What is a Declarative Sentence?

A declarative sentence is one of the four sentence types in the English language, along with interrogative sentences, exclamatory sentences, and imperative sentences. Each one serves a unique function; for declarative sentences, their function is to communicate information directly.

Any time you state a fact, opinion, observation, or explanation in a plain manner, you’re using a declarative sentence. For example, every sentence in this paragraph, the above paragraph, and the next paragraph are all declarative sentences.

Like most other sentence types, declarative sentences require a subject and a predicate. The subject is the noun that performs the action of a sentence, while the predicate is simply the verb, or action, of the sentence. Together, a subject and a predicate make up an independent clause, which is necessary for most sentence types, including declarative sentences.

Types of Declarative Sentences with Examples

A declarative sentence can be a simple or compound sentence and they make the two types of declarative sentences. Now, let us look at these two types in detail.

Simple Declarative Sentences

A simple declarative sentence is in the form of a simple sentence and has just a subject and predicate. It mostly follows sentence patterns like SV, SVO, SVC, SVA, ASVO, etc.

Examples of Simple Declarative Sentences:

• Subject + Verb

• • The babies / are crying.

• • It / is raining.

• Subject + Verb + Object

• • I / like / apples.

• • My sister / had / her dinner.

• Subject + Verb + Complement

• • The sky / is / clear.

• • This samosa/tastes / delicious.

• Subject + Verb + Adjunct

• • She / reached / yesterday.

• • I /am moving / to America.

• Adjunct + Subject + Verb + Object

• • Last week, / I / met / my brother.

• • Yesterday, / Dhanush / bought / a car.

Compound Declarative Sentences

A compound declarative sentence, as the name suggests, is a compound sentence that has two independent clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction.

Examples of Compound Declarative Sentences:

• I like watching good movies, but my sister likes watching  cartoon network.
• Sham is not keeping well, so he decided to take a day off to work.
• The results have been announced and I have scored the highest percentage.
• I should somehow complete my homework or I will have to face the consequences.

 

Uses of Declarative Sentences

A declarative sentence can be used,

• To provide general information about something casual or day-to-day routine,
• To inform your audience about something specific,
• To state general or scientific facts,
• To explain something.

Examples of Declarative Sentences

Have a look at the following examples of declarative sentences in order to understand how they can be used to perform the different functions as discussed.

Providing information about something casual

• I like singing.
• Cat is at the park.
• He lost his valet.

Providing information about your day-to-day activities

• I go to office by car.
• They start work at 10:30 a.m.
• Everyday, Lucky reads the newspaper in the noon.

Informing your audience about something specific

• The reception starts at 2 p.m.
• My mom is 40 years old.

Stating general or scientific facts

• The Sun raises in the East.
• Barack Obama was the 44^th president of the United States.
• COVID cases are rising day by day.

Explaining something

• The process of photosynthesis helps plants to create oxygen and energy for its survival.
• There are eight parts of speech in the English language.

Check Your Understanding of Declarative Sentences

Try answering the following questions to form positive declarative sentences by using the general sentence structure – Subject + Verb + Object.

1. Is she coming home?
2. Can Manju dance?
3. Will he be at home for Diwali?
4. Do you like ice creams?
5. Did you bake these cheesecakes?
6. Is it raining in Canada?
7. Are you sure you can’t do it?

Check your answers from the list given below.

1. She is coming home.
2. Manju can dance.
3. He will be at home for diwali.
4. I like ice creams.
5. I baked these cheesecakes.
6. It is raining in Canada.
7. I am sure I can’t do it.

 

Frequently Asked Questions on Declarative Sentences

1. Do declarative sentences always end in a period?

Ans. Unlike other common types of sentences, declarative sentences always end in a period.

2.    What are the types of declarative sentences?

Ans. There are two main types of declarative sentences based on the structure of the sentence and they are,

• Simple Declarative Sentence
• Compound Declarative Sentence

3. What are the 4 types of sentences?

Ans. There are four types of sentences in the English language: declarative, exclamatory, imperative, and interrogatory.