Why is direct word order in English. Building sentences in English

Greetings dear reader.

I am sure that if I ask you how the word order in a sentence in English differs from its Russian counterpart, you will not be able to tell me plainly. Well, maybe some of you. Therefore, today I will lay out all your knowledge on the shelves, tables and diagrams.

What is the main difference

To make everything clear, as for children, let's look at simple examples right away. This is where everyone starts, both adults in various courses and children in grade 2.

If in Russian we can do whatever we want with a proposal, then in English there will be difficulties with this. For instance:

The cat climbed a tree.
A cat climbed a tree.

But look what happens if we do something like this with the English version:

The cat broke the window. - The cat broke the window.
The window broke the cat. - The window broke the cat.

You see, the difference turns out to be significant and, to some extent, comical. And the reason is that in English the word order is firm, and oh, how involuntarily amenable to change!

How to write a sentence correctly

The standard word order of a simple sentence is as follows:

1. The subject comes first.
2. It is followed by the predicate.
3. After that comes the addition.
4. And, in the end, a circumstance.

Let's take a look at some examples:

Mother is a doctor.- Mom is a doctor.

Mother is the subject; the one who performs the main action. It comes first.
Is is a predicate. It always comes after the subject.
Doctor is an add-on.

Let's see some more examples.

I (subject) like (predicate) coffee (addition) in the morning (circumstance). - I like coffee in the morning.

We (subject) do (predicate) the job (addition) well (circumstance). - We're doing a good job.

We bought a beautiful car last week ... “We bought a nice car last week.
I have a concert tomorrow evening - Tomorrow evening I have a concert.

But what about the time indicators?- you ask. To which I will answer: they can stand like at the beginning and in the end suggestions.

I (subject) drink(predicate) coffee (addition) in the morning (time indicator). - I drink coffee in the morning.

In the morning (time indicator) I (subject) go (predicate) jogging (addition). - In the morning I go for a run.

To help you remember this rule better, I have a table for you that will help you quickly refresh your knowledge at any time.

What to do with questions

For those who are already in grade 5, the most common mistake is incorrect formation. (Follow the link to learn more about everything)

The word order in the interrogative sentence depends on the type of sentence you are encountering. If the question is general, that is, it only requires the answer "yes" or "no", then the words will go in the following order:

1. Auxiliary verb (e.g. Is, Are, Do, Did, Does, Was, Were, Has, Have, Will, etc.)
2. Next comes the subject.
3. It is followed by the main verb.
4. Then all other parts of the sentence are used.

Is (auxiliary) John (subject) a student (addition)? - Is John a student?

Do (auxiliary) you (subject) drink (main verb) water (addition) in the morning (circumstance of time)? - Do you drink water in the morning?

Was (auxiliary) he (subject) reading (main verb) a book (addition) last evening (circumstance of time)? - Did he read the book last night?

But the language also has special questions that need full answers. The only difference in this case is that a question word also appears before the auxiliary verb ( what, when, who, whom, where, which, whose).

What (question word) were (auxiliary) you (subject) doing (main verb) lastevening (circumstance of time)? - What did you do last night?

Who did you call yesterday? - Who did you call yesterday?

When did you see her for the last time? - When was the last time you saw her?

To memorize the information much better, here is a diagram for you, which I hope will help you master the rule faster.

Well, my dears, the only thing left for me to tell you is exercise and even more English. Only with constant practice and constant improvement of the language can you achieve good results. After all, we are still at the very beginning of the path, which can become a starting point for you into the wonderful world of English speech.

I'm sure many of you would be interested in receiving even more useful information and topics for taking the next steps. Therefore, I created a subscription to my blog mailing list, where I share the most relevant and useful information. Subscribe and improve day by day.

Until next time, my dears.

They often compare the order of words in English and Russian, arguing that in the latter, words can be arranged as God wants to. This makes the language easier to use. It seems like at least one less headache. I agree that even without this there is something to think about in the Russian language, 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 I cannot say anything about this. But, in general, my experience of studying the 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 sure at least in the structure of your sentence, in your subject and predicate, 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 result is a sentence that is understandable to your audience and conveys your thoughts.

