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2019
GRAMMATICAL UNTS
Clause
It’s a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. A clause can be
distinguished from a phrase, because phrases don’t contain both a subject and a verb
(in the afternoon, drinking from the bowl, etc.). There are 2 main types of clauses:
Sentence
A sentence is a unit of grammar which must contain at least one main clause.
Sentences can be classified on the basis of their syntactic properties. We distinguish
declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences.
1. Declarative Sentences
These are the most straightforward sentence type. They state a fact and
end with a period.
I live here.
My sister doesn’t like chocolate.
2. Interrogative Sentences
These sentences are used to ask questions, and they end with a question
mark. For instance:
Do you agree? (Yes/no interrogatives).
What did you eat? (Open interrogatives or Wh-interrogatives).
3. Imperative Sentences
An imperative sentence is a command or a polite request. It ends with an
exclamation mark or a period.
Go home!
Be careful.
4. Exclamatory Sentences
An exclamatory sentence expresses excitement or emotion. It ends with an
exclamation mark. For example:
What an extraordinary lecturer you are!
What a book he bought!
1. Simple Sentences: the ones formed by only one clause (main clause). For
example:
My aunt likes books.
Marcano, J. 2019