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Just about all sentences in the English language fall into ten patterns determined by the presence and functions of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
Complete sentence, you will find one or more of these basic patterns. Sometimes the patterns are not so obvious as they appear when listed together. However, as you become familiar with these structures, you will become skilled in recognizing and expanding them with subordinate structures. Basic Pattern Pattern Example 1. Sentence Pattern 5: The Basic Transitive Verb Pattern The fifth sentence pattern from Rhetorical Grammar employs a different kind of verb. Rather than intransitive, this pattern uses transitive verbs, which must be followed by a direct object. A direct object is the person or thing receiving the action of the verb.
The patterns are most easily classified according to the type of verb used:
- For more on osentence grammar, see English Fundamentals by Emery, Kierzek, and Lindblom (Macmillan) for a thorough discussion of sentence grammar, along with exercises. Basic sentence patterns. Subject + verb. The simplest of sentence patterns is composed of a subject and verb without a direct object.
- Basic Sentence Patterns We do not speak English by merely stringing words together in some random fashion. Instead, we arrange our words, for the most part unconsciously, into patterns. In English we use nine basic sentence patterns. It will now be our purpose to examine these basic sentence patterns of English.
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Verb of being patterns (1, 2, 3) use a form of the verb to be as the main verb in the sentence.
is are was were has been have been had been
Linking verb patterns (4, 5) use one of the linking verbs as the main verb in the sentence. The linking verb is followed by a noun or adjective functioning as a subjective complement.
smell taste look feel seem become appear grow
Action verb patterns (6, 7, 8, 9, 10) use one of the many action verbs as the main verb in the sentence. The action verb may be either transitive (take a direct object) or intransitive (not take a direct object).
see jump embrace write imagine buy plummet think etc.
Terms used to identify various parts of each sentence pattern include the following:
- NP = noun phrase
This abbreviation refers to a headword noun and its modifiers ('noun phrase') functioning as a subject, direct object, indirect object, subjective complement, or objective complement.
- NP1, NP2, NP3, etc. = designations for different noun phrase functions
Numbers in sequential order are used with each NP to designate its difference from or similarity to other NPs before and after it.
- V-be = verb of being
- LV = linking verb
- V-int = intransitive verb
- V-tr = transitive verb
- ADV/TP = adverbial of time or place
- ADJ = adjective
THE TEN SENTENCE PATTERNS
Sentence Patterns
1. NP1 + V-be + ADV/TP
The verb of being is followed by an adverb indicating where or when.
More information on subjects
The adverbial indicating where or when may be a prepositional phrase.
2. NP1 + V-be + ADJ
![All sentence patterns in english All sentence patterns in english](/uploads/1/1/8/8/118892216/747931780.png)
The verb of being is followed by an adjective that functions as the subjective complement.
More information on subjective complements
The adjectival functioning as the subjective complement may be a prepositional phrase.
3. NP1 + V-be + NP1
The verb of being is followed by a noun that functions as the subjective complement.
Note: The second NP receives the same numerical designation as the first NP because the second NP, the subjective complement, is the same as the subject (Mr. James = teacher).
4. NP1 + LV + ADJ
The linking verb is followed by an adjective functioning as a subjective complement.
The adjectival functioning as the subjective complement may be a prepositional phrase.
5. NP1 + LV + NP1
The linking verb is followed by a noun functioning as a subjective complement.
Note: The second NP receives the same numerical designation as the first NP because the second NP, the subjective complement, is the same as the subject (Joan = Buddhist).
6. NP1 + V-int
The action verb takes no direct object.
Even if the action verb is followed by a prepositional phrase, the verb is still intransitive as long as it does not take a direct object.
7. NP1 + V-tr + NP2
The action verb is followed by a direct object.
More information on direct objects
Note: The second NP, the direct object, receives a different numerical designation (NP2) because it is not the same as the subject (NP1).
8. NP1 + V-tr + NP2 + NP3
The action verb is followed by an indirect object and then a direct object.
More information on indirect objects
Note: The indirect object and the direct object each receive a new numerical designation because each is different from the other and both are different from the subject.
