In the United States, grammar school is synonymous with elementary school.
It’s been a while since I was in grammar school. But I do remember that I learned a lot of things in grammar school—and one of the most important things I learned there was … grammar! How many of you recall vocabulary flashcards? How many of you recall spelling tests? How many of you recall learning parts of speech? Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, et cetera.
And how many of you recall diagramming sentences? What a special and unique practice in language! Diagramming sentences is an art, and diagramming sentences can be fun!
It’s a way to blend our fascination of language and love of math and science. After all, so often, language (especially the English language) does not make sense (all the rules and exceptions to the rules). But by diagramming sentences, we are able to approach language in a scientific way. A sentence diagrammed is much like a scientific problem, a chemical or mathematical equation, an opportunity to break down the elements and see how they fit together.
Often I wonder if they still teach students how to diagram sentences. I think not. Otherwise, I don’t think phrases like these would be so commonplace:
“Where you at?”
“What up?”
“Yeah, like, whatever.”
“You down with that?”
But now I’m wondering: Is the problem the lack of understanding sentence structure, or is it the slang? Which came first ….
