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SUBJECT VERB

Elephants exist.

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

Elephants like grass.

SUBJECT VERB INDIRECT OBJECT DIRECT OBJECT

Elephants give children rides.

SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT

Elephants are animals.

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT COMPLEMENT

Elephants make children happy.

SUBJECT VERB ADVERBIAL

Elephants live here.

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIAL

the elephant thrust him away.

Pattern 1:

subject + verb

The shortest sentence

you can make startingwith theword elephants consists

of two words. For

example:Elephants exist.This sentence consistsof one clause. Theclause has two parts, asubject and a verb:

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SUBJECT VERB

Elephants exist.

The subject

The subject of a simple sentence:

comes at or near the beginning of the sentence comes before the verb is a noun or a noun-like thing often gives a good idea of what the sentence is going to be abou

The verb

The verb of a simple sentence:

normally comes immediately or shortly after the subject agrees with the subject:

- in number

(One elephantwalks; two elephants walk.)- in person(I am; she is; they are)

provides information about- an action (talks) or- a state (believes) or

- links the subject to another part of the sentence in some other the sentence Iam happy.)

The simple pattern of subject + verb can be used to generate thousandsmay have just two words like the sample sentence, or they may have m

SUBJECT VERB

Elephants exist.

The older bull elephants are beginning to st

A few more trainees will have departed.

Although the last two sentences have many more words than the first, ttwo clause elements: subject and verb.

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Pattern 2: subject + verb + object

The shortest sentence you can make starting with the word elephants consists of two words, a Elephants exist.You can't, of course, make sentences of the subject + verb type with just any old verb. This is Elephants like

The immediate response to that is: 'like what?' The sentence is missing a key part: the object.sentences like this:

SUBJECT VERB OBJEC

Elephants like grass.

The object

The object of a simple sentence:

normally comes after the verb is a noun or 'noun-like thing' usually refers to a different person, thing or idea from the subject. (The exception to th

the part-word -self, as in I cut myself, where subject and object refer to the same perso

very often tells us about a person or thing that is- affected by the action of the verb, or- 'acted upon' in some way.

In the example, the grass is clearly affected by the action of eating.

The simple pattern of subject + verb + object can be used to generate thousands of sentenceswords like the sample sentence, or they may have many more:

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

Elephants like grass.

An adult bull

elephant

can be expected to eat tons of grass.

Someone might have warned the poor girl.

Although the last two sentences have many more words than the first, they still have the same

subject and verb.

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Pattern 3:

subject + verb+ object +object

Some verbs,like want, must havean object. But there isa group of verbs that

need not one object,but two different kindsof object. This

sentence has a subjecta verb and an object,but something ismissing:Elephants give

children...We are left asking,'Elephants givechildren what?' Verbslike give need asecond object:

SUBJECT VERB INDIRECT OBJECT DI

Elephants give children rid

Rides is the direct object - it is what the elephants give. Children is th

objectbecause the children are the ones who benefit from the rides - thrides are being given to. You can always tell this type of sentence becauround like this:

SUBJECT VERB INDIRECT OBJECT DI

Elephants give children rid

Elephants give rides to

SUBJECT VERB DIRECT OBJECT IND

OB

Many verbs that refer to the action of passing something from one persanother work in this way. Examples are pass and show:

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SUBJECT VERB INDIRECT OBJECT DI

Henry passed her somcru

bre

He showed them the

of

Pattern 4:subject + verb

+ complement

There are two clausepatterns that looksimilar but which are

in fact very different:

SUBJECT VERB REST OF

SENTENCE

1 Elephants like grass.

2 Elephants are animals.

In sentence 1 the word grass is the object and the words elephantand gthings. In sentence 2 the word animals refers to the same thing as elepItcompletes the meaning of the subject. So it is described as the subje

SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT

Elephants are animals.

The complement

The subject complement of a simple sentence:

comes after the verb is either

- a noun or 'noun-like thing', or- an adjective (as in the sentence, Elephants are big.)

refers to the same person thing or idea as the subject.This type of clause uses a special type of verb, a linking verb. the comis be. Others are become and seem:

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SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT

She became a freelance busiwriter.

This explanation may not seem very attractive.

Pattern 5:

subject + verb+ object +complement

The subject of asentence can befollowed later by acomplement. This is a

word or group ofwords that completeits meaning. Forexample:She became afreelance businesswriter.The words a freelancebusinesswritercomplete thesubject she. They are

the subject

complement.

The object of thesentence can also

have a complement, insentences like this:

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT CO

Elephants make children hap

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The object complement

The object complement:

comes after the object provides additional information about the object can be:

- a noun or 'noun-like thing' (as in They made mesecretary), o- an adjective like happy.

Pattern 6:subject + verb

+ adverbial

Some verbs have tobe followed byparticular clause

elements. Forexample, in thispattern:

SUBJECT VERB ?

Elephants like ?

the verb like needs to be followed by an object:Elephants like grass.

Similarly in this pattern:

SUBJECT VERB ?

Elephants are ?

the verb are needs to be followed by a complement:Elephants are animals.This sentence sets up a similar need:

SUBJECT VERB ?

Elephants live ?

This unfinished sentence leads us to ask questions such as, 'Elephants licomplete the sentence we need a third element that isn't an object or a

SUBJECT VERB ADVERBIAL

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Elephants live here.

Verbs that require an adverbial often refer to movement (like hurtle) or(likehang):

SUBJECT VERB ADVERB

They hurtled across th

Dauntless's dark

wet hair

was hanging over his

In sentences like those the adverbial is compulsory: if you leave it out, of the sentence. Much more often, adverbials are an 'optional extra' anddifferent places in a sentence:

ADVERBIAL SUBJECT VERB

Yesterday my cat disappea

SUBJECT ADVERBIAL VERB

It often disappea

and so on.

John Seely 2008

Pattern 7:

subject + verb+ object +

adverbial

Some verbs can befollowed by an objectbut still need a fourthelement to complete

the sentence:

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ?

Theelephant

thrust him ?

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This sentence leads the listener to ask questions such as, 'The elephant thWe need to add a fourth element to the sentence:

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIAL

The

elephant

thrust him away.

The sentence does not work without away. Verbs that usually need an o

followed by an adverbial includeputand throw:

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT ADVERBIAL

He put his face in his hands.

She threw the bottle over towardsCleo's lap.

In those sentences like those the adverbial is compulsory: you cannot rleave the sentence intact. Much more often, adverbials are optional and

different positions in the sentence:

I'll tell you tomorrow.

He always used to tuck itunderneath the water butt.

He rarelyate red meat.

And so on.