Writing simple sentences in English. How to construct a sentence in English

Dima behaved well yesterday.

Yesterday Dima behaved well.

Dima behaved well yesterday.

No matter how we say these sentences and in what order we put the words in them, their meaning will not change. With this example we want to show the difference between the construction of Russian and English sentences. After all, it is in the latter that such variations are impossible. All due to the fact that English language there are no endings, and in order not to lose the meaning that the speaker wants to convey, English philologists established rules for composing sentences in the English language. They are quite clear and require strict adherence.

Let's consider the features of constructing affirmative sentences.

We have two spelling options. The first option looks like this:

subject-predicate-object-adverbial

She doesn’t bake herself as a rule. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(She doesn't do the baking herself. Her boyfriend does)

He likes this book very much.

(He really likes this book.)

They will bring this book tomorrow.

(They will bring this book tomorrow)

The second option is written like this:

adverbial-subject-predicate-object

As a rule she doesn’t bake herself. Her boyfriend does it for her.

(She usually doesn't do the baking herself. Her boyfriend does.)

Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.

(Yesterday Kevin met his classmates at the airport.)

If we talk about interrogative sentences, it is worth noting that they also have character traits writing.

In our article we will learn how general and special questions are composed.

More about interrogative sentences:
Interrogative sentences in English

We construct a general question according to this scheme:

verb-subject- addition-adverbial

Will she be at the restaurant after 2?

(Will she be at the restaurant after two?)

Did you bring that book to the library?

(Did you bring that book to the library?)

As a rule, we put “question-word” as the first word in interrogative sentences ( who, whom, where, why, what, which, when, whose, how, how much).

In second place we put the auxiliary verb ( am, is, are, does, did, do, will, shall, would, have, has, can, could, must, may, might, ought, need, should.) It is followed by the subject, semantic verb, and other words.

How do you feel today?

(How do you feel today?)

How much sugar does she take in her coffee?

(How much sugar does she add to her coffee?)

Here we have given the basic schemes for constructing sentences in English. But, there are some exceptions to the rules and deviations from the given schemes. We invite you to learn about all these features at our school and receive detailed information on this topic.

More significant success in constructing sentences in English will bring you the desire to think in English, and not just translate sentences from Russian. Watching films or your favorite English TV series without translation and with subtitles will also be useful. Firstly, it will bring not only the opportunity to learn, but also spend time with pleasure. Secondly, visual memory will consolidate the textual accompaniment of the film, and you can always rewind the film and read unfamiliar phrases or words. The usefulness of American TV series also lies in the fact that they use a significant amount of slang sentences, exclamations and modern sayings, which, of course, you will need for everyday speech.

Our dear students, the entire Native English School team congratulates you on the upcoming Easter, wishes you sincerity from those around you, bright smiles, success in your work, peace in your family and in your heart! See you! =)

A well-written sentence is the basis for both good writing in general and epistolary communication. There are several rules, as well as several types of sentences, that a writer must keep in mind in order to achieve excellent results in his work. Once you grasp the basics of sentence writing, you will be on your way to becoming an excellent writer.

Steps

Getting to Know the Basics Before Writing

Make sure the sentence expresses the complete idea. A sentence is a collection of words that together express a complete thought that has some meaning. As you write, it's a good idea to reread your sentence out loud and ask yourself, "Does this sentence make sense? Does it express the complete idea?"

For example, "Eggs near the river" is not a sentence because it does not express the full idea.
"I ate eggs near a river yesterday" is a sentence because it has a clear, complete meaning.
"Because I ate eggs" is fragment sentence because it is not complete. “Because” is a cause-and-effect connection, but in itself it does not carry any meaning.
"Because I ate eggs near a river, I got wet" is a sentence because it establishes a complete cause-and-effect relationship with the word "because."

Use correct punctuation. In English, sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. A grammatically correct sentence may end with a period(.), question mark(?) or exclamation mark(!). Punctuation marks indicate to the reader the end of a sentence and the intonation with which it should be read.
- An exclamation point expresses surprise, while a question mark indicates doubt or curiosity.
Use subject and predicate. The subject is the person or thing being discussed in the sentence. A predicate is a word that expresses an action performed by the subject.

Writing simple sentences
1. Define a simple sentence. A simple sentence is the most important basis. It includes a subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought. It is also called the main clause because it stands on its own. For example: "Janet writes."
  
