what thoughts are. Some traditional grammars proposes that a sentence has a
subject = the topic and a predicate = what is being said about the topic. ”
20
According to Hornby “A sentence is a set of words expressing a statement, a
question or a command. ”
21
In written language a sentence defined by referring to the punctuation. As
Nelson described, a sentence is any sequence of words which begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop period, a question mark or an exclamation
mark.
22
Based on the explanation above, it can be inferred that a sentence is a group of words consists of a subject and a predicate that express a statement, a question or
a command.
3. Types of sentence
Nelson states that there are four major types of sentence, they are: a.
Declarative sentence A declarative sentence is typicaly used to convey information or to make a
statement. For example: The capital city of Indonesia is Jakarta.
The colors of Indonesian national flag are red and white. b.
Imperative sentence An imperative sentence is used to issue orders or instructions. For
example: Drive carefully
Clean this room
20
David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 98.
21
A.S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English Fifth Edition,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 1071.
22
Gerald Nelson, English: An Essential Grammar, London: Routledge, 2001, p. 9.
c. Exclamative sentence
An exclamative sentence is exclamation, it is introduced by what or how For example:
What a lovely dress you have What a beautiful painting it is
d. Interrogative sentence
An interrogative sentence is used in asking question, and in seeking information.
23
For example: Where did you go to Bandung?
When will you come to my house?
4. Interrogative Sentences
a. The understanding of interrogative sentence
According to Webster’s college dictionary, “Question is a sentence in an interrogative form addressed to someone in order to get information in
reply. ”
24
Encyclopedia of Linguistics states that “The term ‘questions’ refers to utterances inviting a response and that, when spoken, may have specific
intonation patterns. According to Encyclopedia of Linguistics, “Questions
can be analyzed for their grammatical forms and also for their functions and discourse.
”
25
It can be inferred that questions refers to utterances or sentences given to someone in order to get information.
b. The use of questions
According John Eastwood, there are three uses of questions: 1
The most basic use of a question is to ask information
23
Gerald Nelson, English: An Essential Grammar, London: Routledge, 2001, pp. 25-27.
