Produced by Karl Hagen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
** Transcriber’s Notes **
Underscores mark italics; words enclosed in +pluses+ represent boldface;
Vowels followed by a colon represent a long vowel (printed with a macron in
the original text).
To represent the sentence diagrams in ASCII, the following conventions are
used:
– The heavy horizontal line (for the main clause) is formed with equals
signs (==).
– Other solid vertical lines are formed with minus signs (—).
– Diagonal lines are formed with backslashes (\).
– Words printed on a diagonal line are preceded by a backslash, with no
horizontal line under them.
– Dotted horizontal lines are formed with periods (..)
– Dotted vertical lines are formed with straight apostrophes (‘)
– Dotted diagonal lines are formed with slanted apostrophes (`)
– Words printed over a horizontally broken line are shown like this:
——, helping
‘————-
– Words printed bending around a diagonal-horizontal line are broken like
this:
\wai
\ ting
————-
** End Transcriber’s Notes **
HIGHER LESSONS IN ENGLISH.
A WORK ON ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION,
IN WHICH THE SCIENCE OF THE LANGUAGE IS MADE TRIBUTARY TO THE ART OF
EXPRESSION.
A COURSE OF PRACTICAL LESSONS CAREFULLY GRADED, AND ADAPTED TO EVERY-DAY
USE IN THE SCHOOL-ROOM.
BY
ALONZO REED, A.M.,
FORMERLY INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN THE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE,
BROOKLYN,
AND
BRAINERD KELLOGG, LL.D.,
PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE POLYTECHNIC
INSTITUTE, BROOKLYN.
Revised Edition, 1896.
PREFACE.
The plan of “Higher Lessons” will perhaps be better understood if we first
speak of two classes of text-books with which this work is brought into
competition.
+Method of One Class of Text-books+.—In one class are those that aim
chiefly to present a course of technical grammar in the order of
Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. These books give large space
to grammatical Etymology, and demand much memorizing of definitions, rules,
declensions, and conjugations, and much formal word parsing,—work of which
a considerable portion is merely the invention of grammarians, and has
little value in determining the pupil’s use of language or in developing
his reasoning faculties. This is a revival of the long-endured, unfruitful,
old-time method.
+Method of Another Class of Text-books.+—In another class are those that
present a miscellaneous collection of lessons in Composition, Spelling,
Pronunciation, Sentence-analysis, Technical Grammar, and General
Information, without unity or continuity. The pupil who completes these
books will have gained something by practice and will have picked up some
scraps of knowledge; but his information will be vague and disconnected,
and he will have missed that mental training which it is the aim of a good
text-book to afford. A text-book is of value just so far as it presents a
clear, logical development of its subject. It must present its science or
its art as a natural growth, otherwise there is no apology for its being.
+The Study of the Sentence for the Proper Use of Words.+—It is the plan of
this book to trace with easy steps the natural development of the
sentence, to consider the leading facts first and then to descend to the
details. To begin with the parts of speech is to begin with details and to
disregard the higher unities, without which the details are scarcely
intelligible. The part of speech to which a word belongs is determined only
by its function in the sentence, and inflections simply mark the offices
and relations of words. Unless the pupil has been systematically trained to
discover the functions and relations of words as elements of an organic
whole, his knowledge of the parts of speech is of little value. It is not
because he cannot conjugate the verb or decline the pronoun that he falls
into such errors as “How many sounds have each of the vowels?” “Five
years’ interest are due.” “She is older than me.” He probably would not
say “each have,” “interest are,” “me am.” One thoroughly familiar
with the structure of the sentence will find little trouble in using
correctly the few inflectional forms in English.
+The Study of the Sentence for the Laws of Discourse.+—Through the study
of the sentence we not only arrive at an intelligent knowledge of the parts
of speech and a correct use of grammatical forms, but we discover the laws
of discourse in general. In the sentence the student should find the law of
unity, of continuity, of proportion, of order. All good writing consists of
good sentences properly joined. Since the sentence is the foundation or
unit of discourse, it is all-important that the pupil should know the
sentence. He should be able to put the principal and the subordinate parts
in their proper relation; he should know the exact function of every
element, its relation to other elements and its relation to the whole. He
should know the sentence as the skillful engineer knows his engine, that,
when there is a disorganization of parts, he may at once find the
difficulty and the remedy for it.
