Word Order

English uses a strict basic word order for expressing the grammatical relations SUBJECT VERB OBJECT (SVO) in simple sentences such as the following:

Students  read  books.

The author of the web site  will include  a variety of topics.

In these sentences, the SUBJECT phrases are underlined first, the VERB phrases second, and the OBJECT phrases third. In English, the SUBJECT precedes the verb and is perceived to perform the action expressed by the VERB, which follows the SUBJECT. The OBJECT follows the VERB and is perceived to receive or be affected by the action expressed by the VERB. (This module does not discuss other kinds of objects in a sentence, such as the object of a preposition.)

English language learners quickly acquire the basic SVO word order of simple sentences. With normal hearing, learners also go on to acquire the other, more complex structures of English that do not reflect the basic SVO order of simple sentences. Full access to the sounds and intonations of spoken English allows hearing learners, over a relative short period of time, to acquire all of the simple and complex structures of the language naturally and effortlessly.

In the case deaf learners who do not have full access to the sounds and intonations of English, acquisition of the range of complex English structures can be a lifelong challenge. Provided they understand the relevant vocabulary, deaf learners are quite successful in producing and comprehending SVO structures. However, mastery of structures in which the SVO order is "disturbed" in certain ways is a challenge for many deaf students. This difficulty with English grammatical structure can have a major impact on deaf students' reading abilities and written expression and, ultimately, their educational success.

The discussion below refers to specific grammatical categories by their technical grammatical terms. These terms are used in order to be able to talk about the complexities of English sentence structures. However, it is not necessary for the site visitor to master the use of these terms. Instead, the goal is to sharpen the insights of teachers of deaf students so that they can appreciate the challenges that English poses to their students and so that they can optimally support their students ongoing English acquisition.

English sentence structures that reflect non-SVO word orders include questions, sentences containing relative clauses, and sentences with infinitives, participles, and gerunds, to name a few. An understanding of the ways in which such structures exhibit non-SVO word orders can provide teachers with important insights into the challenges confronting deaf students in reading comprehension and written expression.

Yes/No Questions

Certain English questions alter the basic SVO word order pattern or introduce new elements into the sentence structure. In a YES-NO question, a "helping verb" such as be, have, will, can, should, etc., moves to the left of the subject as illustrated in these statement/question pairs.

The students (S) are reading (V) some books (O).

Are (V) the students (S) reading (V) some books (O)?

The students (S) will read (V) some books (O).

Will (V) the students (S) read (V) some books (O)?

In these cases, a complex verb phrase (for example, are reading) splits. With the helping verb to the left of the subject, the resulting word order becomes VSVO.

When a simple statement that does not contain a helping verb is expressed as a YES-NO question, the helping verbdo shows up to the left of the subject, as illustrated in the following pair.

The students (S) study (V) physics (O).

Do (V) the students (S) study (V) physics (O).

WH-Questions

In the case of a WH-question, there are two operations that alter the basic SVO word order. As in a YES/NO question, a helping verb or do moves to the left of the subject. Additionally, the questioned phrase, for example, an object, appears at the beginning of the sentence in the form of a WH-phrase. These operations are illustrated in the following statement/question pair:

The students (S) bought (V) some books (O).

What (O) did (V) the students (S) buy (V)?

In the question What did the students buy?, the WH-phrase what represents the object position after the verbbuy. In such a question the object of the verb appears to be missing because English grammar requires it to "move" to the beginning of the sentence. This is clear from the fact that in a possible answer to this question, such as The students bought some books, some books is the object of the verb bought and therefore occurs after bought. So this statement/question pair illustrates that the normal SVO order of the statement changes to the order OVSV in the related question. For more details about WH-questions see the SEA Site module WH-Questions.

Noun Clauses/That Clauses

A noun clause, or that clause, in a sentence can give the impression that basic SVO word order is altered. In one respect, SVO order in such sentences is disturbed, but in another respect it isn't. In the following sentences, the noun clauses are highlighted:

The students (S) thought (V) that they had met us (O).

That we knew them (S) surprised (V) the students (O).

In the first sentence, the entire noun clause, that they had met us, serves as the OBJECT of the verb thought. And in the second sentence, the entire noun clause, that we knew them, serves as the SUBJECT of the verb surprised. So both sentences actually reflect the basic SVO English word order.

However, because each of those noun clauses itself contains a subject, verb, and object, the sentences superficially appear to deviate from SVO word order. The first appears to have SVSVO order, and the second appears to have SVOVO word order. (Note that the word that serves only to introduce these noun clauses and is not itself a subject or an object.)

The students (S) thought (V) that they (S) had met (V) us (O).

That we (S) knew (V) them (O) surprised (V) the students (O).

