As you learned in the previous lesson, conjunctions join words, phrases, or sentences.

LESSON 1.34
syntax tree(s) and Conjunctions

Conjunctions Connecting Words

In a tree, conjunctions bring in words at the same level.  Take this sentence as an example:

Jack and Bill fell in love with Jill.

The tree below puts Bill at a lower level than Jack. 

 

Putting them side-by-side is more accurate:

Small Group or Class Activity

Draw trees for the following:

    1. Both Jack and Bill fell in love with Jill.
    2. Jing loved her parents and six brothers.
    3. Batty and Tolley teamed with Elvina and Basra.

Implied Words

We often leave words out of sentences.  They are implied.  For example, we might say,

I like running more than Janice.

What we are really saying is,

I like running more than Janice does.
                       OR
I like running more than Janice likes running.

The missing words are not necessary. The sentence is clear without them. In trees, we indicate implied words by putting them in parenthesis:

Commands

Another place we use implied words are in commands.  For instance, instead of saying Will you please pass the salt, we can say Please pass the salt, or even Pass the salt. The syntax tree(s) that results from Pass the salt looks like this:

A sentence with implied words and conjunctions will look like this:

Add cinnamon and pepper.

Small Group or Class Activity

Draw a tree for the following:

Do 60 push-ups and 10 pull-ups.

Alternative Ways of Drawing Trees

Sometimes, trees can be drawn two (or more) ways.  Let’s take this sentence as an example:

Rendena likes to read the Bible and work in her garden.

There are two embedded sentences:

Mary likes to read the Bible

Mary likes to work in her garden.

We could draw it this way:

However, likes to is much stronger word than to. Therefore, we could draw the tree this way:

Small Group Activity

Draw trees for the following. Include the implied words (in parenthesis).

    1. Brenda and Molly want to spend their Christmas vacation in Mexico and (in) Guatemala.
    2. My dog, Frederico, barks (in the morning) and whines in the morning.

Trees with Embedded Sentences and Conjunctions

Embedded sentences contain at least two ways to create sentences by repeating words but not changing word order.  The two sentences meet at the verb.

For example: My pet frog sings opera in bars on Saturday night and hymns in church on Sundays.

Embedded sentences:

My pet frog sings opera.

My pet frog sings in bars.

My pet frog sings on Saturday nights.

∗

My pet frog (sings) hymns.

My pet frog (sings) in church.

My pet frog (sings) on Sundays.

However, the tree looks complicated.           

A simpler tree would repeat sing:

Small Group Activity

Draw and label a tree for the following:

    1. My brother’s widow’s brother-in-law wants to travel to Spain and Morocco. (Treat brother-in-law as one word.)
    2. The dog in my neighbor’s yard wags its tail and growls.
    3. Our ship sails to Tahiti each Tuesday and Tonga every other Friday.

Small Group Activity

Draw and label a tree for the following:

    1. Manny sang and danced in the school’s talent show.
    2. Manny sang every day at home but danced in the school’s talent show.

Individual or Small Group Activity

Complete the exercise:    Cyprus

    Crete

Optional Activity