Types of Sentences

Concept: Telling and Asking

What is a Sentence?

• A sentence contains a group of words that express a complete thought.
• A sentence should be written in the proper order so that it can make sense.
• Telling and asking sentences are the most common types of sentences.

Examples:

Sentence 1: My pet loves to play with me.

The above sentence makes sense because the words are written in the proper order.

Sentence 2: Loves to me with my pet play

The sentence 2 does not make complete sense because it doesn’t express a complete idea. Therefore, the order of words matters.

The Types of Sentences:

1. Definition of Telling sentences:

• A telling sentence is a simple sentence that begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
• A telling sentence tells a fact or statement or gives information about a person, animal, place, or thing.
• These sentences are also known as declarative sentences.

Examples:

Both the sentences start with capital letters and end with full stops.

2. Definition of Asking Sentences:

• Sentences used to ask something are also called questions (asking sentence).
• An asking sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a question mark (?).
• It is a sentence that asks you a question about something or someone.
• An asking question usually starts with an auxiliary verb such as ‘did’, ‘do’, ‘did’, etc. and wh-words like ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘whom’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘how’, etc.

Examples:

The first sentence starts with a wh-word, and the second one starts with an auxiliary verb ‘did’.

Common Mistake:

1. Don’t use a question mark at the end of the simple sentence. The meaning of the sentence will become completely different.

Examples:

• He went to a picnic last week.
• He went to a picnic last week?

2. Never end an asking sentence with a full stop.

Examples:

• When will you return from your trip?
• When will you return from your trip.