Mubarak Abdessalami

This paper is meant to answer the following questions:

I. What do we mean by a sentence?
II. How many types of sentences are there?
III. How many sentence forms are there?
IV. What are the major constituents of a sentence?
V. What are phrases and clauses?

But not necessarily in this order.

I. What do we mean by a sentence?

A sentence is a grammatical unit that should:
• Be independent [stand alone]
• Make sense.
• Express a single thought
• Have a subject and a verb (see below).
• Start with a CAPITAL LETTER
• End in a full stop (.)

The constituents
The sentence is generally composed of three main constituents notably,

SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

Ali is a doctor
Cats drink milk
Cars have horns

And this is the base form of the simple sentence

II. How many types of sentences are there?

There are three types:
1. The simple sentence
2. The compound sentence
3. The complex sentence

1. The simple sentence

The simple sentence contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought, but it can also
contain a compound subject or verb.
EXAMPLES

• Simple sentence with a Single subject and a single verb

- Leila is playing tennis.

• Simple sentence with a Compound subject

- Ali and Jamal like to watch TV.
 The English Sentence Briefly

• Simple sentence with a Compound verb

Nadia goes to the park and revises her lessons.

2. The compound sentence

The compound sentence is two simple sentences or independent clauses joined together by one of
these conjunction known as «FANBOYS»: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
Examples
 Leila is a doctor. ==> Simple sentence 1
 She works in a local hospital. ==> Simple sentence 2

My sister is a doctor and she works in a local hospital

Leila is Moroccan but she lives in Paris

3. The complex sentence

A complex sentence has at least one main clause (see below) and one or more subordinate
clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or
when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which.
• I read the book (which) you gave me yesterday.
• They jumped into the pool when the referee whistles.
• She didn’t do well at the test because she was sick.
• Since there is no milk left in the fridge, let’s buy some.
Additionally, the sentences containing relative or adjective clauses are complex.

III. How many sentence forms are there?

The flexibility of language styles makes it possible to use different forms to express oneself in
different ways depending on what you want to say and how you want to say it. So …
A. Those sentences looking for answers take the form of questions and always end in a question mark.
We call them …
Interrogative (?)
Examples
o What’s your name?
o How many books have you read so far?
o Will you close the window please?
o How much does the jacket cost?
o Did Leila invite you to her wedding party?
o It is very cold outside, isn’t it?
o How often do you connect to the Internet?
o Have you finished reading this yet?

B. Those which give direct orders, commands or advice and also often express prohibition. We call
them …
Imperative
Examples
o You must call the police right now.
o You should respect the elderly.
o Bring it up here.
o You can’t park your car here.

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 The English Sentence Briefly

o You aren’t allowed to smoke in public places.

o Stand up.

C. Those which show that we are astonished or surprised and always end in an exclamation mark We
simply call them …
Exclamatory (!)
Examples
o What a wonderful move!
o That’s amazing!
o How delicious couscous is!
o That little boy solved the problem!

D. But those which state facts, arguments or indirect questions We call them …
Declarative (:)
Examples
o Rabat is the capital city of Morocco.
o Water is a liquid.
o I always thought that love is sacred.
o She wanted to know how old I was.

E. But those which discuss factual implications or hypothetical situations and their consequences are
called
Conditional
Examples
• If I have enough money, I'll buy a Smartphone.
• If he were a bird, the hunter would shoot him.
• If you had asked them, they would have helped you.

All of them could be Affirmative or Negative (see more details below).

IV. What are the major constituents of a sentence?

Some sentences are composed of many phrases and clauses. They are parts of the sentence and they
rarely work independently.

