Sentence Pattern Definition

There are five important components in a sentence.

Components Of Sentence Pattern

Subject (S)	Verb (V)	Object (O)
Complement (C)	Adverbial (A)

 

1. SUBJECT (S)

Definition :

To get ‘S’ ask the quesiton ‘Who?’ before the verb.

Subject In Sentence Pattern Examples

Nancy danced well	(Here “Nancy” - Subject)
The child broke the glass	(Here “The child” - Subject)

Subject (S)	consists of nouns or pronouns
	occurs before a verb

 

2. VERB (V)

Definition :

In every sentence the most important word is the verb. A verb shows action or activity or work done.

Verb In Sentence Pattern Examples

He is a doctor	(“Be” form verb)
Jems wrote a letter	(Main verb)
The baby is crying	(auxiliary verb + Main verb)

Verb (V)	consists of (a) auxiliaries
	(b) finite verbs

(a) Auxiliaries

Auxiliary Verbs In Sentence Pattern Examples

am, is, are ,was, were

has, have, had

does, do, did

Modals : can, could; will, would; shall, should; may, might; must

Semi-modals / Quasi Modals : dare to; need to; used to; ought to

(b) Finte Verbs - Denote Action

Examples

talk, sing, write, make, dance, play, cook, leave, teach, sleep

- verbs occur after the subject

- vebs occur before the object

3. OBJECT (O)

Definition :

To get the object ‘O’ ask the question ‘What’ or ‘Whome’. ‘What’ is for things and ‘Whome’ is for persons. Persons may be nouns or pronouns.

Examples

He bought a pen	(a pen = Object)
He handles the computer	(computer = Object)
I saw him	(him = Object)

Object (O) - consists of nouns or noun phrases or noun clauses

(a) Do	- direct object
	- answers the question ‘what’

Examples

S	V	O (what)
I	likes	animals

(b) IO	- indirect object
	- answers the question ‘whom’

Examples

S	V	IO (whom)	DO
I	gave	Rosy	a pen

4. COMPLEMENT (C)

Definition :

The words required to complete the meaning of a sentence are called Complement of the sentence.

Examples

S	V	C
He	is	a dentist
She	became	a journalist
It	grew	dark

Complement (C) - from the word ‘complete’

- completes the meaning in the sentence

- wihtout it the, meaning is incomplete

- wihtout it the, meaning changes

occurs in two pattern. (i) S V C pattern. (ii) S V O C pattern

(i) In S V C pattern, the complement C

- complements the subjects

- tells about the subject

- wihtout it the, meaning changes

- without C, the sentence is incomplete or the sentence changes its meaning

- use to be forms, grew, became, seems for verb

Examples

S	V	C
They	are	players
She	was	angry
It	seems	absurd

(ii) In S V O C pattern

- the complement tells about the object

- the complement and object are of the same person or thing

Examples

S	V	O	C
They	called	David	a genius
I	found	her	crying
They	elected	Michle	leader

Types of Complement

1. Subject Complement

Definition :

The complement which expresses the quality or identity or condition of the subject is called Subject Complement.

Examples

She is a doctor

She looks sad

2. Object Complement

Definition :

The complement which expresses the quality or identity or condition of an object is called Object Complement.

Examples

They made her angry

She called him a liar

Adjunct or Adverbial

Definition :

To get ‘A’ ask the question why, when, where or how.

The use of adverbial is optional whereas complement is essential. It has adverb phrase, adverbial clause, noun-phrase and prepositional phrase.

Examples

Why? (reason)	When? (Time)	Where? (Place)	How? (Manner)
due to cold	now, later	here, there	by bus / cycle
through floods	after 2 years	every where	through efforts
under compulsion	when young	in the sky	by mixing
carefully	in the morning	at home	by hard work

Adjunct - A - answers the questions where? when? how? why?
- without A, any change in the meaning of the sentence

Examples Of Adjuncts In Sentences

Examples

S	V	A
She	Comes	every day
-	Sit	here