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Sentence (linguistics)





THE PARTS OF A SENTENCE


A simple ''complete sentence'' consists of a '', zero or more Complements , and zero or more Adverbial s. See also Copula for the consequences of this verb on the theory of sentence structure.


THE CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES



Classification by structure


One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by the number and types of Finite Clause s:



Classification by purpose


Sentences can also be classified based on their purpose:

  • A ''declarative sentence'' or ''declaration'', the most common type, commonly makes a statement: ''I am going home.''

  • An ''interrogative sentence'' or '' Question '' is commonly used to request information — ''When are you going to work?'' — but sometimes not; ''see'' Rhetorical Question .

  • An ''exclamatory sentence'' or '' Exclamation '' is generally a more emphatic form of statement: ''What a wonderful day this is!''

  • An ''imperative sentence'' or '' Command '' is ordinarily used to make a demand or request: ''Go do your homework.''



Major and minor sentences


A major sentence is a ''regular'' sentence; it has a Subject and a Predicate .
For example: ''I have a ball.'' In this sentence one can change the persons: ''We have a ball.'' However, a minor sentence is an irregular type of sentence. It does not contain a finite verb. For example, "mary!" "yes" "coffee" etc. Other examples of minor sentences are headings (e.g. the heading of this entry), stereotyped expressions (''Hello!''), emotional expressions (''Wow!''), proverbs, etc. This can also include sentences which do not contain verbs (e.g. ''The more, the merrier.'') in order to intensify the meaning around the nouns (normally found in poetry and catchphrases). Exploring Language: Sentences


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