  Make simple sentences a little more informative. You can add direct or indirect objects to add more information to your sentences. Here is an example: "Janet writes romance novels."
  - The phrase "romance novels" is the direct object in this example. This is what Janet writes. It comes out of the actions of the predicate.
  - Simple sentences can also have a compound subject or a compound predicate.
    - Example of a compound subject: "Janet and Sujata write romance novels." "Janet and Sujata" is a compound subject because the action is performed by two people.
    - Example of a compound predicate: "Janet writes and publishes romance novels." Janet does two things, writes and publishes, which means it is a compound predicate.
2. Try writing a simple sentence. When you write your own simple sentence, start with the subject. Think about what the proposal will be about. Then you take a verb. To do this, decide what the subject will do. Will it walk, run, read, sit, cook, or do anything else?
  
  Pay attention to the singular and plural subjects and predicates. When choosing a subject or predicate, make sure the two words agree in number. The rule is that a singular subject requires a singular predicate, and a plural subject requires a plural predicate.
  - An example of a singular subject: "My son is a doctor."
  - Example subject in plural: "My sons are doctors."
Writing compound sentences
1. Define a compound sentence. It consists of two simple sentences. They are separated by a comma (,), followed by one of the seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. To remember them, use the FANBOYS mnemonic code. Below are examples of compound sentences. Pay attention to the connecting conjunctions.
  - He was happy, for he just passed his exam.
  - The road was long, and we could not see the end.
  - She was not wrong, nor was she entirely right.
  - She would have fallen, but for Sally's help.
  - Deon is smart, or Deon is lucky.
  - I am eating steak, yet I really wanted lamb.
  - Jack was wet, so he changed his clothes.
2. Try writing a complex sentence. Start by choosing the subject and predicate in the first part, just like you did with the simple sentence. Next, choose the appropriate coordinating conjunction based on the meaning of the sentence. Finally, choose the coherent subject and predicate in the second part of the complex sentence.
  - You might want to use "and" to express a continuation of thought or meaning, or choose "but" as part of an explanation. There are many possibilities.
3. Pay attention to meanings when writing complex sentences. In this type of sentence, you can expand the meaning widely, unlike a simple sentence. Make sure that the second part develops or complements the idea expressed in the first part.
Writing complex sentences
1. Try writing a complex sentence. When writing a complex sentence, you need to combine the main clause and the subordinate clause. Make sure you use a subordinate clause to explain what happened in the main clause.
  
  Use complex sentences to better explain your thoughts. Complex sentences are useful because they often indicate clear and precise relationships between parts of the sentences. For example, "before" tells readers that the dog needs to be walked before eating breakfast, "because" helps explain why Yao is kind.
  
  Create recurring offers. They begin with a subordinate clause and end with a main clause. You don't need to put a comma before the subordinate clause if the main clause comes first. Commas are used only when the subordinate clause serves as an introduction to the main clause.
  - Periodic clauses are good for building tension or interest because the main meaning or idea will come at the end, after the subordinate clause.
  - For example: "As I sat waiting in traffic, I realized I would be late for class."
Common Mistakes
1. Look for incomplete sentences. This is a case where the subordinate clause stands on its own. This also happens if the sentence is missing a subject or predicate. Here are some examples of incomplete sentences:
2. Avoid overlaps. So-called stuck sentences are when you use more than one main clause (a sentence with a subject and predicate that expresses a complete idea).
  - For example: "I went to the store I got bread and milk." Every part I went to the store And I got bread and milk has a subject and a predicate, and expresses a complete, clear idea.
  - You can correct stuck sentences in several ways. You can separate them using a semicolon, comma, or conjunction. Or make two separate sentences from them:
    - I went to the store; I got bread and milk. A semicolon indicates close relationships between clauses.
    - I went to the store, and I got bread and milk. A conjunction indicates less similarity between sentences than a semicolon, but it does indicate that they are related by the same idea.
    - I went to the store. I got bread and milk. A complete disjunction indicates that the sentences are not connected in any way.
3. Check the comma splices. This is due to stuck sentences because both connect the main parts incorrectly. Splitting with a comma is a very common mistake and is considered one of the top mistakes that teachers highlight.
  - Example: "I texted my friend, she didn"t reply."
    - Both clauses are main clauses because they have a subject and predicate that express the complete idea.
  - You can fix a spliced comma the same way you fix a spliced sentence:
    - Using a semicolon: "I texted my friend; she didn"t reply."
    - Using a comma and a connecting conjunction: "I texted my friend, but she didn"t reply."
    - Separating two sentences: "I texted my friend. She didn"t reply."
4. Stick to parallel connections. If you have a fairly complex sentence, it can be easy to get confused about the nouns and verbs in it. If you don't stick to the parallel structure, your sentence will be difficult to read and will also lose most sense.
  - For example, this sentence lacks a parallel structure: "I enjoy fishing, swimming, and hiking."
    - It's better to use all the verbs in one form: "I enjoy fishing, swimming, and hiking."
  - This can be a serious problem if the sentence has many parts. For example: "My teacher told me that I should submit my essay on time, that I should proofread it carefully before turning it in, and to not email her the night before."
    - Better save it unified structure: "My teacher told me that I should submit my essay on time, that I should proofread it carefully before turning it in, and that I should not email her the night before."
5. Change sentence structure. A common mistake for new writers or people still learning a language is to write all sentences in a single, basic structure. Different types sentences will make your writing smoother and more enjoyable to read.
  - For example, consider the following repetitions: "I saw a zombie. I started to run. I tripped over a rock. I got up again. I kept running." All of these sentences have the same word order (subject-predicate-direct object) and begin with the same subject.
  - Now look at the modified version: "I saw a zombie and started to run, but I tripped over a rock. Panicked, I picked up myself up and kept running."
- Don't start a sentence with "Which."
- Simple sentences with one subject can be combined into a complex sentence.
- A simple clause is also called a main clause.
- Mixing up sentence types will make your writing more interesting. Too much a large number of simple sentences are not interesting to read!

