Imperative sentences

Imperative sentences express commands which convey the desire of the speaker to make someone, generally the listener, perform an action. Besides commands proper, imperative sentences may express prohibition, a request, an invitation, a warning, persuasion, etc., depending on the situation, context, wording, or intonation. A negative command usually expresses prohibition, warning or persuasion.

e.g.: Stand up! Sit down. Open your textbooks. Be quick!

Don’t cross the street before the light turns to green.

Don’t allow children to play with matches.

Don’t worry.

Formally commands are characterized by:

1. the predicate verb in the imperative mood (positive or negative),

2. the reference to the second person,

3. lack of the subject,

4. the use of the auxiliary do in negative or emphatic sentences with the verb to be,

5. the falling tone, although the rising tone may be used to make a command less abrupt.

6. a full stop or an exclamation mark in writing.

Commands

Softened	Verbless
Commands can be softened and made into requests with the help of the word please, the rising tone, a tag question or a “yes-no” question beginning with will or would. e.g.: Speak louder, please. Repeat the last word, will you? Would you do me a favour?	Commands are sometimes expressed without an imperative verb. e.g.: Silence! Water, please. To the right! Off with you! Gently, darling. Careful, please. No smoking! Hush!

In the case of first person plural and third person singular and plural subjects, the imperative let is followed by a personal pronoun in the objective case.

e.g.: Let him try again.

Let them come in.

Let us have some tea.

A first-person command often implies invitation or suggestion and may be followed by the tag shall we.

e.g.: Lets do it together, shall we?

There are two negative constructions with let for the first person.

e.g.: Let’s not quarrel about trifles.

Don’t let’s quarrel about trifles.

A third-person command admits of only one negative construction:

e.g.: Don't let him interfere in our affairs.

A third-person command may begin with a noun or a pronoun denoting the person addressed.

e.g.: Somebody switch off the light.

Mary and John fetch dictionaries.

Here the corresponding negative is:

e.g.: Don’t anybody switch off the light!

Exclamatory sentences

The main distinctive feature of this communicative type of the sentence is a specific intonation; structurally it is variable.

e.g.: You do look a picture of health! (statement) Hurry up! (command)

The most common pattern of an exclamatory sentence opens with one of the pronominal words what and how. What refers to a noun, how to an adjective or an adverb.

An exclamatory sentence:

1. has a subject-predicate structure; the order of the subject and the predicate verb (or the operator) is not inverted.

e.g.: What a funny story she told us!

What valuable advice you’ve given us!

2. has a falling tone in speaking and an exclamation mark in writing.

e.g.: How beautiful her voice is!

How beautifully she sings!

3. can be reduced to the word or phrase immediately following the exclamatory signals what or how.

e.g.: What a situation!

What a terrible noise!

How kind of you to let me in!

4. can be one-member sentences conveying signals of alarm such as Fire! Bandits!