Definition:
A sentence in the form of a statement (in contrast to a command, a question, or an exclamation).
In a declarative sentence, the subject normally precedes the predicate. A declarative sentence ends with a period.
See also:
- Basic Sentence Structures
- Cleft
- Declarative Question
- Exercise in Identifying Sentences by Function
- Queclarative
- SVO (Subject-Verb-Object)
- Tag Question
Etymology:
From the Latin, "to make clear"Examples and Observations:
- I like cats.
- "I like children--fried."
(W. C. Fields) - "I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."
(Fred Allen) - "The best goodbyes are short."
(Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon, 1941) - "We rob banks."
(Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, 1967) - "You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room."
(Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), "On Becoming a Writer," 1986) - "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) - "Friends and fellow citizens, I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote."
(Susan B. Anthony, On Women's Right to Vote, 1872) - "I'm the one who should be sorry. I was so ready to get out, so ready to taste that ocean, I was willing to put you in harm's way to get there. Nothing should be worth that."
(Gill in Finding Nemo, 2003) - "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."
(Barack Obama, Inaugural Address, 2009) - "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT: mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe."
(Billy Crystal as Miracle Max in The Princess Bride, 1984) - "Even in the helter-skelter skirmish that is my life, I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more of less. No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."
(Zora Neale Hurston, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," 1928) - "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
(Macbeth in William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, c. 1605) - "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) - "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") - "A good [film] title can be provocative, poetic, mysterious, titillating. But it should give you some idea of what you might be in for. Declarative sentences work well, but tend to be a trifle long--I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, for instance, or I Married a Monster From Outer Space. But single-word titles can be just as effective--18 of Hitchcock's movies have one-word titles or a single word accompanied by a definite article."
(Philip French, "That's a Hard One to Call." The Observer, April 13, 2003)
Pronunciation: di-KLAR-i-tiv
Also Known As: declarative clause
