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Sentence Types

How Spanish, English and Chinese form declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences.

Compare languages

Sentences can be classified by their communicative function. Spanish and English share similar patterns but differ in question formation and exclamation marking. Chinese uses particles and intonation rather than word order changes for many sentence types.

Examples

Declarative (statement)

Juan lee un libro. (SVO, falling intonation)

Yes/No question

¿Juan lee un libro? (inversion, ¿?)

Wh-question

¿Qué lee Juan? (wh-fronting, no do-support)

Imperative (command)

¡Lee! (verb alone, ¡!; tú understood)

Negative imperative (prohibition)

¡No leas! (no + subjunctive)

Exclamatory

¡Qué libro tan interesante! (qué + noun, ¡!)

Tag question

Juan lee, ¿verdad? / ¿no? (tag added)

Alternative question

¿Lees o escribes? (A o B)

Examples

Declarative (statement)

John reads a book. (SVO, falling intonation)

Yes/No question

Does John read a book? (auxiliary do, ?)

Wh-question

What is John reading? (wh-movement, auxiliary inversion)

Imperative (command)

Read! (verb alone, no subject)

Negative imperative (prohibition)

Don't read! (do not + bare infinitive)

Exclamatory

What an interesting book! (what a + noun + !)

Tag question

John reads, doesn't he? (auxiliary + pronoun)

Alternative question

Do you read or write? (A or B)

Examples

Declarative (statement)

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū。(SVO, falling intonation)

Yes/No question

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū吗ma？(particle 吗ma, no inversion)

Wh-question

约yuē翰hàn读dú什shí么mó？(wh in situ, no inversion)

Imperative (command)

读dú书shū！(bare verb, no subject)

Negative imperative (prohibition)

别bié读dú！(别bié + verb)

Exclamatory

多duō有yǒu趣qù的de书shū啊ā！(多duō + adjective + 啊ā)

Tag question

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū，对duì不bù对duì？(对duì吗ma / 是shì不bù是shì)

Alternative question

你nǐ读dú书shū还huán是shì写xiě字zì？(A 还huán是shì B)

Comparison at a glance

Grammar concepts Spanish English Chinese
Declarative (statement) Juan lee un libro. (SVO, falling intonation)John reads a book. (SVO, falling intonation)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū。(SVO, falling intonation)
Yes/No question ¿Juan lee un libro? (inversion, ¿?)Does John read a book? (auxiliary do, ?)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū吗ma？(particle 吗ma, no inversion)
Wh-question ¿Qué lee Juan? (wh-fronting, no do-support)What is John reading? (wh-movement, auxiliary inversion)约yuē翰hàn读dú什shí么mó？(wh in situ, no inversion)
Imperative (command) ¡Lee! (verb alone, ¡!; tú understood)Read! (verb alone, no subject)读dú书shū！(bare verb, no subject)
Negative imperative (prohibition) ¡No leas! (no + subjunctive)Don't read! (do not + bare infinitive)别bié读dú！(别bié + verb)
Exclamatory ¡Qué libro tan interesante! (qué + noun, ¡!)What an interesting book! (what a + noun + !)多duō有yǒu趣qù的de书shū啊ā！(多duō + adjective + 啊ā)
Tag question Juan lee, ¿verdad? / ¿no? (tag added)John reads, doesn't he? (auxiliary + pronoun)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū，对duì不bù对duì？(对duì吗ma / 是shì不bù是shì)
Alternative question ¿Lees o escribes? (A o B)Do you read or write? (A or B)你nǐ读dú书shū还huán是shì写xiě字zì？(A 还huán是shì B)

Side-by-side comparison

Grammar concepts Spanish English Chinese
Declarative (statement) Juan lee un libro. (SVO, falling intonation)John reads a book. (SVO, falling intonation)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū。(SVO, falling intonation)
Yes/No question ¿Juan lee un libro? (inversion, ¿?)Does John read a book? (auxiliary do, ?)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū吗ma？(particle 吗ma, no inversion)
Wh-question ¿Qué lee Juan? (wh-fronting, no do-support)What is John reading? (wh-movement, auxiliary inversion)约yuē翰hàn读dú什shí么mó？(wh in situ, no inversion)
Imperative (command) ¡Lee! (verb alone, ¡!; tú understood)Read! (verb alone, no subject)读dú书shū！(bare verb, no subject)
Negative imperative (prohibition) ¡No leas! (no + subjunctive)Don't read! (do not + bare infinitive)别bié读dú！(别bié + verb)
Exclamatory ¡Qué libro tan interesante! (qué + noun, ¡!)What an interesting book! (what a + noun + !)多duō有yǒu趣qù的de书shū啊ā！(多duō + adjective + 啊ā)
Tag question Juan lee, ¿verdad? / ¿no? (tag added)John reads, doesn't he? (auxiliary + pronoun)约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū，对duì不bù对duì？(对duì吗ma / 是shì不bù是shì)
Alternative question ¿Lees o escribes? (A o B)Do you read or write? (A or B)你nǐ读dú书shū还huán是shì写xiě字zì？(A 还huán是shì B)

Examples in context

Declarative (statement)

Spanish

Juan lee un libro. (SVO, falling intonation)

English

John reads a book. (SVO, falling intonation)

Chinese

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū。(SVO, falling intonation)

Yes/No question

Spanish

¿Juan lee un libro? (inversion, ¿?)

