What is a Sentence?

A sentence can be defined as a group of words that expresses a complete thought which contains a subject and a predicate and is not by anyway part of any other grammatical construction.

Elements of a Sentence Structure

• S – Subject – Doer/Responsible for a particular action in a sentence.
• V – Verb – Action word/Action that is present in the sentence.
• O – Object – Receiver of the action described by the verb [Indirect & Direct]
• C – Compliment – Completes the meaning of a sentence [Subject & Object Complement]
• A – Adjunct – Performs the function of an adverb which adds meaning to the verb in a sentence.

Types of Sentences

According to Form / Function

D – Declarative Sentences: They are used to make statements that are facts and asserts universal truth.

I – Imperative Sentences: They are used to issue commands, directives and mild requests.

I – Interrogative Sentences: They are used to ask questions, hence it interrogates and are categorized into the following;

• Polar Questions: This elicits a Yes/No answer.
• Rhetorical Questions: Does not require an answer/reply.
• Tag Questions: It may convey positive/negative orientation depending on the context of the question.
• WH Questions: These are questions that require information.

E – Exclamatory Sentences: Designed to express excitements, surprise, anger, etc. … and usually ends with the exclamation mark.

According To Structure

S – Simple Sentence: They express just one main idea, the subject, and a verb/predicate.

C – Complex Sentence: They express one main idea and one subordinate idea which cannot stand on its own to make a complete thought until it is attached to the main clause.

C – Compound Sentence: They express two main ideas/Independent ideas and cannot accommodate a subordinate idea/dependent clause, they are joined by coordinating conjunction or separated by a comma or semi-colon.

C – Compound-Complex Sentence: They express two main ideas and at least one subordinate idea.

M – Multiple Sentence: They may consist of three or more main ideas and two or more subordinate ideas.

NOTE:

The main ideas are also known as Independent Ideas while Subordinate Ideas are also known as Dependent Ideas.