Grammar nerds: sentence diagramming?

[pink_silk_glove]

Did you learn sentence diagramming in school?

I've never heard the term before and googling it I do not recognize the diagrams shown at all. However, we were given exercises to dissect the parts of sentences by say underlining the subject, putting the predicate into parentheses, square bracketing modifier clause etc. This helped me tons in making sense of structures. One teacher had us do it with colored highlighters.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

taught in my schools in Ohio, but not at my school in Alabama.

Surprise! : P

 

[Z_TheWriter]

I learned something similar, with more symbols and fewer complicated diagrams - also in a different language.
It annoys me that while I still remember enough of it to (with a bit of effort) have near perfect punctuation in my native language, none of that means a damn in English - the language I write in the most.

 

[crookedletter]

But then again i am sure my "participles dangle" far too often

There are pills you can take for that these days.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

There are pills you can take for that these days.

Rubber bands for the win! *SSSSNAP!*

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I often feel sorry for my editor. I know, that's a strange thing for me to say, and the natural question is, why? I grew up with German, Yiddish, French, and English being spoken (and often mixed together when we conversed). What is strange about that, you ask? No, you don't. Already, you know that's weird. I often drop in Yiddish words when I talk, write, or think. Not so much on the other languages. Well, Maybe German. The rules vary by language. Backwards, you write and speak in German, and somewhat in Yiddish, to English you do. Oh, that's more like Master Yoda. I really have to concentrate to write in English alone, because mixing in words from German and Yiddish comes so naturally. And, of course, when you put 'balaboosta' in a sentence describing a man's wife, the editor has no idea what a balaboosta is. "She was the most balaboosta wife ever." So, invariably, he looks it up, but still asks me if "She was the most perfect homemaker ever" will work. And of course, since that is about the closest way to say it, I say yes. But of course, a 'Balaboosta' is more than that; she manages not only the home affairs, but also pretty much manages her children and husband as well.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

I never learned this beyond the VERY basics. Anyone who has learned more of it know of a good YouTube video that explains it like "sentence diagramming for dummies" but like...beyond those very basics? I can't do a ton of reading (I know, ironic for someone who's writing here), but it seems like fun to learn.

 

[StillStunned]

So maybe diagramming sentences are also only needed (or possible) in English.

I did it for multiple languages at school.

I often feel sorry for my editor. I know, that's a strange thing for me to say, and the natural question is, why? I grew up with German, Yiddish, French, and English being spoken (and often mixed together when we conversed). What is strange about that, you ask? No, you don't. Already, you know that's weird. I often drop in Yiddish words when I talk, write, or think. Not so much on the other languages. Well, Maybe German. The rules vary by language. Backwards, you write and speak in German, and somewhat in Yiddish, to English you do. Oh, that's more like Master Yoda. I really have to concentrate to write in English alone, because mixing in words from German and Yiddish comes so naturally. And, of course, when you put 'balaboosta' in a sentence describing a man's wife, the editor has no idea what a balaboosta is. "She was the most balaboosta wife ever." So, invariably, he looks it up, but still asks me if "She was the most perfect homemaker ever" will work. And of course, since that is about the closest way to say it, I say yes. But of course, a 'Balaboosta' is more than that; she manages not only the home affairs, but also pretty much manages her children and husband as well.

The wife and I mix three languages together, with smatterings of words and phrases from three or four more. We know exactly what we mean, but it's confusing for other people. For us too, when we have to stick to one language. I've stood in my parents' kitchen trying to remember the word for "cupboard" or "rubbish bin".

But that never affects my writing, or my professional editing. Words on the page, I never feel any temptation to write anything other than English.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I did it for multiple languages at school.

The wife and I mix three languages together, with smatterings of words and phrases from three or four more. We know exactly what we mean, but it's confusing for other people. For us too, when we have to stick to one language. I've stood in my parents' kitchen trying to remember the word for "cupboard" or "rubbish bin".

But that never affects my writing, or my professional editing. Words on the page, I never feel any temptation to write anything other than English.

But you're a more experienced writer than I and probably a better one as well.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Never saw anything like it and I was long out of school by the 80s.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Never saw anything like it and I was long out of school by the 80s.

I often find myself scratching my head over your post.

 

[StillStunned]

But you're a more experienced writer than I and probably a better one as well.

I'll admit to being an experienced language professional. More than two decades of professional editing before I ever started writing fiction. It hammered any inclination to confuse languages right out of me.

