Sentence Attitudes

Sentence Attitudes

by Carol Moe

​Sentence Classifications

• ​In English and Spanish, sentences can be classified notionally by the idea of or reason for the sentence.

• ​These characterizations are related to Verbal Moods.

​English recognizes 4 types.

​1. Declarative (statement) - You are very careful.

​2. Imperative (command) - Be very careful.

​3. Exclamatory (exclamation) - How careful you are!

​4. Interrogative (question) - Are you very careful?

​

Poll

Poll: How familiar are you with the sentence types?

• I am unfamiliar with one or more of the words: declarative, imperative, exclamatory or interrogative.

• I am familiar with most or all of the words, but I'm not sure I could identify sentences.

• I am familiar with most or all of the words, but I don't think I could consistently (80%+) identify sentences.

• I know the sentence types and how to recognize them.

Open Ended

Describe a way you can tell one or more of these types of sentences apart - ​

1. Declarative (statement) - You are very careful.

​2. Imperative (command) - Be very careful.

​3. Exclamatory (exclamation) - How careful you are!

​4. Interrogative (question) - Are you very careful?

​English recognizes 4 types.

​1. Declarative (statement) - You are very careful.

​2. Imperative (command) - Be very careful.

​3. Exclamatory (exclamation) - How careful you are!

​4. Interrogative (question) - Are you very careful?

​

​In terms of form, you can notice that a declarative sentence usually begins with the subject, the imperative with the command mood of the verb, the interrogative with an operator. The exclamatory usually ends with an exclamation point and the interrogative a question mark.

​Spanish recognizes 6 or more types of sentences.

​1. Enunciativa (aseverativa) (Enunciado [Aseveración]) - Hace calor.

​2. Interrogativa (pregunta) - ¿Qué pasó?

​3. Desiderativa (deseo) - ¡Ojalá llegue a tiempo! ¡Qué bien que hoy fuera viernes!

​4. Dubitativa (potencial) (duda) - Tal vez sea cierto.

​5. Exclamativa (admirativa) (Exclamación, Emoción) - ¡Qué bueno es!

​6. Exhortativa (Exhortación: Mandato/Orden, Ruego)

​ (exhortativa de mandao): ¡Cállense!

​ (exhortativa de ruego): ¡Pase, por favor!

​Information from Ayres, G. (2001). English Grammar and Spanish Grammar.  Ms.  Inter American University. 

​Statements (Aseveraciones)

• ​Convey information

• ​Verb mood is indicative, conditional, (or subj. in English, but not in Spanish).

• ​In English, usually have a subject which is usually before the verb.

Multiple Choice

Choose the declarative sentence.

• How I'd like to have been there!

• What makes you think that?

• He looked at Marian again.

• Watch your step!

Multiple Choice

Elija la oración aseverativa. (declarative)

• ¡Fuego!

• Ya son las cinco.

• ¡Dime la verdad!

• ¿Cuántas veces ha venido?

​Commands (Exhortaciones)

• ​Suggestions, requests, or orders

• ​Verb in imperative mood!

• ​Compare negation:

  • ​You aren't noisy. (declarative)

  • ​Don't be noisy. (imperative)

• ​Subject usually (implied) you, but there are exceptions. - Don't anyone leave!

• ​In Spanish, negated verbs are in subjunctive.

• ​In Spanish, infinitives may be used - ¡A callar todos! or Favor (de) llamar pronto.

• ​In Spanish, pronouns can be attached to positive imperative verbs but they precede negated verbs. Dímelo but No me lo digas.

Multiple Choice

Choose the imperative sentence.

• How I'd like to have been there!

• What makes you think that?

• He looked at Marian again.

• Watch your step!

Multiple Choice

Elija la oración exhortativa. (command)

• ¡Fuego!

• Ya son las cinco.

• ¡Dime la verdad!

• ¿Cuántas veces ha venido?

​Exclamations (Exclamaciones)

• ​"Abrupt, forceful utterances expressing surprise or some other excited emotional state."

• ​In English, usually ends with an exclamation point, but commands can only have !.

• ​Often begin with question words, but not questions.

• ​Exclamations are often elliptical (missing elements). - What a mess!

• ​Exclamations are taken to include

  • ​interjections - ¡Ay!

  • ​multiple word interjections - ¡Dios mío!

  • ​emphatic statements with exclamation marks - ¡Hace un calor insoportable!

