Know your puzzle pieces

When I introduce my clients to the revision process, I ask them to imagine words like puzzle pieces: We can’t just stick a puzzle piece anywhere and expect to have a recognizable picture. Sometimes, we make a puzzle piece fit in a particular spot; the colors and shape appear to line up.

But when we stand up and have some distance, we realize that piece isn’t quite right. When we can see that piece isn’t in the right spot, we can take it out and figure out where it should go.

The same is true for sentences. Words need to go in particular order for us to paint the clearest, strongest, most vibrant image in the reader’s mind. We don’t want them tripping over any misplaced pieces.

When to implement this in your writing

Now, keep in mind this level of accuracy is reserved for the editing phase of the writing process.

Thus, a word of caution: Do not get hung up on word placement when you’re drafting, or you’ll never finish that work in progress. You’ll get frustrated and judge your writing and throw away your idea. Save smoothing out awkward sentences for later.

No matter how many words a sentence contains, whether that’s 3 words or 100, every sentence boils down to 5 basic patterns."

That said, after you have finished your first draft and after you’ve completed your first round of revisions—when you should focus on bigger issues like structure, plot holes, disappearing characters, etc.—then you’re ready for line edits.

And when you know how the puzzle SHOULD look, you’ll be better able to IDENTIFY and FIX those awkwardly placed words that muddy your ideas and confuse your readers.

Introduction

This article is meant to help you understand how the puzzle should look by explaining the 5 basic sentences patterns used in the English language. No matter how many words a sentence contains, whether that’s 3 words or 100, every sentence boils down to 5 basic patterns. And honestly, I’d argue they actually boil down to 3 patterns.

This is going to start off super easy. And as I add more pieces to the puzzle, it’ll start to get more complicated and most likely confusing. Don’t fret. Listen to this a few times, and the bigger picture will get clearer, which also means your writing will get clearer for your readers. 

1. Subject (S) + verb (V) + subject complement (SC)

The first pattern is the S + V + SC pattern. Here are a few examples:

• He is hungry.
• She is smart.
• They are retired.
• The cat is cute.
• The class was noisy.

I like to think of these verbs like equal signs. You know how in math, you can say 2+2 equals 4 or 2+2 is 4. That’s because the word “is” means equal. And that’s what these verbs are doing here. They tell us that the subject equals the subject complement. So let’s look at those examples again:

• He is hungry. He equals hungry.
• She is smart. She equals smart.
• They are retired. They equal retired.

These verbs are called linking verbs or state-of-being verbs because the verb isn’t receiving any action. Nothing is happening to the either the subject or the subject complement. They just are.

When you recognize the pieces of the puzzle, you’ll be able to see not only how the writer achieved that passage but also how you can repeat that pattern, learn from it, and elevate your writing."

Here are more examples of state-of-being verbs, and you’ll notice these use our 5 senses (see, hear, taste, smell, touch):

• He looks tired. He equals tired.
• The choir sounds loud. The choir equals loud.
• It tastes sour. It equals sour.
• They smell fruity. The equal smelly.
• It feels rough. It equals rough.

And here are a few more state-of-being verbs, beyond is/are/was/were:

• We’re being quiet.
• You seem happy.
• Life gets harder.
• The building became unusable.
• The flowers appear frozen.
• She feels excited.

Again, you could replace all of those verbs with the word equal, and then you'll know you have a subject and subject complement, or an S + V + SC, pattern.

However, be careful with the verb feels. In the example above gave, she feels excited, that’s still a state of being. She equals excited. But if we write “she feels the fabric,” we can’t say “she equals the fabric,” and that’s because we’re not describing her state of being; instead, when she feels that fabric, she’s preforming an action. But we’ll cover this more with the third pattern.

2. Subject (S) + verb (V)

The second pattern is S + V, and here are a few examples:

• She sleeps.
• He snores.
• They leap.
• He jumps.
• She runs.

With he jumps, he doesn’t equal jumps. He’s not being something; he’s doing something.

What’s also important to note about the S + V, or subject + verb, pattern is that the sentence is complete because the subject has completed the action. She sleeps: action complete. And we aren’t left wondering what she’s sleeping or what he’s snoring.

Because we’re not left asking what, these verbs are also called intransitive verbs, which means the verbs don’t require an object. Granted, you may wonder “she runs what?” But maybe what she runs isn’t important information for the reader. Thus, the sentence can stand on its own.

