UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, ATTOCK CAMPUS

SUBMITTED BY: BIBI ALINA WAJID

SUBMITTED TO: MA'AM SAIQA

STUDENT ID: bsf1900617

SUBJECT: MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX

TOPIC: SENTENCES AND ITS TYPES

DEPARTMENT: BS_ENGLISH 4th SEMESTER

WAHT IS SENTENCE?
A sentence is a group of words giving a complete thought. A sentence must contain a subject and a verb

A More Formal Definition of Sentence:

A sentence is a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate,
conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a main clause and
sometimes one or more subordinate clauses.

A sentence is the largest unit of any language. In English, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a
full-stop, or a question mark, or an exclamation mark.

The sentence is generally defined as a word or a group of words that expresses a thorough idea by giving
a statement/order, or asking a question, or exclaiming. A sentence is a group of words that makes
complete sense.

EXAMPLES:

 Maggie is playing with a doll.

 I have completed my homework.
 Are children swimming?
 Tidy your study room immediately!
 What are you eating?

The following groups of words are not sentences as they do not make complete sense. They do not
begin with a capital letter or end with a full stop.

 are delicious
 left for their car
 tripped on the step
 cold and damp
 ran across the field

Every sentence should make sense.

To make sense, a sentence must contain a subject and a verb. A subject is a thing or a person and
a verb is a doing or an action word.

Examples:

The tea is hot.

Subject: tea / Verb: is

The mouse squeaks.

Subject: mouse / Verb: squeaks

Grammar Formula:

Subject + Verb = Sentence

Subject and Predicate:
Every complete sentence contains two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is what (or whom)
the sentence is about, while the predicate tells something about the subject.

Examples:

In the following sentences, the predicate is in italics, while the subject is highlighted in bold.

 The children are playing in the park.

 Peter is having his lunch.
 The magician is wearing a colourful hat.

Usually, the subject comes before the predicate. However, at times the predicate may come before the
subject.

Examples:

 Here comes the train.

Here comes (predicate) the train (subject).
 There goes the school bus.
There goes (predicate) the school bus (subject).

Exception:
A command is the only type of sentence that has no subject. The subject “you” is implied:

 Read the newspaper.

 Walk the dog and get the milk.

Phrase and Clause:

Phrase:
A phrase is a collection of words that may have a noun or a verb but does not have a subject doing a
verb. They are often referred to as a group of words that make sense but not complete sense.

Examples:

 My good friend
 My sister
 Have a wonderful time
 Leaving behind the umbrella

In the above examples you will find nouns (friend, sister, umbrella,) and some verbs too (having,
leaving), but in no case is the noun functioning as the subject doing a predicate verb. These are all
phrases.
Clause:
A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb.

Examples:

 When the children come marching in

 Since she always laughed at him
 Miss Watson hates dishonest people

Type of Clauses
There are two types of clauses.

 Independent Clause (also known as Main Clause)

 Dependent Clause (also known as Subordinate Clause)

Independent Clause:

When a clause forms a complete thought or sentence, we call it an independent or main clause. Such a
clause forms a complete sentence with punctuation . For example, “Miss Watson hates dishonest
people.”

Dependent Clause:

The clause that forms an incomplete thought or sentence is called a dependent or subordinate clause.
For example, “Since she always laughed at him.”

TYPES OF SENTENCES:
Structurally, sentences are of four types:

1. Simple Sentence
2. Compound Sentence
3. Complex Sentence
4. Compound-complex Sentence

1. Simple sentence
A simple sentence must have a single clause (a single verb) which is independent, and it cannot take
another clause.

Example:

 I always wanted to become a writer. (One clause – one verb)

 2. Compound sentence:
A compound sentence must have more than one independent clause with no dependent clauses. Some
specific conjunctions, punctuation, or both are used to join together these clauses.

Example:

 I always wanted to become a writer, and she wanted to become a doctor. (Two independent
clauses – two verbs)
3. Complex sentence:
A complex sentence also has more than one clause but of one them must be an independent clause and
the other/others must be (a) dependent clause(es). There are also some particular connectors for the
clauses of a complex sentence to be connected.

Example:

 I know that you always wanted to be a writer. (Here, a dependent clause is followed by a
connector and an independent clause. The other way around is also possible.)

4. Compound-complex sentence:
A compound-complex sentence (or complex–compound sentence) is a mixture of the features of
compound and complex sentences in one sentence. So, it must contain at least two independent clauses
and at least one dependent clause.

Example:

 I know that you always wanted to become a writer, but I always wanted to become a doctor.
(Here, one dependent clause is followed by a complex connector and two independent clauses
with a compound conjunction between them.)

Functionally, sentences are of mainly four types:

1. Declarative Sentence
2. Imperative sentence
3. Interrogative sentence
4. Exclamatory sentence

1. Declarative sentence:
Declarative sentences give information. We use them to share facts and ideas, in other words,
to declare, state, assert, or claim something. These are probably the most common kind of sentence in
writing, speeches, and lectures; they are the meat-and-potatoes of giving information. Other kinds of
sentence may be more common in conversation with your friends.
 Example:

 The dog went to the county fair.

