All languages use single words and phrases (small groups of words) to build sentences.
Each word or phrase has its work and meaning in the sentence.
For example:
Alice ate all the ice cream.
Alice – is a word working as the subject
ate – is a word working as the verb
all the ice cream – is a phrase working as the object
WORD ORDER
In English the position of the word or phrase in a sentence tells us what work that word or phrase is doing. A noun before a verb is almost always the subject of the verb.
A basic simple sentence in English often has a subject, verb and object.
If we change the word order in an English sentence, we usually change the meaning, too.
| Subject | Helping verb | Present participle | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael | is | washing | Lulu. |
| Is | Michael | washing | Lulu? |
If we put Lulu (the object of the sentence above) at the beginning, the meaning changes completely.
| Subject | Helping verb | Present participle | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lulu | is | washing | Michael. |
PUNCTUATION
All sentences begin with a capital letter.
Positive and negative sentences usually end with a full stop (.).
Questions end with a question mark (?).
For example:
They are playing music in the square.
They are not playing music in the square.
Are they playing music in the square?
