In English, the basic sentence pattern is Subject + Verb + Object. The subject is the person or thing doing the action, the verb shows the action or state, and the object receives the action. Most English sentences keep this order even when you add extra information. When you change the order, it usually creates a special effect or a different structure like a question.

The subject normally comes before the main verb, even when the subject is long. If you add descriptive information about the subject, it stays together as one subject phrase before the verb. This helps listeners identify who or what the sentence is about before hearing the action. When the subject is unknown, English often uses a dummy subject like it or there to keep the subject position filled.

The main verb follows the subject, and it can be a single word or a verb phrase. In verb phrases, auxiliary verbs come before the main verb, and they stay together. Negatives like not typically come after the first auxiliary, or after do in do-support. In statements, the verb phrase generally stays in this central position, with objects and complements coming after it.

Direct objects usually come immediately after the verb, and indirect objects follow common patterns. With two objects, English often uses either the double-object pattern or a prepositional pattern, and word order changes depending on which pattern you choose. Pronouns and short objects tend to stay close to the verb. Keeping objects after the verb is one of the strongest word order rules in English.

Some verbs do not take an object and instead take a complement, such as an adjective or a noun phrase. Linking verbs like be, seem, and become are followed by subject complements that describe or identify the subject. Object complements come after the object and add information about it. The complement position is still after the verb, and it often completes the meaning of the verb.

Adverbs can appear in different positions, but their placement affects clarity and emphasis. Many adverbs of frequency go before the main verb but after be, and they usually come after the first auxiliary in a verb phrase. Manner adverbs often go near the verb or after the object, while sentence adverbs like probably often go earlier in the clause. When multiple adverbs appear, English commonly orders them by manner, place, then time at the end.

Rule	Description	Notation	Example
Frequency adverbs	Place before main verb, after be	S + adv + V; S + be + adv	She often drives. She is often late.
Verb phrase adverbs	Place after the first auxiliary	aux + adv + main verb	They have already left.
End-position order	If you stack end adverbials, common order is manner, place, time	manner + place + time	He spoke quietly at home yesterday.

When you add information about time, place, and manner, English often places it after the object or complement. A common ending order is manner, then place, then time, especially in neutral statements. Time expressions can also move to the beginning for emphasis or topic setting, without changing the basic SVO core. Choosing a natural order helps your sentence sound fluent and avoids forcing the listener to reorganize details.

Many questions use auxiliary inversion: the auxiliary moves before the subject. If there is no auxiliary, English uses do-support to create one. Wh-questions usually put the wh-word at the start, followed by the inverted auxiliary and subject, while the rest of the clause stays in statement order. This creates clear signals that the sentence is a question and shows what information is missing.

In English, not usually comes right after the first auxiliary verb. If there is no auxiliary, English inserts do, and not comes after do. Negative words like never and hardly typically appear in the same adverb position as frequency adverbs, but their meaning is negative. Keeping negation close to the auxiliary helps avoid ambiguity and maintains standard word order.

English sometimes moves a phrase to the front for emphasis, contrast, or style, while the core grammar remains the same. Common fronting includes time phrases, negative adverbials for dramatic effect, and topical objects in formal writing. These structures are less neutral and often sound literary or formal. Understanding them helps you read and produce more advanced sentence patterns without losing track of the subject and verb.

Rule	Example
Front time for context	Yesterday, I met your manager.
Negative fronting triggers inversion	Never have I seen that before.
Object fronting for contrast	That book, I have already read.