Diagramming
Sentences:
The Secret of
English
What is a Subject?
the person, place or thing that
performs the action of the
sentence (in other words, a
noun)
I come.
The boy cried.
Canada is a rich country.
The girl ran into her bedroom.
Some students like to study in the morning.
What is a Verb?
a verb is a word that expresses
actions (i.e., to do), states of
being (i.e., to be), or possession
(i.e., to have)
I come.
The boy cried.
Canada is a rich country.
The girl ran into her bedroom.
Some students like to study in the morning.
What is an
Article?
in english there are three articles: “a, an, the”
these are used to show that the identity of the noun is
known/not known
Rules
COUNT NOUNS
NON-COUNT
NOUNS
1
Specific identity
not known
a, an
(no
article)
2
Specific identity
known
the
the
3
All things or things
in general
(no
article)
(no
article)
I come.
The boy cried.
Canada is a rich country.
The girl ran into her bedroom.
Some students like to study in the morning.
What is an
Adjective?
an adjective describes a noun
to find an adjective, ask if the word can answer these
questions about a noun:
For Quality:
● what kind? (of noun)
● what color? (of a noun)
● what size? (of a noun)
● what texture? (of a noun)
● what emotion? (of a noun)
For Quantity:
● how much? (of a noun)
● how many? (of a noun)
I come.
The small boy cried.
Canada is a rich country.
The girl ran into her messy bedroom.
Some students like to study in the morning.
What is a
Preposition?
a preposition explains the connection between nouns
and pronouns in a sentence:
prepositions of place:
○ “anywhere a mouse can go”
○ on, at, across, over, in, under
prepositions of time:
● on, at, in, until, during, for, from
I come.
The boy cried.
Canada is a rich country.
The girl ran into her messy bedroom.
Some students like to study in the morning.
Jack caught a fish.
What is a Direct
Object?
● the noun being acted on by the verb
● located after the verb in a sentence
● direct objects answer “Who/m?” or
“What?” when looking at the verb
Give her the fish.
What is an
Indirect Object?
the noun receiving the action of
the verb
Cook without salt.
What is a
Prepositional Object?
● a noun, noun phrase, or
pronoun that follows a
preposition and completes
its meaning
What is a
Predicate Noun?
●
a predicate noun happens at the end of
a sentence, and renames the noun in
the beginning of the sentence
● the original noun will always be
connected to the predicative noun by a
linking verb
What is a Predicate
Adjective?
●
a predicate adjective happens at the end of a
sentence, and modifies (or describes) the
noun in the beginning of the sentence
● just like a predicate noun, a predicate
adjective will always be connected to the
original noun by a linking verb
What is an
Interjection?
●
a word used in a sentence to express
sudden emotion (happiness, surprise,
sadness, disappointment, etc.)
● most commonly seen with an
exclamation point (!)
What is an
Appositive?
an appositive phrase describes
a noun, or gives us more
information about the noun it’s
referring to
What is a Gerund?
a verb with an added “-ing” on
the end, which turns it into a
noun
What is a
Compound Subject?
a subject with more than one
noun, joined by linking words
like “and, or, nor, etc.”
What is a
Compound Verb?
a single verb made up of more than one verb:
phrasal verbs include prepositions (“anywhere a
mouse can go”)
● auxiliary verbs show when the verb happened
(past tense, present tense, future tense, etc.)
● can also be two separate nouns simply combined
together
●
What is a Compound
Predicate?
a predicate with more than one
verb, joined by linking words
like “and, or, nor, etc.”
What is a
Compound
Adjective?
an adjective combined with a
word that expands its
description (words are always
connected with a “ - ”)
What is an
Infinitive Phrase?
an infinitive phrase is a phrase starting with
an infinitive verb
● infinitive verbs don’t act like normal verbs, but
instead behave as a noun, adjective or adverb
● notice how the verb is “want” in the example
sentence, instead of “to bury”
●
Sentence Diagram
Practice