What are the four types of sentences for kids?

Telling, asking, ordering, and bursting. "I have a dog" tells. "Do you have a dog?" asks. "Feed the dog" orders. "What a fluffy dog!" bursts. Kids grab the four jobs fastest through voices and acting, and the labels follow.

What are asking and telling sentences?

A telling sentence says something and ends with a period: "The hens lay brown eggs." An asking sentence wants an answer and ends with a question mark: "Where do turtles sleep?" First graders usually meet these two first. On these sheets they're mixed in with commands and exclamations, and your child circles the letter that names each kind.

Isn't this too advanced for 1st grade?

Not the way we frame it. First graders already tell, ask, order, and exclaim all day; the worksheet only asks them to notice which one a written sentence is doing. The formal names (declarative, interrogative) can wait years; the jobs can't.

1st grade types of sentences

1st grade types of sentences worksheets

Sentences come in four kinds: telling sentences (statements), asking sentences (questions), ordering sentences (commands), and bursting sentences (exclamations). First graders read a sentence and name its kind, which is really practice in listening to what a sentence does.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.1.1.j.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll get

Circle the letter that names the kind of sentence.

“Who won the race?” Kind of sentence: . statement · exclamation · question
Answer: question
“Please set the table.” Kind of sentence: . question · statement · command
“My dog sleeps under my bed.” Kind of sentence: . exclamation · question · statement

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 1st grade sheet

1st grade sheets draw from 60 sentences, 10 to a page. All 60 are on 2nd grade sheets too, along with 60 more. 2nd grade sheets print 8 to a page.

A few of the sentences:

It rained all day on Monday.
Feed the fish twice a day.
The water is freezing!

Choose the word. Circle the letter that names the kind of sentence. 10 questions per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Give each type a voice and a gesture: flat hand for telling, curled finger for asking, pointed finger for ordering, jazz hands for bursting. Read sentences aloud dramatically and let students gesture the answer before they circle it. The performance is the comprehension.

Watch for: Commands often hide their subject: 'Sit down' means you sit down, even though the word you never appears. The end mark is a clue, not proof: 'What a great day!' starts like a question but is an exclamation.

Common questions about 1st grade types of sentences

What are the four types of sentences for kids?: Telling, asking, ordering, and bursting. "I have a dog" tells. "Do you have a dog?" asks. "Feed the dog" orders. "What a fluffy dog!" bursts. Kids grab the four jobs fastest through voices and acting, and the labels follow.
What are asking and telling sentences?: A telling sentence says something and ends with a period: "The hens lay brown eggs." An asking sentence wants an answer and ends with a question mark: "Where do turtles sleep?" First graders usually meet these two first. On these sheets they're mixed in with commands and exclamations, and your child circles the letter that names each kind.
Isn't this too advanced for 1st grade?: Not the way we frame it. First graders already tell, ask, order, and exclaim all day; the worksheet only asks them to notice which one a written sentence is doing. The formal names (declarative, interrogative) can wait years; the jobs can't.

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Aligned to Common Core L.1.1.j. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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