Basic word order in an English sentence

Although variations are possible [> 1.6], the basic word order in a sentence that is not a question or a command is usually

Subject group verb group (predicate)

subject verb object adverbials [usually optional > 7.1 ]

manner place time[>7.19.1 7.22]

/ bought

The children ran

The taxi driver shouted at

We ate

The car stopped

A young girl walked
with long
black hair

a hat me angrily our meal in silence suddenly

home

confidently across the room

yesterday

Word order: definitions of key terms

A subject is normally a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, it usually goes before the verb The verb must 'agree' with the subject, so the subject dictates the form of the verb (e g / wait John waits I am you are I have the new edition has) This 'agreement' between subject and verb is often called concord An object is normally a noun, pronoun or noun phrase, it usually goes after the verb in the active It can become the subject of a verb in the passive [> 12.1-2]

subject active They passive He

Predicate

drove him away in a police car was driven away in a police car

A sentence does not always require an object It can just be

- subject + verb We all laughed

- subject + verb + adverb We laughed loudly Some verbs do not take an object [> 1.9-10]

Making the parts of a sentence longer

We can lengthen a subject or object by adding a clause or a phrase

- lengthening the subject The man ran away The man who stole the money ran away

- lengthening the object / bought a raincoat I bought a raincoat with a warm lining

1 The sentence