I. Word order in an affirmative sentence

*Direct object- direct object, analogue of our accusative case. Indicates the object on which the action is performed. The add-on answers the question "who? / What?" For instance:

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 direct addition. Indicates the recipient of the indirect augmentation. For instance:

He bought her flowers. (for whom did he buy flowers? - for Mom.)

They told me the news. John is writing her a letter. She gave her boyfriend a present.

Object of preposition- prepositional addition. Joins the verb with a preposition. For instance:

Be careful with fire... (with fire -prepositional addition)

She wrote a book about the war... (about the war -prepositional addition)

Note that the word order, starting with indirect object, is preserved in negative and interrogative sentences. Therefore, in what follows, I will simply refer to them as “the rest of the proposal”.

II. Word order in negative sentences

TO BE verb in Present Simple and Past Simple

Other verbs and tenses

III. Word order in an interrogative sentence

Question sentences with TO BE in Present Simple and Past Simple

Interrogative sentences with an auxiliary verb

Interrogative sentences without auxiliary verb

If in a question the interrogative word is at the same time the subject, then the word order is preserved, 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 English sentences

Frequency adverbs (often, always, seldom, never, hardly ever, sometimes, usually etc.) are placed before the semantic verb, but after the TO BE verb:

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 at the beginning of a sentence or the end.

Is it possible to build such an understandable system that would allow you to easily build sentences in English and quickly understand all temporary forms? Let's get a look.

First, you need to figure out what generally accepted standards exist, and how you can not get lost in the apparent complexity of learning English.

If you look in more detail at the structure of a sentence in English, it becomes obvious that in order to quickly learn to express yourself succinctly and clearly, you just need to practice recognizing the subject (who is doing?) And the predicate (what is doing?) In the English sentence.

In most cases, in sentences, the subject comes before the predicate. The only exceptions are interrogative sentences. But in any case, you need to start simple. Thus, it will be possible to easily learn how to make sentences in English.

Simplicity is the key to success

Let's start with the simplest. This will be the base from which you will need to build on in the future. Understanding it will greatly simplify the work of automating the construction of sentences in our head on the fly.

It is worth knowing that English sentences, unlike Russian ones, are distinguished by simplicity, conciseness and brevity. Perhaps this is due to the English mentality, but now it is not about that.

Long and very complex sentences in English can still be found. They are found in legal texts or in fiction, i.e. where appropriate. However, in live communication, long sentences are extremely rare. But to start, you need to start from the simple.

Let's find out what a simple sentence is in English. Any sentence is built in order to describe a real life situation as clearly as possible.

In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to use words to describe the current situation and connect them so that the meaning is conveyed as succinctly as possible. If it turns out to convey the meaning correctly, then in the head of the person to whom the information is transmitted, an image of the same picture will turn out.

In Russian, words are connected using endings. However, in English the situation is completely different, there is no change in many endings.

On the one hand, this simplifies the process of memorizing and learning, and on the other hand, it requires maximum clarity in the construction of a sentence and the correct use of prepositions.

Golden Rule

So, let's define the first and most important rule - direct word order! First, it says who is doing, then what is doing. Any variations are available in Russian, for example:

• The boy is fishing.
• A boy is catching fish.
• The boy catches a fish.
• A boy is fishing.

In English, there is always only one word order - "A boy is catching some fish".
Remember this golden rule to start with when learning English. Everything is tied to verbs (simple predicates). They, of course, will stand in some form of one of the English times (from here you can immediately understand how to use the tenses), three moods and two pledges. For beginners, the main thing is to understand in a basic way:

In English, the structure of a sentence always follows a certain structure:

• Subject (who / what?),
• verb (what does it do?),
• object (who / what? addition),
• place (where?),
• time (when?).

For example: “I like to walk with my dog ​​in the park in the evening”.

• like to walk;
• with my dog;
• in the park;
• in the evening.

Time

Many people who begin to learn the language have their heads spinning from the infinite variety of temporal forms. If we take all of them into account, then it turns out 16. This is explained by the fact that the system of tenses is clearly different from the one used in the Russian language. Of course, there are common points, but the main trump card of the system of English times is a strict order, consistency, obedience to the laws of grammar and logic.

