English / Italiano

Sentence diagrams, side by side

Pick a pattern. The top figure shows where each word sits in the spoken sentence. The diagrams below show what each word is doing. Often the diagrams match and only the word order changes. Sometimes Italian builds the sentence differently.

How to read a diagram

The baseline holds the core of the sentence. The line that crosses it splits subject from verb.
A line that stops at the baseline comes before a direct object.
A line leaning back toward the subject comes before a word that describes the subject.
Articles, adjectives and adverbs hang on slanted lines under the word they modify.
A preposition goes on a slanted line, and its object sits on the line below it.
Parentheses mark a word that is understood but not spoken.