Dwita Laksmita R., S.S.

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WORD ORDER / SENTENCE STRCUTURE M.Li
Word order or sentence structure is the way native
speakers arrange the words. By studying word
order/sentence structure, students will get good
understanding how to sequence the words to construct the
English sentence.
Note: In the examples below, parts of the sentence are
colour-coded: subjects/noun in red, predicate/verbs in
green, objects in blue, etc.
In a normal (declarative) sentence, the subject
of a sentence comes directly in front of the
verb (a sentence usually begins with a subject
followed by a verb)
Example:
1. John called
2. The bus returned
Some verbs require an object. The object is also
part of the verb. So, make sure that you keep
the verb and its object together. The direct
object (when there is one) comes directly after it.
Example:
1. The man wrote a letter
2. John ate breakfast
3. The bus hit the tree
The indirect object (an object that is come
after preposition) comes directly after it:
Example:
1. John spoke to Julie
2. The bus collided with the tree
There is possible when we use 2 objects in a sentence
(direct and indirect). The indirect object also can follows
the direct object when it is formed with the preposition
to:
Examples:
The doctor gave some medicine to the child
or
The indirect object comes in front of the direct object if to
is omitted
The doctor gave the child some medicine
After S P O, we can add other element in the following
order:
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

1. John called earlier to cancel his appointment

2. John ate breakfast on the train this morning because
he was late
3. The bus returned to the station to drop off the
passengers
4. The bus hit the tree with great force
If one of these elements is composed of different parts,
go from the smaller unit to the larger one.
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

Different elements of WHEN:

The conference started at 10 am on Tuesday
last week

Different elements of WHERE:

They live in a flat in a big city in India
 You may occasionally hear a sentence start with an
element other than WHO/Subject. This happens when you
want to emphasise that element, and your voice should
emphasise it as well. In written form, you should separate
that element from the sentence with a comma.
Make sure there is a good reason for emphasising the
element that you are putting at the beginning of the
sentence, or you will sound unnatural.
Example:
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

WHERE at the beginning of the sentence:

1. John ate breakfast on the train this morning
2. On the train, John ate breakfast this morning. (Unnatural)
3. On the train, John was fine, but at the office, he felt sick
Example:
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

WHEN at the beginning of the sentence:

1. John called earlier to cancel his appointment
2. Earlier, John called to cancel his appointment. (unnatural)
3. Earlier, John felt sick, but now, he is alright.
Example:
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

HOW at the beginning of the sentence:

1. The bus hit the tree with great force
2. With great force, the bus hit the tree (unnatural)
3. The bus swerved, and with great force, hit the tree
Example:
WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

WHY at the beginning of the sentence:

1. The bus returned to the station to drop off the
passengers.
2. To drop off the passengers, the bus returned to the
station. (unnatural)
3. To drop off the passengers safely, the bus returned to
the station.
COMMON MISTAKES:

