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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. Example: He is a good boy (statement), Is he a good boy? (question), What a nice weather! (exclaiming). Ideally, a sentence requires at least one subject and one verb. Sometimes the subject of a sentence can be hidden, but the verb must be visible and present in the sentence. Verb is called the heart of a sentence. Example: Do it. (In this sentence, a subject ‘you’ is hidden but verb ‘do’ is visible) “[A sentence is] a group of words, usually containing a verb, that expresses a thought in the form of a statement, question, instruction, or exclamation and starts with a capital letter when written.” - (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press.) More Examples of Sentences In other words, a complete English sentence must have three characteristics:
Types of SentencesStructurally, sentences are of four types: Simple sentenceA 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) Compound sentenceA 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) Complex sentenceA 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.) More Complex Sentence Examples Compound-complex sentenceA 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: Declarative sentence:An assertive sentence (declarative sentence) simply expresses an opinion/feeling, or makes a statement, or describes things. In other words, it declares something. This type of sentence ends with a period (i.e., a full-stop). Examples:
More Examples of Declarative Sentence Imperative sentence:We use an imperative sentence to make a request or to give a command. Imperative sentences usually end with a period (i.e., a full stop), but under certain circumstances, it can end with a note of exclamation (i.e., exclamation mark). Examples:
More Examples of Imperative Sentence Interrogative sentence:An interrogative sentence asks a question. Interrogative sentences must end with a note of interrogation (i.e., question mark) Examples:
More Examples of Interrogative Sentence Exclamatory sentence.An exclamatory sentence expresses overflow of emotions. These emotions can be of happiness, wonder, sorrow, anger, etc. Examples:
More Examples of Exclamatory Sentence A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense. Each sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark, or an exclamation mark. Examples
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. ❌
👉 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. ✔ ExamplesThe tea is hot. The mouse squeaks. Grammar Formula
Subject and PredicateEvery 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. ExamplesIn the following sentences, the predicate is in italics, while the subject is highlighted in bold.
Usually, the subject comes before the predicate. However, at times the predicate may come before the subject. ExamplesHere comes the train. There goes the school bus. Exception:
Phrase and ClausePhrase DefinitionA 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
In the above examples you will find nouns (friend, sister, umbrella, bus stop) 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 DefinitionA clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb. Examples
In the above examples, we find that a subject (highlighted in red), either a noun or a pronoun, is attached to a predicate verb (highlighted in green). Type of ClausesThere are two types of clauses.
Independent ClauseWhen 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 ClauseThe clause that forms an incomplete thought or sentence is called a dependent or subordinate clause. For example, “Since she always laughed at him.” Sentence FragmentA sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. A fragment is the same as a dependent clause. Subject and ObjectA person, place, or a thing is known as a subject in a sentence. Read the following examples:
In each of the above sentences, there is a subject (person/place/thing) about which something is being said. The subject is highlighted in red. Also, the subject is doing something. The receiver of the action is called the object. The object in each of the above examples is highlighted in green. Let us look at some more examples.
In above examples:
Types of SentencesThere are mainly 4 types of sentences. But the sentences can be divided into 7 types in total. We will discuss all types of sentences on this page. Declarative or Assertive SentenceA sentence which states facts, describes, or report something is called a declarative or assertive sentence. Declarative sentences can be positive or negative. They end with a full stop (.). Examples
Interrogative SentenceA sentence that asks a question is called an interrogative sentence. Interrogative sentences end with a question mark (?). Examples
Imperative SentenceAn imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request. Imperative sentences end with a full stop (.). Examples
Exclamatory SentenceAn exclamatory sentence shows strong or sudden emotion or feelings of sorrow, pity, happiness, or surprise. Exclamatory sentences end with an exclamation mark (!). Examples
Simple, Compound, and Complex SentencesSentences can be further divided into three types.
We can make our writing interesting by using these three types of sentences. Simple SentenceA simple sentence is made up of one subject and one predicate. It contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. ExamplesThe subjects are marked in red and the verbs are marked in green.
Compound SentenceA compound sentence is made up of two or more simple sentences. They are joined by ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘yet’, ‘so’ or ‘for’, which are known as conjunctions. Each simple sentence is independent and complete in itself. Examples
Complex SentenceA complex sentence is made up of one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses that are dependent on the main clause to make complete sense. ExampleThe flat had been emptied for many years before we bought it. Here the main clause, “The flat had been emptied for many years” is a complete sentence in itself but the dependent clause, “before we bought it” does not make any sense on its own and is dependent on the main clause. More Examples
In the above examples, the text in green colour is a complete sentence while text in deep pink colour is a dependent clause. Transformation of SentencesWhen we change a sentence from one grammatical form to another without changing its sense or meaning, it is known as the transformation of the sentence. ExamplesReymond is the best boy in the class. We may write it as: The above example shows the transformation of a positive or affirmative sentence into a negative sentence. We can transform a negative sentence into a positive sentence too. More Examples
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