| • |
In English, most sentences follow this order:
Subject -> Verb Phrase -> Complement (the word or phrase after the verb).
- Example: Many students-> are working -> in part time jobs.
|
| • |
The subject of the sentence must always be a noun (e.g., students), a noun phrase (e.g., many students who attend CUNY), or a pronoun (e.g., they).
- Incorrect: In the fall will be held the election.
- Corrected: The election will be held in the fall.
|
| • |
Many verb phrases must include a helping verb before the main verb.
- Incorrect: The candidates debating several issues.
- Corrected: The candidates are debating several issues.
|
For additional explanation and practice, see Verb Forms: Exercise 1: Correcting verb phrases with a missing verb.
|
| • |
In direct questions, a verb comes before the subject except when the question word or phrase is the subject (e.g., Who won yesterday?).
- Incorrect: Which debate she won.
- Corrected: Which debate did she win?
|
| • |
In indirect questions (where the question word is in the middle of the sentence), the subject comes before, not after the verb.
- Incorrect: The investigators did not discover why occurred the disaster.
- Corrected: The investigators did not discover why the disaster occurred.
|
 Download Grammar Explanation (PDF) |