Relative Clauses

A relative clause is another English structure in which basic SVO word order can be altered. A relative clause is a structure that provides descriptive information about a noun phrase in a sentence. In the first example below, the second independent sentence (The student lost that book.) provides descriptive information about a book in the first sentence. The second example uses a relative clause, rather than a second independent sentence, to provide descriptive information. In the second example, the relative clause, which the student lost, occurs immediately after the noun phrase a book and provides descriptive information about a book.

The teacher (S) found (V) a book (O). The student (S) lost (V) that book (O).

The teacher (S) found (V) a book (O) which (O) the student (S) lost (V).

In the example containing the relative clause, the main clause, The teacher found a book, exhibits the basic SVO pattern of sentence elements. However, the relative clause, which the student lost, exhibits OSV word order. As with English WH-questions, a WH-phrase in a relative clause must appear at the beginning of the clause. For this reason, relative clauses often exhibit non-SVO word order. In the above example, which refers to a book in the main clause and represents the object of the verb lost within the relative clause. For more details about relative clauses see the SEA site module Relative Clauses.

Infinitive Clauses

Infinitive clauses in English are structures that contain the word to followed by a verb, for example, to study, to develop, to be repaired, and so on. Sentences containing infinitive clauses also deviate from the basic SVO word order. The sentences below illustrate this fact.

The professor (S) decided (V) to write (V) a book (O).

The instructor (S) persuaded (V) Mary (O) to take (V) that course (O).

The students (S) asked (V) the teacher (O) what (O) to read (V).

Infinitive clauses differ from regular clauses in that the infinitive generally does not have an explicit subject of its own. In the first example above, the subject of the infinitive to write is missing but is understood to be the professor, which is the explicit subject of the main verb decided. In other words, the professor did the deciding, and the professor will also do the writing, so we say that the professor is the understood, or logical, subject of the infinitive to write. In the second example above, the understood subject of the infinitive to take is the object of the main clause, Mary.

The third example above contains the infinitive clause what to read, which begins with the WH-word what. In this case, what serves as the object of the infinitive to read but must appear at the beginning of the clause in the same way that WH-phrases must appear at the beginning of WH-questions and relative clauses. In this particular sentence, the understood subject of to read is the subject of the main clause, the students. For more details about the interpretation of infinitive clauses see the SEA site module Logical Subjects of Infinitives.

So because infinitive clauses generally do not have explicit subjects and because a WH-word in an infinitive clause occurs at the beginning of the clause, sentences containing infinitive clauses exhibit various deviations from basic SVO word order. As indicated, the example sentences above have the following different word orders for their major grammatical components: SVVO, SVOVO, and SVOOV.

Participial Clauses

Participial clauses in English are structures which contain a verb with an -ing ending and which express an additional action related to a subject or object in the main clause of the sentence. As with infinitives, participles also have understood, or logical, subjects. Therefore, sentences containing participial clauses deviate from basic SVO word order in various ways, as illustrated in the following examples.

Finishing (V) the book (O), the student (S) completed (V) the assignment (O).

The student (S) dropped (V) the course (O), deciding (V) to take (V) it (O) next year instead of this year.

In the first example, the participle finishing begins the sentence and is followed by its object, the book. The main clause, the student finished the assignment, exhibits normal SVO order. In such a sentence, the understood subject of finishing is the main clause subject the student. That is, the sentence is interpreted to mean that the student finished the book and the student completed the assignment. But without an explicit subject, the non-SVO order of the participial clause creates a sentence exhibiting VOSVO order.

In the second example, the participial clause deciding to take it next year instead of this year follows the main clause. In this sentence, which exhibits a SVOVO order, the student is the subject of dropped and the understood subject of the participle deciding. For discussion of other kinds of participles see the SEA site modules Passive Voice and -ED/-ING Participles of Emotional Response Verbs.

Gerund Clauses

A gerund is also a verb that has an -ing ending; it looks identical to a participle. However, the gerund clause has a different function from the participial clause. The gerund clause is a whole clause that, itself, serves as a subject or object within a sentence. The following sentence contains the gerund clause taking that course.

The students (S) enjoyed (V) taking that course (O).

In this sentence, taking that course serves as the object of the verb enjoyed. Yet the gerund clause itself consists of a verb (gerund) with its own object, that course. So, despite the fact that this gerund clause is the O in an SVO structure, internally it has the structure VO. Thus, superficially the above sentence reflects the order SVVO:

The students (S) enjoyed (V) taking (V) that course (O).

In the following two examples, the gerund clause serves as the subject of the sentence:

Taking that course (S) improved (V) the students' skills (O).