 

[Baztrachian]

Did you learn sentence diagramming in school?

Yep. And I promptly forgot all about it.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Never saw any of that before.
Kind of glad I didn't at this point. It has the look of something some people would absolutely love and find very useful while the other 80% of the class was miserable.
And God help you if your teacher was one of the 20%.

 

[Gamblnluck]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my 92 year old father shortly before he died. He was recounting his younger years growing up on the coast of Florida in the '30's. He told the story of a teacher who ran the school. She was big into diagramming sentences. He said he learned more from her about grammar (and how to learn if you get right down to it) than any other teacher he ever had. I took him on a cross country road trip a year before he died and the school building is still there but now a museum. It was closed the day we were there but the plaque outside told of the school.
My father's formal education ended with high school, but I read some of the things he wrote for his Air Force career and was amazed at his composition and sentence structure. Guess diagramming had a purpose..

 

[IWroteThis]

For those who may be confused about what I'm talking about, here's a reference sheet for sentence diagramming:

Yeah, that brings back some memories from high school in the late '80s.

I'm a visual person and my favorite field of mathematics is geometry, so diagramming works for me. I'm not sure it works for others.

I think I was the only one in my class that didn't hate it, but I also enjoy Oxford commas and em spaces between sentences.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Like any teaching (didactic, to be pedantic) method, if it works for someone it tends to work well. The problem is that it doesn't always work well, and schools are marked on following the currently-favored method, not what works for their students. It's a bit of a dilemma - how do you test comprehension vice compliance with a specific method?

 

[M_K_Babalon]

For those who may be confused about what I'm talking about, here's a reference sheet for sentence diagramming:


View attachment 2577323

I don't think I've ever seen that before.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my 92 year old father shortly before he died. He was recounting his younger years growing up on the coast of Florida in the '30's. He told the story of a teacher who ran the school. She was big into diagramming sentences. He said he learned more from her about grammar (and how to learn if you get right down to it) than any other teacher he ever had. I took him on a cross country road trip a year before he died and the school building is still there but now a museum. It was closed the day we were there but the plaque outside told of the school.
My father's formal education ended with high school, but I read some of the things he wrote for his Air Force career and was amazed at his composition and sentence structure. Guess diagramming had a purpose..

At least he made it to high school. Does seem to be, or appeara to be rare back then. We had the option to drop out after freshman year, I don't know why anybody would, but quite a few did.

 

[Dearelliot]

We did something like that..I was in grammar school and HS from 1939 -1952..Got left back in the 7th grade.
But it wasn't quite the same. In any case, I never paid attention...My parents thought back then, "The kid is going to get a job in a factory, so why bother with Grammar?"
and I didn't.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Never did it in school, though I probably would've liked it.

 

[XerXesXu]

Never diagramming in any language. We did eight column analysis to learn the names of the various 'parts of speech' in English but were never examined on it. We did something in Latin to identify cases; I forget what we called it.

At 15/16 we took 'O' Levels. English Language consisted of 2 x 2hr papers. Paper 1 'Composition', tested creativity, argument and style. Paper 2 'Comprehension', tested comprehension, summary skills and grammatical precision. There was no oral paper in English or Latin, but there was in French and Spanish. Separately we did Speech and Drama for six or seven years and that was an oral exam examined by oral coursework completed and an oral presentation to a London School of Speech and Drama examiner.

 

[Katie_Mae]

For those who may be confused about what I'm talking about, here's a reference sheet for sentence diagramming:


View attachment 2577323

This is not the method I was taught, however that is likely to be as much location as time period. Googling, it appears this is an American method not widely taught (as in outside of the US).

 

[old_prof]

School most in the 60's in the US. Not taught anything like this.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

At least he made it to high school. Does seem to be, or appeara to be rare back then. We had the option to drop out after freshman year, I don't know why anybody would, but quite a few did.

Needed on the farm, or to earn money some other way. If there's no jobs around that require a full high school education...

My grandpa got to stay in school until the end of sixth grade, about 18 months after his father died (of the 1919 flu), but then his older siblings and mother needed his labor. By the time my mom graduated high school in the late 50s, the class of 30 or so freshmen was down to seven. Her oldest siblings didn't graduate with their year though they did later.

They raised the school leaving age in England from 14 to 15 around 1958, creating a cohort of really hacked-off kids and parents who wanted them earning. Next thing you know, we had Mods and Rockers and a bit of the old ultraviolence...