Sentence structure: subject, verb, object, etc

A Sentence structure

The parts of a sentence are the subject, verb, object, complement and adverbial. A statement begins with the subject and the verb. There are five main structures which we can use to make a simple statement.

1 SUBJECT VERB

My arms are aching.

Something happened.

2 SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

I need a rest.

Five people are moving a piano.

The subject and object can be a pronoun (e.g. I) or a noun phrase (e.g. the piano).

3 SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT

This piano is heavy.

It was a big problem.

The complement can be an adjective (e.g. heavy) or a noun phrase (e.g. a big problem).

The complement often comes after be. It can also come after appear, become, get, feel, look, seem, stay or sound.

4 SUBJECT VERB ADVERBIAL

It is on my foot.

Their house is nearby.

An adverbial can be a prepositional phrase (e.g. on my foot) or an adverb (e.g. nearby).

5 SUBJECT VERB OBJECT OBJECT

It is giving me a backache.

David bought Melanie a present.

We use two objects after verbs like, give and send.

B Adverbials

We can add adverbials to all the five main structures.

My arms are aching terribly.

I really need a rest.

Of course this piano is heavy.

Fortunately their house is nearby.

To everyone's surprise, David actually bought Melanie a present yesterday.