Make Yourself Clear: Understanding Word Order

English Unraveled: Navigating Common ESL Pitfalls – Part 8

Understanding word order in a secondary language is tough. Especially when the language doesn’t have the same root languages as your own. Today, we explore the nuances of word order in English sentences—a fundamental aspect that can dramatically influence clarity and understanding. Correct word order is essential for conveying messages effectively and is a common stumbling block for many ESL learners.

Understanding Standard English Sentence Structure

The basic word order in English is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). This structure forms the backbone of most simple sentences and ensures clarity in communication.

Subject (S): The person, place, thing, or idea performing the action or being described.
Verb (V): The action performed by the subject or the state of being.
Object (O): The person, place, thing, or idea that is affected by the action of the verb.

Example: The cat (S) chased (V) the mouse (O).

Expanding beyond simple sentences, modifiers such as adjectives, adverbs, and phrases can be incorporated to add detail, but maintaining the fundamental SVO order helps preserve clarity.

Basic Sentence Structure

Sentence: The dog (S) barked (V) loudly (Adv).

Explanation: “The dog” is the subject performing the action, “barked” is the verb indicating the action, and “loudly” is an adverb modifying the verb to describe how the action was performed.

Intermediate Sentence Structure

Sentence: My brother (S) drove (V) his new car (O) to school (Prepositional Phrase) every day (Adv).

Explanation: “My brother” is the subject, “drove” is the verb, “his new car” is the object, “to school” is a prepositional phrase indicating direction, and “every day” is an adverbial phrase indicating frequency.

Complex Sentence Structure

Sentence: The young student (S) wrote (V) an insightful essay (O) on Shakespeare’s plays (Prepositional Phrase) quickly (Adv) in the library (Prepositional Phrase) last night (Adv).

Explanation: “The young student” is the subject, enhanced by the adjective “young” describing the student. “Wrote” is the verb, “an insightful essay” is the object, with “insightful” being an adjective describing the essay. “On Shakespeare’s plays” is a prepositional phrase providing additional detail about the essay. “Quickly” is an adverb modifying the verb to describe how the action was performed. “In the library” is another prepositional phrase indicating the location, and “last night” is an adverbial phrase specifying the time.

Advanced Sentence Structure

Sentence: Every morning (Adv), the dedicated teacher (S) gives (V) challenging quizzes (O) to her attentive students (Indirect Object) in the bright classroom (Prepositional Phrase), which are designed (Relative Clause) to encourage critical thinking (Infinitive Phrase).

Explanation: “Every morning” sets the time as an adverbial phrase. “The dedicated teacher” is the subject, with “dedicated” as an adjective. “Gives” is the verb. “Challenging quizzes” is the object, with “challenging” as an adjective describing the quizzes. “To her attentive students” is a prepositional phrase functioning as an indirect object, where “attentive” describes the students. “In the bright classroom” describes the location, with “bright” modifying “classroom”. “Which are designed to encourage critical thinking” is a relative clause connected to the quizzes, where “to encourage critical thinking” is an infinitive phrase explaining the purpose of the quizzes.

Common Mistakes in Structuring Sentences

Misplacing Adverbs Adverbs should be placed close to the words they modify to avoid confusion.
- Mistake: She always is happy.
- Correction: She is always happy.
Incorrect Placement of Adjectives Adjectives generally come before the nouns they describe, not after.
- Mistake: The car red goes fast.
- Correction: The red car goes fast.
Inversion Errors In questions and some other structures, English uses inversion (swapping the verb and subject), which can be challenging for ESL learners.
- Mistake: Does she likes ice cream?
- Correction: Does she like ice cream?
Confusing Sentence Beginnings Starting sentences with unnecessary phrases or incorrect prepositions can lead to awkward or unclear sentences.
- Mistake: In the morning, the breakfast I eat.
- Correction: I eat breakfast in the morning.
Fragment and Run-on Sentences Failing to complete thoughts (fragments) or squashing multiple ideas into one long sentence without proper punctuation (run-ons) are common issues.
- Mistake: Because she was late.
- Correction: She was late because her alarm didn’t go off.

Tips for Mastering Sentence Structure

Keep it Simple: Start with the basic SVO order and gradually add modifiers.
Practice Question Forms: Work on forming questions and using inversion correctly.
Read Aloud: This can help you hear problems in sentence structure that you might not see when reading silently.
Use Writing Exercises: Practice rearranging sentences to solidify your understanding of English syntax.

Understanding and correctly using standard English sentence structure are crucial for effective communication. Familiarizing yourself with common pitfalls and actively practicing can greatly enhance your writing and speaking skills. Practice of some of these skills by trying our quiz below!

Make Yourself Clear: Understanding Word Order