In This Lesson, You Will Learn to Recognize the Different Types of Sentences and Their

Name: ______

Beach Park

Sentences Type 1

Objective:

In this lesson, you will learn to recognize the different types of sentences and their purposes.

Recognizing Sentence Purposes

Writers have one of four basic purposes in mind when they write a sentence: to make a statement, to show excitement or strong emotion, to ask a question, or to give a command. Sentence content, word order, and end punctuation give a reader clues to the writer's purpose.

Declarative Sentences

Declarative sentences make statements. In a declarative sentence, word order follows the typical English sentence pattern: subject-verb-and the rest of the sentence. End punctuation is always a period, which signals a reader to stop before moving on to the next thought. Declarative sentences may be one independent clause (a simple sentence) or two or more independent clauses (a compound sentence).

Here are examples of declarative sentences.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the presidency with 51 percent of the vote.

Hockey player Scott Olsen (20) and his brother Brennan (16) founded Rollerblade, Inc.

Chris Van Allsburg wrote the award-winning book Jumanji.

Your Turn

Using the following general topics as "starters," write five declarative sentences. Use the information you know about the twentieth century or gather more facts from an almanac or encyclopedia about people and events from the decade between 1980 and 1990.

1. (sports)

2. (entertainment)

3. (politics)

4. (foreign

5. (science and medicine)

Exclamatory Sentences

Exclamatory sentences express strong emotions like anger or excitement. They are similar to headlines designed to shock readers. Word content and the exclamation point at the end of a sentence are clues to the writer's purpose. Occasionally, writers place exclamation marks after fragments to show strong emotion; however, exclamation marks should be used sparingly and never more than one at a time.

Here are examples of exclamatory sentences:

Like a terrible plague, AIDS infected millions worldwide!

Terrorists blew up the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon killing 63!

Suddenly, walkways in the lobby of Kansas City's Hyatt Regency collapsed, killing 113 and injuring 186!

American consumers, obsessed with owning Cabbage Patch dolls, spent $600 million dollars to purchase them! And that doesn't include money spent on the black market!

Using the following general topics as "starters," write five exclamatory sentences. For sentence content, use an almanac or encyclopedia to gather information about people and events from the decade between 1980 and 1990.

1. (sports)

2. (entertainment)

3. (politics)

4. (foreign

5. (science and medicine)

Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative sentences ask a question. Detectives on television and in the movies interrogate suspects by asking questions such as "Where were you on the night of October 5?" and "Why are your fingerprints on the doorknob?" Most, but not all, interrogative sentences begin with an interrogative word, either a pronoun (who, whom, whose, which) or an adverb (when, where, why, how). Some questions begin with a verb helper, such as "Did you make a telephone call to this number?" "Were you acquainted with the victim?" Sometimes a declarative sentence ends with an interrogative tag, such as "You were in this room on October 5, weren't you?" The question mark at the end of the sentence is the reader's clue to the writer's purpose. Occasionally, a writer will place a question mark after a fragment, usually in dialogue, like this:

"Oh? But you said you were out of town on October 5."

Here are examples of interrogative sentences.

Which new non-prescription drug replaced aspirin and acetaminophen in popularity for treatment of the pain of arthritis?

Who came up with the slogan "Just Say No!" to combat drug use?

Why does El Nino upset weather patterns?

When did Trivial Pursuit become a popular board game?

Did Coca-Cola drinkers accept a newer, sweeter formula?

President Reagan called the U.S.S.R. "an evil empire," didn't he?

Using the following general topics as "starters," write 5 interrogative sentences. Use information from an almanac or encyclopedia to create sentences about people and events from the decade between 1980-1990.

1. (sports)

2. (entertainment)

3. (politics)

4. (foreign

5. (science and medicine)

Imperative Sentences

An imperative sentence gives a command or issues a request. Connect the word imperative with the words empire, emperor, or imperial to help you remember the purpose of an imperative sentence. This doesn't mean, however, that commands always have to be rude or abrupt. Many imperative sentences have a please, or thank you attached. Because the speaker or writer is addressing a particular audience, the subject of an imperative sentence is the pronoun you, which is not stated but understood. The first word in the sentence is usually an action verb. Most imperative sentences end with a period, but some end with an exclamation mark, depending upon the urgency of the command.

Here are examples of imperative sentences.

Read the western-adventure novel Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

Play "The Legend of Zelda," a new Nintendo video game. You'll like it.

Please give me enough money to buy Michael Jackson's new album Bad.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" said President Ronald Reagan.

Using the following general topics as "starters," write 5 imperative sentences in the spaces below

1. (sports)

2. (entertainment)

3. (politics)

4. (foreign

5. (science and medicine)

Wrap Up

As you can tell, there are many different types of sentences. When combined or used together correctly, these different sentences can help you get your point across to your reader, and also make your writing as effective as you want it to be. Remember these sentence types as we move along to bigger and better writing assignments.