Word Order

WORD
ORDER
BASIC WORD ORDER IN ENGLISH

(TIME) SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT(S) + ADVERBIAL PHRASE(S)
thing + to + person
person + thing
place + time
Susan went to school on Monday.

I eat bananas twice a week.
My father gave me a present for my birthday.
We will send this letter to Peter tomorrow morning.
Last week, I didnt enjoy Sams party.
ADJECTIVES
They can be part of the predicate after some verbs: be, look, feel,
sound
She looks beautiful today.
They can be part of a noun phrase.
In a noun phrase, they should be placed after the determiner (articles,
demonstratives, quantifiers, possessives, etc) and before the noun.
When theres more than one adjective before the noun, the correct order is:
NUMBER + OPINION + SIZE + AGE + SHAPE + COLOUR + ORIGIN + MATERIAL +
PURPOSE
1
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Numbers: ordinal (first, second, third) + cardinal (one, two, three) ;

Opinionadjectives: silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult
Sizeadjectives: large, tiny, enormous, little
Ageadjectives: ancient, new, young, old
Shapeadjectives: square, round, flat, rectangular
Colouradjectives: blue, pink, reddish, grey
Originadjectives: French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek
Materialadjectives: wooden, metal, cotton, paper
Purposeadjectives: sleeping (as in "sleeping bag")
Finally, you will write the noun in apposition (as in car keys)
NUMBER + OPINION + SIZE + AGE + SHAPE + COLOUR + ORIGIN + MATERIAL +

PURPOSE
This is a huge three-year-old car.

He was a difficult
three-years-old car is incorrect!
, stubborn child.
Use commas to coordinate adjectives from the same group.
I bought a wonderful old Italian clock.

Shes got lovely long wavy brown hair.
He is an extraordinary tall thirty-nine-year-old well-built Italian actor.
These are the first two cars to reach the end.
ordinal + cardinal
The Irish Philology students must enter this room.

noun in apposition
Ive found a disgusting pink plastic ornament.

In my nice big flat
There's an old round box
For my green Swiss hat
And my woolly walking socks.
ADVERBS
BEGINNING OF SENTENCE (before the subject):
Connecting adverbs: Then, next, however, suddenly, etc
Suddenly the door opened.
Next, a ghost floated into the room.
Comment adverbs: Luckily, unluckily,
stupidly, etc
Stupidly, I forgot my keys.
Fortunately, she has decided to help us.
fortunately,
surprisingly,
Frequency adverbs (special emphasis, indefinite frequency): usually,

normally, often, frequently, sometimes and occasionally (NOT: always,
ever, rarely, seldom and never).
Sometimes I think Id like to live somewhere else.
Usually I get up early.
Some adverbs of certainty: maybe, perhaps.
Maybe Im right.
Perhaps her train is late.
Adverbs of place (special emphasis): here, there, at the end,

etc.
Here comes your bus.
The word order changes in this sentence.
There she is.
On the bus sat a pretty girl with a blue hat.
The word order changes
here.
Adverbs of time (special emphasis): today, in 1956, etc.

Today, Im going to London.
In June we went to Cornwall.
MID-POSITION (before the main verb, after

an auxiliary verb or after be):
Adverbs of certainty: certainly,
obviously, probably;
He probably thinks you dont like him.
There is clearly something wrong.
It will certainly rain today.
definitely,
clearly,
Adverbs of frequency: never, rarely, sometimes, often,

usually, always, ever, seldom, etc
We usually go to Scotland in August.
Im seldom late for work.
Focusing adverbs: even, only, also, mainly, etc
Shes also my friend.
We are only going for two days.
Some adverbs of time: already, still, finally, eventually,
soon, last, just;
Shes still working in the office.
Theyve just arrived.
Adverbs of manner (when they are not important):

slowly, suddenly, happily, etc
I slowly started to feel better again.
We will happily start moving to London next month.
Some adverbs of degree: almost, greatly, mostly, etc
Shes almost finished.
He totally agrees with you.
END OF SENTENCE (after the verb):

Adverbs of manner: slowly, suddenly, badly, quietly, etc
He drove off angrily.
You speak English well.
Adverbs of place: upstairs, around, here, to bed, from school, etc
The children are playing upstairs.
Come and sit here.
Frequency expressions (definite frequency) : once a month,
every week, etc
She buys the newspaper twice a week.
I visit my grandma every day.
Adverbs of time: today, finally, soon, yet, etc
Im going to Paris today.
Shell be coming soon.
Expressions of purpose: to + infinitive, in order to + infinitive,
etc.
I will use this new red pen to mark the exams.
You have to study in order to pass the school year.
If theres more than one adverb after

the
verb, the correct order is:
Manner + place + frequency + time + purpose
1
2
3
4
5
Beth swims enthusiastically in the pool
every morning before lunch to keep in
shape.
Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other

adverbs:
He is very talkative.
adverb
Mark is exceptionally bright.
adjective
He speaks too slowly.

adverb
adverb
adjective
Tom ran extremely fast.
adverb
adverb
adverb
Commas with adverbs:

Use a comma after certain adverbs: however, in fact, therefore
nevertheless, moreover, furthermore, still, instead, too
(meaning 'also').
Therefore, he didn't say a word.
If these adverbs appear in the middle of a sentence, they are
enclosed
in commas.
The thief, however, was very clever.
The comma is optional in many cases, depending on the
context and on the intention of the writer.
So, she entered the house.
So she entered the house.

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WORD

BASIC WORD ORDER IN ENGLISH

Susan went to school on Monday.

Numbers: ordinal (first, second, third) + cardinal (one, two, three) ;

NUMBER + OPINION + SIZE + AGE + SHAPE + COLOUR + ORIGIN + MATERIAL +

This is a huge three-year-old car.

three-years-old car is incorrect!

Use commas to coordinate adjectives from the same group.

I bought a wonderful old Italian clock.

The Irish Philology students must enter this room.

Ive found a disgusting pink plastic ornament.

Frequency adverbs (special emphasis, indefinite frequency): usually,

Adverbs of place (special emphasis): here, there, at the end,

Adverbs of time (special emphasis): today, in 1956, etc.

MID-POSITION (before the main verb, after

Adverbs of frequency: never, rarely, sometimes, often,

Adverbs of manner (when they are not important):

END OF SENTENCE (after the verb):

If theres more than one adverb after

Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other

Mark is exceptionally bright.

He speaks too slowly.

Tom ran extremely fast.

Commas with adverbs:

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