TIP of the day: from the blogs - The Different Classifications of Sentences

MJ. Smith

From Hunterfact comes The Different Classifications of Sentences:

There are different classifications of sentences. They are classified according to purpose, according to syntax or structure, according to form and according to completeness.

There are different classifications of sentences. They are classified according to purpose, according to syntax or structure, according to form and according to completeness.

Sentences are classified according to purpose. They are further classified into declarative sentence, interrogative sentence, imperative sentence and exclamatory sentence.

The purpose of the declarative sentence is to focus the reader’s attention. It invites the reader further to consider the assertion made by the predicate about it.

The purpose of the interrogative sentence is to provide assertion with regards to the concept that is indicated by the questions. With this the reader will be directly involve with the development of ideas through asking the reader to phrase the statement.

The purpose of the imperative sentence is to show the desire of the writer with regards to the topics as well as to the actions that is being indicated. Imperative sentence involves the reader directly through addressing him or her and asking for a response.

The purpose of the exclamatory sentence is to show a sudden or strong feeling about something. In exclamatory sentence, there may be a thought, emotion or sensation behind. It is used to express judgment, sensation and to express relieve of an internal pressure and the like.

Sentences are classified according to syntax or structure. These classifications are in the form of simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence and compound-complex sentence.

The sentence is considered as a simple sentence if it contains only a single independent thought or clause. In this kind of sentence, the subject, the verb and the complement maybe compounded or either modified by a single word or phrase.

The sentence is considered as a complex sentence when it contains two or more independent clause. The compound sentence shows two distinct ideas. Each of these sentences is important and they are bought to be stated in an independent predication.

The sentence is considered as a compound-complex sentence if the sentence contains two or more independent clauses and contains at least one dependent clause. This kind of sentence combines the effects of the compound sentence. It equates and links two distinct ideas with the complex sentence, thus, subordinating loose one predication to another.

Sentences are classified according to their form. With this they are further classified into periodic sentence, loose or cumulative sentence and balance sentence.

The periodic sentence is a form of sentence where the core idea or the main thought is not completed until the final word.

The loose or cumulative sentence is a form of sentence wherein the subject and the verb are stated early and whatever additional modifier qualifications or exemptions are just added.

In the balance sentence, the structure and the phrasing of the second clause is considered as repetition of the first clause. This sentence is just one sentence possessing two balance elements.

Sentences are also classified according to their completeness. With this they are further classified into full sentence and incomplete sentence.

A sentence is considered as a full sentence when it is complete grammatically. It should also contain an expressed subject and a predicate, and it should not be introduced by a subordinating word. Introduction by a subordinating word is only allowed when the subordinating word belongs to a dependent clause.

A sentence is considered as an incomplete sentence when it is not complete although the context in which the center appears communicates a clear idea.

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from scarletpimpernel comes an answer to "what is a loose, balanced, periodic, and cumulative sentence?"

Those sentence types are common terms from the AP English Language and English Literature exams.  So, if you can master not only analyzing them but also writing them now, you will be in good shape as a writer.

1. Loose or cumulative sentence: These two sentences rely on the same technique; they begin with the main independent clause and then pile on information in phrases and dependent clauses.  If you were to place a period after the initial independent clause, it would be correctly punctuated as a sentence.  Below is an example from writer Terry Tempest Williams.

"The women moved through the street as winged messengers, twirling around each other in slow motion, peeking inside homes and watching the easy sleep of men and women."

Notice that the bold part could stand by itself as a sentence, but the rest of the phrases could not.

2. Periodic sentence: A periodic sentence is just the opposite of a loose/cumulative sentences.  It begins with phrases or dependent clauses and holds off on incorporating the main independent clause until the end.  It cannot grammatically end correctly before the period. Below is an example from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration."

You can see the difference between the periodic sentence above (notice the bold independent clause at the end) and the loose sentence structure.  If you were to leave off the bold portion of the above sentence, it would be a fragment.

3. Balanced sentence: A balanced sentence is essentially parallelism, but sometimes it is more specifically a sentence that has at least two clauses which are similar in length and word order.  Here's an example about characters from Of Mice and Men.

George is mentally keen and small in body; Lennie is mentally simple and large in body.