Functional Grammar Analysis:
A Grammar Tool for Students and Teachers
Erin Haynes, American Institutes for Research
Introduction
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics and English language arts (ELA)
set high standards for all students, including English language learners (ELLs), to be college and
career ready and globally competitive. As part of the CCSS, students are expected to:
 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different
contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully
when reading or listening [CCRA.L.3].
 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the
whole [CCRA.R.5].
 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience [CCRA.W.5].
Each of these anchor standards requires proficiency in English grammar and, in particular, an
understanding of how grammar functions to create meaning. In this handout, I present functional
grammar analyses of sentences and phrases from various texts, adapted from the work of
researchers who use Systemic Functional Linguistics to support language development (e.g.,
Christie, 2012; de Oliveira & Dodds, 2010; Fang & Schleppegrell, 2008, 2010; Schleppegrell,
2004, 2013; Schleppegrell & de Oliveira, 2006). Teaching students how to use functional
grammar analysis serves two primary functions, both of which relate to the three anchor
standards listed above:
 It helps students learn how to break text into units of meaning, which allows them to
extract the meaning of sentences and analyze how they relate to each other and to the
text as a whole.
 It helps students identify missing elements in their own writing that contribute to the
overall meaning they are seeking to communicate.
The next section describes the elements that occur in every sentence, as well as the elements that
augment most English sentences to provide additional meaning. A series of examples are then
provided from texts at different grade levels.
Sentence Elements
All Sentences
All sentences have at least one participant and at least one process. These may be the only two
elements of a sentence (e.g., He slept), or there may be additional elements (e.g., He slept
soundly on the couch), but every English sentence requires a participant and a process. Usually,
at least one of the participants is the actor and the process is an action.
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Functional Grammar Analysis—1

Actor: the person or thing that is doing the action. All sentences have an actor. However,
in some imperative and passive sentences, the actor may not be expressed. That is, the
presence of the actor is understood but not explicitly stated.
Active
Imperative
Passive

Sentence
The dog bit the man.
Stop biting me!
The man was bitten (by the dog).
Actor
The dog
[You]
The dog
Process/action: the thing that is being done. This may be an action of doing, saying, or
sensing. More general processes also include states of being (Schleppegrell, 2013; Martin
& Rose, 2003; cf. Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004).
Doing
Saying
Sensing
Being
Sentence
The dog bit the man.
The man said, “Ouch!”
The man saw the dog.
The dog was huge.
Process/Action
Bit
Said
Saw
Was
Optional Elements
In addition to the main participant (usually the actor) and the process, sentences may (and
usually do) have a variety of other elements.

Additional participants: the person or thing that the action happens to, for, or with; or the
result of the action.
Sentence
Participant
The man gave the dog a bath.
The dog
Recipient
The dog
Beneficiary (for) The man took the dog to the park.
The man
Experiencer (to) The dog bit the man.
The dog sank his teeth into the man. His teeth
Instrument
(with)
The man said, “Ouch!”
“Ouch!”
Result

Descriptors: any additional information that describes when, where, why, or how the
process occurred, or that otherwise provides additional descriptors of the process.
Descriptors can be adverbial phrases, dependent clauses, or prepositional phrases.
Sentence
Where The man took the dog to the park.
The dog bit the man during his walk.
When
The dog bit the man because he was scared.
Why
The dog bit the man very hard.
How
Details The dog bit the man, which hurt the man.
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Descriptors
To the park
During his walk
Because he was scared
Very hard
Which hurt the man
Functional Grammar Analysis—2
Sentence Examples by Type
The examples provided in the section above are all relatively simple, with straightforward
elements. However, the sentences that ELLs require assistance with are often quite complex. The
following examples show how elements are represented in a variety of sentence types. It is not
necessary to learn all of the different types of sentences; rather, these examples are meant to
show how functional grammar analysis can be applied to any type of sentence the reader may
encounter. Note that, in many cases, the details element will require further analysis. Once
students have performed an analysis of the sentence elements, it is helpful to make sure they
understand what the individual elements mean. The first example, below, demonstrates a sample
exercise to help students untangle meaning by restating each element in their own words.
Examples come from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (a secondary-school text), Mark
Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (a middle-school text), and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s
The Secret Garden (an elementary-school text).
