What type of sentence issues a command or directive?

The correct response identifies an imperative sentence as one that issues a command or directive. Imperative sentences are characterized by their usage of base verb forms to give orders, requests, or instructions. For example, in the sentence "Please pass the salt," the verb "pass" is in its base form and functions to instruct someone to take action. This type of sentence often does not explicitly state the subject, as it is typically understood to be "you."

In contrast, declarative sentences express statements or facts, exclamative sentences convey strong emotion or exclamation, and interrogative sentences pose questions. Each of these sentence types serves distinct grammatical functions, clearly differentiating them from imperative sentences which focus specifically on directing an action.