English in Use/Sentences Overview

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This section will serve as a basic overview of sentences. Each topic will be discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters.

Phrases[edit | edit source]

A phrase is a group of words which contains neither a subject nor a verb. (It may, however, contain a verbal form such as an infinitive, a participle, or a gerund.)[1]

Clauses[edit | edit source]

A clause is a group of words containing at least a subject and a verb (the baby ate), and frequently it lets its hair down by containing some kind of a complement as well (the baby ate the goldfish). There are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent.[2]

Forms[edit | edit source]

There are three forms of a sentence: simple, compound, and complex, and one combined form: compound-complex.

Simple[edit | edit source]

Compound[edit | edit source]

Complex[edit | edit source]

Compound-complex[edit | edit source]

It is a sentence which is made to by joining two or more simple sentences.

Purposes[edit | edit source]

Sentences are created for four main reasons: to declare, to command, to question, and to exclaim.

Declarative[edit | edit source]

Imperative[edit | edit source]

Interrogative[edit | edit source]

Exclamatory[edit | edit source]

Sentence diagrams[edit | edit source]