What makes a declarative sentence

Download the app. We have two books: 1 "Smashing Grammar" Written by the founder of Grammar Monster , "Smashing Grammar" has an A-Z glossary of grammar terms, a punctuation section, and a chapter on easily confused words. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and some basic examples before giving real-life, entertaining examples.

Every entry ends with a summary explaining why the grammar point matters to a writer. If you like Grammar Monster, you'll love this book. So, how did you do? We hope you knocked it out of the park! For example, if you make a statement with emotion exclamatory statement or a statement that issues a command imperative statement , these are not declarative sentences.

Nonetheless, they are still statements. Now that you know what they are and how they function, you can easily use declarative sentences in your own English writing and speech! We hope you found this guide useful! SpeakUp resources. What is a Declarative Sentence? By Matthew Jones. We need cheese to make sandwiches.

Imperative Sentence — A sentence that issues a directive demand, request, advice, invitation, or instruction. Go to the kitchen and bring me the mustard.

Interrogative Sentence — A sentence that asks a question. Do you remember where we put the lettuce? Exclamatory Sentence — A sentence that makes a statement with emotional emphasis it always ends with an exclamation point. You forgot to buy bread! Here are a few examples: I witnessed a robbery last week. She is eating an orange.

The movie theater was completely empty. He wants to compete in the Olympics. State a Fact Facts and truthful statements are basically the same thing.

For example: The Earth rotates around the Sun. February is the second month of the year. Canada shares a border with the United States Humans need food and water to survive. By way of contrast, the interrogative sentence ends with a question mark, and an exclamation point is used to end an exclamative sentence. The imperative sentence may employ either a period or an exclamation point.

Beginners will need another way to distinguish this sentence type. Where an imperative sentence is one that includes a command or suggestion, the declarative sentence is simply telling someone something. But watch what happens if we change the end punctuation mark:. This simple sentence is no longer a declarative sentence — the exclamation point makes it an exclamatory sentence! A declarative sentence is simply a statement without a strong emotional component.

On the other hand, the exclamation point at the end of an exclamatory sentence expresses that that speaker or writer has a strong feeling or emotion attached to it. So, declarative sentences cannot end in exclamation marks! This is an imperative sentence and should not be confused with a declarative sentence. One of the functions of an imperative sentence is to make requests. It would be used, for instance, if you were creating the rules for a new dog sitter.

So this sentence is not just sharing information, and it is not a declarative sentence. Another point to notice is that in a declarative sentence, the subject comes before the verb. This is different than an interrogative sentence , where the verb often comes before the subject. Penelope is from a small town. Is Penelope from a small town? Here, two things have changed: the end punctuation mark is now a question mark, and the order of the subject Penelope and the verb is has changed.

Therefore, the second sentence is an interrogative, not a declarative, sentence. So when writing a sentence, remember the correct word order.