Sentence types!
to finish off the sentence patterns, let’s learn about the sentence types!
most of which are pretty explanatory so this should be kind of short...but we’ll see.
Interrogative Sentences
the two most common interrogative patterns in English are the yes/no question and the wh-question. both kinds of questions alter the basic declaritive word order by putting the verb, or part of the verb in front of the subject.
the election is today. (declaritive)
is the election today?
when is the election?
wh-questions, aka information questions, use interrogative words such as why, where, when, who, what or how, to elicit specific details.
the interrogative can also fill an NP slot. some can even be used as determiners.
more common in speech is the tag question. it’s like repition of the subject.
your mother is a doctor, isn’t she?
Imperative sentences
in the case of imperative sentences or commands, the subject is nearly always unstated, although clearly understood.
commands can be negative and generally begin with the word ‘don’t ‘
Sit down.
don’t be silly.
take your time.
Don’t act stupid.
Exclamative sentences
we usually think of exclamatory sentences as a sentence spoken with heightened emotion or written with a !
I love your new home! (pattern 7)
Wipe that grin off your face! (pattern 2)
are you kidding me! (pattern 3)
but int terms of form. the first one is declaritive, a very straightforward sentence. the second one is imperative, and the third is interrogative.
a formal exclamative sentence involves a shift in order that focuses special attention on a complement.
what a lovely apartment you have
how proud you must be
what a piece of work is man!
these sentences differ structually from all three of the previous sentences. the what or how of the sentence introduces the emphasized element is added to the underlying declaritve sentence patterns.
Punctuation and the sentence pattern.
the biggest thing to learn when it comes to sentence patterns and punctuation is:
do not put single commas between the required slot.
so don’t separate:
the subject from the verb
the verb from the direct object
the direct object from the object complement
indirect object from the direct object
the verb from the subject compliment
even though the noun phrases may be long, the slots are never separated by commas. the one exception to this rule occurs when the direct object is a direct quotation following a verb like say.
here’s an example that show when there’s no room for a comma.
Overcoming one’s natural egocentrism and trying to anticipate the knowledge state of a generic reader at every stage of the eposition is one of the most imoprtant tasks in writing well.











