Author: Jyoti

Basic Sentence Patterns

Basic Sentence Patterns

To learn a language (in our case English), at the preliminary stage, it helps if we know the Basic Sentence Patterns. And if we are able to make Basic Sentences, transformation becomes easy i.e. from Affirmative (Positive) to Negative and Interrogative (Question), Active to Passive or Simple to Compound and Complex (use of more than one finite verbs).

Note – A Finite Verb has a tense and has a subject with which it agrees in number and person; e.g. sleep is finite in the sentence Babies sleep most of the time and looks is finite in the sentence The old man looks ill. But go in the sentence She wants to go is non-finite as it has no variation of tense and does not have a subject.

Most of the English Subject-and-Predicate sentences are built on the following principles. The Sentence has a framework consisting of Subject, Verb and Whatever Completer(s) – Direct Object, Indirect Object, and Complement. They come in a fixed word order. Let’s study them with the help of examples:

  1. Subject + Verb(S + V) – Cats mew.
  2. Subject + Verb + Complement(S + V + C) – Cats are animals.
  3. Subject +Verb + Direct Object(S + V + O) – Cathy likes cats.
  4. Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object(S + V +I +O) – Cathy gives them milk.
  5. Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement(S + V + O + O/C) – Milk makes them fat.

In the first sentence- Cats mew(S+V) – ‘mew’ is an intransitive verb i.e. it does not need/take a Direct Object to complete its meaning. Let us look at some more examples based on this pattern:

  1. Birds fly.
  2. The peacock danced.
  3. Stars twinkle.
  4. The sun shines.

The verbs used in these sentences are intransitive verbs as they do not take an object. But we can expand these sentences by adding an adverbial (Adv.) or prepositional phrase (PP) or a time element (TE).

  1. Birds fly in the sky. (PP)
  2. The peacock danced beautifully. (Adv.)
  3. Stars twinkle at night. (TE)
  4. The sun shines brightly. (Adv.)

Let us look at some more sentence patterns:

  • Subject + Verb (be- type and become- type) + Noun

Be-type verbs – am, is, are, was, were.

Some become- type verbs – look, remain, turn, and continue.

  1. I am a teacher.
  2. Thomas is a doctor.
  3. They are students.
  4. He was a gentleman.
  5. They were friends.
  6. Julia became an actress.
  • Subject + verb (be-type and become-type) + Adjective

Become-type verbs for this pattern – look, seem, appear, become, taste, turn, sound, smell.

  1. Sheena is honest.
  2. Models are pretty.
  3. William appeared handsome.
  4. The crowd turned nasty.
  • Subject + Verb (be-type) + Adverbial
  1. Ron is here.
  2. They are upstairs.
  3. Nobody is there.
  4. The students are in the class.
  • Subject + Verb (have-type) + Noun

Have-type Verbs – have, has, had, cost, resemble, etc.

  1. Mr. Gibson had a red car.
  2. She resembles her mother.
  3. They own a beautiful bungalow.
  4. Susan has a good sense of humour.
  • It + Verb (be-type) + Time/Atmosphere/ Weather/Distance etc.
  1. It is five O’clock.
  2. It is cold.
  3. It is raining.
  4. It is hundred Kms. from here.

Kinds of Sentences

Kinds of Sentences

Those that make statements or assertions – Assertive Sentences.

    Assertive Sentences can be Affirmative (Positive) or Negative; e.g

    1. Mary is an intelligent girl.
    2. Betty did not break the glass.
    3. Brad plays football.
    4. He does not like to study.

    Those that ask Questions – Interrogative Sentences; e.g.

      1. What is your name?
      2. How old are you?
      3. Where do you live?
      4. Are you going to the market?

      Those that express commands, advice, requests – Imperative Sentences; e.g.

        1. Stand up. (Command)
        2. Don’t smoke. (Prohibition)
        3. Please get me a glass of water. (Request)
        4. Exercise daily to stay fit. (Advice)

        Those that express strong emotion/sudden feeling – Exclamatory Sentences; e.g.

          1. What a beautiful baby!
          2. Isn’t it lovely!
          3. Oh! What a disaster.
          4. Alas! He is no more.

          The Sentence – Subject and Predicate

          The Sentence

          We use words to form Sentences. But any group of words cannot be called a Sentence.

          A Sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense/has clear and full meaning.

          For  e.g.

          1. The boy closed the door.
          2. A cow gives milk.
          3. C hildren like sweets.
          4. She sat in a corner.
          5. My name is Tom.
          6. Jerry is a doctor.
          7. A cat is a pet animal.
          8. Minnie goes to school everyday.
          9. A baker sells bread.
          10. Sam broke a cup.

          A Sentence always begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop(.), an exclamation mark(!) or a question mark(?).

          A  Sentence has two parts – the Subject and the Predicate.

          The person or thing we speak about is the Subject. The Subject is a Noun, a Noun Phrase or a Pronoun.

          In the above sentences the words in bold italics – The boy, A cow, Children, She, My name, Jerry, A cat, Minnie, A baker, Sam, are Subjects.

           We are saying something about them (the Subject) in the other part of the sentence.

          What we say about the subject is the Predicate – closed the door, gives milk, like sweets, sat in a corner, is Tom, is a doctor, is a pet animal, goes to school everyday, sells bread, broke a cup, are Predicates.

          Always remember the Predicate begins with the Verb.

          Learn English

          Learn English

           English, today, has achieved the status of the global language – it is the international link language. Those who know this language have abundant opportunities these days. Knowledge of English and Computers open avenues in various fields especially the customer service based areas, such as the BPO industry, call industries , aviation and hospitality industry ,fast food chains, travel and tourism related organizations, marketing, sales and client servicing units, radio, television and print media, banking and IT sectors etc. There are jobs galore if you know this language English.

          The importance of spoken English in our day-to-day lives is undeniable. The skill of speaking English with a good degree of fluency and intelligibility can bring personal success and career advancement to you. Moreover if you want to tap international business opportunities, contribute to the economy of your state/country, you should let go your prejudice or fear of the language and master it.

          Speak Well

          Speak Well

          In his play Pygmalion (1913), George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), emphasizes the importance of correct speech and pronunciation. He shows how a common flower girl can pass off as a duchess by transforming her manner of speech. Although it takes much more than proper pronunciation and enunciation to pass off as a duchess, the message is very clear – Speech is a very important aspect of one’s personality – it makes or mars one’s chances in life.

          Henry Higgins, the professor of phonetics in Shaw’s play gives rigorous training in English elocution to Eliza and at the end of the play we find her running a prosperous florist’s and greengrocer’s business with her husband Freddy Hill.

          We have to keep this message in our mind in today’s highly competitive world. We should realize the importance of proper communication. Newspapers today are full of advertisements which demand candidates with good command over English. To gain proficiency in English, two things are very essential:

          1. What to say?
          2. How to say it?

          The first deals with the content and the structure. This will come with exposure to the language and practice. The more you hear, listen to, read and speak, the more confidently you will use the language.

           

          The second deals with proper pronunciation and enunciation i.e. proper refinement of speech sounds and manners. For this you should be:

          1. Aware of the sounds of English.
          2. You should use the right sound at the right place.
          3. You should have control over your rate of speech.

          If you know all this , it is good, But if you don’t, then do not waste your time. These skills can be acquired with proper training and practice.