The Sentence

2.1 What is a sentence?

Grammar deals with the rules for combining words into larger units. The largest
unit that is described in grammar is normally the sentence. However, defining a
‘sentence’ is notoriously difficult, for the reasons we’ll now discuss.
It is sometimes said that a sentence expresses a complete thought. This is a
notional definition: it defines a term by the notion or idea it conveys. The diffi-
culty with this definition lies in fixing what is meant by a ‘complete thought’.
There are notices, for example, that seem to be complete in themselves but are
not generally regarded as sentences: Exit, Danger, 50 mph speed limit.
On the other hand, there are sentences that clearly consist of more than one
thought. Here is one relatively simple example:

This week marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of Sir Isaac
Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, a fundamental
work for the whole of modern science and a key influence on the
philosophy of the European Enlightenment.

How many ‘complete thoughts’ are there in this sentence? We should at least
recognize that the part after the comma introduces two additional points about
Newton’s book: (1) that it is a fundamental work for the whole of modern
science, and (2) that it was a key influence on the philosophy of the European
Enlighten- ment. Yet this example would be acknowledged by all as a single
sentence, and it is written as a single sentence.
We can try another approach by defining a sentence as a string of words begin-
ning with a capital (upper case) letter and ending with a full stop (period). This is
a formal definition: it defines a term by the form or shape of what the term refers
to. We can at once see that as it stands this definition is inadequate, since (1)
many sentences end with a question mark or an exclamation mark, and (2) capital
letters are used for names, and full stops are often used in abbreviations. Even
if we amend the definition to take account of these objections, we still find
strings of words in newspaper headlines, titles, and notices that everyone would
recognize as sentences even though they do not end with a full stop, a question
mark, or an exclamation mark:
 Trees May Be a Source of Pollution
An Irish Airman Foresees his Death (title of poem)
Do not enter

But the most serious objection is that the definition is directed only towards
orthographic sentences; that is, sentences that appear in the written language.
Spoken sentences, of course, do not have capital letters and full stops.
It is in fact far more difficult to determine the limits of sentences in natural
con- versation, to say where sentences begin and end. That is so partly because
people may change direction as they speak and partly because they tend to make
heavy use of connectors such as and, but, so, and then. Here is a typical example
of a speaker who strings sentences together with and. The symbol <,> denotes a
pause.

I’d been working away this week trying to clear up <,> the backlog of
mail caused by me being three weeks away <,> and I thought I was doing
marvellously <,> and at about <,> six o’clock last night <,> I was sorting
through <,> stuff on the desk and I discovered a fat pile of stuff <,> all
carefully opened and documented by Sally that I hadn’t even seen

How many orthographic sentences correspond to the speaker’s story? There is

no one correct answer. In writing it we have a choice: we could punctuate it as
one sentence or we could split it into two or more sentences, each of the later
sentences beginning with and.
Grammarians are not unduly worried about the difficulties in defining the sen-
tence. Their approach to the question is formal because they are interested in
grammatical form. Like many people who are not grammarians, they are
generally confident of recognizing sentences, and they specify the possible
patterns for the sentences. Combinations of words that conform to those patterns
are then gram- matical sentences.

2.2 Irregular sentences and non-sentences

Sentences that conform to the major patterns (cf. 3.13) are regular sentences,
and they are the type that will generally concern us in this book. Sentences that
do not conform to the major patterns are irregular sentences.
If I ask you to write down the first sentences that come into your mind, you
are likely to produce regular sentences. Here are some regular sentences in
various major patterns:

David and Helen have three children.

The liquid smelled spicy to Justin.
Some people give their children a daily dose of vitamins.
About a million visitors come to our city every summer.
Most irregular sentences are fragmentary sentences. These leave out words that
we can easily supply, usually from the preceding verbal context. Here is a typical
example in an exchange between two speakers:

A: Where did you put the letter?

B: In the top drawer.

We interpret B’s reply as I put the letter in the top drawer, and that reconstructed
sentence would be regular. Similarly, the newspaper headline Washington abuzz
over missing intern corresponds to the regular Washington is abuzz over a
missing intern. Fragmentary sentences can therefore be viewed as directly
derivable in their interpretation from regular sentences.
Finally, we often say or write things that are not grammatical sentences. These
non-sentences may simply be mistakes. But they may also be perfectly normal,
although they cannot be analysed grammatically as sentences. Normal non-
sentences include such common expression as Hello!; Yes; No; So long!; Thanks!;
Cheers!; and they include many headlines, headings, titles, labels and notices:

Traffic Chaos (newspaper headline)

On the Nature of the Model (section heading in book)
The Captain and the Kings (title of book)
Naming of Parts (title of poem)
Pure Lemon Juice
No Smoking

In the next chapter we will be looking at the patterns of regular sentences, but first
I have a few more general things to say about sentences.

2.3 Simple and multiple sentences

Here are two sentences placed next to each other:

[1] The inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties. I was one of them.

I can combine the two sentences in [1] merely by putting and between them:

[2] The inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties, and I was one of them.

I can also combine them by putting a connecting word in front of the first

sentence: [3] When the inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties, I was

one of them. I can make a small change in the second sentence:

[4] The inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties, I being one of them.