+The Study of the Sentence for the Sake of Translation.+—The laws of
thought being the same for all nations, the logical analysis of the
sentence is the same for all languages. When a student who has acquired a
knowledge of the English sentence comes to the translation of a foreign
language, he finds his work greatly simplified. If in a sentence of his own
language he sees only a mass of unorganized words, how much greater must be
his confusion when this mass of words is in a foreign tongue! A study of
the parts of speech is a far less important preparation for translation,
since the declensions and conjugations in English do not conform to those
of other languages. Teachers of the classics and of modern languages are
beginning to appreciate these facts.
+The Study of the Sentence for Discipline+.—As a means of discipline
nothing can compare with a training in the logical analysis of the
sentence. To study thought through its outward form, the sentence, and to
discover the fitness of the different parts of the expression to the parts
of the thought, is to learn to think. It has been noticed that pupils
thoroughly trained in the analysis and the construction of sentences come
to their other studies with a decided advantage in mental power. These
results can be obtained only by systematic and persistent work. Experienced
teachers understand that a few weak lessons on the sentence at the
beginning of a course and a few at the end can afford little discipline and
little knowledge that will endure, nor can a knowledge of the sentence be
gained by memorizing complicated rules and labored forms of analysis. To
compel a pupil to wade through a page or two of such bewildering terms as
“complex adverbial element of the second class” and “compound prepositional
adjective phrase,” in order to comprehend a few simple functions, is
grossly unjust; it is a substitution of form for content, of words for
ideas.
+Subdivisions and Modifications after the Sentence.+—Teachers familiar
with text-books that group all grammatical instruction around the eight
parts of speech, making eight independent units, will not, in the following
lessons, find everything in its accustomed place. But, when it is
remembered that the thread of connection unifying this work is the
sentence, it will be seen that the lessons fall into their natural order of
sequence. When, through the development of the sentence, all the offices of
the different parts of speech are mastered, the most natural thing is to
continue the work of classification and subdivide the parts of speech. The
inflection of words, being distinct from their classification, makes a
separate division of the work. If the chief end of grammar were to enable
one to parse, we should not here depart from long-established precedent.
+Sentences in Groups—Paragraphs+.—In tracing the growth of the sentence
from the simplest to the most complex form, each element, as it is
introduced, is illustrated by a large number of detached sentences, chosen
with the utmost care as to thought and expression. These compel the pupil
to confine his attention to one thing till he gets it well in hand.
Paragraphs from literature are then selected to be used at intervals, with
questions and suggestions to enforce principles already presented, and to
prepare the way informally for the regular lessons that follow. The lessons
on these selections are, however, made to take a much wider scope. They
lead the pupil to discover how and why sentences are grouped into
paragraphs, and how paragraphs are related to each other; they also lead
him on to discover whatever is most worthy of imitation in the style of the
several models presented.
+The Use of the Diagram+.—In written analysis, the simple map, or diagram,
found in the following lessons, will enable the pupil to present directly
and vividly to the eye the exact function of every clause in the sentence,
of every phrase in the clause, and of every word in the phrase—to picture
the complete analysis of the sentence, with principal and subordinate parts
in their proper relations. It is only by the aid of such a map, or picture,
that the pupil can, at a single view, see the sentence as an organic whole
made up of many parts performing various functions and standing in various
relations. Without such map he must labor under the disadvantage of seeing
all these things by piecemeal or in succession.
But if for any reason the teacher prefers not to use these diagrams, they
may be omitted without causing the slightest break in the work. The plan of
this book is in no way dependent on the use of the diagrams.
+The Objections to the Diagram+.—The fact that the pictorial diagram
groups the parts of a sentence according to their offices and relations,
and not in the order of speech, has been spoken of as a fault. It is, on
the contrary, a merit, for it teaches the pupil to look through the
literary order and discover the logical order. He thus learns what the
literary order really is, and sees that this may be varied indefinitely, so
long as the logical relations are kept clear.
