Carefully considering the relationships between clauses, phrases, and other parts of speech is vital to understanding the biblical text. Verbum helps you do this with the Sentence Diagram tool. Choose between Line or Text Flow diagram styles and study the relationships between various parts of the text.
Note: This is only available on the desktop - not mobile or web
Note: Available in a Verbum Max subscription and in the former Bronze Feature Set and above.
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Line Diagram
The Line diagram style is well-suited to studying and displaying the relationships between individual words in the text.
To get started:
1. Open a Sentence Diagram document
Click the Documents icon , and select New>Sentence Diagram. Verbum opens a blank Sentence Diagram document. Click the title to add a unique title for your diagram. Consider using the text you are diagramming, such as Romans 12:3.
2. Insert a passage
Click Insert passage to open the dropdown menu. Enter the passage you want to diagram. Click the passage in the dropdown list to activate Insert and options. You can choose a translation (1) and specify the type of diagram you want to create (2). We'll look at Text Flow Diagrams below
You can also specify what alternate (or additional) information you want to display along with each word in the diagram - drawing from the underlying text. We will set this to Gloss
Click Insert to add the passage to the diagram.
3. Add Diagram components
Verbum defaults to left-to-right (LTR) orientation for Greek and right-to-left (RTL) for Hebrew/Aramaic, but you can change this using the LTR or RTL buttons in the bottom left corner of the panel.
Click a component to the left of the document to select it, then click the location in the document body where you want to place the component (alternatively you can drag it to where you want it). Drag a word (or words) to the appropriate place on the component. We will start with the subject and predicate line - which is normally best practice.
After placing the text, add additional components (which are designed to snap to the components already in place) and associated text. To group words together press Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac), select the words you want to connect and click Join. You can ungroup them by clicking a combined set of words and selecting Split.
You can modify sentence diagrams in a number of ways:
- Click a component or portion of text to display the shape handles - a white open circle and one or more solid blue circles. (You can constantly display these by clicking Display and selecting Always show shape handles.) Click the white open circle to move the diagram component (and any words placed on the component) or text; click a blue circle to adjust the size of the component or text.
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Remove a diagram component by clicking it and then pressing the Delete button. This does not delete the text.
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Add additional lines to your diagram by clicking the line or pencil icon. Draw the component in your desired location. If your drawing resembles an existing component, Verbum automatically updates your drawing with the corresponding component.
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Add text to your diagram by clicking the text icon. Click your desired location in the document and enter your desired text.
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To change font attributes of a piece of text, select it and then click Text in the toolbar and choose from the options shown.
- To display alternate text, click Display to expand a list of options and select your preferred arrangement. (It is recommended that you make this selection before arranging the words in the diagram to maintain proper alignment and spacing.)
Open a Sentence Diagram in Verbum.
Note: To learn more about diagramming sentences, check out Diagrammatical Analysis.
Text Flow Diagram
The Text Flow diagram style is well-suited to studying and displaying the relationships between clauses in a discourse. To get started:
1. Open a Sentence Diagram document
Click the Documents icon , and select New>Sentence Diagram. Verbum opens a blank Sentence Diagram document. Click the title to add a unique title for your diagram. Consider using the text you are diagramming, such as Psalm 1:1-3.
2. Insert passage
Click Insert passage to open the dropdown menu. Enter the passage you want to diagram. Click the passage in the dropdown list to activate Insert and options. You can choose a translation (1) and specify the type of diagram you want to create (2). Choose Text Flow diagram, we look at Line diagrams above
You can also specify what alternate (or additional) information you want to display along with each word in the diagram - drawing from the underlying text. We will set this to Gloss
Click Insert to add the passage to the diagram.
3. Arrange text
Click a word (or verse number) to move that word and all subsequent words in your text to a different location in the document.
Note: The Text Flow diagram always keeps your text order regardless of where you move parts in the document.
To display alternate text, click Display to expand a list of options and select your preferred arrangement. Choose Primary (alternate below).
You can adjust the width of the diagram by clicking and dragging the blue line on the right side of your diagram. You can move the diagram by clicking and dragging it to your desired location.
4. Add diagram components
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Use diagram components on the left to augment your diagram.
Note: These components are designed for use with the line diagram style, so the text does not snap to the line components as they would in a line diagram. Components and text move independently of each other.
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Add lines to your diagram by clicking the line or pencil icon.
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Add text to your diagram by selecting the text icon and enter your text in the document (adjust font options, using the Text menu)
Did you know? You can also use the Text Flow diagram to display chiasms in the biblical text. Simply select the text icon and enter your text in the document. Click and drag the propositions to your desired location to display the chiasm.
Open a Sentence Diagram in Verbum.
Share Your Sentence Diagram
You can share your sentence diagram with your groups by clicking Share in the top-right corner of the panel. This will open a pop-up with different options for sharing or collaborating with one or more of your groups.
Learn more about sharing your diagram with your groups.
Print or Export a Sentence Diagram
To print or export your diagram, click the more actions icon and select Print/Export. Verbum opens a printing dialog pane. Select print options or export your diagram as a PDF.
Additional Resources
Verbum Help: Sentence Diagram