The Printable KISS Grammar Workbooks The KISS Workbooks Anthology
(Code and Color Key)

Mixed Subordinate Clauses
Based on The Queen of the Pirate Isle, by Bret Harte
Illustrated by Kate Greenaway
Analysis Key

1. The colour [Adj. to "colour" they most loved], and [Adj. to "colour"

which was most familiar (PA) {to them}], was the dark red (PN) {of the

ground} {beneath their feet} everywhere. |
 

2. [Adv. to "paid" and "deposited" When the solemn rite was concluded (P) ],

Step-and-Fetch-It paid his own courtesy (DO) {with an extra squeeze} 

{of the curly head}, and deposited her (DO) again {in the truck}. |
 

3. Polly was thinking {about [OP how she would care {for her poor children} ] }. |
 

4. The next thing [Adj. to "thing" she remembered] was [PN that she 

was apparently being carried (P) along {on some gliding object} {to the

sound} {of rippling water}]. |
 

5. Perhaps I ought to explain [DO that she had already known other 

experiences (DO) {of a purely imaginative character}]. |
 

6. [ [#1] That Polly's personification {of "The Proud Lady"} disturbed her

mother (DO) ] resulted {in Polly's abandoning it [#2] }. |
 

7. [DO of "to believe" That the red dust may have often given a sanguinary

tone (DO) {to their fancies},] I have every reason (DO) to believe [#3] . |
 

8. Most {of the characters} [Adj. to "characters" that she assumed {for days

and sometimes weeks} {at a time}] were purely original (PA) {in conception}. |
 

9. Any change {in the weather} was as unexpected (PA) [Adv. to the

previous "as" as it is *unexpected* (PA) {in books}]. |
 

10. [Adv. to "settled" [#4] Well meant (PA) as her father's account was], it 

only settled {in the child's mind} [DO that she must keep the awful secret

(DO) {to herself}] and [DO that no one could understand her (DO) ]. |


Notes
1. This clause functions as the subject of "resulted."
2. "It" is the direct object of the verbal (gerund) "abandoning" which functions as the object of the preposition "in."
3. The infinitive "to believe" functions as an adjective to "reason."
4. You won't find this discussed in grammar textbooks. The construction in fairly rare. An alternative explanation is to see "well meant" as adjectival to "it," thereby making the subordinate clause begin with "as" and modify "meant."