English Suggestions. Word order in an English sentence: patterns and rules of construction

In order to construct even the simplest sentence in English, you need to know the word order in the language. This seemingly simple, but very important topic is the starting point in the study of English grammar.

Subject + predicate + direct object

In a regular affirmative sentence, the subject is placed immediately before the predicate (verb). The direct object, when present, comes immediately after the verb. For example:

• They bought a car. — They bought a car.
• We can't do that. - We can't do this.
• The girl in a blue dress was playing the piano. — A girl in a blue dress was playing the piano.

Predicate

Note that by subject here we mean not only the main noun or pronoun, but also the adjectives or descriptive phrases that refer to it. The rest of the sentence that does not refer to the subject is called the predicate. For example:

• The girl in a blue dress was playing the piano.

Indirect additions and circumstances

If there are any other parts in the sentence - indirect additions or circumstances - they usually occupy a strictly defined place.

Indirect object position

after direct object if it contains the preposition to.

The indirect object is placed before direct object when to is missing. For example:

• The teacher gave dictionaries to the pupils. — The teacher distributed dictionaries to the students.
• The teacher gave them dictionaries. — The teacher gave them dictionaries.

Position of circumstance

The circumstance can be placed in three places:

Before the subject (usually these are tense adverbs)

• In the morning he was reading a book. — In the morning he was reading a book.

After the addition (almost any adverb or adverbial phrase can be placed here):

• He was reading a book at the library. — He was reading a book in the library.

Between the auxiliary and main verb (usually short adverbs):

• He has already read this book. — He has already read the book.

In standard English, there are usually no other words placed between the subject and the predicate or between the predicate and the object. But there are a few exceptions. Here are the most important of them:

Adverbs of frequency and indirect objects without the preposition to

• I sometimes drink coffee in the morning. - I Sometimes I drink coffee in the morning.
• He showed the driver his bus pass. - He showed to the driver your bus pass.

If you follow these simple rules, you will be able to avoid mistakes in the placement of words in an English sentence. The examples given are intentionally simple - but the same rules can be applied to more. For example:

• The woman, , never went to sleep before - The woman [who often felt lonely] never went to bed without calling her sister.

Stylistic change in word order

Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, and writers or speakers often use unusual word order to achieve a special effect. But if we now focus on exceptions, we will distract ourselves from the main principles, and the problem of word order in a sentence may seem very difficult.

So here are some more examples: You should know that these sentences exist, but don't try to use them unless absolutely necessary until you have mastered the principles of normal word order (remember, you need to learn to walk before you can run!):

• Never before had he felt so miserable. “He had never felt so unhappy before.”

If a sentence begins with never or never before, the subject and predicate are often subject to inversion, i.e. change places. Don't use inversion when never follows the subject!

• Hardly had I finished cleaning the house, my friend called. “I had barely finished cleaning the house when my friend called.

(When a sentence begins with hardly, the subject and predicate must always be inverted.)

• Had they known, they"d never have done that. - Had they known this, they would never have done that.

(Inversion is used in hypothetical condition structures when if is omitted.)

• Whatever you can tell me, I know already. “Whatever you tell me, I already know.”

Here's the expanded addition: Whatever you can tell me, is placed at the beginning of the sentence for artistic reasons: this sentence structure is not necessary, it's just .

Now, having mastered the rules for constructing simple sentences, you can move on to more complex sentences with subordinate constructions.

How do you feel about non-standard word order in English? Difficult, unclear? Share in the comments!

In Russian, we can construct a sentence however we want. We can say: “I bought a dress yesterday,” or “I bought a dress yesterday,” or “I bought a dress yesterday,” etc.

In English, the order of words in a sentence is fixed. This means that we cannot rearrange the words as we please. They must stand in their specific places.

It is difficult for beginners to learn English to understand and get used to this.

Therefore, many people often construct English sentences using word order as in Russian. Because of this, it is difficult for the interlocutor to understand the idea you want to convey.

In this article I will explain to you how to construct sentences correctly in English, so that you can compose them correctly, and any foreigner can easily understand you.

From the article you will learn:

What is fixed word order in a sentence?

Offer- a combination of words expressing a complete thought.

As I said, in Russian we can rearrange words in a sentence the way we want.

For example:

We'll go to the cinema.

We'll go to the cinema.

Let's go to the cinema.

As you can see, we can rearrange the words in a sentence, and this will not prevent the other person from understanding the idea that we want to convey to him.

In English, word order is fixed.

Fixed- fixed in a certain position.

This means that the words in a sentence have their own places and cannot be rearranged.

Right:

We will go to the cinema.
We'll go to the cinema.

Wrong:

To the cinema we will go.

If and the word order in the English sentence is incorrect, then it will be difficult for the interlocutor to understand what idea you want to convey to him.

Let's take a closer look at how to correctly construct all types of sentences in English.

