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Sentence Rules

The rule to create a sentence wants a subject plus verb and optional adornments.

The minimum for a sentence requires a subject (the doer) and a verb (the action). Other pieces include direct objects, indirect objects, prepositional phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions.

Each language has rules for putting the pieces together into an understandable sentence.

Statement (declarative sentence): In a statement, the subject usually comes before the verb.

Question: In a question, the subject usually follows the verb (or a part of the verb phrase).

SUBJECT

The subject is the doer. The subject may be a person or thing or something abstract.

The subject may be represented by a pronoun (“I,” “you [one person],” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” “you [more than one],” “they”).

Examples:

  • I ran all the way to the end of the field.
  • Unfortunately, it was the wrong end of the field.
  • They laughed at me for a month.

The subject may even be a verb in the “-ing” form, an infinitive (“to” + verb), or even a prepositional phrase.

Examples:

  • Running all the way to the end of the field did not produce a touchdown.
    • “Running” is a gerund, the “-ing” form of the verb, functioning as a noun.
  • To make a touchdown requires going to your own end of the field.
    • “To make” is an infinitive, functioning as the subject.
  • Calling me “Wrong Way Corrigan” was embarrassing, to say the least.
    • “Calling” is a gerund, the “-ing” form of the verb, functioning as a noun.
  • Under the oak tree is where I hid the football.
    • “Under the oak tree” is the subject.

In the case of a command, the subject is understood to be “you.”

Examples:

  • “Run the other way!”
  • “Change directions!”
  • “Don’t call me names like that.”

VERB (Regular or Irregular)

The verb must match the subject in number (singular or plural) AND in who/what “person” the subject is. If the subject is one person or thing, then the verb must be singular.

The “who/what person” rule only matters because the “he/she/it” form in the present tense differs from the other forms by adding an “-s.”

With most English verbs in the present tense, only the “he/she/it” form differs from the simple form of the verb (“eat,” “sleep,” “run,” “fall,” etc.).

The third person singular usually adds an “s” to the simple form of the verb (“eats,” “sleeps,” “runs,” falls,” etc.).

  • Modal verbs (also called “auxiliary” or “helping” verbs) do not add “s” for the third person singular.
    • can/could/be able to
    • may/might
    • shall/should
    • will/would
    • must

Verb forms in each tense are traditionally listed as singular and plural, with each having three forms, probably because Latin followed that pattern.

Ancient languages like Latin and Greek had six different forms of verbs in each tense. Some modern languages use the same six.

Singular

  • I = first person singular
  • you = second person singular
  • he/she/it = third person singular

Example:

  • amo = I love
  • amas = you love
  • amat = he/she/it loves

Plural

  • we = first person plural
  • you = second person plural
  • they = third person plural

amare (to love)

  • amamus = we love
  • amatis = you love
  • amant = they love

English only has two forms in the present tense. The past tense only has one form.

Present (to bake)

  • I bake
  • you bake
  • he/she/it bakes
  • we bake
  • you bake
  • they bake

Past (to bake)

  • I baked
  • you baked
  • he/she/it baked
  • we baked
  • you baked
  • they baked

Simplified, in the present tense, if a single entity (not me or you) is the subject, the verb needs an “s” on the end.

In the past tense, verbs do not change based on the subject.

Modal tenses, which use an auxiliary or helping verb, do not add an “s” to the third person singular.

  • can/could/be able to
  • may/might
  • shall/should
  • will/would
  • must

Verbs which carry (transport) the action to something are called transitive verbs.

The something is called a direct object because it receives the action directly, answering a what for the verb.

Direct objects can be nouns or pronouns.

They usually answer a “what” question for the verb.

Example:

  • want
    • Monica wanted something.
      • Subject = “Monica”
      • transitive verb = “want”
      • direct object = “something”
  • buy
    • She found a book.
      • subject = “She”
      • transitive verb = “found”
      • direct object = “a book”
  • lose
    • The little girl it.
      • subject = “The little girl”
      • transitive verb = “lost”
      • direct object = “it”

These are call “intransitive” verbs, because they do NOT “carry” (transport) the action to anything.

Examples:

  • hope
    • Theresa hoped for a pony for her birthday.
      • subject = “Theresa”
      • intransitive verb = “hoped”
      • There is no direct object.
      • “for a pony” and “for her birthday” are prepositional phrases. They are not “things” to be hoped.
        • “for” is a preposition. “a pony” and “her birthday” are objects of the prepositions.
  • agree
    • Her parents agreed.
      • subject = “Her parents”
      • intransitive verb = “agreed”
      • There is no direct object.
  • arrive
    • The pony arrived at noon on Wednesday.
      • subject = “The pony”
      • intransitive verb = “arrived”
      • There is no direct object.
      • “at noon” and “on Wednesday” are prepositional phrases. They are not things to be arrived.
        • “at” and “on” are prepositions. “noon” and “Wednesday” are objects of the prepositions.

