1

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN

EXERCISE A
Underline all the subjects in the following sentences.
a)

SUBJECT-VERB (SV)
Every sentence has at least two parts: Subject and Verb ( SV
). The subject is usually a noun or something that can take
place of a noun.
A NOUN is usually the name of a person, animal, place or
things.
A VERB is:

1) an action word which shows

what people, animals and things do
e.g. walk, run, swim, talk, eat, drink, study, read, shout
2) a non-action word
e.g. am, is, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does, did

Look at the following

SUBJECT
1. The dog
2. The bus
3. The children
4. The babies
5. The robbers
6. He
7. I
8. They

VERB
barked.
left.
cried.
slept.
run.
dies.
cook.
smiled.

1. The train arrived.

2. The girl skipped.
3. Father and mother laughed.
4. That convict escaped.
5. The rain ceased.
6. The grasshopper hopped.
7. We talk.
8. All the boys sing.
9. My teacher reads.
10. The child played.
EXERCISE B
Underline all the verbs in the following sentences.
1. The bridge capsized.
2. The water froze.
3. The thunder rolled.
4. Our team wins.
5. The ice melted.
6. The plant grew.
7. Their helicopter flew.
8. Aidils car skidded.
9. The ducks quacked.
10. The bomb exploded.

2
b)

1.
2.

Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)
We saw that a complete sentence has two basic parts:
subject
(S)
verb
(V)

Sometimes, a sentence has these two parts but it looks

incomplete. Look at the following sentences:
1.
The policemen caught ..
2.
All students carried ..
3.
His sister sold ..
Now, see how these incomplete sentences can be complete.
To do this, you must add an object. Look at the following
sentences:
1.
2.
3.

The policemen caught the robbers.

All students carried their chairs.
His sister sold nasi lemak.
Notice that the object usually comes after the verb. The object
is a noun or a word used in place of a noun.
EXERCISE C
Underline the objects in the following sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The babies drank milk.

Everyone watches the game.
My mother cooked rice.
He caught a rabbit.
Mr. Johnson wrote a letter.
We cut the grass.
The flood destroyed the houses.

8. I studied languages.
9. Alis sister washed the clothes.
10. Puan Tina bought vegetables, meat and fish.
EXERCISE D
Complete the following sentences with suitable objects. Use
only nouns. Use a, an or the where necessary.
SUBJECT
1. The pupils
2. She
3. Muthu
4. We
5. The
postman
6. They
7. You
8. The lecturer
9. That woman
10. I

VERB
asked
ate
broke
finished
delivered
clean
take
taught
found
sing

OBJECT

3
c)

Subject-Verb-Expansion (SVE)

Expansion means making complete sentences longer. You

can expend a complete sentence by adding more words.
Use WH-Questions to help expand the sentences. Look at
these examples:
1.
The car stopped. (This is a complete sentence)
The car stopped suddenly. (How)
The car stopped in front of the house. (Where)
The car stopped yesterday. (When)
The car stopped for five minutes. (For how long)
EXERCISE E
Underline the expansions in these sentences.
1. A child cried in the night. (When)
2. That cat ran into the house. (Where)
3. The clown joked for an hour. (For how long)
4. All people clapped loudly. (How)
5. The telephone rang for a long time. (For how long)
6. They arrived at six oclock. (When)
7. The terrorists hid in the jungle. (Where)
8. The children played happily. (How)
9. We stood on the beach. (Where)
10. The examination started on Monday. (When)

EXERCISE F
Expand these sentences by adding a suitable expansion.
1. My grandfather danced ______________________ .
(How)
2. Our teacher stood __________________________.
(Where)
3. Nordin swims ______________________________.
(When)
4. The couple quarrelled ________________________.
(For how long)
5. The boys fought ____________________________.
(Where)
6. Mr. Lim slept _______________________________.
(How)
7. The tree fell _______________________________.
(When)
8. The speaker
spoke_________________________________. (How)
(For how long)
9. The boys played football
____________________________. (Where) (When)
10. Kim Seng walked
____________________________________________
_____. (How) (For how long) (Where) (When)

4
d)

Subject-Verb-Complement (SVC)
The verb to be/do/have (am, is, are, was, were, has, have,
had, do, does, did) does not require an object but it needs
other words to complete the sentence. These other words are
called COMPLEMENTS. Study the examples below. Notice
that the action verbs are not used in these examples.
SUBJECT
Ali and
Ahmad
The books
Emily
They
I

VERB
are

COMPLEMENT
clever boys.

were
has
did
am

on the desk.
a guitar.
their work.
a teacher.

EXERCISE G
Underline the complements in these sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Mrs. Jones was angry.

That man is my dentist.
She has a car.
The bracelets are beautiful and expensive.
They had three houses.
Ritas mother does her work well.
That salesgirl is my cousin.
My cat is very cute.

EXERCISE H
Make these sentences complete by adding suitable
complements.
1. The maid is
_________________________________________
2. We were
__________________________________________.
3. The officer was
__________________________________________.I
am
__________________________________________.
4. My grandfather has
__________________________________________.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Tan had
__________________________________________.
6. Our parents have
__________________________________________.
7. Those hawkers are
__________________________________________.
8. It was
__________________________________________.
9. My two brothers do
__________________________________________.