An Introduction to English Sentences

English sentences are mostly quite simple. They are simple because the word order in
English is not very flexible. English uses four basic kinds of sentences:

simple sentences
compound sentences
complex sentences
compound-complex sentences

For today we will concentrate on simple sentences. We will think about the other types
of sentences later in the semester.
Every language has its own conventions for word order. The normal word order in an
English sentence is S + V + O (subject, verb, object) or S + V + C (subject, verb,
complement)
Subject
Students
Larry
The young woman

Verb
read
is telling
has to study

Subject
Children
Mary
He

Verb
are
is
seems

Object
text books.
a story.
mathematics.
Complement
energetic.
a doctor.
happy.

Here are some simple sentences. In each sentence identify the verb (V), the subject (S),
and the object (O).

The members share possessions.

Many people grow food.

The residents have areas.

The students share possessions.

Good classmates help each other.

The Basic Sentence

(Adapted from Raimes, A. (1998). How English Works. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.)

In English, the basic sentence structure is S V O or S V C. However, if all

sentences are written using only basic sentence structure, the writing will seem simplistic,
and sentences will not contain much information.
In order to communicate more information, basic sentences must be modified with extra
information. The structure of English sentences is very strict and only allows two kinds
of modification:

you can add information to the basic sentence structure (but only in three
places)

you can make parts of the sentence bigger

You Can Add Information Here

SVOThe manboughta car.

You Can Make These Bigger

Before the Subject you can add
Structure
A time phrase
A location phrase
A descriptive phrase
An adverb
A preposition phrase
An ing phrase
An infinitive phrase
An adverb clause

Example
Yesterday the man bought a car.
In Vancouver, the man bought a car.
Relieved to have enough money, the man bought a car.
Happily, the man bought a car.
With a strange smile, the man bought a car.
Remembering his fathers advice, the man bought a car.
To show how rich he was, the man bought a car.
Because his new job was out of town, the man bought a car.

After the Subject can add

Structure
A noun phrase
An ing phrase

Example
The man, a new resident in Vancouver, bought a car.
The man, remembering his fathers advice, bought a car.

An adjective clause

The man, who seemed very poor, bought a car.

After the Object you can add

Structure
A time phrase
A location phrase
A descriptive phrase
An adverb
A preposition phrase
An ing phrase
An infinitive phrase
An adverb clause

Example
The man bought a car yesterday.
The man bought a car in Vancouver.
The man bought a car, relieved to have enough money.
The man bought a car happily.
The man bought a car with a strange smile.
The man bought a car remembering his fathers advice.
The man bought a car to show how rich he was.
The man bought a car because his new job was out of town.

You can make the Subject bigger by

Structure
Adding an adjective
Adding adjectives
Adding a preposition
phrase
Adding an ing phrase
Adding an adjective
clause

Example
The young man bought a car.
The young, handsome man bought a car.
The man with the glasses bought a car.
The man standing by my friend bought a car.
The man, who seemed very poor, bought a car.
OR
The man (that) you met bought a car.

You can make the Verb bigger by

Structure
Adding an adverb
Adding a verb
immediately after the
first verb
Adding a verb phrase
after the object

Example
The man quickly bought a car.
The man bought and raced a car.

The man bought a car and drove it home.

You can make the Object bigger by

Structure
Adding an adjective
Adding adjectives
Adding a noun phrase
Adding an adjective
clause

Example
The man bought a fast car.
The man bought a fast, red car.
The man bought a car, a luxury model.
The man bought a car which ran on steam power.