Basic Word Order

English word order is strict and rather

inflexible. As there are few endings in
English that show person, number, case,
and tense, English relies on word order to
show relationships between words in a
sentence.
In Russian, we rely on word endings to
tell us how words interact in a sentence.
You probably remember the example
made up by Academician L.V. Scherba to
demonstrate the work of endings and
suffixes in Russian. (No English
translation for this example.) Everything
we need to know about the interaction of
the characters in this sentence, we learn
from the endings and suffixes.
English nouns do not have any case
endings (only personal pronouns have
some case endings), so it is mostly the
word order that tells you where things are
in a sentence, and how they interact.
Compare:
The dog sees the cat.
The cat sees the dog.
The subject and the object in these
sentences are completely the same in
form. How do you know who sees
whom? The rules of English word order
tell you that.
Word order patterns

A sentence is a group of words containing

a subject and a predicate and expressing a
complete thought.
Word order arranges separate words into
sentences in a certain way and indicates
where to find the subject, the predicate,
and the other parts of the sentence. Word
order and context help to identify the
meanings of individual words.
The main pattern of basic word order in
English declarative sentences is
SUBJECT + PREDICATE + OBJECT,
often called SUBJECT + VERB +
OBJECT (SVO). Example: Tom writes
stories. It means that if these three parts

of the sentence are present in a statement

(a declarative sentence), the subject is
placed before the predicate, the predicate
follows the subject, and the object is
placed after the predicate. Adverbial
modifiers are placed after the object, and
adjectives are placed before their nouns.
Of course, some sentences may have just
one word (Write!), or only a subject and a
predicate (Tom writes.), or have an
adverbial modifier and no object (Tom
writes well.), and there are peculiarities,
exceptions, and preferences in word
order, but the pattern SUBJECT +
PREDICATE + OBJECT (Tom writes
stories.) is the most typical and the most
common pattern of standard word order
in English that serves as a basis for word
order in different types of sentences.
Word order in different sentences

English sentences are divided into

statements, questions, commands, and
exclamatory sentences. Word order in
different types of sentences has certain
peculiarities.
Statements (Declarative sentences)

Statements (declarative sentences) are the

most common type of sentences. A
standard statement uses the basic word
order pattern, i.e., SUBJECT +
PREDICATE (+ object + adverbial
modifier). Adverbial modifiers are placed
at the end of the sentence after the object
(or after the verb if there is no object).
Attributes (adjectives, numerals) are
placed before their nouns, and attributes
in the form of nouns with prepositions are
placed after their nouns.
Maria works.
Tom writes stories.
He talked to Anna yesterday.
My son bought three history books.
Tom writes short stories for children.
Questions (Interrogative sentences)

General questions

Auxiliary verb + subject + main verb (+

object + adverbial modifier):
Do you smoke?
Does he speak English?
Is he writing a report now?
Have you seen this film?
Special questions
Question word + auxiliary verb + subject
+ main verb (+ object + adverbial
modifier):
Where does he live?
What are you writing now?
When did they visit Mexico?
Alternative questions
Alternative questions have the same word
order as general questions.
Does he live in Paris or Rome?
Are you writing a report or a letter?
Tag questions
Tag questions consist of two parts. The
first part has the same word order as
statements, and the second part is a short
general question (the tag).
He lives here, doesn't he?
They haven't seen this film, have they?
Commands (Imperative sentences)

Commands have the same word order as

statements, but the subject (you) is
usually omitted.
Go to your room.
Listen to the story.
Exclamatory sentences

Exclamatory sentences have the same

word order as statements (i.e., the subject
is before the predicate).
She is a great singer!
It is an excellent opportunity!
How well he knows history!

What a beautiful town this is!

