Grammar - Beginner - Sentences

Sentences

What is a Sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.
A sentence must have a subject and a verb, but it may or may not have an object.

Subject                                              Verb                                        Object
Sally                                              is making                                      a doll.
Ali and Khaled                              are fighting.
The hedgehog                                 curled up.
Maggie                                          is reading                                     a book.
It                                                    is raining.
Mom                                             cooked                                           dinner.
I                                                     am flying                                        a kite.
The old couple                               have                                         no children.
Janet                                              screamed.

A sentence that makes a statement begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.

Kinds of Sentences

There are four kinds of sentences.
A declarative sentence makes a statement.
The children are swimming.
The telephone rang.
Everyone sat down.

An interrogative sentence asks a question.
Where are the twins?
Are you going shopping today?
What is your name?

An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion.
The silly girl!
How stupid I am!

An imperative sentence gives an order.
Please sit down.
Tell me the truth.
Speak up!

The Imperative
Use the base form of a verb to give commands or make direct requests. This use of the verb is called the imperative.
Stand, everyone!
Tidy your bedroom immediately!
Choose a partner!
Eat plenty of vegetables.
Find some nice round pebbles.

Imperatives are a very direct way of telling people to do something. Using do or please before an imperative is more polite.
Do sit down.
Do check these figures again.
Please help yourselves to some food.
Please don’t change anything on my computer.

You can also use the helping verb would to sound polite. 
For example:
Please would you clear the table?
Would you please talk quietly?

The Subject and the Object
The subject of a sentence sometimes does something to someone or something else.
The person or thing that receives the action is called the object.

Dad is cooking supper.
We have built a sandcastle.

Subject                                  Verb                                   Object
Susan                                has bought                           a painting.
Mohamad                            is reading                               her book.
The twins                          climbed                                the hill.
Josef                                 stroked                                  the cat.
Mom                                 is holding                              the baby.
Jacob                                 is making                               a kite.
They                                were playing                      football.

Direct and Indirect Objects
Some verbs have two objects. The direct object receives the action of the verb. The indirect object tells to whom or for whom the action is done.

Subject                            Verb                     Indirect Object                  Direct Object
The bank                        lends                          people                            money.
Madison                     is making                        her doll                         a dress.
I                                 am writing                     Grandma                        a letter.
Grandma                    is reading                      Diana                             a story.
Andrew                      gave                             his dog                            a bone.
We                              left                                   you                             some food.

The indirect object usually comes before the direct object

Positive and Negative Sentences

A positive sentence tells you that something is so. A sentence that tells you something is not so is called a negative sentence. It contains a negative word like not, never, no, no one, nobody, none, or a negative verb like isn’t or can’t or won’t.

Positive sentence                                                   Negative sentence
Peter is running.                                                   He is not walking.
We should tell the truth.                                     We should never tell lies.
Everyone is in the garden.                                  There is no one in the house.
The fridge is empty.                                           There is nothing in it.
It is very cloudy.                                                  It isn’t sunny.
I have sold the last newspaper.                            I have no newspapers left.
Someone has eaten all the cookies.                     There are none in the bag.

Questions
There are two kinds of questions: yes or no questions and wh- questions.
You ask a yes or no question to get yes or no as the answer. Use the verbs be, have or do, or any of the helping verbs, to ask yes or no questions.

Can you swim? Yes.                        Are they coming? No.
Is it raining? No.                              May I come in? Yes.

In questions, the helping or auxiliary verbs come before the subject of the sentence. When be and have are used as ordinary verbs, they come before the subjects, too.

Statement                                                        Question
Jim is ill today.                                         Is Jim ill today?
She has an older brother.                         Has she an older brother?
The cats want to be fed.                          Do the cats want to be fed?
We should go now.                                Should we go now?
It will rain tomorrow.                           Will it rain tomorrow?

Here are some different ways of asking the same question:
Has he a sister called Jane?
Does he have a sister called Jane?
Has he got a sister called Jane?

Wh- questions usually include the verbs be, have, do, or any of the helping verbs.
To ask for facts, use the question words what, which, who, whom, how, when, where. The helping verbs in wh- questions usually come before the subject. So does the verb be when it is used as an ordinary verb.

Where are you?
What is David saying?
How did you get up here?
Why was the girl crying?
Which color do you prefer?
Who is she going to invite to her party?
Whom is she going to invite to her party?

If the wh- question word is the subject of the question, it comes before the verb. 
For example:
Who told you that?
What made you change your mind?