Diagramming Sentences
Sentence Diagrams
~ One Way of Learning English Grammar ~
The Basics of Sentence Diagramming
~ Sentences 1-5 ~
Sentence 1: They laughed.
 |
They is the subject of the sentence and laughed is the verb. A vertical line passing through the horizontal line separates the subject from the verb. |
Sentence 2: They were laughing.
 |
The verb can consist of more than one word. Like were laughing, progressive forms consist of present and past forms of the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were) plus the present participle (a verbal adjective ending in -ing). |
Sentence 3: Were they laughing?
 |
When diagramming sentences, be sure to capitalize the first word of the sentence regardless of where it appears in the diagram. |
Sentence 4: People laughed.
 |
The subject of a sentence can be a pronoun, as in the first three sentences, or a noun, as in this sentence. |
Sentence 5: People have been laughing.
 |
The verb have been laughing is in the present-perfect tense. Other present-perfect forms of the verb laugh are has laughed, have laughed, and has been laughing. |