Introduction

The Core Concept of English Grammar Tree

An English sentence is like a tree, with a main-trunk and branches. The main clause of the sentence forms the main-trunk—the core structure that holds the entire sentence together. These essential sections(grammatical components) of the main-trunk are necessary for the sentence to stand on its own. For example, in the sentence “I love you,” the sections “I,” “love,” and “you” form the main-trunk, representing the subject, main verb, and object, respectively.

Just as a tree grows branches, a sentence expands with additional phrases and clauses that provide more detail or context. These branches extend from the main trunk, representing elements such as adverbials, prepositional phrases, or modifying clauses. For instance, in the sentence “I love you very much,” the phrase “very much” is a branch that grows from the main trunk, adding emphasis to the verb “love.”

Some branches can also function as sub-trunks within the larger sentence structure. In more complex sentences, these sub-trunks can grow their own branches. Consider the sentence, “If you are already an experienced coder, you can try a complete build setup.” Here, the main trunk is “you can try a complete build setup,” while the conditional clause “If you are already an experienced coder” is a branch that grows from the verb “try.” Furthermore, within this branch, the word “already” functions as a deeper branch attached to “are.”

This concept of a tree structure with trunks and branches helps to visually organize and simplify complex sentences, making it easier to understand the relationships between different parts of the sentence. It emphasizes the hierarchical nature of English grammar, where the main clause serves as the foundation, and additional elements provide further detail, much like branches adding to the fullness of a tree.

Compositions of the Grammar Tree

The Grammar Tree is composed of three fundamental elements: Sections, Units, and Trunks. These elements work together to visually represent the structure of English sentences, helping users to better understand the relationships between different grammatical components.

1. Sections

Sections are the building blocks of the Grammar Tree. Each section represents a specific grammatical component and is assigned a unique color for easy identification. These components range from subjects and verbs to objects and modifiers, each playing a critical role in sentence structure.

For example, in the sentence “I love you,” the sections “I,” “love,” and “you” form the main trunk, representing the subject, main verb, and object, respectively. Each of these components is color-coded according to the Grammar Tree’s color scheme:

The table below details the color scheme for various grammatical components(sections), along with examples for each:

Component	Necessary	Example(s)
Subject	Yes	I love you. There is no problem.
Subject clause	Yes	What she said was true.
Semantic subject clause	Yes	It is advisable that they stay outside for as short a time as possible.
Main verb	Yes	She runs every day.
Main word	Yes	It can move from the land or from the oceans to the atmosphere, and vice versa. * The vice versa is an elliptical clause here.
Non-finite verb	Yes	We watched Lee playing rugby.
Auxiliary verb	Yes	She is running.
Catenative verb	Yes	She wants to run.
Particle of phrasal verb	Yes	She gave up on running.
Preposition of phrasal verb	Yes	She asked for a raise.
Direct object	Yes	She reads a book.
Indirect object	Yes	She gave him a gift.
Object clause	Yes	I know that she left.
Semantic object clause	Yes	I find it amazing you still look so young.
Prepositional object	Yes	She looked at the picture.
Adjectival object	Yes	It is advisable that they stay outside for as short a time as possible.
Prepositional object clause	Yes	I learned the danger of letting a “payback” escalate out of control. Billboard has published an oral history of what was going on behind the scenes.
Adverbial	No	She sings beautifully.
Prepositional adverbial	No	She sings with enthusiasm. Effects caused by the protein are important.
Conjunctive adverb	Yes	The superstar doesn’t know when he can travel incognito with his wife.
Adverbial complement	Yes	The teacher sent Tim home at speed.
Prepositional adverbial complement	Yes	Please put the book on the shelf quickly.
Adverbial complement clause	Yes	I spend too much time watching television.
Prepositional complement of adjectives	Yes	She is proud of her work.
Complement clause of adjectives	Yes	She is happy that she succeeded.
Complement clause of adverbs	Yes	No matter how rich he is, I do not envy him.
Nominal subject complement	Yes	He is a teacher.
Adjectival subject complement	Yes	She is tall.
Adverbial subject complement	Yes	Both the boys and the girls are here.
Prepositional subject complement	Yes	He is in a hurry.
Subject complement clause	Yes	The problem is that she left.
Adjectival object complement	Yes	She painted the house red.
Nominal object complement	Yes	They elected him president.
Prepositional object complement	Yes	She found herself in a different world.
Object complement clause	Yes	They named him what they wanted.
Coordinating conjunction	Yes	John and Mary are my friends.
Subordinating conjunction	Yes	She left because it was late.
Pre-correlative conjunction	Yes	Either you go, or I stay.
Appositive	No	My friend John is here.
Appositive clause	No	I admire the fact that you are honest.
Main clause	Yes	She left because she was tired.
Coordinate clause	Yes	She left, and I stayed.
Relative clause	No	The book that you gave me is great.
Prepositive attributive	No	Florida has more than 1,000 springs.
Postpositive attributive	No	There is a street full of cars.
Adjectival prepositional phrase	No	The man with a hat is my uncle.
Adverbial prepositional phrase of verb-like nouns	No	Making a completely clean break with the past, the couple got rid of all their old furniture.
Reduced relative clause	No	The man standing there is my uncle.
Adverbial clause	No	She arrived before he did.
Parenthesis clause	No	He is, I think, the best.
Parenthesis phrase	No	The idea, however, was good.
Interjection	No	Wow, that’s amazing!
Preposition	Yes	She is at the park.
The first clause of correlative comparative structure	Yes	The more you study, the better you get.
The second clause of correlative comparative structure	Yes	The more you study, the better you get.
Comparative prepositional phrase	Yes	He is taller than her.
Adverbial clause of comparison	Yes	He is more intelligent than I am.
Compound preposition	Yes	In addition to studying, she works.
Complement clause of causative verb	Yes	I made him leave the room.
Unknown-type components	Yes	* Components whose type couldn’t be classified by our system.
Unknown-type clause	Yes	* Clauses whose type couldn’t be classified by our system.

