Correct construction of sentences in English. Constructing sentences in English: examples. Strict word order in an English sentence

In order for your spoken and written English to be as literate as possible, you must not only know a large number of words in this language, but also be able to put them into sentences, structure everything in such a way that your thoughts and message are clear to your interlocutors. Sentences are the basis of any text, so the ability to arrange them according to all the rules is very important for high-quality language proficiency.

Elements of an English sentence

A sentence consists of several members, but only two are constant - the subject and the predicate. They are also called principal members. Each member of an English sentence has its own place - the word order, unlike the Russian language, is strictly one. By violating it, the English phrase will lose all meaning.

Subject

The subject is in the form of a noun of the general case (as in the dictionary) in any number, in the form of a personal pronoun having a nominative case, as well as a numeral, infinitive and gerund. The subject always comes before the predicate and usually at the beginning of the sentence.

For nouns, the article may change or be completely absent - it all depends on what object or person is implied in the sentence.

Mouseare afraid of cat- The mouse is afraid of the cat;

Iam fond of music- I am interested in music;

Fouris believed to be an unlucky number in Japan - It is believed that four is an unlucky number in Japan;

To helpyou are my choice- Helping you is my choice;

Reading togood book raises my mood- Reading a good book lifts my mood.

Table of personal pronouns that can act as subjects:

Sometimes indefinite and negative pronouns can become the subject:

Predicate

The predicate is the main component of a sentence. With its help, we understand what time the described event is associated with. The predicate is placed after the subject - that is, in second place. It comes in the following types: verbal (the Verbal Predicate) and nominal ( the Nominal Predicate).

Verb predicatestands in personal form and serves as a determinant of action.

Example:

This manstudiesSpanish- This man is learning Spanish;

Samwill moveto another country- Sam will move to another country.

Wehave to stoplistening music- We must stop listening to music;

Juliacan runfaster- Julia can run faster;

Shestarted dancing- She started dancing;

A teacherfinished introducinghimself- The teacher finished introducing himself.

Nominal predicateshows the characteristics of an object or living creature. It cannot denote actions and consists of two components - a linking verb and a nominal part. The nominal part can consist of various parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, numerals, adjectives, infinitives, gerunds and participles.

Example:

Shewas a teacher- She was a teacher;

The cupis yours- The cup is yours;

This girlis nineteen- This girl is 19 years old;

The wallis black- The wall is black;

Him missionwas to helpshe has to cope with everything- His mission was to help her cope with everything;

Her greatest wishis flying- Her greatest desire is to fly;

The pastais boiled- The pasta is cooked.

The predicate can be formed not only from one verb, but also from two:

• Main verb . Denotes the action performed by the second main member. For example:He runs- He's running.
• Auxiliary verb . Distinguishes between times. If the tense form requires the presence of such a verb, then omitting it from the sentence is unacceptable. ForPresent Simple it will be do/does, For Past Perfect - had, and for Future Continuous - will be.

All those members of the sentence that are called minor will be listed below. Their task is to explain the main members of the sentence or other minor ones. Their peculiarity is that even without them the sentence will have a clear meaning, since these words do not form a grammatical center in it.

Addition

The object is placed after the predicate and is expressed by a noun and a pronoun. Such words answer any case questions, excluding the nominative. There are two types of additions:

• Direct object . Answers questions in the accusative case “who?”, “what?”;
• Indirect addition . Answers other questions: “what?”, “what?”, “to whom?” etc.

There are times when there are two objects in one sentence. In such cases, we first put the direct, and then the indirect.

Example:

I seea boy- I see a boy;

He is readinga magazine to the friend- He is reading a magazine to a friend;

I playthe computer game with him- I play a computer game with him.

Circumstance

This member of the sentence answers the questions “where?”, “why”, “when”, etc. and can denote a place, time, manner, or cause of an action. It is attached to the predicate and takes place either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end. Expressed by an adverb or a noun with a preposition.

Example:

My black dog lieson the window- My black dog is lying on the window;

TodayI saw her with my sister- Yesterday I saw her with my sister.

Definition

This member of the sentence answers the questions “which one?” and “whose?” and describes the properties of the words before which it is placed (subject and object). The participle attribute is usually placed after these members of the sentence. The definition can be used in the form of different parts of speech: adjective, participle and participial phrase, numeral, noun in the possessive case, personal pronoun in the objective case and others.