The assertion that correct diagrams can be made mechanically is not borne
out by the facts. It is easier to avoid precision in oral analysis than in
written. The diagram drives the pupil to a most searching examination of
the sentence, brings him face to face with every difficulty, and compels a
decision on every point.
+The Abuse of the Diagram+.—Analysis by diagram often becomes so
interesting and so helpful that, like other good things, it is liable to be
overdone. There is danger of requiring too much written analysis. When the
ordinary constructions have been made clear, diagrams should be used only
for the more difficult sentences, or, if the sentences are long, only for
the more difficult parts of them. In both oral and written analysis there
is danger of repeating what needs no repetition. When the diagram has
served its purpose, it should be dropped.
AUTHORS’ NOTE TO REVISED EDITION.
During the years in which “Higher Lessons” has been in existence, we have
ourselves had an instructive experience with it in the classroom. We have
considered hundreds of suggestive letters written us by intelligent
teachers using the book. We have examined the best works on grammar that
have been published recently here and in England. And we have done more. We
have gone to the original source of all valid authority in our language—
the best writers and speakers of it. That we might ascertain what present
linguistic usage is, we chose fifty authors, now alive or living till
recently, and have carefully read three hundred pages of each. We have
minutely noted and recorded what these men by habitual use declare to be
good English. Among the fifty are such men as Ruskin, Froude, Hamerton,
Matthew Arnold, Macaulay, De Quincey, Thackeray, Bagehot, John Morley,
James Martineau, Cardinal Newman, J. R. Green, and Lecky in England; and
Hawthorne, Curtis, Prof. W. D. Whitney, George P. Marsh, Prescott, Emerson,
Motley, Prof. Austin Phelps, Holmes, Edward Everett, Irving, and Lowell in
America. When in the pages following we anywhere quote usage, it is to the
authority of such men that we appeal.
Upon these four sources of help we have drawn in the Revision of “Higher
Lessons” that we now offer to the public.
In this revised work we have given additional reasons for the opinions we
hold, and have advanced to some new positions; have explained more fully
what some teachers have thought obscure; have qualified what we think was
put too positively in former editions; have given the history of
constructions where this would deepen interest or aid in composition; have
quoted the verdicts of usage on many locutions condemned by purists; have
tried to work into the pupil’s style the felicities of expression found in
the lesson sentences; have taught the pupil earlier in the work, and more
thoroughly, the structure and the function of paragraphs; and have led him
on from the composition of single sentences of all kinds to the composition
of these great groups of sentences. But the distinctive features of “Higher
Lessons” that have made the work so useful and so popular stand as they
have stood—the Study of Words from their Offices in the Sentence, Analysis
for the sake of subsequent Synthesis, Easy Gradation, the Subdivisions and
Modifications of the Parts of Speech after the treatment of these in the
Sentence, etc., etc. We confess to some surprise that so little of what was
thought good in matter and method years ago has been seriously affected by
criticism since.
The additions made to “Higher Lessons”—additions that bring the work up to
the latest requirements—are generally in foot-notes to pages, and
sometimes are incorporated into the body of the Lessons, which in number
and numbering remain as they were. The books of former editions and those
of this revised edition can, therefore, be used in the same class without
any inconvenience.
Of the teachers who have given us invaluable assistance in this Revision,
we wish specially to name Prof. Henry M. Worrell, of the Polytechnic
Institute; and in this edition of the work, as in the preceding, we take
pleasure in acknowledging our great indebtedness to our critic, the
distinguished Prof. Francis A. March, of Lafayette College.
* * * * *
LESSON 1.
A TALK ON LANGUAGE.
Let us talk to-day about a language that we never learn from a grammar or
from a book of any kind—a language that we come by naturally, and use
without thinking of it.
It is a universal language, and consequently needs no interpreter. People
of all lands and of all degrees of culture use it; even the brute animals
in some measure understand it.
This Natural language is the language of cries, laughter, and tones, the
language of the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the whole face; the language of
gestures and postures.
The child’s cry tells of its wants; its sob, of grief; its scream, of pain;
its laugh, of delight. The boy raises his eyebrows in surprise and his nose
in disgust, leans forward in expectation, draws back in fear, makes a fist
in anger, and calls or drives away his dog simply by the tone in which he
speaks.
