Checking word order in English sentences online. Exercises “Word order in sentences” (Word order). Exercises on word order in English sentences
Exercises "Word order in sentences" (Word order)
1 . Put the words in the sentences in order.
usually / at 10 o"clock / out of the garage / in the morning / drives / his bike / Fred
a shower / after dinner / often / Mrs Lewis / takes
a parking place / near the library / we / find / rarely
to / I / on / a / night-club / sometimes / Saturdays / go
fly / my parents / to Australia / sometimes / I / in winter / and
enjoys / very much / swimming / in the pool / always / Mary
hardly / last year / could / skate / I
is / near / house / there / new / a / our / cinema
got / my / problems / I / with / have / home-task / some
well / think / your / very / I / don"t / sister / drives
to / parents / once / the theater / month / my / a / go
his / car / two / ago / Jim / sold / years
necklace / can’t / anywhere / Cindy / her / find
been / to / India / Mike / has / year / already / this
lunch / never / weekdays / she / has / on
2 . Translate.
I rarely watch TV.
It's dark outside and I'll go to bed soon.
They are discussing something very noisily in the bedroom.
He walked slowly along the river.
During lessons we often sing songs.
I quietly closed the door and immediately went to the bathroom.
My uncle loves fishing very much.
Anna can play tennis well.
She yells at the kids all the time.
I will put your books on the table.
I don't know him well enough.
There are a lot of good films on TV today.
There is a beautiful fountain in the park.
Last Tuesday it was very windy.
I bought these shoes in Italy.
3 . Choose the correct word order in the subordinate clauses of the sentences.
Could you tell us what time… (it is – is it – does it)?
Do you know when… (our bus leave – our bus leaves – does our bus leave)?
I wonder if... (he is a doctor – is he a doctor – a doctor is he).
Do you remember what... (did Jane wear – Jane wear – Jane wore) yesterday?
4 . Based on the given words, construct sentences, observing the word order:
1
. she won, easily, the game
2. tennis, every weekend, Ken, plays
3. quietly, the door, I, closed
4. his name, after a few minutes, I, remembered
5. a letter to her parents, Ann, writes, every week
6. some interesting books, found, we, in the library
7. across from the park, they, a new hotel, are building
8. to the bank, I, every Friday, go
9. on Saturday night, didn't see, at the party, you, I
10. brightly, is, shining, sun, the
11. in, lives, my, sister, New York
12. a, became, doctor, good, Mary
13. a, decided, go, on, picnic, to, we
5 . Mark the sentences in which the word order is broken and rearrange them in accordance with the rules: Sample: Tom walks every morning to work. - Tom walks to work every morning.
1. Jim doesn't like very much baseball.
2. Ann drives every day her car to work.
3. When I heard the news, I immediately called Tom. (immediately -straightaway)
4. Maria speaks very well English.
5. After eating quickly my dinner, I went out.
6. You watch all the time television.
7. Liz smokes about 20 cigarettes every day.
8. I think I"ll go early to bed tonight.
9. You should go to the dentist every six months. (should -should)
10. We went last night to the movies.
11. We go every summer to the sea in August.
12. In the evening my parents go to the cinema with their friends.
6 . Correct, if necessary, the location of the subject according to the rule about word order in a sentence.
Curly hair has her brother.
Steve likes cakes.
A bad cold has Jessica.
These exercises I did well.
Exercises for Beginners
Exercise 1.
1. good, I, student, am, a.
2. famous, he, footballer, is a?
3. Mary, very, looks, happy.
4. The dolls, very, are, pretty.
5. clever, she, girl, is, a.
6. Bella, a, is, not, good, cat.
7. sings, well, he.
8. will, rain, it, soon.
9. listened to, teacher, the, they.
10. English, have, they, Wednesday, on.
Exercise 2. Put the words in the correct order.
1. Sunday, went, to the Zoo, we, on.
2. How, do, have, pets, they, many?
3. Not, I, will, see, friend, soon, my.
4. he, what, do, will, weekends, at?