The dictionary will list them with individual meanings, labeling which are transitive and which are not.

Examples:

  • swim
    • Jeremiah swims every day.
      • subject = “Jeremiah”
      • intransitive verb = “swims”
      • There is no direct object that he swims.
    • Jeremiah swims three miles every day.
      • subject = “Jeremiah”
      • transitive verb = “swims”
      • direct object = “three miles”
        • “three” = an adjective telling how many miles
  • eat
    • When does he eat?
      • subject = “he”
      • intransitive verb = “does eat”
      • There is no direct object that is eaten.
    • What does he eat for breakfast?
      • subject = “he”
      • transitive verb = “does eat”
      • direct object = “what”
      • “for breakfast” is a prepositional phrase. “Breakfast” without “for” can be eaten, but not with “for.”
  • run
    • His parents run to the pool with him.
      • subject = “His parents”
      • intransitive verb = “run”
      • There is no direct object that is run.
    • Together, they run a marathon each month.
      • subject = “they”
      • transitive verb = “run”
      • direct object = “a marathon”

The receiver of the direct object is called an indirect object.

Do you want some more confusion? There are two ways for a sentence to tell “to” or “for” whom/what something is done.

  • an indirect object before the direct object
  • a prepositional phrase using “to” or “for” (occasionally “at”)
    • The prepositional phrase will come after the direct object.

The indirect object does not have to be a person or an animate object, although it usually is.

The indirect object follows immediately after the verb.

Examples:

  • Marian read her sister the book.
    • subject = “Marian”
    • transitive verb = “read”
    • indirect object = “(her) sister”
    • direct object = “(the) book.”
  • Their mother was sewing them new blouses.
    • subject = “Their mother”
    • transitive verb = “was sewing”
    • indirect object = “them”
    • direct object = “(new) blouses”
  • The kitten swatted the girls a ball of thread.
    • subject = (The) kitten”
    • transitive verb = “swatted”
    • indirect object = “(the) girls”
    • direct object = “(a) ball (of thread)”
      • Because the kitten could also swat the girls, using the prepositional phrase would be clearer to the reader.

The indirect object is usually preceded by the preposition “to” or “for” (sometimes “at”)

Examples:

  • Marian read the book to her sister.
    • subject = “Marian”
    • transitive verb = “read”
    • direct object = “(the) book”
    • indirect object = “(to) her sister
      • preposition = “to”
  • Their mother was sewing new blouses for them.
    • subject = “Their mother”
    • transitive verb = “was sewing”
    • direct object = “(new) blouses”
    • indirect object = “(for) them”
      • preposition = “for”
  • The kitten swatted a ball of thread at the girls.
    • subject = (The) kitten”
    • transitive verb = “swatted”
    • direct object = “(a) ball (of thread)”
    • indirect object = “(at) the girls”
      • prepositon = “at”
      • “at” implies that the ball did not reach the girls.
      • “to” would have stated that the ball reached the girls.

Unrelated adjectives should be separated with commas.

Examples:

  • The big, black, ugly dog slept on my front porch.
  • He wore a white, jeweled, leather collar with his full, unique name printed on it.

When multiple words are used as a single adjective, the words should be hyphenated, unless one of the words is an adverb (“-ly”).

Examples:

  • My very tall, not-to-be-intimidated husband called the dog by name.
    • (“very” is an adverb, so, although it relates to “tall” rather than to “husband,” “very tall” is not hyphenated)
    • (“not-to-be-intimidated” is a phrase used as a single adjective to describe “husband,” so a hyphen between each word)
  • Genghis, the dog, stood up to his full five-foot-at-the-shoulder height and waged his extremely long, bushy tail.
    • (“five-foot-at-the-shoulder“ is a phrase used as a single adjective to describe “height,” so a hyphen between each word)

Sometimes the description comes after the noun. In that case, no hyphens between multiple words used as a single adjective.

(Yes, this can be confusing.)

Examples:

  • (hyphenated) My tall, not-to-be-intimidated husband called the dog by name.
    • (not hyphenated) My husband, who is tall and not to be intimidated, called the dog by name.
    • (not hyphenated) My husband, tall and not to be intimidated, called the dog by name.
  • (hyphenated) Genghis, the dog, stood up to his full five-foot-at-the-shoulder height and waged his extremely long, bushy tail.
    • (not hyphenated) Genghis, the dog, stood up to his full height, five foot at the shoulder, and wagged his extremely long, bushy tail.
    • (not hyphenated) Genghis, the dog, stood up to his full height, five foot at the shoulder, and wagged his extremely long, bushy tail.

