Word Order

The primary word orders that are of interest are

• the constituent order of a clause, namely the relative order of subject, object, and verb;
• the order of modifiers (adjectives, numerals, demonstratives, possessives, and adjuncts) in a noun phrase;
• the order of adverbials.

Constituent word order is defined in terms of a finite verb (V) in combination with two arguments, namely the subject (S), and object (O).

There is a difference between grammatical word order and natural word order. In many languages, topicalization and questions can change the grammatical word order.

Examples

A: [Kate loves who/Who does Kate love?] (SVO/OSV)
B: [She loves Mark/Mark is who she loves.] (SVO/OSV)

In the (A) sentences, the first one is used when putting emphasis on who Kate loves, and the second is used with more of a quizzical tone. English uses stress and tone to emphasize different aspects of the sentences, which can also change the word order, as shown above.

In the (B) sentences, the first one is more likely to be used by a native English speaker. The second sentence is grammatical as well, but less likely to be said in natural speech. This is because English uses the SVO structure in regular sentences, but is able to answer questions using the same structure that was used in the sentence.

In English, you can change the word order depending on what you want to emphasize.

Questions

Like many other Western European languages, English historically allowed questions to be formed by inverting the positions of verb and subject. Modern English permits this only in the case of a small class of verbs ("special verbs"), consisting of auxiliaries as well as forms of the copula be. To form a question from a sentence which does not have such an auxiliary or copula present, the auxiliary verb do (does, did) needs to be inserted, along with inversion of the word order, to form a question. For example:

• She can dance. → Can she dance? (inversion of subject she and auxiliary can)
• I am sitting here. → Am I sitting here? (inversion of subject I and copula am)
• The milk goes in the fridge. → Does the milk go in the fridge? (no special verb present; do-support required)

The above concerns yes-no questions, but inversion also takes place in the same way after other questions, formed with interrogative words such as where, what, how, etc. An exception applies when the interrogative word is the subject or part of the subject, in which case there is no inversion. For example:

• I go. → Where do I go? (wh-question formed using inversion, with do-support required in this case)
• He goes. → Who goes? (no inversion, because the question word who is the subject)

Note that inversion does not apply in indirect questions: I wonder where he is (not ... where is he). Indirect yes-no questions can be expressed using if or whether as the interrogative word: Ask them whether/if they saw him*.

Negative questions are formed similarly; however if the verb undergoing inversion has a contraction with not, then it is possible to invert the subject with this contraction as a whole. For example:

• John is going. (affirmative)
• John is not going. / John isn't going. (negative, with and without contraction)
• Isn't John going? / Is John not going? (negative question, with and without contraction respectively)

Tag questions are formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: isn't it?; were there?; am I not?

A1 / Elementary / Beginners

A CEFR A1 level English language user is considered a beginner. At this level, an individual is expected to have a basic understanding of the English language, including basic vocabulary and grammar. They should be able to understand and use simple phrases and sentences in order to meet basic needs and engage in simple, everyday conversations. They should also be able to understand simple instructions and signs in English.

At A1 level, they are able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. They can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. They can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

A1 | Elementary | Beginners.

Difficulty: Easy

Easy difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.