Rem.—Some sentences assert the being, condition, or state, of a person or thing—or an action which does not terminate on an object. Others assert an ction which terminates on an object.

Some sentences assert but one fact; others, more. Some assert an independent, or a principal proposition; others, a secondary, or qualifying proposition. Hence,

Prin. Sentences are distinguished as—

Prin. The office of a word in a sentence, determines its position in the diagram, according to the following

RULE

1. The principal parts of a sentence are placed uppermost, and on the same horizontal line; as 1, 2, 3.
2. The Subject of a sentence takes the first place; as 1.
3. The Predicate is placed to the right of the subject—attached; as 2—7—11—26
4. The Object is placed to the right of the predicate; as 3. The object of a phrase is placed to the right of the word which introduces the phrase; as 22 to the right of 21.
5. A word, phrase, or sentence, is placed beneath the word which it qualifies; as 4 and 5 qualify I ~—(25, 26, x) qualify 22
6. A word used to introduce a phrase, is placed beneath the word which the phrase qualities—having its object to the right and connecting both; as 15 connecting 12 and 16—21 connecting 3 and 22.
7. A word used only to connect, is placed between the two words connected; as 10 between 7 and 11; and a word used to introduce a sentence, is placed above the predicate of the sentence, and attached to it by a line; as 0 above 2.
8. A word relating back to an other word, is attached to the antecedent by a line; as 6 attached to 1, and x to 22.

The first complete diagramming system was developed by S. W. Clark in A Practical Grammar: in which Words, Phrases, and Sentences are Classified According to their Offices, and their Relation to Each Other. Illustrated by a Complete System of Diagrams (1847). His system

In the United States there are currently two major varieties of diagrams in use to represent sentence structure: traditional diagrams, used more or less exclusively in junior high school and high school classrooms, and tree diagrams, the most common method used by professional linguists.