Basic Sentence Pattern 1

"BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

Pattern 1: SV [Subject + Verb]

1. Our girls smile.

The subject always occurs in the first noun phrase position.
The subject performs the action.

The verb in pattern 1 is Intransitive. It can stand alone with its subject.
Examples: 1. The sportsman fished. 2. The sportsmen were fishing.

The verb can be modified by words and word groups known as adverbs and adverbials. Examples: 1. The sportsmen fished early. 2. The sportsmen were fishing in the stream. 3. The sportsmen were fishing when we drove up.

An Intransitive verb is usually not completed by a noun phrase [which could involve a noun or pronoun]. Example: 1. They finished late. [finished is intransitive] 2. They finished the game. 3. They finished it.

2 & 3, finished is not intransitive because it is completed by a noun phrase. If a word following the verb is a modifier that goes with an intransitive verb or a completer of a transitive verb. Completers are him, her, it, or them.

Examples: 1. He hammered fast. 2. He hammered the nail. In the second sentence, He hammered it is a suitable equivalent for He hammered the nail. The first hammered is Intransitive and the second one transitive.

Intransitive Verb sentences are examples of pattern 1, an SV sentence pattern..
1. The audience clapped.
2. The audience clapped loudly.
3. The audience clapped loudly after the main act.

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