A normal English sentence goes subject → verb → object: Ana drinks coffee. After that come how, where and when, usually in that order: I met her at the station yesterday. English rarely moves these around: the order is what shows who does what.
Ana drinks coffee every morning.
Each word has its slot. Swap the subject and the object and the meaning changes: Coffee drinks Ana is nonsense.
| Subject + verb | Ana works. |
|---|---|
| + object | Ana drinks coffee. |
| + two objects | She gave me the keys. / She gave the keys to me. |
| + how, where, when | She sang beautifully at the concert last night. |
| Time at the start | Yesterday, I met her at the station. (to set the scene) |
Don't put anything between the verb and its object: I like very much coffee is wrong. Say I like coffee very much.
The dog chased the cat.
The subject does the action; the object receives it.
We arrived at the hotel late at night.
Where usually comes before when.
She sent me a message.
The person first, then the thing. Or the thing first with to: She sent a message to me.
Last year, we moved to Cluj.
Time can move to the front to set the scene. Use a comma after a longer phrase.
Common expressions worth learning as they are.
I _____.
The sentence skeleton, and every word-order lesson.
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
Yes, to set the scene or contrast: Last year we lived in Iași; now we live in Cluj. But not between the subject and the verb.
In English, the verb and its object stay together. Put how-words after the object (She speaks English well) or, for some adverbs, before the verb (She really likes English).