Example:

Yesterday I had astrongtoothache- Yesterday I had a severe toothache;

Where are the goodsbought at the auction yesterday ? - Where are the goods bought yesterday at the auction?;

Her office is on thefirstfloor- Her office is on the first floor;

Sam founda lady'shat in the street- Sam found a woman’s hat on the street;

There isn'tanywater left in the cup- There is no water left in the cup.

Structure and word order in a sentence in English

In Russian, the order of words in a sentence is exempt from rules, and the meaning of phrases does not change from rearranging members. In English, things are stricter about this: words can appear in two orders: direct and reverse. For clarity, let's look at a simple example:

I love you- I love you = I love you = I love you.

This phrase has three possible translations into Russian.

Note that in English there are three types of sentences, and each of them has its own order of members:

• Affirmative;
• Interrogative;
• Negative.

Constructing an affirmative sentence in English

This type of sentence has a direct order of members. It should look like this: first - the subject, then the predicate, and only then the complement with the circumstance. Sometimes, as mentioned above, the adverbial clause may occupy the beginning of a sentence. Don't forget that sometimes an auxiliary verb is added to the main verb, which is also part of the predicate - so the order will still remain direct.

Example:

Today I bought a dog set to my son - Today I bought my son a dog;

We'll go home after working- We will go home after work;

I have no idea how to learn to play the piano - I have no idea how to learn to play the piano.

Constructing a negative sentence in English

In such sentences, as in the previous version, the word order will be direct. But in order to mark this negation, we add the particle “not" (Not). This particle is necessarily adjacent to the auxiliary verb, which is required in such cases.

Example:

My girlfriend will not visit me in two days - My girlfriend will not visit me in two days;

Sam will not be there- Sam won't be there;

She is not reading at the moment - She is not reading at the moment;

I was not aware of the situation in Ukraine - I didn’t know about the situation in Ukraine;

I haven’t done homework today yet - Today I haven’t done my homework yet.

Constructing an interrogative sentence in English

In Russian, sentences with questions differ from statements only in the intonation with which the speaker pronounces them. In the English version of the interrogative sentence, a different word order is used - reverse. In it, the subject and predicate change places. But only part of the predicate is placed at the beginning - an auxiliary verb, the presence of which is mandatory here. The main verb is still located after the subject, like all other words. The only exception is that the circumstance cannot come at the beginning here.

Example:

Do you like this music?- Do you like this music?;

Have you been to Japan?- Have you been to Japan?

Sometimes such phrases include a question word - in this case, we put it at the beginning.

Example:

What do you think about our teacher? - What do you think about our teacher?;

When did he move to Russia?- When did he move to Russia?

There are also sentences with a question called a dividing question - and in this case you will have to abandon the standard, “correct” structuring. A sentence with a dividing question is created as follows: first - an affirmative or negative sentence, and then - a short question.

Example:

She is rather beautiful, isn’t she? - She's quite beautiful, isn't she?;

He studies Spanish, doesn't he? - He's studying Spanish, isn't he?

Constructing short answers in English

In Russian speech, we can briefly answer “Yes” or “No” to many questions. The foreign language we are studying also has this opportunity, but with one difference - here you cannot answer simply “Yes” or “No”, since such a wording of the answer may seem unfriendly. Therefore, English people who want to give a short answer to a question add the subject and auxiliary verb used in the question.

Example:

ㄧ Has he visited the Kremlin?- Did he visit the Kremlin?

ㄧ Yes, he has- Yes;

ㄧ Do they work in the college?- Do they work at the college?

ㄧ No, they don't- No.

If the question asked of you contains the pronoun “you”, it is asked to you personally. The answer to such a question should be from yourself, and not from “you”.

Example:

ㄧ Do you like summer?- Do you like summer?

ㄧ Yes, I do- Yes.

ㄧ Will you write me?-Will you write to me?

ㄧ No, I won't- No.

Creating literate phrases in English is like a constructor - you just need to insert the necessary parts of the sentence. More often try to formulate coherent texts in the language you are learning, but not only in writing, but also orally, communicating with native speakers of the language you need or with people who, like you, are studying it.

