Diagramming

[Unregistered]

How do I diagram this sentence?

My friends and family from my house happily baked their cookies in my kitchen.

 

[Frank Antonson]

My friends and family from my house happily baked their cookies in my kitchen.

Well, do you want me to diagram it for you? It has a compound subject and you will have to decide whether or not "from my house" modifies only "family" or also "friends".

The prepositional phrase "in my kitchen" answers "where" about baked and should be placed under it.

Now, if you know nothing of Reed-Kellogg diagramming, you should go to the site
DIAGRAMMING SENTENCES
and study up a little.

 

[sunhr575]

How do I diagram this sentence?

My friends and family from my house happily baked their cookies in my kitchen.

SVO type, with compound subject (my friends and family...),"from my house" is a phrase/word modifier (here,family ) and "in my kitchen", an adverbial,or as in R.Quirk's term, an adjunct, a sentence modifier, as it could used as a focus of a cleft sentence, say, "It was in my kitchen that my blablabla..";-)

ps:
I am new to this forum, and not sure about how to "diagram" a sentence in a way acceptable in this forum as I can see clearly I have much to learn here. Any comments or guidance will be duely appreciated.MTIA.

 

[Frank Antonson]

Welcome,

There are at least two languages of sentence diagramming present here. The one I use is an American language called Reed-Kellogg. It does not fit well with the British approach.
Later today I will diagram that sentence. Well, maybe right now if I have time.

 

[Frank Antonson]

 

[susiedqq]

How do I diagram this sentence? You find the main thought of the sentence.

My friends and family from my house happily baked their cookies in my kitchen.

Friends . . and . .family / baked / cookies

Frank did a great job in showing you how to diagram the sentence.

 

[Frank Antonson]

Thanks!

I thought it was a little sloppy. I was in a hurry.

 

[Eric Davis]

I found a site that will diagram a sentence for you. It is not perfect, but it is useful.

Reed-Kellogg Diagrammer

Enjoy! :-D

 

[Frank Antonson]

I looked at it.

I'll have to look a little more; but, to me, it seems to make the syntax unduly complicated. Another thing I like about Reed-Kellogg is the absence of terms in the diagram. For me, and I suspect many others, latinate terms are a put-off.

Thanks for the research and input!

 

[Frank Antonson]

I've had more time to view that site, and it looks very interesting.

I wonder what it will do with a genuinely complicated sentence like, say, the American "Pledge of Allegiance"?

 

[Frank Antonson]

That's really cool! It seems to have trouble, though, with complicated sentences.
It couldn't do "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go."

 

[Eric Davis]

That's really cool! It seems to have trouble, though, with complicated sentences.
It couldn't do "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go."

Yep, it has its limitations, but for simple sentences, it works. Can you suggest a better diagrammer?

 

[Frank Antonson]

No, nothing better. In fact, I've never seen anything like it.
I would like to know more about who designed that program.
I suspect that with enough more work the program could be made to diagram any sentence.
Surely, this must be the work of a very serious linguist.

 

[Eric Davis]

No, nothing better. In fact, I've never seen anything like it.
I would like to know more about who designed that program.
I suspect that with enough more work the program could be made to diagram any sentence.
Surely, this must be the work of a very serious linguist.

I'm certain that it involved a lot of effort, but you are right, it could be better.

 

[Eric Davis]

It didn't pick up my comma splice. :-D

 

[Frank Antonson]

Dear Eric Davis,

It is SO nice to hear from another voice that understands Reed-Kellogg.

"in saying" is a prepositional phrase with a gerund as its object. But who, the hell, cares? The point is that you understand this language.

Please post more!

Frank

 

[Frank Antonson]

Also, "a" modifies "lot", and "right" is a predicate adjective; but, again, who, the hell, cares?

 

[Eric Davis]

Also, "a" modifies "lot", and "right" is a predicate adjective; but, again, who, the hell, cares?

I care about it because I am a student of the language. I didn't give my teachers the attention that they deserved when I was in school, so I am now studying the basics of my own language, but I am enjoying myself as I learn more. Diagramming is simply another tool that helps better my understanding. So, if you come across a program that offers superior capabilities, send me an email. :-D

 

[Frank Antonson]

I doubt if I will find a better program, and I understand that they are still working on that one. What I COULD send you as an email attachment is a set of images of notes I used when I was teaching grammar and syntax. They form two little and very concise yet complete booklets.

Let me know.

I would not rely on that program alone, however. I typed in "The sun turned the apples red." It appeared that the program could not recognize an objective complement and the diagram that came out was quite wrong.

 

[Frank Antonson]

Oh, another thing. In your post #15 "saying" is a gerund and not part of the main verb. It is the object of the preposition "in".