The sentence is a minimal unit of communication.

From the viewpoint of their role

in the process of communication sentences are divided into four types,
grammatically marked: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory
sentences. These types differ in the aim of communication and express statements,
questions, commands and exclamations respectively.
These divisions are usually applied to simple sentences. In a complex sentence the
comminucative type depends upon that of the principal clause. In a compound
sentence coordinate clauses may belong to different communicative types.
Declarative sentences
Declarative sentences, or statements, form the bulk of monological speech and the
greater part of conversation. A statement may be positive (affirmative) or negative:
I have just come from a business trip.
I haven’t seen my sister yet.
Grammatically, statements are characterized by the direct order of words.
A statement can be emphasized by the auxiliary verbs do, does, did put in front of
the base form of the verb:
I do feel sorry for Roger.
Besides their main function of information carriers, statements may be used with
the force of questions, commands and exclamations:
I wonder why he is so late.
You mustn’t talk back to your parents.
Interrogative sentences
The communicative function of interrogative sentences consists in asking for
information.
All varieties of questions may be of the following types:
General questions
A general question opens with a verb operator (an auxiliary, modal or link verb)
followed by the subject. It is characterized by the rising tone:
Does it hurt much?
Can you speak French?
Tag questions
A tag question is a short yes-no question added to a statement. This is usually done
when you expect the person you are addressing to agree with you or confirm your
statement. Tags are most often used in spoken English.
It is quite warm, isn’t it? ― positive statement+negative tag
Alternative questions
An alternative question or an “either-or” question, implies a choice between two or
more alternative answers. It opens with an operator and the suggestion of choice is
expressed by the conjunction or. The yes-no answer is impossible. Words, word
groups and clauses can all be linked in this way:
Do you like your coffee white or black? ― Black, please.
Suggestive questions
Suggestive, or declarative, questions form a peculiar kind of “yes-no” questions.
They keep the word order of statements but serve as questions owing to the rising
tone:
You’re working late tonight?
Pronominal questions
Pronominal questions or special, or wh- questions, open with an interrogative
pronoun or a pronominal adverb the function of which is to get more detailed or
exact information about a particular person, thing, place, reason, method, or
amount. And then what happened?
Rhetorical questions
Both general and pronominal questions may serve as rhetorical questions. A
rhetorical question contains a statement disguised as a question. Usually it is a
positive question hiding a negative statement. No answer is expected:
Can anyone say what truth is?
Imperative sentences
Imperative sentences express commands. Besides commands proper imperative
sentences may express prohibition, a request, an invitation, a warning, persuasion,
etc. Formally commands are marked by the predicate verb in the imperative mood,
absence of the subject, and the use of the auxiliary do in negative or emphatic
sentences with the verb to be:
Don’t be afraid of them. Speak louder, please.
Exclamatory sentences
Exclamatory sentences express ideas emphatically:
What a funny story she told us!
How beautiful her voice is!