Getting Started
Subjects & Verbs
Every sentence has exactly two essential parts: a subject — who or what the sentence is about — and a verb (predicate) — what the subject does or is. Reed-Kellogg diagrams always begin here.
The Baseline
Every diagram is built on a horizontal base line. The subject sits on the left; the verb sits on the right. A full vertical line (passing through the base line) separates the two.
“Children play.”
The noun Children is the subject; the verb play is in the present tense.
Verb Tenses & Voices
All finite verbs — regardless of tense, voice, or mood — occupy the right side of the baseline. Multi-word verb phrases (auxiliaries + main verb) are written as a single unit on that same line.
“They were selling.”
The personal pronoun They is the subject. were selling is the past progressive — both words occupy the verb slot together.
“It had been played.”
“Sandwiches are being sold.”
“Have you been playing?”
Key Concepts
- Subject
- The noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that the sentence is about. It governs the number of the verb. Personal pronouns in subject position use their nominative forms: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
- Predicate (Verb)
- Everything in the sentence beyond the subject and its modifiers. In these early diagrams this is just the main verb (or verb phrase). Later you will add direct objects, predicate adjectives, and much more.
- Finite verb
- A verb that is inflected for tense and can serve as the main verb of a clause. Contrast with infinitives, gerunds, and participles, which are non-finite verbals.
Full Analysis: “The cat sat on the mat.”
Here is a complete analysis of a simple sentence, showing the picture, editorial comment, and all three diagram views. The Reed-Kellogg and dependency tree can also be used interactively to practice labeling.
Example sentence
“The cat sat on the mat.”
Picture
Comment
A classic simple declarative sentence. The subject is the noun phrase "the cat" and the predicate is the verb phrase "sat on the mat", where "on the mat" is a prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial modifier.
Reed-Kellogg diagram
Dependency tree
Dependency flat graph
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