Sentence order

Question

HiI have a question about sentence order and the technical names for the various parts of sentences.  I have two queries:-I went to the cinema and I liked the film very much   -  I went to the cinema and I liked very much the filmWhy can´t I say the second one?Second questions is:-The film we saw was very goodThe film is the object, we is the subject, saw is the verb - what do we call  the part "was very good"??  Is it a noun clause or adjective clause maybe?Many thanks for your help in advanceRegardsNicola

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

NicmarjelI went to the cinema and I liked the film very much - I went to the cinema and I liked very much the film

Why can´t I say the second one?

The word order of the second sentence would be possible in many languages that have special cases for words used as objects. English nouns and/or articles don't have such grammatical cases and therefore, for the sake of clarity, these nouns are usually placed right after the verb. In your second sentence you have placed very much between the verb and the object, which isn't usually possible. It can be done if the object is very long and the word that goes between the verb and the object is short: I heard there the language of my childhood.

There are other cases in which an object doesn't come immediately after a verb:

He gave me a book. = He gave a book to me.

NicmarjelThe film [that/which] we saw was very good

Grammatical terminology varies from country to country, and I am not familiar with the terms "noun clause" and "adjective clause" as I have never used them. However, in the terminology I am familiar with your second sentence is made up of two clauses, a main clause and a subordinate/subordinating clause, which in this case is a relative clause. The main clause is: The film was very good. In it, The film is the subject of the main clause and the finite verb is was. The relative clause is [which/that] we saw. Its subject is we and the relative pronoun (which/that) is the object of saw. In other words The film is not the object in either clause; the object is the omitted relative pronoun. For the film to be an object, you would have to say something like: We saw the film.

CB

Nicmarjel · Answer

Thank you very much for your explanation CB - sorry for not responding sooner but I have been unable to get to my computer!

Your explanation has helped me understand this sentence structure clearly.

Thanks again

Sentence order

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions