Word Order & Sentence Patterns PDF

## Word order and sentence patterns ### Before you start 1. **Read the conversation. Look at the highlighted grammar examples.** * **TESS** Hi, Phil. What's that you're reading? * **PHIL** Hi. It's *Time Magazine* - it's a really interesting article about the Burj Khalifa - a building in...

## Word order and sentence patterns ### Before you start 1. **Read the conversation. Look at the highlighted grammar examples.** * **TESS** Hi, Phil. What's that you're reading? * **PHIL** Hi. It's *Time Magazine* - it's a really interesting article about the Burj Khalifa - a building in Dubai. * **TESS** I'll show you a photo of it. Amazing, isn't it? * **PHIL** Wow! How tall is it? * **TESS** It's over 800 metres tall, and it's now the tallest building in the world. There are *more than 160 floors* in it. It makes me dizzy just to look at it! * **ANDY** I've heard of it. Who designed it? * **PHIL** I think it was designed by an American architect. * **TESS** What's it for? Offices, maybe? * **PHIL** Well, it's got offices, apartments, a hotel, a restaurant ... everything. * **TESS** It's so tall - I can't imagine the feeling at the top. Have you ever been to the top of a really tall building, Andy? * **ANDY** Yes, I have. I've been to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, but that's only 450 metres tall. * **TESS** What's it like? * **ANDY** Well, it's difficult to describe. You can feel it moving in the wind. * **TESS** It sounds exciting! 2. **Now read the sentences and choose the correct words in italics. The highlighted grammar examples will help you.** 1. Marianne and Jim showed *to us/us* their holiday photos. 2. Don't talk to your father *like that/that! It makes him angry/to feel angry.*. 3. 'Is the class full?' 'Well, *there is/are* already twenty students on the register.' 4. It was difficult *find/to find* anything in the sales. The shops were crowded. 5. It's really sunny. Have you *put/You have put* the washing out? 6. 'Has Jeremy started playing in the band yet?' 'Yes, *he's/he has*.' 7. I've got a spare cup of coffee. *Who is/for is* it *for?*. 8. Who *phoned/did phone* you at six this morning? 9. The mountain we climbed was 1,000 metres high/*high 1,000 metres* 10. I hear you've just been on a Caribbean cruise. *What did it like/was it like*? 3. **Check your answers below. Then go to the unit for more information and practice.** ### Word order in statements 1. **Subject + verb + object/complement** Word order is important in English because it helps us understand the meaning of a sentence. The basic order in statements is subject + verb + object. The subject and object are usually pronouns or noun phrases, and the object is a different thing/person from the subject: | Subject | Verb | Object | |---|---|---| | The gallery | contains | an important collection of paintings. | 2. **Subject + verb + object + complement** Some verbs (e.g. make, call, consider) can be followed by an object AND a complement The object is usually a person and the complement is usually an adjective: | Subject | Verb | Object | Complement | |---|---|---|---| | The museum | has made | people | interested (in Bilbao). | | The teacher | called | me | stupid. | | We all | considered | her behaviour | really rude. | 3. **Subject + verb + (object / complement) + adverbial** An adverbial can be a one-word adverb or a phrase that often starts with a preposition. Adverbials answer questions such as How? When? and Where? They usually come after the verb (or after the object or complement if there is one): > The guests arrived yesterday. > The Guggenheim Museum is an art gallery in the north of Spain. 4. **Subject + verb + that clause** A lot of verbs expressing thoughts and speech ( (e.g. think, believe, say, complain, know, promise) are followed by *that* + a clause: | Subject | Verb | that Clause | |---|---|---| | He | believes | that children should be more polite. | | The staff in the company | complained | that their jobs were in danger. | 5. **Subject + verb + object + object** Some verbs can have an indirect object (usually a person) as well as a direct object (usually a thing): | Subject | Verb | Indirect Object (person) | Direct Object (thing) | |---|---|---|---| | Jonathan | bought | his wife/her | a gold ring. | | Panasonic | didn't offer | Chris/him | the job. | | The local baker | made | Andy and me/us| a wedding cake. | 6. **Adverbials and word order** Adverbials usually come at the end of the sentence: > The National Gallery is in the centre of London. There was no snow last winter. We usually put adverbials in this order if there is more than one in a statement: | Manner (how) | Place (where) | Time (when) | |---|---|---| | Let's have breakfast | in the Italian coffee bar | before the class tomorrow. | | The next train will arrive | at platform 2 | in five minutes. | | Roger Federer didn't play very well | at the French Open | last year. | If we want to emphasise an adverbial of time or place, we can put it at the beginning of the sentence: > Last year, Roger Federer didn't play very well. (But this year, unlike last year, he played well.) ### There and it 1. **there + be** We use *there is/there are* to say that something happens or something exists, often when we talk about it for the first time: > There's an interesting skyscraper in London. > There are several good restaurants near where we live. 2. **there and it** *There* introduces new information; but we use *it* to say more about the information: > There's a new cinema in town. It's got six screens. 