Types of simple sentence

A sentence (gap) is a unit of speech that expresses a complete thought and is shaped grammatically and by intonation. Words and phrases only name things or ideas, whereas a sentence informs, asks or urges. Classifying sentences by purpose, emotional colouring and structure is the basis of syntax and punctuation: which mark goes at the end, and where a comma, dash or colon is needed inside, depends on the type of sentence. The exam often asks you to identify sentence types, distinguish the kinds of one-member sentences and punctuate sentences with homogeneous and detached parts.

§1. Types of sentences by purpose

• Declarative (darak gap) — reports an event; ends with a full stop: Bugun havo ochiq. (The weather is clear today.)
• Interrogative (so‘roq gap) — requires an answer. Means of asking: interrogative pronouns (kim, nima, qachon), particles (-mi, -chi, -a) and question intonation: Kitobni o‘qidingmi? (Have you read the book?) Sen qachon kelasan? (When will you come?) A rhetorical question, which expects no answer, emphasises a thought: Kim vatanini sevmaydi? (Who does not love their homeland?)
• Imperative (buyruq gap) — expresses an order, request, advice or appeal; the predicate is usually in the imperative-optative mood: Kitobni o‘qing. (Please read the book.) Kitobni o‘qi! (Read the book!)

By emotional colouring any sentence can be exclamatory (his-hayajonli, undov gap): Qanday go‘zal kun! (What a lovely day! — declarative + exclamatory), Nahotki u keldi?! (Has he really come?! — interrogative + exclamatory), Oldinga! (Forward! — imperative + exclamatory).
Sentences are also affirmative (U keldi — he came) or negative (U kelmadi — he did not come, Bu kitob emas — this is not a book). Negation is expressed by the suffix -ma, the words emas and yo‘q, or the conjunction na...na.

Worked example

What type is Kim o‘z ona tilini sevmaydi? ("Who does not love their mother tongue?") by purpose?

1. In form it is a question: it has the pronoun kim and a question mark.
2. But the speaker expects no answer: he stresses the idea that everyone loves their mother tongue.
3. Such a sentence is called a rhetorical question.
4. Answer: an interrogative sentence (rhetorical question).

§2. Simple and complex; unextended and extended

By structure:

• Simple sentence — one predicative core (subject + predicate, or only a predicate): Bahor keldi. (Spring has come.)
• Complex sentence — two or more predicative cores: Bahor keldi, daraxtlar gulladi. (Spring has come and the trees have blossomed.)

By its members, a simple sentence is:

• unextended (yig‘iq) — only the main parts: Qor yog‘di. (It snowed.)
• extended (yoyiq) — secondary parts too: Kecha kechqurun qalin qor yog‘di. (Heavy snow fell yesterday evening.)

By the number of main parts:

• two-member — both subject and predicate: O‘quvchilar darsga keldi. (The pupils came to the lesson.)
• one-member — only one main part (§3).

§3. One-member sentences

A one-member sentence has no subject, yet nothing is missing — this is simply its structure. Kinds:

• definite-personal (shaxsi aniq) — no subject, but the doer is clear from the person suffix of the predicate: Ertaga boraman. (I’ll go tomorrow.) Kitobni o‘qidingmi?
• indefinite-personal (shaxsi noaniq) — the predicate is 3rd person plural; the doer is unknown or unimportant: Eshikni taqillatishdi. (Someone knocked at the door.) Telefon qilishdi. (Someone phoned.)
• generalised-personal (shaxsi umumlashgan) — the thought applies to everyone, often in proverbs; the predicate is usually 2nd person: Ekkanini o‘rasan. (You reap what you sow.) Mehnat qilsang, rohatini ko‘rasan.
• impersonal (shaxsi topilmas) — no doer can be imagined; the predicate uses mumkin, kerak, zarur, lozim or a verbal noun: Bu yerda chekish mumkin emas. (No smoking here.) Ertaga erta turish kerak. (One must get up early tomorrow.)
• nominative (atov gap) — states that a thing or phenomenon exists; the main part is a noun: Kuz. Bog‘. Sariq barglar. (Autumn. A garden. Yellow leaves.)

Worked example

What kind of one-member sentence is the clause rohatini ko‘rasan in Mehnat qilsang, rohatini ko‘rasan ("If you work hard, you will enjoy the reward")?