2. Units

Units are groups of sections enclosed by specific marks: curly braces {}, square brackets [], or parentheses (). These enclosures indicate the grammatical function of the unit, whether it be a clause, phrase, or a nested structure within a sentence.

For instance, in the sentence “He is in a hurry,” the unit [in a hurry] consists of the preposition “in” and the prepositional complement “a hurry.” This unit is itself a prepositional subject complement. Units are also color-coded according to the same scheme as sections, highlighting their grammatical roles within the sentence.

Types of Units:

Clauses: Enclosed by {}, regardless of the number of sections they contain.
Phrases: Enclosed by [] if they consist of more than one section.
Nested Juxtaposed Nouns: Enclosed by () to clarify relationships within complex noun groups. For example, as seen in the diagram below, in the sentence “Teotihuacán’s religious significance, the historical situation, the ingenuity, intelligence and foresightedness of Teotihuacán’s elite, and the impact of natural disasters are the factors much more difficult to pinpoint,” the phrase “the ingenuity, intelligence, and foresightedness” is enclosed by parentheses to highlight its relationship with the other juxtaposed noun elements.

3. Trunks

Trunks are the primary structures that represent the main and subordinate elements of a sentence. Each trunk is composed of sections and units that together define the sentence’s core structure, whether it be a simple sentence, a compound sentence, or a complex sentence with multiple clauses.

Types of Trunks:

Main Trunk: Represents the primary clause of the sentence. It usually consists of the subject, main verb, and any objects or complements directly connected to the main verb.
Subordinate Trunks(Branches): Represent subordinate clauses or phrases that provide additional information about the main clause. These trunks branch off from the nodal sections of the main trunk, reflecting their dependent relationship.

For example, in the sentence “She reads books because she loves learning,” the main trunk consists of “She reads books,” while the subordinate trunk “because she loves learning” branches off, showing its role as an adverbial clause explaining the reason for the action.

Main trunks are arranged horizontally and subordinate trunks(branches) are arranged obliquely, and they can be rotated, zoomed, or panned within the Grammar Tree visualization. This flexibility allows you to explore complex sentences in detail, understanding how each part contributes to the overall meaning.

Branch Text Orientation

Subordinate trunks branch off from nodal sections, each following a distinct direction. There are four primary branch orientations: right-top (default), right-bottom, left-bottom, and left-top. The text direction within each branch follows the direction of its branching.

For example, text in a right-top branch flows in the right-top direction, text in a right-bottom branch flows in the right-bottom direction, and so on. The diagram below illustrates these text orientations, with arrows indicating the direction of each branch.

Handling More Than Four Branches

You might wonder how to organize branches if a nodal section has more than four. While it’s rare for a nodal section to exceed four branches, English Grammar Tree has a solution. Any branches beyond the fourth are arranged within the same trunk as the nodal section, using a smaller font size for clarity.

As shown in the diagram below, the fifth branch “every day” of the nodal section “love” is positioned within the same trunk as “love.”

How to use English Grammar Tree

Learn how to interact with English Grammar Tree diagrams, click here.