Basic Sentence Patterns.pdf

Basic Sentence Pattern

1. FINALS: BASIC
SENTENCE PATTERNS
EN110

2. The Basic Elements of a Sentence
Asentencehastwobasicelements:thesubjectandthepredicate.Thesubjectisalwaysanoun,a
pronoun,oragroupofwordsactingasanoun.Itiswhatthewholesentenceisabout.Meanwhile,
thepredicatecontainsaverbthatdescribesthesubject.Takenote,verbsdonotalwayshavetobe
actionverbs.Lastly,subjectsandpredicatescanbeeithersimpleorcompound.

3. In the following examples, the subjects are in bold, while the predicates are
italicized:
Grandpais asleep.
Iprepared some coffee.
Asidefromthesubjectandpredicate,sentencesalso
containcomplements.Complements(nottobeconfusedwithcompliments)
arewordsthatcompletethemeaningofapredicate.Twoofthemost
importantcomplementsarethedirectandindirectobject.
Directobjectsarenounsorpronounsthatcomeafteractionverbs.Theyact
asthereceiveroftheactionverb.Ontheotherhand,indirectobjectsname
thepersonorobjectthatsomethingisgivento,ordonefor.Itisimportant
tonotethatindirectobjectscannotexistwithoutadirectobject.Butadirect
objectcanexistevenwithoutanindirectobject.

4. The Six Basic Sentence Types
Sentences may present themselves in different patterns. These patterns refer to the
arrangements of the elements of a sentence. It starts from the most basic, to the
most complex. As mentioned, there are six basic sentence types or patterns in
English.

5. 1. S –IV
The S–IV pattern is the simplest sentence type. It includes a subject
and an intransitive verb.Intransitive verbsare verbs that do not have
a direct object.
Take note of the subject and the intransitive verb in the following
examples:
Petersneezed.
Evilexists.
Fameends.

6. 2. S –TV –DO
Next, the S–TV–DO pattern includes a subject, a transitive verb, and a direct object. Unlike
intransitive verbs,transitive verbsare verbs that have a direct object.
1. The Chinese people have interesting traditions.
S:Chinese people
TV:have
DO:traditions
2. She slapped me.
S:She
TV:slapped
DO:me
3. Students should respect their teachers.
S:Students
TV:respect
DO:teachers

7. 3. S –LV –C
ThenwehavetheS–LV–Csentencetype.Thisincludesasubject,alinkingverb,anda
complement.Linkingverbsareverbsthatconnectthesubjectwithanadjectiveoranothernoun.
Commonlinkingverbsincludebe,am,are,is,was,were,andseem.Ontheotherhand,asubjective
complementisawordoragroupofwordsthatoftenfollowalinkingverb.Subjectivecomplements
caneitherbenouns,pronouns,oradjectives.
1. Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster.
S:Albus Dumbledore
LV:is
C:headmaster
2. Pandas and polar bears are endangered species.
S:Pandas and polar bears
LV:are
C:endangered species
3. That girl should be a singer.
S:girl
LV:be
C:singer

8. 4. S –TV –IO –DO
Next,S–TV–IO–DO sentence types includes a subject, a transitive verb, an indirect object,
and a direct object.
1. I gave the conductor our tickets.
S:I
TV:gave
IO:conductor
DO:tickets
2. Faith gave Josh a new jacket.
S:Faith
TV:gave
IO:Josh
DO:new jacket
3. Neil taught us the recipe.
S:Neil
TV:taught
IO:us
DO:recipe

9. 5. S –TV –DO –OC
Next,theS–TV–DO–OCsentencetypeincludesasubject,transitiveverb,directobject,andan
objectivecomplement.Unlikesubjectivecomplements,objectivecomplementsdescribea
directobject.Generally,objectivecomplementsarenounsoradjectivesthatdescribedirect
objects.
1. He called the girl beautiful.
S:He
TV:called
DO:girl
OC:beautiful
2. Dean defeated Sam fairly.
S:Dean
TV:defeated
DO:Sam
OC:fairly
3. The class elected Josephine as president.
S:The class
TV:elected
DO:Josephine
OC:president

10. 6. V –Spattern in sentence types
Lastly,theV–Spatternortheinvertedsentencetypecontainsaverbfollowedbythesubject.
Sentencesthatfollowthispatternareusuallyinterrogativesentences—sentencesthatask
questions.Basically,aninvertedsentencemaybeginwithanytypeofverb.Buttypically,
thesesentencesstartwithhere,thereorit.Meanwhile,interrogativesentencesusuallybegin
witheitherofthesewords:how,what,when,where,which,who,whose,orwhy.
Inthefollowingexamples,takenoteofhowthesubjectalwaysfollowstheverb:
1.Herearephotographsofmygrandmotherinheryouth.
2.Theregoestheboywhoneverknewhisparents.
3.Beyondthemeadowflowsabeautifulriver.
4.Whenwilltheshipmentcome?
Takenote,invertedsentencescanusuallybetransformedintothemorecommonS–Vpattern.
1.Photographsofmygrandmotherinheryoutharehere.
2.Theboywhoneverknewhisparentsgoesthere.
3.Abeautifulriverflowsbeyondthemeadow.
4.Theshipmentwillcome.(*Forthissentence,takenotehowthequestion‘when’was
removed.)

11. LET’S HAVE A TRY!!!!
1. The class studied.
2. Sarah took the test.
3. I am.
4. William Shakespeare was a popular playwright.
5. We wish you a happy new year!
6. It was a dark, stormy night.
7. We found the movie scary.