Examples of single sentences

Sentences are generally made up of a subject, a verb, and a predicate, but it doesn't always have to be this way. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to show you those that are configured without the need to follow this structure and that they do not need a verb or a subject to maintain its own meaning. We are referring to single-member sentences. We are going to explain what they are and we will give you some examples of single sentences so you can understand them better.

It is possible that the name of single sentences It may seem a bit strange to you, but the truth is that they are used much more than you think. This type of premises can appear written or used in oral language. In addition, they have a lot versatility, since you can find them in text of a more literary type and in colloquial language.

In the first place, it should be noted that single sentences receive this qualifier because they only consist of one member. This means that these do not consist of the sentence structure in which they appear:

Subject + verb + predicate

Single-member sentences do not have a subject, in the case of impersonal; nor with a predicate, in the case of nominals. Despite this, you are have full meaning and they are capable of expressing messages that are understandable by the receiver.

Thus, single-member sentences are those that they only contain one of the parts of speech, that is, they are either composed of a predicate or a noun phrase. Despite this, its meaning is complete.

We have already defined what single-member sentences are, therefore, we must now know the different types that exist. We must take into account to identify them, that they are formed either only by a noun phrase or only by a predicate. Therefore we will find:

Nominal unimembres sentences

They are those that are formed by means of a noun, adjectival or adverbial phrase with predicative function. That is, even if they do not have a verb, the action is understood by the receiver.

Oh my God!

We see that it is an exclamation and we clearly understand its meaning without the need for a predicate. Let's see other examples of single sentences:

• Good afternoon
• Really?
• Long!
• Until tomorrow
• Oh my!
• Fire!

Therefore, we can say that these nominal single sentences are formed by short expressions with their own meaning that are usually vocative, exclamatory or set phrases.

Impersonal single sentences

These single-member sentences are composed of only one predicate. The subject is impersonal and they do not need him to convey a meaningful and coherent message within the text.

Therefore, impersonal single sentences are composed of a Verb phrase whose verb always appears in the third person singular and they usually refer to meteorological or physical phenomena. Although we can also find them in other variants. To understand it, we are going to see a series of examples:

It rains to seas.

It is a phrase in which only one verb phrase appears in which the nucleus is rain. As you can see, it appears in the third person singular, that is, in its impersonal form and is accompanied by a snap mode. The subject does not exist, but the sentence has full meaning. Let's continue with other examples of single sentences:

• It thundered through the night.
• Dawn earlier.
• It is very hot.
• It's quite windy.
• There are too many people.
• It's too late.

Single sentences with interjection and vocative

These types of sentences are formed by the interjection and the vocative that are used to express an affective function of the language (interjection) and appellative (vocative). Therefore, they are special forms of single sentences.

Interjection: used to express a state of mind an emotion. These types of sentences only represent states of mind by themselves, they do not usually have a message beyond this. In many cases, this emotion can only be understood from the context. Let's look at some examples.

Oh! My ankle!

In this case, the interjection is ¡Oh! As you can see in the previous sentence, this does not represent any syntactic function, just express an exclamation. Therefore, the single sentence is the one composed by Ay!

• Oh, how cute!
• Oh, how hungry!

Vocative: for its part, the vocative does not lose its value within statement that is expressing itself. That is, they have a appellative function within the sentence, usually on call. To understand it better, we are going to see some examples:

Antonio, come

In this sentence we see two sentences, the first one consisting of a vocative, therefore a single sentence: Antonio. For its part, the second composed of the predicate come. As you can see, the subject of the sentence is not Antonio since it represents a single sentence. The same happens in:

Friends, we are going to organize the working groups.

We hope we have resolved your questions about single member prayers. If you want to know more similar content, be sure to visit our sections specialized in Linguistics and Grammar in which you can learn about uses and particularities of the Spanish Language.