Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

MODULE 1
ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS
(Pattern I)

1.1. Introduction

English basic sentence patterns refers to a structure which is considered a basic

grammatical pattern for sentences in English, and which can be used as a model for
producing other sentences in English. Study the following sentences carefully!
1. A dog barks
2. Tigers eat flesh.
3. John gave Marry a book.
4. They call the boy a coward.
5. A Penguin is a bird.
6. A Penguin is black.
7. A Penguin is there.

As you can see, all these sentences use simplest English sentence patterns. They
contain basic sentence elements, such as Subject, Verb and Object. Each of these sentence
elements is made up of at least two words. For example, sentence (1) has a subject made
up of two words; the indefinite article a and the noun dog. The same sentence also
contains only a single word, the verb barks, which functions as sentence predicate.
There are several basic English sentence patterns, based on the types of sentence elements
that make up the structure. The patterns are described one by one. Module one presents
Pattern I, II, and III.

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

 Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

1.2.. Presentation

1.2.1. Pattern I :SUBJECT + INTRANSITIVE VERB

This pattern has only two obligatory elements, namely the subject and the verb,

which is intransitive. An intransitive verb is a verb that occurs without an

object. Observe the sentences in the following table.

No. Subject Intransitive Verb

1. A dog barks
2. Birds fly
3. Water flows.
4. Plants grow.
5. The wind blows

An adverb, such as adverb of time, place, manner, and frequency may be added to
this pattern. These adverbs are optional, so this pattern may occur with or without
the adverbs. The first three types of adverbs (time, place and manner) are usually
placed at the end of the pattern. These adverbs can occur together in the same
sentence. When this happens, they follow a more or less definite order: place -
manner – time.

Obligatory Elements Optional Elements

No. Adverb of Adverb of Adverb of
Subject Intransitive Verb
place manner time
1. Fish swim in the water
2. A horse runs fast
3. Bats come out at night.
4. The boy plays in the field happily every day

An adverb of frequency normally occurs before the main verb, except when the verb is
be. Below are some notes about the normal position of adverbs of frequency.
1. Frequency adverbs go before the modal have to.
Example: We always have to go to school on foot.

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

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2. Sometimes a verb is two or more words (verb phrase with auxiliary verbs), such as can
remember, does not smoke, has been stolen , etc. In this case, an adverb of

frequency is placed after the first part of the verb (after the first auxiliary), as
follows.
Auxiliary Adverb of Auxiliary Other
No. Subject Verb
1 frequency 2 adverb
1. A cat can never swim
smoke
2. Ann doesn’t usually
.
3. They are always sitting on the floor.
sleepin
4. The boy has been soundly
g
5. Fish always swim in the water.

Exercise 1
Supply the missing parts in the following sentences with an appropriate word! The
type of the element required is indicated underneath.
1. The sun ___________ _______________ ______________ ____________
Frequency Verb Place Time
2. ______________ are studying ___________________.
Subject Place
3. His vacation begins __________________
Time
4. _________________ will rest ____________________
Subject Manner
5. _________________ is working __________________
Subject Manner
6. _________________ is working _________________ ______________
Subject Place Time.
7. The children ____________ ________________ _____________ happily.
Frequency Verb Place
8. The boys usually _____________ on the floor _____________________
Verb Time
9. They _____________ play ___________________ in the afternoon.
Frequency Place
10. The students ______________ work ________________ ___________
Frequency Manner Time

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

 Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

1.2.2. Pattern II: SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + OBJECT

This pattern contains three principal sentence elements: a subject, a transitive verb
and an object. These three elements are obligatory, so the absence of one of these three
may cause an incomplete and insensible sentence. Study the following table!

No. Subject Transitive Verb Object

1. Alfred collects stamps
2. We killed a snake
3. He likes swimming
4. The professor is teaching semantics.

Some individual verbs can be used intransitively and transitively. Verbs such as study,
write, read, and the like, can be used with either Pattern I or Pattern II, as shown in the
following table.

No. Subject Verb Adverb Object

1. The students study hard
Intransitive 2. The professor reads constantly
3. She writes well
1. The students study English
Transitive 2. The professor reads journals
3. She writes novels

Like Pattern I, this pattern may be enlarged by adding adverbial elements, such as adverb
of manner, time, place and frequency, as shown in the table below.

Adverb of Adverb of
No. Subject Verb Object
Frequency place/manner/time
1. The students often study English in the room.
2. She usually writes novels quickly
3. The professor reads journals every day

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

 Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

Exercise 2
Make more sentences of this type by supplying the missing parts. If there are two
blanks, supply two parts of the pattern.
1. Mr. Rivera teaches _____________________
2. _______________ ________________ some tests.
3. The professor is reading _________________
4. They ______________________ many tests.
5. Raul _____________________ the news paper.
6. The students like _______________________
7. The professor _________________ many tests.
8. Some teachers __________________ few tests.
9. Their students usually _______________ them.
10. The house-maid _____________ ____________

1.2.3. Pattern III: SUBJECT + DITRANSITIVE VERB + INDIRECT

OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT.
This pattern has four essential elements, including the subject, verb (which is
ditransitive because it requires two objects) and two objects: an indirect object and a
direct object. Certain verbs, such as bring, get, give, hand, leave, offer, pass, send, take,
tell, read, write, teach, buy, sell, fix, and make frequently occur with this pattern.

No. Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2

1. He gave me the book
2. Jim bought Mary a present
3. They sent me some flowers

It is rather difficult, however, to pinpoint which of the two objects is direct and indirect.
The indirect object is the person to whom, or occasionally for whom, something (the
direct object) is given, sent, told, and so forth. It is the one that, when the structure is
constructed in another way, may be expressed in a prepositional phrase, as shown below.

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

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Prepositional Phrase
Indirect Direct
No. Subject Verb as
Object Object
Indirect Object
1.a. He gave me the book.
b. He gave the book to me.
2.a. Jim bought Mary a present.
b. Jim bought a present for Mary.
3.a. They sent him a letter
b. They sent a letter to him

Thus, a prepositional phrase introduced by ‘to’ or ‘for’ is frequently used to express the
indirect object in other way. The prepositional phrase using ‘to’ may follow all of the
verbs listed above except buy, fix, and make. The prepositional phrase with ‘for’ follows
buy, fix, and make. The prepositional phrase as object is generally used when the direct
object is a pronoun. Compare the sentences below!
CORRECT : He gave me the book.
CORRECT : He gave the book to me.
CORRECT : He gave it to me.
INCORRECT : He gave me it.
A few verbs, including deliver, describe, explain, return and say are regularly followed
by direct object + prepositional phrase as indirect object.
Example:
CORRECT : She described her house to us.
INCORRECT : She described us her house.
CORRECT : He explained the theory to us.
INCORRECT : He explained us the theory.
Like previous patterns, this pattern is also open for the addition of adverbial elements, as
some examples exhibit below.

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

 Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

They sent me some flowers by mail a few days ago.

The boys often buy some flowers for their mothers.
She explained the procedures to us in the field.

Exercise 3
a. Combine the following pairs of sentences into one sentence using the pattern
Subject + Ditransitive Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object.
Example: Tim received a letter. The mail carrier brought it.
The mail carrier brought Tim a letter.

1. He received a letter. The university mailed it on Tuesday.

_____________ mailed _____________ ____________ on Tuesday.

2. His friends received the news. Tim told it.

______________told ______________ _______________
3. Tim will receive a check each month. The university will issue it.
_____________ will issue _____________ ____________ each month.
4. The committee received many questions. The students asked them.
______________ asked ________________ _____________________
5. John received some money. His father sent it regularly.
John’s father ____________ ______________ regularly.

b. Make new sentences by expanding the following structure using the prepositional
phrase with ‘to’ or ‘for’. Then change them to subject – verb – indirect object –
direct object, if possible.
Example: He described the art gallery. [her]
He described the art gallery to her.
1. I can’t explain it. [them].
2. His suggestion makes sense. [us].
3. The mechanic changed the oil. [me].
4. Bruce opened the window.[the teacher].
5. He bought a ring. [her].
6. They announced their engagement. [their friends].
7. She wrote the news. [distant relatives]
8. He said his name. [me].
9. The director granted a raise. [her staff].
10. The university gave a scholarship. [Peggy]

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

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1.3. Evaluation
Compose two sentences for each of the following sentence patterns!
1. Pattern I: Subject + Intransitive Verb
a. __________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________
2. Pattern II: Subject + Transitive Verb + Object
a. __________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________

3. Pattern III
- Subject + Ditransitive Verb + Object 1 + Object 2
a. ________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________

- Subject + Ditransitive Verb + Direct Object + Indirect Object

c. ________________________________________________________
d. ________________________________________________________

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)

 Bahan Ajar, STRUCTURE 1

Reference

1. Azar, Betty Schramper. 1989. Understanding and Using English Grammar.

Second Edition. pp A1 – A5. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

2. __________________. 1989. Fundamental English Grammar. Second Edition.

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

3. Wishon, E. George and Julia M. Burks. 1980. Let’s Write English. (Revised
Ed.). pp.1 – 82. New York: Litton Educational Publishing International.

4. Krohn, Robert. 1981. English Sentence Structure. pp 47 – 49. Michigan: The

University of Michigan Press.

5. Murphy, Raymond. 1989. English Grammar in Use. pp 210 – 213. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

4. Richard, Jack C, John Platt, Heidi Platt. 1992. Dictionary of Language teaching
& Applied Linguistics. Singapore: Longman Singapore Publishers Pte. Ltd.

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Module 1: ENGLISH BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS (Pattern I – III)