Basic Sentence Pattern 7

"Pattern 7: SVOA (Subject + Verb + Object + Adverbial]

Mr. Jensen set the cup on the table.

For most of the sentence patterns we have previously listed, an adverbial may accompany the verb but is not required. But pattern 7 is listed here as its own pattern because of the obligatory nature of the adverbial element. In this regard it is like pattern 3 except that pattern 3 involved be or intransitive verbs whereas pattern 7 contains transitive ones.

The determination of whether an adverbial is required or not of course depends on the verb. With some verbs, such as set, leaving the adverbral out makes the sentence sound ungrammatical as in an utterance such as *'We set the book.'

With other verbs, the sentence does not sound ungrammatical, but the meaning of the verb is significantly changed without the accompanying adverbial.

For example, consider what happens to the meaning of the verb kept in the sentence 'We kept the smelly dog outside' if the adverbial outside is removed from the sentence. Without the adverbial it sounds as if the point of the sentence is that we kept the dog (as opposed perhaps to selling it).

But the meaning of the verb in a sentence containing the adverbial outside relates to how we maintain the dog.

With pattern 7 we complete the list of the basic sentence patterns in English.

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