Which term describes a sentence that is incomplete but understood without a verb?

Which term describes a sentence that is incomplete but understood without a verb?

• A. Interrogative
• B. Exclamatory
• C. Minor sentence
• D. Declarative

Answer: (C)

A sentence that is incomplete but understood without a verb is a minor sentence. These are short, elliptical utterances that omit a finite verb yet still convey a clear meaning from context. Think of “Nice day” or “Hungry”—you fill in the missing verb in your mind (it’s “It’s a nice day” or “I’m hungry”). The point is the absence of the verb doesn’t block understanding, because the idea is complete in its compact form. That’s why this term fits best. The other terms describe sentence types that serve different functions or are usually grammatically complete: an interrogative is a question and typically involves a verb form, an exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion and can be a complete clause, and a declarative makes a straightforward statement. In those cases, the structure isn’t defined by omitting a verb in the way a minor sentence is.

A sentence that is incomplete but understood without a verb is a minor sentence. These are short, elliptical utterances that omit a finite verb yet still convey a clear meaning from context. Think of “Nice day” or “Hungry”—you fill in the missing verb in your mind (it’s “It’s a nice day” or “I’m hungry”). The point is the absence of the verb doesn’t block understanding, because the idea is complete in its compact form.

That’s why this term fits best. The other terms describe sentence types that serve different functions or are usually grammatically complete: an interrogative is a question and typically involves a verb form, an exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion and can be a complete clause, and a declarative makes a straightforward statement. In those cases, the structure isn’t defined by omitting a verb in the way a minor sentence is.