Guide to English grammar

The novelist Joseph Conrad couldn't speak English until he was 4 7.
Pretty 25-year-old secretary Linda Pilkington has shocked her friends and neighbors.
The sentence about Linda is typical of newspaper style.
We can also use apposition to add emphasis. This happens in speech, too.
The man is a fool, a complete idiot.
Other kinds of phrases can be in apposition.
The place is miles away, much too far to walk.
The experts say the painting is quite valuable, worth a lot of money.

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3
Statements, questions, imperatives and exclamations

15 Summary

There are four sentence types: statement, question, imperative and exclamation. Sentences can be positive or negative.
Main use
Statements • 16
You took a photo. To give information

Negative statements • 17
You did not take a photo. To give information

Questions • 18
Did you take a photo? To ask for information

The imperative • 19
Take a photo. To give orders

Exclamations • 20
What a nice photo! To express feeling

Besides the basic use, each sentence type has other uses. For example, we can use a statement to ask for information (I'd like to know all the details); a question form can be an order or request (Can you post this letter, please?); an imperative can express good wishes (Have a nice time).

16 Statements

1 Form
For clause patterns in a statement, • 7.

2 Use
This conversation contains a number of statements.

A PROGRAMME ABOUT WILDLIFE
Stella: There's a programme (GB)/program (US) about wildlife on the telly (GB=TV) tonight.
Adrian: Uh-huh. Well, I might watch it.
Stella: I've got to go out tonight. It's my evening class.
Adrian: Well, I'll video the program for you.
Stella: Oh, thanks. It's at eight o'clock. BBC2.
Adrian: We can watch it together when you get back.
Stella: OK, I should be back around ten.
The basic use of a statement is to give information: “There's a program about wildlife on the TV tonight.” But some statements do more than give information. When Adrian says “I'll video the program for you”, he is offering to video it. His statement is an offer to do something, which Stella accepts by thanking him. And “We can watch it together” is a suggestion to which Stella agrees. There are many different uses of statements.
Here are some examples.
Expressing approval: You're doing the right thing.
Expressing sympathy: It was bad luck you didn't pass the exam.
Thanking someone: I'm very grateful.
Asking for information: I need to know your plans.
Giving orders: I want you to try harder.

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In some situations we can use either a statement or another sentence type.
Compare the statement, the question and the imperative. All these are used to ask for information.
I need to know your plans
What are your plans?
Tell me about your plans.

3 Performative verbs

Some present-simple verbs express the use of the statement, the action it performs.
Promising: I promise to be good.
Apologizing: It was my fault. I apologize.
Predicting: I predict a close game.
Requesting: You are requested to vacate your room by 10.00 am.
These are performative verbs: accept, admit, advise, agree, apologize, blame, confess, congratulate, declare, demand, deny, disagree, forbid, forgive, guarantee, insist, object, order, predict, promise, propose, protest, recommend, refuse, request,
suggest, thank, warn.
Sometimes we use a modal verb or similar expression. This usually makes the statement less direct and so more tentative, more polite.
Advising: I'd advise you to see a solicitor.
Insisting: I must insist we keep to the rules.
Informing: I have to inform you that you have been unsuccessful.
Some typical examples are: must admit, would advise, would agree, must apologize, must confess, must disagree, can guarantee, have to inform you, must insist, must object, can promise, must protest, would suggest, must warn.

NOTE

1. 
   In general, performative verbs are fairly emphatic. “I promise to be good” is a more emphatic promise than “I'll be good”, and “I suggest we watch it together” is more emphatic than “We can watch it together”.
   
2. 
   Some performative verbs are formal.