Section outline

  • Sentences

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    Sentence is a group of words that make complete sense by itself.

    Features of a sentence:

    1. It has a verb.
    2. It has a subject & a predicate.
    3. It begins with a capital letter.
    4. It ends with a full stop (.) or exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?) depending on the type of sentence.
    5. The words are written in proper order.
    6. It follows the subject-verb agreement.

    For a sentence to make complete sense it should have all the above features.

    Example:

    The I drank coffee. (This is not making any sense)

    I drank the coffee. (This makes sense; hence is a sentence)

  • Parts of a Sentence

    There are two main parts of a sentence: subject & predicate.

    1. Subject tells us who or what the sentence is about.

    Features:

    • It tells us who is performing the action.
    • It is usually a noun or pronoun.
    • Simple subject: one subject. 
    • Compound subject: more than one subject.
    2. Predicate tells us something about the subject or what the subject is doing.

    Features:

    • It starts with the verb.
    • It contains objects, complements or adverbs, etc.
    • It describes the subject or tells us about the action done by the subject.
    • It may consists of one or many words.

    Identification:

    1. Identify the verb.
    2. Ask who or what to the verb.
    3. That is the subject of the sentence.
    4. Remaining part including the verb is the predicate.

    Example:

    The children are playing in the garden.

    Here,

    1. The children - subject (who)
    2. are playing in the garden - predicate
    3. are playing - verb

    • Subject & predicate is one of the most important & basic topic in English Grammar.

      There are some key points to remember:

      1. Usually in a regular sentence order is:

      Subject at the beginning, followed by the predicate.

      Exception:

      Sometimes for emphasis, predicate comes at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the subject.

      Example:

      On the hill stood a tall tree.

      Here,

      • A tall tree - subject.
      • On the hill - predicate.

      2. For interrogative & exclamatory sentences the order is:

      Predicate - subject - predicate

      Examples:

      • What are you wearing?
      • How beautiful she is!

      Here, 'you, she' are the subjects, rest all is the predicate.

      3. Imperative sentences: 

      Subject may be implied.

      Example:

      Sit down.

      Here, the subject you is implied.

      Hence the sentence is: You sit down.

  • Types of sentences

    There are 4 types of sentences based on their function i.e. whether the sentence is a statement or asking a question.

    These types of sentences have different punctuation marks at the end. 

    Their types & subtypes are:

    Types of sentences

    There are further 4 types of sentences based on their structure i.e. the types & number of clauses.

    They are:

    Types of sentences

    To understand these types of sentences, the concept of clauses should be understood clearly.

  • Assertive Sentences

    Assertive sentences are that which state or declare something.

    Features:

    1. They are also called as declarative sentences.
    2. They always end in a full stop (.).
    3. They convey a fact or make a statement which can be positive or negative.

    They are of two types:

    1. Affirmative sentences:

    Affirmative sentences state something that is true & positive.

    Features:

    • They affirm or make positive statement.
    • They do contain any negatives.

    Examples:

    It is raining today.

    The Earth revolves around the sun.

    2. Negative sentences:

    Negative sentences negate a statement or something.

    Features:

    • They show things that won't happen or don't exist.
    • A affirmative statement is turned negative by adding 'not'.
    • They contain words like 'no, not, nobody, nothing, etc.'

    Examples:

    The event is not happening today.

    They are not coming here.

  • Interrogative Sentences

    Interrogative Sentences are used to ask questions.

    Features:

    1. We always put a question mark (?) at the end of interrogative sentences.
    2. The auxiliary verb always come before the subject.

    Examples:

    What are you eating?

    Are you coming home?

    Here auxiliary verb 'are' comes before the subject 'you'.

    They are of two types:

    1. Yes / No questions:

    Features:

    • The question always begins with an auxiliary verb.
    • Answer can be only with a yes or no.

    Example: Are you busy?

    The answer for this question can only be 'yes' or 'no'.

    2. Wh questions:

    Features:

    • Questions begin with 'where, what, whom, why, when, which or whose.'
    • The above words are followed by an auxiliary verb.
    • Answer to these questions is never a yes or no.

    Example: What is the colour of your dress?

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  • Imperative Sentences

    Imperative Sentences express commands, requests, offers, advices, instructions or suggestions.

    Features:

    1. They end in full stop (.).
    2. They begin with a verb followed by subject.
    3. For requests, begin sentence with please followed by verb.
    4. For suggestions, sentence begin with subject followed by modal verb.

    Examples:

    Stop the game. (command / order)

    Please open the door. (request)

    Brush your teeth daily. (advice)

    You can try this dress. (suggestion)

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  • Exclamatory Sentences

    Exclamatory Sentences express feelings of surprise, appreciation or shock.

    Features:

    1. They end in exclamation mark (!).
    2. They usually begin with words 'what or how'.
    3. For emphasis, the order of words is changed.

    Examples:

    What a beautiful day!

    How lovely is the weather!

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  • Other types of sentences

    Types of sentence based on the structure:

    For these types of sentences, we need to understand clauses in details.

    1. Simple Sentences contain one independent clause.

    Example:

    She reads every night.

    2. Compound Sentences contain two independent clauses joined by conjunction or semicolon (;).

    Example:

    She reads every night and he writes in his journal.

    3. Complex sentences have one independent & dependent clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction.

    Example:

    She reads every night because it helps her relax.

    4. Compound-Complex sentences have two independent & one dependent clauses connected by conjunctions.

    Example:

    She reads every night and he writes in his journal because it’s relaxing for both of them.

    To summarize:

    Type of sentence Independent clause Dependent clause
    Simple 1 0
    Compound 2 0
    Complex 1 1
    Compound-Complex 2 1

    * For details on independent & dependent clauses, click here.

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  • Summary

    In this course, we learnt:

    1. Constituents of a sentence.
    2. Types of sentences & their use.
    3. Importance of sentences.

    Thus our foundation is ready, now let's explore the details of each component that form a sentence.

    In our next course, we will learn in detail about the first component i.e. nouns.

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