*SENTENCE*

_A sentence is a group of words with a subject and predicate that gives a complete sense or thought.
This means a sentence has two parts-- *the subject and the predicate*

_The most important element in the subject is the *noun or noun phrase, the nominal, the noun clause
and the pronoun(subject pronoun)*.

NB: They will be treated accordingly.

_The predicate begins from where the verb begins. It comprises the verb and other grammatical
elements or items. The predicate gives information about the subject either to help us know the state of
the subject or what it is doing.

In our previous lesson, we got to know what a sentence is; parts of a sentence. We equally looked at
examples under the parts of a sentence.

Today, we are looking at types of sentences.

_Sentences are categorized under: functional type and structural (structure).

*Examples*:

👉 The man bought the children food.

The man(subject)

Bought the children food(predicate)

👉 _All the students are reading._

All the students (subject)

Are reading(predicate)

👉 _Walking is my hobby._

Walking (subject)

Is my hobby(predicate)

👉 _What to eat is my worry._

What to eat (subject)

Is my worry(predicate)

*_FUNCTIONAL TYPE OF SENTENCE_*

_By function, we mean what the sentence is used for._ With this, there are four types._

1. Declarative / affirmative / statement

2. Command / imperative / instructional
 3. Interrogative / question
4. Exclamatory

*_DECLARATIVE OR STATEMENT_*

_This type of sentence is used to make a statement and to state a fact. In other words, they answer
questions. The statement can be positive and negative. This type of sentence ends with a full stop or the
period(.)._

Examples:

👉 The man is a teacher.

👉 We are not travelling today.

👉 They need money for the program.

👉 I can’t attend the meeting.

👉 She is my best friend.

_COMMAND OR IMPERATIVE_*

_This type of sentence is used to give instructions or to order people. Depending on the type of tone
used, it could either end with full stop or exclamatory sign._

*_EXAMPLES_*

👉 Sit down!

👉 Come and eat.

👉 Shut up!

👉 Don’t talk again.

*_INTERROGATIVE OR QUESTION SENTENCE_*

_This type of sentence is use to ask questions. It ends with a question mark(?)._

*_EXAMPLES_*

👉 Where are you?

👉 Who is your father?

👉 How did you do it?

👉 Are you coming with the money?

👉 Is the lecturer in?

*_EXCLAMATORY OR SURPRISE_*
_This type of sentence is used to express shock or surprise. It ends with an exclamatory sign(!)._

*EXAMPLES*

👉 Wow, what a car!

👉 Oh my God!

👉 Hello!

*TYPES OF SENTENCES ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE*

_When we talk of sentences according to structure, we look at the number of sentences and the
number of meanings that sentence give._

_A sentence can give one, two, three or four meanings depending on the constituents. That said, there
are four sentences according to structure._

1. Simple sentence

2. Compound sentence

3. Complex sentence

4. Compound- complex sentence

SIMPLE SENTENCE*

_A simple sentence contains only one idea. However, it may have compound subject._

*EXAMPLES:*

👉 Kwame went home late.

👉 The boys are learning.

👉 My mother washes every day.

👉 John and Mary are good friends. *(John and Mary : compound subject)*

👉 Henry and Dan travelled.

👉Peter and I need a book.

*COMPOUND SENTENCES*

_A compound sentence is two simple sentences joined together by a coordinating conjunction. This
means that there are *two* ideas or thoughts in this type of sentence.

_Before looking at examples, let’s look at what the coordinators(coordinating conjunctions) are.

_The acronym for the coordinators used in compound sentences is

*FANBOYS*.
For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

*_What were you thinking?

_The words above are used to join to simple sentences to give *two* ideas._

*EXAMPLES*:

I am learning.

He is playing.

👉 _I am learning *but* he is playing._

Kofi went out.

Kofi bought mangoes.

👉 _Kofi went out *and* (Kofi) bought mangoes.

The man will come.

I will go there.

👉 _The man will come *or* I will go there._

I warned him.

He took it.

👉 _I warned him *yet* he took it._

From the examples given above, it is crystal clear that the coordinators are joining two simple sentences
and thereby giving two ideas.

*_COMPLEX SENTENCE_*

_A complex sentence is made up of two sentences that also give two ideas. However, one sentence is
*independent clause and the other a subordinate clause*.

_The subordinate clause always begins with a subordinator. This means with the two sentences, one
cannot stand alone to give a complete sense or thought._
The subordinators include: if, should, when, before, after, in case, whenever, till, until, so that, in order
to, etc._

*_Kindly read wide on subordinating conjunctions for more examples._*

EXAMPLES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES*

👉 Call me *when* he comes.

👉 *If* I see you, I will be happy.

👉 *Before* you sleep, pray to God.

👉 She slapped the boy *because* he insulted her.

👉 Because you are late, I will punish you.

SENTENCE TYPES ACCORDING TO STRUCTURE*

*COMPOUND -COMPLEX*

_As the name goes, this type of sentence is made up of three sentences -- compound and complex.

_In this sentence, three ideas or thoughts are deduced. The sentences are joined by *coordinating
conjunction and a subordinating conjunction*._

*EXAMPLES*

_1. Kwabena bought the food *and* ate it *because* he was hungry ._

_The ideas are: Kwabena bought the food, (Kwabena) ate it, he was hungry.

These three ideas were joined by *and, because*.

2. Kwasi learned *but* he couldn’t score 100% *because* the given time wasn’t enough.

The ideas are: Kwasi learned, he couldn’t score 100%, the given time wasn’t enough.