1. There is no subject; the predicate ko‘rasan is 2nd person singular.
2. But it is not about a particular listener: the thought applies to anyone — a general statement.
3. So it is not definite-personal but generalised-personal.
4. Answer: a generalised-personal sentence.

§4. Homogeneous parts

Homogeneous parts are equal parts that answer the same question and depend on the same word: Bog‘da olma, nok, anor pishdi. (Apples, pears and pomegranates have ripened in the garden.) Any part of the sentence can be homogeneous: subjects, predicates, objects, attributes, adverbials.

• They are joined without conjunctions (with commas), by coordinating conjunctions (va, ham, yoki, lekin) or by repeated conjunctions (ham...ham, goh...goh).
• A generalising word unites homogeneous parts into one concept: hamma, hammasi, barchasi, mevalar. If it comes before them, a colon follows it; if it comes after them, a dash precedes it:

A sentence with homogeneous parts stays simple, because it has only one predicative core.

Worked example

Punctuate Bozordan sabzavotlar piyoz kartoshka sabzi oldik ("At the market we bought vegetables: onions, potatoes and carrots").

1. piyoz, kartoshka, sabzi are homogeneous objects answering nimalarni? (what?), joined without conjunctions — commas.
2. sabzavotlar is a generalising word before the homogeneous parts — a colon after it.
3. After the homogeneous parts the sentence continues with oldik — a dash.
4. Answer: Bozordan sabzavotlar: piyoz, kartoshka, sabzi — oldik.

§5. Detached parts, address and parenthetical words

These elements complicate a sentence and are always set off by punctuation.

• A detached part is highlighted by meaning and intonation and set off by commas (sometimes dashes): Do‘stim, sinfdagi eng a’lochi, olimpiadada g‘olib bo‘ldi. (My friend, the best pupil in the class, won the olympiad. — a detached appositive)
• An address (undalma) names the person or thing spoken to; it is not a part of the sentence and is set off by a comma: Anvar, bu yoqqa kel. (Anvar, come here.) With strong emotion, an exclamation mark: Ey, vatan! (O homeland!)
• Parenthetical words and phrases show the speaker’s attitude: albatta, ehtimol, menimcha, afsuski, birinchidan, bilasizmi (of course, perhaps, in my opinion, unfortunately, firstly, you know); they are not parts of the sentence and are set off by commas: Menimcha, u to‘g‘ri aytdi. (In my opinion, he was right.)
• A parenthetical clause adds an extra comment in brackets or between dashes: U (buni hamma biladi) yaxshi rassom. (He — everyone knows this — is a good artist.)

Worked example

Find the address and the parenthetical words and punctuate: Aziz do‘stlar bilasizmi bu kitob shubhasiz eng yaxshisi ("Dear friends, you know, this book is undoubtedly the best").

1. Aziz do‘stlar — the people spoken to → an address, set off by a comma.
2. bilasizmi — the speaker’s appeal to the listener → a parenthetical word.
3. shubhasiz — a modal word of certainty → parenthetical, commas on both sides.
4. Answer: Aziz do‘stlar, bilasizmi, bu kitob, shubhasiz, eng yaxshisi.

Check yourself

1. What type is Qanday yoqimli musiqa! by purpose?

2. What kind of one-member sentence is Telefon qilishdi?

3. What kind of sentences are Qish. Ayoz.?

4. Why is there a dash in Olma, nok, uzum — hammasi arzon?

5. Which part of the sentence is onajon in Onajon, keling?

6. What is ehtimol in Ehtimol, u kelar?

7. What kind of one-member sentence is Bu yerda suzish mumkin emas?

8. Is Kecha kechqurun qalin qor yog‘di extended or unextended?

Common mistakes

• Taking an address for the subject: Anvar, kel has no subject.
• Analysing a parenthetical word as a part of the sentence.
• Mixing up the colon and the dash with a generalising word.
• Confusing a one-member sentence with an elliptical one: in an elliptical sentence the part is restored from context.
• Treating the exclamatory sentence as a fourth type by purpose: it is a declarative, interrogative or imperative sentence with emotional colouring.
• Calling a sentence with homogeneous predicates complex: U keldi va o‘tirdi (He came and sat down) is simple.