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Kinds of Sentences
Declarative - A declarative
sentence makes a statement.
A declarative sentence ends with
a period.
Example:
The house will be built on a hill.
Interrogative - An interrogative
sentence asks a question.
An interrogative sentence ends
with a question mark.
How did you find the card?
Exclamatory - An exclamatory
sentence shows strange feeling.
An exclamatory sentence ends
with an exclamation mark.
The monster is attacking!
Imperative - An imperative
sentence gives a command.
Cheryl, try the other door.
Sometimes the subject of an
imperative sentence (you) is
understood.
Look in the closet.
(You, look in the closet.)
If a clause can stand alone as a
sentence, it is an independent clause,
as in the following example:
Some clauses, however, cannot stand
alone as sentences: in this case, they
are dependent clause or subordinate
clause Consider the same clause
preceded by the subordinate
conjunction when:
In this case, the clause cannot stand
alone as a sentence since the
conjunction when suggests that the
clause is providing an explanation
for something. As this dependent
clause answers the question when?
just like an adverb does, it is called a
dependent adverb clause (or simply
an adverb clause as adverb clauses
are always dependent clauses). Note
that this clause can replace the
adverb tomorrow in the following
example:
A noun clause takes the place of a
noun in another clause or phrase. A
noun clause may act as the
subject or object of a verb or as the
object of a preposition, answering the
questions who(m)? or what?
Consider the following
examples:
In the first example, the noun Latin
acts as the direct object of the verb
know. In the second example, the
entire clause that Latin . . . is the
direct object.
Noun clauses may function as
indirect questions
The question where are they going?
with a slight change in word order
becomes a noun clause and
acts as the subject of the verb is.
An adjective clause is a dependent
clause that takes the place of an
adjective in another clause or phrase.
Like an adjective, an adjective clause
modifies a noun or pronoun, answering
questions such as which?
or what kind of?
Consider the following examples:
Both the adjective red (in the first
example) and the dependent clause
that I bought yesterday (in the
second example) modify the noun
coat. Note that an adjective clause
generally follows the noun or pronoun
it modifies, while an adjective usually
precedes it.
In formal writing, adjective clauses
begin with the relative pronouns:
who(m), that or which. In informal
writing or speech, you may omit the
relative pronoun when it is not the
subject of the adjective clause.
A relative pronoun is a word that introduces a dependent (or
relative) clause and connects it to an independent clause. A
clause beginning with a relative pronoun is poised to
answer questions such as Which one? How many?
or What kind? Who, whom, what, which, and that are all
relative pronouns.
Relative clauses are also sometimes referred to as adjective
clauses, because they identify or give us additional
information about the subject of the independent clause they
relate to. Like adjectives, these clauses in some way
describe that subject. Relative pronouns, like conjunctions,
are words that join clauses—in this case, a relative clause
to its main clause. The type of relative pronoun used
depends on what kind of noun is being described.
Who: Refers to a person (as the verb’s subject)
Whom: Refers to a person (as the verb’s object)
Which: Refers to an animal or thing
What: Refers to a nonliving thing
That: Refers to a person, animal, or thing
I am not sure whom this book belongs to.
Interpretative dance, which I find a bit disconcerting,
is all the rage.
Is this what you were talking about?
She finally visited the coffee shop that had such great reviews.
It surprises some people to learn that both who and which
can take the possessive form whose. Some will argue that
of which is a better construction when talking about things
rather than people, but this results in unnecessary
awkwardness. The truth is that whose has been widely and
correctly applied to non-humans for hundreds of years.
The house whose owner is on vacation has an unsightly
garden.
The house, the owner of which is on vacation, has an
unsightly garden. (This is correct but cumbersome.)
The term compound relative pronoun sounds complex,
but it really isn’t. Simply put, compound relative pronouns
apply universally to a number of people or things. They
include whoever, whomever, whichever, and whatever.
Whomever you hire will be fine with me.
Whichever train you take from here, you will end at Charing
Cross station.
Carly will be successful at whatever she chooses to do in life.
English Teaching Forum
2006, Volume 44,
Number 2
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