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Partition a basis of a module $E$ into disjoint subsets $E^{\prime },E^{\prime \prime }$. Splitting the finite expression of each element gives $M=⟨E^{\prime }⟩+⟨E^{\prime \prime }⟩$. An element in both generated submodules would give, by subtraction, a relation among the disjoint parts of $E$; linear independence in a module forces every coefficient to vanish. The intersection is zero, proving the direct sum of modules decomposition. Each part is itself a basis of a module for the submodule it generates.

A free module is a module with a basis of a module $(e_i{)}_{i\in I}$: every element has exactly one expression $m={\sum }_{i\in I}{r}_i{e}_i$ with $r_i\in R$ and only finitely many $r_i$ nonzero. Equivalently, the coefficient map ${⨁}_{i\in I}R\to M$ is a module isomorphism. Existence means generation; uniqueness means linear independence in a module. For finite $I$ of size $n$, this says $M\cong R^n$, a finite free module. See Neil Strickland's Rings, Modules and Linear Algebra, section 11.

The integer lattice ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$ in the opening diagram is a free module over $\mathbb{Z}$ with basis of a module $e_1=(1,0)$, $e_2=(0,1)$. For example, $(3,2)=3e_1+2e_2$, and comparing the two coordinates makes the coefficients unique. A different basis of a module is $u=(1,0)$, $v=(1,1)$, because $(a,b)=(a-b)u+bv$; in particular $(3,2)=u+2v$.

By contrast, $w_1=(2,0)$ and $w_2=(0,1)$ are linearly independent in a module, but generate only the submodule $2\mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{Z}$. They miss $(1,0)$ because $2a=1$ has no integer solution. They would form a basis over the rational numbers. Even generation need not let one extract a basis of a module: the elements $2,3$ generate $\mathbb{Z}$, since $1=3-2$, but neither singleton generates it, and $3\cdot 2-2\cdot 3=0$ is a nontrivial linear relation between them. These are concrete failures of the usual vector space argument that divides by any nonzero coefficient.

The cyclic module $\mathbb{Z}/6\mathbb{Z}$ has no basis of a module over $\mathbb{Z}$: every element has the nontrivial relation $6m=0$, so no nonempty subset is linearly independent in a module, while the empty subset cannot generate this nonzero module. Specifying the scalar ring is essential: over $R=\mathbb{Z}/6\mathbb{Z}$, the same additive object is a free module with the one-element basis of a module $\{\overline{1}\}$, since each coefficient is itself a unique class in $R$.

The map $\phi :M\to N$, $x\mapsto rx$, is a module homomorphism, and it is injective because $r\ne 0$ and $M$ is a torsion-free module. The linear independence in a module of $T$ makes the map $R^{|T|}\to N$ sending the standard basis to $T$ an isomorphism. Thus $N$ is a finite free module, and $M\cong \phi (M)\subseteq N\cong R^{|T|}$. This proves embedding a finitely generated torsion-free module in a finite free module. No claim that the submodule itself is free over an arbitrary integral domain is needed.

For each $s\in S\setminus T$, maximality implies a nontrivial relationHere $a_s\ne 0$, since otherwise this would contradict the linear independence in a module of $T$. Thus $a_{s}s\in N$. Take $r={\prod }_{s\in S\setminus T}{a}_s$, with empty product equal to one. Because $R$ is an integral domain, $r\ne 0$. Every $s\in S\setminus T$ satisfies $rs\in N$, and this is also true for $s\in T$. Expressing any element of the finitely generated module as an $R$-linear combination of $S$ now gives $rM\subseteq N$. This is clearing denominators relative to an independent module subset; it does not require $R$ to be a field.

Put $N=⟨E^{\prime }⟩$ and $P=⟨E^{\prime \prime }⟩$, the submodules generated by the two parts of the basis of a module. Every finite expression in the basis of a module splits into its $E^{\prime }$ terms and its $E^{\prime \prime }$ terms. Thus $M=N+P$.

If $m\in N\cap P$, there are finite expressionsSubtracting gives a finite relation among distinct members of $E$, because $E^{\prime }\cap E^{\prime \prime }=\varnothing$. Their linear independence in a module forces every coefficient to vanish, so $m=0$. HenceThis proves the basis partition gives a module direct sum lemma, also when one part is empty.