Clause Pattern: Subject – Verb – Direct Object – Prepositional Object
(SVO_d O_p )

This pattern consists of a subject, a complex transitive verb, or a complex prepositional verb, a direct object and a prepositional object.

• They might tell a newspaper reporter or a government official about a secret crime they witnessed. (Archambeault and Webber 2019)
• They warn users of fake news and try to prevent them from sharing it unknowingly. (Byron 2019)
• Our bodies rely on the Sun to reset this cycle and keep it at precisely 24 hours. (Stevens 2015) (info)
• During the 2011 to 2012 financial year, London’s universities contributed a total of £5.8 billion to the city and supported 145,921 jobs (directly and indirectly) across all skill levels. (Addie 2017)
• The US plastic recycling industry has asked the city for a US$1 billion (£800 million) bailout. (Stringfellow, Williams, and Roberts 2020)
• Our immune cells can defend us from viruses. (Quinn and Mehta 2020)

This pattern is also used with passive verbs where what was the object in the active is moved to a subject position (this is common in academic texts).

• Passive: Additionally, many modern stories are based on older stories. (Gruner 2019)
  Active: Writers base many modern stories on older stories.


• Passive: We also know that intense emotions are associated with stronger memories and preferences. (McAndrew 2019)
  Active: We also know that we associate intense emotions with stronger memories and preferences.

Test your understanding of this Subject – Verb – Direct Object – Prepositional Object
(SVO_d O_p ) pattern Go to the (SVO_d O_p) exercise page.