Taking that course (S) was (V) helpful (A). (A = ADJECTIVE)

Superficially these sentences exhibit VOSVO and VOSVA orders.

With respect to interpretation, the gerund, like an infinitive or a participle, has an understood, logical subject. InThe students enjoyed taking that course, the understood subject of taking is the students, which is the explicit subject of the main verb enjoyed.

In Taking that course improved the students' skills, the understood subject of taking is the students, which occurs later in the sentence. In Taking that course was helpful, there is no explicit sentence element to serve as the understood subject of taking. In this kind of sentence, the subject of taking is determined from the context in which the sentence occurs. Depending on the situation, the person taking that course might be the speaker of the sentence, the hearer, or someone else being referred to in a conversation.

Sometime the basic SVO English word order becomes altered when an SVO sentence is interrupted by another structure within the sentence. For example, when a relative clause occurs immediately after the subject of a sentence, the relative clause interrupts the SVO order of the main clause of the sentence. Consider these examples:

The teacher (S) read (V) the book (O).

The teacher (S) read (V) the book (O) which (O) the student (S) found (V).

The book (S) which (O) the student (S) found (V) explains (V) English grammar (O).

The first sentence reflects simple SVO word order because it does not contain any additional structure such as a relative clause. The second sentence contains a relative clause--which the student found--which follows and describes the object, the book. Although the relative clause exhibits an altered word order (OSV), the main clause still exhibits SVO word order because the relative clause FOLLOWS the main clause object.

In the third sentence, the relative clause follows and describes the main clause subject, the book. Therefore, it INTERRUPTS the SVO order of the main clause. As a whole, the sentence reflects the order SOSVVO, quite a deviation from the SVO order of a simple sentence.

In English, a WH-word or phrase (for example, who, what, whose computer, which student, etc.) must occur at the beginning of a clause. Therefore, the WH-word or phrase appears to have "moved" to the beginning of the clause from some other position in the sentence where it would otherwise appear if it were not a WH-word or phrase.

When a WH-word or phrase represents the subject of the sentence, it has not moved from any other position within the sentence. In the following question, the WH-word who is the subject of the sentence, so the question reflects the normal SVO word order.

Who (S) translated (V) the sentence (O) for the student?

In the next question, who represents the object of the verb help. (In more formal English, some people would use whom, rather than who, as an object.) The line (____) indicates the position after help from which who has moved to the beginning of the sentence.

Who (O) did (V) the student (S) help (V) ____ with the translation?

In the next sentence, who has moved even further, from a position in a separate clause (…the teacher helped ____ with the translation) that follows the main verb say.

Who (O) did (V) the student (S) say (V) the teacher (S) helped (V) ____ with the translation?

The above three sentences reflect SVO, OVSV, and OVSVSV word orders, respectively. These sentences illustrate that the further a sentence element such as a WH-word has moved to the beginning of a sentence, the greater the deviation from simple SVO word order and the more complex the sentence is with respect to the relationships among the subjects, verbs, and objects it contains. For example, in the third sentence, the first O is the object of the third V!

In general, deaf students are quite successful in producing and comprehending English language structures that exhibit a straightforward SUBJECT VERB OBJECT (SVO) word order. As noted in the Grammatical Summary section, SVO word order is "disturbed," or altered, in many English structures, including questions, sentences with relative clauses, infinitive clauses, participial clauses, gerund clauses, and many other structures.

Many deaf students tend to "overgeneralize" SVO word order to other structures that actually deviate from SVO word order. This means that they expect structures to conform to SVO word order and therefore try to interpret structures as if they exhibited SVO word order. This expectation, of course, results in the misinterpretation of certain English structures and the failure to master many grammatical structures.

Questions

English questions pose a challenge for many deaf students because of the readjustment of SVO order and the introduction of helping verbs, such as do, as illustrated in the examples below (Berent, 1996b; Quigley, Wilbur, and Montanelli, 1974). Many deaf students will misinterpret such questions or will have difficulty producing them.

Do (V) the students (S) study (V) physics (O)?

What (O) did (V) the students (S) buy (V)?

Relative Clauses

The same is true of sentences containing relative clauses, as in the examples below. Sentences with relative clauses have been shown to pose considerable difficulty for deaf students in reading comprehension and written expression (de Villiers, 1988; Quigley, Smith, & Wilbur, 1974).

The teacher (S) read (V) the book (O) which (O) the student (S) found (V).

The book (S) which (O) the student (S) found (V) explains (V) English grammar (O).

