Classes of Sentences and Phrases: MDCAT English notes

Sentences by function

Kind	Purpose	Example
Declarative (assertive)	States a fact or opinion	The exam starts at nine.
Interrogative	Asks a question	Where is the library?
Imperative	Gives a command or request	Close the door.
Exclamatory	Expresses strong feeling, often with what or how	How hot the day is!

Sentences by structure

A clause has a subject and a finite verb. An independent clause can stand alone; a dependent (subordinate) clause cannot.

• Simple: one independent clause. Phrases do not change this: "After the storm, the children ran out of the house to play" is simple (one finite verb, ran).
• Compound: two or more independent clauses joined by and, but, or, so, yet, or a semicolon. "I thanked him and rewarded him" (one subject, compound predicate) is still usually treated as simple.
• Complex: one independent clause + at least one dependent clause. "Life is what we make it."
• Compound-complex: two independent clauses + at least one dependent clause.

Kinds of dependent clause

Clause	Job	Typical opener	Example
Noun clause	Subject, object or complement	that, what, whatever, whether, how	What she said surprised me. I know that he left.
Adjective (relative) clause	Describes a noun	who, whom, whose, which, that	The boy who won is my cousin.
Adverb clause	Tells when, where, why, how, condition	when, where, because, if, although	I will live where my parents live.

Test: if the clause can be replaced by "it" or "something", it is a noun clause.

Phrases

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-finite verb pair.

• Noun phrase: works as a noun. A gerund phrase as subject is a noun phrase: "Reading novels at night relaxes me."
• Adjective phrase: describes a noun: "a man of great wisdom".
• Adverb phrase: modifies a verb: "He spoke in a loud voice".
• Participle phrase: "Jumping up, he ran away."

Verb types in sentence patterns

• Intransitive: no object ("She laughed").
• Mono-transitive: one object ("He kicked the ball").
• Di-transitive: indirect + direct object ("The teacher gave the students homework").
• Linking: joins subject to a complement (be, become, seem, grow, look): "The sky grew dark."
• Modal auxiliaries: can, may, must, should, ought to, will.

Worked examples

1. "How beautiful the garden looks!" Exclamatory.
2. "Because it rained, the match was cancelled." Complex (adverb clause of reason).
3. "He studied hard, but he failed." Compound.
4. "I wonder whether she will come." Noun clause (object of wonder).
5. "The house that Jack built is old." Adjective clause.

Common MDCAT traps

• Many phrases do not make a sentence complex; count finite verbs and clauses.
• A clause after know, think, say is usually a noun clause (object).
• An -ing phrase used as subject is a noun (gerund) phrase, not an adjective phrase.
• "Grew", "became", "seemed" before an adjective are linking verbs.
• Phrasal verbs change meaning: put off (postpone), turn up (arrive), make up (invent), break down (fail), take off (leave the ground).

Quick revision

• Clause = subject + finite verb; phrase has none.
• Simple = one clause; complex = main + subordinate.
• Noun clause can be replaced by "it".
• Relative clauses begin with who/which/that.
• Di-transitive verbs take two objects.