Transitive Sentence Examples
Text
Sentence
The Secret Garden
The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write
disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months.
Comments This is a complex declarative sentence with an embedded clause that
describes the English governess.
WHO (Actor): The young English governess
Analysis
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): Who came to teach her to read and write
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Disliked
WHO (Recipient): Her
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): So much
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): That she gave up her place in three
months
She gave up her place in three months.
Detail
Analysis
WHO (Actor): She [the young English governess]
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Gave up
WHAT (Experiencer): Her place
DESCRIPTOR (When): In three months
SAMPLE STUDENT EXERCISE
Sentence Element
Text
Say It in Your Own Words
Who The young English governess
The teacher from England
Who came to teach her to read and
The teacher was supposed to
Descriptor
write
teach Mary how to read and write
What Happened Disliked
Didn’t like
Who Her
Mary
Descriptor So much
So much
That she gave up her place in three
Descriptor
She quit her job in three months
months
Write the
The teacher from England didn’t like Mary. The teacher was supposed to
Sentence in Your
teach Mary how to read and write. But she quit her job in three months.
Own Words
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Functional Grammar Analysis—3
Text
Sentence
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
As he drew near, he slackened speed, took the middle of the street, leaned
far over to starboard and rounded to ponderously and with laborious
pomp and circumstance—for he was personating the Big Missouri, and
considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water.
Comments This sentence features serial verbs—both transitive and intransitive. The
verbs can be represented through a series of action fields. The actor (he)
is the same for all sentences. One of the descriptors—analyzed as part of
the detail analysis—is a compound phrase. Again, the actor (he) is the
same for both actions.
WHO (Actor): He
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Slackened
WHAT (Recipient): Speed
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Took
WHAT (Recipient): The middle of the street
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Leaned
DESCRIPTOR (Where): Far over to starboard
and
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Rounded to
DESCRIPTOR (How): Ponderously
DESCRIPTOR (How): With laborious pomp and circumstance
DESCRIPTOR (When): As he drew near
DESCRIPTOR (Why): He was personating the Big Missouri, and
considered himself to be drawing nine feet of water
Detail
Analysis
He was personating the Big Missouri, and considered himself to be
drawing nine feet of water.
WHO (Actor): He
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Was personating
WHAT (Experiencer): the Big Missouri
and
WHO (Actor): [He]
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Considered himself to be drawing
WHAT (Recipient): Nine feet of water
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Functional Grammar Analysis—4
Text
Sentence
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.
Comments The first sentence of the Gettysburg Address is a simple, declarative
sentence, but it includes a very complex noun phrase headed by “new
nation.”
WHO (Actor): Our fathers
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Brought forth
WHAT (Experiencer): A new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): Conceived in liberty
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): Dedicated to the proposition that all men are
created equal
DESCRIPTOR (Where): On this continent
DESCRIPTOR (When): Four score and seven years ago
Detail
Analysis
The nation was dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
WHO (Actor): The nation
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Was dedicated
WHAT (Experiencer): To the proposition
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): That all men are created equal
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Functional Grammar Analysis—5
Intransitive Sentence Examples
Text
Sentence
The Secret Garden
One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she
awakened feeling very cross, and she became crosser still when she saw
that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah.
Comments This sentence features two grammatical actors (she and she, though they
are the same person) and two actions. It is both compound and complex.
One of the descriptors—analyzed as part of the detail analysis—features
a verb (“saw”) that can take either a direct object (e.g., saw the person)
or a dependent phrase (e.g., saw that the person…). Here, the entire
dependent phrase is analyzed as the direct object of the verb.
WHO (Actor): She
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Awakened
DESCRIPTOR (How): Feeling very cross
DESCRIPTOR (When): One frightfully hot morning
DESCRIPTOR (When): When she was about nine years old
and
WHO (Actor): She
WHAT HAPPENED (Process): Became
DESCRIPTOR (How): Crosser still
DESCRIPTOR (Why): When she saw that the servant who stood by her
bedside was not her Ayah
Detail
Analysis
She saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah
WHO (Actor): She
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Saw
WHAT (Recipient): That the servant was not her Ayah
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): Who stood by her bedside
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Functional Grammar Analysis—6
Text
Sentence
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun,
the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs,
munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents.
