Sentence function: Difference between revisions

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In [[linguistics]], a sentence '''function''' refers to a speaker's purpose in uttering a specific sentence, phrase, or clause. Whether a listener is present or not is sometimes irrelevant. It answers the question: "Why has this been said?" The four basic '''sentence forms (or "structures")''' in English are the ''declarative'', ''interrogative'', ''exclamative'', ''imperative'' and the ''imperativeoptative''. These correspond to the '''discourse functions''' ''statement'', ''question'', ''exclamation'', and ''command'' respectively. The different forms involve different combinations in word order, the addition of certain auxiliaries or particles, or other times by providing a special form. There is no clear one-to-one correspondence between the forms/structures and their discourse functions. For example, a declarative form can be used to ask a question, and interrogative form can be used to make a statement.

For instance, the following sentence has declarative form: from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/clauses/discours.htm)

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* ''Look at me.''

* ''After separating them from the yolks, beat the whites until they are light and fluffy.''

==== Optative ====

An optative sentence describes wishes, desires, blessings, curses, prayers or hope regarding a given action. It is related to the subjunctive mood, a grammatical feature that indicates the speaker’s attitude toward something, such as a wish, emotions, judgment, possibility, opinion, obligation, or action that has yet to occur. Optative sentences may end with an exclamation mark or a full stop.

''Long live the king!''

''God bless you.''

=== Informative sentences ===