Multiple Choice

Elija la oración exclamativa. (exclamation)

• ¡Fuego!

• Ya son las cinco.

• ¡Dime la verdad!

• ¿Cuántas veces ha venido?

Multiple Choice

Choose the exclamatory sentence.

• How I'd like to have been there!

• What makes you think that?

• He looked at Marian again.

• Watch your step!

​Questions (Preguntas)

• ​Generally ask for a response.

• ​Classified by type of answer requested.

  • ​yes-no

  • ​information (wh-)

  • ​alternative

  • ​multiple info

​Yes-No Questions

​Yes-No questions formed by putting the operator before the subject.

Declarative: You are ready. Question: Are you ready?​

If the declarative form has no operator, the appropriate form of the verb do is used.

​ Declarative: We have a lot to learn. Question: Do we have a lot to learn?

​Echo question does not change word order, but has ascending tone that asks for confirmation.

​ Echo: You are ready?

​Questions in Spanish depend more on intonation and less on word order. Que si may also be added at the beginning.

​Tag questions in Spanish add words like ¿verdad? or ¿eh?. In English, the tag uses the operator, usually negated and the subject. - You have it, don't you? Sometimes the tag is right or okay.

​Information Questions

​Begin with an interrogative word - who, what, where, when, why, how, how many.

​The intonation is the same as a declarative sentence.

​In English if the question word is not the subject or part of the subject of the sentence, then an operator comes before the sentence. - What did she see?

​The interrogative word may be accompanied by associated words - Whose book is this?

​In English, a preposition can be left at end but not in Spanish. Compare: Who is it for? and ¿Para quién es eso?

​English uses how+adj to make questions where Spanish uses interrogative word plus a noun in a prep phrase. Compare: How big? with ¿De qué tamaño?

​Echo questions put question word at end - The, they did what?

​Alternative and Multiple Info Questions

​Alternative questions present choices. - Would you like coffee or tea?

​

​Multiple information questions contain more than one interrogative word - Who did what to whom?

Multiple Choice

Elija la pregunta.

• ¡Fuego!

• Ya son las cinco.

• ¡Dime la verdad!

• ¿Cuántas veces ha venido?

Multiple Choice

Choose the question.

• How I'd like to have been there!

• What makes you think that?

• He looked at Marian again.

• Watch your step!

​Oraciones

​Oraciones dubitativas - express uncertainty, usually using the subjunctive - Tal vez eso sea cierto. They are usually translated into the English as declarations - That could be true.

​Oraciones desiderativas - express something desired, usually using the subjunctive - ¡Que se vayan! According to Ayres, these don't fit one of the 4 English types, but I think they are mostly exclamations.

​Oraciones elípticas (oraciones unimembres) - express a complete thought but do not have the grammatical elements of a sentence. Gracias. Buena suerte.

Open Ended

Change the following into one question:

He didn't go to class. Why?

Open Ended

Change the following into one question:

They could hear the rain. When?

Open Ended

Change the following into a question.

She went home. How?

Multiple Select

Identify the subj&finite verb groups in the following sentence:

“As he crossed toward the pharmacy at the corner he involuntarily turned his head because of a burst of light that had ricocheted from his temple."

• he crossed

• he turned

• burst light

• light had ricocheted

Multiple Choice

Identify the subordinating conjunctions in the following sentence:

“As he crossed toward the pharmacy at the corner he involuntarily turned his head because of a burst of light that had ricocheted from his temple."

• as

• toward

• because

• that

Multiple Select

What type of sentence is this:

“As he crossed toward the pharmacy at the corner he involuntarily turned his head because of a burst of light that had ricocheted from his temple."

• simple

• compound

• complex

• compound-complex

Multiple Select

Identify the subj&finite verb groups in the following sentence:

“In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses, in this loveliest of all towns Stuart stopped to get a drink of sarsaparilla.”

• houses were

• trees were

• Stuart stopped

• to get

Multiple Choice

Identify the subordinating conjunctions in the following sentence:

“In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses, in this loveliest of all towns Stuart stopped to get a drink of sarsaparilla.”

• in

• where

• and

• than

Multiple Choice

What type of sentence is this?:

“In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses, in this loveliest of all towns Stuart stopped to get a drink of sarsaparilla.”

• simple

• compound

• complex

• compound-complex