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
The lesson
You already know how to start and end a sentence. Now let's learn that 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.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 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.