Attention: Confused about English rules? Find out how to easily understand English grammar.

Word order in an affirmative English sentence

Affirmative sentences- This sentences where we affirm some thought. Such sentences do not contain a negation and do not imply an answer.

We can say that something:

• Happens in the present (We are building a house)
• Will take place in the future (We will build a house)
• Happened in the past (We built a house)

In English, in affirmative sentences it is used direct word order.

Direct word order means that the 1st and 2nd places in a sentence are always occupied by certain words.

Let's take a closer look at this scheme for constructing affirmative sentences.

1st place - main character

Actor (subject)- the person/thing that performs the action in a sentence.

It could be:

• The object or person itself: mother (mother), Mary (Mary), cup (cup), chairs (chairs), etc.
• A word that replaces an object or person (pronoun): I (I), you (you), we (we), they (they), he (he), she (she), it (it)

For example:

Tom...
Volume....

She….
She....

2nd place - action

Action (predicate)- shows what happened, is happening or will happen.

That is, the action itself (verb) can stand:

1. In the present tense: study (studying), work (working), sleep (sleeping), eat (eating)

2. In the past tense, which is formed using:

• adding the ending -ed to regular verbs: studied (studied), worked (worked)
• 2nd/3rd forms of irregular verbs: slept/slept (slept), ate/eaten (ate)

We can look up whether the verb is correct or incorrect in the dictionary.

3. In the future tense, which is usually formed using the auxiliary verb will: will study (I will study), will work (I will work), will sleep (I will sleep).

For example:

We travel.
We are travelling.

Tom left.
Tom left.

She will work.
She will work

Important nuance

It is worth remembering one important nuance. There are sentences in the Russian language in which we omit the action.

For example:

She is a teacher.

Children in the park.

Tom is smart.

In English sentences the action must always be present; we cannot omit it. This is a very common mistake among students.

In such cases we use verb to be. This is a special kind of verb that we use when we say that someone:

• Located somewhere (Children in the park)
• Is someone (She's a teacher)
• Is somehow (Tom is smart)

Depending on the tense in which we use this verb, it changes its form:

• In the present tense - am, are, is
• In the past tense - was, were
• In the future tense - will be

For example:

She is a doctor.
She is a doctor. (Literally: She is a doctor)

Children are clever.
Children are smart. (Literally: Children are smart)

I am at home.
I'm home. (Literally: I'm at home)

Read more about the verb to be in each tense in the following articles:

• Verb to be in the present tense
• Verb to be in past tense

So, direct word order means that certain words are in 1st and 2nd place.

Let's see what it looks like again.

Now let's look at how to construct negative sentences.

Word order in a negative English sentence

Negative sentences- when we deny something. That is, we say that something:

• Not happening (It's not working)
• Didn't happen (She didn't work)
• Won't happen (It won't work)

In Russian, to form a negation, we put the particle “not” before the action: Not I'm coming, Not I will read, Not bought.

In English, to form a negative, we use the particle “not” and an auxiliary verb. See how our word order changes:

Let's look at this scheme in detail.

1st place - incumbent

Negative sentences also use direct word order, so the actor comes first.

2nd place - auxiliary verb + not

Auxiliary verbs- these are words that are not translated, but only serve as pointers.

They help us determine:

• Time of what is happening (present, future, past);
• Number of characters (many or one).

Read more about auxiliary verbs in this article.

Each tense in English has its own auxiliary verb (do/does, have/has, did, had, will). Let's look at the auxiliary verbs of the three most commonly used tenses.

1. Present Simple Tense:

• does, when we talk about someone in the singular (he, she, it)
• do, for all other cases (I, you, we, they)

2. Past Simple Tense: did

3. Future Simple Tense: will

To show negation we add the particle not to our auxiliary verb or the verb to be: does not, do not, did not, will not.

3rd place - action

After the auxiliary verb with the particle not we put the action, which is now negative.

For example:

He does not work.
He does not work.

They will not buy.
They won't buy.

Remember: When we say that we did not do something in the past and use the auxiliary verb did, we no longer put the action itself in the past tense.

Since the auxiliary verb already shows us that it happened in the past.

Wrong:

We didn't work ed.
We didn't work.

Right:

We didn't work.
We didn't work.

So let's take another look at negative sentence construction.

Negative sentences with the verb to be

If a sentence uses the verb to be, then we simply put not after it.

Let's look at the sign.

Now let's look at the last type of sentence - questions.

Word order in an English interrogative sentence

Interrogative sentences- These are sentences expressing a question and suggesting an answer to it. For example: Are you working?

In Russian, affirmative and interrogative sentences differ only:

• intonation (in oral speech)
• sign "?" at the end of a sentence (in writing)

In English, a statement and a question look different. Unlike statements, interrogative sentences have reverse word order.

