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ESLBeginner Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

A question

Hello, I'm feeling that sometimes a declarative sentence would be organized as an interrogative sentence. For example:

  • Don't you let me wait!

  • Dare I say *** .
Is this correct? and if yes, what grammar is it?

Thank you in advance!
  

Top answer

Dear friend, Don't you let me wait is not declarative, but imperative - it expresses command. It is almost the same as Don't let me wait! As a rule, imperative sentences have their subject omitted, for it is intuitively clear that the meaning of a directive implies that the omitted subject is the 2nd person pronoun you.

— Andriy Lapin

  • Dear friend, Don't you let me wait is not declarative, but imperative - it expresses command.
  • It is almost the same as Don't let me wait!
  • As a rule, imperative sentences have their subject omitted, for it is intuitively clear that the meaning of a directive implies that the omitted subject is the 2nd person pronoun you.
  • When the pronoun is present, it may express strong irritation or merely insistence, depending on the exact intonation pattern.
  • Dare I say ...?
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2 Answers
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Dear friend,

Don't you let me wait is not declarative, but imperative - it expresses command. It is almost the same as

Don't let me wait!

As a rule, imperative sentences have their subject omitted, for it is intuitively clear that the meaning of a directive implies that the omitted subject is the 2nd person pronoun you. When the pronoun is present,
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ESLBeginnerDon't you let me wait!
This is an imperative, not a declarative nor an interrogative. Usually we would phrase it as Don't make me wait!
ESLBeginnerDare I say *** .
This is an interrogative and should have a question mark at the end. dare is a modal, but expressed non-modally you could have Do I
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