SENTENCES → WORD ORDER · RULE 11
Word order
English keeps one strict order: who → does → what. Then how, where, when. Learn the pattern once — and you cannot go wrong.
FORMULA
S + V + O
THE CORE
The cat
SUBJECT
chased
VERB
the mouse
OBJECT
THEN THE EXTRAS
quietly
HOW
in the garden
WHERE
last night
WHEN
BUILD IT UP
1
The cat sleeps.
S + V
2
The cat chased the mouse.
S + V + O
3
She sang beautifully at the concert last night.
+ how + where + when
English always needs a subject: It is cold. There is a problem.
WHERE ADVERBS LIVE
often · usually · never → before the verbShe often walks.
…but after beShe is often late.
time — at the end or the startWe met yesterday. / Yesterday we met.
DON'T SPLIT THE PAIR
verb + object hold handsI like coffee very much.
nothing goes between themnever “I like very much coffee”
COMMON MISTAKES