English
The student reads the book.
English commonly uses Subject-Verb-Object: student reads book.
Many sentences contain an actor, an action, and something affected by the action. Languages vary in the usual order of these pieces. English and Spanish often use subject-verb-object, but many languages use subject-object-verb or verb-subject-object patterns.
Core concepts
1
Subject is often the actor or topic.
2
Verb names the action or state.
3
Object is often affected by the action.
4
SVO, SOV, and VSO are common word-order patterns.
Examples
Spanish
La estudiante lee el libro.
Spanish often uses SVO too, though it allows more flexibility than English.
Visual model
Same meaning, different order
SVO
Student reads book.
SOV
Student book reads.
VSO
Reads student book.
Word order is one strategy for showing who did what to whom.
Interactive exploration
Reorder a sentence frame.
SVO
Subject-Verb-Object puts the action between the main participants.
The learner studies language.
Language detective
Identify the hidden structure
Identify the sentence roles before thinking about vocabulary.
Best: 0/5
Spanish
La estudiante lee el libro.
Look for roles, time, mode, and polarity.
Knowledge check
Test the concept
Best: 0/3
Three conceptual checks