumstantial complement of place constituted by the prepositional phrase a la fiesta, which answers the question to where?
– The direct object constituted by the nominal phrase the dress that you advised him, which is replaced by the pronoun it (I think this time he will wear it). We see how inside this complement we have a subordinate nexus and a verb, which indicates that there we have another subordinate. On this occasion, the link is the relative pronoun that, which introduces an adjective subordinate depending on the complement of the noun (which you advised). We will therefore look for its subject and predicate:
– Noun Phrase /subject 3: You.
– Verb Phrase / Verb Predicate 3: that you advised.
The verbal nucleus is advised and the complements that appear in this predicate are:
– The direct object constituted by the pronoun that, which is replaced by the antecedent the dress and then by the pronoun it (You advised her the dress > You advised it).
– The direct object constituted by the pronoun le, which always performs this syntactic function.
