Six Basic Sentence Patterns

In English, there are six basic sentence patterns, some of which you have already worked with in this chapter. Although there are other patterns, they build on these six.

  1. Subject-Verb (S-V)

    This is the most basic pattern, as you have already seen.

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  2. Subject-Linking Verb-Noun (S-LV-N)

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  3. Subject-Linking Verb-Adjective (S-LV-ADJ)

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  4. Subject-Verb-Adverb (S-V-ADV)

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  5. Subject-Verb-Direct Object (S-V-DO)

    A direct object directly receives the action of the verb.

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  6. Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object

    An indirect object does not directly receive the action of the verb.

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