Diagramming Sentences 101: Step-by-Step Guide

This article was co-authored by Celena Hathaway and by wikiHow staff writer, Sophie Burkholder, BA. Celena Hathaway is an English & Creative Writing Teacher at Cornerstone Schools of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. She specializes in entry-level creative writing, such as fundamental poetry and fiction short story techniques, and 8th-grade-level grammar and reading. She earned her B.S.E. in Secondary Education and B.A. in English from Samford University.

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Diagramming sentences might seem complicated at first, but you'll quickly get the hang of it with this comprehensive guide. Sentence diagramming helps you visually understand the function of every part of a sentence, which helps you construct better sentences and improve your writing. Once you understand the essentials, diagramming a sentence is as fun and addictive as your favorite puzzle.

• Start by diagramming a simple sentence with a subject,verb, and direct object. For example, the sentence “Studentsreadbooks.”
• Draw a horizontal line that’s split in the middle by a vertical line. Write the subject on the left side of the vertical line and the verb on the right side.
• On top of the horizontal line, draw another vertical line on the right side of the verb. Write the direct object on the right side of this new vertical line.

Sample Diagram Worksheets

How to Diagram a Simple Sentence

Diagram the subject noun and predicate verb. 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. [1] X Research source

Add the direct object. Draw another vertical line going upward from the horizontal line. To the right of this line, write the direct object.

• In the above sentence, Vegetables disgust Felipe:
  • The subject is “vegetables.”
  • The verb is “disgust.”
  • The direct object is “Felipe.”
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  Add the indirect objects beneath the verb. Draw a small horizontal line under the verb and connect it to the base line with a diagonal line. In general, indirect objects could include a preposition, and so are drawn with a diagonal line coming off of the word they modify. See Step 6 for prepositions. [2] X Research source

  

  • In the above sentence, The farmers gave their kids fresh vegetables:
    • The subject is “farmers.”
    • The verb is “gave.”
    • The direct object is “vegetables.”
    • The indirect object is “kids.”
    • The article is “the.”
    • The possessive pronoun is “their.”
    • The adjective is “fresh,” which modifies “vegetables.”

    Draw a slash to add 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:
      • The subject is “vegetables.”
      • The linking verb is “are.”
      • The predicate adjective is “disgusting.”

      Add modifiers and articles. Place adjectives, adverbs, articles, and possessives on diagonal lines below the words they modify.

      

      • In the above sentence, The green vegetables are always disgusting:
        • The subject is “vegetables.”
        • The linking verb is “are.”
        • The predicate adjective is “disgusting.”
        • The adjective is “green,” which modifies “vegetables.”
        • The article is “the.”
        • The adverb is “always,” which modifies “disgusting.”

        Add a participle on a bent line beneath the word it modifies. Write the participle as a curved word on this slanted line, as shown in the example below.

        

        • In the above sentence, Working farmers enjoy vegetables:
          • The subject is “farmers.”
          • The participle is “working,” which modifies “farmers.”
          • The verb is “enjoy.”
          • The object is “vegetables.”

          Add a preposition. Draw a diagonal line coming down from the word it modifies, whether a verb or adjective or other part of speech. Write the preposition on this diagonal line. Draw a horizontal line coming off the preposition line. Write the object of the preposition on this horizontal line.

          

          • In the above sentence, The kids threw the vegetables in the trash:
            • The subject is “kids.”
            • The verb is “threw.”
            • The direct object is “vegetables.”
            • The preposition is “in.”
            • The object of the preposition is “trash.”
            • The article(s) are every instance of “the.”
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            Advanced Sentence Diagramming

            

            • In the above sentence, The green vegetables are always disgusting, and I hate them, there are two independent clauses.
            • The subject of the first clause is “vegetables,” the verb is “are,” the predicate adjective is “disgusting,” the article is “the,” the adjective is “green,” and the adverb is “always.”
            • The subject of the second clause is “I,” the verb is “hate,” and the direct object is “them” (a pronoun referring to the already-stated “vegetables”).
            • The two clauses are linked by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

            Diagram a simple sentence that includes a conjunction by splitting the line. Then, join the split lines with a broken line. This format is used if the conjunction is joining words within a simple sentence.

            

            

            • In the first of the above sentences, I like fruits and vegetables, the subject is “I,” the verb is “like,” the two direct objects are “fruits” and “vegetables,” and the conjunction is “and,” which joins the two direct objects.
            • In the second of the above sentences, Green and yellow vegetables are always disgusting, the subject is “vegetables,” the verb is “are,” the predicate adjective is “disgusting,” the adverb is “always” (modifying “disgusting”), the adjectives are “green” and “yellow” (modifying “vegetables”), and the conjunction joining the adjectives is “and.”

