Dima behaved well yesterday.

Yesterday Dima behaved well.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

No matter how we say these sentences and in what order we put the words in them, their meaning will not change. With this example, we want to show the difference between the construction of Russian and English sentences. Indeed, it is precisely in the latter that such variations are impossible. All due to the fact that there are no endings in English, and in order not to lose the meaning that the speaker wants to convey, English philologists have established rules for composing sentences in English. They are quite clear and require strict adherence.

Consider the features of constructing affirmative sentences.

We have two spellings. The first option looks like this:

subject-predicate-object-adverb

She doesn't bake herself as a rule. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(She doesn't bake herself. Her boyfriend does)

He likes this book very much.

(He really likes this book.)

They will bring this book tomorrow.

(They will bring this book tomorrow)

The second option is written like this:

circumstance-subject-predicate-object

As a rule she doesn't bake herself. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(As a rule, she does not bake herself. Her boyfriend does it)

Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.

(Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.)

If we talk about interrogative sentences, it is worth noting that they also have characteristic features of writing.

In our article, we will learn how general and special questions are composed.

More about interrogative sentences:
Interrogative sentences in English

We build a general question according to the following scheme:

verb-subject- addition-circumstance

Will she be at the restaurant after 2?

(Will she be at the restaurant after two?)

Did you bring that book to the library?

(Did you bring that book to the library?)

We usually put “question-word” as the first word in interrogative sentences ( who, whom, where, why, what, which, when, whose, how, how much).

In second place we put an auxiliary verb ( am, is, are, does, did, do, will, shall, would, have, has, can, could, must, may, might, ought, need, should.) It is followed by the subject, the semantic verb, and the rest of the words.

How do you feel today?

(How do you feel today?)

How much sugar does she take in her coffee?

(How much sugar does she put in her coffee?)

Here we have given the main schemes for constructing sentences in English. But, there are some exceptions to the rules, and deviations from the given schemes. We invite you to learn about all these features at our school and get detailed information on this topic.

More significant success in building sentences in English will bring you the desire to think in English, and not just translate sentences from Russian. It will also be useful to watch movies or your favorite English series without translation and with subtitles. Firstly, it will bring not only the possibility of learning, but also spending time with pleasure. Secondly, visual memory will fix the textual accompaniment of the film, and you can always rewind the film and read unfamiliar phrases or words. The usefulness of American TV series also lies in the fact that they use a significant amount of slang sentences, exclamations and modern expressions, which, of course, you will need for everyday speech.

Our dear students, the entire Native English School team congratulates you on the upcoming Easter, wishes you sincerity from those around you, bright smiles, success in work, peace in your family and in your heart! See you! =)

Word order in English subject to clear diagram (pictured). Substitute the words instead of the squares and get the correct word order. The scheme is simple and you can figure it out in just 15 minutes. For a better understanding, there are examples of English sentences with translation into Russian.

Word order in an English sentence, construction scheme.

The standard English sentence is built on such a scheme:

The sentence shown in the figure is called narrative or, which is the same, affirmative. An affirmative sentence is when someone has done something and we are talking about it.

At the first place The subject of a sentence is the one who performs the action. In the diagram and in the examples, the subject is highlighted in red. The subject can be a noun (mother, cat, apple, work, etc.) or a pronoun (I, you, he, etc.). The subject can also contain several adjectives used as a definition (fast cat, red apple, etc.).

In second place always worth the predicate. The predicate is the action itself. In the diagram and in the examples, the predicate is highlighted in blue. It is expressed by a verb (go, look, think, etc.)

After the predicate one or more additions. An object is again a noun or a pronoun.

And at the end of the sentence are circumstances of place and time. They show where and when the action took place. As a rule, first come the words that answer the question “Where?”, And then the words that answer the question “When?”.

Examples of affirmative sentences:

What if there is no subject?

In Russian, statements are quite common in which either the subject or the predicate is omitted, or both. For example:

In English, the predicate is obligatory. And in such cases, the verb to be is used as a predicate. For example:

They are students.
They are students.

That is, the English instead of "They are students" say "They are students", instead of "This is a tree" they say "This is a tree." Here "are" and "is" are forms of the verb to be. This verb, unlike most other English verbs, changes by person. You can see all forms of the verb to be.

