National Geographic 2

After being excavated and fashioned into dinosaur dig kits, carved figurines, jewelry, and more for sale, “tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have lost virtually all scientific value.”
 
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
– What is the subject of this sentence?
The subject of this sentence is tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones.
– Is the subject singular or plural?
The subject is a plural subject.
 
We use plural subjects with plural verbs.
 
Tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have… (correct)
Tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones has… (wrong)
 
TENSES
– What is/are the tense(s) used in this sentence?
Tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have lost virtually all scientific value.
Subject + have + past participle
This sentences uses the present perfect tense.
 
ACTIVE vs. PASSIVE
– Is this an active or passive sentence?
Tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have lost virtually all scientific value.
The subject is the one doing the action.
This sentence uses active voice.
 
After being excavated and fashioned into dinosaur dig kits
being + past participle -> a form of passive voice
The introductory phrase uses passive voice.
 
DEPENDENT CLAUSES
– Is there a noun, adjective or adverb clause in this sentence?
No, the sentence does not use a dependent clause.
 
After being excavated and fashioned into dinosaur dig kits is a prepostional phrase.
It’s not a dependent clause because it does not have a subject. (A clause must have at least a subject and a verb.)
 
We will have a dependent clause if we modify the sentence into:
After tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have been excavated and fashioned into dinosaur dig kits, carved figurines, jewelry, and more for sale, they have lost virtually all scientific value.
 
After tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have been excavated and fashioned into dinosaur dig kits, carved figurines, jewelry, and more for sale
= dependent clause
= adverb clause of reason
 
they have lost virtually all scientific value
= independent clause
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