Grammar nerds: sentence diagramming?

[TheLobster]

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


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So, this is where English hides all the complexity which other languages deal with by having actual inflection and conjugation. Honestly, it looks absolutely awful.

Where I went to school (90s in continental Europe), we did sentence diagramming by first identifying the predicate verb and then tracing all the other parts that connect to it. This could get arbitrarily complex, and didn’t just follow one of N possible structures, like those English examples here suggest, but it was nonetheless always pretty easy thanks to concordance between the different grammatical forms of words.

Was it helpful? Not particularly; but at least it was more bearable than slogging through angsty ravings of Romantic poets, or trying to appease the teacher with your fanciful literary theories as to why the wallpaper in Raskolnikov’s flat was yellow.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I remember doing it. Pretty sure it was in middle school, possibly grade school, in the late 70's/early 80's. I actually need to go back and find a good lecture on it. I'm re-reading Strunk and White's Elements of Style, and there is some stuff that I'm having to spend way more time on than I should.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Well the consensus seems to be that, like Webster's spelling changes, it's a particularly American aid to pupils learning English.

 

[Gamblnluck]

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.

My grandfather was born in 1900. He ran (managed not owned) a citrus grove at the time my dad (the third kid, born 1928) and his three siblings grew up, then went to work in Key West to build ships during WWII. As far as I know all 4 of the kids got a highschool education.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Into the grammar dig we must, structure sentences backwards, always we do.

 

[Aviastroitel]

Is anyone else saddened by the fact that the late, great, John Madden never diagrammed a sentence on a telestrator?

 

[caleb35]

Is anyone else saddened by the fact that the late, great, John Madden never diagrammed a sentence on a telestrator?

"Okay, Pat, let's look at this sentence right here, 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' Now, you got your subject right here with the quick brown fox. He's quick, and he's brown, and those are both what they call adjectives, adjectives, that modify the fox. Now, this fox, I tell you, he's something, he just goes jumping all over the place, he jumps here, he jumps there, and that's our verb, jump. He's the season leader so far in jumping, more yards than anyone else. Now, what's he jumping over? This lazy mutt right here [circles the word 'dog' with marker]. This mutt doesn't jump, doesn't even move. So that's what we call our prepositional phrase, 'over the lazy dog' and the dog is the object of the preposition. I tell you, Pat, I've always liked this sentence. It's a good sentence. And when you've got a good sentence, you know, then it's good, and if it's not, it's not."

 

[SimonDoom]

"Okay, Pat, let's look at this sentence right here, 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' Now, you got your subject right here with the quick brown fox. He's quick, and he's brown, and those are both what they call adjectives, adjectives, that modify the fox. Now, this fox, I tell you, he's something, he just goes jumping all over the place, he jumps here, he jumps there, and that's our verb, jump. He's the season leader so far in jumping, more yards than anyone else. Now, what's he jumping over? This lazy mutt right here [circles the word 'dog' with marker]. This mutt doesn't jump, doesn't even move. So that's what we call our prepositional phrase, 'over the lazy dog' and the dog is the object of the preposition. I tell you, Pat, I've always liked this sentence. It's a good sentence. And when you've got a good sentence, you know, then it's good, and if it's not, it's not."

That's good but you've got to add "Boom!" after every other sentence.

 

[Pabiporffor]

Looks way too complicated, it would take donkeys to write anything if I used that system. I've always felt grammar should be picked up organically through reading. Besides English is fairly flexible and forgiving with grammar.

 

[Writer61]

Looks way too complicated, it would take donkeys to write anything if I used that system. I've always felt grammar should be picked up organically through reading. Besides English is fairly flexible and forgiving with grammar.

English varies around the world, and, in any case, not all dialogue should not be perfect.

 

[Pabiporffor]

Over lazy dog jumped fox brown and quick.

Grammarly doesn't seem to mind. Plus, it uses two less words and still makes sense. One may argue it sounds better too.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Over lazy dog jumped fox brown and quick.

Grammarly doesn't seem to mind. Plus, it uses two less words and still makes sense. One may argue it sounds better too.

But it doesn't use every letter in the alphabet anymore.