            

            • In the above sentence, An unabashed herbivore, I like fruits and vegetables:
              • The subject is “I.”
              • The verb is “like.”
              • The direct objects are “fruits” and “vegetables.”
              • The conjunction joining the direct objects is “and.”
              • The apposition to “I” is “herbivore.”
              • The article is “an.”
              • The adjective is “unabashed,” which modifies “herbivore.”

              

              • In the above sentence, I like to eat vegetables, the subject is “I,” the verb is “like,” and the infinitive phrase is “to eat vegetables.”
              • The infinitive phrase “to eat vegetables” is made up of the infinitive verb “to eat” and the object “vegetables.”

              

              • In the above sentence, Eating vegetables is good for you, the object is “vegetables,” the linking verb is “is,” the predicate adjective is “good,” the preposition is “for,” and the object of the preposition is “you.”
              • The gerund phrase is “eating vegetables,” which is made up of the gerund “eating” and the object “vegetables.”
              • Gerunds can also function as objects of prepositions. When functioning as the object of a preposition, gerunds do not need a pedestal.

              

              

              • In the above sentence, I wish that she ate more vegetables, the subject is “I” and the verb is “wish.”
              • The noun clause, “that she ate more vegetables” is introduced by the expletive “that.”
              • The noun clause is 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, such as the implied “that” in the sentence I wish she ate more vegetables. When the expletive is understood, draw an X in parentheses where the word would go.
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              Understanding Grammatical Parts

              

              • Nouns: Words representing people, places, things, or ideas, e.g. dog, computer, Haiti, teacher, and dream.
              • Pronouns: Word that represent nouns, e.g. he, she, they, it, or who.
              • Verbs: Action words, e.g. to run, to swim, and to fly.
              • Adjectives: Describing words that apply to nouns, e.g. blue in blue water, big in big baby, and smelly in smelly garbage.
              • Adverbs: Describing words, like adjectives. However, adverbs apply to verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. E.g. quickly in quickly run, quite in quite slowly, and very in very beautiful.
              • Participles: Words formed from verbs that act like adjectives or nouns, e.g. working in working farmers, flying in flying birds, and flooded in flooded basement.[8] X Research source
              • Conjunctions: Words that join clauses or words within the same clause, e.g. and, but, or, for, nor, so, and yet.
                • 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."

                

                • Subject noun: The subject of a sentence is the doer of the action in the sentence. E.g. “Jesse” in Jesse went to the store.
                • Predicate verb: The part of a sentence that tells us the complete action of the sentence, which includes the main verb/action. E.g. “was easy” in The test was easy or “knows my father” in The man in the car knows my father.
                • Direct object: The noun that receives the action, e.g. “doll house” in Max made a doll house for Ellie.
                • Indirect object: The noun that receives the direct object, e.g. “Ellie” in Max made a doll house for Ellie.
                • Independent clause: A clause that can stand alone as a sentence, e.g. "He went to the library.
                • Dependent clause: A clause that must join an independent clause to become a complete sentence, e.g. “before swim practice” in He went to the library before swim practice.
                • Verb phrases: 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 are italic. 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.
                  • She willlift the box.
                  • They cancook dinner for us tomorrow.
                  • You may not have dessert. (Not is not part of the verb phrase).
                  • Sam would haveliked this movie. (Depending on the intent, auxiliary verbs can be strung together.)

                  

                  • Determine your subject and verb. These are the foundations of a sentence and, thus, the foundations of a sentence diagram. The subjects of the following sentences are bold, and the main verbs are italic.
                    • Childrenwill listen.
                    • Though John doesn't like broccoli, hewill eat other vegetables.
                    • Vegetablesdisgust Felipe.
                    • Felipewas disgusted by vegetables.
                    • Iragave Cho her necklace.
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                    Community Q&A

                    How do you diagram "I am secretly correcting your work"? Community Answer

                    Use the instructions in this article to try it yourself! Hint: "am correcting" is a verb phrase (see Tips) and "secretly" is an adverb modifying the verb phrase; and "your" is a possessive pronoun (see step 3 for an example of a possessive pronoun).

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                    How do I diagram a sentence with the word "which" in it? Community Answer

                    "Which" may be either an adjective or a pronoun depending on how it's used. For example, in the sentence "I couldn't decide which cat I like more." which is a relative pronoun denoting a noun clause. In this sentence, "which cat I like more" is acting as a direct object. However, it functions as a clause. When used as a pronoun "which" is often seen in questions where it shows a lack of particular direction, and the predicate is what shows the asker asking for that direction. For example, in the sentence "Which is it?" which is acting as the subject itself. However, it doesn't have to be in a question format, as seen in the phrase "which it is."

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                    How do you diagram multiple subjects? Community Answer

                    See step 7 for conjunction examples. Each subject would get its own line and would be connected by verticle dashed lines, one of which probably has a conjunction written on it. It depends on the specific sentence, but these lines would then be joined to the remainder of the sentence.

                    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
                    Thank you for your feedback.
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