Word order in English sentences

The problem

In Ukrainian and Russian, word endings show who does what. Анна бачить Тома and Тома бачить Анна mean the same thing, because the ending -а marks the object. You can move words around to change the emphasis, and the sentence still works.

English has almost no endings on nouns, so it uses position instead. Anna sees Tom and Tom sees Anna are two different events. Because the order carries the grammar, it is fixed, and a sentence with words in the "wrong" place is not just unusual: it can be confusing or mean something else. Learners who keep the freedom of their first language produce sentences like Coffee I drink every morning or I like very much music, which English readers notice immediately.

How English does it

The basic statement follows one pattern. Extra information about manner and place comes after the object, and time comes last.

Time can also go at the very beginning for emphasis: On Sunday we met our friends in the park. What it cannot do is sit between the verb and its object.

The verb and its object stay together. Nothing goes between them, not even a short adverb: I like music very much, not I like very much music. She speaks English well, not She speaks well English.

Frequency adverbs (always, usually, often, sometimes, never) go before the main verb but after be and after an auxiliary: I usually walk, She is always late, I have never been there. The same position is used for also, just, still, already and even.

Questions put the auxiliary before the subject: Do you like tea?, Where does Anna live?, Have you seen Tom? With be, the verb itself moves: Is he at home?

Indirect questions go back to statement order after an introduction such as Do you know… or Can you tell me…: Do you know where the station is?, not where is the station.

Adjectives go before the noun, not after: a beautiful house, an old friend.

Examples

• Anna drinks coffee at work every morning.
• Tom speaks English very well.
• I usually walk to school.
• She is often late on Mondays.
• We live in a small flat near the park.
• Where does your sister work?
• Do you know where the station is?
• They have bought a beautiful old house in the country.

Common mistakes

• ✗ I like very much football.
  ✓ I like football very much.
  Я дуже люблю футбол / Я очень люблю футбол puts very much before the object, but in English the object must follow the verb directly, and very much goes after it.
• ✗ Every morning drinks Anna coffee.
  ✓ Every morning Anna drinks coffee.
  Ukrainian and Russian often put the subject after the verb when the sentence starts with time or place. English keeps subject before verb in statements, whatever comes first.
• ✗ I go every day to school.
  ✓ I go to school every day.
  Place comes before time. A time expression goes at the end or at the start of the sentence, not in the middle.
• ✗ Can you tell me where is the bank?
  ✓ Can you tell me where the bank is?
  After an introduction like can you tell me the question has already been asked, so the second part uses statement order.
• ✗ Always I get up at seven. / She always is tired.
  ✓ I always get up at seven. / She is always tired.
  A frequency adverb goes before the main verb but after be. Starting with always is possible only for special emphasis and sounds odd in everyday speech.

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