5. Uses, the, at, work, he, computer.
6. does, he, not, know, the girl.
7. English, they, not, do, study.
8. was, I, not, school, at, yesterday.
9. there, many, people, in, the, were, park.
10. at, cinema, the, were, they, week, last.
Exercise 3. Put the words in the correct order.
1. in, town, are, there, houses, a lot of.
2. go, yesterday, they, did, where?
3. country, usually, goes, with, Mary, to, who, the?
4. what, banana, color, is, a?
5. are, leaves, there, on, trees, the, no.
6. there, is, a, dog, door, near, the.
7. snow, it, winter, last, didn’t.
8. book, was, interesting, very, the.
9. can, draw, well, they.
10. we, not, must, eat, on the bus.
Exercise 4. Translate the sentences in Present Simple into English. Do not forget that the word order in English sentence STRAIGHT.
1. I go to work every day.
2. At 7 o'clock I get up.
3. My brother reads in the evening.
4. I speak English well.
5. I love candy!
6. My sister loves dogs.
7. Children play with the dog every day.
Word order in an English affirmative sentence ( declarative) is usually strictly defined. Each member of the sentence has its place. It is very important. The meaning of the sentence changes from the rearrangement of places, since in English there are no cases, there are no changes in verbs by gender and number, and often only the word order shows us what is the subject (SUBJECT), what is the predicate (PREDICATE), and what are the minor members of the sentence — additions (OBJECT), circumstances, etc.
Simple example:
A boy hit a girl. (The boy hit the girl)
A girl hit a boy. (The girl hit the boy)
You see how the meaning has changed dramatically just because the boy and girl have swapped places in the sentence.
The usual word order in an English affirmative sentence with complements
The simplest sentence model with a dot: the subject comes first, followed by the predicate, and then the direct object(direct object), if it exists. The direct object is the object to which the action of the verb extends. This object can be a noun, pronoun, or phrase.
Examples of simple sentences with direct objects. For clarity, highlight in color subject, verb, direct object:
A girl writes a book.(Girl writes a book)
You will bring flowers.(You'll bring flowers)
My sister has got a husband and three children. (My sister has a husband and three children)
The subject is expressed not in one word, but in a phrase. Then this whole phrase is placed before the predicate:
The woman who lives next door called her children.(The woman who lives next door called her children.)
In addition to the direct object, there may be an indirect object ( indirect object) is the recipient of the action. Its place in a sentence depends on whether it has a preposition to or not:
- if there to, then this indirect object is placed after the direct one:
Sonia had written a letter to her mother(Sonya wrote a letter to her mother)
You will bring your flowers to me(You bring me your flowers)
- indirect object without to is placed before the direct object:
Linda will bring him a book(Linda will bring him a book)
The place of adverbs in an English affirmative sentence
Adverbs ( adverbs), which can be expressed either as a single word or as a phrase, can appear in three places.
- Before the subject:
At the bottom of the stairs there were two doors. (There were two doors at the top of the stairs)
Then, on day in September, an unusual customer came into the bank(Then, one day in September, an unusual client came to the bank).
Yesterday we went to the cinema(Yesterday we went to the cinema) - After objects or a predicate that does not require direct objects(almost any adverb can be placed in this place):
The shop opened on Monday, 22nd February, 1965 . (The store opened on Monday, February 22, 1965)
Mr Smith brought lots of flowers yesterday. (Mr. Smith brought a lot of flowers yesterday) - After the auxiliary or, but before the main verb of the compound predicate(usually these are adverbs of frequency or time):
Marsha has already been to Moscow. (Marsha has already been to Moscow).
The stars can sometimes be seen from heavy and dense clouds.(Stars may sometimes be visible through heavy and dense clouds)
Adverbs of frequency ( adverbs of frequency)
Adverbs of frequency occupy a privileged position in a sentence. Usually nothing breaks the connection between the subject and the predicate, as well as between the predicate and the object, but this does not apply to, such as: never, often, always.... However, it is more natural to use them in the middle of the predicate:
I sometimes write him letters. (I sometimes write letters to him)
Olga always brings up her husband to work(Olga always gives her husband a ride to work).
