Sentence Structure & Word Order

• English
• Vocational Education

A Sentence/A Clause

A sentence is a word or usually a group of words  beginning with a capital letter and ends with:

1. a full stop: .
2. a question mark: ?
3. an exclamation mark: !

The Trio Sentence Types

1. Simple sentences 

I live in Vienna.

2. Compound sentences 

John plays football and he often scores a goal. 

3. Complex sentences

After visiting the zoo, Elia felt thirsty, so he decided to make himself some homemade ice-tea.

Types of sentences (according to meaning)

1. Declarative sentences                 -> She speaks English. (+)

                                                                                           -> She does not speak English. (-)

2. Interrogative sentences              -> Do you speak English? (+)

                                                                                           -> Does she not speak English? (-)

3. Imperative sentences                 -> Shut the door! (+)

                                                                                            -> Do not walk on the grass! (-)

4. Exclamatory sentences          -> She's awesome! (+)

                                                                                             -> Wasn't that wonderful! (-)

Each of these types of sentences can be either Affirmative (+)  or Negative (-) 

Word Order 

The One and Only:

(1) Subject    (2) Verb    (3) Object

These general groups of words can be a single word each or entire phrases. This is especially true for the object part of the sentence structure, which can represent any complement to the verb, plus, additional information.

 Sentence Structure/ Positive statements

Subject	Verb(s)	Object/Additional information
I	like	Mathematics.
The students	dislike	their grumpy English teacher.
A group of vandals	destroyed	the classroom.

PUT IN THE CORRECT ORDER!
1. house/we/moved
2. look / very tired / you
3. really wants / Peter / his best friend's car
4. won't know what to do / the angry students /until they get their schedule

Sentence Structure - Questions

Questions are formed by 'kicking' the first verb in front of the subject. The rest of the sentence usually follows standard word order.

To form questions we usually add an auxiliary verb before the subject. This varies depending on tenses and the information asked for.

• He walks to school. -> Does he walk to school? (ONLY 1 'lazy verb')

CAUTION! The verb to be, which is placed before the subject to form a question, is the ONLY verb which isn't lazy! It performs all the types of sentences

• He is very sad. -> Is he very sad?

Questions formed with Question Words

Questions can also be formed with special Wh- words .

Question word	Auxiliaries (the Helpers)	Subject	Additional verbs	Additional information
What	do	they	like	the English lessons?
Which one	are	you	wearing	to the BO lesson?
Where	can	we	go	during our break?
Why	are	you	studying	so hard?

LET'S APPLY CORRECT WORD ORDER:
1. time / it / to go home / is / ?
2. the Prime Minister / do/ you/ know/ ?
3. with me / you / do / to go / want / to the OLC/ ?
4. help / my email account / can / anyone / me / with / ?

Negative Structures

Negative sentences are formed by adding not after the main verb.

• He is not listening.

The rest of the sentence follows standard structure rules.

Negative sentences often require an auxiliary verb, such as be, do or have. 

In these sentences, not 'marries' the auxiliary verb creating a contraction, but before any other verbs.

Negative sentences with auxiliary verbs

• I am not ('m not) going to Spanish class.
  
• He does not (doesn't) know the answer.
  
• Do not (don't) forget your laptop.

Not should directly follow the main verb; no other words should come between a negative verb form.

• I do not (don't) understand the question. 

Negative Questions

For negative questions, the (first) verb is placed before the subject, and not joins it. These are used to confirm information, express surprise or make polite offers.  They are common in spoken English.

• Paul is not paying attention. -> Isn't Paul  paying attention?
• We are not late for our class. -> Aren't we  late for our class?

;ET'S DO IT!
1. Jerome / not / a nice person / is / ?
2. not / the truth / is / he / telling / ?
3. coming back / they / not / next week / are / ?
4. not / finished / have / the new ICT lab /they?

Is the word order in this sentence correct?

I write every morning my reports at my desk.

1. Incorrect
2. Correct

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