And do it quickly and without thinking - “on the go,” I wrote in a separate article. Now let's talk about narrative sentences.
Can you say that you are very familiar with English sentence structure?
Do you know in what order words should be put in a sentence? What if it's a complex sentence? What if there are transfers?
It also happens: I started learning a foreign language, you seem to know the words, but you can’t put your mind to how to put them, what “goes” after what. So it turns out to be complete confusion, in one word, billeberd.

So, in order for the speech to be correct and well structured, so that you are well understood, and you feel confident speaking English and can express your thoughts clearly and clearly, you need to know the structure of an English sentence. This is what we will do right now!

1. Standard English sentence scheme:
subject + predicate + what? + where? + when? (i.e. the rest of the sentence)

A Russian sentence can be impersonal. In an English sentence Always there is a subject.
Compare:
Cold. - It's cold.

2.When?(adverbial tense) can appear either at the end or at the beginning of a sentence:

3. Where?(adverbial place) can also appear at the end or at the beginning of a sentence:

4. If the sentence contains circumstances of the course of action:

If HOW? put at the beginning of the sentence, it will strengthen what was said, focus on that How action has been taken.

Compare:
She played the piano very well.
Very well she played the piano.

ATTENTION!

That's sorted out. The great thing is practice! When you speak a lot in the language you are learning, as a rule, you don’t think about what to put where, what “goes” after what - the sentence comes out by itself... but is it correct? Perhaps not always... so it's useful to know the standard schemes! :)

Now imagine that you are going to buy a sofa. You walk into an antique store and see a stunning sofa - just the way you wanted. You are ready to buy it, but decided to consult with your friend. You call him and start describing this sofa. Question: In what order should adjectives appear in a sentence???

Here's the standard order:
1) subjective adjectives (opinion, impression)
2) size

• height/length
• shape/width (can appear after point 3 “age”)

3) age (new, old. young...)

4) color
5) origin (English, French, German...)
6) material (what it is made of: wood, iron...)
7) purpose (for what: office, computer...)

Example:
This is a beautiful small old brown French leather sofa.

This is a large new black English wooden office table.

When a sentence contains:
- adverbs of frequency of action (sometimes, often, always,never, rarely...)

- probably

- definitely

- hardly/hardly ever
- almost
- nearly

These words need to be put

• BEFORE the semantic verb:
  Example:
  He often goes to the gym.
  She rarely have a lie-in in the morning.
  They usually go shopping on Sunday.

• AFTER the verb to be:
  Example:
  to be tired - to get tired, to be tired
  He is often tired after work.

  to be wrong - to be wrong, to be wrong
  You areprobably wrong.

• in compound verb forms AFTER the first verb:
  Example:
  You must neverdo it again.
  They can also play tennis

I would also like to make a small note.
Pay attention to the word order in a sentence when it contains the words:
- definitely
- probably
- possibly
- certainly

1. Positive sentence:
Here is a sentence in the future tense with one of these words:
I will probably see him later.

You've probably noticed that rearranging words in a Russian sentence does not change the meaning of the sentence itself. What difference does it make whether we say “There are many wolves in the forest” or “There are many wolves in the forest.” And so, and so it is said about the presence of a large number of wolves in the forest.

Affirmative sentences

In English, word order is strictly fixed.

This means every word has its place. Well, in fact, not everyone, but only two - the subject and the predicate. Let's remember our school days. The subject is who or what does the action; what or who the sentence is about. The predicate is what that person/thing does. From the latter it follows that the predicate is a verb. So, in relation to the English sentence, there is a central dogma consisting of two points:

FIRST. The subject comes first, the predicate comes second, and then everything else comes. Schematically, this can be depicted as follows:

Table. Word order in an English sentence

1st PLACE	2nd PLACE	3rd PLACE
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	REST OF THE PROPOSAL
Daniel
		toworkeveryday.
These flowers		so beautiful!
Cats	don't eat

The following note should be made about this table: You can put a definition BEFORE the subject. And second: this scheme is used for affirmative sentences, i.e. those with a period at the end.

SECOND. An English sentence ALWAYS has a predicate, i.e. verb! Even if you don’t hear this verb in the Russian translation of this sentence. For example: There are many wolves in the forest. (there is not a single verb here, although this sentence can be remade for a convenient translation: “There are many wolves in the forest.” This version already has a verb - there are). - There are many wolves in the forest.

