Download LECTURE 6

LECTURE 6
Major types of sentences
A. declarative
B. interrogative
C. imperative
D. exclamatory
A. declarative sentence - makes a positive or negative statement and ends with a full stop
I love chocolate. // It is not fair.
B. interrogative sentence - asks a question; begins with a question word or an auxiliary verb
such as do/does, will, did, .....
Do you love chocolate? // Who opened the wine I have brought from Italy?
C. imperative sentence - gives command/request/instruction
Give me your phone number. // Don’t shut the door. // Let’s go. Let him do it.
D. exclamatory sentence - shows strong feelings and ends with an exclamation mark
My shoe is on fire! // You are frightening the baby!
Interrogative sentences
A. yes-no questions: Were they surprised?
B. negative yes-no questions: express surprise: Weren’t they surprised?
C. tag questions/question tags: follow a statement and are formed with auxiliaries.
affirmative – negative: Your husband is at home, isn’t he?
negative – affirmative: Your husband isn’t at home, is he?
D. echo tags: responses to an affirmative or negative statement in tag form:
They are leaving for America. Are they?
E. wh-questions: always begin with one of question words. What are you worrying about?
They can be direct, indirect or subject.
F. minor types of questions:
alternative: Would you like to live in Britain or the USA?// Did you bring the tickets, or
didn’t you?
nonfinite: To be or not to be?
verbless: What about your children?
elided/ with ellipsis: Some more wine?
declarative: You will be there?
exclamatory: Isn’t it a nice house?!
rhetorical: asked only for effect with no answer expected: Do you think I am going to
repeat it hundred times?
emphatic questions with “ever“ (and question word): express admiration, concern,
anger: What ever does she see in him?
Imperative sentences/Commands

with subject: You wait here.

with let: Let’s go. Let him do it.

without subject: Stop shouting.

negative commands: Don’t open the parcel.

with modal verbs: You must leave.(!)

verbless: This way! No that way!
Negation in English
is expressed by:
A. Verb negation
B. Negation of other element
Verb negation
inserting the clause negator NOT between the first auxiliary verb/ or the verb to be /or the
stative have and predication.
You need not do it. // They are not at home. // She has not enough money.
If no auxiliary/operator is present in the positive clause, the dummy operator DO is
introduced.
She does not know. // They do not work hard.
Negation of other element
-
negating other element of the clause with “no”, “not” or by using a negative word:
nobody, none, nowhere, never, nothing, neither....nor, hardly, scarcely, barely, rarely,
seldom, little, few
That was no accident. // Nobody was at home. // Nothing happened. // I have never been there.
// He can hardly do any work.
As there is only one negation in English, non-assertive forms with one negative are used: any,
anyone, any longer, anything, anybody, anywhere, ever, at all, either, far long, much,
yet...
I saw nobody. I did not see anybody.
I never said anything to anybody.
Negative expressions can be dissociated to negator not + particle any (it can be a part of a
longer word).
nobody → not anybody
nothing → not anything
no → not any
Other cases of dissociation:
neither....nor → not either...or
never → not ever
I saw neither him nor her.
I did not see either him or her.
Emphasizing negation
by putting a negative or near-negative adverbial or phrase at the very front of the sentence:
hardly ever, rarely, seldom, little, never, not for the first time, no longer...
this usually requires inversion of the subject and operator if the negative negates the
whole clause
Scope of negation
Where we put the negative may affect the meaning:
I don’t like oysters. (particularly)
I. I don’t particularly like oysters.
(But I don’t mind them.)
II. I particularly don’t like oysters.
(I really dislike them.)