How strange it is!
In some types of exclamatory sentences,
the subject (it, this, that) and the linking
verb are often omitted.
What a pity!
What a beautiful present!
What beautiful flowers!
How strange!
Simple, compound, and complex sentences

English sentences are also divided into

simple sentences, compound sentences,
and complex sentences.
A simple sentence, also called an
independent clause, has a subject and a
predicate and other necessary parts of the
sentence.
Life goes on.
She lives in Moscow.
He wrote a letter to the manager.
A compound sentence consists of two
independent clauses connected by
coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or).
Each clause has a subject and a predicate.
Maria lives in Moscow, and her friend
Elizabeth lives in New York.
He wrote a letter to the manager, but the
manager didn't answer.
A complex sentence consists of the main
clause and the subordinate clause
connected by subordinating conjunctions
(e.g., that, after, when, since, because, if,
though). Each clause has a subject and a
predicate.
I told him that I didn't know anything
about their plans.
Betty has worked as a secretary since she
moved to California.
If he comes back early, ask him to call
me, please.
It is very important to learn basic word

order rules and patterns by heart and

follow them rigorously and precisely. The
materials of this section describe standard
word order and its peculiarities in
different types of English sentences.
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Word order in statements:

Statements, or declarative sentences, can be in the form of simple,
compound, or complex sentences. This article describes word order in simple
statements. (Word order in compound and complex sentences is described in
the other articles of this section.) Statements in the form of simple
sentences are divided into unextended and extended sentences. There are
five parts of a sentence: the subject, the predicate, the object, the attribute,
the adverbial modifier. The rules of word order indicate where their place in
the sentence is.
Word order in simple unextended statements
Standard word order in simple unextended statements
is SUBJECT + PREDICATE.
Anna teaches.
Time flies.
We are reading.
He will understand.
Word order in simple extended statements
Standard word order in simple extended statements is
SUBJECT + PREDICATE + object + adverbial modifier.
Anna teaches mathematics.
Tom has returned my books.
We are reading a story now.
He will understand it later.
Adverbial modifiers are normally placed at the end of
the sentence after the object (or after the verb, if there
is no object). Attributes (adjectives, numerals,
pronouns) usually stand before their nouns, and
attributes in the form of nouns with prepositions are
placed after their nouns.

The place of the subject

The subject is placed at the beginning of the sentence
and is usually expressed by a noun or a pronoun. The
subject group may include an article and an attribute.
Monkeys like bananas.
He writes short stories.
That student is from Rome.
Tom and Anna live in Boston.
His little son is learning to read.
The subject is placed after the verb in the structure
"there is, there are" which is used when you want to
say WHAT is in some place.
There is a table in the room.
There are two books on the table.
There was a car in front of the house.
The place of the predicate:The predicate stands after
the subject and is usually represented by a main verb
or by the combination of an auxiliary or modal verb
with a main verb. Negative forms of auxiliary verbs
can be full or contracted.

She likes chocolate.

I work at a small hotel.
The children are reading and writing new words.
She does not know him.
He hasn't bought a car yet.
You shouldn't do it.
We are not going to buy a new house this summer.

The verb "be" as a linking verb may be followed by a

noun, an adjective, a numeral, or a pronoun as part
of the predicate. (The use of the verb "be" is
described in The Verb BE in the section Grammar.)
I am a teacher.
Tom is young.
The tea is too hot.
She was twenty.
He isn't a doctor.
This isn't she.
The place of the object

There are direct objects (without a preposition) and

indirect objects (with or without a preposition). The
object is placed after the main verb. If there are two
objects after the verb, the word order is first the
direct object, then the object with preposition.
Some transitive verbs (for example, bring, give, offer,
sell, send, show, tell) are often followed by two
objects without prepositions. In this case, the order
after the verb is first the indirect object (without a
preposition), then the direct object. Examples:
She gave him two books.
They offered me a good job.
He sent her a present.
The teacher told the students a story.

The place of the attribute

Attributes expressed by adjectives (or by pronouns,
participles, numerals, nouns in the possessive case)
usually stand before their nouns, i.e., before the
noun in the subject, in the object, or in the adverbial
modifier. Examples: