Identifying Statements

The aim of this tutorial is to help you to distinguish

statements from non-statements.

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Statements are sentences that it makes sense to regard as being either
true or false.

Put otherwise, a statement is a sentence that makes good

grammatical sense when it is prefaced with the words "It is true
that…" or "It is false that…"

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 Here are some examples of statements:

Paris is the capital of France.

The South won the American Civil War.

Ford makes better trucks than Chevy.

Same-sex marriage should be legalized.

I wish Ashley would call.

I'm shocked!

Each of these sentences is a statement, because each makes an assertion

that is either true or false.
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In thinking about statements, it is helpful to keep in mind the following points.

1. A single grammatical sentence can express two or more statements.

Example: Jill is a Democrat, but Matt is a Republican.

This is a compound sentence that expressed two distinct statements ("Jill

is a Democrat" and "Matt is a Republican"). Each of these clauses is a
statement, because each is capable of standing alone as a complete
declarative sentence.

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Not all sentences are statements, i.e., sentences that assert
that something is true or false.
Here are some examples of sentences that are not statements:

How was your summer? (question)

Pick up your room! (command)
Suffering succotash! (exclamation)
Hi! (greeting)
Let's go to the ball game tonight. (proposal)

None of these are statements, because none can sensibly be preceded

by the phrases "It is true that…" or "It is false that…"

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3. A statement can be expressed by a phrase or a dependent
clause rather than as a complete sentence.
Example: Considering Ian's near-perfect SAT scores, he should be able to get
into an Ivy League college.

In this sentence, the phrase "considering Ian's near-perfect SAT

scores" is a dependent clause that is not capable of standing
alone as a complete sentence. Nevertheless, the intent of the
speaker or writer is clearly to defend one claim ("Ian should be
able to get into an Ivy League college") on the basis of another
("Ian made nearly perfect SAT scores"). For critical thinking
purposes, therefore, it's important to recognize that there are
two statements in this passage, rather than one.

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4. Rhetorical questions should be regarded as statements.
Rhetorical questions are sentences that have the grammatical form of questions but a
meant to be understood as assertions.

Here are some examples of rhetorical questions:

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Isn't it time African Americans receive the reparations they deserve?
Don't you realize the tax-and-spend Democrats are leading this country straight into
recession?

The point of such "questions" is not to ask for information, but to make a
positive assertion that the speaker or writer expects at least some of his
readers or listeners to agree with. For that reason, rhetorical questions should
be treated as statements rather than as questions.

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5. Ought imperatives should be regarded as statements.
Ought imperatives are sentences that have the grammatical form of
imperatives (i.e., commands) but are intended to be understood as “ought
statements,” i.e., statements that express a judgment about what ought to be
done.
Here is an example of a passage that contains an ought imperative:
Never fuel your vehicle while the motor is running. If for some reason the
vehicle starts moving, it could cause a serious gasoline spill and possibly a fire
or explosion.
In this passage, the sentence “Never fuel your vehicle while the motor is
running” is an ought imperative. Although it has the grammatical form of an
order or command, it really functions as a piece of advice. It is not an order
but an emphatic way of saying “You shouldn’t fuel your vehicle while the
motor is running.” Assertions about what a person ought or should do can
be true or false. Thus, ought imperatives should be treated as statements.

This is the end of the tutorial