Sentence Types

A Way of Thinking

“A sentence should be alive…sentences need energy to make

the meaning jump off the page and into the reader’s hand…”

~Peter Elbow, Writing with Power

Four Types of SentencesPHG pg 438

1. A declarative sentence states an idea and ends with a period.

Space travel is very exciting.

2. An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark.

Which planet is closest to Earth?

3. An imperative sentence gives an order or a direction and ends with a period or an

exclamation mark.

Follow the directions carefully.

Wait for me!

4. An exclamatory sentence conveys strong emotion and ends with an exclamation

mark.

She’s not telling the truth!

To be a sentence or not to be….

A sentence must have a subject and a verb to be considered a sentence!

Error #1

The Fragment

• A fragment is not a sentence

• It is missing a subject or a verb

Student Error

When I was five. I had a Chuckie doll. I would scare everybody with Chuckie.

Chuckie was about two feet, had orange hair, little red and white shoes, overalls, and a plastic knife. I replaced the plastic knife with a real knife. To make Chuckie look more like the real thing. From the

kitchen drawer. Like a mini-butcher knife. I super glued it in Chuckie’s hand. Ready

for business.

What was the problem?

Many of the sentences did not make sense because they were either lacking the right

punctuation, or they were missing a subject or a verb.

Two-Word Sentences

1. Write a sentence. 1. How did you know that was a sentence?

2. What made it a sentence?

2. Why is it so hard to identify sentences on tests?

1. It’s NOT! To be a simple sentence, it must have a subject and a verb. That’s it!

Mentor Text

They race.~Jerry Spinelli, Loser

Mat winces.

Maria flinched.

Matt froze.

Matt nodded.~Nancy Farmer, House of Scorpions

Powerful Words, Powerful Verbs

1. Remembering your knowledge of word choice, create five of your own two-word sentences.

Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence is created when two or more independent clauses are joined

together without the proper punctuation or connectors.

Student Error

Something that makes me happy is my friend Destiny she doesn’t try to act all

cool and she is just goofy like when she dances she don’t care about what nobody

says and she just dances and doesn’t worry so she is a lot of fun to hang with

because she makes me laugh and we can go to Ingram Park mall and cruise around.

What is the problem?

1. One sentence – is that possible??

2. The writing sounds breathless

3. All the ideas run together

How is a run-on fixed?

1. Add in a comma and a FANBOYS

2. Use a semi-colon (;)

3. Add in some punctuation (. ? ! )

4. Re-write the paragraph and fix the errors. Try to use each method as least once.

Dependent vs. Independent

To be a sentence, it must pass the sentence test. (subject and a verb)

They handle the BB gun carelessly, trading it back and forth, each slinging the barrel over his shoulder like a hunter in a frontier television show. (p.1, Winter Birds)

1. They handle the BB gun carelessly.1. Subject? Verb?2. It is a clause that is independent because it stands on its own

2. Trading it back and forth1. Subject? Verb?2. It is a clause that is dependent on a sentence – it just needs a

comma to connect it

Sentence Closer

Core sentence + additions attached and grouped with commas

Independent clause + dependents

Sentence , Closer .

Practice

Create your own sentence following the mentor text as your example.