9. NP1 + V-tr + NP2 + ADJ
The action verb is followed by a direct object. The direct object is followed by an adjective functioning as an objective complement.
More information on objective complements
Note: The second NP, the direct object, receives a different numerical designation (NP2) because it is not the same as the subject (NP1).
10. NP1 + V-tr + NP2 + NP2
The action verb is followed by a direct object. The direct object is followed by a noun functioning as an objective complement.
Note: The second NP, the direct object, receives a different numerical designation (NP2) because it is not the same as the subject (NP1). The third NP, the objective complement, receives the same numerical designation as the direct object (NP2) because it is the same as the direct object (Jacobsen = friend).
All the parts of speech in English are used to make sentences. All sentences include two parts: the subject and the verb (this is also known as the predicate). The subject is the person or thing that does something or that is described in the sentence. The verb is the action the person or thing takes or the description of the person or thing. If a sentence doesn’t have a subject and a verb, it is not a complete sentence (e.g., In the sentence “Went to bed,” we don’t know who went to bed). Here’s your quick introduction to the basic English sentence structure.
Simple, compound, and complex sentence structures
There are three types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. The type of sentence is determined by how many clauses, or subject–verb groups, are included in the sentence. A simple sentence structure has one independent clause: “I rode my bike.” A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses: “I got in my car, and I drove into town.” In that sentence, both clauses can stand on their own as complete sentences. A complex sentence includes an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses: “I got in my car and then went to town.” In that sentence, “I got in my car” works as a complete sentence but “then went to town” does not.
Most sentences in English are constructed using one of the following five patterns:
- Subject–Verb
- Subject–Verb–Object
- Subject–Verb–Adjective
- Subject–Verb–Adverb
- Subject–Verb–Noun
The subject is the person or thing taking an action or being described in the sentence. The verb is the action the subject takes.
Subject–Verb
This type of sentence begins with a core sentence such as “Jane walks.” Here, “Jane” is the subject and “walks” is the verb. Different parts of speech can be added to expand the sentence.
You can add an adverb to make the sentence “Jane walks quickly,” or you can add an expression of time to tell when she walks, e.g., “Jane walks all morning.”
Subject–Verb–Object
These sentences begin with a core sentence such as “She is playing a piano.” In this sentence, “She” is the subject, “is playing” is the verb, and “a piano” is the object.
You can add elements to expand the sentence, such as an adjective (e.g., “She is playing a small piano”) or an adverb (e.g., “She is playing the piano beautifully”).
Basic Sentence Patterns In English Pdf Online
Subject–Verb–Adjective
This type of sentence begins with a core sentence like “He is handsome.” Here, “he” is the subject, “is” is the verb, and “handsome” is the adjective.
Like the other types of sentences, you can expand on the sentence by adding other parts of speech, such as “He is very handsome,” where “very” serves as an adverb.
![Sentence patterns in english Sentence patterns in english](/uploads/1/1/8/8/118892216/180480565.jpg)
Subject–Verb–Adverb
These sentences begin with a core sentence such as “The girl walked away.” In this sentence, “the girl” is the subject, “walked” is the verb, and “away” is the adverb.
You can add elements to this type of sentence, such as “The girl slowly walked away,” where “slowly” is an adjective describing how the girl walked.
Basic Sentence Patterns In English Pdf Download
Subject–Verb–Noun
Sentences of this type begin with a core sentence such as “The professor is a woman.” Here, “the professor” is the subject, “is” is the verb, and “a woman” is the noun. As with the other sentence types, you can add words or phrases to expand on the sentence. For example, you can add the adjective “intelligent” and the adverbial phrase “at the university” to say “The professor at the university is an intelligent woman” to describe the professor more and tell where where she works.
Now that you know how to form sentences in English – based on your new knowledge of the basic English sentence structure, check out our article on Basic English punctuation to learn how to properly punctuate them.
10 Basic Sentence Patterns In English Pdf
Bonus info: style guides for media are a great way to learn about clear and consise writing – a good place to start is the BBC News style guide.