Theoretical Grammar of English

The Types of Sentences

There are many approaches to classify sentences. Below we shall consider only some of

2. 
   Ilyish classifies sentences applying two principles:
   

1. 
   types of communication. Applying this principle he distinguishes 3 types of sentences:
   

declarative, interrogative, imperative.

2. 
   according to structure. Applying this principle he distinguishes two main types of sentences: simple and composite.
   

Ch. Fries (31), (32) gives an original classification of types of sentences. All the utterances are divided by him into Communicative and Non-communicative.
The Communicative utterances are in their turn divided into 3 groups:

1. 
   Utterances regularly eliciting “oral” responses only:
   
   1. 
      Greetings. B) Calls. C) Questions.
      
2. 
   Utterances regularly eliciting "action" responses, sometimes accompanied by one of a limited list of oral responses: requests or commands.
   
3. 
   Utterances regularly eliciting conventional signals of attention to continuous discourse statements.
   

L. Barkhudarov (3) compares source (kernel) sentences with their transforms, he distinguishes several types of sentences from their structural view-point. His classification will represent binary oppositions where the unmarked member is the source kernel sentence and marked one is the transformed sentence.
The most important oppositions within the limits of simple sentences are the following

two:

1. 
   Imperative (request) and non-imperative sentences.
   
2. 
   Elliptical and non-elliptical sentences.
   

Summarizing the issue about the classification of sentences in the English language, we

can say that this can be done from different points of view. But the most important criteria so are as follows:

1. 
   the criterion of the structure of sentences
   
2. 
   the criterion of the aim of the speaker
   
3. 
   the criterion of the existence of all parts of the sentence.
   

From the point of view of the first criterion sentences fall under two subtypes: simple and composite.
The difference between them is in the fact that simple sentences have one primary predication in their structure while composite ones have more than one.

According to the criterion of the aim of the speaker sentences fall under declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory.
From the point of view of the existence of all parts of the sentence we differentiate elliptical and non-elliptical sentences.
Below we shall consider these types of sentence.