Comments This sentence features serial verbs—both intransitive and transitive. The
verbs can be represented through a series of action fields. The actor (the
retired artist—Tom Sawyer) is the same for all sentences.
WHO (Actor): The retired artist
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Sat
DESCRIPTOR (Where): On a barrel in the shade
DESCRIPTOR (Where): Close by
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Dangled
WHAT (Experiencer): His legs
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Munched
WHAT (Experiencer): His apple
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Planned
WHAT (Recipient): The slaughter of more innocents
DESCRIPTOR (When): While the late steamer Big Missouri worked and
sweated in the sun
Detail
Analysis
The late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun.
WHO (Actor): The late steamer Big Missouri
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Worked
and
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Sweated
DESCRIPTOR (Where): In the sun
Text
Sentence
The Gettysburg Address
Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish
from the earth.
Comments This sentence is deceptively simple: It has one actor, one action, and a
number of descriptors that describe each actor and action.
WHO (Actor): Government
Analysis
DESCRIPTOR (What kind): Of the people
DESCRIPTOR (What kind): By the people
DESCRIPTOR (What kind): For the people
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Shall not perish
DESCRIPTOR (Where): From the earth
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Functional Grammar Analysis—7
Passive Sentence Example
Text
Sentence
The Secret Garden
After that, appalling things happened, and the mysteriousness of the
morning was explained to Mary.
Comments This is a compound sentence, with two actors, one of which is a passive
agent. We don’t know who explained the mysteriousness of the morning,
so the actor is understood to be “somebody.” Note that the verb
“explained” is di-transitive, meaning that it has two recipients.
WHO (Actor): Appalling things
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Process): Happened
DESCRIPTOR (When): After that
WHO (Actor): [Somebody]
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Explained
WHAT (Result): The mysteriousness of the morning
WHO (Participant): To Mary
Interrogative Sentence Examples
Text
The Secret Garden
Why did you come?
Sentence
Comments Many English interrogatives involve a question word (e.g., who, what,
when), which can be included in the analysis frame.
WHO (Actor): You
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Did come
QUESTION: Why?
Text
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Don’t you wish you could [go swimming]?
Sentence
Comments This form of interrogative is formed by inverting the actor and the action
(i.e., the action is stated first with the word “don’t,” followed by the
actor). It is still useful to mark it as a question in the analysis frame.
WHO (Actor): You
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Don’t wish
WHAT (Result): You could go swimming
QUESTION: [Inversion]
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Functional Grammar Analysis—8
Imperative Sentence Examples
Text
The Secret Garden
Send my Ayah to me.
Sentence
Comments In second person imperative sentences, the actor (you) is understood.
The verb “send” is di-transitive, with two participants.
WHO (Actor): [You]
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Send
WHO (Recipient): My Ayah
WHO (Beneficiary): To me
Text
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Say, Tom, let ME whitewash a little.
Sentence
Comments Normally, the actor is understood in imperative sentences, but here, the
speaker has said the actor’s name for emphasis.
WHO (Actor): Tom [you]
Analysis
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): Let
WHO (Recipient): Me
WHAT (Secondary Action): Whitewash
DESCRIPTOR (detail): A little
EMPHASIS: Say
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Functional Grammar Analysis—9
References
Christie, F. (2012). Language education throughout the school years: A functional perspective.
Language Learning, 62 (Supplement 1), 1–247.
de Oliveira, L. C. (2013). Uncovering human agency. Retrieved from
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de Oliveira, L. C., & Dodds, K. N. (2010). Beyond general strategies for English language
learners: Language dissection in science. The Electronic Journal of Literacy Through
Science, 9(1), 1–14. Available online at http://ejlts.ucdavis.edu/article/2010/9/1/beyondgeneral-strategies-english-language-learners-language-dissection-science
Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2008). Reading in secondary content areas: A language-based
pedagogy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting
secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 53(7), 587–597.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar
(3rd ed.). London: Arnold.
Martin, J. R., & Rose, D. (2003). Working with discourse. London: Continuum.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2013). The role of metalanguage in supporting academic language
development. Language Learning, 63(1), 153–170.
Schleppegrell, M. J., & de Oliveira, L. C. (2006). An integrated language and content approach for
history teachers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 5(4), 254–268.
Copyright © 2015 American Institutes for Research.
All rights reserved.
Functional Grammar Analysis—10