Is there a web site that will diagram a sentence?

@boomerang,

I don't think it is possible to write software that could diagram a sentence. To diagram a sentence, you need to be able to understand the meaning of the words... something that computers don't do.

Consider the classic grammar conundrum... without understanding when flies is a verb, and when it is a noun, diagramming is very difficult.

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

((I will leave aside, for now, the question of whether diagramming sentences is a useful exercise, or a waste of time)).

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This is a free software program from Baruch College that has been around for at least 6 years. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page for the link to download the file. You'll have to unzip and then run the setup program once it is downloaded.

I'm posting this link rather than the one that takes you directly to the download page because this one has all the screen shots that show how to use the software.

http://faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/gdalgish/NewDiagramming/diagramguide.htm

This is another one from the University of Central Florida:

http://www.sendraw.ucf.edu/

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@Butrflynet,

These are programs that let you diagram a sentence.

I am pretty sure there is no software that diagrams sentences automatically.

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@boomerang,

Google parse a sentence, Boomer.

EDIT: did it for ya

http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/link/submit-sentence-4.html

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@ebrown p,

Quote:

((I will leave aside, for now, the question of whether diagramming sentences is a useful exercise, or a waste of time)).

It has its place, but using it as it has been used is little more than useless. It's absolutely amazing how poor people are at describing language after their years of having been taught English and grammar.

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@ebrown p,

++++Time 0.01 seconds (120.44 total)
Found 5 linkages (5 with no P.P. violations)
Linkage 1, cost vector = (UNUSED=0 DIS=1 AND=0 LEN=8)

+-------MXs-------+----------Xc----------+
+----Js---+ +-----Xd-----+ +----Js---+ |
+--Ss--+--MVp--+ +-Ds-+ | +---AN--+---Mp--+ +--Ds-+ |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
time.n flies.v like.p an arrow.n , fruit.n flies.n like.p a banana.n .

Constituent tree:

(S (NP Time)
(VP flies
(PP like
(NP (NP an arrow)
,
(NP (NP fruit flies)
(PP like
(NP a banana))
.)))))

1 Reply

@JTT,

The CMU work is impressive... I would in speech recognition (a related field) and this is about as good as it gets. It isn't hard to confuse the software.

And.... I caught the bastards cheating on the fruit flies example (I played around a bit and I smelled a rat). The sneaky programmers knew people would try this example, and they coded it as a special case.

Consider these examples.

fruit.n flies.n like.p a banana.n . (your example where flies is correctly identified as a noun)

fruit.n flies.v like.p a plum.n (oops, now flies is a verb)
fruit.n flies.v like.p an apple.n (still a verb)
fruit.n flies.v like.p a cherry.n (yep... they cheated)

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@ebrown p,

I had to try it.

fruit.n flies.v like.p getting.v laid.v (I really thought this would get the noun right)

However

fruit.n flies.n like.v to dance.n salsa.n (the infinitive form seems to force it to a noun).

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Oh my goodness! You guys (and gals) are so smart and helpful! Thank you. I'm going to visit those links.

Believe it or not, I got into a ..... errrr.... dispute? .... with someone over the word "fancy" the other day and I was thinking it would be so cool if I could diagram the word out in several situations.

(I know.... I know... I totally need a hobby.)

1 Reply

@boomerang,

So boomer, was fancy an adjective or a verb?

1 Reply

@ebrown p,

An adjective! Totally and adjective!! That's what I couldn't get them to acknowledge!!!

Here's the story:

Mo was fretting over some questions about his family, especially his sisters. Someone asked him questions and he was having a hard time explaining. (Mo is adopted and we have a lot of contact with his bio family -- they are recognized as relatives. He has two half sisters. Their common relative is their mother. The siblings live with their father, who has full custody.)

I told him to just say that his family was "fancy" (meaning intricate, not plain, elaborate) and leave it at that.

Someone insisted that "fancy" in this case meant "imaginary", in (what I think) is the noun form of the word.

Silly stuff, certainly, but it made me curious about sentence diagraming.

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@boomerang,

Diagramming English sentences (I assume you're referring to English) involves an implied assumption that there is such a thing as grammar in English; in real life, there isn't any.

1 Reply

@boomerang,

Quote:

I told him to just say that his family was "fancy" (meaning intricate, not plain, elaborate) and leave it at that.

Someone insisted that "fancy" in this case meant "imaginary", in (what I think) is the noun form of the word.

Lol... but fancy can be a noun in this sense.

Dinosaurs were real, but dragons are fancy.

1 Reply

@ebrown p,

Thats, funny..... I was checking to see if the CMU site agreed with me.

-- dinosaurs.n are.v real.a , but dragons.n are.v fancy.n

.... and I was proud of myself-- thinking that maybe the contra position of "real" and "fancy" would do the trick.

But then I had to try the original case... and alas, CMU says

-- my family.n is.v fancy.n (sorry Boomer)

Just to make sure it knows about adjectives, let's try...

-- my family.n is.v big.a

So that settles it. Mo's family is part of his imagination.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

An adjective! Totally and adjective!! That's what I couldn't get them to acknowledge!!!

Here's the story:

Mo was fretting over some questions about his family, especially his sisters. Someone asked him questions and he was having a hard time explaining. (Mo is adopted and we have a lot of contact with his bio family -- they are recognized as relatives. He has two half sisters. Their common relative is their mother. The siblings live with their father, who has full custody.)

I told him to just say that his family was "fancy" (meaning intricate, not plain, elaborate) and leave it at that.

Someone insisted that "fancy" in this case meant "imaginary", in (what I think) is the noun form of the word.

Silly stuff, certainly, but it made me curious about sentence diagraming.

You don't need sentence diagramming for this kind of issue - only a determination of whether "fancy" is an adjective or a noun. If you had been using the word as a noun you would have preceded it by the article "a". Whoever you were arguing with can look it up:

Ex. of noun:

Quote:

an idea or opinion with little foundation; illusion: Her belief that she can sing is a mere fancy.

Ex. of adjective:

Quote:

made, designed, grown, adapted, etc., to please the taste or fancy; of superfine quality or exceptional appeal: fancy goods.

If that helps, the word also does extra duty as verb, etc
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fancy

1 Reply

@gungasnake,

Quote:

Diagramming English sentences (I assume you're referring to English) involves an implied assumption that there is such a thing as grammar in English; in real life, there isn't any.

Of course there's grammar in real life, Gunga. If grammar didn't exist, you wouldn't have been able to write what you wrote.

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@JTT,

Yeah, but Gunga doesn't care about contradictions....

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as an adjecitve (is that the right term?),

Mo has a fancy family.

First person:
I have a fancy family

I.p, have.v, a fancy.a Family

Constituent tree:

(S (NP I)
(VP have
(NP a fancy Family)))

1 Reply

@High Seas,

Well dang! The "a" does make a big difference.

That makes it all so easy. Thanks.

1 Reply

Is there a web site that will diagram a sentence?

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