But times are not so terrible as they are portrayed. If you master at least six of the most consumed ones, you can feel confident in almost any communication situation - these are Present Simple, Past Simple, Future Simple, Present Continuous, Past Continuous, and Present Perfect.
Example:

• I go to work every day. - Present Simple (what happens regularly).
• I went to work yesterday. - Past Simple (statement of fact in the past).
• I will go to work tomorrow. - Future Simple (statement of fact in the future).
• I am going to work now. - Present Continuous (what is happening now).
• I was going to work when you called me. - Past Continuous (what happened at a certain point in time in the past).
• I have already gone to work. - Present Perfect (it is not known when the action took place, but there is its result in the present).

What is most important is the need to remember that each group of tenses has similar characteristics and norms for the formation of a semantic verb, as well as principles of use, and this is the key to the rapid assimilation of all tenses.

Once you can draw parallels and feel the difference, you can use all times without much difficulty. Therefore, to begin with, just try to remember how the English sentences of the Simple group are built, starting with Present (present). It is extremely convenient to learn and memorize grammatical tenses by placing them in a table.

Human readable tenses are found in all textbooks used at EnglishDom.

So, don't be afraid of any complications. It all starts simple, and all ingenious is simple too. Having understood the basic principles of constructing a sentence, you can further attach and train all tenses, moods and voices.

The main thing is not to grab onto everything at once. Only after you have fully assimilated one rule for yourself, move on to another. Repeat what you learned sometimes so you don't forget. But what should never be forgotten is the basic principles of constructing an English sentence. So, it's always easy to start - train your skills on simple sentences, then, as you understand, complicate them.

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

Dear students and parents, we have prepared an English lesson for you, which will help you understand the basic rules for constructing an English sentence. First, we will look at the types of sentences for the used verbs, and then we will learn how to build affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. At the end of the article, there are tables that you can save and print to use as visual material.

Types of offers.

In English, there are two types of sentences: with the usual verb denoting an action, feeling or state, and with the bundle verb to be. Now we will tell you what the difference is. If we use a verb in Russian, then a verb will also be used in English. For example, "I go to school" - here the verb "go", which in English sounds like "go". We put this verb in the English sentence: “I go to school”. If in Russian there is no verb, or rather, there is a verb “is”, which, according to the rules of the Russian language, is omitted (the weather is good - the weather is good), then in English this place is replaced by the verb to be, which translates as “is”, To be, to exist. In other words, in Russian we often use sentences without a verb, in English this is impossible!

Let's first consider sentences with ordinary verbs, they have one trick - in the third person singular, the ending -s or -es must be added to the verb. The third person singular is a noun in the meaning he, she or it, that is, not you or me but, someone is one third. At first glance, this seems difficult and incomprehensible, but in fact, this rule makes learning English a lot easier! There is no face conjugation in English. See how difficult Russian is and how much easier English is:

I AM go to school. I go to school.

Vasya (he) walks to school. Vasya goes to school.

Nastya (she) walks to school. Nastya goes to school.

They walk to school. They go to school.

We walk to school. We go to school.

While in Russian the endings of the verb are actively changing: I walk, walk, walk, walk, in English only in the third person singular (he and she) the ending -es appeared. If the verb ends in a consonant, then add -s (swim - swim s), and if to a vowel, then –es (go - go es).

Let's look at examples with the verb to be. If in Russian we do not use the verb (that is, we omit the verb “is”), then the verb to be will appear in the English translation. Katya (is) a beautiful girl. In Russian there is no verb, in English the verb to be will appear in the form is: Katya is a beautiful girl.

The difficulty is that the verb to be has three forms that you need to know by mouth:

1. am- we use it when we talk about ourselves: I (am) a schoolboy. I am a pupil
2. is- we use the singular in the third person (he, she, it): Katya (she) is a beautiful girl. Katya is a beautiful girl.
3. are- we use it in the plural or in the second person (we, they, you, you): Vanya and Petya (they) are best friends. Vanya and Petya are best friends.

Affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

Once again, remember that in English there are two types of sentences: with an ordinary verb, which has a corresponding translation into Russian, and with the verb to be, which is omitted in Russian. These two types of sentences have different structures. Let's start with the verb to be. Let's look at the same examples, but in different forms: affirmative, interrogative and negative. Read carefully Russian sentences and their translation into English, try to determine the pattern.

I'm a schoolboy. I am a pupil.

Am I a schoolboy? Am I a pupil?

I'm not a schoolboy. I am not a pupil.

