Interchange of Sentence Kinds

What is Sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought, starts with a capital letter, and ends with a punctuation mark like a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

It must contain a subject and a verb and can be a statement, question, command, or exclamation. 

Structure: A sentence typically includes a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is or does).

Punctuation: It begins with a capital letter and ends with a terminal punctuation mark.

Completeness: A sentence expresses a complete idea, unlike a phrase, which is a group of related words that does not express a full thought.

Purpose: Sentences are the fundamental units of communication used to share ideas and information in both written and spoken language.

Legal context: In law, a "sentence" is the punishment given by a court to a person found guilty of a crime. 

Types of Sentence

There are two main ways to classify sentences: by their function (Assertive/declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory) and by their structure (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex).

Sentences classified by function are based on purpose: declarative (statement), interrogative (question), imperative (command/request), and exclamatory (strong emotion).

Sentences classified by structure are based on the number and type of clauses they contain. 

By function

Declarative: Makes a statement and ends with a period.

Example: The sky is blue.

Interrogative: Asks a question and ends with a question mark.

Example: What time is it?

Imperative: Gives a command or makes a request and can end with a period or an exclamation mark.

Example: Please close the door. Or Please Stop!

Exclamatory: Expresses strong emotion and ends with an exclamation mark.

Example: That's amazing! 

By structure

Simple: Contains one independent clause.

Example: The cat slept.

Compound: Contains two or more independent clauses.

Example: The cat slept, and the dog played.

Complex: Contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Example: The dog barked because the cat woke up.

Compound-Complex: Contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Example: The dog barked because the cat woke up, and the cat meowed loudly. 

 

Converting sentence types involves changing a sentence's form to alter its function, such as turning a statement into a question or command, without changing its core meaning or tense. 

Interchanging sentence kinds involves changing their function by altering word order, adding helping verbs, or changing punctuation.

An assertive sentence (a statement) can become an interrogative sentence (a question) by inverting the subject and verb.

An assertive statement can be transformed into an exclamatory sentence by adding "how" or "what" to express strong emotion.

An imperative sentence (a command) can be changed to an assertive one, often by adding "you should". 

Common conversions include changing a declarative sentence to an interrogative one by moving the verb, or changing an imperative sentence to a declarative one by adding the subject "you". 

Other transformations involve changing sentence structure (simple, compound, complex) or changing a sentence from affirmative to negative.