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Word Order
Affirmative Word Order
Question Word Order
Adverb Word Order
Adjective Word Order
Word Order: Affirmative Word Order
Basic English Word Order is:
Subject / Verb / Indirect Object / Direct Object
When you add purpose, time & place to the sentence, the order is:
(Time) / Subject / Verb / Indirect Object / Direct Object / Purpose / Place / (Time)
Expressions of time can be put at the beginning or end of the sentence.
Here are some examples:
Time
Subject
Verb
Every
morning
Jae
drives
Tetsuya
told
The
students
invited
Eduardo
gave
On the
weekend
Indirect
object
Mohammed
his girlfriend
Direct
object
his brother
Purpose
Time
to work.
the
amazing
story
their ELI
classmates
to a party
a beautiful
ring
for their
anniversary.
Over the rear-end
have
past year accidents increased
Place
for cars
merging
outside
the movie
theatre
last night.
at their
house
last Saturday.
onto the
Burrard
Street
bridge.
Note 1:
In some cases, place can be put at the beginning of the sentence after time, but this is not as
common as the order above.
Example: Last night outside the movie theatre, Tetsuya told Mohammed the amazing story.
(time-place)
Note 2:
Manner adverbs usually follow the verb and come before place and time.
Example: Sharon sang loudly in the bathroom during her shower. (manner-place-time OR howwhere-when)
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
2
Note 3:
Move from specific to general when there are more than two expressions of time or place.
Examples: at five o’clock (specific) on Saturday (general)
in her office (specific) at UBC (general)
Now, try the exercises.
1. Arrange the words into sentences with correct word order.
a) to Spanish/translated/last week/from English/Jaime/the documents
______________________________________________________________
b) her first year/Samar/in Saudi Arabia/English/has been studying/of junior high school/
since
______________________________________________________________
c) has become/50 years/more and more/Vancouver/over the past/multicultural
______________________________________________________________
d) two sets/the police/in the hotel room/found/of fingerprints/on the mirror
______________________________________________________________
e.) have won/2010/six games/the Vancouver Canucks/in a row/ since
October 6th/at home
______________________________________________________________
f.) on the island/the death toll/from a tsunami/of Sumatra/rose/more than 300/and a
volcano/to/in Indonesia/yesterday
______________________________________________________________
g.) in Horseshoe Bay/in a car/on Saturday/two bodies/near the ferry terminal/were found/
parked
______________________________________________________________
h.) competitive/to gain status/play/today’s/boys/world/sports/in
______________________________________________________________
i.) migrate/to the warm south/millions/from the cold north/each winter/birds/of
______________________________________________________________
j.) two packs/10 years/of Alzheimer’s disease/of cigarettes/has doubled/smoking/in midlife/in the past/the risk/in people/a day
______________________________________________________________
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
3
Way to go! Remember:
Nothing is to be had for nothing.
Epictetus
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
4
Basic English word order in yes/no questions is:
Auxiliary
verb
Have
Does
are
did
do
Question
word
What
Where
When
Who
Here are some examples:
giving
meet
leave
was dancing
visited
have
you
Ami
you
Yuka
you
Main verb
Subject
Queena
Indirect
object
salsa
Jaelyn
Direct
object
Jung Ho
plans
for a graduation
party
for her birthday
Purpose
for Japan?
at the club on
Robson Street?
at the party
in the hospital?
Place
Who or What / Verb / Indirect object / Direct object / Purpose Place / Time?
after the
ceremony?
this year?
last night?
Time
This works for all question words except “who” and “what”, which sometimes replace the subject:
Question word / Auxiliary verb- / Subject / Main verb / Indirect object / Direct object / Purpose / Place / Time?
Basic English word order in information questions is:
Auxiliary verb/ Subject- / Main verb- / Indirect Object- / Direct object- / Purpose / Place- / Time?
Word Order: Question Word Order
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
5
Now, try the exercises.
1. Rearrange the words & phrases in the correct word order to make questions.
a) at 5pm / who / last Saturday evening / was / in Stanley park / robbed
______________________________________________________________
b) Olivia / every day / does / to her job / commute / at UBC
______________________________________________________________
c) Victoria / the Eli students / last Saturday / have / visiting / a good time / did
______________________________________________________________
d) Yayoi / Tony / with her homework / help / during class / did
______________________________________________________________
e) by bus / Aaram / has / to Seattle / travelled
______________________________________________________________
f) decide / on his birthday / Sam / why / to give up / did / smoking
______________________________________________________________
g) Canadians / the 2010 Olympics / during / gold medals / did / how many / win
______________________________________________________________
h) in their rooms / why / children / video games / at night / do / late / so many / play
______________________________________________________________
i) utensils / in some parts / food / eaten / of the world / is / why / without
______________________________________________________________
j) Canadians / purchasing / online / did / spend / money / goods and services /
in 2009 /how much
______________________________________________________________
Alright! Keep in mind:
We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
John F. Kennedy
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
6
Word Order: Adverb Word Order
Middle position adverbs
Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens. Here are some examples:
always
constantly
usually
often
sometimes
rarely
typically
normally
frequently
occasionally infrequently
mostly
seldom
generally
hardly ever
never
commonly
regularly
Adverbs of certainty tell us how likely something is to happen: probably, certainly, definitely
Other adverbs: also, just, only, even, nearly, really, hardly, still, all, both
Here are some examples:
Subject
Auxiliary
verb
Maria
Adverb
normally
Main
verb
does
Gofran
doesn’t
usually
Yuri’s car
was
probably
stolen
Abdullah
had
never
been
Sung Hee
will
definitely
help
you
obviously
loves
fresh
vegetables
Chang
Xing
The ELI
students
are
play
Direct object
her
homework
tennis
Purpose
Place
Time
for reading
class
at home
after school.
at UBC
in the evening.
from the
parkade
abroad
two nights
ago.
before
coming to
Vancouver.
tomorrow
between
classes.
with your
homework
all
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
at the
ELI
from his
garden.
in class
right now.
