English 11 AP
Sentence Patterns
Sentences in English can be divided into two basic parts, the subject and the predicate.
The subject is always a noun phrase: a headword noun and all the words and phrases that modify it.
The predicate is always a verb phrase: a headword verb and all the words and phrases that modify it.
Example:
The gymnasium at our school
(the subject: a noun phrase, with “gymnasium” as the headword)
needs a new roof.
(the predicate: a verb phrase with “needs” as the headword)
In a sentence, the subject always occupies one “slot.” The predicate can occupy one or more “slots:”
the verb slot and post-verb slots. We can classify verbs into four types. With our “pieces” for building
sentences being the subject, the four verb types, and a few different post-verb possibilities, we can
construct a variety of sentence patterns in English.
There are only seven basic sentence patterns in English. Being able to identify them is useful to us,
both as readers and writers.
Pattern 1:
Pattern 2:
Subject
Be
Adverbial (telling when or where)
My friends
The rehearsal
are
is
in the library.
tomorrow.
Subject
Be
Subject Complement
Gina’s father
This soup
was
is
a pilot. (noun phrase)
salty. (adjective)
The subject complement “completes” the subject, by either renaming it
(with a noun phrase) or describing it (with an adjective).
Pattern 3:
Subject
Linking
Verb
Subject Complement
My roommate and I
This soup
became
tastes
good friends.
salty.
Common linking verbs include verbs of the senses – taste, smell, feel, sound, and look –
which often link an adjective to the subject, as do seem, appear, and prove. Become
and remain are the two most common linking verbs that connect a noun or noun phrase
to the subject.
Pattern 4:
Subject
Intransitive Verb
The whole class
The baby
laughed.
is sleeping.
This is the only pattern in which the predicate has only one slot—the verb alone.
Intransitive verbs are those we think of as “action” verbs—such as run, walk, come, and
go—in which the subject’s action is not transmitted to an object.
Even when adverbial modifiers are added to the predicate,
The whole class laughed at the teacher’s antics.
the sentence remains a Pattern 4 sentence.
Pattern 5:
Subject
Transitive Verb
Direct Object
My roommate
baked
this apple pie.
Transitive verbs are “action” verbs in which the action is directed to, or transmitted to,
an object. The direct object answers the question “what” or “whom.”
This pattern can look like Pattern 3—when the post-verb slot is occupied by a noun
phrase. The difference is that in Pattern 3 the two noun phrases refer to the same person
or thing; in Pattern 5, the two noun phrases have different “referents.”
Pattern 6:
Subject
Transitive
Verb
Indirect
Object
Direct
Object
Marie
gave
Ramon
a birthday gift.
In this pattern, all three noun phrases—the subject, the indirect object, and the direct
object—have different referents. The indirect object is defined as the recipient of the
direct object. The Pattern 6 verb usually has a meaning like “give.”
In a Pattern 6 sentence, the two object slots can be switched:
Marie gave a birthday gift to Ramon.
In this case, the indirect object is expressed as an object of a preposition. (Note that the
emphasis or focus shifts subtly between the two versions of this sentence.)
Pattern 7:
Subject
Transitive
Verb
Direct
Object
Object
Complement
The class
The teachers
considered
called
the homework
the students
a real drag.
lazy.
In this pattern, the direct object is followed by an object complement, a noun phrase or
adjective that describes the direct object. A variation on the Pattern 7 sentence is:
The class considered the homework to be a real drag.
In this version, the object complement is in the form of an infinitive phrase. Note that
in this variation, the writer subtly shifts both the rhythm and the emphasis of the
sentence.