He has sometimes given me a flower. (He sometimes gave me a flower).
There are exceptions to almost every rule. Masters of the English word sometimes rearrange words in places not according to the rules, in order to emphasize certain points. However, in this article we will not consider these exceptions.
Secondary members of the sentence
The word order in an English sentence also applies to other minor members of sentences that show the place, time, methods and reasons for an action. Their sequence can be schematically depicted as follows:
Example : Tom ate breakfast on the train (where) this morning (when) because he was late (why).
It is in this order that this sentence will sound natural.
If these elements consist of several parts, then they are usually arranged in order: from smallest to largest. Let's consider two examples, in one of which the element when consists of several parts, and in the other there is an element where:
The bank opened at 9 am on Monday last week. (The bank opened at 9am on Monday last week) - hour, day, week.
They live in a house in a village in Russia. (They live in a house in a village in Russia) - first the house, then the village, then the country - from small to large.
Exercises on word order in English sentences
Put the words in the correct order to make an affirmative sentence.
- Paul / never / has / her / met.
- bill / somebody / paid / the.
- do / work / for / going / to / your / I’m / you.
- the library / take / I / the / book / will / today / to.
- weather / while / were / the / was / away / cold / we.
- children / the / time / beach / the / had / at / a / great.
- am / I / sleep / on / all / to / day / going / Saturday.
- arrived / ago / ten / to / they / minutes / station / the.
- hour / travel / good / during / the / a / it’s / rush / not / idea / to.
- send / to / decided / friend / to / a / Martin / letter / his.
- people / standing / to / the / into / are / these / a / in / queue / get / cinema.
- station / to / time / she / to / got / train / the / the / the / just / to / catch / airport / in.
Word order in an English declarative sentence... 4
Noun ……………………………………………………… 5
Article……………………………………………………...... 6
Pronoun……………………………………………………….. 7
Some, any, no…………………………………………....................... 8
Many, much, few, little ……………………………………………………………… 9
Adjective ……………………………………………………. 10
Numeral………………………………………………………..12
Prepositions………………………………………………………..12
“to be”………………………………………………………………...14
‘There+be’……………….……………………………………………15
“to be, to do, to have” …………………………………………………15
“have/have got” ……………………………………………………….17
Verb tenses in the active voice………………………………...18
Verb tenses in the passive voice………………………………26
Modal verbs and their equivalents……………………………. 28
Types of interrogative sentences …………………………… 32
Communion ……………………………………………………………………………… 33
Participial phrases…………………………………………….. 35
Gerund. Gerundial turnover ………………………………… 36
Infinitive. Infinitive phrases…………………………….. 37
Coordination of times……………………………………………………….. 39
Direct and indirect speech……………………………………………. 40
Conditional sentences……………………………………………. 42
STOP & CHECK YOURSELF………………………………………………………. 44
To table 1 :Word order in English
declarative sentence
Exercise 1.
Is, a, table, book, on, there, the. 2
Library, very, is, good, our.
Are 35, pupils, class, our, in, there.
Like, I, read, to, books.
She, to, goes, Pete, with, school.
Study, in, we, winter.
In, room, is, there, telephone, my, a.
Visit, uncle, to, went, to, his, Pavel, Moscow.
They, with, play, Saturday, every, basket ball, friends, their?
He, fond, always, English, he, because, is, well, language, of, this, knows.
Datum, blackboard, was, this, on, formula, the, of, there, this.
Usually, it, me, to get, takes, my, an hour, to, office.
There, any, are, on, the blackboard, figures.
A picture, there, over, the bookcase, is?
Countries, the, metric system, European, use, most, now.
This, the, to, have, no, I, to, time, gym, go, afternoon.
