BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN

EXERCISE A
Underline all the subjects in the following sentences.
a) SUBJECT-VERB (SV)
1. The train arrived.
Every sentence has at least two parts: Subject and Verb 2. The girl skipped.
( SV ). The subject is usually a noun or something that can 3. Father and mother laughed.
take place of a noun. 4. That convict escaped.
5. The rain ceased.
A NOUN is usually the name of a person, animal, place or 6. The grasshopper hopped.
things. 7. We talk.
8. All the boys sing.
A VERB is: 9. My teacher reads.
10. The child played.
1) an action word which shows
EXERCISE B
what people, animals and things do
Underline all the verbs in the following sentences.
e.g. walk, run, swim, talk, eat, drink, study, read, shout
2) a non-action word
1. The bridge capsized.
e.g. am, is, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does, did
2. The water froze.
3. The thunder rolled.
4. Our team wins.
Look at the following 5. The ice melted.
SUBJECT VERB 6. The plant grew.
1. The dog barked. 7. Their helicopter flew.
2. The bus left. 8. Aidils car skidded.
3. The children cried. 9. The ducks quacked.
4. The babies slept. 10. The bomb exploded.
5. The robbers run.
6. He dies.
7. I cook.
8. They smiled.

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b) Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) 8. I studied languages.
9. Alis sister washed the clothes.
We saw that a complete sentence has two basic parts: 10. Puan Tina bought vegetables, meat and fish.
1. subject (S)
2. verb (V) EXERCISE D
Complete the following sentences with suitable objects. Use
Sometimes, a sentence has these two parts but it looks only nouns. Use a, an or the where necessary.
incomplete. Look at the following sentences:
1. The policemen caught .. SUBJECT VERB OBJECT
2. All students carried .. 1. The pupils asked
3. His sister sold .. 2. She ate
3. Muthu broke
Now, see how these incomplete sentences can be complete. 4. We finished
To do this, you must add an object. Look at the following 5. The delivered
sentences: postman
6. They clean
1. The policemen caught the robbers. 7. You take
2. All students carried their chairs. 8. The lecturer taught
3. His sister sold nasi lemak. 9. That woman found
10. I sing
Notice that the object usually comes after the verb. The object
is a noun or a word used in place of a noun.

EXERCISE C
Underline the objects in the following sentences.

1. The babies drank milk.

2. Everyone watches the game.
3. My mother cooked rice.
4. He caught a rabbit.
5. Mr. Johnson wrote a letter.
6. We cut the grass.
7. The flood destroyed the houses.

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c) Subject-Verb-Expansion (SVE) EXERCISE F
Expand these sentences by adding a suitable expansion.
Expansion means making complete sentences longer. You can
expend a complete sentence by adding more words. Use WH-
Questions to help expand the sentences. Look at these
examples:
1. The car stopped. (This is a complete sentence)
The car stopped suddenly. (How)
The car stopped in front of the house. (Where)
The car stopped yesterday. (When)
The car stopped for five minutes. (For how long)
EXERCISE E
Underline the expansions in these sentences.
1. A child cried in the night. (When)
2. That cat ran into the house. (Where)
3. The clown joked for an hour. (For how long)
4. All people clapped loudly. (How)
5. The telephone rang for a long time. (For how long)
6. They arrived at six oclock. (When)
7. The terrorists hid in the jungle. (Where)
8. The children played happily. (How)
9. We stood on the beach. (Where)
10. The examination started on Monday. (When)
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1. My grandfather danced ______________________ .
(How)
2. Our teacher stood __________________________.
(Where)
3. Nordin swims ______________________________.
(When)
4. The couple quarrelled ________________________.
(For how long)
5. The boys fought ____________________________.
(Where)
6. Mr. Lim slept _______________________________.
(How)
7. The tree fell _______________________________.
(When)
8. The speaker
spoke_________________________________. (How)
(For how long)
9. The boys played football
____________________________. (Where) (When)
10. Kim Seng walked
____________________________________________
_____. (How) (For how long) (Where) (When)
d) Subject-Verb-Complement (SVC) EXERCISE H
Make these sentences complete by adding suitable
The verb to be/do/have (am, is, are, was, were, has, have, complements.
had, do, does, did) does not require an object but it needs
other words to complete the sentence. These other words are 1. The maid is
called COMPLEMENTS. Study the examples below. Notice _________________________________________
that the action verbs are not used in these examples. 2. We were
__________________________________________.
SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT 3. The officer was
Ali and are clever boys. __________________________________________.I
Ahmad am
The books were on the desk. __________________________________________.
Emily has a guitar. 4. My grandfather has
They did their work. __________________________________________.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Tan had
I am a teacher.
__________________________________________.
6. Our parents have
__________________________________________.
EXERCISE G
7. Those hawkers are
Underline the complements in these sentences.
__________________________________________.
8. It was
1. Mrs. Jones was angry.
2. That man is my dentist. __________________________________________.
3. She has a car. 9. My two brothers do
4. The bracelets are beautiful and expensive. __________________________________________.
5. They had three houses.
6. Ritas mother does her work well.
7. That salesgirl is my cousin.
8. My cat is very cute.