ENGLISH WORD ORDER EXERCISE 1 (ESL)
level: Beginner (A1/A2)
English word order is relatively fixed compared to many other languages — getting it wrong can make a sentence sound unnatural or confusing even if every word is correct. This beginner-level exercise practices the fundamental SVO (subject-verb-object) pattern. This is exercise 1 of 2 in this series.
GRAMMAR REVIEW! Basic English word order
English word order is relatively fixed. The standard pattern is:
Subject → Verb → Object (SVO)
She likes coffee. / We visited Paris.
Adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, never) go before the main verb but after be:
She always drinks tea. / He is never late.
Place and time expressions usually go at the end: place → time:
I worked in Paris last year.
Adjectives go before the noun they describe:
a beautiful old house (not: a house old beautiful)
Common error:
✗ Likes she coffee. ✓ She likes coffee.
English word order is relatively fixed. The standard pattern is:
Subject → Verb → Object (SVO)
She likes coffee. / We visited Paris.
Adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, never) go before the main verb but after be:
She always drinks tea. / He is never late.
Place and time expressions usually go at the end: place → time:
I worked in Paris last year.
Adjectives go before the noun they describe:
a beautiful old house (not: a house old beautiful)
Common error:
✗ Likes she coffee. ✓ She likes coffee.
1. I/in/London/live →.
Correct: I live in London
2. cats/three/have/we →.
Correct: We have three cats
3. German/speak/they/can →.
Correct: They can speak German
4. A lot/sleeps/my brother →.
Correct: My brother sleeps a lot
5. My father/house/is painting/our →.
Correct: My father is painting our house
6. blue/my car/is →.
Correct: My car is blue
7. aunt/her/talks/a lot →.
Correct: Her aunt talks a lot
8. work/hard/they →.
Correct: They work hard
9. can/sing/well/I →.
Correct: I can sing well
10. mother/my/is preparing/dinner →.
Correct: My mother is preparing dinner
11. brother/is/18/years/old/my →.
Correct: My brother is 18 years old
12. like/I/to dance →.
Correct: I like to dance
13. loves/she/parents/her →.
Correct: She loves her parents
14. teacher/his/smart/is/very →.
Correct: His teacher is very smart
15. test/hard/this/is →.
Correct: This test is hard
16. bed/my/big/is →.
Correct: My bed is big
17. school/their/far/is →.
Correct: Their school is far
18. she/in/California/lives →.
Correct: She lives in California
19. know/I/answer/the →.
Correct: I know the answer
20. good/students/we/are →.
Correct: We are good students
KEEP PRACTICING — MORE EXERCISES FOR YOU:
More word order exercises:
Word Order Exercise 2 (B1/B2)
Related question formation exercises:
Do You Like / Would You Like? 1 (A1)
Question Words Exercise 1 (who, when, where, what)
How Questions Exercise 1 (How Long/How Much/How Often/How Well) (B1/B2)
Question Tags Exercise 1 (A2/B1)
Question Words Exercise 2 (Why/When/Where)
Question Tags Exercise 2 (B1/B2)
Question Tags Exercise 3 (B1/B2)
Browse all grammar exercises →
More word order exercises:
Word Order Exercise 2 (B1/B2)
Related question formation exercises:
Do You Like / Would You Like? 1 (A1)
Question Words Exercise 1 (who, when, where, what)
How Questions Exercise 1 (How Long/How Much/How Often/How Well) (B1/B2)
Question Tags Exercise 1 (A2/B1)
Question Words Exercise 2 (Why/When/Where)
Question Tags Exercise 2 (B1/B2)
Question Tags Exercise 3 (B1/B2)
Browse all grammar exercises →
