Word Order - Statements | English Grammar Lesson | B1-Intermediate

[Music]

So, hello and welcome everyone to this  presentation where we're going to review word  

order following a question that I received from  Ameen. He asked: Which one is correct? I'll repeat  

the question for you again. Or, I'll repeat the  question again for you. So he wanted to know where  

the word 'again' goes. And he wanted me to explain  the correct answer following the who, what, how,  

where, when, why rule. Right, so because he  asked me about this rule, let's review that  

rule first. This is the most common English word  order. Who, what, how, where, when, and why. Now,  

it's rare that one sentence will include all  these elements. For example, I've got an example  

sentence here for you. It doesn't include the  element 'how' but includes the others. So, who my  

cousin. What which is always the verb. Went. There  is no how. Where to Athens. When last week. And  

why to attend a conference. Let's look at another  example where we have the element how and not the  

element when.... Again, who John. What speaks. How  quickly. Where at meetings. We don't have a when,  

but we have a why because he gets nervous. So,  just remember that this is the common English word  

order. This is what most native speakers follow.  But not always! Now, there is one important  

exception to remember about this order we've just  looked at, and that is with verbs of movement.  

When you have a verb of movement like go,  come, drive, travel, etc. the 'where' must go  

before the 'how'. And that's so that we have the  destination right after the verb. So, don't say:  

My cousin went by plane to Athens. But switch  the 'where' and the 'how': My cousin went to  

Athens by plane. Where, how. That's the only  exception to the rule that we have just seen.  

Right, now the most common mistake that I notice  happens with putting 'when' in the wrong place.  

Sometimes, I hear you, my students, say the  'where' after the 'when'. So, saying things like:  

My cousin went last week to Athens. Try to  avoid that! That does sound strange. Always,  

if you have both where and when, put where before  when: My cousin went to Athens last week. Another  

mistake that can happen is confusing the places  of when and why. Again, sometimes I hear this:  

My cousin went to Athens to attend a conference  last week. Again, that would be a mistake. It's  

when and then why: My cousin went to Athens  when last week why to attend a conference. So,  

that's that order that you need to remember.  You will hear sometimes native speakers changing  

that order, and don't think that oh then this is  wrong. This is the correct word order, but there  

are reasons for changing that. You will always  be correct, if you follow this. So, if in doubt,  

remember the order and follow this one. Now, let's  look at something that I need to mention.... You  

can emphasise the time, the place, and the reason  by putting it at the start of a sentence. And the  

most common element to start a sentence with is  'when'. So, very often you may hear: Last week,  

my cousin went to Athens. Or: Yesterday, this  happened. Or: Tomorrow, this will happen. But,  

the other two elements, that is place and reason,  can also go to the beginning. But, not very  

common. So, we could say: In Athens, restaurants  stay open all day. Or: To avoid getting sunburnt,  

he wore a lot of sun cream. Notice that when  we write these, we need to separate the element  

with a comma from the rest of the verb. So: Last  week, my cousin went to Athens. And your voice  

also emphasises that. So, it's not really good to  say: Last week my cousin went... It's: Last week,  

with the emphasis on that element at the  beginning, and then my cousin went to Athens. Now,  

that brings us to the next point, which is the  components of 'what'. In the example sentences we  

had at the beginning, we only had the verb like,  I think the verbs were, yes 'speaks' and 'went'.  

But, you know that a lot of verbs are transitive.  That means that they need objects. And there are  

two types of objects, one is a direct object  and the other one is an indirect object. And  

the difference of course is that the indirect  object has a preposition. So, for example in a  

sentence like: Joe explained the situation to his  partner. The direct object is the situation, and  

the indirect object is to his partner. And what is  really important is to keep this order. First the  

direct object, then the indirect object. So,  don't switch them round. That's the most common  

mistake I hear! Saying like: Joe explained to his  partner the situation. Always try and remember  

verb + direct object + indirect object. Except,  as always in English there can be an exception,  

when you have a 'Wh' clause as your direct object.  For example, a sentence like: Joe explained how to  

balance the accounts to his partner. That would  be the normal one. Direct first... how to balance  

the accounts. To his partner... the indirect  second. But, because this direct object has  

become very long, sometimes it ends up at the end  and you could end up with: Joe explained to his  

partner how to balance the accounts. That's the  only exception when you have a 'Wh' clause like  

who starting with who, what, where, when, etc.  Otherwise, Verb + direct + indirect. So, another  

common mistake then becomes separating the verb  from its objects by adverbs. For example saying  

things like: Joe explained calmly the situation  to his partner. Or: Joe explained the situation  

calmly to his partner. Keep the verb and the  objects together and then come the adverbs. So:  

Joe explained the situation (direct object) to  his partner (indirect object) and then the adverb  

'calmly'. Something that I hear very often is  putting adverbs, like very much, between the verb  

and its direct object. Must completely avoid that!  Sounds very strange in English to say: We liked  

very much her presentation. It's: We liked then  the object, her presentation, and then very much.  

If you want to emphasise the adverb, especially an  'ly' adverb, you can put it before the verb. So,  

you can say: Joe calmly explained the situation to  his partner. Anyway, the rule and I repeat it and  

that's the really important one, is to keep the  verb and the direct object always together. Then  

if there is an indirect object. So, that brings us  to the question that Ameen had asked, which one is  

correct then? So, think about it. Is it.... I'll  repeat the question for you again. Or.... I'll  

repeat the question again for you. From what I've  just said, don't separate these elements from each  

other. So keep them together. Repeat... verb + the  question + direct object + for you indirect object  

again at the end. Okay, so that's the end of the  presentation. I hope it's clarified some of these  

challenging questions about word order in English  for you. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson. For  

more on this topic, click here. Remember to  also check out my complete online course,  

and don't forget to like and subscribe.  Thank you for watching, and happy studies!