In order to construct even the simplest sentence in English, you need to know the word order in the language. This seemingly simple, but very important topic is Starting point in learning English grammar.

Subject + predicate + direct object

In a regular affirmative sentence, the subject is placed immediately before the predicate (verb). The direct object, when present, comes immediately after the verb. For example:

They bought a car. — They bought a car.
We can't do that. - We can't do this.
The girl in a blue dress was playing the piano. — Girl in blue dress played the piano.

Predicate

Note that by subject here we mean not only the main noun or pronoun, but also the adjectives or descriptive phrases that refer to it. The rest of the sentence that does not refer to the subject is called the predicate. For example:

The girl in a blue dress was playing the piano.

Indirect additions and circumstances

If there are any other parts in the sentence - indirect additions or circumstances - they usually occupy a strictly defined place.

Indirect object position

after direct object if it contains the preposition to.

The indirect object is placed before direct object when to is missing. For example:

The teacher gave dictionaries to the pupils. — The teacher distributed dictionaries to the students.
The teacher gave them dictionaries. — The teacher gave them dictionaries.

Position of circumstance

The circumstance can be placed in three places:

Before the subject (usually these are tense adverbs)

In the morning he was reading a book. — In the morning he was reading a book.

After the addition (almost any adverb or adverbial phrase can be placed here):

He was reading a book at the library. — He was reading a book in the library.

Between the auxiliary and main verb (usually short adverbs):

He has already read this book. — He has already read the book.

In standard English, there are usually no other words placed between the subject and the predicate or between the predicate and the object. But there are a few exceptions. Here are the most important of them:

Adverbs of frequency and indirect objects without the preposition to

I sometimes drink coffee in the morning. - I Sometimes I drink coffee in the morning.
He showed the driver his bus pass. - He showed to the driver your bus pass.

If you follow these simple rules, you will be able to avoid mistakes in the arrangement of words in English sentence. The examples given are intentionally simple - but the same rules can be applied to more. For example:

The woman, , never went to sleep before - The woman [who often felt lonely] never went to bed without calling her sister.

Stylistic change in word order

Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, and writers or speakers often use unusual word order to achieve a special effect. But if we now focus on exceptions, we will distract ourselves from the main principles, and the problem of word order in a sentence may seem very difficult.

So here are some more examples: You should know that these sentences exist, but don't try to use them unless absolutely necessary until you have mastered the principles of normal word order (remember, you need to learn to walk before you can run!):

Never before had he felt so miserable. “He had never felt so unhappy before.”

If a sentence begins with never or never before, the subject and predicate are often subject to inversion, i.e. change places. Don't use inversion when never follows the subject!

Hardly had I finished cleaning the house, my friend called. “I had barely finished cleaning the house when my friend called.

(When a sentence begins with hardly, the subject and predicate must always be inverted.)

Had they known, they"d never have done that. “If they had known this, they would never have done this.”

