An argument consists of one or more statements, called premises, offered as reason to believe that a

further statement, called the conclusion, is true. Technically speaking, premises and conclusions should
be made up of statements. A statement is a sentence that declares something to be true or false.

A sentence is a grammatically correct string of words, and there are many kinds of sentences other than
statements. Questions (e.g., “What is your name?”), commands (e.g., “Turn to page three”), and
exclamations (e.g., “Ouch!”) are all grammatically correct sentences that are not statements. They are
not statements because it makes no sense to say they are true or false. (“What is your name?” “That’s
true!” This would be a ridiculous mini-conversation.) Statements will always be true or false, never both,
and never neither.