English Sentences

Sentence

A sentence is a string of words expressing a complete thought. This is rather a vague definition but grammarians have not been able to come up with a better one. Of course, it's easy to identify what a writer has considered to be a sentence because the first word will be capitalized and there will be terminating punctuation mark.

Sentences can be categorized in 2 main ways: by their function and by their composition. Here are the four main sentence functions:

Declarative: making a statement - I don't like music.

Interrogative: asking a question - Do you like music?

Imperative: giving a command - Turn off that music!

Exclamative: expressing feeling: - What awful music!

The three sentence composition types, based on the number and nature of the clauses they contain, are:

Simple: one clause - I don't like milky tea.

Compound: two clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction - I don't like milky tea but I do very much like milky coffee.

Complex: two or more clauses, one or more of which is a subordinate clause - Although I don't take milk in my tea, I like nothing more than milky coffee.

Clause

In traditional grammar a clause is part of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb . So the sentence If you do that again, I'll break your neck! contains two clauses: If you do that again and I'll break your neck.

There are main clauses and subordinate clauses. In the following three sentences the main clause comes first:

I went to bed because I was tired.

He said that he was hungry.

It was harder than I expected.

In the next three sentences the subordinate clause comes first. From these examples it can be seen that the subordinate clause is dependent on the main clause. The main clause can stand alone as a sentence but the subordinating clause cannot.

Because we were so late, we missed the plane.

If he phones, tell him I'm not here.

Although he studied hard, he still got a bad grade.

SVO

SVO stands for Subject Verb Object. It is a significant feature of English syntax or word order, in which the subject usually comes before the main verb which comes before the object . For example:

[I S] [like V] [beer O].

[That stupid boy S] [has broken V] [my brand-new calculator! O]

[The family that lives in the dilapidated old house on the corner of the street opposite the bank S] [is thinking of buying V] [a new house in a different city in the north of Germany. O]

Subject/predicate: All sentences are about something or someone. The something or someone that the sentence is about is called the subject of the sentence. In the following sentences the subjects are shown in red. Note how the subject is often, but not always, the first thing in the sentence.

John often comes late to class.

My friend and I both have a dog named Spot.

Many parts of the Asian coastline were destroyed by a tsunami in 2004.

The old hotel at the end of the street is going to be knocked down to make way for a new supermarket.

Sitting in a tree at the bottom of the garden was a huge black bird with long blue tail feathers.

The grade 7 Korean boy who has just started at FIS speaks excellent English.

On Saturdays I never get up before 9 o'clock.

Before giving a test the teacher should make sure that the students are well-prepared.

Lying on the sofa watching old films is my favourite hobby.

The predicate contains information about the someone or something that is the subject. The example sentences above are shown again, this time with the predicate marked in green.

John often comes late to class.

My friend and I both have a dog named Spot.

Many parts of the Asian coastline were destroyed by a tsunami in 2004.

The old hotel at the end of the street is going to be knocked down to make way for a new supermarket.

Sitting in a tree at the bottom of the garden was a huge black bird with long blue tail feathers.

The grade 7 Korean boy who has just started at FIS speaks excellent English.

On Saturdays I never get up before 9 o'clock.

Before giving a test the teacher should make sure that the students are well-prepared.

Lying on the sofa watching old films is my favourite hobby.

Noun

Nouns are one of the 9 parts of speech. Traditionally nouns were defined as names of people, places or things. But this defintion is now considered inadequate because it excludes nouns like justice. Some modern grammarians, therefore, define nouns syntactically: i.e. nouns are preceded by adjectives, determiners or prepositions and function as the subjects or objects of sentences.

Pronoun

Pronouns are one of the 8 or 9 parts of speech (word classes). Of course, modern grammarians do not fully agree on the definition of a pronoun and which words should be so classed. Traditionally pronouns have been defined as 'standing for' or 'replacing nouns'. Here are some of the ways that they can be categorized:

Personal: I, we, they, it

Relative: who, which, whose, that

Reflexive: myself, themselves

Possessive: my, your, his, theirs

Interrogative: who?, whom? what?

Indefinite: one, everything, somebody

Has everyone brought their homework?

The team has lost their last

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