Sentence Structure

What is Sentence Structure?
Sentence structure is how words are arranged to form a complete sentence.
It includes the subject, verb, object, and other parts like complements and modifiers.

Basic Parts of a Sentence
1. Subject (S)
Who or what the sentence is about

Example:  Anna sings.

 
2. Verb (V)
Shows the action or state
Example: Anna sings.

 
3. Object (O)
Receives the action
Example: She reads a book.

 
4. Complement (C)
Gives more information about the subject or object
Example: He is a doctor.

 
5. Adjunct (A)
Adds details like time, place, or manner
Example: They arrived at noon.

Common Sentence Structures 

Structure	Pattern	Example
S-V	Subject + Verb	Birds fly.
S-V-O	Subject + Verb + Object	She loves music.
S-V-C	Subject + Verb + Complement	The sky is blue.
S-V-A	Subject + Verb + Adjunct	They walked in the park.
S-V-O-O	Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object	She gave me a pen.

Types of Sentences by Structure

1. Simple Sentence
Meaning: One independent clause
Example: I like tea.

 
2. Compound Sentence
Meaning: Two independent clauses joined by a conjunction (and, but, or)
Example: I like tea, but I love coffee.

 
3. Complex Sentence
Meaning: One independent clause and one dependent clause
Example: I stayed home because it was raining.

 
4. Compound-Complex Sentence
Meaning: Two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause
Example: I cooked dinner, and he cleaned because we were hungry.

Sentence Structure Problems 

1. Sentence Fragment
Meaning: An incomplete sentence missing a subject or verb
Examples

Incorrect: Because I was late.
Correct: I missed the bus because I was late.

 
2. Run-on Sentence
Meaning: Two or more complete sentences joined incorrectly
Examples

Incorrect: I like pizza I eat it every day.
Correct: I like pizza, and I eat it every day.

 
Direct and Indirect Objects

Direct Object
Meaning: Receives the action directly
Example: She bought a dress.

 
Indirect Object
Meaning: Receives the direct object
Example: She bought me a dress.