Reverse word order means that the main character will not come first.

Let's take a closer look at how to construct such sentences.

1st place - auxiliary verb

To make a sentence interrogative, you need to put the auxiliary verb first in the sentence. I talked about them Auxiliary verb

Interrogative sentences with the verb to be

If a sentence uses the verb to be instead of the usual action, then we simply move it to the first place in the sentence.

Let's look at the diagram:

Exception:

When we construct a question with the verb to be in the future tense - will be, then we put only will in the first place. And be itself comes after the actor.

For example:

Will she be a teacher?
Will she be a teacher?

Will they be at home?
Will she be home?

So, we looked at the word order in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences. Now let's practice constructing such sentences in practice.

Reinforcement task

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. I'll go to the store.
2. She is beautiful.
3. We didn't buy a dress.
4. My friend is in the park.
5. Has she read the book?
6. Is the house expensive?

Mastering any language, including English, begins with learning individual sounds, letters and words. But literally after a few lessons, the next question arises - how to write a sentence in English. For many, this is a whole problem, since a clearly structured English sentence is noticeably different from a free Russian one.

Let's not waste time and start the lesson right away.

As we know from the elementary school Russian language course, the main members of a sentence are the subject (noun - object, person) and the predicate (verb - action). For example, “I am writing.” Further, for specifics and just decoration, various kinds of words are added - definitions, additions, circumstances, and so on: “I write beautifully,” “I write with a pen,” “I write a dictation,” and so on.

Let's try to construct the first sentence in English. For example, we want to say “I am watching TV.”

As you can see, everything is simple - English words are in exactly the same places as Russian ones. This suggests that composing sentences in English is very easy and simple. I agree with you, but only partly. This was too simple an example, and in English there are some nuances that you need to know. Let's figure it out.

The place of each member in an English sentence is clearly indicated. Remember that in an affirmative sentence (which ends with a period), the predicate always comes immediately after the subject.

If in Russian we can say both “I’m watching TV” and “I’m watching TV,” then in English there is only one option for wording - “I watch TV.” Any other word order in this sentence will be incorrect.

In most sentences in English (with rare exceptions), the verb (action) follows the noun or personal pronoun.

I see a boy.
I see (some) boy.

A dog has four legs.
(Any) dog has 4 legs.

By the way, now a little about the verb “to have”. If in Russian we are accustomed to using the construction “we have”, “they have”, “The dog (has)”, then in English we use the verb to have (to have) instead.

I have a book - I have a book (I have a book)
you have - you have (you have)
they have - they have (they have)
the dog has - the dog has (a dog has)

Another important point concerns the verb to be - to be.

If in Russian we are used to saying “the sky is blue”, “I am a student”, “they are from Russia”, then in English this will not work. There must be a connection between a noun and its definition. This connection is expressed using the verb to be.

Literally: “the sky is blue”, “I am a student”, “they are from Russia”.

The verb to be changes according to persons, which is why in the previous examples you did not see the word “be”.

I am
You are
She/he/it is
We are
They are

Now you understand that composing a correct sentence in English is not as easy as it seems at first glance.

On the one hand, composing sentences in English is not difficult. But on the other hand, in order for the composed sentences to be correct and understandable to the interlocutor from a grammatical and syntactic point of view, it is necessary to take into account a number of nuances. The most important thing is the understanding that it is unacceptable to compose sentences in English according to the same principles as happens in Russian.

The systems of case endings in the above-mentioned languages ​​are developed to completely different degrees, and therefore the meaning of the statement depends on different factors. In the English language, this system of endings is poorly developed, which cannot be said about our native language. In the Russian language, it is the endings that convey the main connections between the individual components of the utterance - words; accordingly, the order of the latter does not play a special role and for this reason can easily be changed. In the English language, everything happens the other way around: the system of endings is extremely poorly developed, so the meaning conveyed in the statement depends on the order of words. First of all, this provision applies to non-prepositional cases of using nouns. For this reason, word order in English sentences is rigid. Let us consider the described phenomenon using specific examples. For the purposes of this article, we will take only a narrative English sentence as a basis.

1. The farmer invited the agronomist. - The farmer invited the agronomist. = The farmer invited the agronomist. = The farmer invited an agronomist. = The farmer invited the agronomist. = The farmer invited the agronomist. = The farmer invited the agronomist.
2. The agronomist invited the farmer. - The agronomist invited the farmer. = The farmer was invited by the agronomist. = The agronomist invited the farmer. = The agronomist invited the farmer. = The agronomist invited the farmer. = The agronomist invited the farmer.

The above examples clearly demonstrate that when the order of words in an English statement changes, the meaning of the sentence changes. This happens because the case of a prepositional noun is indicated only by its place: the subject precedes the predicate, and the direct object comes after it. If these nouns are swapped, then, accordingly, their roles as members of the sentence will change (compare examples 1 and 2 - the object and the subject change places).