Winning, players, a lot of, among, team, has, of, friends, he.
Farmers, club, built, last, students, new, for, year, collective.
See, cinema, time, to, go, I, new, the, have, when, free, the, the, film, to, I.
There, are, United, situated, the, Atlantic, States, the Pacific, between, Oceans, and.
Will, a, be, laboratory, in, there, this, next, room, year.
Had, our, finished, we, experiment?
Are of, full, news, newspapers, our, interesting, USA, about, the.
In winter, study, we, and, in summer, rest.
A library, we, at, have, very, school, good, our.
Many, factories, are, at, there, town, our.
Friend, Donetsk, studies, my, at, University, the, in.
Is, for, friend, this, letter, your, I, which, received, yesterday.
To, Victor, four, wrote, days, a, his, letter, ago, friend.
See, often, we, library, them, our, at, local.
Morning, at, o’clock, in, usually, up, woke, the, six.
10. The, is, the best, famous, one, museums, world, the, in, British, of, museum.
To table 2:
Noun
Exercise 1. Select correct form plural of a noun
1. a school (A – schools, B – schools, C – school); 2. a sheep (A – sheep, B – sheeps, C – sheepes); 3. news (A – newes, B – newses, C – news); 4. a child (A – childs, B – children, C – childrens); 5. a baby (A – babys, B – babies, C – babis); 6. money (A – money, B – moneys, C – moneis);7. A goose (A – gooses, B – geeses, C – geese); 8. advice ( A–
advice, B – advices, C – advicis); 9. a handkerchief ( A–
handkerchiefs, B – handkerchieves, C – handkerchievs); 10. foot (A – feet, B – feets, C– feet); 11. sugar (A – sugas, B – sugars, C – sugar); 12. hair (A–hairs, B–hair, C–haires); 13. A box (A – box, B – boxes, C – box); 14. information (A – informations, B – information, C – informationes); 15. a housewife (A – housewives, B – housewifs, C – housewives).
Task 2. Choose the form of the noun in the possessive case. .
1. The tooth of my little brother 2. The toys of my sister
A. My brother"s little tooth; A. My sister"s toys
B.My little brother"s tooth B.My sisters" toys
C. My tooth "s little brother C. The toys" my sister
3. The wages of my father 4. The text-book of my friend
A. Father "s my wages; A. My friends" text-book
B. Wages" my father B. My friend"s the textbook
C. My father's wages C. My friend's text-book
5. The people of this country. 6. The goods of that office.
A. This country's people; A. That office's goods;
B. These people"s country; B. That offices" goods
C. Country"s these people. C. The goods" that office
7. The instruments of his father. 8. The children of my aunt.
A. His father's instruments; A. My aunts" children;
B. His instrument"s father; B. Children"s my aunt;
C. The father's instruments. C. My aunt's children.
9. The geese of my Granny. 10. The trousers of those boys.
A. Geese"s my Granny; A. Those boys"s trousers;
B. My Granny "s geese; B. Those boys" trousers;
C. My geese "s Granny. C. The trousers" those boys.
TO
table
3:
Article
Exercise 1. Place the indefinite, definite or zero articles before the following nouns and phrases.
House, ... Petrovs, my ... sister, ... butter, ... knowledge, ... Asia, ... Caucasus, ... Apennines, much ...water, by ... tram, ... Transvaal, any ... pen, ... sugar, ...
Bermudas, ... milk, in ... morning, at... school, on ... right, by day, to go to ...
bed, to tell... time, ... sun, at... time, to have ... cold, ... tea, ... Azores, ... Black Sea, .... snow,... British Channel,... Australia,... Doctor Brown, that ... boy, ... Professor Pavlov, ... coal, ... Titanic, ... I Geography , some ... books, ... music, ... Pacific Ocean, this I... dictionary,... Rostov (hotel), ... Paris, little ... milk, ... moon, . .. best boy, ... second lesson, ... United States of America,... Scotland,... Appalachians,... America,... Florida, ... Bahamas, ... Rocky Mountains, ... Alaska, ... Sunday Times.
