Page 197 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Advanced Communication Skills

Notes As stated before, there are ten basic sentence patterns in the English language. They look simple,
and we can speak very complicated sentences, but these patterns are like the skeletons of our
sentences. These patterns have been separated into four groups: The be Patterns, The Linking
Verb Patterns, The Intransitive Verb Pattern, and The Transitive Verb Patterns.
The be Patterns: Sentence patterns I-III use to be verbs.

Pattern one consists of a noun phrase, to be verb, and an adverbial of time or place: The students
are upstairs.
Pattern two consists of a noun phrase, to be verb, and an adjective (subject complement): The
students are diligent.
Pattern three consists of a noun phrase, to be verb, and a noun phrase (subject complement): The
students are scholars.
The Linking Verb Patterns: Sentence patterns IV-V use linking verbs, verbs which are completed
by a subject complement.

Pattern four consists of a noun phrase, linking verb, and an adjective (subject complement): The
students seem diligent.
Pattern five consists of a noun phrase, linking verb, and a noun phrase (subject complement): The
students became scholars.
The Intransitive Verb Pattern: Sentence pattern VI uses intransitive verbs. Intransitive verbs
have no complement following them.
Pattern six consists of a noun phrase and an intransitive verb: The students rested.
The Transitive Verb Patterns: Sentence patterns VII-X use transitive verbs. Transitive verbs can
have one or more complements following them.
Pattern seven consists of a noun phrase, transitive verb, and a second noun phrase (direct object):
The students studied their assignment.

Pattern eight consists of a noun phrase, transitive verb, a second noun phrase (indirect object),
and a third noun phrase (direct object): The students gave the professor their homework.
Pattern nine consists of a noun phrase, transitive verb, a second noun phrase (direct object), and
an adjective (object complement): The students consider the teacher intelligent.
Pattern ten consists of a noun phrase, transitive verb, a second noun phrase (direct object), and a
noun phrase (object complement): The students consider the course a challenge.
These are the ten basic sentence structures used in the English language.

10.6 Summary

Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. When a sentence is written in “regular or
normal” order, the subject precedes (comes before) the verb.
In order to identify the Basic Sentence Patterns, you must be able to identify the subject
and verb of each sentence. However, subjects and verbs are presented in several different
ways.
Verb Phase-two or more verbs that work as a unit.

Verbs are classified as action or non-action. In verb phrases, classify the “main” verb. The
“main” verb is always the last verb in a verb phase.

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