Sentences do different jobs
Read these two.
“The rain fell all night.”
“Did it rain last night?”
Both are sentences. They do not do the same job. The first one hands you something. The second one wants something back from you.
A telling sentence tells you something. You read it and you know more than you did.
How to spot one
Ask yourself: is this sentence giving me something, or asking me for something?
| Sentence | What it does | Telling sentence? |
|---|---|---|
| My hat is red. | gives you a fact | Yes |
| Where is my hat? | asks you a question | No |
| Leo lost his hat. | gives you a fact | Yes |
| Is it under the bed? | asks you a question | No |
Most of what you read is telling sentences. Look at any page in a book and count.
What a telling sentence can tell
- what someone does: “Ava rides her bike.”
- what something is like: “The soup is hot.”
- what happened: “The rain stopped.”
All three are telling sentences. They all hand the reader something.
Words to know
- telling sentence: a sentence that tells you something
- statement: what older students call a telling sentence
Your turn
Say tells or asks.
- “My socks have holes in them.”
- “Do you want a turn?”
- “The bus came early.”
- “How old is your sister?”
Check your answers
- Tells.
- Asks.
- Tells.
- Asks.
Remember
- A telling sentence gives the reader something.
- An asking sentence wants something back.
- Most sentences you read are telling sentences.