Task 2. Choose the required article instead of the blanks: A – a; В – аn; C – the, D – (zero article)
A. Common nouns
1. You"ve got... cold. Stay at... home and have... apple. 2. Give me your... pen, please. This... pen is bad. 3. What"s. .. time? Oh, it's high time to train and play ... piano. 4. To tell ... truth, I am not ready for ... lesson. 5. In ... spring we like to go for ... walk in ... park. 6. Come to see me ... day after tomorrow in ... evening. 7. We had ... good time on ... board ... ship this ... summer. 8 .As...result of our
... walk we "ve got ... lot of beautiful autumn ... leaves. 9. Don"t be in ... hurry, take your ... seat and tell me about... school. 10. Take ... care of your sister, she has ... bad headache.
B. Proper nouns
1. On ... Wednesday ... Times published an article about the events in ... Caucasus. 2. ... United Kingdom includes ... Great Britain and ... Northern Ireland. 3. ... English Channel is between ... England and ... France. 4. My father is from ... Ukraine. He was born in the town of Cherkassy on ... Dnieper river. 5. ... USA is the fourth largest country in the world after ... Russia, ... Canada and ... Republic of ... China. 6. ... Lena is ... longest river in ... Siberia. 7. My relatives live in ... Crimea, not far from ... Black Sea. 8. Sometimes on ... Sundays we enjoy a wonderful journey on board ... “Ivan Polsunov” along ... Don. 9. Show me ... Canary Islands and ... Azores on this map. 10. ... Browns speak ... Russian very well because they often visit... Moscow and other cities of ... Russia.
TO
table
4:
Pronouns
Exercise 1. Translate into English the possessive and reflexive pronouns in brackets.
1. This is (our) Institute. 2. These are (their) drawings. 3. I don’t know where I have put (my) pencil. 4. I don’t know where is (my) pencil. 5.Give me (your) pen, please. 6. She must write (your) translation. 7. He wants to read (his) translation and the y will read (your) translation. 8. He has no idea where (his) ticket is. 9. I shall give him (my) ticket as I don’t want to go to the cinema. 10. Here is the table I want to show you; one of (his) legs is broken. 11. I gave her (his) book. 12. We shall give them (our) tools. 13. I’ll do this (myself). 14. The experiment (myself) was very important.
Task 2..
1. I often meet (his, him) in the reading-room. 2. Will you give (I, me) your text-book, please? 3. I received a letter from (she, her). 4. We saw (they, them) in the theater. 5. Give me (you, your) ball-point-pen (ballpoint pen), please. 6. (Me, my) sister teaches (them, their) mathematics. 7. (Our, us) students were present at the lecture. 8. (Many, much) students were present at the lecture. 9. He reads (little, few). 10. She spends (many, much) time on this kind of work.
Task 3. Open the brackets by choosing the correct form of the pronoun .
1. I used (her, hers) bicycle; (my, mine) is broken. 2. I recognize you but I have forgotten (your, yours) name. 3. (Your, yours) suitcase is bigger than (our, ours). 4. (Their, theirs) dog ate their dinner. 5. Is this bicycle (your, yours)? No, it's John's. 6. Is this one (our, ours)? I'm not sure. 7. This is (my, mine) typewriter. 8. That is (her, hers) problem. 9. Those glasses are (my, mine). 10. Are these (your, yours) shoes? No, they are (their, theirs). 11. Show (we, our, us) these pictures, we like (their, them, they). 12. Whose books are these? They are (we, us, our) books. 13. Look at the picture, (it, it’s, she) beautiful. 14. Come to see (my, I, me) today. 15. His sister likes to read (she, her, his) books on history. She reads (they, them, their) after classes. 16. Help (I, my, me) with this translation, please (he, it, his) is difficult. I cannot do it without (you, your) help. 17. Ivanova is (our, we, us) teacher of English. (She, her, it) is not old. 18. Read the text, please. (He, she, it) is easy. 19. This letter is from (his, he, him). 20. I am going to (he, him, his) sister.
