Manuel Daza English Blog: 2016

WORD ORDER: STRUCTURE of the ENGLISH SENTENCE

WORD ORDER is very important in English, the usual order being:

Subject + Verb + COMPLEMENTS (Indirect + Direct + How / Where / When)

He writes her a letter. We drove carefully to Bristol. I have breakfast in the morning.

1) If a sentence has got both a DIRECT and an INDERECT object, there are two possibilities:

I gave HER a present / I gave A PRESENT to her

2) Time expressions come at the end of the sentence, or at the BEGINNING separated by COMMA:

He plays the piano every Thursday / Every Thursday, he plays the piano

3) Never separate the verb from the object(s):

He PLAYS every Thursday THE PIANO WRONG

4) Adverbs of MANNER can come in many positions, but not between the verb and the object:

She opened the door SLOWLY / SLOWLY, She opened the door / She SLOWLY opened the door / She opened SLOWLY the door WRONG

5) ALWAYS and NEVER cannot begin or end a sentence:

ALWAYS she walks to school WRONG / She walks to school NEVER WRONG

6) Adverbs of FREQUENCY and TIME EXPRESSIONS have special rules:

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

ALWAYS

USUALLY

OFTEN

SOMETIMES

SELDOM

RARELY

HARDLY EVER

NEVER (EVER)

They must be one single word (except hardly ever).

They are adverbs showing how often the action of the verb is fulfilled.

They usually present three different positions:

1) If the sentence has a simple verb it goes between subject and verb:

I usually eat at three o’clock. They never eat meat

2) If the sentence has a compound verb it goes between the first verb and the second one:

I can never remember his name. She has never been to London. She is rarely studying

3) If the sentence has AM, ARE, IS, WERE or WAS (NOT will be) it goes after them:

You are never on time. She is always late. (BUT: I will always be yours)

TIME EXPRESSIONS

EVERY DAY / WEEK / MONTH / YEAR…

ONCE / TWICE / THREE TIMES… PER / A DAY / WEEK / MONTH / YEAR…

ON (DAY OF THE WEEK in plural) MONDAYS / WEDNESDAYS…

They are time phrases (adverbials).

They are placed either at the beginning (with commas) or the end of the sentence since they have more than one single word:

On Saturdays, I go swimming

Every month, we go to the dentist’s

We play tennis twice a week

PASSIVE VOICE

ACTIVE: Subject + Verb + Object (Direct / Indirect)

PASSIVE: Patient Subject + Verb + BY Agent

APPROPRIATE FORM OF TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE

Peter writes a book ------------------------------ A book is written by Peter

VERBAL TENSES:

PRESENT SIMPLE PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      Bank robbers generally wear masks

PASSIVE:     Masks are generally worn by bank robbers

                        Masks are not generally worn by bank robbers

                        Are masks generally worn by bank robbers?

PAST SIMPLE PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      The judge sentenced the murderer to prison

PASSIVE:     The murderer was sentenced to prison by the judge

                        The murderer was not sentenced to prison by the judge

                        Was the murderer sentenced to prison by the judge?

FUTURE SIMPLE PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      Parliament will pass a new law

PASSIVE:     A new law will be passed by Parliament

                        A new law will not be passed by Parliament

                        Will a new law be passed by Parliament?

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      The police have caught the prisoner

PASSIVE:     The prisoner has been caught by the police

                        The prisoner has not been caught by the police

                        Has the prisoner been caught by the pólice

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      The pickpocket had stolen the wallet

PASSIVE:     The wallet had been stolen by the pickpocket

                        The wallet had not been stolen by the pickpocket

                        Had the wallet been stolen by the pickpocket?

PRESENT SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      The police are searching every car

PASSIVE:     Every car is being searched by the police

                        Every car is not being searched by the police

                        Is every car being searched by the pólice?

PAST SIMPLE CONTINUOUS PASSIVE:

ACTIVE:      The police were watching the house

PASSIVE:     The house was being watched by the police

                        The house was not being watched by the police

                        Was the house being watched by the pólice?