7
Initial position adverbs include:
1) Adverbs that comment on what is said can go in initial or middle position:
Frankly/Honestly, I don’t think you should go away this weekend.
Clearly/Obviously/Actually, Susan is having a great time at the party.
2) Adverbs that connect sentences:
However/Nevertheless, the students were very tired after midterms.
3) Some adverbs of certainty:
Maybe/Perhaps we can see that new movie premiere tonight.
Middle position adverbs:
If the verb is one word, the adverb is usually put directly before the verb.
When “be” is the main verb, adverbs are put after “be”.
In sentences with two verbs (auxiliary + main verb), adverbs are usually put after the auxiliary & before the
main verb
Adverbs go before “have to.” (ex) Xiao Ping always has to wait a long time for the bus in the morning.
Final position adverbs
Some middle position adverbs can also be put after the verb.
Examples:
We go shopping downtown occasionally.
Ricardo cycles to work frequently in winter.
Note:
Middle position is the most common place for adverbs. If you are not sure where to put frequency
adverbs, put them in middle position.
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
8
Now, try the exercises.
1. Add the adverbs to the sentences and make any necessary changes to the sentences.
a) usually
Aya practices piano after school.
________________________________________________________________
b) often
Do you go to clubs downtown on the weekend?
________________________________________________________________
c) probably
Oswaldo is not going to travel around Canada this summer.
________________________________________________________________
d) really
Yuri has to study hard for her vocabulary quiz to get a good grade.
________________________________________________________________
e) just
Grace has finished her work for the day, so she’s heading home now.
________________________________________________________________
f) definitely
Yasuko and Arisa have strong personalities.
________________________________________________________________
g) occasionally
Rayoung drinks wine with dinner on the weekend.
________________________________________________________________
h) generally
Does Shawn spend so much time playing video games in the evening?
________________________________________________________________
i) honestly
I think it’s a better idea to exercise more than to go on a diet.
________________________________________________________________
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
9
j) however
The students were in a great mood because the long weekend was coming up.
Their teachers gave them a lot of homework to do during their break.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
k) perhaps
Mohammed should spend less time going out at night and more time studying.
________________________________________________________________
l) obviously
Ting Li is very focused on entering UBC next fall to do her Master’s degree.
________________________________________________________________
Keep going! This is amazing:
All things are possible until they are proved impossibleand even the impossible may only be so, as of now.
Pearl S. Buck
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
10
Word Order: Adjective Word Order
Adjectives are used to describe nouns. When using multiple adjectives in sequence before the noun,
you need to use them in the correct order. Avoid using more than three adjectives in a row.
The following table shows the order of adjectives and some examples of each adjective type:
Determiners
Opinion
Size
Amount
Appearance
Dimension
Number
Value
Shape
Age
Observations
a/an
interesting
long/short
round
new/old
the
boring
tall/short
square
young/old
much/many
beautiful
big/small
pointed
ancient/modern
a few
handsome
wide/narrow
flat/raised
teenage
several
expensive
huge/enormous
oval
antique
some
smelly
tiny
rectangular
a lot of
useful/useless
petite
triangular
ten
handy
Origin
Substance
fifty-two
Colour
Condition
Pattern
Material
Texture
green
worn
Canadian
wooden
bluish
plain
Japanese
woolen
olive
rough/smooth
Mexican
cotton
pink
immaculate
Iranian
plastic
black/white
striped
African
metal
orangey
checked
Brazilian
copper
rust-coloured
patterned
Swiss
leather
tattered
French
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
11
Here are some examples:
Det/Amt/#
Opinion
Size
Shape
Age
Colour
Value
Cond/
Origin
Material
Noun
Pattern
Texture
the
gorgeous
a
loud
a pair of
blue
square
fit
a herd of
elegant
car
ancient
small
three
Italian
tattered
lean
old
roughskinned
woolen
alarm
clock
gloves
Chinese
swimmers
Arabian
camels
NOTE: for 2 or more adjectives in the same category, either one can come first.
Hint: A good way to remember adjective work order is this phrase!
DOSSACCOM
What does DOSSACCOM stand for?
D = determiner
O = opinion
S = size
S = shape
A = age
C = colour
C = condition
O = origin
M = material
Get with Grammar!
English Language Institute
University of British Columbia
12
Now, try the exercises.
1. Place the adjectives in the correct order before the noun.
a) shoes: worn, classic, a pair of, leather
______________________________________________________________
b) toy: orange, a, cheap, plastic
______________________________________________________________
c) insects: several, bluish-green, pair-shaped, tiny
______________________________________________________________
d) knife: well-used, a, army, Swiss, red
______________________________________________________________
e) bookcase: antique, expensive, textured, an, wooden
______________________________________________________________
f) geese: Canadian, a flock of, aggressive, noisy
______________________________________________________________
g) wood: green, five, pieces of, square, smooth
______________________________________________________________
h) horses: brown, old, exhausted, the
______________________________________________________________
i) socks: old, smelly, pair of, woolen, a
______________________________________________________________
j) snakes: two, spotted, exotic, enormous
______________________________________________________________
Good job! Can you believe:
Failure is impossible.
Susan B. Anthony
by Angie Gerst and Cristina Peralejo, 2011
13