Unit 1
Basic English Sentence Patterns
A. When we make simple English sentences, we usually follow the
Subject-Verb-Object pattern.
Steps:
1. put the subject and the adjectives such as ‘fat’, ‘thin’ etc. or any words
describing the subject at the beginning of the sentence
2. put the verb and some adverbs such as ‘often’, ‘usually’ etc. after the
subject
3. put the object of the verb, the adjectives or other words describing the
object and the adverbs describing the verb at the end of he sentence
Subject Verb Object
Paul often eats biscuits.
Mary ate two apples quickly.
My father and mother are eating mangoes now.
The fat girl has eaten a watermelon.
That little boy will eat some bread soon.
Exercise 1
Rearrange the words in correct order to make complete sentences.
e.g. the fat cat / a mouse / is chasing.
The fat cat is chasing a mouse.
1. that thin girl / is drinking / milk now
2. the robbers yesterday / the police / caught
3. our teacher / like /we
4. my mother / my baby sister / is looking after
5. has just written / a letter / the tall man
6. the students / have solved / some Mathematics problems
7. her aunt tomorrow / will visit / Mary
8. newspapers every day / my boss / reads
9. enjoyed / the movie / the audience
10. the cook / some chocolate cakes / has made
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B. Some verbs can be followed by two objects without an ‘and’ connecting them.
One of these objects is called the ‘direct object’ and the other the ‘indirect
object’. Below is the pattern of a sentence containing both direct object and
indirect object:
Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object
Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object
I gave my sister a birthday present.
My parents always tell me stories.
We have lent him some money.
They are asking the teacher some questions.
Exercise 2
Rearrange the words in correct order to make complete sentences.
e.g. my sister / a birthday cake yesterday / me / baked
My sister baked me a birthday cake yesterday.
1. the short man / has bought / some crayons from the stationery shop / his son
2. the policeman / has just shown / the driver / his driving license
3. the patient / gave / some medicine / the nurse
4. brought / me / a bouquet of flowers last week / my uncle
5. the shopkeeper / the customer / is paying / two hundred dollars
6. he / his brother / the secret / has never told
7. a postcard from Japan / sent / her / her best friend
8. did not lend / his new model car / the child / his classmate
9. her mother / cooked / her / some congee
10. has ever given / any help / the blind woman / no one in the street
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C. Sometimes a preposition is put in front of the indirect object. The pattern of
such sentence is :
Subject – Verb – Direct Object – Preposition – Indirect Object
Subject Verb Direct Object Preposition Indirect Object
My friend has sent a letter to me.
His parents bought a computer for him.
Exercise 3
Rewrite each of the following sentences by placing the word in brackets before the
indirect object.
e.g. My brother showed me his new wallet. (to)
My brother showed his new wallet to me.
1. The postman took her a letter yesterday. (to)
2. The dog owner gives his dog a bone every day. (to)
3. The students sent their teacher a present. (to)
4. The gardener handed me some flowers. (to)
5. My mother has already taken my father a cup of coffee.(to)
6. She found me a seat in the concert last Sunday. (for)
7. Betty has painted her best friend a beautiful picture. (for)
8. We bought our uncle a pair of gloves on his birthday. (for)
9. The tailor made the princess a new dress. (for)
10. Judy has baked me some chocolate cookies. (for)
