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.
Basic Sentence Structure
There are five basic patterns around which most English sentences are built.*
They are as follows:
| S-V | Subject-Verb | John sleeps. Jill is eating. Jack will arrive next week. |
| S-V-O | Subject-Verb-Object | I like rice. She loves her job. He’s eating an orange |
| S-V-Adj | Subject-Verb-Adjective | He’s funny. The workers are lazy. Karen seems angry. |
| S-V-Adv | Subject-Verb-Adverb | Jim is here. Flowers are everywhere. |
| S-V-N | Subject-Verb-Noun | She is my mom. The men are doctors. Mr. Jones is the teacher. |
The following sentences are examples of the S-V 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 tense is changed, but S-V 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 S-V-O 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 S-V-Adj pattern.
| He is fine. | Basic sentence with “be” verb |
| He 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 S-V-Adv pattern:
| The teacher is here. | Basic sentence |
| The teacher is over there. | Using an adverb phrase |
| Teachers are everywhere. | Plural noun and verb used |
| 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 S-V-N 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 complement |
| My grandparents are senior citizens. | Modified plural subject and complement |
Note: Only linking verbs can be used with this sentence pattern.
*Other, less common structures are dealt with in another unit.