3. Subject (S) + verb (V) + object (O)

The third pattern is S + V + O, and here are a few examples:

• He brings a ball.
• She buys the book.
• They offer help. 
• She feels the fabric.

Notice these verbs, which are called transitive verbs, DO beg the question what. And that what is the object, or more specifically, the direct object. In other words, the direct object directly receives the action.

I know, that can sound confusing. So let’s look at this S + V + O pattern like this: If you had only the subject and verb, such as “he brought,” are you left wondering what? He brought what? Yes, then we have a subject + verb + object pattern. And to find the object, answer the question what:

• He brings a ball. He brings what? A ball. The ball is the object.
• She buys the book. She buys what? The book. The book is the object.
• They offer help. They offer what? Help. Help is the object.

Sometimes you’ll see this pattern identified as S + V + DO, instead of just O, for specificity. We’re talking about the same thing here.

A note about the last two patterns

Now, I consider the last two sentence patterns are really just subsets of the S + V + O (subject, verb, object) pattern.

If you walk away now to process what you just heard, that’s okay. Give yourself time to let this settle. Then come back because it does pay to know these next two also, because this how we start building those more complex sentences.

4. Subject (S) + verb (V) + indirect object (IO) + direct object (DO)

The fourth pattern is S + V + IO + DO. So we’ve added an indirect object. (Quick side note: The direct object can be shortened to O or DO. But the indirect object is always IO.)

That said, let’s talk about the difference between the direct and the indirect object. The direct object receives the action, and the indirect object receives the object. Say what now? I know. I’m going to break this down a bit easier. Here are a few examples:

• Let’s start with S + V + O: He brings a ball.
  • He is the subject. Brings is the verb.
  • And he brings what? A ball. The ball is the object.
• Now, let’s add the IO: He brings the dog a ball.
  • Who received the object? Who got the ball? The dog did. The dog is the indirection object.

So, to find the indirect object, ask who or what received the object. For example:

• She buys Sue a book. Who got the book? Sue. Sue is the indirection object.
• They offer teachers help. Who got help? Teachers. The teachers are the IO.

Now, the debate among grammarians can be quite entertaining. Seriously, I once had a 45-minute debate over a comma. Grammarians also can argue over the IO. Some insist the indirect object should appear only before the direct object: She buys Sue the book. Others agree it’s perfectly acceptable for the IO to come after the DO: She buys the book…for Sue.

To be fair, the “proper” or “formal” S + V + IO + DO pattern does eliminate the extra word for, which is always good writing practice. But don’t get hung up on this. Both sentences are perfectly understandable. And life is too short. (Hey, that last sentence is an S + V + SC pattern.)

5. Subject (S) + verb (V) + object (O) + object complement (OC)

The fifth and last pattern is S + V + O + OC. Similar to how the subject complement describes the subject, the object complement describes the object. Here are a few examples:

• She found him irresistible.
• He deemed the project appropriate.
• The cat viewed the dog defective.
• She painted the roses red.
• He called the bucket useless.
• My child drove me mad.

To find the object complement, ask how the subject is describing the object.

• She found him irresistible.
  • What (or rather whom) did she find? Him. Him is the object.
  • And how does she describe him? Irresistible. Irresistible is the object complement.
• My child drove me mad.
  • What did the child drive? Me. I’m the object.
  • And how does the sentence describe me? Mad. Mad is the OC.

Notice that the object complement is usually a noun or adjective.

And sometimes we need to add the words “to be” before the object complement, especially when we’re dealing with opinions or feelings: e.g., “The cat viewed the dog to be defective.” OR “She knew him to be kind.”

How this helps you

Now, if you have a headache at the end of this, you may still be wondering how this knowledge is worthwhile.

Consider this: Have you ever read a sentence or even paragraph that took your breath away? That made you step back and think, “That was absolutely brilliant.” That transformed your experience? That settled in your soul? And then you thought, I wish I could write like that. Or you wondered how did the writer do that?

When you recognize the pieces of the puzzle, you’ll be able to see not only how the writer achieved that passage but also how you can repeat that pattern, learn from it, and thus elevate your writing to the next level.

Again, please don’t panic if this overwhelmed you. Your writing isn’t doomed.

By listening to this, you’ve planted the seed of new understanding. Come back, listen to this again, and let the seed grow. Nurture that seed by looking at your own sentences, and ask yourself if they’re SV, SVSC, or SVO pattern. Once you have those 3 down, then try also identifying those IO and OC.