I loved diagramming sentences and I think it helped me become a better writer as I got older. I informally diagram complex sentences in academic writing and te

I loved diagramming sentences and I think it helped me become a better writer as I got older. I informally diagram complex sentences in academic writing and textbooks. I find it helpful because the meaning is conveyed not only by the meanings of the words, but also by the structure of the sentences that contain them. For example, the "not only ... but also ..." construction often links the unfamiliar with the familiar. Or, the "on the one hand ... while on the other ..." signifies contrast, which aids comprehension. Sentence diagramming gives one a general-purpose toolkit for parsing unfamiliar constructions. The better I understand the structure, the quicker I can get to the meaning.