Interrogative sentences

This word order applies only to sentences that end with a period, that is, affirmative sentences. And there are also interrogative sentences that end with a question mark. And this is where difficulties with word order and all sorts of confusion begin.

So, there are 2 basic types of questions: general and. To the first we answer “yes” or “no”, and to the second we answer something specific, special (depending on what is asked in the question itself). Remember that the word order in any English sentence is FIXED, and this also applies to questions.

0 PLACE - QUESTION WORD

• What - what? Which?
• Who - who?
• Who(m) - to whom? by whom?
• Where - where? Where?
• When - when?
• Why - why?
• How - how?
• How much (many) - how much?
• Which - which?
• What - which one?
• Whose - whose?

1st PLACE - AUXILIARY VERB

• is/are/am
• do / does / did
• will / would / shall
• have / has
• can/could
• may/might
• ought
• should

2nd PLACE - SUBJECT

3rd PLACE - BASIC (SEMINAL) VERB

3rd PLACE - REST OF WORDS

There are also several caveats to this structure.

NOTE 1. How to choose an auxiliary verb? Very simply: the auxiliary verb is the one that appears first in the original sentence. For example:

• Danny is a worker ---> is
• Anna will drive ---> will
• They have finished the report ---> have

Therefore, to ask a question, you just need to rearrange the subject and predicate.

What to do if there is no auxiliary verb? For example: We visited the museum. Here we have only the main verb - visited. Therefore, when there is no visible auxiliary verb, then it is - do / does / did, depending on time. In our case it is did, since the verb is in .

NOTE 2. The main (semantic) verb, when you ask a question, is pure, that is, without any endings, in the initial form.

NOTE 3. How to understand 0 place? This position in the question is called so because there are question words only in special questions, but not in general ones. It is by the question word that you determine what to answer. For example:

Mother gave her son a tasty medicine yesterday because he was ill.

• Who? -Mother
• Whom? -son
• Whose son? - her
• What? - medicine
• What medicine? - tasty
• When? - yesterday
• Why? - because he was ill

In general questions (those to which you answer “yes” or “no”) there is no question word, that is, an auxiliary verb comes immediately.

In conclusion, we offer you a small test:

Correct construction of sentences in English is impossible without knowledge of the basic laws of the formation of their structure. So, in the Russian language, to describe a situation, it is enough to take the words involved in it (names of concepts, objects, etc.) and connect them with each other using endings formed by declension in cases and numbers. However, the English language is devoid of such endings, and therefore a correct description of the situation can only be achieved if words are arranged in a certain way in sentences.

Simple sentences and their classification

Simple English sentences are divided into two types - common and common. The first ones consist only of a subject and a predicate. In this case, it is important that the subject is in first place and the predicate in second. For example: “The bus stopped.”

The second type of simple sentences, in addition to the main members, involves the inclusion of secondary ones (addition, definition, circumstance). Constructing sentences in English using minor members allows you to clarify the main situation. For example: “The yellow bus stopped at the station.” In this case, the first minor member of the sentence (yellow) acts as a definition and explains the subject (the bus), and the second is an adverbial circumstance (at the station) and refers to the predicate (stopped).

construction scheme

As mentioned above, the endings in English words remain unchanged, so each word must be in the strictly designated place for it (this is called direct word order). Otherwise, the essence of the sentence will be distorted, and the person who reads it will receive incorrect, sometimes even opposite, information. And if in Russian we can say: “I went to the cinema yesterday,” “I went to the cinema yesterday,” or “Yesterday I went to the cinema,” then the existing sentence patterns in English do not allow this.

Whereas in Russian the essence of the situation will be clear, even if the words are swapped, in English everything is different. For example, regardless of whether we say in Russian “Jack hit Jim” or “Jim hit Jack,” the information will be received correctly. But in English, two sentences such as “Jack hit Jim” and “Jim hit Jack” have the opposite meaning. The first translates to "Jack hit Jim" and the second to "Jim hit Jack." To avoid such misunderstandings, it is necessary to construct sentences in English according to the following scheme: put the subject in first place, the predicate in second, the complement in third, and the adverbial in fourth. For example: “We do our work with pleasure.” It is also acceptable to place adverbs of place and time before the subject, for example: “At the moment I am cooking dinner.”

