Download A. Parts of Speech

A. Parts of Speech
Understanding what nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, etc. are is
essential to sentence diagramming.

Nouns are words representing people, places, things, or ideas.
 Dog, computer, Haiti, teacher, and dream

Pronouns are words like he, she, they, it, or who, which represent nouns.

Verbs are action words.
 To run, to swim, and to fly

Adjectives are description words that apply to nouns.
 Blue in blue water, big in big baby, and smelly in smelly garbage

Adverbs, like adjectives, are description words; however, adverbs apply to verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.
 Quickly in quickly run, quite in quite slowly, and very in very beautiful

Participles are words formed from verbs that act like adjectives or nouns.
 Working in working farmers, flying in flying birds, and flooded in flooded basement

Conjunctions join clauses or words within the same clause.
 And, but, and or
 Joining independent clauses: "Jalissa took the car keys, and she drove to work."
 Joining words in the same clause: "Arturo likes apples and oranges equally."

Prepositions tell you how nouns in a sentence relate to one another. There are many
prepositions.
 Above, on, in, between, through, and to are just a few examples

Articles modify nouns differently than adjectives. They help make nouns more specific.
 a, an, and the
Analyze your sentence to find the different parts of speech. It is much easier to diagram a
sentence if you already have an idea of the grammatical contents of that sentence. You can write
out and label the different words in the sentence, or you can simply note mentally which words
serve what purpose. Some words are difficult to analyze, so save those for last.

Determine your subject and verb. These are the foundations of a sentence, and thus the
foundations of a sentence diagram. The subject is a noun or pronoun that is performing
the verb. The verb is the action of the sentence. The subjects of the following sentences
are bold, and the main verbs are italic.