In a simple unexpanded declarative sentence, the subject comes first and the predicate follows. If such a sentence is extended by an object, then it takes place after the predicate. Definitions always take place before (or after) those nouns that they describe or characterize. They do not in any way affect the general fixed order of words within this particular utterance. Circumstances can take place either after the object or before the subject at the very beginning of the sentence. Let us explain what has been said with specific examples.

1. The snow melts down. - The snow is melting (subject + predicate).
2. This dirty snow melts down. - This dirty snow is melting (definition + subject + predicate).
3. This dirty snow melts down quickly. - This dirty snow is melting quickly (definition + subject + predicate + adverbial).
4. This dirty snow melts down quickly in the sun. = In the sun this dirty snow melts down quickly. - This dirty snow melts quickly in the sun. = In the sun, this dirty snow melts quickly (definition + subject + predicate + circumstance 1 + circumstance 2; circumstance 2 + definition + subject + predicate + circumstance 1).

The word order discussed in the previous part of this article is direct. In a number of types of sentences, this order can be inversion or, in other words, reverse. With inversion, part of the predicate (and only in some cases the entire predicate) takes its place before the subject. Typically, inversion occurs in interrogative sentences, but there are several types of declarative sentences that also feature reverse word order:

1. When using the constructions “there is” or “there are” in sentences, for example: There are many fresh vegetables in this salad. - This salad contains a lot of fresh vegetables.
2. When using the words “either, so, neither” at the beginning of a sentence, for example: “Barbara and her husband fry turkey cutlets tonight.” - “So do I.” - “Barbara and her husband will fry turkey cutlets tonight.” - "Me too".
3. When placing the adverbial “here” at the beginning of a sentence, when the subject is expressed not by a pronoun, but by a noun, for example: Here is his new house! - Here is his new home!
4. When placing the author’s words that introduce direct speech, after this direct speech, for example: “Don`t touch her spectacles!” said John. - “Don’t touch her glasses!” - said John.
5. When using adverbs hardly, rarely, never, etc. at the beginning of a sentence, for example: Never will your sister swim well! - Your sister will never be a good swimmer!

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Yesterday Dima behaved well.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

No matter how we say these sentences and in what order we put the words in them, their meaning will not change. With this example we want to show the difference between the construction of Russian and English sentences. After all, it is in the latter that such variations are impossible. This is due to the fact that the English language lacks endings, and in order not to lose the meaning that the speaker wants to convey, English philologists have established rules for composing sentences in English. They are quite clear and require strict adherence.

Let's consider the features of constructing affirmative sentences.

We have two spelling options. The first option looks like this:

subject-predicate-object-adverbial

She doesn’t bake herself as a rule. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(She doesn't do the baking herself. Her boyfriend does)

He likes this book very much.

(He really likes this book.)

They will bring this book tomorrow.

(They will bring this book tomorrow)

The second option is written like this:

adverbial-subject-predicate-object

As a rule she doesn’t bake herself. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(She usually doesn't do the baking herself. Her boyfriend does.)

Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.

(Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.)

If we talk about interrogative sentences, it is worth noting that they also have characteristic writing features.

In our article we will learn how general and special questions are composed.

More about interrogative sentences:
Interrogative sentences in English

We construct a general question according to this scheme:

verb-subject- addition-adverbial

Will she be at the restaurant after 2?

(Will she be at the restaurant after two?)

Did you bring that book to the library?

(Did you bring that book to the library?)

As a rule, we put “question-word” as the first word in interrogative sentences ( who, whom, where, why, what, which, when, whose, how, how much).

In second place we put the auxiliary verb ( am, is, are, does, did, do, will, shall, would, have, has, can, could, must, may, might, ought, need, should.) It is followed by the subject, semantic verb, and other words.

How do you feel today?

(How do you feel today?)

How much sugar does she take in her coffee?

(How much sugar does she add to her coffee?)

Here we have given the basic schemes for constructing sentences in English. But, there are some exceptions to the rules and deviations from the given schemes. We invite you to learn about all these features at our school and receive detailed information on this topic.

More significant success in constructing sentences in English will bring you the desire to think in English, and not just translate sentences from Russian. Watching films or your favorite English TV series without translation and with subtitles will also be useful. Firstly, it will bring not only the opportunity to learn, but also spend time with pleasure. Secondly, visual memory will consolidate the textual accompaniment of the film, and you can always rewind the film and read unfamiliar phrases or words. The usefulness of American TV series also lies in the fact that they use a significant amount of slang sentences, exclamations and modern sayings, which, of course, you will need for everyday speech.

Our dear students, the entire Native English School team congratulates you on the upcoming Easter, wishes you sincerity from those around you, bright smiles, success in your work, peace in your family and in your heart! See you! =)