Many adverbs end in “-ly,” which makes them easily identifiable.

Some adverbs do not.

Examples of adverbs not ending in “-ly”:

  • today/tomorrow/last week
  • always/never
  • here/there
  • fast
  • soon
  • anyway
  • well
  • very
  • almost
  • rather
  • uphill/downhill

Adverbs may do any or all of four jobs:

  • describe the action of a verb
  • describe an adjective
  • describe another adverb
  • describe the action of a sentence

The adverb describes the manner in which an action occurs, telling “when,” “where,” “how,” or “to what extent.”

Examples:

  • If he arrives early, he will park the car there and carefully climb the steps.
    • verb = “arrives,” adverb (when) = “early”
    • verb = “park,” adverb (where) = “there”
    • verb = “climb,” adverb (how) = “carefully”
  • The bird perched high in the tree while the grass fire burned fiercely below.
    • verb = “perched,” adverb (where) = “high”
    • verb = “burned,” adverb (how) = “fiercely”

An adverb may describe the manner of an adjective.

Examples:

  • The slightly pink cloud in the normally blue sky amazed the very tall girl.
    • adjective = “pink,” to what extent = “slightly”
    • adjective = “blue,” how often = “normally”
    • adjective = “tall,” to what extent = “very”
  • The heavily decorated float moved down the densely populated side street with its carefully placed trees.
    • adjective = “decorated,” to what extent = “heavily”
    • adjective = “populated,” to what extent = “densely”
    • adjective = “placed,” how = “carefully”

Adverbs may also need to be described as how, when, where, or to what extent.

Examples:

  • She drove very slowly into the park, almost immediately braking to avoid the unusually quickly running buffalo just ahead of her.
    • verb = “drove,” how = “slowly,” to what extent = “very”
    • verb (“-ing”) = “braking,” when = “immediately,” to what extent = “almost”
    • verb (“-ing”) = “running,” how = “quickly,” how = “unusually”
    • verb (“-ing”) = “running,” where = “ahead,” to what extent = “just”
  • My aunt sings quite frequently, but my uncle sings very rarely.
    • verb = “sings,” how often = “frequently,” to what extent = “quite”
    • verb = “sings,” how often = “rarely,” to what extent = “very”

Sometimes, the adverb attaches to the entire sentence rather than to just a word.

Examples:

  • Sometimes, the adverb attaches to the entire sentence rather than to just a word.
    • adverb = “sometimes”
  • Unfortunately, I cannot buy groceries if the snow continues to fall.
    • adverb = “unfortunately”
  • Hopefully, the snow will stop before tomorrow.
    • adverb = “hopefully”
  • Happily, I have enough food in the refrigerator.
    • adverb = “happily”

Prepositions are those little words that link phrases together, words like “in,” “at,” “on,” “to,” “from,” “beside,” “before,” “behind,” “under,” and “among.”

Because the phrases can work like adjectives or like adverbs, they should be placed accordingly. Adverbs describing verbs have more leeway in their location. Adjectives describing nouns should be closer to the noun.

Care should be taken that the phrase does not describe the wrong word(s). Location matters.

Examples:

  • During the storm, they waited with great fear under the rock ledge.
    • prepositions: “During,” “with,” “under”
    • prepositional phrases
      • “During the storm,” functioning as an adverb telling “when” they waited.
      • “with great fear,” functioning as an adverb telling “how” they waited
      • “under the rock ledge,” functioning as an adverb telling “where” they waited
        • location: “during the storm under the rock ledge” could be interpreted to mean that the storm was only under the rock ledge.
  • The lightning flashed and the rain fell for two hours before sunset.
    • prepositions: “for,” “before”
    • prepositional phrase
      • “for two hours,” functioning as an adverb telling “how long” the lightning flashed and the rain fell
      • “before sunset,” functioning as an adverb telling “when” the lightning flashed and the rain fell
  • The thunder following the lightning crashed like gunfire through the cave.
    • prepositions: “following,” “like,” “through”
    • prepositional phrases: “following the lightning,” “through the cave,” “like gunfire”
      • “following the lightning,” functioning as an adjective describing “thunder”
        • location: “following the lightning like gunfire” changes the meaning, although properly, if gunfire is being described, “lightning-like” should be hyphenated, as “like” is not an adverb in this case
      • “like gunfire,” functioning as an adverb telling “how”
      • “through the cave,” functioning as an adverb telling “where”

The two obvious ones are spelling mistakes: “erors” for “errors” and “threee” for “three.”

I have been puzzling over the third one. I may have figured it out if the third error is counting the number of errors in the sentence.

If you come up with a better solution, let me know.

Credit: Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash


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