In [[linguistics]], a sentence '''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 functions in the world's languages include the ''declarative'', ''interrogative'', ''exclamative'', and the ''imperative''. These correspond to a ''statement'', ''question'', ''exclamation'', and ''command'' respectively. Typically, a sentence goes from one function to the next through a combination of changes in word order, intonation, the addition of certain auxiliaries or particles, or other times by providing a special verbal form. The four main categories can be further specified as being either ''communicative'' or ''informative''.