If both the subject and the predicate are missing in the Russian sentence, then when translating into English, “It is” is put at the beginning of the sentence. For example:

Cold.
It is cold.

The order of adjectives.

It happens that the addition contains a large number of adjectives. For example:

I bought a large beautiful and very comfortable sofa.

Here is the standard word order for adjectives in an English sentence:

1) adjectives that describe your impression of the subject (good, beautiful, excellent ...)

2) size (big, small…)

3) age (new, old…)

5) origin (Italian, German…)

6) the material from which it is made (metal, leather ...)

7) what it is intended for (office, computer ...)

For example:

Words that have a special place in a sentence.

If the sentence contains the words:

Showing the frequency of the action (often, never, sometimes, always…)

Then these words must be placed before the semantic verb or after the verb to be or, in the case of a compound verb, after the first verb. For example:

He often goes to the gym.
He often goes to the gym.

He is often tired after work.
He is often tired after work(be tired - to be tired)

You must never do it again.
You will never do this again.

Word order in negative and interrogative English sentences.

I talked about affirmative sentences. Everything is simple with them. But in order to somehow speak English, you need to be able to build negative statements and ask questions. In a negative English sentence, the word order is almost the same, but the questions are built according to a slightly different pattern.

Here is a picture showing all three types of sentences:

In order not to miss new useful materials,

The construction of sentences in English is a painful topic for many, but this material must be well learned, since the sentence is the basis of written and spoken language.

I will immediately make a reservation that in this article we are considering rules for constructing a standard sentence in English. We will not pay attention to elliptical constructions, exclamations, complex inversions and other types of sentences that differ in their form from the standard one. If you know the "skeleton" of an English sentence, you can easily build any phrase.

• Read about non-standard offers in the article "".

What is an English sentence

Each sentence expresses a complete thought. To make the thought look logical and understandable, it is necessary to use certain members of the sentence. Every English sentence has two obligatory elements: the subject is the main character of the sentence (answers the question “who?”, “What?”), the predicate is what the subject does (answers the question “what to do?”).

Subject can be expressed as (I, you, them, everyone, etc.) or (mom, cat, work, apple, etc.). It usually comes first in a sentence. Predicate is expressed (go, write, think, fall, etc.) and follows the subject, that is, it is in second place in the sentence.

• (Who?) They (what did?) thought. - They thought.
• (Who?) The cat (what is he doing?) is coming. - The cat is going.
• (What?) The apple (what will it do?) will fall. - The apple will fall.

Predicate is the most important part of the sentence. Only the predicate can show what is happening, happened or will happen. An English predicate can consist of two elements: the main verb - the "main" verb, which shows what the subject does, and - the verb, which helps to distinguish tenses.

The subject and predicate are the main parts of the sentence. As mentioned above, without them the correct construction of sentences in English is impossible. In addition, there are also secondary members, these include:

• Addition- stands after the predicate and answers any case question, except for questions of the nominative case. Addition is direct and indirect. The direct answers the questions of the accusative case: “whom?”, “What?”; indirect - to all other case questions: “who?”, “what?”, “to whom?”, “what?” etc. As a rule, in a sentence, a direct object comes first, then an indirect one.
  

  I see a girl with him. - I see (who?) girl(with whom?) with him.

  She is reading a book to the children. She is reading (what?) book(to whom?) children.

• Definition- stands next to the subject or object and describes its properties, that is, answers the question “which?”, “Whose?”.
  

  I see a beautiful girl with him. - I see (what?) beautiful girl with him.

  my red cat lies on the window. - (Whose?) My(Which?) ginger the cat lies on the window.

• Circumstance- can be at the beginning or at the end of the sentence, says “where?”, “When?”, “How?”, “Why?” some action has taken place.
  

  My red cat lies on the window. - My red cat lies (where?) on the window.

  Yesterday I saw her with him. - (When?) Yesterday I saw her with him.

  He behaved differently. - He behaved (how?) differently.

Rules for constructing sentences in English

There are two main word orders in English: direct and reverse. Direct is used in affirmative and negative sentences, reverse - in questions.

The English sentence differs from the Russian one in word order. In Russian it is free:

• Mom washed the frame.
• Mom washed the frame.
• Mom washed the frame.

