Word Order

English basic statements usually follow this order: subject, verb, object. The subject comes first, the verb comes next, and the object comes after the verb. This order is common in short simple sentences.

An adjective usually comes before a noun. It gives more information about the noun. In English, the adjective does not come after the noun in basic noun groups.

Adverbs can appear in different places in a sentence. Many adverbs of frequency come before the main verb. With the verb be, the adverb usually comes after be.

With the verb be, the order in a statement is subject and be. A complement comes after be. The complement can be a noun, an adjective, or a place.

In yes or no questions, the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. The main verb usually comes after the subject. This change is called inversion.

In wh- questions, the wh- word comes first. Then the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. After that, the main verb or the rest of the sentence follows.

In negative sentences, not comes after an auxiliary verb or after be. In simple present and simple past with other verbs, do or did carries not. The main verb stays after not in its base form when do or did is used.

You can now place common sentence parts in the correct order in simple English. You can build basic statements with subject, verb, and object. You can also place adjectives, adverbs, be, question words, auxiliaries, and not in the correct positions.