| The Structure of English Language — Sentence Types |
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Back to grammar index | back to grammar introduction Tag questions | exclamatory questions | rhetorical questions | directives | echoes | special or minor sentence types Tag questionsHere a statement is turned into a question, with an interrogative tag at the end. Tags are typical of speech where the speaker changes the function of the sentence in mid-utterance:
Exclamatory questionsHere the structure is that of a question, but the meaning (indicated in speech by intonation) equates to an exclamation:
Rhetorical questionsAgain the structure is that of a question, but the speaker (or writer) expects no answer. They are used as emphatic statements:
DirectivesThese are akin to imperatives, but include related functions of instruction, direction and so on. They include: commanding, inviting, warning, pleading, suggesting, advising, permitting, requesting, meditating, expressing wish or imprecation. Many of these sentence types use the verbs let and do in non-standard ways:
EchoesThese are sentences of a special kind, which reflect the structure of a preceding sentence from a different speaker in a language interaction (usually conversation):
Special or minor sentence typesSome unusual types of sentence cannot be analysed in a regular way. They are found in particular kinds of text and discourse - some are common in real speech or fictional dialogue, while others are found in such things as headlines or slogans, where a message is presented as a block of text. They do not follow all the rules of normal grammar, such as verb agreement. Among the types are:
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