Sentence and its types

Sentence

A group of the words having at least a verb to get complete sentence is called a sentence It can be divided into simple sentence complex sentence and compound sentence. It is also categorized as declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory, and optative.

A sentence has subject, verb, object, adverbials, and complement.

What is a subject?

In general understanding a subject is doer or agent.

a.    It is a noun phrase or a clause with nominal function.

b.   It occurs before the verb phrase in declarative clauses, and immediately after the operator in question clauses.

c.    It has number and person concord, where applicable with the verb phrase.

A subject has agentive: that is, the animate being instigating or causing the happening denoted by the verb. With intransitive verbs, the subject also frequently has the affected role elsewhere typical of the object:

Jack fell down.

 The pencil was lying on the table

Agentive from instrumental subjects is that the two cannot be coordinated.

 

What is an object?

The object is answer of what and who upon which action is done. Like subject,

a.    It is a noun phrase or clause with nominal function.  

b.   Normally it follows the subject and the verb phrase.

c.    By the passive transformation, it assumes the status of subject.

There are basically two types of object direct and indirect object. The direct object is answer of what question and indirect object is the answer of whom-question in general. For example:

I gave Rita a pen.

In the sentence a pen is direct object and Rita is indirect object.

What is a complement?

A word used in a sentence that adds the additional information about subject or object and contribute to clarify the sense in the sentence. There are two types of complements. Subject complement and object complement.

a.    It is a noun phrase, an adjective phrase, or a clause with nominal function.

b.   It follows the subject, verb phrase, and (if one is present) object.

c.    It does not become subject through the passive transformation.

 

1.   Simple sentence: a sentence is one that contains only one subject and one finite verb expressed or understood. A simple sentence has only one clause. A simple sentence can be written in the following pattern.

i.              Simple sentence with two element pattern. In the sentence, the sentence has only subject and verb. Eg He smiles.

ii.            Simple sentence with three pattern: In the sentence, the sentence has subject verb and object/adverbial/complement.

Eg. He eats a mango.

iii.          Simple sentence with three four pattern: In this type, a sentence has subject verb object along with complement/ object/ adverbial.

Eg. I gave him a book yesterday.

Note

a.    It is possible to have a clause with the structure S V indirect object direct object,  object complement , but the object complement in such cases is always optional:

She gave us our coffee black.

I sold him the car almost new.

b.   Object complement and place adverbials  sometimes precede indirect object in Types SVOC and SVOA:

We have proved wrong the Prime Minister himself.

 He took from his pocket a handful of gleaming coins.

c.    Most obligatory adjuncts are place adverbials, but there are quite a number of cases to which the term 'place', even in a broad metaphorical sense, does not apply:

He is without a job.

We kept him off cigarettes.

 They treated him kindly.

d.   There is also a rare clause pattern S V indirect object  subject complement: 

John made Mary a good husband (i.e. 'John was a good husband to Mary').

 

In simple sentence sometimes complement is essential to get the meaning.

For example, if someone says I put the book, it is incomplete. The verb put needs further explanation. Similarly some verbs need adverbial in order to have sense. For example,

She lives.. is incomplete. It needs an adverbials. She lives in a town. Therefore, the verb live is intensive verb than intransitive verb. 

 

 

2.   Compound sentence

A compound sentence has two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.

3.   Complex sentence

A complex sentence has one independent clause and one to two dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinating conjunction (because, since, after, although, when…) or a pronoun (who, which, and that). If a dependent clause has a subordinating conjunction and is located at the beginning of the sentence, a comma should be used to separate it from the independent clause.

When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.

Other types of sentences

a.    Declarative Sentence: Declarative sentences give information. We use them to share facts and statements, in other words, to declare things. Generally it has subject, verb and object. Eg.

He dog went to the county fair.

She saw the dog eat popcorn.

b.   Interrogative Sentence: An interrogative sentence is a question. It is easy to recognize because it always ends in a question mark (?). They are termed to be wh question and yes-no question.

Have you ever been to a county fair?

What is your favorite snack?

c.    Imperative Sentence: A sentence that gives instructions, requests, or demands, or shares a wish or invitation. Basically, they tell someone what to do or reflect something you want to happen. Eg.

Come here, please.  

d.   Exclamatory Sentence: A sentence that shares strong feelings or excitement. They are just like declarative sentences in that they share declarations, but the difference is that the words are said with more emotion. They are powerful sentences, so they always end with an exclamation mark. Eg. : I can’t believe how fast the dog ran to the county fair!

e.    Optative sentence: An optative sentence generally expresses a wish or prayer for someone known or unknown and also to wish them luck. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an optative sentence is one “constituting a verbal mood that is expressive of wish or desire”, according to the Collins Dictionary, an optative sentence is defined as a sentence “indicating or expressing choice, preference, or wish”.

May you be blessed with a good job.

Wish you a wonderful day.