But feelings and desires are not the only things we wish to communicate.
Early in life we begin to acquire knowledge and learn to think, and then we
feel the need of a better language.
Suppose, for instance, you have formed an idea of a day; could you express
this by a tone, a look, or a gesture?
If you wish to tell me the fact that yesterday was cloudy, or that the
days are shorter in winter than in summer, you find it wholly impossible
to do this by means of Natural language.
To communicate, then, your thoughts, or even the mental pictures we have
called ideas, you need a language more nearly perfect.
This language is made up of words.
These words you learn from your mothers, and so Word language is your
mother-tongue. You learn them, also, from your friends and teachers, your
playmates and companions, and you learn them by reading; for words, as you
know, may be written as well as spoken.
This Word language we may, from its superiority, call +Language Proper+.
Natural language, as was said, precedes this Word language, but gives way
as Word language comes in and takes its place; yet Natural language may be
used, and always should be used, to assist and strengthen Word language. In
earnest conversation we enforce what we say in words, by the tone in which
we utter them, by the varying expression of the face, and by the movements
of the different parts of the body.
The look or the gesture may even dart ahead of the word, or it may
contradict it, and thus convict the speaker of ignorance or deception.
The happy union of the two kinds of language is the charm of all good
reading and speaking. The teacher of elocution is ever trying to recall the
pupil to the tones, the facial expression, and the action, so natural to
him in childhood and in animated conversation.
+DEFINITION.—Language Proper consists of the spoken and the written
words used to communicate ideas and thoughts+.
+DEFINITION.—English Grammar is the science which teaches the forms,
uses, and relations of the words of the English language.+
* * * * *
LESSON 2.
A TALK ON THOUGHTS AND SENTENCES.
To express a thought we use more than a single word, and the words arranged
to express a thought we call a sentence.
But there was a time when, through lack of words, we compressed our thought
into a single word. The child says to his father, up, meaning, Take me
up into your lap; or, book, meaning, This thing in my hand is a book.
These first words always deal with the things that can be learned by the
senses; they express the child’s ideas of these things.
We have spoken of thoughts and sentences; let us see now whether we can
find out what a thought is, and what a sentence is.
A sentence is a group of words expressing a thought; it is a body of which
a thought is the soul. It is something that can be seen or heard, while a
thought cannot be. Let us see whether, in studying a sentence, we may not
learn what a thought is.
In any such sentence as this, Spiders spin, something is said, or
asserted, about something. Here it is said, or asserted, of the animals,
spiders, that they spin.
The sentence, then, consists of two parts,—the name of that of which
something is said, and that which is said of it.
The first of these parts we call the +Subject+ of the sentence; the second,
the +Predicate+.
Now, if the sentence, composed of two parts, expresses the thought, there
must be in the thought two parts to be expressed. And there are two: viz.,
something of which we think, and that which we think of it. In the thought
expressed by Spiders spin, the animals, spiders, are the something of
which we think, and their spinning is what we think of them. In the
sentence expressing this thought, the word spiders names that of which we
think, and the word spin tells what we think of spiders.
Not every group of words is necessarily a sentence, because it may not be
the expression of a thought. Spiders spinning is not a sentence. There is
nothing in this expression to show that we have formed a judgment, i.e.,
that we have really made up our minds that spiders do spin. The spinning is
not asserted of the spiders.
Soft feathers, The shining sun are not sentences, and for similar
reasons. Feathers are soft, The sun shines are sentences. Here the
asserting word is supplied, and something is said of something else.
The shines sun is not a sentence; for, though it contains the asserting
word shines, the arrangement is such that no assertion is made, and no
thought is expressed.
* * * * *
LESSON 3.
A TALK ON SOUNDS AND LETTERS.
We have already told you that in expressing our ideas and thoughts we use
two kinds of words, spoken words and written words.
We learned the spoken words first. Mankind spoke long before they wrote.
Not until people wished to communicate with those at a distance, or had
thought out something worth handing down to aftertimes, did they need to
write.
