Types of Sentences

In English, sentences can be classified based on their purpose. The four main types are declarative,
interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Each type has a specific function in language, helping us
convey different thoughts, ask questions, give commands, or express strong emotions.

1. Declarative Sentences

 Definition: A declarative sentence makes a statement or expresses an idea or fact.

 Purpose: To convey information or share thoughts.

 Punctuation: It ends with a period (.)

Examples:

o "The sun rises in the east."

o "She enjoys reading novels in her free time."

o "This cake is delicious."

Tip for Students: Declarative sentences are the most common sentence type in English and form the
basis of most communication.

2. Interrogative Sentences

 Definition: An interrogative sentence asks a question.

 Purpose: To seek information or request clarification.

 Punctuation: It ends with a question mark (?)

Examples:

o "What is your favorite color?"

o "Are you coming to the party tonight?"

o "Why did she leave so early?"

Types of Questions:

o Yes/No Questions: "Do you like pizza?"

o Wh- Questions: "Where are you going?"

Tip for Students: Remember to start interrogative sentences with words like who, what, where, when,
why, how, or do/does, especially in questions that require detailed answers.
 3. Imperative Sentences

 Definition: An imperative sentence gives a command, makes a request, or offers advice.

 Purpose: To instruct or direct someone to take action.

 Punctuation: It typically ends with a period, but it can end with an exclamation mark (!) to
show urgency.

Examples:

o "Please close the window."

o "Bring your books to class tomorrow."

o "Stop shouting!"

Tip for Students: Imperative sentences often imply a subject (usually you), even though it is not stated.
For instance, "Open the door" actually means "(You) open the door."

4. Exclamatory Sentences

 Definition: An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotions, such as excitement, surprise,

or anger.

 Purpose: To convey a high level of feeling or intensity.

 Punctuation: It ends with an exclamation mark (!)

Examples:

o "What a beautiful sunset!"

o "I can't believe we won!"

o "Watch out!"

Tip for Students: Use exclamatory sentences sparingly in formal writing, as they are more common in
informal or creative writing where emotional expression is emphasized.

Quick Review of Sentence Types

Sentence Type Purpose Example Punctuation

Declarative States a fact or opinion "She likes to swim." Period (.)

Interrogative Asks a question "Where are you going?" Question Mark (?)

Gives a command or Period (.) or Exclamation Mark

Imperative "Please pass the salt."
request (!)
Sentence Type Purpose Example Punctuation

"What a wonderful
Exclamatory Shows strong emotion Exclamation Mark (!)
surprise!"

Practice for Students

1. Identify the type of each sentence in a passage.

2. Rewrite each type to practice variety in writing.

3. Create sentences using each type to gain confidence in expression.

By understanding and using these four sentence types, students can improve their writing variety and
adapt their tone for different communication contexts.

Types of Sentences by Structure

1. Simple Sentence

o Definition: A simple sentence contains one independent clause with a subject and a
predicate. It expresses a complete thought.

o Purpose: To state a single idea or fact clearly and concisely.

o Structure: Subject + Predicate

Examples:

o "She reads every day."

o "The dog barked."

o "They went to the park."

Tip for Students: Simple sentences are great for clear, direct statements. Use them to introduce an
idea or when making brief points.

2. Compound Sentence

o Definition: A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses joined by a

coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or a semicolon.

o Purpose: To combine related ideas of equal importance.

o Structure: Independent Clause + Coordinating Conjunction + Independent Clause

Examples:
 o "She enjoys reading, but she also likes to paint."

o "I wanted to go to the beach; however, it started raining."

o "The students studied hard, so they passed the test."

Tip for Students: Compound sentences are useful for showing a relationship between two ideas.
Remember to use commas before conjunctions to avoid run-on sentences.

