Clause type

Syntactic (sentence types)	Semantic (discourse functions)
Declarative	Statement
Interrogative	Question
Imperative	Directive
Exclamative	Exclamation

Questions

Major classes: closed (yes-no), open (wh-), alternative (`or').

Closed questions

Form

Polarity	Assertive (=affirmative) elements	Expected answer
Positive	No	Generally neutral expectation
	Yes	Conducive—positive answer (`sprzyjający')
Negative	No	Negative orientation; Element of surprise or disbelief, disappointment or annoyance; Old expectation (positive) and new expectation (negative)
	Yes	Biased—positive orientation

Focused questions

Apart from asking about the whole event like:

Was he a famous actor in those days?

Was John drunk at the party on Friday?

there is a possibility to ask for specific aspects (“ingredients”) of an event:

Was he a famous actor in those days? (presupposition: he was an actor in those days)

Was he a famous actor in those days? (presupposition: he was a famous actor)

Was John drunk at the party on Friday? (presupposition: John was drunk at some party)

Was John drunk at the party on Friday? (presupposition: John was at the party on Friday)

Tag questions

Polarity		Intonation	Assumption	Expectation	Emotive character
Statement	Tag
Positive	Negative		Rising			Positive	Neutral	Neutral
Negative	Positive					Negative
Positive	Negative		Falling	Positive		Positive
Negative	Positive			Negative		Negative
Positive	Positive		Rising	Conclusion by inference or recalling what has been said; a thoughtful echo of a statement from the preceding speaker		Emotively charged: may be sarcastic or suspicious in tone; may express disapproval or the like
Negative	Negative

Question tags may be appended to imperatives and exclamatives:

Shut the door, will you?

What a wonderful view, isn't it?

Declarative questions

They are declarative in form but are accompanied by rising intonation; they are conducive.

Polarity	Orientation	Assertive items
Positive	Positive	Only assertive items
Negative	Negative	Non-assertive items

Open questions

Interrogative pronouns: who/whom/whose, what, which, when, where, how, why

Prepositions

Functions of wh-elements

Multiple interrogative focus

In open questions with multiple interrogative focus only one wh-element is fronted (unlike in Polish):

Who gave what to whom? (compare: `Kto co komu dał?' or `Co kto komu dał?')

Who said what? (compare: `Kto co powiedział?' or `Co kto powiedział?')

Alternative questions

Yes-no like

This type of alternative questions differs from closed questions only in terms of intonation. While closed questions are typically accompanied by rising intonation on the last stressed syllable (in focused question the rise occurs on the stressed syllable of the focused element), alternative questions—involving a list of possible answers—have rising intonation on all elements in the list except the last one, which is characterised by falling intonation. Compare:

Would you like coffee or tea? (yes-no question; a possible answer: `No, thanks, I'm not thirsty.')

Would you like coffee or tea? (alternative question; a possible answer: `Tea, please.')

Wh-like

Where shall we go? To the cinema, theatre or to a concert?

Exclamatory questions

In writing they are followed by `!'; they have falling intonation; in form they are typically negative yes-no questions (then they are vigorously positive), but positive yes-no questions are also possible:

Isn't it wonderful!

Did they look puzzled!

Rhetorical questions

Polarity	Assertion		Type	Intonation
Positive	Negative		Yes-no	Rising
Negative	Positive		Wh	Rising-falling; rarely—falling

Echo questions

They repeat part or all what has been said.

Confirmation

This type is characterised by rising intonation:

(He's a chiropodist.) Chiropodist? / What is he? / He's what?

Explicatory

They seek explication or clarification; characterised by falling intonation on the wh-element:

(The film was really a success.) What film?

Incredulity

In this type what is used with rising intonation:

(She married John.) What? She must be mad!

Imperatives

Form

Positive	Negative
(Do) Be quiet!	Don't / Do not touch it!
You be umpire!	Don't you worry!
Somebody open the door!	Don't anybody move!

Passive imperative

In passive imperatives get is used not be as the former suggests some action on the part of the listener, while the latter renders the situation static and thus inappropriate as an imperative:

Get vaccinated as soon as you can.

Ambiguity

You sit at the head of the table—a statement or a directive?

Don't you worry—a question or a directive?

Mary (,) come closer—is `Mary' vocative or nominative?

Sentences like these are disambiguated by means of intonation (whether you is stressed or not; whether the intonation is falling or rising; whether there is a pause after Mary or not).

Let

1^st person plural	2^nd person	3^rd person (?)
Let's go to the cinema. Let's open the window.	Let me have a look. Let us go with you.	Let him / her/ them…

Kinds of directives

Central kinds of directives:

• Commands (orders);

• Requests;

• Instructions (directions).

Less central kinds:

• Advice;

• Permission;

• Expressing a wish (Get well soon, Sleep well, Enjoy yourself.).

Co-ordination

This construction is equivalent to a conditional:

Come round here again and I'll set the dog on you. (threat, warning)

Come round on Tuesday and we'll finalise the agreement.

Shut up or I'll lose my temper.

Don't do that again or (else) you'll be in trouble.

Stative verbs, although they cannot be used as a directive on their own, may appear in this construction:

Own a big house and people think you're rich.

Which is not equivalent to

Buy a big house and people think you're rich.

Tags

Open the door, can/can't/could/will/won't/would you?

The tag is elliptical for a whole directive: can you? Is elliptical for Can you open the door?

With negative imperatives only positive tags can be used. Why?

The tag is an elliptical interrogative used as a directive:

Will you not open the door? = Please do not open the door.

Won't you open the door? = Please, open the door.

Therefore

Don't open the door, will you?

Let's open the door, shall/will we? = Shall we open the door?

Exclamatives

Form

How tall Ed is! <frml> vs. How tall is Ed?

What a tall lad Ed is!

Wh-words how and what are used both in exclamatives and in interrogatives; their functions, however, are different:

	Exclamative	Interrogative
What	Determinative—degree	Determinative or pronoun—identity
	What a beautiful day! What nice people!	What make is this car? What did you do yesterday?
How	Adverb—degree (modifier to an adjective, an adverb, to many, much, few, little, or head of AdvP	Adverb or adjective—manner
	How beautiful she was! How fast they ran! How much we liked it! How we admired them!	How long was the film? How did you manage it? How was the film?

In formal language there may be an occasional inversion (operator or copulative be):

How often have I regretted that decision!

How great would have been her disappointment if you had refused!

Ambiguity

Usually the order distinguishes exclamatives from how and what interrogatives; main ambiguity arises when how or what falls within the subject:

How much work remains to be done !/?

What strange people lived there!/?

With what the ambiguities are rarer, because there is frequently a after it, which cannot occur in interrogative.

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