TYPES OF SENTENCES

In linguistics, a sentence function refers to a speaker's purpose in uttering a specific sentence,

phrase, or clause. Whether a listener is present or not is sometimes irrelevant. It answers the
question: "Why has this been said?" The four basic sentence forms (or "structures") in English
are the declarative, interrogative, exclamative, imperative and the optative. These correspond to
the discourse functions statement, question, exclamation, and command respectively. The
different forms involve different combinations in word order, the addition of certain auxiliaries or
particles, or other times by providing a special form. There is no clear one-to-one correspondence
between the forms/structures and their discourse functions. For example, a declarative form can be
used to ask a question, and interrogative form can be used to make a statement.

For instance, the following sentence has declarative form: from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-
grammar/clauses/discours.htm)

You need some help

But when this is spoken with a rising intonation, it becomes a question:

You need some help?

Conversely, rhetorical questions have the form of an interrogative, but they are really statements:

Who cares? ( = I don't care)

The four main categories can be further specified as being either communicative or informative,
although this is somewhat simplistic.

Communicative vs. informative[edit]

While communication is traditionally defined as the transfer of information, the two terms, under
present context, are differentiated as follows below:

Communicative sentences[edit]
These types of sentences are more intended for the speaker's sake than for any potential listener.
They are meant more for the speaker's immediate wants and needs. These sentences tend to be
less intentional (out of frustration for example), in general more literal, more primitive, and are
usually about the here and now. Because of these features, it is generally speculated that this is
pretty much the basis or limitation of any form of animal communication. (Speculated because
scientists will never truly be able to understand non-human forms of communication like we do our
own; although studies with "talking" primates have clued us in to a certain degree.)

Exclamative[edit]
An exclamative is a sentence type in English that typically expresses a feeling or emotion, but does
not use one of the other structures. It often has the form as in the examples below of [WH +
Complement + Subject + Verb], but can be minor sentences (i.e. without a verb) such as [WH +
Complement] How wonderful!. In other words, exclamative sentences are used to make
exclamations:

What a stupid man he is!

How wonderful you look! (from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/clauses/discours.htm)

Imperative[edit]
An imperative sentence gives anything from a command or order, to a request, direction, or
instruction. Imperative sentences are more intentional than exclamatory sentences and do require
an audience;[note 1] as their aim is to get the person(s) being addressed either to do or to not do
something. And although this function usually deals with the immediate temporal vicinity, its scope
can be extended, i.e. you can order somebody to move out as soon as you find yourself a job. The
negative imperative can also be called the prohibitive and the inclusive plural imperative,
the hortative. It is debatable whether the imperative is only truly possible in the second person. The
vocative case of nouns can be said to indicate the imperative as well since it does not seek
information, but rather a reaction from the one being addressed. An imperative can end in either a
period or an exclamation point depending on delivery.

 Look at me.
 After separating them from the yolks, beat the whites until they are light and fluffy.
Optative[edit]
An optative sentence describes wishes, desires, blessings, curses, prayers or hope regarding a
given action. It is related to the subjunctive mood, a grammatical feature that indicates the speaker’s
attitude toward something, such as a wish, emotions, judgment, possibility, opinion, obligation, or
action that has yet to occur. Optative sentences may end with an exclamation mark or a full stop.

Long live the king!

God bless you.

Informative sentences[edit]
Informative sentences are more for the mutual benefit of both the listener and the speaker, and, in
fact, require more of an interaction between both parties involved. They are more intentional or
premeditated, less essential, more cooperative, and they aim to either provide or retrieve
information, making them quintessential abstractions. But perhaps the most differentiating quality
that distinguishes informative sentences from the communicative is that the former more naturally
and freely make use of displacement. Displacement refers to information lost in time and space
which allows us to communicate ideas relating to the past or future (not just the now), and that have
taken or can take place at a separate location (from here). To an extent, this is one of the biggest
differences between human communication and that of other animals.

Declarative[edit]
The declarative sentence is the most common kind of sentence in language, in most situations, and
in a way can be considered the default function of a sentence. What this means essentially is that
when a language modifies a sentence in order to form a question or give a command, the base form
will always be the declarative. In its most basic sense, a declarative states an idea (either objectively
or subjectively on the part of the speaker; and may be either true or false) for the sheer purpose of
transferring information. In writing, a statement will end with a period.

 The internet connection working again.

 She must be out of her mind.
Interrogative[edit]
An interrogative sentence asks a question and hence ends with a question mark. In speech, it
almost universally ends in a rising inflection. Its effort is to try to gather information that is presently
unknown to the interrogator, or to seek validation for a preconceived notion held. Beyond seeking
confirmation or contradiction, sometimes it is approval or permission that is sought as well, among
other reasons one could have for posing a question. The one exception in which it isn't information
that is needed, is when the question happens to be rhetorical (see allofunctional implicature section
below). While an imperative is a call for action, an interrogative is a call for information.

 What do you want?

 Are you feeling well?

Declarative vs. affirmative vs. positive[edit]

A declarative statement is not synonymous with an affirmative one, nor need it be true. Declaratives
may be phrased positively or negatively (assert or negate), affirm or refute a proposition (support or
undermine), be honest or dishonest (speak frankly or deceive), or may be true or false (inform
accurately or misinform). All qualify as declarative sentences. Declarative refers to a sentence's
function or purpose, while affirmative, positive and true deal with a sentence's topicality, grammatical
polarity, and veracity, which is why the different terms can overlap simultaneously.

Though not as erroneous as the above misnomer, there is a clouding that can occur between the
slight distinction of the affirmative, and the positive. Although it semantically speaking comes natural
that positive is the opposite of negative, and therefore should be completely synonymous
with affirmative, grammatically speaking, once again they tend to be separate entities; depending on
specificity. Positive in linguistic terms refers to the degree of the quality of an adjective or adverb,
while affirmative refers to the perceived validity of the entire sentence.

Thus, all three terms being separate entities, an adjective or adverb can be in the positive degree
but expressed in the negative, so that the sentence, This hummer does not seem to be eco-friendly,
has all negative, positive, and declarative properties.

In fact, an exclamatory, imperative, as well as a question can be in the negative form: I can't do
this!, Don't touch me, Don't you want to?