As you can see, from the change in the places of the terms - mothers and frames - the meaning of the sentence has not changed. And in English, all three sentences will be translated as follows:

• mother was washing the frame.

This is because English sentences have a fixed word order. English words cannot "jump" from place to place, as Russians do. The English language is strict and conservative, like the English themselves, it does not like change. Therefore, each type of proposal has its own unbreakable patterns.

Word order in affirmation and negation in English

The direct word order in an English sentence is as follows: the subject comes first, the predicate comes second, and the object comes third. In some cases, circumstance may come first. In an English sentence, the main verb may have an auxiliary verb. But, as you already know, the auxiliary verb is part of the predicate, so even with it the word order remains direct.

Word order in a negative English sentence is also direct. To show negation, we use the particle not, which corresponds to the Russian particle "not". Also, in a negative sentence there is always an auxiliary verb, because it is adjacent to it not, adjoin the main verb not can not.

Word order in a question in English

In a Russian question and statement, the word order can be the same. Only by the intonation of the speaker do we understand that we have been asked a question. In English, a statement and a question look different:

• They live in the city. - They live in the city.
• Do they live in the city? - Do they live in the city?

The English interrogative sentence has a reverse word order. This means that the subject and verb are reversed. But the English language does not like to go far from the direct order, so only part of the predicate, the auxiliary verb, is put in the first place, and the main verb still comes after the subject. Another feature is that in the question the circumstance is not put in the first place.

Short Answers

In oral speech, as a rule, we answer the question briefly. For example, to the question "Do they work in the office?" we will answer “Yes” or “No” rather than repeating the whole phrase: “Yes, they work in the office / No, they do not work in the office.” We manage with a short answer, and such an answer is understandable to the interlocutor.

The English also use short answers. But in English you can't just say Yes/no, such an answer will seem rude and unfriendly. An English short answer must also contain a subject and an auxiliary verb. The subject and auxiliary verb remain those that were in the question, for example:

If the question contains a pronoun you(you, you), so the question is addressed to you. Therefore, you need to answer it on your own behalf, and not on behalf of you:

And now we offer to watch the video from the teacher Minoo. It will tell you about the word order in an English sentence. And at the end of the article, you will find a table with all the proposal schemes that you can download, and a test.

(*.pdf, 200 Kb)

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Test

Word order in English: rules for constructing sentences

Offer – this is a separate statement that has intonation and semantic completeness. A sentence is a word or group of words, organized according to the rules of grammar, that carries a specific message, question, exclamation, or call to action.

• It's raining. - It's raining.
• go outside! - Get outside!
• What are you doing? - What are you doing?

Offers English, as in Russian, depending on how many grammatical bases (combinations of subject and predicate) in the sentence, are divided into simple and complex sentences.

• Simple sentences
• There is my house.- This is my home.
• I have to go to the university.- I have to go to the university.

• Complex sentences
• There is the house where my family lives. This is the house where my family lives.
• I have to go to the university now but I will come back soon. I have to go to the university now, but I will be back soon.

simple sentence(simple sentence) is a sentence that contains only one grammatical basis(one combination of subject and predicate).

• Kate likes dogs. Kate loves dogs.
• We go jogging every Sunday. We go jogging every Sunday.
• They didn't go to school last year. They didn't go to school last year.

Simple sentences for the purpose of the statement

All simple sentences, depending on the purpose of the utterance, can be narrative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory.

Declarative sentences

Declarative sentence(declarative sentence) - a sentence that communicates a certain fact or information in affirmative or negative form. The intonation of such a sentence is mainly descending, direct word order is used (subject before the predicate).

• My name is Paul. - My name is Paul.
• Kate is good at cooking. Kate cooks well.

• I don't like honey. - I don't like honey.
• George hasn't finished his work yet. George has not finished his work yet.

In English, usually There can only be one negative in a sentence, in contrast to the Russian language, where there can be a double negation (using together the particles not, nor negative pronouns, adverbs, etc.).

• I know nothing.- I do not know anything.
• I don't know anything.- I do not know anything.

• We met no one yesterday. We didn't meet anyone yesterday.
• We didn't meet anyone yesterday. We didn't meet anyone yesterday.