3. **it as a subject** We use *it* as a subject in expressions for: * time: What time is it? It's ten o'clock. * (+ take): How long did it take to get here? It only took a few minutes. * days and dates: What day is it? It's 14th October. It's my birthday. * distances: It's only 25 kilometres to Bordeaux. It isn't a very long way. * weather + verb: It's snowing. It's really hot here. It rained all week. BUT + noun: X It was a lot of rain on holiday. ✓ There was a lot of rain on holiday. * identifying people: Hi, it's Ginny here. It's Malcolm at the door. * descriptions: It's boring here. It was a difficult time in my life. Although *it* has no real meaning in those sentences, we can't leave it out: > X Is my birthday. X Is raining. 4. **it + be + adjective/noun + infinitive with to** We can use this pattern to describe how we feel about a situation: | It + be | Adjective | Noun | Infinitive with to | |---|---|---|---| | It's | nice | | to see you. | | It wasn't | possible | | to get tickets for Saturday. | | It will/would be | difficult | | to find a new secretary. | | It might be | interesting | | to invite Joachim to give a talk. | | It's | a pity | | to leave before the film ends. | | It wasn't | a mistake | | to change my course. | | It has been | a pleasure | | to meet your family. | ### Wh-questions 1. **Wh-questions and question words** Wh- questions ask for information. They always start with a wh- word: | Wh-WORD | EXAMPLE | |---|---| | who, what | Who can you talk to about your course? What do you want to ask? | | when, how | When did your visitors arrive? How did they get here? | | where, why | Where have you been? Why did you leave so suddenly? | | whose, which | Whose book are you using? Which chapter are you on? | 2. **Subject and object questions** In most wh- questions the wh- word is the OBJECT of the verb; we use the question word order: | object | auxiliary | subject | verb | (answer) | |---|---|---|---|---| | What | did | Shah Jehan | build? | (the Taj Mahal) | Who, what, which and *whose* can be the SUBJECT of the verb; we use statement word order: | subject | verb | object | (answer) | |---|---|---|---| | Who | built | the Taj Mahal? | (Shah Jehan) | | What | ate | the strawberries? | (the birds) | | Whose car | hit | the gate? | (Jack's) | 3. **Wh-questions + prepositions** If we use a verb + preposition in a wh- question, we usually put the preposition at the end of the question: > Which hotel did they stay at? > Who were you living with then? With *when* and *where*, we don't usually use a preposition: > X Where did they stay at? > Where did they stay? ### How, which/what, who and whose 1. **how** We usually use *how* to ask about the WAY something is done: > How did they build it? We use *how + adjective/adverb* when we expect the answer to be a number or a measurement of something: > 'How old is the Taj Mahal?' 'It's 400 years old.' > 'How long is the film?' 'It's 90 minutes long.' > 'How often are the classes?' 'Once a week.' > 'How many people work here?' 'About 200.' > 'How much do the lessons cost?' 'They're £30 an hour.' When the question contains the adjectives tall, high, long, wide, deep, we put the adjective in the answer. Notice the word order: > How tall is Thomas now? > X Thomas is tall 1.8 metres.✓ Thomas is 1.8 metres tall. Notice the answer to a question asking about a person's age: > X My daughter is seven years. > ✓ My daughter is seven. / My daughter is seven years old. We use *how* to ask about health, opinions and progress, often in set phrases: > 'How are you?' 'Fine, thanks.' > 'How's the hotel?' 'It's OK.' > 'How's the new job going?' 'Well, thank you.' 2. **which and what** *Which* and *what* both have similar meanings but *which* asks about one or more of a small number of things: | | small number | large number + noun | with people | with things | |---|---|---|---|---| | which | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | | what | ✓ | ✓ | X | X | > What's for dinner? > What are they playing? > What sort of shoes should I wear? > What time is it? > Which airport did you fly from, Heathrow or Gatwick? > Which teacher have you got for history? * We do not need a noun if it is clear what we are asking about: > 'Our college offers language courses.' 'Really? Which do you teach?' (= which course) >* We use what + do to ask about a person's work: * > What do you do? > What did your grandfather do? >* We can use what + be + like (but not how) to ask for a description: > X How is it like? > What's it like? > What was the exam like? > X It was like easy! > It was easy! Notice the difference between: > 'What's she like?' 'She's young and attractive, and she's very clever.' > 'What does she like?' 'She likes climbing – she goes every weekend.' 3. **who and whose** We use *who* to ask about people, but we use *whose* (with or without a noun) to ask about relationships and possessions: > Who did you meet at the conference? > Who's your favourite film star? > Whose daughter is she? > Whose newspaper is this? > Whose is that?