But speaking was easy. The air, the lungs, and the organs of the throat and
mouth were at hand. The first cry was a suggestion. Sounds and noises were
heard on every side, provoking imitation, and the need of speech for the
purposes of communication was imperative.
Spoken words are made up of sounds. There are over forty sounds in the
English language. The different combinations of these give us all the words
of our spoken tongue. That you may clearly understand these sounds, we will
tell you something about the human voice.
In talking, the air driven out from your lungs beats against two flat
muscles, stretched, like bands, across the top of the windpipe, and causes
them to vibrate up and down. This vibration makes sound. Take a thread, put
one end between your teeth, hold the other with thumb and finger, draw it
tight and strike it, and you will understand how voice is made. The shorter
the string, or the tighter it is drawn, the faster will it vibrate, and the
higher will be the pitch of the sound. The more violent the blow, the
farther will the string vibrate, and the louder will be the sound. Just so
with these vocal bands or cords. The varying force with which the breath
strikes them and their different tensions and lengths at different times,
explain the different degrees of loudness and the varying pitch of the
voice.
If the voice thus produced comes out through the mouth held well open, a
class of sounds is formed which we call vowel sounds.
But if the voice is held back or obstructed by the palate, tongue, teeth,
or lips, one kind of the sounds called consonant sounds is made. If the
breath is driven out without voice, and is held back by these same parts of
the mouth, the other kind of consonant sounds is formed.
The written word is made up of characters, or letters, which represent to
the eye these sounds that address the ear.
You are now prepared to understand us when we say that +vowels+ are the
+letters+ that stand for the +open sounds+ of the +voice+, and that
+consonants+ are the +letters+ that stand for the sounds made by the
+obstructed voice+ and the +obstructed breath+.
The alphabet of a language is a complete list of its letters. A perfect
alphabet would have one letter for each sound, and only one.
Our alphabet is imperfect in at least these three ways:—
1. Some of the letters are superfluous; c stands for the sound of s or
of k, as in city and can; q has the sound of k, as in quit; and
x that of ks, gz, or z, as in expel, exist, and Xenophon.
2. Combinations of letters sometimes represent single sounds; as, th in
thine, th in thin, ng in sing, and sh in shut.
3. Some letters stand each for many sounds. Twenty-three letters represent
over forty sounds. Every vowel does more than single duty; e stands for
two sounds, as in mete and met; i for two, as in pine and pin;
o for three, as in note, not, and move; u for four, as in tube,
tub, full, and fur; a for six, as in fate, fat, far, fall, fast, and
fare.
W is a vowel when it unites with a preceding vowel to represent a vowel
sound, and y is a vowel when it has the sound of i, as in now, by,
boy, newly. W and y are consonants at the beginning of a word or
syllable.
The various sounds of the several vowels and even of the same vowel are
caused by the different shapes which the mouth assumes. These changes in
its cavity produce, also, the two sounds that unite in each of the
compounds, ou, oi, ew, and in the alphabetic i and o.
1. 2.
Vocal Consonants. Aspirates.
b………………p
d………………t
g………………k
—————————-h
j………………ch
l—————————
m—————————
n—————————
r—————————
th……………..th
(in thine) (in thin)
v………………f
w—————————
y—————————
z (in zone)……s
z (in azure)…..sh
The consonants in column 1 represent the sounds made by the obstructed
voice; those in column 2, except h (which represents a mere forcible
breathing), represent those made by the obstructed breath.
The letters are mostly in pairs. Now note that the tongue, teeth, lips, and
palate are placed in the same relative position to make the sounds of both
letters in any pair. The difference in the sounds of the letters of any
pair is simply this: there is voice in the sounds of the letters in column
1, and only whisper in those of column 2. Give the sound of any letter in
column 1, as b, g, v, and the last or vanishing part of it is the sound
of the other letter of the pair.
TO THE TEACHER.—Write these letters on the board, as above, and drill the
pupils on the sounds till they can see and make these distinctions. Drill
them on the vowels also.
In closing this talk with you, we wish to emphasize one point brought
before you. Here is a pencil, a real thing; we carry in memory a picture of
the pencil, which we call an idea; and there are the two words naming this
idea, the spoken and the written. Learn to distinguish clearly these four
things.