Twice no in English it can be used to further strengthen the negation, but this is not common.

• I ain't got no money.- I don't have any money.
• We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control.“We don't need any education, we don't need any thought control.

Interrogative sentences

Imperative sentences

imperative sentence(imperative sentence) - a sentence that encourages the interlocutor to act, that is, it expresses an order, request, command, invitation, etc. These sentences often omit the subject. you(you, you), since it is clear from the context, the verb is used only in the infinitive form without a particle to.

• Watch this!– Look at this!
• Listen to me.- Listen to me.
• Go and buy some bread, please.- Go buy some bread, please.

Sometimes in imperative sentences the pronoun you is not omitted in order to emotionally highlight and reinforce an order or command.

• You sleep now.- You're going to bed now.
• We will rest and you drive. We will rest and you will drive the car.
• I will go to the shop and you stay at home.- I'm going to the store, and you stay at home.

In order to form negative imperative sentence(prohibition or request), the auxiliary verb is always used do in the negative form, even with a verb to be.

• Don't give me orders!- Don't order me!
• Don't touch it, please.- Don't touch it, please.

• Don't be so silly!- Don't be so stupid!
• Oh come on don't be mad.“Oh come on, don’t be mad.

To form an order, a command directed at third parties, the verb is used to let(allow). To let also used to offer help or when asking for permission to do something.

• Let her go.- Let her go. (Let her go.)
• Let him do whatever he wants. Let him do whatever he wants.
• Let the children play with our dog. Let the children play with our dog.

• Let me help you.- Let me help you.
• Let us do this.- Let us do it.

Form let's(short for let us) is used to suggest joint action. In this sense, the full form let us practically not used.

• Let's go for a walk!- Let's go for a walk!
• Let's play football outside. Let's play football outside.
• Let's invite Paul and Janice to the party. Let's invite Paul and Janice to the party.

exclamatory sentences

exclamatory sentence(exclamatory sentence) - a sentence expressing certain emotions or feelings. Often such sentences begin with the words what And how, and end exclamation mark.

IN exclamatory sentences only direct word order is used. However, often a sentence can only consist of one or two words.

• Marvelous! - Wonderful! (also with a hint of sarcasm)
• How wonderful! - How wonderful!
• It's such a beautiful life! - What a beautiful life!
• What a lovely day it is. - What a wonderful day today.

Types of simple sentences by structure

Simple sentences according to their structure (the presence or absence of some members of the proposal) are divided into two-part And one-component, as well as on uncommon And common.

Two-part sentence

Two-member sentence(two-part sentence) - a sentence in which there are both main members of the sentence (subject and predicate), or one of them is omitted, as it is clear from the context or the previous sentence.

• I don't like this book.- I don't like this book.
• We had a lot of fun in Brazil! Swimming in the ocean, drinking cocktails, dancing . We had a lot of fun in Brazil! We swam in the ocean, drank cocktails, danced.

Two-part sentences, in turn, are divided into complete and incomplete. complete sentence(full sentence) - a two-part sentence in which there is both a subject and a predicate.

• The baby was smiling to us. The child smiled at us.
• We've bought a lot of candies for you. We bought you a lot of sweets.
• There was a big party at Caroline's place. Caroline had a big party.

Incomplete sentence(incomplete sentence) - a sentence in which one of the main members of the sentence is missing or both of them, as they are clear from the context. Such sentences are often found in colloquial speech, dialogues.

• Who did that? Mark, of course.- Who did it? Of course Mark.
• What did he do? Nothing at all!- What did he do? Nothing at all!
• What were we doing? Just chilling and talking.– What did we do? They just relaxed and talked.

One-part sentence

One-member sentence(one-part sentence) - a special type of sentence in which there is only one main member of the sentence, and it cannot be unambiguously defined as a noun or a predicate. Sometimes these suggestions are called phrase sentences.

One-part sentences can be expressed using a noun or an infinitive of a verb.

• To be or not to be?- To be or not to be?
• To stay here - alone, forgotten by everyone.– To stay here – alone, forgotten by everyone.
• Spring! Birds singing, the sun shining, flowers in blossom.- Spring! The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming.

