English Grammar

Order of Words in a Sentence

To make meaningful sentences we need to arrange words in a particular order. The usual order of words in an English sentence is as follows:

Subject

In an affirmative sentence, the subject usually comes before the verb.

• She is my friend. (Subject – she, verb – is)
• It is my bag. (Subject – it, verb – is)
• The dog barked. (Subject – dog, verb – barked)

Interrogative sentences usually begin with an auxiliary verb followed by the subject.

• Is she your friend? (Auxiliary verb – is, subject – she)
• Is it your bag? (Auxiliary verb – is, subject – it)
• Did the dog bark? (Auxiliary verb – did, subject – dog)

Object

The object usually comes after the verb.

• He killed the snake. (Subject – he, verb – killed, object – snake)
• I love my mother. (Subject – I, verb – love, object – mother)

When there are two objects, the indirect object (which usually denotes a person) usually comes before the direct object (thing).

• She brought me a cup of coffee. (Indirect object – me, direct object – cup of coffee)
• I told them a story. (Indirect – them, direct – story)

Adjective

When an adjective is used attributively, it comes before the noun it qualifies.

• Few children came.
• She is a beautiful girl.
• He is a lazy boy.

When an adjective is used predicatively, it comes after the verb.

• She is beautiful.
• He is lazy.

Adverb

An adverb is usually placed close to the word it modifies.

• He is a rather lazy boy. (Here the adverb rather modifies the adjective lazy.)
• I was pleasantly surprised. (Here the adverb pleasantly modifies the verb surprised.)

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