Word Order In Sentences

Sentence Structure

1. The SUBJECT is the person or thing that the sentence is about. This is followed by a VERB group.

S + V
The girl screamed

The VERB tells you what the subject is doing,or describes the subject´s situation.

2. The VERB GROUP may be followed by another noun group, which is called the OBJECT.

S + V + O
He opened the car door

The object is the person orthing affected by the action or situation.

3. AFTER link verbs like BE, BECOME, FEEL and SEEM, the verb group may be followed by a noun group or an adjective, called a COMPLEMENT.

S + (link) VERB +C
She was a doctor

The complement tells you more about the subject.

4. The VERB group, the OBJECT, or the COMPLEMENT can be followed by an adverb or a prepositional phrase, call ADVERB.Adverbials are also called adjuncts.

S + VERB + O + A
She won the competition last week

S + VERB + C + A
He was very happy in the meeting

5. The word order of a clause isdifferent when the clause is a statement, a question, or a command.

He speaks English very well. (statement)
Did she win at the Olympics? (question)
Stop her. (command)
Note: the subject is omittedin commands, so the verb comes first.
6. A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two or more main clauses: that is, clauses which are equally important. You join them with AND, BUT or OR.

He met Jane at thestation AND went shopping.
I wanted to go BUT I felt too ill.
You can come now OR you can meet us there later.

Note: the order of the two sentences can change the meaning of the sentence.

He wentshopping AND met Jane at the station.

If the SUBJECT of both clauses IS THE SAME, you usually OMIT THE SUBJECT in the second clause.

I wanted to go BUT felt too ill.

7. A COMPLEX SENTENCEcontains a subordinate clause and at least one main clause. A subordinate clause gives information about a main clause, and is introduced by a CONJUCTION such us BECAUSE, IF, THAT or a WH-WORD....