Four Types of Sentences
Understand and use the four sentence types (statement, question, exclamation, and command), recognising how grammatical patterns indicate sentence function
What a learner can do afterwards
- Write or identify a statement, question, exclamation, and command from a set of sentences
- Match each sentence type to its correct end punctuation mark
- Transform a statement into a question or command on request
1 · Read
You already know how to start and end a sentence. Sentences can do four different jobs. Each job gets its own end mark.
'The sky is blue.' This sentence tells you something. It is a statement, and it ends with a period. 'Are you hungry?' This sentence asks something. It is a question, and it ends with a question mark.
'Watch out!' This sentence shows strong feeling. It is an exclamation, and it ends with an exclamation mark. 'Eat your dinner.' This sentence orders someone to do something. It is a command.
To find the type fast, ask yourself: does it tell, ask, feel, or order? Then check the mark waiting at the end.
Four jobs, four marks: statement tells with a period, question asks with a question mark, exclamation shouts with an exclamation mark, and command orders, usually with a period.
More to read
Declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences
There are four kinds of sentences: statements, questions, exclamations, and commands.
A statement tells us something. It ends with a period. Example: I made a new kind of ice cream. I call it chocolate chip.
A question asks something. It ends with a question mark. Example: Do you want to try some?
An exclamation shows big feelings, like excitement or surprise. It ends with an exclamation point. Example: This ice cream is amazing!
A command tells someone to do something. It usually ends with a period, but it can end with an exclamation point too. Example: Go on, try it!
Sometimes a command does not say who should do the action out loud. That is okay. We still know it means you, the person listening.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.