Negative sentences with not

Negative sentences in English have the following structure:

1. Subject.
2. The beginning of the predicate.
3. Negative particle not.
4. The ending of the predicate.
5. The nominal part of the predicate.

Examples include the following negative sentences in English: “I'm not reading the book” or “I have not seen Kelly in a while.” I haven't seen Kelly in a while."

If verbs in the Present Simple or Past Simple are used in negative sentences, then they are reduced to the form “do/does/did + basic form”. For example, “I do not like mice,” “She does not need help,” or “Steven did not look tired.”

Negative sentences using negative words

In English, the negative type can be expressed not only using the particle not, but also in another way. We are talking about building a construction containing negative words, which include the following: nobody (nobody), never (never), nothing (nothing), none (no), nowhere (nowhere).

For example: “Nobody wanted to bring chair.” It is worth noting that in English one sentence cannot contain both the particle not and a negative word. Thus, the phrase “I know nothing” is translated into English as “I know nothing” and in no case “I do not know nothing.”

Interrogative sentences

Interrogative sentences can be presented in the form of general and special questions. Thus, general questions require a “yes/no” answer. For example: “Did you like the book?” (“Did you like the book?”) or “Have you ever been in the Paris?” (“Have you ever been to Paris?”). As for special questions, it may be necessary to compose sentences in English of this type when it is necessary to obtain more specific information on a given question - color, time, name, object, distance, etc. For example: “What is your favorite movie?” (“What’s your favorite movie?”) or “How long is the flight to Prague?” (“How long is the flight to Prague?”).

In the case of expressing the predicate with the verb to have or to be, general questions are constructed as follows: first the predicate, and then the subject. In the case when the predicate includes a modal or it is placed before the subject. In the case of expressing the predicate with a verb in the Present or Past Simple, you must use do/does or did.

As for the word order in constructing a special question, it is the same as in general, except that at the beginning of the sentence there must be a question word: who (who), when (when), what (what), how long ( how long), where (where), how (how).

Imperative sentences

When considering the types of sentences in English, one cannot fail to mention imperative sentences. They are necessary to express a request, encouragement to take any action, command, as well as a prohibition when it comes to the negative form.

An imperative sentence assumes a direct word order, but the verb is placed first: “Give me my pen, please” (“Give me my pen, please”). In some cases, this construction may consist of only one verb: “Run!” (Run!). Wanting to soften an order or turn it into a request, the speaker can use would you, will you or won’t you, placing them at the end of the sentence.

Exclamatory sentences

The construction of sentences in English of the exclamatory type is carried out according to the same scheme as the usual one, however, they should be pronounced emotionally, and on the letter at the end of such a construction it is always written. For example, “You are very beautiful!” (“You are very beautiful!”) or “I’m so happy!” (“I’m so happy!”).

In cases where an exclamatory sentence requires additional reinforcement, you can use the question words what and how. For example, “What a big house it is!” (“What a big house!”), “What a sad movie!” (“What a sad movie!”) or “How well Matt can dance!” (“Matt dances so well!”). It is worth noting that when using a singular subject, the indefinite article a or an is required.

Complex sentences: definition and classification

In addition to simple sentences, there are also complex ones, which are formed by combining the first ones. Complex and complex sentences are types of sentences in English that have a complex structure. The difference between them is that the former are a construction consisting of two independent simple sentences, while the latter are a main clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Compound sentences are built using words such as and, or, but, for, yet. As for unions that are used for formation, they are divided into the following groups:

• causes/effects: since (since), because (because), therefore (for this reason, therefore), so (therefore, so);
• time: before (before, before), while (while), after (after), when (when);
• others: although (despite the fact that), if (if), though (though), unless (if only).

In all simple sentences that make up complex ones, direct order must be maintained. There are a huge number of sentences in the English language, but regardless of their type, the basic rule of construction must be observed.

Types of Conditional Sentences

In English they are used to describe a situation with various characteristics. They can take different forms, but in most cases the following construction is used: “If Condition, (then) Statement.” For example, “If it is warm, many people prefer to go to the park” (“If it is warm, many people prefer to go to the park”), “If you buy this dress, I will give you free gloves” (“If you buy this dress, I'll give you free gloves").

