How To Do Parsing

Syntactic analysis is the set of linguistic rules that allow us to analyze the structure of a sentence. It is very important in the legal, economic, political and other fields, since it will allow us to make the correct analysis of the writing to achieve its perfect interpretation. Said analysis is not absolute, since there are ambiguous sentences that escape the rules of said analysis. At the school level, syntactic analysis is used for grammatical purposes, that is, as an introduction to the grammatical structure of the language, it helps school children to interpret texts and to learning itself.

We want to teach you how to do syntactic analysis of sentences as well as learn to classify them according to different aspects.

What do you need to do syntactic analysis?

• A sentence to analyze.
• Pencil, paper and a basic knowledge of grammar.

Instructions for parsing

1. First of all we read the sentence carefully. Then we must find the conjugated verb.
2. Once we have found the conjugated verb we have to ask who performs the action. The answer to this question will reveal the Subject or Nominal Phrase. Subject or Nominal Phrase consists of:
   1. Nucleus(N): it is always a name, prenoun or infinitive.
   2. Determiner(De): article, possessive, infinitive, demonstrative, etc. and they go next to the name.
   3. Attached(adj): it is an adjective that always goes together with the noun.
   4. Apposition(Apo): is a noun that is not preceded by a preposition.
   5. Name Complement(CN): is a group of words that accompanies the Nucleus (usually they are preposition and noun)
3. The rest is the predicate or Verb Phrase that consists of:
   1. Core(N): is a conjugated verb.
   2. Direct Object(CD): to determine it, it can be replaced by the pronouns “lo”, “la”, “los”, “las”.
   3. Indirect Object(CI): it can be replaced by the preposition “to” and sometimes “for”. It can never be replaced by the pronouns “lo”, “la”, “los”, “las”.
   4. Circumstantial Complement of Place(CCL): the verb is asked where? (can be an adverb of place). Example: Are you coming with me to the movies tonight?
   5. Circumstantial Complement of Time(CCT): the verb is asked when (it can be preceded by a preposition or adverb of time) Example: We go on vacation on Monday.
   6. Circumstantial Complement of Mode(CCM): The verb is asked how? (It can be an adverb of manner) Example: The child arrived comfortably.
   7. Circumstantial Complement of Cause(CCCau): the verb is asked why? Example: I play chess because I like it.
   8. Circumstantial Complement of Purpose(CCF): the verb is asked for what? Example: I buy meat and vegetables to eat.
   9. Circumstantial Company Complement(CCCom): The verb is asked with whom?  Example: I went on vacation with Maria.
   10. Circumstantial Instrument Complement(CCI): the verb is asked with what? He cut the pizza with a knife.
   11. Circumstantial Material Complement(CCMa): The verb is asked, what is it made of?  Example: He made a sculpture with plaster.
   12. Circumstantial Quantity Complement(CCC): The verb is asked how much? Example: I like musical comedy a lot.
   13. Circumstantial Negation Complement(CCNeg): When there is a Negative particle.  Example: Marcela never cried for love.
   14. Circumstantial Affirmation Complement: When there is an Affirmative particle.  Example: Certainly the game was very boring.
4. In the event that there is a circumstantial complement that cannot be included in the previous list, it will simply be called a Circumstantial Complement(CC).It is also important to be clear about the different types of Prayers:
   1. Passive sentences: is when the subject undergoes the action. The verb is always in a compound form and is formed by a copulative auxiliary plus the participle of the verb that is conjugated.
   2. Copulative sentences: it is when the verb is copulative (to be, to be, to seem), it has no meaning, it only serves to unite the subject and the predicate. They always carry a Circumstantial Complement (CC), never Direct (CD) or Indirect (CI). It can be replaced by the pronouns Lo and Los.
   3. Reciprocal Sentences: They are when two or more subjects receive or carry out the action.
   4. Reflexive Sentences: They are those that the subject performs or receives the action.
   5. Direct Reflexive: When the pronoun achieves that the action carried out by the subject falls on it. Its function is Direct Complement when there is no other Direct Complement
   6. Indirect Reflexive: When the pronoun achieves that the action carried out by the subject falls on it. Its function is Indirect Complement when the action already has a Direct Complement.
   7. Reciprocal: When the subject is multiple and performs the same action simultaneously, one towards the other, and the other towards one.
   8. False “se”: When the Direct Object (lo) and the Indirect Object (le) are Pronominalized, the pronoun “se” gradually replaces the pronoun “le”.
   9. Reflex Passive: It is only possible in Third Person Singular or Plural, it has a subject that agrees with the verb in number, it is usually a subject of thing and receives the action. It can go before or after the verb. It has no specific function.
   10. Impersonal Reflex: It is only possible in Third Person Singular or Plural, it has a subject that agrees with the verb in number. It does not have a grammatical subject and it does have a Direct Object. They are impersonal sentences with intransitive verbs. It has no specific function.
   11. Pronominal: Accompanies pronominal verbs such as: boast, dare, occur… which cannot be conjugated without a pronoun. The pronoun “se” is part of the verb. It can be dative, ethical or lexical opposition.
5. Another way to classify the sentences is according to their name, they can be:
6. Simple or Compound: Simple when they have a Conjugated verb. Composed when they have more than one conjugated verb.
7. Unimember or Bimember: Unimember when they are formed by a single phrase (Nominal or Verbal). Bimembers when they are formed by more than one phrase (Nominal and Verbal)
8. Depending on their meaning, they can be:
9. Declarative, doubtful or exclamatory.
10. Affirmative or Negative
11. Active or Passive: Active when they have an active verb. Passive when they have a verb in passive voice (Aux. Cop + Participle)
12. Transitive or Intransitive: Transitive when they have a transitive verb and have a Direct Object, Intransitive when they do not have a transitive verb and do not have a Direct Object.
13. Copulative or Predicative: Copulative when they carry a copulative verb (To be, to be, to seem) and Predictive when they carry any other verb.
14. Personal and Impersonal: Personal when they have a subject either in the sentence or omitted.
15. Impersonal when they do not have a subject, they are usually meteorological verbs (to rain, to thunder, to snow, to hail).

Tips for Parsing

• When you do the syntactic analysis of a sentence, you must be very clear about its general meaning, so it is important that you first read it very well.
• You also need to understand every word that is unfamiliar to you, so it’s good to have a dictionary handy.
• In our category of how to write you can find more tips on good grammar or how to write letters.