SENTENCE PATTERS

S is subject

V is verb

O is object
C is complement

A is adjunct

SUBJECT

What grammatical items or elements could be the subject?

1. Noun/ noun phrase

2. Nominal

3. Pronouns

4. Clauses

Noun

Kwame

Yaw

Kumasi

Adwoa

Noun phrase

The boys

All the teachers

Many students

Few days

My friend

His book

Her son

Nominal

These are ing verbs used as nouns.

Examples:

Reading

Jumping

Swimming
Walking

Skipping

There are many.

Pronouns

They

We

He

She

It

Clauses

How he left

Why he came

What to eat

Where to go

When the boy came

How it started

There are more

Others include the to infinitive clauses.

To be a man

To read

To travel

To go home

To pay him a visit

EXERCISE

_Identify the subject in each sentence by making them bold._

Example: The men went abroad.

Reading is my hobby.

1. All the men are reading.

2. How the boys entered the room is a mystery.

3. Kumasi is a big city.

4. They have been washing their clothes.

5. To be a student is not an easy task.

6 She admired him.

7. Swimming has become my everyday routine.

ANSWERS

Identify the subject in each sentence by making them bold.

Example:

The men went abroad.

Reading is my hobby.

1. All the men are reading.

2. How the boys entered the room is a mystery.

3. Kumasi is a big city.

4. They have been washing their clothes.

5. To be a student is not an easy task.

6. She admired him.

7. Swimming has become my everyday routine.

VERB

EXAMPLES ARE:

is playing

Has taken

Were

Is

Am

Are

Were being washed

Has been reading

Had been teaching

Have gone

Are playing

Will be leaving

Has not left

Would be coming

A SHORT RECAP OF OUR LAST LESSON

We got to know some grammatical items that take the subject slot. Some include: nouns, pronouns, -ing
verbs and clauses.

Again, we looked at some forms of verbs as: is walking, are reading, has been playing, had gone, etc.

OBJECT

An object is the grammatical element that either directly or indirectly receives the action expressed by
the verb.

Nouns, object pronouns and clauses function as object of verbs.

If you want to know that the grammatical element is an object, always check and find out if the verb
there is an action and also a transitive verb.

EXAMPLES:

👉 Kwame killed a snake.

👉 The men ate the food.

👉 He slapped them.

👉 I bought what you needed.

As stated earlier, there are direct and indirect object.

DIRECT OBJECT

It is the noun, pronoun or the grammatical item that the action is directly done to; receives; suffers.

EXAMPLES:

👉 All the boys wrote the notes.

👉 My father beat the stubborn boy.

👉 The hunter killed a big deer.

👉 My friends prepared ampesi.

👉His mother washed the clothes.

INDIRECT OBJECTS

The indirect object is the grammatical element (noun, objective pronoun, noun clause) that indirectly
receives the action expressed by the verb. It should be noted that it comes immediately after the verb
but it isn't the direct object. The direct object follows it.

Here, one should always think deeply and know which of the two items directly receives the action.

So, when two nouns or objective pronoun and a noun follow a verb, the sentence pattern is *SVOO*.

EXAMPLES:

1. Kwasi bought Mary an apple. (SVOO)

Mary is the indirect object and an apple is the direct object.

2. _The man gave us a parcel. (SVOO)

Us is the indirect object and a parcel is the direct object.

3. _My father told them a nice story. (SVOO)

Them is the indirect object and a nice story is the direct object.

COMPLMENT

A complement is a word or a phrase that gives further information about a subject or an object. This
mean we have *subject complement and object complement*.

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

Any word that comes after linking verbs like: is, are, was, am, were, looks, appear, feel, taste, seem, etc
becomes or functions as the complement of the subject. It should be noted that those verbs are not
action verbs but rather copula or linking verbs._

Adjectives can come after those words. Nouns and noun clauses can also come after them.

In this case, we have SSV (subject, verb, complement) pattern.

EXAMPLES:

1. The man is a lawyer.

2. Kwame looks handsome.

3. He was what they liked.

4. Mary appeared worried.

5. The food tastes delicious.

6. We are students.

OBJECT COMPLEMENT

The object complement is an adjective or a noun that comes after the object to give additional
information or clarification.

In this case, we have *SVOC* pattern.

Verbs like: appointe(d), nominate(d), made, choose or chose, elected, etc are used.

EXAMPLES:

1. The class elected Peter their course rep.

Peter is the object ; their president is the object complement.

2. Ghanaians made Nana their president.

Nana is the object; their president is the object complement.

3. The boys painted the house red.

House is the object and red is the object complement.

4. Kwasi nominated Qwadwo his P.R.O.

Qwadwo is the object and his P.R.O is the object complement.

ADJUNCT

An additional word or a phrase that completes the sense of an expression.

It should be noted that adverbs(all types) and prepositional phrases function as adjuncts.

EXAMPLES

Yesterday

Tomorrow

Quickly

Slowly

In the class

By the gate

Outside

Late
Early

Very soon

Too slowly

Very quickly

For me

To Kumasi

To Accra

Over the bar

👉 He ate quickly. (SVA)

👉 Slowly, he ate the food. (ASVO)

👉 The men slowly kicked the ball. (SAVO)

So far, I've explained all the constituents of sentence pattern.

S 👉subject

V 👉 verb

O 👉 object

C 👉 complement

A 👉 Adjunct

We will now move to some examples under patterns like: SV, SVC, SVOO, ASVOO, SVOA, SVCA, AASVOO,
etc.

SVO (subject, verb, object) pattern

He ate the food.

Adwoa wrote the letter.

The ladies slapped the thieves.

He washed the bowls.