In general terms, English traditionally places the verb towards the beginning of the sentence immediately after the subject. The sentence below begins with a long introductory phrase, contains non-essential information, has a long subject and places information between the subject and the verb. The result is that the verb appears in an unnatural position towards the end of the sentence.
The sentence below shortens the introductory phrase and the subject, removes unnecessary information and keeps the subject and the verb together, thus moving the verb towards the beginning.
 | According to recent research carried out by members of the Communication and News research group from Oxford University, led by the well-known expert in the subject, Dr James White, many administrative workers from all sorts of public and private institutions, because they have never studied communication in any of its forms, have great difficulty in writing clear texts. |
The sentence below shortens the introductory phrase and the subject, removes unnecessary information and keeps the subject and the verb together, thus moving the verb towards the beginning.
 | According to recent research from Oxford University, many administrative workers have great difficulty in writing clear texts because they have never studied communication in any of its forms. |
Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics
Darrera actualització: 6-9-2023
Recommended citation:
«Placement of verbs» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=2465> [consulta: 22 novembre 2024].