English

Does John read a book? (auxiliary do, ?)

Chinese

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū吗ma？(particle 吗ma, no inversion)

Wh-question

Spanish

¿Qué lee Juan? (wh-fronting, no do-support)

English

What is John reading? (wh-movement, auxiliary inversion)

Chinese

约yuē翰hàn读dú什shí么mó？(wh in situ, no inversion)

Imperative (command)

Spanish

¡Lee! (verb alone, ¡!; tú understood)

English

Read! (verb alone, no subject)

Chinese

读dú书shū！(bare verb, no subject)

Negative imperative (prohibition)

Spanish

¡No leas! (no + subjunctive)

English

Don't read! (do not + bare infinitive)

Chinese

别bié读dú！(别bié + verb)

Exclamatory

Spanish

¡Qué libro tan interesante! (qué + noun, ¡!)

English

What an interesting book! (what a + noun + !)

Chinese

多duō有yǒu趣qù的de书shū啊ā！(多duō + adjective + 啊ā)

Tag question

Spanish

Juan lee, ¿verdad? / ¿no? (tag added)

English

John reads, doesn't he? (auxiliary + pronoun)

Chinese

约yuē翰hàn读dú书shū，对duì不bù对duì？(对duì吗ma / 是shì不bù是shì)

Alternative question

Spanish

¿Lees o escribes? (A o B)

English

Do you read or write? (A or B)

Chinese

你nǐ读dú书shū还huán是shì写xiě字zì？(A 还huán是shì B)

Key Takeaways

Key concepts compared: Declarative (statement), Yes/No question, Wh-question.

Understanding sentence types across languages prevents common transfer errors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does English require auxiliary 'do' in questions while Spanish and Chinese change nothing but intonation or add a particle?
English yes/no questions require auxiliary inversion or 'do'-support: 'Does John read?' Spanish inverts the subject and verb or uses rising intonation: *¿Juan lee?* or *¿Lee Juan?* Chinese adds the particle <ruby>吗<rt>ma</rt></ruby> at the end: <ruby>约<rt>yuē</rt></ruby><ruby>翰<rt>hàn</rt></ruby><ruby>读<rt>dú</rt></ruby><ruby>书<rt>shū</rt></ruby><ruby>吗<rt>ma</rt></ruby>？ (John reads [question]?). The English requirement is syntactically complex: 'John reads' → 'Does John read?' involves inserting a dummy auxiliary and inverting subject-auxiliary order. Spanish and Chinese speakers learning English will produce 'John reads?' (rising intonation only, ungrammatical in English) or will invert the main verb: 'Reads John?' (archaic/foreign-sounding). English speakers learning Spanish or Chinese will insert 'do' where it does not exist.
How does Spanish mark exclamations grammatically in ways that English and Chinese do not?
Spanish uses inverted exclamation marks (*¡...!*) and often inverts word order in exclamations: *¡Qué alto es!* (How tall he is!). English relies on intonation and wh-fronting: 'How tall he is!' Chinese uses the particle <ruby>啊<rt>a</rt></ruby> or <ruby>呀<rt>ya</rt></ruby> and extreme intonation: <ruby>他<rt>tā</rt></ruby><ruby>好<rt>hǎo</rt></ruby><ruby>高<rt>gāo</rt></ruby><ruby>啊<rt>a</rt></ruby>！ (He so tall [exclamation]!). An English speaker learning Spanish must learn to open exclamations with *¡* and to use *qué* + noun or adjective structures. A Chinese speaker learning Spanish must learn that exclamation is partly orthographic. Spanish speakers learning English must rely entirely on intonation, which feels imprecise. Spanish speakers learning Chinese must learn to use final particles rather than initial punctuation.
Why do Chinese speakers often produce declarative word order when forming English wh-questions?
Chinese wh-questions keep the wh-word in situ: <ruby>你<rt>nǐ</rt></ruby><ruby>买<rt>mǎi</rt></ruby><ruby>什<rt>shí</rt></ruby><ruby>么<rt>mó</rt></ruby>？ (You buy what?). English requires wh-fronting plus auxiliary inversion: 'What DID you buy?' A Chinese speaker will produce 'What you bought?' or 'You bought what?' — both ungrammatical in English. Spanish also fronts wh-words and inverts: *¿Qué compraste?* so Spanish speakers have an advantage. However, Spanish speakers may struggle with English 'do'-support in wh-questions: 'What DID you buy?' requires an auxiliary that Spanish does not use. The core issue for Chinese speakers is the fronting operation itself; for Spanish speakers, it is the dummy auxiliary.

References

  • Nueva gramática de la lengua española — Real Academia Española / Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, 2010
  • The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language — Huddleston & Pullum, Cambridge University Press, 2002
  • A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Chinese Language — Li & Thompson, 1981

Last updated: June 4, 2026