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Kinds of Sentences
Declarative - A declarative sentence
makes a statement. A declarative sentence ends with a period.
Example: The house will be built on a hill.
Interrogative - An interrogative sentence
asks a question. An interrogative sentence ends with a question mark.
Example: How did you find the card?
Exclamatory - An exclamatory sentence
shows strong feeling. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark.
Example: The monster is attacking!
Imperative - An imperative sentence
gives a command.
Example: Cheryl, try the other door.
Sometimes the subject of an imperative sentence (you) is
understood.
Example: Look in the closet. (You, look in the closet.)
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Sentence Structures
SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb,
and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects
are in yellow, and verbs are in green.
Some students like
to study in the mornings.
Juan and Arturo
play football every afternoon.
Alicia
goes to the library and studies
every day.
COMPOUND SENTENCE
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators
are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells
FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences,
subjects are in yellow, verbs
are in green, and the coordinators and the commas
that precede them are in red.
I tried
to speak Spanish, and my friend
tried to speak English.
Alex played
football, so Maria went shopping.
Adam played
football, for Amy went shopping.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex
sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such
as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and
the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.
When he
handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the
last page.
The teacher returned
the homework after she noticed the error.
The students are studying because they
have a test tomorrow.
After
they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies.
Juan and Maria went
to the movies after they finished studying.
COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent
clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences,
and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.
The woman who(m) my mom talked to sells cosmetics.
The
book that Jonathan read is on the shelf.
The house which Abraham
Lincoln was born in is still standing.
The town where I
grew up is in the United States.
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