Module 

: Written Expression Level : 1st year LMD

Lesson : Sentence patterns Lecturer: Mrs. Bencharef. S

We have already mentioned that a sentence has two main parts: a subject and a predicate. Some
sentences express the writer’s thought by means of a subject and verb only: He worked / she left.
Most sentences, however, have within the complete predicate one or more words to add to the
meaning of the subject and predicate. These elements are called complements, and they function as
direct objects, indirect objects, subject complements, or object complements.

Pattern 1 : subject + intransitive verb

Dogs bark.
The baby is sleeping.
The glacier melted.
I can’t sleep.
The thief escaped.
My uncle died.
I can’t concentrate.
Everyone was waiting.
The roof collapsed.
A lot of people were screaming and crying.
An intransitive verb is a verb that cannot have a direct object. We use it to talk about simple
events and actions. (go, arrive, sleep, fall, die, depart, happen, disappear, rain, snow, hesitate,
occur, pause, cough, faint, grow, shiver, sneeze, ...)

→These verbs can be followed by modifiers (adverbs, prepositional phrases, …) also called
adjuncts

- I slept until noon.

- He died suddenly.
- The man runs along the beach every morning.

→ They cannot be used in the passive.

Pattern 2 : subject + transitive verb + direct object (D.O)

Children need attention (what ?) They played soccer. I ate an apple.

D.O
He kicked a small ball. I will cut the grass. The man had no money.

We visited our aunt. (who/whom ?) He met a friend.

Transitive verbs are followed by direct objects. A direct object names the receiver of the
verb’s action. (buy, sell, carry, fix, prepare, make, rent, offer,…..)

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→ Here also, modifiers (adverbs/ phrases) can be added: He threw the ball quickly.
S V D.O adv
They bought a house two years ago.
S V D.O adjunct

NOTE: There are some verbs which can work as transitive or intransitive verbs (cook, draw,
drink, drive, hurt, paint, study, meet, write, eat, read)
- She reads his note. (trans) – She reads a lot. (intrans)
- I speak English. – I couldn’t speak.
- I met him before. – We met in Rome.

Pattern 3 : subject + transitive verb + indirect object (I.O) + direct object (D.O)

They should give the baby more attention. → They should give more attention to the baby.
I.O D.O D.O I.O
They bought her a new car.

They will send you an invitation.

I made myself hot chocolate.

The waiter poured Ann some water.

→ An indirect object names to whom or for whom the action is done.

→ The I.O receives the D.O. It benefits from the action.

The verbs which require both a direct and indirect objects: (order, pick, save, throw, build,
cook, cut, draw, read, write, keep, leave, offer, buy, sell, rent, borrow, make, teach, tell, …)

Pattern 4 : subject + linking/stative verb + subject complement (S.C)

Mr. Smith is a teacher. (noun)

S V S.C (predicate nominative)
Mr. Rodney was my fourth-grade teacher.
Dogs are social animals.
She became a famous scholar.

Pablo is intelligent. (adj)

S.C (predicate adjective)
Our neighbour’s child looks lonely. / You look much better.

He seems ill.
He feels / felt sad.
The eggs smell rotten.
The pizza tasted good.

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 The train sounds loud.
Building the house proves difficult (for them).
The crowd remains calm during the speech.
The weather turned windy.
The dog is going blind. express change in state
Our son gets/ is getting older.
The days grew warmer.

The Linking verbs are (be, become, appear, seem, look, feel, taste, smell, sound, turn, prove, remain,
grow, go, stay, get).

The subject complement completes the meaning of the subject by either describing it (when it
is an adj) or by renaming it (when it is a noun)

→ A subject complement can also be a phrase: She was on a diet.

He seemed in a good mood.

→ Many linking verbs can also function as action verbs. Compare:

Linking Action

- He looks angry. - He looks at the man.

- The food tastes delicious. - they taste the food.
- The cake smells good. - He smells the cake.
- I hope we will stay friends when we graduate. - We always stay in a castle when we visit England.
- She appeared quiet. - She appeared in the room.
- They stay steady before the race. - They stay at home because of rain.

When these verbs are followed by a noun/ noun phrase/ prepositional phrase and refer to
action and movement , they are action verbs not linking.

Important: Be- become- seem are always and only linking verbs (they cannot be action verbs)

Pattern 5 : subject + transitive verb + direct object + object complement (O.C)

Our neighbours leave their dog alone. (adj) The blanket kept the baby warm.
D.O O.C
Our neighbours named their dog Rex. (noun) Mom calls me her baby.

The American people elected Mr. Biden president.

Your attitude makes me angry.

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 I consider him my idol.

We should keep our surroundings clean.

The thief thought himself rather lucky.

Students found the exam difficult.

Object complements complete the meaning of the direct object by either describing it (when
they are adjectives) or renaming it (when they are nouns)

pattern 6 : There/it + verb (be) + subject

It is nice to meet you. (= To meet you is nice)

empty V S.C S
word

It is always interesting to find out about your family history.

There is a good reason to rejoice.

There is nothing to say.

There are two shops in the village. (= two shops are in the village)

In this pattern, the subject came after the verb. The word “there” or “it” are not the real
subjects ; they are « empty » words that fill the position where you usually find the subject.