(Inversion is used in hypothetical condition structures when if is omitted.)

Whatever you can tell me, I know already. “Whatever you tell me, I already know.”

Here's the expanded addition: Whatever you can tell me, is placed at the beginning of the sentence for artistic reasons: this sentence structure is not necessary, it's just .

Now, having mastered the rules for constructing simple sentences, you can move on to more complex sentences with subordinate constructions.

How do you feel about non-standard word order in English? Difficult, unclear? Share in the comments!

Mastering any language, including English, begins with learning individual sounds, letters and words. But literally after a few lessons, the next question arises - how to write a sentence in English. For many, this is a whole problem, since a clearly structured English sentence is noticeably different from a free Russian one.

Let's not waste time and start the lesson right away.

As we know from the elementary school Russian language course, the main members of a sentence are the subject (noun - object, person) and the predicate (verb - action). For example, “I am writing.” Further, for specifics and just decorations are added various kinds words - definitions, additions, circumstances, and so on: “I write beautifully,” “I write with a pen,” “I write a dictation,” and so on.

Let's try to construct the first sentence in English. For example, we want to say “I am watching TV.”

As you can see, everything is simple - English words They stand in exactly the same places as the Russians. This suggests that composing sentences in English is very easy and simple. I agree with you, but only partly. This was too simple an example, and in English there are some nuances that you need to know. Let's figure it out.

The place of each member in an English sentence is clearly indicated. Remember that in an affirmative sentence (which ends with a period), the predicate always comes immediately after the subject.

If in Russian we can say both “I’m watching TV” and “I’m watching TV,” then in English there is only one option for wording - “I watch TV.” Any other word order in this sentence will be incorrect.

In most sentences in English (with rare exceptions), the verb (action) follows the noun or personal pronoun.

I see a boy.
I see (some) boy.

A dog has four legs.
(Any) dog has 4 legs.

By the way, now a little about the verb “to have”. If in Russian we are accustomed to using the construction “we have”, “they have”, “The dog (has)”, then in English we use the verb to have (to have) instead.

I have a book - I have a book (I have a book)
you have - you have (you have)
they have - they have (they have)
the dog has - the dog has (a dog has)

Another important point concerns the verb to be - to be.

If in Russian we are used to saying “the sky is blue”, “I am a student”, “they are from Russia”, then in English this will not work. There must be a connection between a noun and its definition. This connection is expressed using the verb to be.

Literally: “the sky is blue”, “I am a student”, “they are from Russia”.

The verb to be changes according to persons, which is why in the previous examples you did not see the word “be”.

I am
You are
She/he/it is
We are
They are

Now you understand that composing a correct sentence in English is not as easy as it seems at first glance.

Dear students and parents, we have prepared an English lesson for you that will help you understand the basic rules when constructing an English sentence. First, we will look at the types of sentences based on the verbs used, and then we will learn how to construct affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. At the end of the article there are tables that you can save and print to use as visual material.

Types of offers.

There are two types of sentences in English: with a regular verb denoting an action, feeling or state, and with a connective verb to be. Now we will tell you what the difference is. If in Russian we use a verb, then in English we will also use a verb. For example, “I go to school” - here the verb “go”, which in English sounds like “go”. We put this verb in an English sentence: “I go to school.” If in Russian there is no verb, or rather, there is a verb “is”, which according to the rules of the Russian language is omitted (The weather is good - The weather is good), then in English this place is replaced by the verb to be, which is translated as “there is” "to be", "to exist". In other words, in Russian we often use sentences without a verb, in English this is impossible!

Let's first look at sentences with ordinary verbs; they have one trick - in the third person singular, the ending -s or -es must be added to the verb. The third person singular is a noun meaning he, she or it, that is, not you or me, but someone else alone. At first glance, this seems complicated and incomprehensible, but in fact, this rule makes learning English very easy! In English there is no person conjugation of verbs. Look how difficult the Russian language is and how much easier English is:

I I'm walking to school. I go to school.

Vasya (he) walks to school. Vasya goes to school.

Nastya (she) walks to school. Nastya goes to school.

They walk to school. They go to school.

We let's go to school. We go to school.

While in Russian the verb endings actively change according to persons: I go, walks, walk, walk, in English only in the third person singular (he and she) did the ending –es appear. If the verb ends with a consonant, then –s is added (swim – swim s), and if on a vowel, then –es (go – go es).