Conditional sentences in English are divided into three types. The first is used to denote real, feasible conditions relating to any of the times (future, present, past). To construct such a construction, a verb is used in its main sentence in the future form, and in a subordinate clause - in the present form.

The second describes unrealistic conditions that relate to the future or present. To create such a sentence, the main part uses the verb should or would and the verb in the base form without the particle to, and in the subordinate part - were for the verb to be or the Past Simple form for all the rest.

And the third covers unfulfilled conditions in the past. The main part of the sentence is constructed using the verb should/would and a verb in the present tense, and the subordinate part is constructed using a verb in the Past Perfect form.

Scheme 1: Subject + auxiliary or normal verb + object + adverbial

1. The subject is the person or object performing the action. The subject is:

1.1. Noun.

For example: Salt is white. White salt.

A boy is here. The boy is here.

1.2. Personal pronoun (answering the questions who?, what?).

For example: She is a doctor. She's a doctor.

1.3. Formal subject (it, there, one).

For example: One can do it. It can be done.

There are some desks in the classroom. There are several tables in the auditorium.

It is dark. Dark.

2. Predicate. The predicate is a verb in a simple form corresponding to the infinitive of the verb without the particle to.

For example: He lives in Rostov. He lives in Rostov.

To be can be a normal verb in a sentence and play the role of a predicate.

For example: I am a doctor. I'm a doctor.

In addition, the verb to be can be an auxiliary verb. In this case, it does not play an independent role in the sentence, but carries a constructive load and is not translated.

Eg: Are you reading? Are you reading?

If a declarative sentence has a normal verb, there is no present or past auxiliary verb.

3. Addition. Answers the questions of who?, what?, to whom?, to what? The object can be non-prepositional, indirect, direct and prepositional indirect.

For example: I gave her a book. I gave her a book (her is a non-prepositional indirect object, and book is a direct object). The indirect non-prepositional object must come before the direct object.

I gave a book to her. I gave the book to her. (a book is a direct object, to her is a prepositional indirect object). The indirect prepositional object must come after the direct object.

4. Circumstance. There are circumstances of the course of action that answer the question How? – How?, places answering the question Where – Where?, and time answering the question When? - When?

If there is more than one circumstance in a sentence, then the circumstance of the manner of action is indicated first, then the circumstance of place and last the circumstance of time.

Note: adverbs of time and place may appear before the subject.

Scheme 2: Circumstance + subject + predicate + object + circumstance.

For example: Yesterday I watched TV with pleasure at home. I watched TV at home with pleasure yesterday (with pleasure is a circumstance of the manner of action, at home is a circumstance of place, yesterday is a circumstance of time).

Word order is direct if the subject comes before the predicate:

He helps his father every day.

Every day she reads periodicals.

Declarative sentences always have direct word order.

So, in a declarative sentence:

The subject is used before the predicate.

The prepositional definition must appear before the word being defined.

An adverbial clause can only appear in a sentence at the beginning and at the end.

The object comes after the predicate.

II. Interrogative sentence.

Interrogative sentences are general, special, alternative and disjunctive.

General answers are answered “yes” or “no”.

Word order schemes for general questions:

Scheme 3: Auxiliary verb + subject + semantic verb

Does he live in Rostov?

If the predicate is represented by the verbs to be and to have, then the sentence will not have an auxiliary verb.

Was he at home yesterday?

Has she got a dog?

Scheme 4: Modal verb + subject + semantic verb

Must we study English?

Special questions should begin with a question word.

Scheme 5: Question word + auxiliary verb + subject + object + semantic verb + adverbial

Where is he from?

What is her name?

Alternative questions are those that contain the particle or - or:

Diagram 6: General question + or + alternative.

Is he a teacher or a doctor?

A separating question contains an affirmation or negation + a short question.

Scheme 7: declarative sentence + auxiliary verb corresponding (in person and number) to the predicate of the main sentence + not + subject in pronoun form.

He is a doctor, is not he?

III. Negative sentence.

Diagram 8: Subject + auxiliary verb + not + predicate + object + adverbial

He is not a doctor.