A. Defining the term ‘Sentence’1. Formal : A sentence expresses a complete thought2. Notional : A string of words beginning with a capital (upper case) letter and ending

with a full stop (period).3. Grammatical : Combinations of words that conform to certain patterns.

B. Regular, Irregular and non-sentence1. Regular : Sentences that conform to the major patterns.

a) David and Helen have three children.b) The liquid smelled spicy to Justin.c) Some people give their children a daily dose of vitamins.d) About a million visitors come to our city every summer.

2. Irregular : Sentences that do not conform to the major patterns.

Most irregular sentences are fragmentary sentences. These leave out words that we can easily supply, usually from the preceding verbal context. Here is a typical example in an exchange between two speakers:A: Where did you put the letter? B: In the top drawer.

3. Non-sentenceFinally, we often say or write things that are not grammatical sentences. These non-sentences may simply be mistakes. But they may also be perfectly normal, although they cannot be analysed grammatically as sentences. Normal non-sentences include such common expression as

Hello!; Yes ; No ; So long! ; Thanks! ; Cheers! ; and they include many headlines, headings, titles, labels and notices:

Traffic Chaos (newspaper headline)On the Nature of the Model (section heading in book)The Captain and the Kings (title of book)Naming of Parts (title of poem)Pure Lemon JuiceNo Smoking

C. Simple and Multiple SentenceHere are two sentences placed next to each other:[1] The inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties. I was one of them. I can combine the two sentences in [1] merely by putting ‘and’ between them:[2] The inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties, and I was one of them.I can also combine them by putting a connecting word in front of the first sentence:[3] When the inquiry left in its wake a number of casualties, I was one of them.

A sentence or a sentence-like construction contained within a sentence is called a clause . A sentence that does not contain another clause within it is a simple sentence. If it contains one or more clauses, it is a multiple sentence.Here are some more examples of multiple sentences with connecting words:

You can’t insist that your children love each other.The building was emptied before the bomb-disposal squad was called.When we returned three hours later, no wolves were in sight.My father always hoped that I would become a doctor and that must havebeen why he took me along when he visited his patients

D. Sentence typesThere are four major types of sentences:1. Declaratives (or declarative sentences)

She was attracted to an open-air job.The new proposals have galvanized the normally disparate community into apotent fighting force.

2. Interrogatives ( or interrogative sentences)Do you have internet access at home?

Where will you be going for your holiday?3. Imperatives ( or imperative sentences)

Open the door for me.Take a seat.

4. Exclamatives (or exclamative sentences)How well you look!What a good friend you are!

E. Positive and negative sentencesSentences are either positive or negative . If an auxiliary ( ‘helping ’) verb is present, we can usually change a positive sentence into a negative sentence by inserting not or n’t after the auxiliary. In the following examples, the auxiliaries are has, is , and can:

Positive : Nancy has been working here for over a year.Negative : Nancy has not been working here for over a year.Positive : Dan is paying for the meal.Negative : Dan isn’t paying for the meal.Positive :I can tell the difference.Negative :I can’t tell the difference.

A sentence may be negative because of some other negative word:She never had a secretary.Nobody talked to us.This is no ordinary painting.

F. Active and passive sentencesSentences are either active or passive. We can often choose whether to make a sentence active or passive (cf. 4.15). The choice involves differences in position and differences in the form of the verb:

Active : Charles Dickens wrote many novels.Passive : Many novels were written by Charles Dickens.

Here are two further examples of pairs of active and passive sentences:Active : Manchester United beat Liverpool at Old Trafford.Passive : Liverpool were beaten by Manchester United at Old Trafford.Active : The Rambert Dance Company won the country ’s largest arts prize, the Prudential Award.Passive: The country ’s largest arts prize, the Prudential Award, was won by the Rambert Dance Company.

It is sometimes said that a sentence expresses a complete thought. This is a notional definition: it defines a term by the notion or idea it conveys. The diffi-culty with this definition lies in fixing what is

meant by a ‘complete thought’. There are notices, for example, that seem to be complete in themselves but are not generally regarded as sentences: Exit , Danger, 50 mph speed limit.We can try another approach by defining a sentence as a string of words begin-ning with a capital (upper case) letter and ending with a full stop (period). This is a formal definition: it defines a term by the form or shape of what the term refers to.