WORD ORDER; SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Word order in statements:
1. The most common order in an English statement is;
WHO WHAT HOW WHERE WHEN WHY
subject verb & object manner place time reason/purpose
Example:
John called earlier to cancel his appointment.
John called earlier to cancel his appointment.
John ate breakfast on the train this morning because he was late.
John ate breakfast on the train this morning because he was late.
The bus returned to the station to drop off the passengers.
The bus returned to the station to drop off the passengers.
Tony packed his suitcase quietly in his room last night to avoid waking us up.
Tony packed his suitcase quietly in his room last night to avoid waking us up.
2. A sentence usually begins with WHO (a subject), follow by WHAT (a verb).
Example:
John called.
The bus returned.
3. The “WHAT” part includes the verb and the objects of that verb.
WORD ORDER; SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Examples:
John ate breakfast.
The bus hit the tree.
a) Make sure you do not separate the verb from the object.
Example:
Don’t say: Tony packed quietly his suitcase. X
Better say: Tony packed his suitcase quietly.
b) If you have a direct and an indirect object (a person after a preposition), put the direct
object first.
Example:
Tony borrowed a suitcase from Dan.
Dan lent a suitcase to Tony.
c) However, when the preposition is “to”, you can usually drop the “to” and make the
person also a direct object. In this case, put the person first:
Example:
Dan lent Tony a suitcase.
4. Position of “HOW”:
“How” is usually between “WHAT” and “WHERE”, but there are exceptions. I’d like to mention
two of these exceptions.
I. With verbs of movement, “HOW” comes after “WHERE”:
Example:
WORD ORDER; SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Tony went to the airport by car last night.
He came downstairs quietly to say goo.
II. “ly” adverbs can go before the verb too.
Example:
Tony packed his suitcase quietly. = Tony quietly packed his suitcase.
5. “WHEN”, “WHERE”, “WHY” at the start of a sentence.
If you want to emphasize the time, place or reason, you can put the adverb at the start of the
sentence. If you’re speaking, stress the adverb with your voice. If you’re writing, put a comma
after it.
Examples:
Last night, Tony packed his suitcase in his room.
In his room, Tony packed his suitcase quietly.
To avoid waking us up, Tony packed his suitcase quietly in his room.
6. Small to Big
If one of the elements is composed of different parts, go from the smaller unit to the larger
one.
Example; Different parts of the “WHERE” element.
They live in a flat in a big city in India.
Dan bought that suitcase in a department store in Oxford Street in London.
Different parts of the “WHEN” element:
WORD ORDER; SENTENCE STRUCTURE
The conference started at 10 a.m. on Tuesday last week.
