ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English Language => Topic started by: Azerel on April 05, 2013, 03:33:07 am

Title: Sentence Types
Post by: Azerel on April 05, 2013, 03:33:07 am

Heya guys!

So I was wondering, because my teacher has gotten me confused now: - Is it possible to have imperative-exclamative sentences?
For example, "Go and do your homework!", would this simply be imperative, or would the exclamation rule this as a imperative-exclamative?

Also, is it possible to declare a sentence as interrogative-exclamative? e.g."You did what!?" or would this simply be ruled as an interrogative?

Thanks guys, looking forward to your responses.

Title: Re: Sentence Types
Post by: Azerel on April 12, 2013, 04:02:06 pm

bump

Title: Re: Sentence Types
Post by: Wu on April 12, 2013, 05:26:35 pm

Quote from: Azerel on April 05, 2013, 03:33:07 am

Heya guys!

So I was wondering, because my teacher has gotten me confused now: - Is it possible to have imperative-exclamative sentences?
For example, "Go and do your homework!", would this simply be imperative, or would the exclamation rule this as a imperative-exclamative?

Also, is it possible to declare a sentence as interrogative-exclamative? e.g."You did what!?" or would this simply be ruled as an interrogative?

Thanks guys, looking forward to your responses.

It can be either. The thing about English language is that certain definitions can be blurry and hard to define depending on the given context and because language is always evolving.

Let's think about it:
"Go and do your homework!"
Is it commanding you to do something? Yes, it is; therefore, it can be classified as an imperative sentence.
Is it emotive and proclaiming a statement? Yes, therefore it can also be classified as an exclamative sentence.

Same goes with your second example.

"You did what!?"
Is it asking a question or asking for confirmation? Yes, (though it can be interpreted as a rhetorical question), therefore it can be classified as an interrogative sentence.
Once again, it is also displaying emotions of the user, therefore it can also be classified as an exclamative sentence.

Don't think about whether it is one or the other -- think about why andhow we know that it can be interpreted as one or the other.

Title: Re: Sentence Types
Post by: Azerel on April 17, 2013, 01:12:51 am

thank you, that was quite a nice response and I should bring these ideas to my teachers attention :)