Let's look at examples with the verb to be. If in Russian we do not use a verb (that is, we omit the verb “is”), then in English translation the verb to be appears. Katya (yes) beautiful girl. In Russian there is no verb, in English the verb to be appears in the form is: Katya is a beautiful girl.

The difficulty is that the verb to be has three forms that you need to know by heart:

am– we use it when we talk about ourselves: I (am) a schoolboy. I am a pupil
is– we use the third person singular (he, she, it): Katya (she) is a beautiful girl. Katya is a beautiful girl.
are– used in the plural or in the second person (we, they, you, you): Vanya and Petya (they) best friends. Vanya and Petya are best friends.

Affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

Let us remember once again that in English there are two types of sentences: with a regular verb, which has a corresponding translation into Russian, and with the verb to be, which is omitted in Russian. These two types of sentences have different structures. Let's start with the verb to be. Let's look at the same examples, but in different forms: affirmative, interrogative and negative. Read carefully the Russian sentences and their translation into English, try to determine the pattern.

I'm a schoolboy. I am a pupil.

Am I a schoolboy? Am I'm a pupil?

I'm not a schoolboy. I am not a pupil.

Katya is a beautiful girl. Katya is a beautiful girl

Katya is a beautiful girl? Is Katya a beautiful girl?

Katya is an ugly girl. Katya is not a beautiful girl.

Vanya and Petya are best friends. Vanya and Petya are best friends.

Vanya and Petya are best friends? Are Vanya and Petya best friends?

Vanya and Petya are not best friends. Vanya and Petya are not best friends.

So, in an affirmative sentence in English there is a strict word order: subject (main noun), predicate (verb), secondary members of the sentence. If in Russian we can change the order of words as we please, thereby changing the meaning and emotional connotation, then in English this is strictly prohibited, they will not understand you. In Russian we say: “I love you”, “I love you” or “I love you” and so on, but in English there is only one option: “I love you” and nothing else. The same in the given examples: Katya is a beautiful girl. Where Katya is the subject, there is no predicate in the Russian language (it could be the verb “is”), a beautiful girl are the secondary members of the sentence. In an English sentence: Katya is the subject, is is the predicate, and a beautiful girl are the minor members of the sentence. Hence two rules:

When constructing an interrogative sentence in English, the predicate (verb) comes first.
When building negative sentence the negative particle not is added to the predicate (verb).

Now let's look at sentences with ordinary verbs, read the examples carefully:

I am going to school. I go to school.

I am going to school? Do I go to school.

I do not go to school. I don't go to school.

Nastya goes to school. Nastya goes to school.

Does Nastya go to school? Does Nastya go to school?

Nastya doesn't go to school. Nastya doesn't go to school.

The principle is the same as in sentences with the verb to be, only instead of rearranging the verb itself, we have the so-called auxiliary to do. Why auxiliary? Because it helps us build the necessary sentence structure and grammar. Thus, when asked, it is not the main verb to go that comes first, but the auxiliary verb to do. When negated, the particle not is attached not directly to the main verb, but to the emerging verb to do. In addition, the verb to do always takes over the entire grammar of the main verb. In the second example, the verb to do took on the ending –es, which is given to the third person singular. Please note that the ending of the main verb has disappeared because the auxiliary verb has taken it away.

Let us summarize the information received. To construct a sentence in English, we first need to identify the verb. There are two options: a regular verb that has an analogue in English, denoting an action, feeling or state, or a verb to be, is to exist, which cannot be translated into Russian. Next, if this is an ordinary verb, you need to determine whether the ending will be –es (third person singular); if this is a verb to be, then you need to determine its form (am, is, are). We choose the necessary form of the sentence: affirmative, interrogative, negative. And we put everything in its place!

We use generally accepted abbreviations:

I am - i a m - I'm

he is - he i s - he's

she is - she i s - she's

it is - it i s - it’s

they are – they a re – they’re

we are - we a re - we're

you are - you a re - you’re

do not - don o t - don’t

does not - doesn't o t - doesn't

Interesting fact: In affirmative sentences with a regular verb, the auxiliary verb to do is also sometimes used. It adds persuasiveness and firmness to the proposal. For example:

I go to school. I am going to school.

I have to go to school! I actually go to school!

You can choose the training course that suits you on ours!

In the photo - teacher of the OkiDoki language school Oksana Igorevna

Writing simple sentences in English. How to construct a sentence in English

Steps

Getting to Know the Basics Before Writing