Ten key rules for word order in English are listed below. Although there are exceptions and specific situations in which these rules do not apply, most of the time they are correct. 1. The normal word order in English is Subject-Verb-Object. This means that the subject comes before the verb, and the object (if there is one) comes after the verb (e.g., Susan drank some water.).
2. However, the ‘object’ of the verb – i.e., of the action – can become the subject of the sentence if the passive voice is used (e.g., Some water was drunk by Susan.) but the essential rule that the subject precedes the verb still applies.
3. Normally, nothing comes between the subject and the verb, or between the verb and the object. The main exceptions are adverbs of frequency (e.g., often, sometimes) and indirect objects without to (e.g., I gave my nephew a present).
4. Adjectives come before the noun or pronoun which they describe (e.g., a red car, not a car red).
5. Auxiliary verbs come before main verbs (e.g., I will go, not I go will). The auxiliary verb and main verb should come next to each other (e.g., I will go there, not I will there go) without any other information, unless there is a negative (e.g., I will not go there).
6. However, when forming questions, the auxiliary verb (or the main verb be) goes before the subject (e.g., Will you go to university next year?).
7. The position of adverbs can float in a sentence, i.e., they are not always fixed. Some adverbs can only come in particular places, while others can go almost anywhere. Placing an adverb in different places can create a different emphasis in the sentence.
8. Nouns must come before the pronouns which replace them, otherwise their meaning will not be clear.
9. When an indirect object uses to, it follows the direct object (e.g., The pilot flew the plane to London.). If there is no to, the indirect object comes before the direct object (e.g., She wrote him a letter.).
10. When there is more than one adjective being used to describe one noun/pronoun, they must come in a particular order, namely: determiner – attitude/opinion – appearance – age – colour – origin/material – noun used as adjective.
Task 18: Check your understanding of word order in English.
Each of the following sentences has a word order problem. In each case, identify what the problem is and correct it.
Mistake e.g., The man bit the dog.
1. Look at the sea blue. 2. She swim can really well. 3. My parents yesterday visited.
4. It followed me home. The dog was very smelly.
5. We gave to my sister a present.
6. I just bought an red, glass, old jar.
14 Problem
English word order is subject-verb-object.
Correction The dog bit the man.
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