L I
G
Basic
N
E
S H
Sentence
Patterns
By Elisna Huan
Study the following sentences carefully!
1. A dog barks
2. Tigers eat flesh
3. John gave Mary a book
4. They call the boy coward
5. A penguin is a bird
6. We voted him president
Subject Verb Object
adverb
adjective
1st PATTERN
SUBJECT + Intransitive VERB
• A dog INTRANSITIVE
• The
barksbirds VERB:
is a verb that
• fly
She smiles occurs
without a
• The wind direct object.
An adverb such as:
adverb of time, adverb of place, adverb of manner
and adverb of frequency may be added to this
pattern
Adv of Adv of
Adv of Adv of
PLACE FREQUENCY
TIME MANNER
Here, Fast, always,
Tonight, frequently,
There, quickly,
Now, hardly ever,
everywhere, loudly, hard
Later, never,
above, out, Happily,
Soon occasionally,
at home, in Wisely,
Right now, often, rarely,
a house, on fully,
Yesterday, seldom,
a table, fluently,
Tomorrow, sometimes,
upstairs easily,
Last week, usually
beautifully
Next month
The three types of adverbs (time, place and
manner) are usually placed at the end of the
pattern
Subject Intransitive Adv of Adverb of Adv of
verb Place Manner Time
Fish swim in the - -
water
A horse runs - fast -
Bats come out - - at night
The play In the happily everyday
boys field
Adverb of frequency on the other hand
normally occurs before the main verb
SUBJECT Adverb of Intransitive
Frequency Verbs
A dog usually barks
A mouse never fly
Fish always swim In the
water
2st
PATTERN
SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT
• Alfred collects
• stamps
I saw them
• She likes you
• The proffesor is
teaching statistics
Like pattern 1, this pattern may be enlarged by adding
adverbial elements such as adverb of manner, time
place and frequency
SUBJECT Adv of VERB OBJECT ADV of
Frequency PLACE/
MANNER/
TIME
The often study English In the room
students
She usually writes notes Quickly
The reads newspaper everyday
lecturer
3rd PATTERN
SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT 1 + OBJECT 2
• He gave me the
book bought Mery a
• Martin
• flower
My students sent me a present
INDIRECT DIRECT
OBJECT OBJECT
He gave me the book
He gave the book to me
Jim bought Mery a flower
Jim bought a flower for Mery
4th PATTERN
SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + OBJECT
+ OBJECT COMPLIMENT
• She wants her hair
red Adjective
• They call Jimmy a
coward NOUN
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT NOUN as OBJECT
COMPLIMENT
They call him a coward
We appointed [Link] president
He finds politics an interesting subject
I believe that girl a genius
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADJECTIVE as
OBJECT COMP.
They found their home strange
Maria wants her hair short
The lawyer proves the man Innocent
The sun makes the sky red
3rd PATTERN
SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + SUBJECT
• His name is Alfred
• Alfred is sick
• Alfred is in the hospital
SUBJECT LINKING VERB NOUN as SUBJECT
COMPLIMENT
My name is Bobby
Those men Are Teachers
Her cousin Will became A doctor
SUBJECT LINKING VERB ADJECTIVE as SUBJECT
COMPLIMENT
Alfred is Sick
He looks Very pale
SUBJECT LINKING VERB ADVERB as SUBJECT
COMPLIMENT
The Professor was In Kupang yesterday
Alfred is In the hospital
Thank
You