PASSIVE GERUND:

None of the other Continuous Passive forms are used, but notice the Passive Gerund which looks like a continuous form. Also, when two objects are employed, only one passive is produced.

ACTIVE:      I remember the thief taking my wallet

PASSIVE:     I remember my wallet being taken by the thief
AUXILIARIES PASSIVE:

MUST

ACTIVE:      You mustn't park your car here

PASSIVE:     Your car mustn't be parked here

MAY

ACTIVE:      The fog may delay the trains

PASSIVE:     The trains may be delayed by the fog

SHOULD

ACTIVE:      You should give him a book

PASSIVE:     He should be given a book / A book should be given to him

MIGHT

ACTIVE:      He might pass his test

PASSIVE:     The test might be passed by him

CAN

ACTIVE:      Violent behaviour can cause many problems

PASSIVE:     Many problems can be used by violent behaviour

COULD

ACTIVE:      The police couldn't catch the criminal

PASSIVE:     The criminal couldn't be caught by the police

OUGHT T

ACTIVE:      People ought to obey traffic lights

PASSIVE:     Traffic lights ought to be obeyed by people

HAVE TO

ACTIVE:      Parents have to control their children

PASSIVE:     Children ought to be controlled by their parents

NEED TO

ACTIVE:      I need to mend my car

PASSIVE:     My car needs to be mended

USED TO

ACTIVE:      I used to write books

PASSIVE:     Books used to be written by me
PAST PARTICIPLES used as ADJECTIVES within PASSIVE VOICE

She is worried about her family

He is interested in his job
INTRODUCTORY IT (PASIVA REFLEJA)

We use the Passive Construction with certain verbs such as BELIEVE, CONSIDER, THINK, EXPECT, FEEL, FIND, GUESS, KNOW, SAY, TELL, UNDERSTAND, etc after the introduction of Impersonal IT.

ACTIVE:      They say that John is very rich

PASSIVE:     It is said that John is very rich

ACTIVE:      They thought that the boy painted the wall

PASSIVE:     It was thought that the boy painted the wall

But a PASSIVE with an INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTION is more common:

PASSIVE:     John is said to be very rich

PASSIVE:     The boy was thought to have painted the wall

USES

When the agent (the person doing the action) is unknown or needn't to be specified, it is usually omitted in the passive.

ACTIVE: Someone stole my handbag yesterday

PASSIVE: My handbag was stolen yesterday
If a sentence has both Indirect and Direct Object, it is possible to have two passive forms.

ACTIVE: I gave Mary a book

PASSIVE: Mary was given a book / A book was given to Mary
When the agent is known but the action seems more important than the person who does it, the agent, if mentioned, is placed after the subject and verb preceded by BY.

ACTIVE: A gunman shot my friend last week

PASSIVE: My friend was shot by a gunman last week
If the action is done by SOMETHING rather than SOMEONE, other prepositions may be used (WITH, IN,… )

ACTIVE:      This key can lock the door

PASSIVE:     The door can be locked WITH this key

ACTIVE:      The food contained arsenic

PASSIVE:     Arsenic was contained IN the food



CAUSATIVE CONSTRUCTION

The verb TO HAVE (or TO GET) and the Past Participle of the main verb can be used when someone has the action done by another person instead of doing it himself.

A kind of passive construction
Instead of TO BE we employ TO HAVE (it is also possible with TO GET)
TO HAVE is in the same tense than the Active sentence
The Lexical verb is In Past Participle
The Object is between HAVE / GET and the Past Participle
The Agent Complement is usually omitted
The subject is called BENEFICIARY

ACTIVE:      Subject + Verb + Object (Direct / Indirect)

PASSIVE:     Beneficiary Subject + APPROPRIATE FORM OF TO HAVE / TO GET + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE + (BY Agent)



We have painted the house    -------------------------- We have had / got our house painted

EXAMPLES:

I have had / got a house built on the beach (by someone).

Susan has / gets her flat cleaned twice a week (by someone).

I will have / get a book bought tomorrow.

He has / gets his alarm tested every year.

They will have had / got their TV repaired by Saturday