Sentence Patterns

You may have read what a sentence is, different types of sentence , and the  elements of sentence in our previous lessons. How do we form sentence then?
In English, different types of sentences are formed by using the five elements. How we place those elements form six different sentence patterns:

[1]  SV

The shortest sentences are formed by using only a subject and verb. For examples,

    •  He smiles.
    •  The baby cries.
    •  The boy is reading.

Sometime the sentences are formed in SSV, SVV, and SSVV variations, too. Look at the examples,

    •  The boy and his mother are fishing.
    •  Tom and Jerry always fight.
    •  A woman and her husband quarreled.
    •  The guests were eating and drinking.
    •  Some were singing and dancing.
    •  Bora and Phalla were chatting and laughing.

[2]  SVO

Some verbs required objects; they are called transitive verbs. The object can simply be a noun, pronoun, or group of words functioning as noun. For examples,

    •  He wrote a book.
    •  She has finishef her homework.
    •  They fixed the car.
    •  The boys are playing football.

[3]  SV-IO-DO

Some verbs require two objects; they are called ditransitive verbs. Some of these common verbs are: borrow, bring, buy, give, lend, make, offer, provide, sell, send, write, etc. 

 For examples,

    •  The man bought his wife a diamond  ring.
    •  She has lent her friend some money.
    •  They promised us more supports.
    •  My father told me a story.

[4]  SVC

Linking verbs are followed by subject complement. The common linking verbs are: appear, be, cost, have, look, own, seem, weigh, etc.

For examples,

    •  Phalla is an experienced speaker.
    •  Bora is a teacher.
    •  He is so genius.
    •  The car looks nice.

[5]  SV-DO-OC

Some verbs requires both a direct object and a complement; they are called complex transitive verb. Some of these verbs are: appoint, call, consider, elect, make, nominate, etc.

For examples,

    •  We elected him team leader.
    •  I called him Hero.
    •  The judge found him guilty.
    •  The dog makes the boy happy.

[6]  SVA

Adverbial modifies verb to show either manner, time, place, direction, or mean. It is a word or group of words which functions as adverb.

For examples,

    •  The children laughed happily.
    •   The students are sitting in the class.
    •   My parents are traveling to Siem Reap.
    •  She put the flowers carefully in a vase.