A sentence is a group of words that is used to say something, to ask something, or to tell somebody to do something. It gives enough information for a person to form a complete idea in his mind of the message that is being communicated to him. There are five kinds of sentences as follow:
1) Declarative Sentences: Sentences that make statements.
Example:
- That isn’t the way to do it.
- I have two brothers and one sister.
- Canada and the United States are neighbors.
2) Interrogative Sentences: Sentences that ask questions.
Example:
- What are you doing?
- Where will you go tomorrow?
- Can I see her?
3) Imperative Sentences: Sentences that give commands or make requests.
Example:
- Don’t be lazy!
- Mind your business!
- Come and have a cup of tea.
5) Exclamatory Sentences: Sentences that are in the form of exclamations.
Example:
- What a lovely day it is!
- How marvelous!
- How pretty she is!
5) Optative Sentence: Some grammarians recognize a fifth sentence type, the Optative Sentence. Optative sentences express wishes.
Example:
- May you live a long and happy life together.
- God save you!
- Peace be upon him.
ü Optative sentences formed with May are found mainly in a very formal way.
ü Optative sentences like God save you! uses a special form of the verb in which there is no –s ending.
God save… (not God saves…)
ü Similarly, we have Peace be upon him rather than Peace is upon him.