3. Complex Sentence

o Definition: A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause, which adds extra information but cannot stand alone as a complete
thought.

o Purpose: To show relationships between ideas, often showing cause and effect,
contrast, or conditionality.

o Structure: Independent Clause + Dependent Clause (or vice versa)

Examples:

o "Because she was tired, she went to bed early."

o "I’ll call you when I get home."

o "Although it was raining, they decided to go hiking."

Tip for Students: Complex sentences add depth to your writing. Use subordinating conjunctions (like
because, although, when) to connect dependent clauses.

4. Compound-Complex Sentence

o Definition: A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and

one or more dependent clauses, combining elements of both compound and complex
sentences.

o Purpose: To convey more complex relationships and ideas within a single sentence.

o Structure: (Independent Clause + Dependent Clause) + Independent Clause (or other

combinations)

Examples:

o "Although she was tired, she stayed up late, and she finished her project."

o "We decided to cancel the trip because it was raining, but we still had a great time at
home."

o "When he arrived, the meeting had already started, so he quietly took a seat."
Tip for Students: Compound-complex sentences are effective for sophisticated writing but be careful
not to overload the sentence with too many ideas, as this can lead to confusion.

Summary Chart

Structure Definition & Structure Example

Simple 1 independent clause "The sun is shining."

2+ independent clauses, joined by "She read a book, and he watched a

Compound
conjunction/semicolon movie."

Complex 1 independent + 1+ dependent clause(s) "Since it’s late, we should go home."

Compound- "Though she was tired, she stayed up,

2+ independent + 1+ dependent clause(s)
Complex and she finished her work."

Practice for Students

1. Identify the structure of sentences in a passage.

2. Combine simple sentences to form compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences.

3. Rewrite a paragraph using different sentence structures for variety and style.

Understanding these sentence structures allows students to add variety and complexity to their
writing, improving readability and engagement.

Common Sentence Errors

1. Sentence Fragments
 o A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that lacks a subject, verb, or complete
thought.

Example:

o Incorrect: "Because I was late to class."

o Correct: "Because I was late to class, I missed the beginning of the lecture."

2. Run-On Sentences

o Run-on sentences occur when two or more independent clauses are joined without
proper punctuation or conjunctions.

Example:

o Incorrect: "I love to read I could spend hours at the library."

o Correct: "I love to read, and I could spend hours at the library."

3. Comma Splices

o A comma splice happens when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma.

Example:

o Incorrect: "She finished her homework, she went out with friends."

o Correct: "She finished her homework, and she went out with friends."

4. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

o The subject and verb must agree in number. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and
plural subjects take plural verbs.

Example:

o Incorrect: "The list of items are on the table."

o Correct: "The list of items is on the table."

5. Misplaced Modifiers

o A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the
word it modifies, leading to confusion.

Example:

o Incorrect: "She nearly drove her kids to school every day."

o Correct: "She drove her kids to school nearly every day."

6. Dangling Modifiers
 o A dangling modifier is a phrase that doesn’t clearly modify a specific word in the
sentence, leading to ambiguity.

Example:

o Incorrect: "Walking to the store, the wind was strong."

o Correct: "Walking to the store, I felt the wind was strong."

7. Faulty Parallelism

o Parallelism requires that words or phrases in a series maintain the same grammatical
structure.

Example:

o Incorrect: "She likes reading, jogging, and to swim."

o Correct: "She likes reading, jogging, and swimming."

8. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Errors

o Pronouns must agree in number and gender with the nouns they replace.

Example:

o Incorrect: "Each student must submit their homework on time."

o Correct: "Each student must submit his or her homework on time."

9. Vague Pronoun Reference

o A vague pronoun reference occurs when it’s unclear what the pronoun refers to.

Example:

o Incorrect: "When Sarah met Linda, she was excited."

o Correct: "When Sarah met Linda, Sarah was excited."

10. Incorrect Use of Apostrophes

o Apostrophes are used to show possession or to form contractions, not to make a word
plural.