Uncommon and Common Suggestions

unextended sentence(non-common sentence) - a sentence in which there are no secondary members of the sentence, but only grammatical basis. Uncommon can be both one-part and two-part sentences.

• Spring. - Spring.
• to live! - Live!
• Don't talk!- Do not chat!
• She is sleeping.- She is sleeping.
• Matt is a student. Matt is a student.

extended sentence(common sentence) - a sentence in which there is one or more minor members of the proposal depending on the subject or predicate.

• beautiful spring!- Beautiful spring!
• Don't talk to me now!- Don't talk to me now!
• My little sister is sleeping upstairs. My little sister sleeps upstairs.
• Matt is not really a good student. Matt is not a very good student.

Knowing how a sentence is constructed in English is a fundamental key to correct English speech. Having well understood the principles of constructing English sentences of various types, you can easily operate with different tenses, ask questions correctly, and speak English faster.

Strict word order in an English sentence

The construction of sentences in English requires clarification due to the dissimilarity of the syntax of English and Russian. For example, The boy was picking berries all day. can be translated in ten ways:

1. The boy was picking berries all day
2. The boy picked berries all day
3. The boy picked berries all day
4. The boy picked berries all day
5. The boy picked berries all day
6. The boy picked berries all day
7. The boy picked berries all day
8. The boy picked berries all day
9. The boy picked berries all day
10. The boy picked berries all day

In English, this will be just one option, where the word order is strictly defined - the subject is followed by the predicate, then the object and circumstance. On the one hand, it seems that such a restriction is annoying, but practice shows that the less room for maneuver, the less the likelihood of error. As a result, it turns out to be easier to build sentences of foreign speech according to a strictly defined scheme than to literally convey ornate Russian thoughts.

The scheme of a typical affirmative English sentence looks like this:

Exception for circumstance

There is one exception to the rule “subject, predicate, and then everything else” - this is a circumstance. In English, it can stand in sentences in four different positions:

Before the subject - adverb of time

Last night she left for Pekin - She left for Beijing last night.

Between the subject and the predicate - the circumstance of the frequency of the action

Marcus seldom eats spinach - Marcus rarely eats spinach.

Between the auxiliary and the main verb of the predicate - the circumstances of the image or time of action (adverbs)

Grant has never been to Penza - Grant has never been to Penza.

And according to the traditional scheme - after the addition, at the end of the sentence.

Flora broke the agreement at once - Flora immediately broke the agreement.

Construction of negative sentences in English

The word order in negative sentences in English differs from affirmative sentences only by the particle NOT. The composition of the predicate in a negative sentence has the form "auxiliary verb + NOT + main verb".

Belinda did not show her impatience - Belinda did not show her impatience.

Construction of interrogative sentences in English

General issues

General questions (requiring a yes or no answer) in English always begin with an auxiliary verb. After it, the word order of the affirmative sentence is preserved.

Did the pupils stand still? Were the students calm?

Special questions

Special questions are clarifying in nature and begin with special "question words". After such a word in a special question, we put an auxiliary verb, and then again we return to the affirmative word order.

Why did the pupils stand still? Why were the students standing still?

Stylistic inversion in English.

The order of words in a sentence in English can change when a special stylistic device is used - inversion (reverse word order). Basically, this is an artistic technique that serves to emotionally highlight some expression or thought.

And came empty days full of misery and despair. - And empty days came, full of suffering and despair.

Training and control.

Despite the fact that there is nothing complicated in the scheme of the English sentence, it is not so easy to introduce this very scheme into the Russian consciousness. We are used to being free with words. After all, thanks to the endings, the order of words in a Russian sentence is not important.

When we learn to speak English, we automatically put English words in the place of Russian ones, often completely distorting the meaning of what we want to say.

To develop the automatism of the correct word order in a sentence in English, you need to build a thought over and over again according to the desired scheme. It is difficult to do this on your own. The lessons of the Lim-English learning site are designed in such a way that the Russian and English versions of the sentences in them almost verbatim match. By completing tasks on the site, you will not only understand how a sentence is built in English, but also quietly bring the skill of correct English speech to automaticity. By the way, you can also meet a rather rare phenomenon of stylistic inversion in Lim-English in beautiful English fairy tales.