What are sentence types?
Sentence types are the different types of sentences you can come across in a written text. These can be split up into the four sentence types that indicate tone or intent and the four sentence types that are in relation to the structure of the sentence.
Why do I need to learn about sentence types?
Using a range of sentence types in your writing can improve the readability and ensure that the meaning of the sentence is clear. Being aware of these sentence types can also aid in your own understanding when reading a text.
Tone
There are four different types of sentences that can portray tone or intent in a sentence. These are...
Declarative
Imperative
Interrogative
Exclamatory
Here are some examples of what each of these could look like:
A declarative sentence is a sentence with a statement. This could be “I like cats” or “I attend University”.
An imperative sentence is a command such as “Feed the cat” or “Do your assignment”.
An interrogative sentence is a question such as “Do you like cats?” or “Have you done the reading for this week?” You can usually identify these with the use of a question mark.
An exclamatory is an exclamation. This could be “Cats are cute!” or “I got a first!”. Exclamatory sentences are usually identified by the use of an exclamation mark.
Structure
Every sentence is made up of a combination of clauses. There are two types of clauses; independent and dependent.
An independent clause is a clause that makes sense without any other information surrounding it whereas a dependent clause is the addition of detail or information onto the dependent clause. So, how do we use these clauses to form sentences?
The first sentence we will look at is a simple sentence. This is made up of a singular independent clause. A simple sentence may look like “Annie turned on a film” or “The cat meowed” These sentences are not split up into different sections by the use of commas or multiple clauses.
The next type of sentence is a complex sentence. These are made up by combining one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses. This may look like “Joe cried because the film upset him”. By using the connective “because” we can see that this sentence has two parts. The first part “Joe cried” is the independent clause and then the dependent clause “because the film upset him” adds detail to this sentence and informs the reader of why Joe was crying.
Then we have compound sentences. This sentence type is made up of two or more independent clauses. This means that each part of the sentence needs to make sense on its own. This could appear as “Joe cried and Annie laughed” or “The cat had a black tail and the dog had a brown tail”. Using the connective ‘and’ shows that these are separate pieces of information rather than the ‘because’ we used in the complex sentence to add detail.
The last sentence type is a complex-compound sentence. These types of sentences include two or more independent clauses as well as one or more dependent clauses. As an example, this could show up as “Joe cried because the film was sad and Annie laughed”. Here we can see the first independent clause “Joe cried” followed by the dependent clause “because the film was sad” and then ends with a second independent clause of “Annie laughed".
Using a variety of these sentences within your essay will help not only the detail you can include but also the readability and level of interest you can invoke from readers.