WHO > WHAT > WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY

Separating the Subject from the verb, or the verb from the object
1. We two years ago bought this car
2. Sam ate slowly his meal
Mixing the order of WHERE > WHEN > HOW > WHY
1. We drove at the weekend to the seaside
2. He goes by train to work
3. They contact everyone because it is easier by phone
4. She went to town to post her letters this morning
The position of adverbs - FREQUENCY ADVERB
The most common position for these adverbs is before the main verb in the
Subject or WHAT element.
I always watch the news
If there is an auxiliary (do, does, etc.) or a modal verb (can, must, etc.)
they come between the auxiliary or modal and the main verb
I don’t always watch the news or I can’t always watch the news
1. They will never do that again
2. He hardly ever goes out
3. She can rarely have a rest
4. It seldom rains here
5. She occasionally writes to me
6. I have already had lunch
7. They have just come back
Recently, finally, soon, still, almost, all, currently, also, probably, both, even,
hardly
Exception
If the verb “to be” as the main verb
So, the position of adverb is in front of “to be”
Example:
She is always here
The bus is rarely on time
They are often tired
Putting an adverb at the beginning of a sentence
You may occasionally see some (not all) of these adverbs
at the beginning of a sentence. This is to put more
emphasis on this element. The punctuation and the voice
will change too.
Sometimes, he has to work late
Usually, she doesn’t work on Friday.
Finally, we managed to contact him
Soon, we’ll have a break
Currently, they’re negotiating a deal
If you put any of the negative adverbs at the beginning
of a sentence, you will require an inversion (auxiliary-
subject switch). Therefore, it is best to avoid negative
adverbs at the start of a sentence.
They will never do it again
Never will they do again
She can rarely have a rest
Rarely can she have a rest
It seldom rains here
Seldom does it rain here
Adverb of manner, answering the question HOW
HOW comes between WHEN and WHY in the sentence
structure. Now, if the HOW is an –ly adverb such as quickly,
slowly, gently, carefully, etc., you can put it before the main
verb, as we have seen with the other adverbs. If you do this,
you are stressing this element and should reflect it in your
voice.
He opened the door quietly
He quietly opened the door
We could see it in the distance clearly
We could clearly see it in the distance
She was singing happily
She was happily singing.
ADJECTIVE WORD ORDER
Order Relating to Example
1 Determiner A, an, the
2 Opinion Unusual, lovely, beautiful, handsome, unique
3 Size Big, small, tall
4 Physical quality Thin, rough, untidy
5 Shape Round, square, rectangular
6 Age Young, old, youthful, new, ancient
7 Colour Blue, red, pink
8 Origin Dutch, japanese, Turkish, Javanese
9 Material Metal, wood, plastic, silk
10 Type Genera-purpose, four-sided, U-shaped
11 Purpose Cleaning, hammering, cooking
Example:
1. It was made of a strange green metallic material.
1 6 8
2. It’s a long narrow plastic brush.
4 8 10
3. Pannetone is a round Italian bread-like Christmas cake
4 7 9
4. She was a beautiful tall thin young black-haired Scottish woman
1 2 3 5 7
5. It was a blue and green cotton shirt
6. It was dark and cold place
ASSIGNMENT
1. Love – I – big – that – green – old – car – antique – car – really.
I realy love that antique old green car
1. Sister – adopted – my – a – big – white – beautiful – bulldog.
My sister adopted a beautiful big white bulldog
1. is – the – house – and – red – green.
The house is red and green
1. Wonderful – Italian – a – old – clock.
A wonderful old Italian clock
1. Blue – big – a – square – box.
A big square blue box
a) Before the subject (Notably with short common adverbs or adverb
phrases, or sentence adverbs - see below )
Examples:
Yesterday the man wrote a letter.
At the end of March the weather was rather cold.
Obviously the man has written a letter.
b1) After the object (virtually any adverb or adverb phrase can be
placed here)
Example:
The man wrote a letter on his computer in the train.
b2) or with intransitive verbs after the verb.
Example: The child was sleeping on a chair in the kitchen.
c) In the middle of the verb group. (Notably with short common adverbs of time
or frequency)
Examples:
The man has already written his letter.
The new version of the book will completely replace the old one.
You can sometimes get real bargains in this shop.
1.3.3. Word order with “another adverbs“
Adverbs (like perhaps, surely, indeed, naturally, also .... ) In most cases, they
stand outside the clause they refer to, notably at the start of the clause.
However, they may be placed elsewhere in the clause for reasons of stress or
emphasis.
Examples
Surely, the man has already written his letter.
Perhaps, the man has already written his letter.
The man has perhaps already written his letter ..., therefore the man had
already written his letter.
Naturally, the man grew vegetables in his garden.
1.4 In standard English, nothing usually comes between the subject and
the verb, or between the verb and the object.
There are a few exceptions. The most important of these are
adverbs of frequency and indirect objects without to. (Examples 1 and
2)
However, with adverbs of frequency, it is more normal to place
them in the middle of the verb group
Examples:
The man often wrote his mother a letter.
I sometimes have given my dog a bone.
I have sometimes given my dog a bone.
If you always apply these few simple rules, you will not make too
many word order mistakes in English. The examples above are
deliberately simple - but the rules can be applied even to complex
sentences, with subordinate and coordinated clauses.
Example:
The director, [who often told his staff (to work harder),] never left the
office before (he had checked his email.)
► 2 Exceptions
Of course, there are exceptions to many rules, and writers and
speakers sometimes use different or unusual word order for special
effects. But if we concentrate on the exceptions, we may forget the
main principles, and the question of word order may start to seem
very complex!
So here are just a few examples: you should realise that they exist,
but not try to use them unless either they are essential in the context,
or else you have fully mastered normal word order patterns. (Don't try
to run before you can walk!)
A few examples:
Never before I had seen such a magnificent exhibition.
(After never or never before, subject and verb can be - and
usually are - inverted. Do not invert when never follows the subject
!).
Hardly I had left the house, than it started to rain.
(When a sentence starts with hardly, subject and verb must be
inverted.).
I had known, I'd never have gone there.
(Inversion occurs in unfulfilled hypothetical conditional structures
when if is omitted.
The book that you gave me I'd read already.
(Emphasising a long object; in this sample The book that you gave
me, is placed at the start of the sentence for reasons of style: this
unusual sentence structure is not necessary, just stylistic).
 Bila verb tidak ada di dalam kalimat, to be (aux) bisa
digunakan sebagai pengganti verb dengan syarat to
be bertemu dengan salah satu dari bentuk kata
berikut:
 Bertemu kata sifat: to be + adjective: she is beautiful
 Bertemu kata benda: to be + noun: he is teacher
 Bertemu kata kerja v ing: to be + v ing: she is reading a
novel now
 Bertemu kata kerja bentuk 3: to be + v3: the car was
repaired by my father last night.