Can You Identify These Sentence Patterns?


My students can figure some of these out when the pattern is predictable, but are they able to apply what they learned when the sentence patterns are varied and not predictable?

I’ve come up with fourteen sentences for them to diagram and label the sentence pattern.

  • These sentences all sound very similar.
  • They are all 3 or 4 words only.
  • The sentences are all imperative (and therefore the subject is the implied “you”).
  • There are 2 of each of the seven sentence patterns.

I kept the sentences simple and short so that students have to focus on identifying the PATTERN rather than focusing on clauses and phrases and modifiers.


  1. Give me candy!
  2. Call me tonight.
  3. Speak clearly to me.
  4. Make me beautiful!
  5. Bring me chocolate!
  6. Remember me always.
  7. Elect me president!
  8. Don’t fall down!
  9. Be perfectly kind.
  10. Become the teacher.
  11. Consider me smart.
  12. Feel better soon!
  13. Be a good student.
  14. Call me teacher.

Give them a try before just looking at the answer key.  (Also, let me know if you found any mistakes.  I’ve checked it over three times, but I may have missed something.)



Remember in order to identify the sentence patterns, you have to understand how the words in the sentence are functioning.

  • An indirect object will answer the question “to whom?” or “for whom?”
    For example, “Send Kyle a postcard.”  Send a postcard to whom? Kyle
    The direct object is receiving the action.  You send what? a postcard.  Kyle is not being sent.  The direct object (postcard) is being sent to him.
  • Take note of linking verbs.  These verbs do not take direct objects.  They take either a predicate nominative or predicate adjective.
  • Beware of adjectives and adverbs.  These are modifiers that are diagrammed below the main line.
    For example, The boy sang yesterday.  Yesterday is telling “when” and is an adverb.
    Don’t assume that the word following the verb is the direct object.  It could be an adverb or an indirect object or an adjective modifying the direct object.


If you want a printable copy of the sentences or answer key, check your email.  If you haven’t already subscribed, do so at the end of this post.

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