Free English Lessons: Basic Sentence Structure

basic sentence structure there are five basic patterns around which most English sentences are built they are as follows subject verb John sleeps Jill is eating Jack will arrive next week subject-verb-object I like rice she loves her job he's eating an orange subject verb adjective he is funny the workers are lazy Karen seems angry subject verb adverb Jim is here flowers are everywhere no one was there subject verb noun she is my mom the men are doctors mr. Jones is the teacher at the heart of every English sentence is the subject verb relationship other elements can be added to make a sentence more interesting but they are not essential to its formation the following sentences are examples of the subject verb pattern she sleeps core sentence she sleeps soundly an adverb is added to describe how she sleeps she sleeps on the sofa a prepositional phrase is added to tell where she sleeps she sleeps every afternoon a time expression is added to tell when she sleeps she is sleeping right now verb tenses changed but subject verb relationship remains the same Mary will sleep later subject is named and another tense is used the dogs are sleeping in the garage new subject may require a different form of the verb note any action verb can be used with this sentence pattern the following sentences are examples of the subject verb object pattern they like rice core sentence the people like rice specific subject the friendly people like rice subject modified with an adjective the people in the restaurant like rice subject modified with an adjective the people like boiled rice object modified with an adjective the people like hot white rice object modified with more than one adjective note only transitive action verbs can be used with this sentence pattern the following sentences are examples of the subject verb adjective pattern B is fine basic sentence with B verb who seems happy basic sentence with another linking verb Jordan is tall dark and handsome series of adjectives he appears very comfortable adverb or intensifier added George became sick last night different tense and linking verb note only linking verbs can be used with this sentence pattern the following sentences are examples of the subject verb add pattern the teacher is here basic sentence the teacher is over there using an adverb phrase teachers are everywhere plural noun and verb used he appears very comfortable adverb or intensifier added the teachers are in the lobby prepositional phrase functioning as adverb note only linking verbs can be used with this sentence pattern the following sentences are examples of the subject verb noun pattern the man is a doctor basic sentence the women are doctors using plural noun and verb my father is a nice guy modified subject and compliment my grandparents are senior citizens modified plural subject and complement note only linking verbs can be used with this sentence pattern you you