Basic word order in English— A1 Grammar Exercises

You want to say that you drink coffee. In English, three pieces always come in the same order: I drink coffee. Not Drink I coffee. Not I coffee drink. The subject comes first, then the verb, then the object. Change the order and the sentence stops making sense.

English is a fixed word-order language. The position of a word tells you its job. The dog bites the man and The man bites the dog use the same words but mean opposite things, because the order is different.

The basic pattern: Subject + Verb + Object

Most English statements follow one simple pattern. We call it SVO.

The subject does the action. The verb is the action. The object receives the action.

Some sentences don't have an object. The verb stands alone, often with extra information about where, when, or how.

• Birds fly.
• She sleeps.
• My dog runs in the park.

Sentences with be

The verb be works a little differently. After be, you usually find an adjective, a noun, or a place, not an object.

The order is still subject first, verb second. For more on this verb, see the verb to be.

Negative sentences

To make a sentence negative, you add not. The position depends on the verb.

• I am not hungry.
• Sarah is not a teacher.
• The shops are not open.

• I do not drink coffee.
• He does not like fish.
• We do not live in London.

The subject still comes first. Not goes after the helping verb, never at the start.

Questions

Questions change the order. The verb (or a helping verb) moves before the subject.

• Are you tired?
• Is your sister at home?
• Am I late?

• Do you speak Spanish?
• Does she work here?
• Do they have children?

• Where do you live?
• What does he want?
• Why are you angry?

Where to put extra information

After the basic SVO, you often add information about place (where) and time (when). The order is fixed.

Time can also go at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. This is also correct:

• On Sundays, I play tennis at the club. ✓
• Every evening, she studies English in the library. ✓

Adjectives go before nouns

Adjectives describe nouns. In English, the adjective comes before the noun, not after.

When you have more than one adjective, they follow a fixed order. See adjective order for the full rule.

Object pronouns stay in object position

Pronouns like me, him, her, us, them replace the object. They go in the same place, after the verb.

• I see Sarah. → I see her.
• We know Tom and Lisa. → We know them.
• He helps me every day.

For the difference between subject and object pronouns, see subject and object pronouns.

Common mistakes

Frequently asked questions

What is the basic word order in English?

The basic word order in English is Subject + Verb + Object (SVO). For example: Maria (subject) eats (verb) apples (object). This pattern is fixed; you cannot change it the way you can in many other languages. The subject always comes first in a normal statement.

What does SVO mean?

SVO stands for Subject-Verb-Object. It is the standard order of words in an English sentence: the person or thing doing the action, then the action, then the person or thing receiving the action. English, French, Spanish, and Chinese are all SVO languages. German and Japanese use different orders.

Does place come before or after time in English?

Place comes before time at the end of a sentence. Say I work in London every day, not I work every day in London. The order is: subject + verb + object + place + time. Time can also go at the very beginning of a sentence (Every day, I work in London), but it should not sit between the place and the verb.

Where do adjectives go in English?

Adjectives go before the noun they describe. Say a red car, not a car red. After the verb be, an adjective goes after the verb: The car is red. When you use more than one adjective, they follow a fixed order (opinion, size, age, colour, material), for example: a beautiful old wooden table.

How do you change a statement into a question in English?

Move the helping verb to the front:

• With be: You are tired → Are you tired?
• With other verbs, add do or does before the subject: You speak French → Do you speak French?
• For wh-questions, the question word goes first: Where do you live?

Why is English word order so strict?

English does not change the form of nouns to show their job in a sentence. In some languages, you can tell from the word's ending whether it is the subject or the object, so the order can move. In English, the position is the only signal. The man bites the dog and The dog bites the man mean different things. Word order does the work that endings do in other languages.

Quick summary

Related topics

• The verb to be: am, is, are: needed for sentences without an object, like She is a teacher.
• Subject and object pronouns: which pronouns go in which position.
• Adjective order: what order to use when you have more than one adjective.