SENTENCE
A sentence is a group of words
that makes a complete thought.
It begins with a capital letter
and ends with a full stop,
question mark or an
exclamation mark.
Sentence always contains a finite
verb.
A sentence must contain a
subject and a predicate.
Subject is the noun or pronoun
thgat a sentence talks about.
E.g
Adwoa is very intelligent.
Again, a subject is the doer
or performer of an action.
E.g
Jojo kicked the ball.
Predicate is the telling part of a
sentence.
E.g
Adwoa is very intelligent.
Who is Adwoa?
Again, predicate explains the
subject.
E.g
Adwoa is very intelligent.
Who is Adwoa?
Types
A sentence can be classified
according to the way it is
constructed and according to
the type of statement it makes.
When a sentence is classified
according to their construction
or in terms of number of
clauses used, then a sentence
may be considered as:
Simple sentence
Compound sentence
Complex sentence
Compound-complex sentence
Simple sentence has only one
main clause, and it talks about
an idea.
Examples
Trees grow.
Smoke rises.
Ama is very pretty.
The school team won all their
games.
A compound sentence consists
of two (or more) independent
clauses or simple sentences, and it
is joined by a coordinating
conjunction or a semicolon.
NB:
A coordinating conjunction joins
words or phrases with equal
grammatical weight.
Examples of coordinating conjunction
F or
A nd
N or
B ut
Or
Y et
So
Examples of compound sentence
Our car broke down; we came last.
Serwaa loves dancing, and Jojo loves
football.
Audrey’s dress is beautiful, but it is
too small for her.
Examples
IB Arthur learners study hard, so they
get good grades.
Denoria felt cold, for it was raining.
Lyzbeth has known Michael for a long
time, yet she has never understood
him.
Examples
Adelaide never wrote the letter, nor
did she call her.
Jeanelle can go to the cinema, or she
can go to her swimming class.
Nii fell; he got up quickly.
A complex sentence contains
one main clause and one or
more subordinate clause.
NB:
If a complex sentence begins
with a subordinate clause, there
should be a comma after the
subordinate clause.
NB:
However, if it begins with a
main clause, comma is not
needed.
Examples
If it does not rain, I will go to
Accra.
Nana missed the bus because he
was late.
Lemuel played the piano while his
brother played the flute.
A compound-complex sentence
contains two main clauses and
one or more subordinate
clause.
Examples
Jessica forgot Adwoa’s birthday, so
she sent her a gift when she finally
remembered.
Florence cried when her money
got missing, but she later found it.
Examples
Nana Adwoa cried because my ball
hit her, and I immediately
apologized.
Asheley would have purchased the
sneakers that she likes, but it was
too expensive.
Examples
Nayla explained how cookies are
made, and we practiced her
techniques at home.
Sir Lovely left in a hurry after Jenny
called, but he came back a few
hours later.
Functional types of sentence
Functional type of a sentence
brings to mind the role a
sentence is being played – be it
a statement, a question, a
command, or a request.
Declarative sentence / statement
Interrogative sentence / question
Imperative sentence / command
Exclamatory sentence
A declarative sentence
establishes a fact, an opinion,
an observation, or an
explanation. It ends with a
period.
Examples
James loves reading.
Kwame is in the class.
Dogs bark.
Interrogative sentence asks a
question.
It ends with a question mark.
Examples
What is your next class?
Did you see the fireworks last
night?
Exclamatory sentence expresses
strong emotion, surprise or
gratitude.
Examples
Wow, that was an interesting
trip!
What a pretty lady she is!
What an exciting movie it was!
Imperative sentence expresses
a command, an order, an
advice, an instruction or a
request.
NB:
The subject of an imperative
sentence is often not stated. That
is, it mostly has a covert subject. It
could be a one word sentence
since it gives a command.
Examples
Please, type these notes and then
email me a copy.
Submit your project in the next
hour.
Come !
Thanks, guys!
This is the end of our
discussion.
Punctuations await us.