Definition:
A sentence in the form of a statement (in contrast to a command, a question, or an exclamation). See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "to make clear"Examples and Observations:
- "A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain."
(Mark Twain) - "There isn't any thought or idea that can't be expressed in a fairly simple declarative sentence, or in a series of fairly simple declarative sentences."
(E.B. White, "Fro-Joy") - "My guess might be excellent or it might be crummy, but Mrs. Spade didn't raise any children dippy enough to make guesses in front of a district attorney, an assistant district attorney, and a stenographer."
(Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, The Maltese Falcon) - "I don't especially like the way I look sometimes, but I never met a man since I was 14 that didn't want to give me an argument about it."
(Lana Turner as Cora Smith in The Postman Always Rings Twice) - "What makes me special is I'm my own man. When I started out I said there were things I'd do and things I wouldn't do. A lot of guys start out like that, and a lot of them sell out along the way. But the more who fall, the easier it gets... My collar may be a little frayed, and maybe I need a shoeshine. But nobody's got a mortgage on my soul. I own it. Free and clear."
(Harry Lovecraft, Cast a Deadly Spell) - "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land."
(Jon Stewart) - "Fake news executives are nicer than real news executives, though real news executives are funnier than fake news executives. They don’t know they’re being funny."
(Stephen Colbert)
Pronunciation: di-KLAR-i-tiv