Katya is a beautiful girl. Katya is a beautiful girl

Is Katya a beautiful girl? Is Katya a beautiful girl?

Katya is an ugly girl. Katya is not a beautiful girl.

Vanya and Petya are best friends. Vanya and Petya are best friends.

Vanya and Petya are best friends? Are Vanya and Petya best friends?

Vanya and Petya are not best friends. Vanya and Petya are not best friends.

So, in an affirmative sentence in English, there is a strict word order: subject (main noun), predicate (verb), minor members of the sentence. If in Russian we can change the order of words as we like, changing the meaning and emotional coloring, then in English this is strictly prohibited, you will not be understood. In Russian we say: “I love you”, “I love you” or “I love you” and so on, but in English there is only one option: “I love you” and nothing else. The same in the above examples: Katya is a beautiful girl. Where Katya is a subject, there is no predicate in Russian (it could be the verb “is”), a beautiful girl is the secondary members of the sentence. In the English sentence: Katya is the subject, is is the predicate, and beautiful girl is the secondary members of the sentence. Hence, there are two rules:

1. When constructing an interrogative sentence in English, the predicate (verb) comes out on top.
2. When constructing a negative sentence, the negative particle not is added to the predicate (verb).

Now let's look at sentences with ordinary verbs, read the examples carefully:

I am going to school. I go to school.

I am going to school? Do I go to school.

I do not go to school. I do not go to school.

Nastya goes to school. Nastya goes to school.

Does Nastya go to school? Does Nastya go to school?

Nastya does not go to school. Nastya doesn’t go to school.

The principle is the same as in sentences with the verb to be, only instead of rearranging the verb itself, we have the so-called auxiliary verb to do. Why auxiliary? Because it helps us build the necessary sentence structure and grammar. Thus, when asked, it is not the main verb to go that comes first, but the helper to do. When negated, the particle not is attached not directly to the main verb, but to the emerging verb to do. In addition, the verb to do always takes over the entire grammar of the main verb. In the second example, the verb to do takes over the ending -es, which is given to the third person singular. Please note that the ending of the main verb is gone, because the auxiliary verb took it away.

Let's summarize the information received. To build a sentence in English, we first need to define the verb. Two options are possible: an ordinary verb, which has an analogue in English, denoting an action, feeling or state, or the verb to be, is to exist, which cannot be translated into Russian. Further, if this is an ordinary verb, you need to determine whether the ending -es (third person singular), if it is a verb to be, then you need to determine its form (am, is, are). We choose the necessary form of the sentence: affirmative, interrogative, negative. And put everything in its place!

We use common abbreviations:

I am - i a m - I’m

he is - he i s - he’s

she is - she i s - she’s

it is - it i s - it’s

they are - they a re - they’re

we are - we a re - we’re

you are - you a re - you’re

do not - don o t - don’t

does not - doesn o t - doesn’t

Interesting fact: In affirmative sentences with a regular verb, the auxiliary verb to do is also sometimes used. It adds persuasiveness and firmness to the proposal. For instance:

I go to school. I am going to school.

I do go to school! I really go to school!

You can choose a course of study that suits you on our!

In the photo - Oksana Igorevna, teacher of the OkiDoki language school

And now we will analyze with examples the basics of composing simple sentences to express the past, present and future tense.

Building sentences in the Simple group

Affirmative sentences

Let's start with Present Simple. All affirmative sentences are structured as follows:

1. "I" in this example is the subject. Do not confuse it with the complement, since the subject performs an action, and it is performed on the complement. Moreover, in Russian, the word order is not important to us, because it is already clear who is performing the action. We can freely say: "I eat the cake." But in English, it will not work to construct a sentence like that, because in the first place should be the one who performs the action, otherwise they will simply laugh at you when you say: "The cake is eating me." Even through the passive voice, such a phrase will sound very strange.
2. In second place should be the predicate, which expresses the action itself. In Russian, sentences with an incomplete grammatical base are often found, where there is no subject or predicate, or both are absent. In the latter case, we are dealing with an impersonal sentence: "Dark." In English, there should always be a subject and a predicate. So, if there is no verb in the Russian sentence, then it will certainly appear in English. Take, for example, a one-part sentence that does not contain the predicate: "The phone is on the table." To translate it correctly, we need to use the verb "to be", which connects the subject with the predicate. As a result, the phrase will literally translate as: "The phone is on the table."
3. In third place are the minor members of the sentence according to a certain rule: first there is a direct addition (answers the question "who?", "What?", "Who?"), Then indirect (answers the same questions, but with the preposition ? "," To whom? ", Etc.). This rule is not always observed and is not strict.

