Sentence patterns

47Sentence patterns

The vast majority of English sentences conform to one of these five patterns:

subject/verb/subject complement

subject/verb/direct object

subject/verb/indirect object/direct object

subject/verb/direct object/object complement

subject/verb

Adverbial modifiers (single words, phrases, or clauses) may be added to any of these patterns, and they may appear nearly anywhere—at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end.

Predicate is the grammatical term given to the verb plus its objects, complements, and adverbial modifiers.