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Common Sentence Patterns: Part
Three |
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
English has many patterns. Basic grammatical patterns
can explain the structure of around 95% of sentences in
English, says Martha Kolln, a grammar expert.
Learning and mastering these patterns can help you
improve your writing and speaking skills.
We have discussed three common patterns in previous
Everyday Grammar stories.
Today we will explore another common pattern: the
intransitive verb pattern.
To start you thinking about intransitive verbs consider
this passage. It is from the poem "The human family" by
famous writer and poet Maya Angelou.
We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.
By the end of this story, you will be able to recognize
and understand the intransitive verb pattern that
Angelou uses many times in the stanza.
The intransitive verb pattern:
The intransitive verb pattern is unusual. It is unusual
because, unlike other verb patterns, the predicate
requires only the verb:
Subject + Intransitive Verb
(Predicate)
Common intransitive verbs include action verbs – go,
come, walk, cry, or laugh, for example. In these verbs,
the subject's action is not applied to an object. In
other words, most intransitive verbs can end sentences;
they do not need nouns or adjectives to their right.*
The lines from the classic American song "Just Friends"
give an example of the intransitive verb pattern in its
most basic form:
We loved,
we laughed,
we cried
However, sentences with just the subject and
intransitive verb are not very common in writing or
speaking. Usually, the sentence has more information: an
adverbial structure.
Adverbials:
Adverbials are words or phrases that give information
about time, place, manner, or reason. Adverbials answer
questions like How often? Where? Why? When?
The two most common adverbial structures you will find
are adverbs and prepositional phrases.
Adverbs, such as suddenly, quickly, here, soon, or
sometimes, modify a verb.
Prepositional phrases are groups of words that begin
with a preposition and are followed by an object,
usually a noun phrase.
Common prepositions include in, on, at, between, above,
and below.
Adverbs and prepositional phrases often follow
intransitive verbs.
Think back to the basic intransitive verb pattern.
Subject + Intransitive verb
It is grammatically correct to say a simple sentence
like this:
We laughed.
Subject + Intransitive Verb
You can put more information into the sentence by adding
an adverb:
We laughed loudly.
Subject + Intransitive Verb +
Adverb
Or you could give even more information by adding a
prepositional phrase:
We laughed at the man's silly
jokes.
Subject + Intransitive Verb +
Prepositional Phrase
In intransitive verb patterns, adverbs or prepositional
phrases are often referred to as "optional." In other
words, a sentence is still grammatical without them.
You, as the speaker or writer, choose how much
information you want to include in the sentence.
What does this have to do with
the poem?
Now, think back to the part of Maya Angelou's poem:
We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.
You can see that every single line uses an intransitive
verb paired with a prepositional phrase.
Consider the first line: We love and lose in China.
The subject is 'we' and two intransitive verbs 'love'
and 'lose'** are paired with the prepositional phrase,
in China. The two verbs are joined by a conjunction,
and.
The second line follows the basic intransitive verb
pattern, but it has an optional prepositional phrase:
The second two lines follow the same patterns as the
first two lines. This series of patterns is an example
of parallelism, which you can read about in an earlier
Everyday Grammar story.
What can you do?
To practice using the intransitive verb pattern, try
writing four lines of poetry in the style of Angelou's
poem. Post your writing in the comments section of this
story, or on our Facebook page.
We/I ______ in _______
We/I ______ on _______
And ____ and ____ in/on _____
And _____ on/in ________
Remember, you should not use Angelou's exact words;
rather, you should choose your own noun phrases,
intransitive verbs, and prepositional phrases. Just put
your own words into the pattern we discussed today.
Learning this pattern, and other patterns discussed in
previous grammar stories, will not only help you study
the writing of great authors. These patterns will help
you write and speak in your own clear, concise
sentences, too.
I'm Jill Robbins.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
And I'm John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for Learning English.
Mario Ritter was the editor.
*There are hundreds, if not thousands, of intransitive
verbs. As with many grammar rules, there is a small
number of exceptions to the intransitive verb pattern. A
few intransitive verbs require adverbial information.
** In many contexts, love and lose operate as transitive
verbs. |
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