inflexible. As there are few endings in English that show person, number, case, and tense, English relies on word order to show relationships between words in a sentence. In Russian, we rely on word endings to tell us how words interact in a sentence. You probably remember the example made up by Academician L.V. Scherba to demonstrate the work of endings and suffixes in Russian. (No English translation for this example.) Everything we need to know about the interaction of the characters in this sentence, we learn from the endings and suffixes. English nouns do not have any case endings (only personal pronouns have some case endings), so it is mostly the word order that tells you where things are in a sentence, and how they interact. Compare: The dog sees the cat. The cat sees the dog. The subject and the object in these sentences are completely the same in form. How do you know who sees whom? The rules of English word order tell you that. Word order patterns
A sentence is a group of words containing
a subject and a predicate and expressing a complete thought. Word order arranges separate words into sentences in a certain way and indicates where to find the subject, the predicate, and the other parts of the sentence. Word order and context help to identify the meanings of individual words. The main pattern of basic word order in English declarative sentences is SUBJECT + PREDICATE + OBJECT, often called SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT (SVO). Example: Tom writes stories. It means that if these three parts
of the sentence are present in a statement
(a declarative sentence), the subject is placed before the predicate, the predicate follows the subject, and the object is placed after the predicate. Adverbial modifiers are placed after the object, and adjectives are placed before their nouns. Of course, some sentences may have just one word (Write!), or only a subject and a predicate (Tom writes.), or have an adverbial modifier and no object (Tom writes well.), and there are peculiarities, exceptions, and preferences in word order, but the pattern SUBJECT + PREDICATE + OBJECT (Tom writes stories.) is the most typical and the most common pattern of standard word order in English that serves as a basis for word order in different types of sentences. Word order in different sentences
English sentences are divided into
statements, questions, commands, and exclamatory sentences. Word order in different types of sentences has certain peculiarities. Statements (Declarative sentences)
Statements (declarative sentences) are the
most common type of sentences. A standard statement uses the basic word order pattern, i.e., SUBJECT + PREDICATE (+ object + adverbial modifier). Adverbial modifiers are placed at the end of the sentence after the object (or after the verb if there is no object). Attributes (adjectives, numerals) are placed before their nouns, and attributes in the form of nouns with prepositions are placed after their nouns. Maria works. Tom writes stories. He talked to Anna yesterday. My son bought three history books. Tom writes short stories for children. Questions (Interrogative sentences)
General questions
Auxiliary verb + subject + main verb (+
object + adverbial modifier): Do you smoke? Does he speak English? Is he writing a report now? Have you seen this film? Special questions Question word + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb (+ object + adverbial modifier): Where does he live? What are you writing now? When did they visit Mexico? Alternative questions Alternative questions have the same word order as general questions. Does he live in Paris or Rome? Are you writing a report or a letter? Tag questions Tag questions consist of two parts. The first part has the same word order as statements, and the second part is a short general question (the tag). He lives here, doesn't he? They haven't seen this film, have they? Commands (Imperative sentences)
Commands have the same word order as
statements, but the subject (you) is usually omitted. Go to your room. Listen to the story. Exclamatory sentences
Exclamatory sentences have the same
word order as statements (i.e., the subject is before the predicate). She is a great singer! It is an excellent opportunity! How well he knows history!
What a beautiful town this is!
How strange it is! In some types of exclamatory sentences, the subject (it, this, that) and the linking verb are often omitted. What a pity! What a beautiful present! What beautiful flowers! How strange! Simple, compound, and complex sentences
English sentences are also divided into
simple sentences, compound sentences, and complex sentences. A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, has a subject and a predicate and other necessary parts of the sentence. Life goes on. She lives in Moscow. He wrote a letter to the manager. A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses connected by coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or). Each clause has a subject and a predicate. Maria lives in Moscow, and her friend Elizabeth lives in New York. He wrote a letter to the manager, but the manager didn't answer. A complex sentence consists of the main clause and the subordinate clause connected by subordinating conjunctions (e.g., that, after, when, since, because, if, though). Each clause has a subject and a predicate. I told him that I didn't know anything about their plans. Betty has worked as a secretary since she moved to California. If he comes back early, ask him to call me, please. It is very important to learn basic word
order rules and patterns by heart and
follow them rigorously and precisely. The materials of this section describe standard word order and its peculiarities in different types of English sentences. 2007-2013 UsefulEnglish.ru | RSS
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Word order in statements:
Statements, or declarative sentences, can be in the form of simple, compound, or complex sentences. This article describes word order in simple statements. (Word order in compound and complex sentences is described in the other articles of this section.) Statements in the form of simple sentences are divided into unextended and extended sentences. There are five parts of a sentence: the subject, the predicate, the object, the attribute, the adverbial modifier. The rules of word order indicate where their place in the sentence is. Word order in simple unextended statements Standard word order in simple unextended statements is SUBJECT + PREDICATE. Anna teaches. Time flies. We are reading. He will understand. Word order in simple extended statements Standard word order in simple extended statements is SUBJECT + PREDICATE + object + adverbial modifier. Anna teaches mathematics. Tom has returned my books. We are reading a story now. He will understand it later. Adverbial modifiers are normally placed at the end of the sentence after the object (or after the verb, if there is no object). Attributes (adjectives, numerals, pronouns) usually stand before their nouns, and attributes in the form of nouns with prepositions are placed after their nouns.
The place of the subject
The subject is placed at the beginning of the sentence and is usually expressed by a noun or a pronoun. The subject group may include an article and an attribute. Monkeys like bananas. He writes short stories. That student is from Rome. Tom and Anna live in Boston. His little son is learning to read. The subject is placed after the verb in the structure "there is, there are" which is used when you want to say WHAT is in some place. There is a table in the room. There are two books on the table. There was a car in front of the house. The place of the predicate:The predicate stands after the subject and is usually represented by a main verb or by the combination of an auxiliary or modal verb with a main verb. Negative forms of auxiliary verbs can be full or contracted.
She likes chocolate.
I work at a small hotel. The children are reading and writing new words. She does not know him. He hasn't bought a car yet. You shouldn't do it. We are not going to buy a new house this summer.
The verb "be" as a linking verb may be followed by a
noun, an adjective, a numeral, or a pronoun as part of the predicate. (The use of the verb "be" is described in The Verb BE in the section Grammar.) I am a teacher. Tom is young. The tea is too hot. She was twenty. He isn't a doctor. This isn't she. The place of the object
There are direct objects (without a preposition) and
indirect objects (with or without a preposition). The object is placed after the main verb. If there are two objects after the verb, the word order is first the direct object, then the object with preposition. Some transitive verbs (for example, bring, give, offer, sell, send, show, tell) are often followed by two objects without prepositions. In this case, the order after the verb is first the indirect object (without a preposition), then the direct object. Examples: She gave him two books. They offered me a good job. He sent her a present. The teacher told the students a story.
The place of the attribute
Attributes expressed by adjectives (or by pronouns, participles, numerals, nouns in the possessive case) usually stand before their nouns, i.e., before the noun in the subject, in the object, or in the adverbial modifier. Examples: