Unit 62: SIMPLE SENTENCE TYPES
All sentences need a subject and a verb. Some sentences do not need anything else to complete them. But with most sentences, a subject and a verb are not enough. This unit shows you seven basic types of sentences.
1
SUBJECT + VERB (only)
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB
[S] Maria [V] is working..
[S] They [V] talked.
[S] It [V] has been raining.
Of course, we can add extra information if we want to:
Maria is working very hard these days.
They talked about hockey.
It has been raining for days.
But the extra information is not necessary to make a good sentence.
2
SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN PHRASE (Unit 45)
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + [N]: NOUN PHRASE
[S] We [V] have found [N] a house.
[S] John [V] is [N] the best player.
[S] The teacher [V] saw [N] me.
These sentences are not complete without the noun phrase.
3
SUBJECT + VERB + ADJECTIVE (Unit 64)
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + [A]: ADJECTIVE
[S] The noise [V] was [A] terrible.
[S] She [V] looked [A] beautiful.
[S] The food [V] tasted [A] lovely.
You can also make sentences of this type with these verbs:
become, get, feel, seem, smell, sound.
4
SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN PHRASE + PLACE
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + [N]: NOUN PHRASE + [P]: PLACE
[S] John [V] put [N] the book [P] on the table.
[S] He [V] left [N] his bag [P] on the train.
We must complete a sentence with put this way.
5
SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN PHRASE + NOUN PHRASE
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + [N]: NOUN PHRASE + [N]: NOUN PHRASE
[S] She [V] gave [N] John [N] a watch.
(gave a watch to John)
[S] John [V] bought [N] Maria [N] a present.
(bought it for Maria)
[S] They [V] showed [N] us [N] the garden.
(showed the garden to us)
[S] He [V] told [N] me [N] a joke.
(told a joke to me)
[S] I [V] lent [N] him [N] my car.
(lent my car to him)
You can also make sentences of this type with these verbs:
ask, bring, find, leave, make, offer, owe, pay, promise, read, sell, send, take, teach, wish.
6
SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN PHRASE + ADJECTIVE
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + [N]: NOUN PHRASE + [A]: ADJECTIVE
[S] I [V] painted [N] the house [A] red.
[S] They [V] kept [N] the man [A] warm.
[S] She [V] made [N] him [A] angry.
You can also make sentences of this type with these verbs:
call, find, get, hate, have, leave, like, prefer, want.
7
SUBJECT + VERB + to + BASE FORM OF VERB (Unit 14)
[S]: SUBJECT + [V]: VERB + to + [BF]: BASE FORM OF VERB
[S] Everybody [V] had to [BF] go.
[S] I [V] want to [BF] leave.
NOTICE:
The sentences in 1-7 above show the basic information in the sentence. But we can always add extra information to them. For example:
2 above We have found a house near the station.
3 above Yesterday, the noise was terrible.
4 above He left his bag on the train by mistake.
5 above She gave John a watch for his birthday.
6 above They kept the man warm with a blanket.
7 above I want to leave as soon as possible.