If you don’t know the basics of any language, you will most probably be lost and clueless. So even if you’re English proficiency is average it’s good to go back to the basics like taking English lessons for kids. Also, it will help to avoid being trapped in a series of bad habits.

If you enrol in an English course in Singapore, they’ll start teaching you the basics of the language first alongside new vocabularies.

If you know most of the basics already, here are some refreshers:

PARTS OF A SENTENCE

Nouns

Nouns are names of people, animals and places. It can be in singular (one – cat) or plural (more than one – cats) form.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can be used instead of a noun. Example: “Caren” can also be referred to as “she” “her” or “you”.  Other pronouns are “he” “him” “I” or “they.”

Verbs

More commonly known as action-words, like ‘is/are’ ‘kick’ or ‘shout.’

It’s important to know that verbs indicate the tenses to show past, present or future. Today I am, Yesterday I was, and tomorrow I will be.

Adjectives

Adjectives simply describe nouns.  Example: A beautiful cat.

Adverbs

Adverbs simply describe verbs.

Example: Caren sang beautifully. Adverbs are also used to describe and tell more about when, where, why, or how.

Prepositions

Prepositions are used with a noun to show location – in, on, under, of, beside etc.

Conjunctions

These are words that connect phrases, words and clauses the most common conjunctions are ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘or.’

Articles

Placed in front of nouns – ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the.’

SIMPLE SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Now that you are familiar with the different kinds of words in a sentence, it is good to know where you should place each word.

SUBJECT + VERB

Step 1 Who/what (The subject – usually this is a noun/pronoun)

Step 2 What action (The verb – remember to change the verb to show the tense)

The girl kicks.

SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT

Add Step 3 What does she kick?

The girl kicks the ball.

SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + ADVERB

Add step 4 Describe the verb.

The girl kicks the ball softly.

ADJECTIVE + SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT + ADVERB

Add step 5 Describe the subject/noun.

The pretty girl kicks the ball softly.

When you continue to add onto a very simple sentence, you will be able to construct more complex sentences in no time. To help you better when you take up English lessons in Singapore, these basics are handy for you to grasp the basic construction of sentences.

When following the recipe as mentioned above, you’ll find that sentence structuring can be quite fun!

Test yourself

Name the following words in the sentence: The beautiful girl walks slowly and takes photos of the pretty houses.

Answer key:

The (article) beautiful (adjective) girl (noun) walks (verb) slowly (adverb) and (conjunction) takes photos (adverb) pretty (adjective) houses (noun).