Basic Sentence Patterns

A. PATTERN 1: N be AdjThere is relationship between the noun and the verb, and we can describe this noun-verb relationship by saying that the noun is tied to the verb, and the noun is the subject of the verb. In this pattern the grammatical meaning of the subject is "that which is described." If the noun changed to the plural form, we must also change the verb to the plural form."Examples:Man is clever.
Men are clever.
We can test for pattern 1 by adding (very):
Man is very clever.
B. PATTERN 2: N be UWThe verb be in pattern 2 usually has the meaning of "be located" and the third position is occupied by a type of uninflected word (adverbial). Words of this type include here, there, up, down, in, out, inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs, on, off, now, then, tomorrow, yesterday, over, through, above, below, before, after. Up, in, and out.Examples:The boy is there.
The cars were outside.
Also the third position can be occupied by prepositional phrase with a there or then meaning.
Example:
The flowers are at the window. (prepositional phrase)
C. PATTERN 3: N(1) be N(1)The two nouns here (the first and the third positions) have the same referent, or we can say that the first and the third position refer to the same person. The meaning of be here is "be identified or classified as." The first noun has the grammatical meaning of "that which is identified." The second noun means grammatically "that which identifies the subject" (subjective complement).Examples:His wife is my sister.
Abd-allah is my favorite teacher.
This is he.
My father is Gawdat.
D. PATTERN 4: N InV (intransitive verb)In this pattern if we change the form Girls giggle to The Girl giggles, it shows that girls is the subject.Example:
Girls giggle.
The word (giggle) here called (intransitive verb), the intransitive verb not followed by: Noun, Noun Phrase, or Pronoun. The intransitive verb is called verb modifier, and can be adverb or adverbial.Examples:
He hammered fast. (InV)
He paid his bills on the first of the month. (adverbial)
Khalil left early. (adverb)
NOTE: The subject of the verb in pattern 4, and also in pattern 5, 6, and 7 to follow, has the grammatical meaning of "performer of the action."
E. PATTERN 5: N(1) TrV (transitive verb) N(2)The transitive verb is followed by: Noun, Noun Phrase, Pronoun. The noun(1) is the performer of action, and the noun(2) is the receiver of action. The direct object does have the same referent as the subject.Example:
(N1) (TrV) (N2)The man borrowed a car.
As to reflexive pronouns, it occur as direct object in sentences.Example:He hurt himself. (reflexive pronoun)
The third position also can be noun phrase like
The passed the ball to the quarterback . (noun phrase)
A transitive verb has two forms, which we call active and passive. The active is followed by direct object, and we can make the passive form from this active.Examples:
The tourist burned wood in the fireplace. (active form)
The wood was burned. (passive form)
Transformation from active into passive applies only to TrV, because it's followed by a noun phrase which becomes the grammatical subject of the passive.
F. PATTERN 6: N(1) TrV N(2) N(3)Each noun here has a different referent, and we can see two grammatical objects after the verb. If we delete the first one the pattern becomes number 5 and the second one is seen to be the direct object. The indirect object may often be replaced by prepositional phrase beginning with to or for, or occasionally with a different preposition.
Example:
(N1) (TrV) (N2) (N3)The man bought the boy clothes.
The noun 2 (the boy) is the beneficiary of the action (indirect object), and the noun 3 (clothes) is the direct object.
The verbs that can be used in pattern 6 are in a restricted group. Like give, make, find, tell, buy, write, send, ask, play, build, teach, assign, feed, offer, throw, hand, pass, sell, pay.The sentences of this pattern may be transformed into the passive by making either the direct or the indirect object the subject of the passive verb.Examples:A dress was bought the girl by her mother.
The girl was bought a dress by her mother.
G. PATTERN 7: N(1) TrV N(2)
This pattern contains a choice of six different forms in the final position;
N(2)
Adj
Pronoun
Adv (of place), uninflected
Verb, present particular
Verb, past participle
Examples:
(N1) (TrV) (N1) (N2)The players chose Harry captain.
Ahmed considered Mariam beautiful. (Adj)
In pattern 7 both objects have the same referent; that is, both Harry and captain refer to the same person.
Only the first object, the direct object, can be made the subject of a passive verb. We can transform the pattern sentence intoHarry was chosen captain.but we cannot make the object complement such a subject, for* Captain was chosen Harry.
There is a very small group of verbs can be used for pattern 7:
Choose, elect, think, believe, appoint, select, make, note, declare, nominate, call, fancy, consider, imagine, feel, keep, suppose, find, prove, label.The grammatical meaning of the object complement is "completer of the direct object."
H. PATTERN 8: N LV AdjThe verb in pattern 8 is called a linking verb (LV), as it links the adjective with the subject.Example:
N LV AdjThe acrobat seems young.
The adjective here is in grammatical meaning a modifier of the subject.
* Linking verbs may be preceded by auxiliary.Example:The party may become lively. (auxiliary)
For verbs like these one can substitute be, become, or remain with no substantial change of meaning.
I. PATTERN 9: N(1) LV N(1)In pattern 9 both of two nouns have the same referent. The number of linking verbs which may occupy the verbal position in this pattern is very small. Among them are remain, become, appear, seem, continue, stay.Example:N(1) LV N(2)Donald continued my friend, despite our differences.
In pattern 9, as in pattern 3, the second noun means "that which identifies the subject," and is called the subjective complement.Subject (performer) InV (predicator)The teams competed.
Here teams has the FUNCTION of subject of the verb (performer of the action) in the opening sentence position. And competed has the FUNCTION of predicator (assert the action) in the postsubject position.

::: Mahmoud Aldabous :::