The Ten Sentence Patterns with Examples
Martha Kolln, Robert Funk: Understanding English Grammar,
5th ed. Boston (Allyn & Bacon, 1998).
I. Fido is in his kennel. The students are upstairs.
Subject/ BE/adverb of time or place
II. Fido is tired. The students are diligent.
Subject/ BE/ predicate adjective
III. Fido was a beautiful dog. The students are scholars.
Subject/ BE/ predicate nominative
IV. Fido seems anxious. The students look diligent.
Subject/ linking verb/ predicate adjective
V. Fido proved a champion. The students became scholars.
Subject/ linking verb/ predicate nominative
VI. Fido slept. The students rested.
Subject/ intransitive verb
VII. Fido chased squirrels. The students study their books.
Subject/ transitive verb/ direct object
VIII. Fido won Fred a prize. The students gave him their books.
Subject/ transitive verb/ direct object/ indirect object
IX. Fido found it upsetting. The students consider him intelligent.
Subject/ transitive verb/ direct object/
objective complement (adjective)
X. Fido feared Bo the alpha dog. The students thought it a challenge.
Subject/ transitive verb/ direct object/
objective complement (noun phrase)
Hints for remembering the patterns:
• Patterns I-III are all built around some form of the verb BE.
• Types II, IV, and IX end with adjectives; III, V, and X with a noun phrase (NP).
• The following patterns are in pairs: II and III, IV and V, IX and X.
The first pattern in each pair ends with an adjective, the second with a noun phrase.
• Patterns II and IV and Patterns III and V are the same, except that Patterns II and III
are built around some form of the verb BE, while Patterns IV and V are built around
other linking verbs. It is possible to form a sentence with an adverb of time or place
with BE (Pattern I) but not with other linking verbs.
• Pattern VI is in a class by itself.
• Patterns VII and VIII are identical, except that Pattern VIII has an indirect object