Let 
be a finitely generated module over a commutative Noetherian
ring 
.
Then there exists a finite set 
of submodules of 
such that
1. 
and 
is not contained in 
for all 
.
2. Each quotient 
is primary for some prime 
.
3. The 
are all distinct for 
.
4. Uniqueness of the primary component 
is equivalent to the statement that 
does not contain 
for any 
.
