43b Sentence purposes

Writers use declarative sentences to make statements, imperative sentences to issue requests or commands, interrogative sentences to ask questions, and exclamatory sentences to make exclamations.

DECLARATIVE

The echo sounded in our ears.

IMPERATIVE

Love your neighbor.

INTERROGATIVE

Did the better team win tonight?

EXCLAMATORY

We’re here to save you!

Exercise 43–1

Identify the following sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. Identify the subordinate clauses and classify them according to their function: adjective, adverb, or noun. (See 42e.) Answers appear in the back of the book.

The sentence reads, ‘The deli in Courthouse Square was crowded with lawyers at lunchtime.’ The sentence is annotated as (simple).

1. Fires that are ignited in dry areas spread especially quickly.

2. The early Incas were advanced; they used a calendar and developed a decimal system.

3. Elaine’s jacket was too thin to block the wintry air.

4. Before we leave for the station, we always check the Amtrak website.

5. Decide when you want to leave, and I will be there to pick you up.