Parts of Speech & Clause Analyzer — Independent Clauses, Dependent Clauses, Predicates, and Sentence Diagrams

Our Online English Grammar and Syntax Analyzer is a powerful yet easy-to-use tool designed for students, teachers, and anyone learning English. The service automatically analyzes sentences to identify parts of speech, clauses, predicates, and structural issues. It follows a simplified, educational logic that matches common school-level grammar tasks, making it especially useful for practice, learning, and teaching.

Key Features

1. Parts of Speech Identification

The analyzer provides a detailed list of words in your sentence along with their Universal Part-of-Speech (UPOS) tags. This is ideal for assignments, grammar exercises, and learning how different words function within a sentence.

2. Subject and Predicate Detection

The tool automatically finds subjects and identifies both the simple predicate (main verb) and the complete predicate (verb phrase). This feature helps learners understand sentence structure and the relationship between subject and predicate.

3. Fragment Detection

Our system checks whether a sentence contains both a subject and a predicate (including linking verbs). This matches the school-level rule for identifying sentence fragments, helping users quickly spot incomplete thoughts.

4. Run-on Sentence Detection

The service uses a simplified heuristic to detect run-on sentences: if a sentence contains two or more finite verbs, but lacks coordinating conjunctions (CCONJ) or strong punctuation marks (; . ! ?), it is flagged. This lightweight detector is designed for training exercises and covers the most common run-on cases.

5. Clause Identification

Using Universal Dependencies (UD) labels, the analyzer distinguishes between independent clauses and dependent clauses. This feature is especially useful for learning sentence types, complex structures, and grammar analysis.

6. Parallelism Check

The tool performs a basic parallelism check: if coordinated elements (joined by conjunctions) belong to different parts of speech, it highlights a potential issue. This helps learners recognize and correct common parallelism errors in English writing.

7. Punctuation Validation

Finally, the analyzer checks whether a sentence ends with proper punctuation (. / ! / ?). This ensures that sentences are grammatically complete and correctly punctuated.

Who Can Benefit?

• Students – practice English grammar and improve writing skills

• Teachers – create grammar exercises and automated drills

• Language learners – understand sentence structure step by step

• Content creators – polish writing by avoiding fragments, run-ons, and structural mistakes

✅ The service is built to be fast, accurate, and educational, with rules aligned to practical school-level grammar. It doesn’t aim to cover every edge case, but instead provides clear and reliable feedback for typical grammar learning tasks.

How to Tackle Grammar Tasks at School

When a worksheet asks you to label parts of speech, find the subject and predicate, spot fragments and run-ons, or even draw a sentence diagram, it’s not testing tricks—it’s training your eye to notice how English is built. Here’s a clear, classroom-friendly approach you can follow every time.

Start by reading the sentence once for meaning. Ask yourself: Who or what is this sentence about? What action or state is being expressed? Once you’ve got the gist, you’re ready to mark it up with confidence.

1) Finding Parts of Speech

Identify the job each word is doing in the sentence.

• Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.

• Verbs show action or a state of being.

• Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

• Pronouns stand in for nouns; prepositions begin phrases that show relationships (in the box, on Tuesday).

• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses; interjections show emotion; determiners (articles like a, an, the) point to nouns.

Example:
The tall boy runs quickly.
boy — noun
runs — verb
quickly — adverb
tall — adjective
the — determiner (article)

Tip: If you’re unsure, test a word by swapping it with a known example (“quickly” → “slowly” to confirm it’s an adverb).

2) Subject and Predicate

Every complete sentence has a subject (who/what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject does or is).

Method: Find the main verb first; ask “Who or what [verb]?” The answer is your subject. Everything that tells what the subject does or is forms the predicate.

Example:
The dog barked loudly.
Subject: The dog
Predicate: barked loudly

Note: Subjects or predicates can be compound: “The dog and the cat / chased and cornered the toy.”

3) Fragments and Run-ons

A fragment is a group of words punctuated like a sentence but missing a required part (usually a subject, a finite verb, or a complete thought). A run-on strings together independent clauses without proper punctuation or connectors.

Examples:
Because he was late. → fragment (dependent idea; no complete thought)
She runs and he walks and they talk and they… → run-on
She runs every morning. → correct

Fixing tips:

• Fragment → add the missing part or attach it to a nearby main clause: “Because he was late, he missed the bus.”

• Run-on → use a period, a semicolon, or a comma + coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

4) Sentence Combining

To combine short, choppy sentences, choose your relationship first.

• Equal ideas → coordination with a comma + FANBOYS or a semicolon.

• Unequal (one explains/time/reason/condition) → subordination with a subordinating conjunction (because, although, when, if, since).

Example:
The sun set. The sky turned red.
→ The sun set, and the sky turned red. (coordination)
→ As the sun set, the sky turned red. (subordination)

5) Identifying Clauses

An independent clause can stand alone; a dependent clause cannot and often begins with a subordinating word (although, because, when, if) or a relative word (who, which, that).

Example:
Although it was raining (dependent), we decided to go outside (independent).

Quick test: Read the clause by itself. If it sounds unfinished, it’s dependent.

6) Sentence Diagramming (when assigned)

Think of diagramming as turning grammar into a map.

• Draw a horizontal baseline: subject to the left, verb to the right, separated by a small vertical line.

• Place modifiers (adjectives/adverbs) on slanted lines below the words they modify.

• Prepositional phrases hang beneath the word they modify, with the preposition on a slanted line leading to the object of the preposition.

Example idea:
The little cat slept on the mat.
Subject: cat | Verb: slept | Modifiers: the, little | Prepositional phrase: on + mat under “slept.”

Diagramming rewards careful thinking; if your diagram feels awkward, recheck your parts of speech and clause roles.

7) Parallelism and Style

Parallelism means items in a series or paired with correlative conjunctions (both/and, either/or, not only/but also) keep the same grammatical form.

Example:
Wrong: She likes dancing, to swim, and biking.
Right: She likes dancing, swimming, and biking.
(-ing, -ing, -ing)

Also check parallels after correlative pairs: “Not only to read but also to write.”

8) Punctuation & Syntax Editing

Punctuation shows structure and guides the reader.

• Comma + coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses: “He went to the store, but he forgot to buy milk.”

• Semicolon between closely related independent clauses: “He went to the store; he forgot the milk.”

• Comma after an introductory dependent clause: “When the bell rang, the class began.”

• Apostrophes for possession (“the dog’s leash”) and contractions (“he’s”).

• Terminal punctuation (period, question mark, exclamation point) must appear at the end of every sentence.

Also watch for misplaced modifiers and ambiguous pronouns. If a sentence feels crowded, split or re-combine it with clearer connections.

A Quick Routine You Can Use on Any Sentence

1. Read for meaning.

2. Mark parts of speech—locate the main verb first.

3. Find the subject by asking “Who/what [verb]?”

4. Check that you have a complete thought (not a fragment).

5. If you have two main ideas, connect them correctly (avoid run-ons).

6. Label clauses as independent or dependent; combine or punctuate accordingly.

7. Ensure lists and paired ideas are parallel.

8. Edit punctuation, especially commas, semicolons, and terminal marks.

9. (If assigned) Sketch a quick diagram to confirm your structure.

Follow this sequence and the messy mystery of grammar turns into a set of manageable steps. With practice, you won’t just finish the assignment—you’ll write cleaner, clearer sentences everywhere.