Example:

 Incorrect: "The cat’s are outside."

 Correct: "The cats are outside."

11. Incorrect Word Choice

o Using the wrong word (homophones, synonyms) can change the meaning of a sentence
or make it unclear.
Example:

 Incorrect: "I will except the invitation."

 Correct: "I will accept the invitation."

Practice Exercise

Identify and correct the errors in the following sentences:

1. "The dogs bark loudly, they woke up the neighbors."

2. "Each of the players are responsible for bringing their equipment."

3. "Running down the hill, the view was amazing."

ommon Sentence Errors with Additional Examples

1. Sentence Fragments

o Sentence fragments often result from leaving out a subject, verb, or complete thought.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "Such as my favorite book and the way it ends."

 Correct: "I enjoy reading, such as my favorite book and the way it ends."

o Incorrect: "While working late at the office."

 Correct: "While working late at the office, I finished the report."

2. Run-On Sentences

o Run-on sentences incorrectly join multiple independent clauses without punctuation or

conjunctions.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "He was tired he went to bed early."

 Correct: "He was tired, so he went to bed early."

o Incorrect: "They planned the event everything went well."

 Correct: "They planned the event, and everything went well."

3. Comma Splices

o A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma.
Examples:

o Incorrect: "We finished the project, it took all night."

 Correct: "We finished the project; it took all night."

o Incorrect: "It’s raining outside, bring an umbrella."

 Correct: "It’s raining outside, so bring an umbrella."

4. Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

o The subject and verb must match in number (singular or plural).

Examples:

o Incorrect: "The team are going to win the game."

 Correct: "The team is going to win the game."

o Incorrect: "The books on the shelf needs dusting."

 Correct: "The books on the shelf need dusting."

5. Misplaced Modifiers

o Misplaced modifiers cause confusion about what the modifier is describing.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "She served dinner to the guests on paper plates."

 Correct: "She served dinner on paper plates to the guests."

o Incorrect: "I almost failed every exam this semester."

 Correct: "I failed almost every exam this semester."

6. Dangling Modifiers

o Dangling modifiers occur when the modifier is not clearly or logically attached to the
word it’s describing.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on."

 Correct: "Having finished the assignment, he turned on the TV."

o Incorrect: "While reading, my cat jumped onto my lap."

 Correct: "While I was reading, my cat jumped onto my lap."

7. Faulty Parallelism
 o Parallelism errors occur when items in a list or series do not follow the same
grammatical form.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "She enjoys swimming, biking, and to hike."

 Correct: "She enjoys swimming, biking, and hiking."

o Incorrect: "He wanted to win, to achieve his goal, and happiness."

 Correct: "He wanted to win, achieve his goal, and be happy."

8. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Errors

o Pronouns should agree in number and gender with the nouns they refer to.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "Everyone has their own opinions."

 Correct: "Everyone has his or her own opinions."

o Incorrect: "The committee has finished their report."

 Correct: "The committee has finished its report."

9. Vague Pronoun Reference

o Vague pronouns make it unclear who or what the pronoun refers to.

Examples:

o Incorrect: "The car hit the tree, but it was not damaged."

 Correct: "The car hit the tree, but the tree was not damaged."

o Incorrect: "When Jack met Jill, he was very excited."

 Correct: "When Jack met Jill, Jack was very excited."

10. Incorrect Use of Apostrophes

o Apostrophes indicate possession or form contractions, not plurals.

Examples:

 Incorrect: "The teacher's are here to help."

o Correct: "The teachers are here to help."

 Incorrect: "Its going to be a sunny day."

o Correct: "It’s going to be a sunny day."

11. Incorrect Word Choice

 o Incorrect word choice can alter the sentence’s meaning or make it unclear.

Examples:

 Incorrect: "I could of gone to the concert."

o Correct: "I could have gone to the concert."

 Incorrect: "She has too dogs at home."

o Correct: "She has two dogs at home."