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To mark sentences properly

1. Put all prepositional phrases in parenthesis. Prepositional phrases start with a preposition (we memorized 49 in a poem) and end with a noun (person, place, thing, idea). Write “prep” over the preposition and “OP” over the noun.

2. Underline the verb twice. The verb is the word that shows action plus any helpers: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, have, has, had, do, does, did, could, should, would, may, might, must, can, will, shall.
   

3. If there is no action in a sentence, the verb is either linking or showing existence. If the verb is linking, it will connect a word in the predicate (the verb side of a sentence) to the subject. Write “LV” over the linking verb. Common linking verbs include is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, look, appear, smell, taste, sound, feel, seem, grow, remain, stay, and become.

4. Underline the subject once. The subject is who does the action
   

5. Write DO over the direct object if there is one. Say the subject and the verb together and ask “What?” The answer to your question will be the object that receives the action from the verb (the direct object).

6. Linking verbs do not have direct objects. The word connected to the subject by a linking verb is called a linking verb complement (LVC). To find an LVC, say the subject and verb together and ask “What?” The answer to your question will be an LVC. (More specifically, nouns that are LVC’s are called predicate nouns or predicate nominatives. Adjectives that are LVC’s are called predicate adjectives. Instead of marking them “LVC,” they can be marked “PN” or “PA.”)
   

7. Write IO over the indirect object if there is one. Look between the verb and the direct object for who or what gets the direct object.

8. Circle the adjectives. Adjective tell you more (modify) about nouns. They tell you which one, what kind, how many, or whose.
   

9. Bracket the adverbs. Adverbs tell you more (modify) about verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They tell when, where, how, how much.

10. Write “appos” over any appositives. Appositives are nouns (or pronouns) that immediately follow another noun (or pronoun) and describe or rename the noun (or pronoun) they follow. Appositives are most often in commas and may be modified by adjectives.
    

11. Write “NA” over nouns of direct address. A nouns of direct address is the name of the person being spoken to when that name is in the sentenced. It is always set off by commas.