(A particularly important kind of interrogative in speech is the , as in This is yours, isn't it?) All but imperatives can also occur, usually with some difference in form, as : declarative: She told me that you are tactful. interrogative: She’s not sure why you are tactful. exclamative: She remarked how tactful you are. We use each clause type for one characteristic declarative: for making a statement asking a question imperative: for issuing a directive (request, order, instruction, etc.) exclamative: for making an exclamatory statement. But we also use them for many other speech acts such as invitations, suggestions, promises and threats. Similarly, the subtypes of interrogative clause typically ask for different kinds of answer (multiple choice for 'closed' and free choice for 'open'), but other possibilities exist (e.g. which of the twins came? limits a potentially free choice to just two possibilities). Grammatically, the types are distinguished by their initial : whether or not they have a . In imperatives, the subject is normally omitted but understood as 'you' (Come but may be (You Another here!) come here!). kind of imperative uses with the subject understood as 'we' (Let's Let's, go!). : normal or the of the the presence of a special word at the beginning of the clause. differences are summarised in the tables, starting with main clauses: Declarative Interrogative 1 subject subject subject 2 --- normal subject-auxiliary inversion normal order (or interrogative pronoun order as subject) 3 base tensed tensed form 4 nothing nothing or what or how For subordinate clauses, the structures are mostly the same, so the next table shows only the points of difference: Declarative Interrogative Exclamative 2 normal 4 nothing or or If/whether that interrogative word
(A particularly important kind of interrogative in speech is the , as in This is yours, isn't it?) All but imperatives can also occur, usually with some difference in form, as : declarative: She told me that you are tactful. interrogative: She’s not sure why you are tactful. exclamative: She remarked how tactful you are. We use each clause type for one characteristic declarative: for making a statement asking a question imperative: for issuing a directive (request, order, instruction, etc.) exclamative: for making an exclamatory statement. But we also use them for many other speech acts such as invitations, suggestions, promises and threats. Similarly, the subtypes of interrogative clause typically ask for different kinds of answer (multiple choice for 'closed' and free choice for 'open'), but other possibilities exist (e.g. which of the twins came? limits a potentially free choice to just two possibilities). Grammatically, the types are distinguished by their initial : whether or not they have a . In imperatives, the subject is normally omitted but understood as 'you' (Come here!) but may be (You come here!). Another kind of imperative uses Let's, with the subject understood as 'we' (Let's go!). : normal or the of the the presence of a special word at the beginning of the clause. differences are summarised in the tables, starting with main clauses: Declarative Interrogative 1 subject subject subject 2 --- normal order subject-auxiliary inversion (or interrogative pronoun as subject) normal order 3 base form tensed tensed 4 nothing nothing or what or how For subordinate clauses, the structures are mostly the same, so the next table shows only the points of difference: Declarative Interrogative Exclamative 2 normal 4 nothing or that If/whether or interrogative word