Table of Contents
Sentence Types and Patterns
English sentences can be classified according to both their structure and their communicative purpose.
Four Traditional Functional Types
A declarative sentence makes a statement:
She lives in Peshawar.
An interrogative sentence asks a question:
Does she live in Peshawar?
An imperative sentence gives a command, instruction, request, or advice:
Open the window.
Please sit down.
An exclamative sentence expresses strong emotion or emphasis:
What a beautiful day!
These categories describe what a sentence does.
Structural Types
Sentences can also be classified according to the number and relationship of their clauses.
A simple sentence contains one independent clause:
The children played outside.
A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined or coordinated:
The children played outside, and the parents relaxed.
A complex sentence contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause:
The children played outside because the weather was pleasant.
A compound-complex sentence contains multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause:
The children played outside because the weather was pleasant, and the parents relaxed.
Common Sentence Patterns
English has several basic structural patterns.
Subject + Verb
Birds fly.
Subject + Verb + Subject Complement
She is intelligent.
Subject + Verb + Direct Object
He opened the door.
Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
She gave me a book.
Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement
They elected him president.
These patterns are not rigid formulas for every sentence, but they provide a useful framework for understanding how English sentences are constructed.
Word Order
English depends heavily on word order to indicate grammatical relationships.
Compare:
The dog chased the boy.
The boy chased the dog.
The words are almost identical, but their grammatical roles and meaning change because their positions change.
This makes syntax, the study of sentence structure and word relationships, particularly important in English.