English Grammar - Types Of Sentences (Assertive or Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamatory and Operative Sentences)

TYPE OF SENTENCES

In English we have different types of sentences. Each type is used for a specific purpose. There are four main type of sentence.

1. Declarative Or Assertive Sentences
2. Interrogative Sentences
3. Imperative Sentences
4. Exclamatory Sentences
5. Operative Sentences

1. Declarative Or Assertive Sentences:
are sentences that declare, state or assert a fact or opinion.

• They are generally called statements.
• These sentences always give information.
• They always end with a period or full stop (.) .
• They can be affirmative or negative. 

Affirmative Sentences:
Simple positive sentences are called affirmative or assertive sentences.
For Example:

1. I'm tired. (Declarative affirmative)
2. Raheel is hungry. (Declarative affirmative)
3. I have four pencils. (Declarative affirmative)

Negative Sentences:
are sentences which tells that something is false or incorrect.
Rules: There are three ways to form negative sentences.

• Affirmative sentences have auxiliaries or helping verbs (i.e. am, is are, was, were, has, have, had, shall, should, will, would, can, could, may, might, can, could etc.), are changed into negative by adding word 'not' after helping verbs.
• Affirmative sentences in the simple present tense are changed into negatives by putting do not (for singular verb ended without 's' or 'es') or does not before the verb (for plural verb ended with 's' or 'es') and change verb into singular form.
• Affirmative sentences in the simple past tense are changed into negatives by putting did not before the verb and verb changes into first form.
• Negative sentence contains a negative word like not, never, no, no one, nobody, none etc.

For Example:

1. I'm not tired. (Declarative negative)
2. Raheel isn't hungry. (Declarative negative)
3. I don't have four pencils. (Declarative negative)

2. Interrogative Sentences
are what we call question forms and are used to make inquires, to confirm information, and so on.

• They can be affirmative or negative.
• It ends in a question mark (?).
  
• Assertive sentences with helping verbs can be changed into interrogative sentences by starting a sentence with given helping verb.
• Affirmative sentences in the simple present tense are changed into interrogative by starting a sentence with 'Do' (for sentence with singular verb ended without 's' or 'es') or 'Does' (for sentence with plural verb ended with 's' or 'es') and change verb into singular form.
• Affirmative sentences in the simple past tense are changed into interrogative by starting a sentence with 'Did' and verb changes into first form.
• All 'Wh' (what, who, how, where, whom etc) sentences are interrogative sentences.

For example:

1. Are you hungry? (Interrogative affirmative)
2. Did you do your homework? (Interrogative affirmative)
3. Have you washed the dishes? (Interrogative affirmative)
4. Aren't you hungry? (Interrogative negative)
5. Didn't you do your homework? (Interrogative negative)
6. Haven't you washed the dishes as yet? (Interrogative negative)

3. Imperative Sentences:
Sentences that give a direct commands or makes a request or called imperative sentences.

• These sentences always start with first form of verb.
• ends with a period or full stop (.) o.
• Imperative sentences do not contain subjects because it is the listener or the audience (probably it is "you" ).

For example:

1. Don’t drink it.
2. Please pass the salt.
3. Turn left from here.
4. Get out of my way.

4. Exclamatory Sentences:
These sentences express strong feelings or conveys strong emotion or excitement, such as surprise, wonder, pity, sympathy, happiness, or gratitude.

• Exclamatory sentences ends with a exclamation marks.
• Some exclamatory sentences also begin with  what or how. For example, “What big ears you have!”, “How lovely you are!”, etc.
• Some exclamatory sentences also begin with interrogative adjectives what or how.
  
• Some exclamatory sentences also begin with exclamatory words with exclamatory sign, such as: Alas!, Hurrah!, Ouch!, Oh!, Wow!, Bravo!, etc.

For example:

1.  I love this movie!
2. What big ears you have!
3. How lovely you are!
4. What a shame!
5. Hurrah! we have won the match.

5. Operative  Sentences:
Sentences which express wish, desire, prayer or curse to some one are called Operative OrOptative sentences.
For example:

1. Wish you all the best.
2. May your dreams come true.
3. long live Pakistan.

Do as Directed:
1. Aslam has broken my pen. (Negative)
Ans: Aslam has not broken my pen.

2. The girl sews clothes. (Negative)
Ans: The girl does not sew clothes.

3. We went home by bus. (Negative)
Ans: We did not go home by bus.

4. She walks in the garden. (Negative)
Ans: She does not walk in the garden.

5. He passed his examination. (Negative)
Ans: He did not pass his examination.

6. They will tell us a story. (Negative)
Ans: They will not tell us a story.

7. I sent him a reply. (Interrogative)
Ans: Did I send him a reply?

8. The dog did not bark at night. (Interrogative)
Ans: Did The dog not bark at night?

9. He does his duty honestly. (Interrogative)
Ans: Does He do his duty honestly?

10. It is not very warm day. (Interrogative)
Ans: Is it not very warm day?

11. We shall buy a car tomorrow. (Interrogative)
Ans: Shall we buy a car tomorrow?

12: The doctor did not test my eyes. (Interrogative)
Ans: Did the doctor not test my eyes?

13. You do not go there. (Affirmative)
Ans: You go there.

14. He will not help me. (Assertive)
Ans: He will help me.

15. She did not see you. (Affirmative)
Ans: She saw you.

16. Amna does not read a book. (Assertive)
Ans: Amna reads a book.

17. They will not punish us. (Affirmative)
Ans: They will punish us.

18. Sana did not clean her teeth. (Assertive)
Ans: Sana cleaned her teeth.

19. Do you know my name? (Affirmative)
Ans: You know my name.

20. Do you not know my name? (Assertive)
Ans: You do not know my name?

21. Had she prepared tea for you? (Affirmative)
Ans: She had prepared tea for you.

22. Will he not go to school? (Assertive)
Ans: He will go to school.

23. Does Ali eat rice daily? (Affirmative)
Ans: Ali eats rice daily?

24. Was it not raining yesterday? (Assertive)
Ans: It was raining yesterday.