the sentence by eguriase s. m. okaka

THE SENTENCE

By Eguriase S. M. Okaka A sentence is a group of words that begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. It must have a subject and a verb it must express a complete thought. Once again, a sentence is a group of words that make a complete sense. That is it must convey a message or expresses an ideology. In this write up, we will be reviewing the various types of sentences and their functions in the English language.

The examples above state an idea or a fact. This is why we also refer to the declarative sentences as statement. Declarative sentences are essay and letter. A declarative sentence can be positive or negative. Examples • The man is responsible. (positive) • The man is not responsible. (negative) Exercise 1 Use the words in each of the following to create declarative sentences and identify the subject and the verb. The first one has been done for you. 1. The station, Wednesday, parked, David, the car on, beside Sample answer: David (subject) parked (verb) the car beside the station on Wednesday. 2. Bishop, the service, will, conduct, the 3. Dangerous, is, butter, rancid 4. Republic, the, elected, Congo, has, President, their of 5. An, source, is, the, Sun, important, of, energy, 6. Not guilty, was, the, found, accountant, Exercise 2 With your partner, provide about ten declarative sentences on any of the following topics given to you by your teacher. After the exercise, you will read out your expressions in class. You should add about four negative forms. • Examination • Junk • Homework • Space • Food • Drugs • pop • pocket • fashion • music • money • friendship Imperative sentences Imperative sentences also end with a full stop. While the declarative sentence delays the subject and the verb, imperative sentence usually begins with the imperative verb and the subject (you) is implied, not stated. Examples • behave yourself. (verb) • Sit down there. • Do not touch the chemical. The examples express some functions of imperative sentences. They can express order or command, advice, invitation, request and instruction. In addition, they may be in the negative form. Note: Advertisers are not the only people that use imperatives. Those who create notices and signs use them too. Examples • Drive slowly. • Quiet, examination in progress. You should not forget that we can use imperatives with please especially when making a request. Examples • Please pass the serviette. The underlined word pass is an imperative verb. • Return the books by Friday please. The underlined word return is an imperative verb. Some of you will have noticed that the advertisers use imperative sentences. Examples • Crab your copy now. • Buy one, get one free. Exercise 1 Indicate what each of the following is expressing. An example has been done for you. Example: Add some salt after ten minutes. (instruction) • Write a letter of apology. • Take a spoonful after every meal. • Fast and pray for seven days. • Be quiet. • Come party with us. • Have some cookies. • Don’t take chances. • Measure a liter of oil and mix with the reagent. • Sign here. • Call Muyiwa and apologise. Exercise 2 Produce an advertisement of any product of your choice using these verbs. • Use • Take • Buy • Trust • Make Exercise 3 Work with a partner. In not more than five minutes, create a manual for any gadget of your choice using imperatives to instruct, warn and advise the consumer on how to use it. Your teacher will time you. Exclamatory sentences Exclamatory sentences convey emotions and end in an exclamation mark (!). Some of the emotions expressed include enthusiasm, happiness frustration, alarm and confusion. Note that an exclamatory sentence can be made from a declarative sentence when we do the following: • Fill it with emotion through intonation (rising and falling). • End it with an exclamation. Examples • The Johnson brothers won a billion dollars! • Great, the robbers have been caught! Also note that imperative sentences can be made exclamatory. Examples • Sit down now! • Get out! Exclamatory sentences should be used with caution. You should not use many in your writing. You need them only to emphasize a few points. It is for this reason that we do not find them in formal writing. Many exclamatory sentences begin with wh expressions: what and how: Examples • What a wonderful day! • How delightful! It is wrong to use two exclamation marks in a sentence. You cannot have: ‘Oh! It is a diamond ring! It should be: ‘Oh, it is a diamond ring! Some exclamatory words can actually stand alone. For example, we can have Great!, Terrible! Exercise 1 Indicate the expression conveyed in each of the following exclamatory sentences. Pick the options from the box. An example has been done for you. • Confusion • Love • Shock • Surprise • Anger • Sadness • Alarm Examples: Move away from the fire! (alarm) 1. Oh, I didn’t know you could sing so well! 2. Our team lost the game! 3. I didn’t understand a word of what Mr. Justin said! 4. Mrs. Malawi had twins! 5. We love this game! 6. Musa left the bulk of the work for me! 7. Oh, what would I do without chocolate! 8. She failed the test! 9. Help us! 10. Oh, what an ambitious little girl! Exercise 3 Write exclamatory sentences using following exclamatory words: • Bravo • Ouch • Incredible • Humble • Awesome • Oh God Conditional sentences Another name for conditional sentences is the if-clause or conditional clause. The conditional sentence describes the relationship between two events or activities. It is a complex sentence in which the relationship between the action in the main clause and of the subordinate clause depends on each other. Recall that a main clause is a full sentence that can stand on its own while the subordinate clause is not complete.

In the sentence above, situation 1 must occur before situation 2 can occur. We can therefore say that the if (subordinate) clause shows the possibility while the second clause (main) clause conveys the result. Remember that the subordinate clause can be in the beginning or the second part of the complex sentence. It must be separated by a comma if it begins a complex sentence. Types of Conditional sentences

The first conditional sentence is used for future real possibility. The condition may be fulfilled, so the result is possible.

The second conditional sentence expresses an unreal or unlikely situation in the future or a wish for the future. However, we use the past tense.

Past conditional sentences express past events that have occurred. So, there is no possibility or likelihood expressed. We use could have, might have and would have with –en (past participle / perfective) verbs. You can use ‘had known’ also. Example The woman could have written the letter if she had been around. Exercise 1 Complete the following using the appropriate verb tense form for the type of conditional sentence indicated. • If you ---------------- the codes --------------------. (unreal) • You ------------------- fit if --------------------------. (real) • I ---------------------- (climb) the mountain ---------------------. (unreal) • You ------------------ a million dollars, if ---------------------. (real) • Aliu ------------------ (not but) the car, if ---------------------. (unreal) • If Ikanga ----------------- a rock scientist, he ----------------. (real) • You ………………………………….. home early if ---------------------. (real) • If Tom ----------------------engineering -----------------------. (unreal) • It she --------------------- your child -------------------- . (unreal) • What --------------------------- you do if ---------------------------. (unreal) Exercise 2 Complete the following using the verbs in the brackets correctly. • Had he ----------------- (know), he --------------------- (go) there. • She ---------------------- (miss) them if she had ----------------- (take) that route. • If you ----------------------- tell me, I --------------------- (not break) the glass. • If they ----------------------- (forget), we -------------------- (receive) the prize. • Had I --------------------------- (know), I ----------------------- (fly) straight to Paris. By Eguriase S. M. Okaka