He coughed, she sighed, they laughed

PREFACE

Sentences in English as in any other language are built on a number of typical patterns reflecting typical situations of the real world. Whenever one wants to make a message one chooses an appropriate patterns and finds the slots (positions) in this pattern with particular words.

One of the words fills the central position in any pattern – that of the VERB, - which calls for a certain number of slots and the kind of words to fill them. For example, the verb SEND dictates that there is someone to take and deliver something to someone:

I will send her the money. → I will send the money to her.

Both patterns have three slots to hold names of the three participants of the situation – someone who sends, something that is sent and someone to whom something is sent. The verb CUT dictates that there is someone to divide something into pieces using something as an instrument, possibly, on something used as a work surface:

She was cutting cheese with a sharp knife (on a board).

On the other hand, verbs like COUGH, SIGH and LAUGH dictate that there is just someone making a specific sound:

He coughed, she sighed, they laughed.

Pattern 1: THERE VS

The verb BE in the meaning of EXISTENCE or PRESENCE requires a very peculiar structure with formal THERE in the first position and the Subject following BE. Subject points to a person, thing or state of things existing in the world or present in one of its segments: