Shelsea Felizmina Mahanjane

ELT- Diurno
Chapter 4

Sentence and their parts

Sentence- is a basic unit of grammar for written English.

Types of sentences

Declarative
The more formal register’s and genres of standard written English consist almost exclusively
of declarative statements, with clearly identifiable subjects and predicates.
Declarative statements do not ask questions, give commands, or directly express desires.
Rather, they make assertions about events and state affairs.
Ex.: I was amazed at Gerry’s forthrightness
Most of the native animals of Australia are marsupials

Imperative
One type of sentence that lacks the characteristic subject- predicate structure of declarative
statements is that which is used to give orders.
Ex.: wash your hands thoroughly after you have handled the adhesive!
In imperative statements we use exclamation point ( ! )
The negative of imperative is known as a prohibition. Prohibitions begin with “ don’t “ as in:
Ex.: Don’t tell Clive about the Orchids!

Interrogatives
The interrogative is the type of sentence used for asking a question.
Ex: Will senator Midgeswitch lead the parade?

There is more than one type of interrogative. The two most important are classified according
to the characteristics kinds of replies they elicit, sentences that can be answered with a yes or
no, that kind of sentence is called a closed interrogative

The other type of question cannot be appropriately answered with a yes or no, but requires
some further information to be supplied.
Ex.: when will the meeting begin?
Obviously yes or no as an answer could only signify that the person giving the answer has
misunderstood. This kind of interrogative therefore, which call for a judgement as to how
much information to give is called an open interrogative.

Other sentence types

Sentence fragments
It does not qualify to be a sentence at all, but must be considered nonetheless, since it can
often be used to good effect in writing. Consists of part of a sentence, but may lack the
subject- predicate structure and is not recognisably an imperative or other sentence type.
Sentence fragments often appears in advertising copy, accompanied by pictures and other
images, and they are normal in headlines. In the lower registers of speech, sentence fragments
are common. Outside of these contexts, sentence fragments should be regarded with
suspicion.

Exclamative and precative sentences

Exclamative sentences beginning with if, only…, what(a)…!, and how… proclaim
dramatically expressed surprise or desire:
Ex.: If only we could get rid of the frogs !
What big eyes you have!

One subtype of Exclamatives is known as the precative. The precative is rarely used sentence
type largely restricted to ceremonial, ritual or proverbial contexts:
Ex.: May you have calm seas and a prosperous voyage !
God save the king !

Verbless interrogatives with wh

Another minority sentence type that does not have a subject- predicate structure is that which
consists of a wh-word, or wh-word with about, and a noun phrase without a verb:
Ex.: How about another serving of bread pudding ?
What about the workers ?

Hortatives
Sentences beginning with let’s and it’s more formal register version let us are known as
hortatives, because they encourage or spur on the person being addressed.

Ellipsis
The term ellipsis refers to the omission of a word or words that can be supplied. While
ellipsis rarely makes its appearance in the simple kind of declarative sentence. It increasingly
becomes a factor as the sentences we consider become more complex.