TO THE TEACHER.—In reviewing these three Lessons, put particular emphasis
on Lesson 2.
* * * * *
LESSON 4.
ANALYSIS AND THE DIAGRAM.
TO THE TEACHER.—If the pupils have been through “Graded Lessons” or its
equivalent, some of the following Lessons may be passed over rapidly.
+DEFINITION.—A Sentence is the expression of a thought in words+.
+Direction+.—Analyze the following sentences:—
+Model+.—Spiders spin. Why is this a sentence? Ans.—Because it
expresses a thought. Of what is something thought? Ans.—Spiders. Which
word tells what is thought? Ans.—Spin. [Footnote: The word spiders,
standing in Roman, names our idea of the real thing; spin, used merely as
a word, is in Italics. This use of Italics the teacher and the pupil will
please note here and elsewhere.]
1. Tides ebb.
2. Liquids flow.
3. Steam expands.
4. Carbon burns.
5. Iron melts.
6. Powder explodes.
7. Leaves tremble.
8. Worms crawl.
9. Hares leap.
In each of these sentences there are, as you have learned, two parts—the
+Subject+ and the +Predicate+.
+DEFINITION.—The Subject of a sentence names that of which something is
thought.+
+DEFINITION.—The Predicate of a sentence tells what is thought.+
+DEFINITION.—The Analysis of a sentence is the separation of it into its
parts.+
+Direction+.—Analyze these sentences:—
+Model+.—Beavers build. This is a sentence because it expresses a
thought. Beavers is the subject because it names that of which something
is thought; build is the predicate because it tells what is thought.
[Footnote: When pupils are familiar with the definitions, let the form of
analysis be varied. The reasons may be made more specific. Here and
elsewhere avoid mechanical repetition.]
1. Squirrels climb.
2. Blood circulates.
3. Muscles tire.
4. Heralds proclaim.
5. Apes chatter.
6. Branches wave.
7. Corn ripens.
8. Birds twitter.
9. Hearts throb.
+Explanation+.—Draw a heavy line and divide it into two parts. Let the
first part represent the subject of a sentence; the second, the predicate.
If you write a word over the first part, you will understand that this word
is the subject of a sentence. If you write a word over the second part, you
will understand that this word is the predicate of a sentence.
Love | conquers
========|============
|
You see, by looking at this figure, that Love conquers is a sentence;
that love is the subject, and conquers the predicate.
Such figures, made up of straight lines, we call Diagrams.
+DEFINITION.—A Diagram is a picture of the offices and the relations of
the different parts of a sentence.+
+Direction+.—Analyze these sentences:—
1. Frogs croak.
2. Hens sit.
3. Sheep bleat.
4. Cows low.
5. Flies buzz.
6. Sap ascends.
7. Study pays.
8. Buds swell.
9. Books aid.
10. Noise disturbs.
11. Hope strengthens.
12. Cocks crow.
* * * * *
LESSON 5.
COMPOSITION—SUBJECT AND PREDICATE.
+CAPITAL LETTER—RULE.—The first word of every sentence must begin with a
capital letter+.
+PERIOD—RULE.—A period must be placed after every sentence that simply
affirms, denies, or commands.+
+Direction+.—Construct sentences by supplying a subject to each of the
following predicates:—
Ask yourselves the questions, What tarnishes? Who sailed, conquered, etc.?
1. ——- tarnishes.
2. ——- capsize.
3. ——- radiates.
4. ——- sentence.
5. ——- careen.
6. ——- sailed.
7. ——- descends.
8. ——- glisten.
9. ——- absorb.
10. ——- corrode.
11. ——- conquered.
12. ——- surrendered.
13. ——- refines.
14. ——- gurgle.
15. ——- murmur.
+Direction+.—Construct sentences by supplying a predicate to each of the
following subjects:—
Ask yourselves the question, Glycerine does what?
