Posts Tagged ‘sentence structure’

Word order in a sentence

December 16th, 2011 in English Learning

Longer structures usually come last in a clause or sentence.

Students are often discouraged by the length of time it takes to learn a second language. (More natural than ‘The length of time it takes to learn a second language often discourages students.’)

Because of this we usually use a structure with ‘preparatory it’ in order to move a longer clause or infinitive structure to the end of a sentence.

It worried me that she hadn’t written in a long time. (More natural than ‘That she hadn’t written in a long time worried me’.)

It was a difficult business starting a car with such a weak battery. (More natural than ‘Starting a car with such a weak battery was a difficult business.’)

It is just silly throwing away your chances like that. (More natural than ‘Throwing away your chances like that is just silly.’)

She made it clear that she was not interested in the offer. (More natural than ‘She made that she was not interested in the offer clear.’)

Position of adverbs

We do not usually put an adverb between a verb and its object. However, if the object is very long it may come after a short adverb.

Compare:

She speaks English very well. (Here the adverbs go after the object English.)

She speaks very well almost any language you may have heard of. (More natural than ‘She speaks almost any language you may have heard of very well.’)