As in Russian, English verbs change depending on the person. The main changes occur in the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), where the suffix "s" or "es" is added to the predicate. As a result, we get the sentence: “He goes to school”.

Negative sentences

In addition to the statement, there is also a negation, the scheme of which is as follows:

In this scheme, all the same components are found, except for the linking verb "do" and the particle "not", which is equivalent to the negative particle "not" in Russian. What is an auxiliary verb and why is it needed? Unlike Russian, where we just put the "not" particle in front of the verb, in English there must be an auxiliary verb before the "not" particle. It is different for each time, and in the case of Present Simple it will have the form either "do" or "does", depending on the number and person of the subject. Example: “She does not go to school”.

Interrogative sentences

So, we examined the statement, the negation, and we are left with a question, the formation of which also requires an auxiliary verb:

So, we have discussed with you the basic principles of constructing various types of sentences in Present Simple. Past Simple and Future Simple are built in a similar way, the main differences will be in the form of the auxiliary verb.

Building sentences in Future Simple

Statement

The scheme for constructing a statement in a simple future tense (Future Simple) is as follows:

The auxiliary verb will indicates that the action takes place in the future tense, and the phrase will be translated as: "I will go to school."

Negation

Negation is built with the help of the already familiar particle "not" and the auxiliary verb "will".

Question

Any question starts with an auxiliary verb, so when building a question, we just put will in the first place.

Past simple

Statement

When constructing a statement in the past tense of the Simple group, there is a small peculiarity: the suffix "ed" is added to the verb.

I deliberately left out the example with the school, because it uses an irregular verb. Most verbs form the simple past tense by adding the suffix "ed" to the stem (cook - cooked), but there are about 470 verbs, according to the Oxford Dictionary, that form the past tense according to their canons. Among them is our verb “go”, which will change its form to “went”: “I went to school”.

Negation

Negation in the simple past tense is constructed similarly to Present Simple with the only difference that the form of the auxiliary verb "do" acquires the past "did".

Question

The question is also built by analogy with Present Simple. We only change the form of the auxiliary verb to the past.

So we studied the construction of sentences in the entire Simple group. The main thing is to remember the schemes for all three types (affirmation, negation and question), not to forget how the word forms of verbs in the 3rd person singular change, and to memorize the basic irregular verbs in order to achieve automatism in speech.

Building proposals in the Continuous group

In the Continuous group, there is always an auxiliary verb "to be", the change in the form of which will tell us when the action is taking place: yesterday, now or tomorrow. In this group, the participle I is also always present, similar to the actual participle in Russian. The participle itself is constructed by adding the suffix "ing" to the verb (go - going).

Statement

Let's not deviate from the structure and consider the formation of time in Present Continuous.

The forms of the verb "to be" change video depending on the person, and here it is not limited to changes only in the 3rd person singular. Forms just need to be remembered.

In the past tense, the auxiliary verb changes its form to "was" or were "depending on the person and number.

The scheme for building a sentence in Past Continuous will be as follows:

The future tense in this group is formed without any changes, just put the future tense verb "will" before the auxiliary "to be":

Denial and question

Negation and a question are built according to the general scheme of constructing sentences: in case of negation, we put "not" after the auxiliary verb, and in the case of a question, we put the auxiliary verb in the first place.

To build the past form, you need to change the form of the auxiliary verb to "had".

To build the future form, we additionally set "will".

Denial and question

Negation and question are constructed in a classical way: the particle not after had (for negation), had in the first place (for question).

Denial and question

These sentences are given only for the sake of example, in practice you will hardly find yourself in a situation where you will need to express yourself in Perfect Continuous. It will be much easier and faster to build a phrase from the Simple and Continuous groups.

Simplified education table of all types of sentences at all times

For those who are new to the times, this article may seem a little chaotic, so as a result, I offer you a ready-made table with the formation of sentences in all times, so that it is easier for you to see the whole picture. You can use it as a cheat sheet for the initial stages of learning about temporary structures. The table is taken from the resource "Pikabu".