Know the Basics of Sentences - Grammar

People who speak English as a second language do commonly face problems regarding sentence construction. They in most cases fail to express what they feel in English. This occurs due to their lack of proper knowledge of how to construct sentences. Today’s post is dedicated to you if you are one of them.

Before I begin let me tell you, that it requires a lot of practice in reading as well as listening and writing in English and a little bit knowledge of clauses to be able to express your thoughts properly.

It is said that all that we express are put into words and when words are put in a meaningful order to express our thoughts, they are called sentences.

Now to begin with a sentence you need to know what a sentence comprises of at a primary level, right. Take a subject, a verb and an object at a basic level but you need to place them in the proper sequence to make sense. Let’s say “She took an apple”. Now if I say “An apple took she”, can you sense the meaning of the second quote? No! The sequence of the words in the second quote doesn’t make any sense to its reader. So, it’s all about the proper sequence of words. Begin with a subject then place a verb (Finite) and then place the object to the verb. There are eight parts of speech that a sentence can have. A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or a mark of exclamation.

On the other hand, by using the proper positioning of words the meaning, as well as the stress on the words in a sentence, can be altered too. For example: “He is fit for the post”, “Could you post the letter please?”

Here in the two quotes mentioned above the word “post” has two different meanings. In the first quote, the word “post” is an object of the preposition “for” and so it is a noun. But in the second quote, the word “post” is a verb. Therefore it takes an object “the letter”. Note that the positioning of the word “post” is different in the two sentences. But the sequence follows just as I said earlier “Subject – verb – object”

However, not each and every thought or feeling can be expressed in words. Based on these thoughts or expressions sentences can roughly be parsed into the following five types

Many of us think of the types of sentences to be uninteresting and inapplicable with respect to our daily lives. But let me tell you something that each and every thought that we express or speak is categorized.

1. Assertive Sentences

Whenever a thought or an information is passed on or provided (no question, desire, emotion is expressed and not a person is asked to do something) it is categorized as an assertive sentence.

Since information can be negative, assertive sentences are classified into affirmative and negative ones

2. Interrogative Sentences

The second comes to the Interrogative sentences. These sentences are practised to ask questions or to inquire of someone for something. Interrogatives are of two types. These are “Wh Questions” and “Yes/No Questions”

Wh Questions refer to the questions that consist of “Wh” words such as who, whom, why, which, what, when, where and how. These questions end with a “?” question mark and require a definite answer.

For example: “When do you get up in the morning?”

The answer to this question is “I get up at 6 O” clock in the morning.”

Now how will you create a wh question? Can you tell the difference between “What is your name?” and “What your name is.”? Reply and tell us of your interest in the comment box below to know more. We’ll be discussing it in another post.

Yes/No Questions are the questions that begin with an auxiliary verb (am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had and so on) or a modal auxiliary (can, could, shall, should, will, would, may etc.) and end with a “?” question mark. These questions don’t require a definite answer. These are rather answered either in affirmative or in negative. Yes, they are answered either in “yes” or in “no”.

For example:

“Can you fetch me the bunch of keys?”

The answer is “yes” or “no”

“Is your father at home?”

The answer is “yes” or “no”

Note that “You can fetch me the bunch of keys.” and “Your father is at home.” are assertive sentences.

These types of interrogatives can be Affirmative and Negative too.

Interrogative – Wh Questions – Affirmative – “Why did you close the door?”

Interrogative – Wh Questions – Negative – “Why did you not close the door?”

Interrogative – Yes/No Questions – Affirmative – “Has he been praised by his coach?”

Interrogative – Yes/No Questions – Negative – “Has he not been praised by his coach?”

3. Imperative Sentences

These are sentences that we use to ask someone to do something such as “Please lend me your book for a week”; “Post this letter” etc. wait! Where are the subjects?

Please note that since the person you are asking to perform a specific task, is in front of you, you don’t need to mention the subject. In fact, the person himself before you is the subject.

So, as a matter of fact, these sentences have a common subject “you” which in most cases is understood and don’t need to be mentioned.

Three types of imperatives are there. These are Order, Request and Advice.

As shown above, all the three types can be affirmative and negative.

When we order someone for something, it suggests that the person is bound to perform the task mentioned. It is in the interest of the person who is making the order.

For example:

Imperative – Order – Affirmative – Go home at once.

Imperative – Order – Negative – Don’t go to play now.

But when we request someone for something, it suggests that the person requested is not bound to perform the task and so in most cases the word “Please” is attached to the sentences. It is upon him or her whether he or she would like to do it or not.

For example:

Imperative – Request – Affirmative – Please come to the party on my birthday.

Imperative – Request – Negative – Don’t let him go, please.

We all care for our friends, our kith and kin. We always tend to advise them to do things for their betterment. Think of it.

An advice is something that we suggest people we care about for their interest instead of ours. When we advise someone we care about, it doesn’t mean that we are telling it for our benefit. Instead, it refers to something that we ask people to do unselfishly for their benefit.

For example:

Imperative – Advice – Affirmative – Go for a walk every day in the morning.

Imperative – Advice – Negative – Don’t run in the sun.

The remaining two types of sentences will be discussed in our later posts. The links to the relevant posts will be provided in this post.

So stay connected and till then, thank you and goodbye. Have a good time.

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