How to form simple sentences in English?

To form a simple sentence in English, put the subject first, then the verb, then the object (if there is one):

This is called a declarative sentence: it gives information. In this article, we’ll be looking at the most common types of declarative sentences and show you where you can learn more. Let’s jump in and learn all about simple sentences in English!

An English sentence contains two major pieces: a subject and a predicate.

• Subject

  The subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. The subject is usually the noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that is doing the action or that is being described.

  subject

  Stephanie gave her son some money.

  doing the action

  Marcus was tall.

  being described

• Predicate

  The predicate tells us about the subject — what the subject did, what the subject is like, or what is happening to the subject.

  predicate

  Stephanie gave her son some money.

  what the subject did

  Marcus was tall.

  what the subject is like

  Max's car broke.

  what is happening to the subject

  In English, the predicate always contains a verb. A verb is a word that describes an action, state, or occurrence.

  verb

  Stephanie gave her son some money.

  Marcus was tall.

  Max's car broke.

  A predicate sometimes contains one or two objects. An object is something the action is done to. Objects are nouns, pronouns, noun phrases, or clauses. In English, objects come after the verb.

  object

  Stephanie gave her son some money.

  This is called an indirect object.

  Stephanie gave her son some money.

  This is called a direct object.

In an English declarative sentence, the subject always comes before the predicate.

However, we can build the predicate in a few different ways. For example:

• subject + verb

• subject + linking verb + modifier

• subject + verb + direct object

• subject + verb + indirect object + direct object

Let’s go through each of these one at a time!

• subject + verb

  A very simple sentence can be a subject + verb:

  subjectverb

  John cooks.

  The dog is sleeping.

  She had left.

  In these sentences, the predicate is only a verb. The verb in a sentence like this is called an intransitive verb.

• subject + linking verb + modifier

  A linking verb is followed by a modifier that describes the subject. Some common linking verbs in English include:

  • to be
  • to seem
  • to appear

  • to look
  • to get
  • to become

  Here are some examples:

  subjectlinking verbmodifier

  George is my friend.

  Sarah looks tired.

  The children got taller.

• subject + verb + object

  The most important word order to remember for simple sentences is subject + verb + object, or SVO.

  subjectverbobject

  John is cooking breakfast.

  I threw the ball.

  Sarah will call the bank.

  In English, a verb that is used with an object is called a transitive verb.

• subject + verb + indirect object + direct object

  Some verbs require two objects – a direct object and an indirect object:

  • Direct object → An object that the subject moves, changes, creates, or perceives

  • Indirect object → An object that receives the direct object or is benefitted by the action

  Here are some examples. Notice that the order is verb + indirect object + direct object.

  subjectverbindirect objectdirect object

  He gave me a book.

  I sent my mom the photo.

  She cooked her family dinner.

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that gives more information about another word, phrase, or clause.

• I watched a scary movie last night.
• After school, I watched that new movie at the theater with my friends.
• Last Tuesday, Stephanie, who was a waitress, happily gave her son some money.

There are many types of modifiers in English sentences. Here are some of the most common types of modifiers. You can learn more by following the links below:

• Adjectives describe nouns:

  a blue house

• Adverbs describe other kinds of words:

  • she ran quickly
  • it was very blue

• Prepositional phrases are made of a preposition + a noun, and they can act like adjectives or adverbs:

  • she ran to the store
  • a man in a baseball cap

• Determiners in English are words that give you information about whether a noun is specific and familiar or nonspecific or unfamiliar:

  • she saw the horse

    specific and familiar
  • she saw a horse

    nonspecific or unfamiliar

But there are other types of modifiers as well. You’ll learn more as you study!

A simple sentence is a sentence that has only one clause (i.e. a subject and a predicate).

A compound or complex sentence, on the other hand, will have two or more clauses.

• In a compound sentence there are at least two subjects and two predicates, but each clause describes the situation equally.

  subjectpredicate

  We watched a movie but they played video games.

  Heidi is a journalist and Marie is a teacher.

  The clauses in a compound sentence are linked with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but).

  • We will go to the movies, but they will stay home.
  • The sun was shining, and the birds were singing.

• A complex sentence also has two or more clauses, but the clauses do not describe the situation equally:

  • Sometimes one clause is a modifier in the other clause:

    • Heidi became a journalist before Marie became a teacher.
    • Marie knew a teacher who was very disorganized.

  • Sometimes one clause is the object of the other clause:

    Heidi thought that Marie was a journalist.

  • Sometimes, one clause is the subject of the other clause:

    That Heidi was a journalist surprised Marie.

You can learn more about compound and complex sentences in our post on conjunctions in English and relative clauses in English.

In this post, we’ve talked a lot about simple sentences (and how sometimes they’re not so simple!). Let’s do a quick review:

• You can add modifiers to a simple sentence to make it more interesting.

• Simple sentences can include compound structures.

• In addition to simple sentences, there are also compound sentences (which have two clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction) and complex sentences (which have two clauses connected by a subordinating conjunction).

Now that you’re feeling like an expert at understanding simple sentences in English, let’s practice writing some with these simple sentence exercises!