Purdue North Central

Writing Center Handout

Types of Sentences

There are two ways of classifying sentences: according to purpose; according to structure.

Types of sentences according to purpose:

Sentence type	Purpose	Example
Declarative	To make a statement	Allan Ginsberg wrote Howl.
Interrogative	To ask a question	Who’s that girl?
Imperative	To give a command	Just do it.
Exclamatory	To express strong feeling	The White Sox won!

Types of sentences according to structure:

Sentence Type	Structure	Example
Simple sentence	One main clause	I have never been to Spain.
Compound sentence*	Two or more main clauses	I have never been to Spain, but I have been to Portugal.
Complex**	One main clause + one or more subordinate clauses	Although I have never been to Spain, I have been to Portugal.
Compound-complex	Two or more main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses	Although I have never been to Spain, I have been to Portugal, and I have been to Venezuela.

* be sure to use a variety of devices to construct compound sentences:

-co-coordinating conjunctions=and, but, so, for, yet, nor, or

-punctuation= ;

**be sure to use a variety of devices to construct complex sentences:

-subordinating conjunctions=because, if, when, while, although, after, before

-relative pronouns=that, who, whom, whose, which

Remember, you are fluent in 2 languages: written English and spoken English. These 2 languages are vastly different. In academic writing, avoid using the 2^nd person pronoun ‘you;’ do use a variety of sentence types; do ban jargon from your vocabulary; do use !! very, very, very sparingly—if at all.