We can all speak and understand each other; do we need to investigate how?

Chapter 3 COMMUNICATIVE TYPES OF SENTENCES

The sentence is a minimal unit of communication. From the viewpoint of their role in the process of communication sentences are divided into four types, grammatically marked: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory sentences. These types differ in the aim of communication and express statements, questions, commands and exclamations respectively

These types are usually applied to simple sentences. In a complex sentence the communicative type depends upon that of the main clause, as in:

I waited till the light turned to green. (statement)

Do you always wait till the light turns to green? (question)
Wait till the light turns to green. (command)
How thoughtless of you not to have waited till the light turned to green! (exclamation)

3.1 Declarative sentences

A declarative sentence contains a statement which gives the reader or the listener some information about various events, activities or attitudes, thoughts and feelings. Statements form the bulk of monological speech, and the greater part of conversation. A statement may be positive (affirmative) or negative, as in:

I have just come back from a business trip.

I haven’t seen my sister yet.

Grammatically, statements are characterized by the subject-predicate structure with the direct order of words. They are mostly two-member sentences, although they may be one-member sentences, as in:

Very early morning.

Statements usually have a falling tone; they are marked by a pause in speaking and by a full stop in writing.
In conversation, statements are often structurally incomplete, especially when they serve as a response to a question asking for some information, and the response conveys the most important idea.

Where are you going? - To the library.

3.2 Interrogative sentences

Interrogative sentences contain questions. Their communicative function consists in asking for information. They belong to the sphere of conversation and only occasionally occur in monological speech.

All varieties of questions may be structurally reduced to two main types, general questions (also called “yes-no” questions) and pronominal questions (otherwise called “special” or “wh” - questions). Both are graphically identified by a question mark. The two main types have a number of structural and communicative modifications.