Task 4. Open the brackets by putting the personal and possessive pronouns given below in the correct form.
A.Singular pronouns : my, me, mine, his, his, her, hers, it, its.
1. Give (me) (ee) book to read. (My) - is not interesting. 2. Are these (his) text-books? No, they are (her). 3. Show (me) (him) magazine, please. 4. (His) sister is here, and where is (mine)? 5. Give (to him) (his) pen. He likes to write with (her). (She) is always with (him). 6. Please, help (me) to write a report for (him). (He) needs (in him) for tomorrow. 7. (This) is not (his) key. (He) is (her). 8. Give (to me) (her) photo and I’ll give (to you) (mine). 9. I asked (her) to help (him) to do (his) home-task. 10. Is (it) (its) map? (I) am not sure. (I) think, (she) is (him).
B. Plural pronouns : we, us, our, ours, you, your, yours, they, them, their, theirs.
1. (We) are (their) relatives, not (yours). 2. Show (to us) (our) new teacher. 3. Whose girl is this? The girl is (ours). 4. Are the boys (your) friends? No, (they) are (their) friends. 5. All (your) suitcases are in (their) car. Take (them). 6. What is (your) address? (Their) is the same. (They) live not far from (you). 7. How long are (you) waiting for (us)? 8. (We) asked (them) to live with (us) at (our) summer cottage. 9. Where are (their) glasses? Show (them) to (us). 10. We know (them) very well. (They) are the friends of (ours).
To tables 4.2-4.4: SOME, ANY, NO and their derivatives
Exercise 1. Fill in the blanks with pronouns SOME or ANY.
a. 1. There are ____ photographs in the cupboard. 2. Here are ____ lines from a poem by Wordsworth. 3. There aren’t ____ good films on this week. 4. Don’t take ____ tablets this evening. 5. They’re building ____ new houses in the next street. 6. I don’t have ____ clean shirts. 7. Please buy ____ stamps for me on your way to work. 8. I met ____ old friends at the station yesterday. 9. I won’t leave ____ windows open tonight. 10. She hasn’t written ____ interesting books recently.
b. 1. We wanted to make ____ sandwiches but we found we hadn’t got ____ bread. 2. I left ____ meat on the table and the dog ate it while I was out. 3. He got out his pen to sign the check but there wasn’t ____ ink in it. 4. Please fetch me ____ dry wood to get the fire started. 5. The expansion plans sounded wonderful, but unfortunately the company didn’t have ____ money to pay for them. 6. Don’t leave ____ food in the refrigerator when you go away on holiday. 7. At the concert last night they played ____ music I had never heard before. 8. To try to save money, the firm bought ____ secondhand machinery at a sale. 9. You haven’t done ____ work so you can’t expert ____ pay. 10. ____ French wine is quite sweet.
c. 1. Let me give you ____ advice about learning a language. 2. Try to do ____ studying every day. 3. Even when you think you don’t have ____ time, try and find ten minutes, and learn ____ words. 4. ____ people think that learning a language is something we can do without ____ difficulty. 5. We know that there isn’t ____ truth in that idea. 6. You have to do ____ hard work, or you won’t make ____ progress. 7. With the linguaphone course we’ve tried to make even the hard work enjoyable. 8. So you won’t forget ____ of the exercises, will you?
d. 1. I see…bread. Why haven’t you bought…, Nick? – I had... time to do it. 2. Have … soup, Helen. - No, thank you. I had… soup at dinner. I don't want…more. 3. Were there... mistakes in your paper? – Yes, there were... (No, there weren’t….). 4. Will there be ... concert after the meeting? – No, there won’t be... concert. 5. Why didn’t they give us … postcards to send?
Task 2. Choose the correct option .
