Grammar S V C Sentence Pattern http:/ www3. aichi-gakuin. ac,jp / ~jeffreyb / SVO /bs3.html [ Japanese version ] No Grammar, No Communication Simple: S+V+C Some special verbs (linking verbs) behave like the verb to be. Instead of an object the verb is followed by something called a complement. The complement may be a noun or an adjective, so there are two types of S-V-C sentences: S-V- C(noun) and $-V-C(ad)j). In either case, the complement describes the subject. It is important to remember that S is always an item in the category described by C(noun). If you find a sentence where that is not the case, you probably need EITHER to change the verb OR put a preposition in front of the noun. Subject Verb Complement extra = plus a My cousin Laura is _ |a police officer. Those two women, Tootsy and Mrs. Doubtfire |2"° |e" in disguise Subject Verb conse ae when, where, how, etc. Those girls look |very happy Nothing is _ impossible __|when you are young. We all feel_|somy for poor John There is a relationship between adjective pairs of feeling (usually ending in -ing and -ed) and the verbs that they come from. It can be clearly seen ina comparison of their basic sentence patterns. Subject o/c extra = plus a S-V-C_ Action movies lexciting. |. S-V-O Action movies Bob passive |Bob by action movies. S-V-C_|Bob lexcited_|when he watches action movies. So we have exciting movies and excited people (like Bob). Other adjective pairs that follow this pattern include shocking / shocked; interesting / interested; and frightening / frightened.Elaborated:S+V+O+0 Some verbs take two objects, though they can often be rewritten using a single object and a plus-alpha (prepositional) phrase. Subject Verb | Object | Object | extra=plusa My mother gave [me ‘a necklace _|for my birthday The little boy bought|his mother some flowers [for Mother's Day. The young American |asked |us laquestion [about kabuki The first two sentences can also be written: My mother gave a necklace to me for my birthday. The little boy bought some flowers for his mother for Mother's Day. Elaborated:S+V+O+C Sometimes an S+V+C sentence is imbedded in a longer, more complex sentence in such a way that its verb drops out and the subject becomes the object of the new, longer sentence. Subject | Verb | Object [Complement| extra = plus a Mai dyed her hair [brown in junior high school. You must keep |your room [clean every day. Prof. Uedalfound the book [interesting The third sentence can also be written: Prof. Ueda found the book to be interesting. Now It's Time to Practice Take a piece of writing, perhaps something you yourself have written, and underline all the verb phrases. Then try to write a basic sentence for each such phrase and identify the pattern used. Last updated March 2008 Copyright (C) 2004-2010 by Jeff Blair contact information