Children will listen.
Though John doesn't like broccoli, he will eat other vegetables.
Vegetables disgust Felipe.
Felipe was disgusted by vegetables.
Ira gave Chloe her necklace.
Find the direct object if there is one. Direct objects are nouns or pronouns that are the
recipients of the verb. From the above examples, Children will listen does not have a direct
object; but, Vegetables disgust Felipe does. Felipe is the direct object of the verb disgust.
B. Diagramming Sentences
1. Draw a horizontal line with a small vertical line through the middle. To the left of the
vertical line, write your subject. To the right of the vertical line, write your verb. This is
the most basic complete sentence.
2. Draw another vertical line stopping at the horizontal line if there is a direct
object. To the right of this line, write the direct object.
In the above sentence, Vegetables disgust Felipe, vegetables is the subject, disgust is the
verb, and Felipe is the direct object.
3. Place indirect objects beneath the verb. In general, indirect objects could take a
preposition and so are drawn with a diagonal line coming off of the word they modify.
See step 6 for prepositions.
In the above sentence, The farmers gave their kids fresh vegetables, farmers is the
subject, gave is the verb, vegetables is the direct object, kids is the indirect object, the is
an article, their is a possessive pronoun, and fresh is an adjective modifying vegetables.
4. Draw a slash if there is a predicate nominative or predicate adjective. A predicate
nominative is a noun, pronoun, or adjective that refers to the subject. The verb preceding
the predicate nominative or adjective is usually a linking verb, such as the forms of to
be (is, are, was, etc.) or sense words (looks, smells, tastes, etc.). To the right of the slash,
write the predicate nominative or adjective.
In the above sentence, Vegetables are disgusting, vegetables is the subject, are is a
linking verb, and disgusting is the predicate adjective.
Note that pronouns following linking verbs should be in the nominative case: This is
she or It is I and not This is her or It is me.
5. Place adjectives, adverbs, articles, and possessives on diagonal lines below the words
they modify.
In the above sentence, The green vegetables are always disgusting, vegetables is the
subject, are is the linking verb, disgusting is the predicate adjective, green is an
adjective modifying vegetables, the is an article, and always is an adverb
modifying disgusting.
Participles are diagrammed similarly to adjectives. Draw the participle as a curved word
on a bent, slanted line beneath the word it modifies. In the above sentence, Working
farmers enjoy vegetables, working is a participle modifying farmers, which is the
subject; enjoy is the verb; and vegetables is the object.
6. Begin prepositions like you would adjectives: Draw a diagonal line down. The object
of the preposition goes on a horizontal line coming off the preposition line.
In the above sentence, The kids threw the vegetables in the trash, kids is the
subject, threw is the verb, vegetables is the direct object, in is a preposition,trash is the
object of the preposition, and all three instances of the word the are articles.
7. Determine how any conjunctions are being used.
If the sentence is a compound sentence made up of two independent clauses, the
coordinating conjunction will connect via a bent, broken line.
In the above sentence, The green vegetables are always disgusting, and I hate them,
there are two independent clauses. Vegetables is the subject of the first clause, are is
a linking verb, disgusting is the predicate adjective, the is an article, green is an
adjective, and always is an adverb. I is the subject of the second clause, hate is the
verb, and them is the direct object (it is a pronoun whose antecedent is vegetables).
The two clauses are linked by the coordinating conjunction and.
If the sentence is a simple sentence and the conjunction is joining words within it, you
will split the line and join it by a broken line, or you will join two existing lines with a
broken line.
In the first of the above sentences, I like fruits and vegetables, I is the subject, like is the
verb, fruits and vegetables are the two direct objects, and and is the conjuction joining
the direct objects.
In the second of the above sentences, Green and yellow vegetables are
disgusting, vegetables is the subject, are is the linking verb, disgusting is the predicate
adjective, always is an adverb modifying disgusting, green and yellow are adjectives
modifying vegetables, and and is the conjunction joining the adjectives.
8. Draw appositives in parentheses next to the words they modify. Appositives are
words that redefine or rename other words. Adjectives and articles that apply to the
appositive are drawn beneath the appositive word.
In the above sentence, An unabashed herbivore, I like fruits and vegetables, I is the
subject, like is the verb, fruits and vegetables are direct objects, and is a conjunction
that joins the direct objects, herbivore is in apposition to I, an is an article,
and unabashed is an adjective modifying herbivore.
9. Place infinitive phrases on their own line, called a pedestal, beginning with a
diagonal. Infinitives are the basic forms of verbs, often beginning with the word to, as
in to see or to walk or to eat.
In the above sentence, I like to eat vegetables, I is the subject, like is the verb, to eat
vegetables is an infinitive phrase made up of the verb to eat and the object vegetables.
10. Draw a staircase for gerunds. Gerunds are verbs ending in -ing that act as nouns, but
often take direct objects. They are usually drawn on a pedestal.
In the above sentence, Eating vegetables is good for you, eating vegetables is a gerund
phrase made up of the gerund eating and the object vegetables, is is a linking
verb, good is the predicate adjective, for is a preposition, and you is the object of the
preposition.
Gerunds can also function as objects of prepositions. When functioning as the object of a
preposition, gerunds do not need a pedestal.
In the sentence at the bottom of the previous page, You can achieve a healthier lifestyle
by eating vegetables, You is the subject, can achieve is a verb phrase, lifestyle is the
direct object, by is a preposition, eating vegetables is a gerund phrase made up of the
gerund eating and the object vegetables, healthieris an adjective modifying lifestyle,
and a is an article. See Tips below for more information on verb phrases.
11. Draw noun phrases on pedestals. That, and other expletives like which, can introduce a
noun phrase.
In the above sentence, I wish that she ate more vegetables, I is the subject; wish is the
verb; that she ate more vegetables is a noun clause introduced by the expletive that and
made up of the subject she, the verb ate, the direct object vegetables, and the
adjective more.
Noun phrases do not always need an expletive. Sometimes it is simply understood, as in
the sentence I wish she ate more vegetables. When the expletive is understood, draw
an X in parentheses where the word would go.
Tips

Words of direct address are written on their own lines above the subject. For example, in
the sentence Chaequan, what would you like for dinner tonight?, Chaequan is a word of
direct address, placed above the subject you. Would like is the verb, tonight is an
adverb, dinner is the object of the preposition for, and what is the direct object.

Beginning sentence diagramming can be confusing. Start with short, easy sentences, and
build up from there. One of the best ways to learn to diagram sentences is to look at
sentences that have already been diagrammed. There are many great resources on the web
with hundreds of sentence diagrams, many of which have thorough explanations.

Split contractions when necessary. If the word is they're, which stands for they are, the
noun is they and the verb is are. If they is the subject, put it to the left of the vertical line,
and place 're to the right of the vertical line.

Verb phrases are main verbs, like lift, cook, or drive, that have been paired with
auxiliary, or helping, verbs, like will, can, or may, which create a sense of time and mood
in English sentences. In the following examples, the main verbs are bold and the
auxiliary verbs areitalic. The two combined make the verb phrase. Note that adverbs are
not part of the verb phrase even if they occur between the auxiliary and main verbs.
o
o
o
o
She will lift the box.
They can cook dinner for us tomorrow.
You may not have dessert. (Not is not part of the verb phrase)
Sam would have liked this movie. (Depending on the intent, auxiliary verbs can
be strung together.)