“What did you have for lunch today?”
The words you are given
- today
- delicious
- had
- I
- a
- were
- sandwich
The order that works
I had a delicious sandwich today.
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Simple past tense SVO
English past tense statements follow Subject + past-tense verb + Object order. The verb changes form to show the action happened before now.
6 worked examplesBasic Svo
The pattern
Pattern: Subject + V-ed/irregular past + Object.
Worked examples
6 shown
Word order shown is Reach120’s reading of standard English usage for this sentence. ETS does not publish a correct/incorrect judgement for individual items, and this is not an official score.
“What did Maria buy?”
The words you are given
- flowers
- fresh
- yesterday
- She
- bought
- has
- some
The order that works
She bought some fresh flowers yesterday.
“What did you do after work?”
The words you are given
- watched
- funny
- a
- I
- does
- movie
- tonight
The order that works
I watched a funny movie tonight.
“Where did they go?”
The words you are given
- visited
- science
- the
- museum
- are
- They
- today
The order that works
They visited the science museum today.
“What did he drink?”
The words you are given
- coffee
- being
- a
- He
- ordered
- iced
- large
The order that works
He ordered a large iced coffee.
“What did she clean?”
The words you are given
- cleaned
- apartment
- entire
- She
- messy
- were
- the
The order that works
She cleaned the entire messy apartment.
Practice this pattern against the clock.
More basic svo patterns
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