Radical English for Nurses Anujeet
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THE SENTENCE1

Grammar is a system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language. It is a science which deals with the principles of language, the study of parts of speech and their relations to one another.
 
THE SENTENCE
A group of words which makes a complete sense is called a ‘sentence’. It is a grammatical unit that you syntactically find independent and has a subject.
Example:
  1. Color blue like I—Makes no sense, therefore it is [not] a sentence.
  2. I like blue color—Makes a sense, therefore it is a sentence.
 
Kinds of Sentences
There are four kinds of sentences:
 
Assertive sentence
An assertive sentence is a sentence that states fact. Such sentences are simple statements. They state, assert or declare something.
Example:
Bob is a student. He lives in a city.
 
Imperative sentence
An imperative sentence is a sentence that gives a command, makes a request or expresses a wish.2
Example:
1. Go to your room.
[an order]
2. Please shut the door.
[a request]
3. Have a nice day.
[a wish]
 
Exclamatory sentence
An exclamatory sentence is a sentence that expresses sudden and strong feeling, such as surprise, wonder, pity, sympathy or gratitude.
Example:
  1. What a shame!
  2. Boy, am I tired!
 
Interrogative sentence
A sentence that asks a question, is called an Interrogative sentence.
Example:
  1. What is your name?
  2. Where do you live?
 
Subject and Predicate
Every complete sentence contains two parts; a subject and a predicate. The ‘subject’ is what (or whom) the sentence is about, while the predicate tells something about the subject in the sentence, the predicate is enclosed in braces, while the subject is highlight.
  1. Judy [runs].
  2. Judy and her dog [run on the beach].
    To determine the subject of a sentence, first, isolate the verb and then make a question by placing “who”? The answer is the subject.
Example:
The audience littered the theater floor with torn wrappings and spilled popcorn.3
The verb in the above sentence is ‘littered’, who or what littered?
The audience did. ‘The audience’ is the subject of the sentence.
The groups of words in Italics are clauses:
  1. We can't start while it is raining.
  2. I think that you have made a mistake.