A Brief Introduction
DIAGRAMMING SENTENCES HAS NOT BEEN MUCH IN VOGUE as a pedagogical device for the past thirty years or so. There are, however, many grammarians and English instructors who hold that analyzing a sentence and portraying its structure with a consistent visual scheme can be helpfulboth for language beginners and for those trying to make sense of the language at any level, especially for language learners who tend to be visual-learning types. Watching a sentence take root and ramify in space can even be fun.
I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences.
Gertrude Stein
There are other ways to represent graphically the structure of a sentence, but the most popular method is based on schemes developed by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg over a hundred years ago. The diagrams in this section are Reed-Kellogg diagrams; in a few cases, an optional method is suggested. In these days of three-dimensional computer graphics, it won't be long before we will see colorful, three-dimensional, nonlinear representations of how sentences work, something like the Visual Thesaurus, by Plumb Design, Inc. (If you go there, please don't get lost. And come back soon!) If your computer is equipped with PowerPoint, click on the PowerPoint icon to the right for a brief PowerPoint presentation on Diagramming Sentences. You can watch diagrams grow before your eyes. Click HERE for help with Powerpoint. For further information about diagramming, see Martha Kolln's Understanding English Grammar (4th Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York. 1994) or Thomas Klammer and Muriel R. Schulz'sAnalyzing English Grammar (2nd Edition. Allyn & Bacon: Boston. 1996). The order of diagrams presented here is based on a similar project at America Online's homework and instructional reference area (Keyword: homework), but the sentences and diagrams are entirely our own. If you need help with the definitions of any of the terms or concepts listed here, refer to the Index.
What Diagramming Teaches Us
When Joseph R. Mallon Jr. bumps up against a complex problem, he thinks back to a lesson he learned in high school from the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
The Philadelphia-area school's Catholic nuns taught him the art of diagramming a sentence. Once all the parts of speech lined up, Mallon pulled clarity from the chaos. It's a process he uses today to tackle tough issues as chief executive and chairman of Measurement Specialties Inc. "Sit down quietly. Take (the issue) apart into its component parts. Make sure all the components fit together well. They've got to be well chosen, fit together and make sense. There are few (business) problems that can't be solved that way, as dire as it might seem," Mallon said. "Sentence diagramming is one of the best analytical techniques I ever learned."
Investor's Business Daily 17 October 2000
If you have any suggestions (or corrections) for this page, please send them to Grammar English. Because of the graphics-rich nature of this endeavor, we cannot respond with help on diagramming questions beyond what is offered here. The diagrams themselves are individually listed on another page (click the "enter button" below). Click on a phrase or clause type in the top frame, and the diagram will show up in the bottom frame. If you prefer to see the diagrams listed in two long documents, you can use the summaries listed below.
Summaries
There are two single-document summaries of the diagrammed sentences. Since many graphics are involved, you may have to be patient for a complete download.
Basic Sentence Parts, Phrase Configurations Sentence Types, Clause Configurations Pledge of Allegiance (by popular demand) Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (by popular demand)
ASK MR. LANGUAGE PERSON
Q. Please explain how to diagram a sentence. A. First spread the sentence out on a clean, flat surface, such as an ironing board. Then, using a sharp pencil or X-Acto knife, locate the "predicate," which indicates where the action has taken place and is usually located directly behind the gills. For example, in the sentence: "LaMont
never would of bit a forest ranger," the action probably took place in a forest. Thus your diagram would be shaped like a little tree with branches sticking out of it to indicate the locations of the various particles of speech, such as your gerunds, proverbs, adjutants, etc.
Dave Barry Yes, we know. "Would of bit" is an unacceptable spelling of "would have bitten," but Mr. Language Person is not very bright and to change his spelling would be just plain sic