 Kim saw the dog eat popcorn.
 Dogs don’t usually eat popcorn.
 The popcorn blew the lid off the pot because it was so hot.
 I like popcorn more than grubs, for a snack.

How to Write a Declarative Sentence:

A declarative sentence is a statement, such as, “A is B” or “A does B.” It ends with a period. Declarative
statements can express feelings, but declarations do not have any particular feeling otherwise. For
example “I like popcorn,” is a simple sentence informing us that you like popcorn, but the sentence itself
is pretty unemotional.

If you write “I LOVE popcorn!” it not only informs us that you love popcorn, but the exclamation point
also gives it emotional intensity, regardless of what it says. In other words, with a period it is declarative
and relatively unemotional. With an exclamation point, it becomes exclamatory (see below) and more
emotional.

2. Imperative sentence:
An imperative is a verb expressing a command, thus, an imperative sentence basically gives instructions,
requests, or demands, although they can also be used to share wishes and make invitations. Basically,
they tell someone what to do. But commanding someone to do something like have fun! or come to my
party! is naturally understood as a well-wishing or invitation.

Examples:

Have fun at the fair! (well-wishing)

Come to the fair with me! (invitation)

Feed the dog once per day. (instruction)

Please don’t give the dog popcorn. (request)

Stop feeding the dog! (command)

The verbs in imperative sentences are in a certain form called the “imperative mood,” that looks
different than the declarative, or indicative, form. Look at these two sentences:

Don’t feed the dog. Imperative verb “don’t” giving a command

He didn’t feed the dog. Indicative verb “didn’t,” just stating a fact
How to Write an Imperative Sentence:

Writing an imperative sentence is easy, but it’s important to remember its role. The tone of an
imperative sentence can be fairly neutral or it can express strong emotions. Because of this, one can end
with either a period or an exclamation mark (!). For instance, a forceful command should end with an
exclamation mark, but a more neutral request needs only a period.

It is also worth noting that we have many ways to make imperatives seem less rude in English; compare:

 Get me a cup of coffee!

 Please get me a cup of coffee.
 Could I possibly trouble you to get me a cup of coffee?

Notice that the last sentence isn’t even an imperative, grammatically; it’s a question. We call that
an indirect command and it’s much more polite than an imperative!

Note that although both imperative and exclamatory sentences can end in exclamation marks, they have
different grammatical forms and serve different purposes.

3. Interrogative sentence:
An interrogative sentence a question. They are easy to recognize because they always end with question
marks (?). Questions are really requests or commands for people to give us information, but they are
more polite than commands.

What kind of information we are asking for can be indicated by who, what, where, when, why, how, and
compounds built from those words, such as how1 much, or in what way.

Finally, the order of the verb and subject are reversed from what they would be in a declarative
sentence – the verb goes before the subject – and this is true also for yes/no questions also, which have
no wh-word. However, if you are a native speaker of standard English you probably don’t have to think
about these things to get them right.

Examples:

 Why is the dog going to the county fair?

 Have you ever been to a county fair? (a yes/no question)
 What is your favorite sauce to put on grubs?

How to Write an Interrogative Sentence:

Writing an interrogative sentence is simple and easy. Remember—it’s just a question! There are two
kinds of questions in English, wh-word questions and yes/no questions.

Wh-questions are formed in three steps (that you probably don’t

have to think about): (1) replace the missing piece of information with the appropriate wh-word. (2) Put
that word at the beginning of the sentence, and (3) if the verb is “to be,” or if there is a helping verb, put
that before the subject of the sentence; otherwise, put the verb “do” before the subject.
  Who cooks fresh popcorn around here?
 Where can I buy fresh popcorn? (notice only the helping verb is inverted)
 What is the best flavor of popcorn?
 When do you usually eat popcorn?
 Why don’t you let your dog eat popcorn?
 How do those grubs taste?

In order to make a yes/no-question, you simply follow rule (3) putting either a form of “be,” a helping
verb, or “do” before the subject.

4. Exclamatory sentence:
Exclamatory sentences are ways to share strong feelings such as excitement. They are usually just like
declarative sentences in form and function, just with more emotion. But one can also make exclamatory
questions, or exclamations that are not full sentences.

Examples:

 I can’t believe how fast that dog ate all the popcorn!
 Hey! There’s no more popcorn!
 What do you think you’re doing?!
 That popcorn isn’t for dogs!

How to Write an Exclamatory Sentence:

You can turn any declaration into an exclamatory sentence by adding an exclamation point. And people
often do that in an attempt to make their words more exciting, “loud,” or full of emotion.

But, really it is better writing to use stronger words rather than exclamation points and words like “very”
or “so.” For example, instead of saying, “That movie was so bad!” you might say “That movie was a piece
of irredeemable trash.” The second way is more effective than the exclamation point.

Don’t overuse exclamation points. They can make you sound like an air-head. They are better reserved
to show how someone speaks, in a story, rather than to convey the strength of your own feelings.

REFERENCES:

 https://www.learngrammar.net/english-grammar/sentence-definition-n-type
 https://www.theidioms.com/sentences/
 https://www.studyandexam.com/sentence-kinds.html
 https://englishsentences.com/types-of-sentences/