WORD ORDER: STRUCTURE of the ENGLISH SENTENCE

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