For example :
I'd like some/any tea please.
1. I’m sorry, Sir, but we haven’t got any/no
fish. 2. Natalya ate some toasts/toast
but I didn't have any. 3. There's/There are
some cheese on the table. 4. I didn't give Fiona an/any
apple. 5. We had some/any
hot chocolate last night before we went to bed. 6. They didn't see some/any
bread in the market. 7. Oh dear, there's no/any
milk. 8. I haven't got it some/any
money for new clothes.
^ MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE
The word order in English and Russian is often compared, arguing that in the latter you can arrange words as God pleases. This makes the language easier to use. It seems like at least one less headache. I agree that in the Russian language there is something to think about even without this, but I know for sure that there is a certain word order in it, but it is not obvious to us. I am not a specialist in Russian philology and cannot say anything about this. But, in general, my experience of studying Chinese language, in which the word order “needs to be felt,” tells me that it is easier when the language still has a clearly established word order. At least you are confident in the structure of your sentence, in your subject and predicate, and in the fact that you have accurately formulated the question or negation. English has given us a great gift in the form of a certain word order. This language is mathematics. You are given a formula, you substitute your variables x and y. The end result is a sentence that is understandable to your listeners and conveys your thoughts.
I. Word order in an affirmative sentence
| Subject | Predicate | Indirect addition | Direct object | Prepositional complement | Place | Time |
| I | will tell | you | a story | about my father | at school | tomorrow. |
| He | gave | the book | to Catherine | in a cafe | last month. | |
| Joanna | was thinking | about you | last night. | |||
| Bred | has been reading | a newspaper | in the hall. |
*Direct object– direct object, analogue of our accusative case. Indicates the object on which the action is performed. The addition answers the question “who?/what?” For example:
The ball hit her. – Who did the ball hit? – Her (direct object).
He is making pancakes. – What is he making? – Pancakes (direct object).
Indirect object– indirect addition. Not used without a direct object. Indicates the recipient of the indirect object. For example:
He bought her flowers. (Who did he buy flowers for? - for Mom.)
They told me the news. John is writing her a letter. She gave her boyfriend a present.
Object of preposition- prepositional object. Attached to a verb using a preposition. For example:
Be careful with fire. (with fire -prepositional complement)
She wrote a book about the war. (about the war –prepositional complement)
Note that the word order, starting with the indirect object, is maintained in negative and interrogative sentences. Therefore, in the future I will simply call them “the remaining members of the sentence.”
II. Word order in a negative sentence
Verb TO BE in Present Simple and Past Simple
Other verbs and tenses
III. Word order in a question sentence
Interrogative sentences with the verb TO BE in Present Simple and Past Simple
Interrogative sentences with an auxiliary verb
| Question word (if any) | Auxiliary | Subject | Semantic verb | Other members of the sentence |
| Do | you | work | at weekends? | |
| What | is | he | doing | in the kitchen? |
| What books | did | your grandfather | use to read | when was he young? |
| Where | can | I | find | information about it? |
| Why | haven't | you | spoken | to him yet? |
Interrogative sentences without an auxiliary verb
If in a question the interrogative word is also the subject, then the word order is maintained as in the statement.
IV. Word order in subordinate clauses
The word order in subordinate sentences is direct, which is especially important when using indirect speech. Compare:
“Do you love me?” I asked. -> I asked if she loved me.
“What are you going to do next?” she asked. -> She asked what I was going to do next.
V. Position of adverbs in an English sentence
Adverbs of frequency (often, always, rarely, never, hardly ever, sometimes, usually etc.) located before the semantic verb, but after the verb TO BE:
I often go to the cinema. I don't often go to the cinema. Do you often go to the cinema?
He is usually happy to see me. He isn't usually happy to see me. Is he usually happy to see me?
In compound predicates:
I have never been to China. Have you ever been to China?
I will always love you. Will you always love me?
Usually, normally, occasionally and sometimes can be rearranged to the beginning or end of a sentence.