In a comment on the preceding post, kylie (a longtime reader who lives in Australia) asked, "How on earth does one diagram a sentence?"
Two things about kylie became immediately obvious to me:
1. She is much younger than me.
2. She never studied English grammar under Mr. D.P. Morris in Mansfield, Texas, USA.
i did a little searching online, and out of all the tutorials I found I like the following article best:
Diagramming Sentences 101: Step-by-Step Guide
If anyone out there is wondering, like kylie, how on earth one diagrams a sentence, click on that link and you will find out.
You may also learn something about vegetables.
I had a look at how to diagram sentences and soon remembered that I am really not aware of all the parts of speech. I know verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs, I could take a good stab at conjunctions. Everything else is unknown (As a native English speaker I think I use and understand grammar pretty well, just not in a formal sense)
ReplyDeleteAny how, the point i am trying to make is that diagramming sentences is looking more tricky by the minute!
We had the parts of speech drilled into us year after year after year. People of my era can probably diagram sentences in their sleep. I would say the process is not tricky, just a bit convoluted until one's brain is actually penetrated. Thank you, kylie!
DeleteAlso, thank you, Robert
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteI had to follow the link as I've never heard of diagramming a sentence either. We did the usual stultifying parsing, though, which is a variation.
ReplyDeleteIt is mindboggling to me that neither the U.K. nor Australia taught diagramming. It slowly faded away in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s. Now the younger set not only cannot diagram a sentence, neither can they write in cursive, although the latter art is beginning to make a comeback. Thank you, Janice!
DeleteLOL! Well, that took me back to grammar school!
ReplyDeleteWe ate a lot of vegetables in grammar school. We diagrammed sentences clear up into high school. Thank you, Ellen!
DeleteOf course I know that I am not normal but I loved diagramming sentences.
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me, normal is overrated. Thank you, Emma.
DeleteWe didn't call it diagramming sentences we simply called it sentence construction and analysis of sentences. In my schooldays English Language and English Literature vyed with Mathematics as my best subjects (Geography and English were my favourites).
ReplyDeleteMy favorites were English Language, English Literature, History, and Music. Thank you, Graham!
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