English Word Order: Rules and Examples

Word order is the sequence you put words in to build a sentence. English follows fairly fixed patterns, and moving a word to the wrong place can change your meaning or sound off. Most of the time the order is predictable, so it is important to memorise these rules.

Key takeaways

• English usually follows subject, verb, object.
• Adjectives go before the noun they describe.
• Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb, but after be.
• Put place before time.
• In questions, the auxiliary comes before the subject.

How to get word order right

Basic order

1. Keep the order subject, verb, object.

• ✓ I like coffee.
• ✗ I coffee like.

2. Put adjectives before the noun.

• ✓ She has a red car.
• ✗ She has a car red.

Adverbs and details

3. Put adverbs of frequency before the main verb.

• ✓ I usually take the bus.
• ✗ I take usually the bus.

4. Put place before time.

• ✓ We arrived at the office at nine.
• ✗ We arrived at nine at the office.

Questions

5. In a question, put the auxiliary verb before the subject.

• ✓ Where do you live?
• ✗ Where you live?

Test yourself

Word order feels strict at first, but the patterns repeat, so they soon become second nature. Practise them out loud and get instant feedback on Speechful. Start practising free →