Diagramming Sentences
Sentence Diagrams
~ One Way of Learning English Grammar ~
Sentences from the United States Constitution
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Diagramming SentencesSentence Diagrams ~ One Way of Learning English Grammar ~ Sentences from the United States Constitution
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| Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. |
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| Lesson 2: 1. Not only can a short noun-phrase (a noun with a modifier or two) function as a subject or an object, but a long noun-phrase can as well. In the sentence above, the entire compound noun-phrase following abridging (which consists of some 27 words) is the direct object of abridging. 2. Abridging is a participle, specifically a present active participle. Participles are verbal adjectives. As verbs they sometimes take direct objects; as adjectives, they modify nouns or pronouns. Some other participial forms of the verb abridge are being abridged (present passive), having abridged (perfect active), having been abridged (perfect passive), and abridged (past). |
| Apologia pro descriptione mea: The two infinitive phrases describe the twofold right that may not be abridged by a law of Congress; they function here as adjective modifiers, not as appositives. The following is a sentence containing an infinitive used as an appositive: As with all rights of men, the first of our constitutional rights, to exercise religion freely, is not absolute. |
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