How to form simple sentences in English?

To form a simple sentence in English, put the first, then the , then the (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 , , or 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.

  Keep reading to learn about the different types of objects in English sentences!

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.

  Important

  In English, you cannot leave out the verb to be, because every predicate needs a verb:

  • ✅ Paula is in the living room.

    ❌ Paula in the living room.

  • ✅ Randall was a nurse.

    ❌ Randall a nurse.

  • ✅ Pat will be tall.

    ❌ Pat tall.

  Tip

  Some linking verbs are not always linking verbs:

  • Sarah looked tired.

    → linking verb, tired describes Sarah

  • Sarah looked inside the box.

    → not a linking verb

• 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.

  Important

  In English, some verbs are phrasal verbs. This means they are a verb and a that work together, like:

  verbpreposition

  pick up

  clean out

  look around

  put down

  The object of a phrasal verb can always come after the preposition. For example:

  prepositionobject

  pick up the toy

  clean out the closet

  look around the room

  put down the toy

  But with some phrasal verbs, you can put the object between the verb and the preposition. For example:

  verbobjectpreposition

  pick the toy up

  put the toy down

  You can learn more in our article on phrasal verbs in English.

• 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.

  Important

  You can almost always change the word order of these sentences if you add the preposition to or for.

  verb

  indirect object

  direct object

  ↓

  verb

  direct object

  to/for

  "indirect object"

  For example:

  indirect objectdirect object

  He gave me a book. = He gave a book to me.

  He sent my mom the photo. = I sent the photo to my mom.

  She cooked her family dinner. = She cooked dinner for her family.

  But be careful! You cannot always do this in reverse, because to and for also come before nouns that are not indirect objects. For example:

  direct object

  ✅ He brought a book to New York. → ❌ He brought New York a book.

  ✅ She made a cake for my birthday. → ❌ She made my birthday a cake.

  Officially, a noun is only an “indirect object” in English if it does not come after a preposition. After a preposition it is, instead, the “object of a preposition.”

A modifier is a word, phrase, or 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

  In English you can also use nouns to modify other nouns! (e.g. a tea cup)

• 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.

  Important

  You can also use coordinating conjunctions between other parts of the sentence to create compound subjects, verbs, objects, etc.

  • Heidi and Elaine watched a movie.

    → a compound subject

  • Derek washed and dried the dishes.

    → a compound verb

  • I can buy a book or a CD.

    → a compound object

  • He finished the exam quickly but carefully.

    → a compound adverb

  • Their house is old and big.

    → a compound adjective

• 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!