The Phrase
A phrase is a fragment that consists of more than a word and it conveys no meaning by itself as it
lacks the subject.
There are many sorts of phrases:
 Adpositional phrase
 Postpositional phrase
 Prepositional phrase
 Noun phrase
 Pronominal phrase
 Verb phrase
 Phrasal verbs

The Clause
Some sentences could contain more than one clause. They are two types:
a. MAIN CLAUSE: Independent clause

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 The English Sentence Briefly

b. SUBORDONATE CLAUSE: Depends on the main clause

EXAMPLE:
I feel tired because I work hard.
While I was taking a walk, I came across my primary school teacher.
 I came across my primary school teacher can be a whole sentence. So It is the main clause.
 While I was taking a walk is subordinate to the main clause. You notice That its meaning isn’t
complete. It depends on what the main clause says.

There are several sorts of clauses

01. Relative clause (With relative pronouns)
These are the most frequently used either in writing or in speaking. They are introduced by:
Who / whom / whose / which / that
EXAMPLES
• The boy who solved the problem is my nephew.
• The man whom you were talking to for a while is his father.
• The lady whose eyes are blue is his mother.
• The briefcase which is over there is not yours.

And « that » replaces « who », « which » and often « whom » in many situations and it is mostly used
in Spoken English.
Relative clauses can be restrictive or non-restrictive. Restrictive ones take commas but the non-
restrictive don’t.

02. Relative clause (With relative adverbs)

These are also used so often and they are introduced by:
when where why
EXAMPLES
• We visited the house where Shakespeare was born.
• This is the reason why she wanted to go to Stratford.
• She went there in the day when the house was being mended.

03. Coordinate clauses

These are usually in pairs and they are subordinated one to the other by:
and but or
- I will cook dinner and she will do the washing up.
(1) (2)
- Ali speaks four languages but Nadia speaks only one.
(1) (2)
- I will revise my lessons or I will do my homework.
(1) (2)

04. Existential clauses

These types of clauses are mostly used in stories. It indicates a true to life or imaginary existence of a
person or a thing.
Its form is always:
THERE + was/were + noun clause

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 The English Sentence Briefly

EXAMPLES
• There was a beautiful little princess…
• There were some huge ugly giants…
The existential clause is often used to invite readers to make some interpretations.

05. Nominal clause

Is a subordinate clause that functions as a noun phrase.
• I think that it’s alright.
• From where he is, he could see the match.
N.B: A complement clause is a nominal clause.

06. If – clause
It is used in conditional sentence, and it is three types
Type I (probable)
If I have money, I’ll help the poor (I‘ll => I will)
If he has money, he’ll buy a luxurious car (he‘ll => he will)
If they work hard, they‘ll succeed. (they‘ll => they will)
If you call her at night, she won’t answer. (won’t => will not)

Type II (unreal)
If I had wings, you‘d fly high in the sky (‘d => would)
If I were you, I’d revise my lessons regularly
If she made a mistake, she’d admit it

Type III (impossible)

If you had invited her, she would have come.
If they had bought that car, they would have regretted it.
If we had been warned, we would have taken measures

Some other clauses

07. Finite clause is used with a finite verb
08. Nonfinite clause is used with a nonfinite verb like the infinitive.
09. Medial clause or non-final clause is distinguished in a clause chain
10. Reference clause where the subject is an argument
11. Equative clause | e.g. She is young / she = young
12. Final clause is a distinguished clause in a clause chain

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The Subject
The subject is who or what the sentence is talking about, usually a noun or pronoun like in these
sentences
 Ali is a Moroccan student
 I am working on the computer.
 A sentence is a group of words…
 They live next to the bank.

The Verb

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 The English Sentence Briefly

The verb tells what the subject "is" or "does".

 Ali is a Moroccan student.
 I am working on the computer.
 The cat drinks milk.
 They live next to the bank.
 We are fine.

There are generally two sorts of verbs

 Transitive verb has an object or two: I play football. | She gives him a present
 Intransitive verb doesn't have an object: They swim.

N.B: Some verbs can be transitive and intransitive, and they are referred to as ergative:
1. He smokes a cigarette.
2. He smokes.

The verb can be one of a series of categories among which there are
- Ambitransitive verbs
- Ditransitive verbs
- Inchoative or Inceptive verbs
- Stative vs dynamic verbs
- Causative verbs
- Ergative verbs
- Hot, light or empty verbs
- Catenative verbs.

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