What first comes to mind when mentioning the study of a language? There are probably four turtles on which everything rests: grammar, colloquial speech, vocabulary and listening comprehension. Today's topic - the word order in the English sentence - refers immediately to two of them. Without knowledge of the arrangement of words, it is hardly possible to write or say something correctly. Without exaggeration, we can call the knowledge of this topic the "skeleton" of the language. Understanding what and what follows, you can easily and simply substitute the necessary words in a certain scheme, changing them according to your desire.
What should you always remember?
In English, as in any other language, there are main members of the sentence and secondary. Each of these categories has its own rules. The first thing to remember is that the word order of English is not similar to Russian. Many people who start learning a language give out their small baggage of knowledge precisely by the incorrect construction of a sentence.
When dealing with more experienced comrades or native speakers, you can get into rather awkward situations. For example, the phrase "Julia goes to the store" in Russian may sound like "Julia goes to the store." There is nothing criminal in such a change of words, and the meaning does not change at all, but if we literally translate these sentences into English, we get: "Julia is going to the store" (first option) and "The store is going to Julia" (second option ) If a person who knows the English language hears the last example in a conversation, he will laugh at best, and at worst turn a finger at his temple: “Where is it seen that shops go to Yul?”.
From this example, we can conclude that the word order in a sentence in English is stable. The rule about "changing the terms of the terms and a constant amount" does not work here. Due to the fact that there are no endings in English, the meaning of a word can sometimes be understood only by its place in the sentence. An example with the word name (name / name):
- What is your name? - What is your name? Literally - What is your name?
- You name all vegetables you like. “You name all the vegetables you like.”
We must never forget that the correct word order in a sentence in English is very important. And its non-observance can radically change the meaning of the phrase.
Basic word order rules in the English sentence
The simplest English sentence diagram is as follows: Subject + Predictable + Addition + Circumstances.
As mentioned earlier, the word order cannot be changed.
The subject is one of the two main members of the proposal, which answers the questions of who, what? and denotes an object or person.
The predicate is the second main member of the sentence. It denotes the action referred to in the sentence. In English sentences, the predicate is always present, unlike the Russian. Often it can be expressed with the verb to be, which many students forget about because of the lack of it in their native grammar.
- I am a friend. - I am a friend.
- It is raining now. - It is raining now.
The addendum refers to the minor members of the sentence, it denotes the object over which the predicate acts, and answers questions of indirect cases.
Circumstance is another minor member of the proposal. It can characterize the action or its cause, indicate the time and location. Such circumstances as tomorrow, yesterday, at the moment + circumstances of the place may be at the beginning of the sentence before the subject.
According to the scheme presented above, the simplest affirmative sentences of the English language are built. Here are some examples:
- I met him in the park. - I met him in the park.
- He helps her with pleasure. - He helps her with pleasure.
- I don’t have time now. - Now I haven`t got any time.
Word order in an English interrogative sentence
Even with a little immersion in the study of English, you can notice that the interrogative constructions in it have a number of significant differences (from the usual Slavic ones). If in Russian you can ask by simply changing the intonation or by putting the appropriate sign at the end of the phrase, then this will not work - you need to completely rebuild the sentence. There are five different kinds of questions, and each of them has its own word order that you need to know.
What is everything based on?
The general question is the basis of the foundations. This type is the simplest - you just need to make a small inversion of the words in the sentence and put in the first place an auxiliary or modal verb that will indicate time and face. The scheme is as follows: Auxiliary verb + subject + predicate + addition?
- Are you watching TV? - You're watching TV?
- Can you help me? - Could you help me?
Special Issues
In English, the word order in an interrogative sentence of this kind practically does not differ from the general one, you just need to add a specific word at the beginning. Which one? Such questions can be considered more specific, they enable a person to learn more real information. There are six main interrogative words:
- What (what)? - to clarify the subject;
- Where? - to find out the place;
- Why (why)? - determine the cause;
- How (how)? - understand the ways;
- Which (which)? - identify a specific person from several;
- When (when)? - inquire about time.
Such questions have the following pattern: Special word + OV (general question)?
- What are you doing? - What are you doing?
- Where have I left my phone? - Where did I leave my phone?
As you can see, the general question lies at the heart of the following, therefore, a longer period of time should be allocated to its study. In English, word order exercises in a sentence are common, so finding them to practice will not be difficult. It must be remembered that this moment cannot be neglected, because you can simply forget all the details and subtleties. With constant polishing, the studied information will become “native”, and the word order in the English sentence the brain will automatically issue.
Features of the question to the subject
Quite often, this kind of "bonded" with special questions, and this action is quite logical. In the first place is the special word What?, Which is used when it comes to the subject, or Who?, When it comes to someone alive. The purpose of this question is to find out the subject of the conversation. It has the following scheme: Subject, expressed by the interrogative words What and Who + predicate + addition + circumstance?
- Who will come to your class? - Who will come to your class?
- What gets you upset? - What upsets you?
The main thing that you need to remember on this issue is that it has a structure similar to the usual sentence, just the subject is replaced by special pronouns.
Alternative and separation questions
The fourth type of interrogative sentence is alternative. As it’s not hard to guess, it gives the respondent a choice. Therefore, the word "or" (or) will necessarily be in its composition.
The fifth final kind of questions is separation. They are also called tailed. They have at the end a structure that translates as "isn't it." The first part of the sentence remains narrative unchanged, and in the second the auxiliary word is written at the right time and in a certain form. If there was a statement in the original phrase, then there will be a negation in the tail, and vice versa.
These types of interrogative sentences do not have one stable pattern. Why? For example, an alternative question can be tied to any member of the proposal and for each such option there will be a different type of scheme. Speaking of separation sentences, they do not differ much from the most ordinary phrases that were analyzed at the beginning of the article; the main thing is not to forget about the “tail”.
- It is hard to understand you, is not it? “It's hard for you to understand, is it?”
- She is not doing her homework, is she? “She's not doing her homework, is she?”
- Is the T-shirt you bought green or pink? - The shirt you bought is green or pink?
- Are we reading or listening? “Are we reading or listening?”
How can I fix the result?
Of course, for productive training, you need to perform word order exercises in the English sentence. At the initial stage, the most fruitful will be the work on the scheme "independent performance + verification by the teacher." Try translating sentences using the above phrases as an example. Initially, using schemes.
For even better assimilation of the material, you can try to translate the most familiar phrases that are often used in everyday speech into English with the help of schemes already learned from memory. Thus, there is a partial immersion in the language environment. Making yourself think in a foreign language is the key to successful learning.
Learning the word order in an English sentence can be a good and strong thread, which can later be strung beads of new knowledge.