A sentence or a sentence-like construction contained within a sentence is called

a clause. Constructions like I being one of them in [4] resemble sentences in that
they can be analysed to a large extent in similar ways (cf. 6.8). The sentences in
[2], [3], and [4] therefore all consist of two clauses. (Strictly speaking, the
separate sentences in [1] are also clauses, but since they have only one clause
each, it is convenient to refer to them just as sentences.)
A sentence that does not contain another clause within it is a simple sentence.
If it contains one or more clauses, it is a multiple sentence.
Here are some more examples of multiple sentences with connecting words:

You can’t insist that your children love each other.

The building was emptied before the bomb-disposal squad was called.
When we returned three hours later, no wolves were in sight.
My father always hoped that I would become a doctor and that must have
been why he took me along when he visited his patients.

We will be looking more closely at multiple sentences in Chapter 6. Meanwhile, I

will be using simple sentences to illustrate general matters about sentences.

2.4 Sentence types

There are four major types of sentences:

1. Declaratives (or declarative sentences)

She was attracted to an open-air job.
The new proposals have galvanized the normally disparate community into a
potent fighting force.

2. Interrogatives (or interrogative sentences)

Do you have internet access at home?
Where will you be going for your holiday?

3. Imperatives (or imperative sentences)

Open the door for me.
Take a seat.

4. Exclamatives (or exclamative sentences)

How well you look!
What a good friend you are!
These four sentence types differ in their form (cf. 6.2– 4). They correspond in
general to four major uses:
1. Statements are used chiefly to convey information.
2. Questions are used chiefly to request information.
3. Directives are used chiefly to request action.
4. Exclamations are used chiefly to express strong feeling.
It is usual to refer to interrogatives more simply as questions.
We will be discussing these sentence types and their uses in a later chapter
(cf. 6.1–5). Declaratives are the basic type and I will therefore generally be using
them for illustrative purposes.

2.5 Positive and negative sentences

Sentences are either positive or negative. If an auxiliary (‘helping’) verb is
present, we can usually change a positive sentence into a negative sentence by
inserting not or n’t after the auxiliary. In the following examples, the auxiliaries are
has, is, and can:

Positive: Nancy has been working here for over a year.

Negative: Nancy has not been working here for over a year.
Positive: Dan is paying for the meal.
Negative: Dan isn’t paying for the meal.
Positive: I can tell the difference.
Negative: I can’t tell the difference.

The rules for inserting not and n’t are somewhat complicated. I will return to them
later (cf. 3.3f ).
A sentence may be negative because of some other negative word:

She never had a secretary.

Nobody talked to us.
This is no ordinary painting.

Most sentences are positive, and I will therefore generally be using positive
sentences for my examples.

2.6 Active and passive sentences

Sentences are either active or passive. We can often choose whether to make a
sentence active or passive (cf. 4.15). The choice involves differences in position
and differences in the form of the verb:

Active: Charles Dickens wrote many novels.

Passive: Many novels were written by Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens and many novels are at opposite ends of the two sentences. In the
passive sentence by comes before Charles Dickens, and the active wrote corresponds
to the longer were written.
Here are two further examples of pairs of active and passive sentences:

Active: Manchester United beat Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Passive: Liverpool were beaten by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Active: The Rambert Dance Company won the country’s largest arts
prize, the Prudential Award.
Passive: The country’s largest arts prize, the Prudential Award, was
won by the Rambert Dance Company.

Actives are far more numerous than passives. Their relative frequency varies with
register. For example, passives tend to be heavily used in formal scientific writing.
The example sentences in the chapters that follow will generally be active rather
than passive.

EXERCISES

Exercise 2.1 Sentence types (cf. 2.4)

Identify whether each sentence below is declarative, interrogative, imperative, or
exclamative.
1. Move right to the front of the bus.
2. What have you got to say for yourself ?
3. What a good time we had!
4. How will they find their way to the station?
5. How much weight you’ve lost!
6. How much does it cost?
7. It’s been nice meeting you.
8. Will your parents be coming with you?
9. If it doesn’t rain, I’ll see you tonight.
10. Pass the bottle, please.
11. Take it!
12. How can I help?

Exercise 2.2 Positive and negative sentences (cf. 2.5)

Make the positive sentences below negative and the negative sentences
positive.
1. We accept credit cards.
2. I’m taking my car to work today.
 3. The army is different from the police force.
4. The elders of the ruling party were not shocked at the election results.
5. Nobody can tell the difference.
6. The country has changed drastically.
7. Diet and longevity don’t seem to be linked.
8. Do not hold your breath.
9. Africa will not find it as easy as America to apply a successful programme.
10. He does not fully understand their objections.

Exercise 2.3 Active and passive sentences (cf. 2.6)

Identify whether each sentence below is active or passive.
1. The Prime Minister postponed a press briefing last night.
2. Five demonstrators were shot before the meeting.
3. The confession was obtained in breach of the police codes of practice.
4. Most of the tests on the Roman treasure have been carried out at the Institute of Archaeology by
one of its honorary research associates.
5. The astronomers expect to discover life on another planet.
6. The dispute changed the whole of world history.
7. A sharp fall in profits is being predicted.
8. Their hopes have been dashed once again.
9. A developer has recently obtained permission to turn some 160 acres of farmland into a
golf course.
10. The motion was defeated by a large majorit