Once a popular way to teach grammar, the practice of diagramming sentences has fallen out of favor. When you think about a sentence, you usually think about words — not lines. But sentence diagramming ...

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. All right, class. Settle down now. Stop fidgeting. Sit up straight, eyes forward, all eyes on the blackboard. Today we're going to diagram ...

There are plenty of people out there—not only English teachers but also amateur language buffs like me—who believe that diagramming a sentence provides insight into the mind of its perpetrator. The ...

What tools does a grammarian need? A brain helps, and so does a computer, but surely one of our most essential tools is some kind of diagramming system. How can we think about a sentence’s structure, ...

Robert, thanks for expanding the dialogue by disagreeing on diagramming sentences (you are far from alone). The important point, though, is that diagramming is just a metaphor (or perhaps I should say ...

The recently revised Standards of Learning of the Commonwealth of Virginia consider sentence diagramming an “essential skill” and mandate that it be taught in grades 6-8. Frankly, if English teachers ...

When you think about a sentence, you usually think about words — not lines. But sentence diagramming brings geometry into grammar. If you weren't taught to diagram a sentence, this might sound a ...