Statement, question, command, exclamation

You learn to tell a statement, a question, a command and an exclamation apart.

How to do the test

  1. Ask what the sentence does: if it asks for an answer, it is a question.
  2. If it gives an order, it is a command.
  3. If it starts with What or How and shows strong feeling, it is an exclamation.
  4. If it only tells you something, it is a statement.

What kind of sentence is this? It is so cold today!

  1. It tells us something.
  2. It ends with an exclamation mark, but it does not start with What or How.
  3. So it is a statement and not an exclamation.
  4. This is a statement.
More examples

What kind of sentence is this? What a big fish you caught!

  1. It starts with What and has a subject and a verb.
  2. It shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark.
  3. This is an exclamation.

What kind of sentence is this? Can you open the window?

  1. It asks for an answer.
  2. It ends with a question mark.
  3. This is a question.