Sentence Patterns

There are basic patterns around which most English sentences are built. The basic
patterns are as follows:

1. SV: Subject - Verb

2. SVO: Subject - Verb - Object

3. SVC: Subject - Verb - Complement

4. SVOO: Subject - Verb - Indirect Object - Direct Object

5. SVOA: Subject - Verb - Object - Adverbial Phrase

6. SVOC: Subject - Verb - Object – Complement

Let's analyse the sentence patterns and understand how they are formed.

All the parts of speech in English are used to make sentences. All sentences include
two parts: the subject and the verb (this is also known as the predicate). the subject is
the person or thing that does something or that is described in the sentence. The verb
is the action the person or thing takes or the description of the person or thing. if a
sentence does not have a subject and a verb, it is not a complete sentence (e.g., In
the sentence "went to bed," we do not know who went to bed.

Most sentences in English are constructed using one of the basic sentence patterns

as follows: 1. Subject–Verb

This type of sentence begins with a core sentence such as “Jane walks.” Here,
“Jane” is the subject and “walks” is the verb. Different parts of speech can be
added to expand the
sentence. You can add an adverb to make the sentence “Jane walks quickly,” or you
can add an expression of time to tell when she walks, e.g., “Jane walks all morning.”

2. Subject–Verb–Object

These sentences begin with a core sentence such as “She is playing a piano.” In this
sentence, “She” is the subject, “is playing” is the verb, and “a piano” is the object. You
can add elements to expand the sentence, such as an adjective (e.g., “She is playing
a small piano”) or an adverb (e.g., “She is playing the piano beautifully”).

3. Subject-verb-Complement

Some special verbs (linking verbs) behave like the verb to be. Instead of an object the
verb is followed by something called a complement. The complement may be a noun
or an adjective, so there are two types of S-V-C sentences: S-V-C(noun) and S-V-
C(adj). In either case, the complement describes the subject. It is important to
remember that subject is always an item in the category described by complement
(noun). If you find a sentence where that is
not the case, you probably need either to change the verb or put a preposition in front
of the noun.

Example:

a. My cousin Laura is a police officer.

b. Those girls look very happy.

4. Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object

It tells to whom or for whom something is done. The indirect object always comes
between the verb and the direct object. The verb used with a direct object is always
an action verb. Another way of saying it is that the subject does the verb to the direct
object. In the following sentence, the indirect object is underlined, and the direct
object is italicized.

e.g., The bank manager reluctantly granted the poor farmer a loan.

5. Subject- Verb-Object-Adverbial Phrase

An adverb phrase is simply a group of two or more words that function as an adverb in
a sentence. Just as an adverb can modify a verb, adjective or another adverb, an
adverb phrase of more than one word can further describe a verb, adverb, or
adjective. Adverb phrases typically answer the questions how, where, why or when
something was done, as you will see in the underlined adverb phrase example below.

e.g., The woman gave a gift on her birthday.

6. Subject-Verb-Object-Compliment

In this pattern, the direct object is followed by a group of words that completes the
object’s meaning by renaming or describing it. In the following examples, the direct
object is underlined, and the object complement is italicized.

e.g., Research on black history at the University of North Florida showcases the
Eartha M. White papers, a unique collection.

In the sentence above the complement talks about the object and the complement and
object are of the same person or thing.
Reference:

Basic English sentence structure. (n.d). Writer's workshop.

https://www.wordy.com/writers-workshop/basic-english-sentence-

structure/ English Grammar. (2012, January 27).

https://www.englishgrammar.org/verb-patterns-subject-verb-object-

object complement/
Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement. (n.d) Academic Guides.

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/subjectverbagree

mentG Grammar in English. (n.d).

http://www.grammarinenglish.com/sentencepattern/?lesson=examples