The relative clause in the first example exhibits OSV word order, but it follows, rather than "interrupts," the main clause. Such sentences are difficult for many deaf students but are less difficult than sentences in which the relative clause interrupts the main clause, as in the second example (Lillo-Martin, Hanson, & Smith, 1992 ; Quigley, Smith, & Wilbur, 1974). The position of the relative clause in the second example results in the separation of the main clause subject, the book, from the main clause verb, explains. The distance between the main clause subject and verb makes such sentences more difficult to interpret.

Infinitive Clauses

Sentences with infinitive clauses, as in the following examples, are also often difficult for deaf students. Such sentences can be difficult because the infinitive clauses deviate from SVO word order and also because there is generally no explicit subject of the infinitive.

The instructor (S) persuaded (V) Mary (O) to take (V) that course (O).

The students (S) asked (V) the teacher (O) what (O) to read (V).

Speakers of English unconsciously follow principles that guide the interpretation of the logical subject of an infinitive. In the first example above, it is Mary who is understood as the person who will take that course; in the second example, it is the students who are understood as the persons who will read something. Research has shown that the proper interpretation of such sentences is very difficult for many deaf students (Berent, 1983). For further information, see the SEA Site module on Logical Subjects of Infinitives.

Participial and Gerund Clauses

Research has also shown that sentences containing participial clauses and gerund clauses are also difficult for many deaf students. The examples below illustrate how sentences containing participles and gerunds deviate from SVO word order.

Finishing (V) the book (O), the student (S) completed (V) the assignment (O).

The students (S) enjoyed (V) taking (V) that course (O).

Not only does the lack of an explicit subject for the participle in the first sentence and the gerund in the second sentence create non-SVO word orders in those clauses, but the language learner must also be able to interpret who the understood, or logical, subject of the participle or gerund is. As with the interpretation of sentences containing infinitives, speakers of English unconsciously follow principles that guide the interpretation of the logical subject of a participle or gerund. For many deaf students, interpretation of sentences containing these grammatical elements is very difficult.

Berent (1988) found that the relative order of difficulty that deaf college students experienced on a variety of English structures generally correlated with the extent to which structures deviated from expected SVO order. On an English grammar test, students' average success on six types clause structures followed the order shown below, from most successful to least successful:

ADVERB CLAUSE

NOUN CLAUSE

INFINITIVE CLAUSE

GERUND CLAUSE

RELATIVE CLAUSE

PARTICIPIAL CLAUSE

The following example sentences illustrate the extent to which sentences containing each clause type conform to or deviate from SVO order:

She (S) can't clean (V) the house (O) because she (S) doesn't have (V) any time (O).

They (S) thought (V) they (S) saw (V) the robber (O).

His parents (S) forced (V) him (O) to sell (V) the motorcycle (O).

They (S) enjoyed (V) watching (V) the movie (O).

The movie (S) that we (S) saw (V) frightened (V) us (O).

Slowly pouring (V) the milk (O), I (S) filled (V) my cup (O).

In a follow-up study, Berent (1993) found that, over time, deaf college students made significant improvement in their knowledge of all of the above structures. Grouped into three levels of overall English language proficiency (high, mid, and low), students in the low English group actually improved to a greater extent than students in the high and mid groups.

The results of the study are promising because they indicate that, despite the challenges that English poses to many deaf students, they are capable of improving in their knowledge of difficult grammatical structures. However, in order to optimize deaf students' improvement in English and their prospects for academic success, both English teachers and content teachers need to undertake a collaborative and sustained effort to support their students' continued English language acquisition.

Another factor affecting the relative difficulty of various English language structures is the distance that sentence elements appear to have moved from their logical positions within the sentence. For example, in questions and other structures in which a WH-word or phrase occurs (who, what, whose computer, which student, etc.), the WH-word or phrase must appear at the beginning of a clause.

In the question,

What have they read ____?

the WH-word what must appear at the beginning of the sentence. However, its logical position is the object position after the verb read, indicated by the line after read. We know that this is the logical position because, in an answer to the question, the object appears in the normal object position after the verb, as in

They have read the computer manual.

Research has shown that, in general, deaf students have greater difficulty with English structures in which a sentence element moves further to get to the beginning of the clause than structures in which a sentence element has not moved as far. Berent (1996b) found that deaf college students' success on WH-questions was associated with the distance between the WH-word and the particular position that the WH-word would occupy in a non-question.

For example, of the three WH-questions below, students were most successful in their knowledge of questions such as the first one, less successful on questions like the second, and least successful on questions like the third.

Who translated the sentence for the student?

Who did the student help ____ with the translation?

Who did the student say the teacher helped ____ with the translation?

In the first sentence, who represents the subject of the sentence so it already appears in its logical position before the verb translated. In the second sentence, who has moved to the beginning of the question from its logical object position after help. In the third sentence, who has moved even further from its logical position after the verb helped.