1. Glycerine ——-.
2. Yankees ——-.
3. Tyrants ——-.
4. Pendulums ——-.
5. Caesar ——-.
6. Labor ——-.
7. Chalk ——-.
8. Nature ——-.
9. Tempests ——-.
10. Seeds ——-.
11. Heat ——-.
12. Philosophers ——-.
13. Bubbles ——-.
14. Darkness ——-.
15. Wax ——-.
16. Reptiles ——-.
17. Merchants ——-.
18. Meteors ——-.
19. Conscience ——-.
20. Congress ——-.
21. Life ——-.
22. Vapors ——-.
23. Music ——-.
24. Pitch ——-.
TO THE TEACHER.—This exercise may profitably be extended by supplying
several subjects to each predicate, and several predicates to each subject.
* * * * *
LESSON 6.
ANALYSIS.
The predicate sometimes contains more than one word.
+Direction+.—Analyze as in Lesson 4.
1. Moisture is exhaled.
2. Conclusions are drawn.
3. Industry will enrich.
4. Stars have disappeared.
5. Twilight is falling.
6. Leaves are turning.
7. Sirius has appeared.
8. Constantinople had been captured.
9. Electricity has been harnessed.
10. Tempests have been raging.
11. Nuisances should be abated.
12. Jerusalem was destroyed.
13. Light can be reflected.
14. Rain must have fallen.
15. Planets have been discovered.
16. Palaces shall crumble.
17. Storms may be gathering.
18. Essex might have been saved.
19. Caesar could have been crowned,
20. Inventors may be encouraged.
+Direction+.—Point out the subject and the predicate of each sentence in
Lessons 12 and 17.
Look first for the word that asserts, and then, by putting who or what
before this predicate, the subject may easily be found.
TO THE TEACHER.—Let this exercise be continued till the pupils can readily
point out the subject and the predicate in ordinary simple sentences.
When this can be done promptly, the first and most important step in
analysis will have been taken.
* * * * *
LESSON 7.
COMPOSITION—SUBJECT AND PREDICATE.
+Direction+.—Make at least ten good sentences out of the words in the
three columns following:—
The helping words in column 2 must be prefixed to words in column 3 in
order to make complete predicates. Analyze your sentences.
1 2 3
Arts is progressing.
Allen was tested.
Life are command.
Theories will prolonged.
Science would released.
Truth were falling.
Shadows may be burned.
Moscow has been measured.
Raleigh have been prevail.
Quantity should have been lost.
Review Questions.
What is language proper? What is English grammar? What is a sentence? What
are its two parts? What is the subject of a sentence? The predicate of a
sentence? The analysis of a sentence? What is a diagram? What rule has been
given for the use of capital letters? For the period? May the predicate
contain more than one word? Illustrate.
TO THE TEACHER.—Introduce the class to the Parts of Speech before the
close of this recitation. See “Introductory Hints” below.
* * * * *
LESSON 8.
CLASSES OF WORDS.
NOUNS.
+Introductory Hints+.—We have now reached the point where we must classify
the words of our language. But we are appalled by their number. If we must
learn all about the forms and the uses of a hundred thousand words by
studying these words one by one, we shall die ignorant of English grammar.
But may we not deal with words as we do with plants? If we had to study and
name each leaf and stem and flower, taken singly, we should never master
the botany even of our garden-plants.
But God has made things to resemble one another and to differ from one
another; and, as he has given us the power to detect resemblances and
differences, we are able to group things that have like qualities.
From certain likenesses in form and in structure, we put certain flowers
together and call them roses; from other likenesses, we get another class
called lilies; from others still, violets. Just so we classify trees and
get the oak, the elm, the maple, etc.
The myriad objects of nature fall into comparatively few classes. Studying
each class, we learn all we need to know of every object in it.
From their likenesses, though not in form, we classify words. We group them
according to their similarities in use, or office, in the sentence. Sorting
them thus, we find that they all fall into eight classes, which we call
Parts of Speech.
We find that many words name things—are the names of things of which we
can think and speak. These we place in one class and call them +Nouns+
(Latin nomen, a name, a noun).
PRONOUNS.
Without the little words which we shall italicize, it would be difficult
for one stranger to ask another, “Can you tell me who is the postmaster
at B?” The one would not know what name to use instead of you, the other
would not recognize the name in the place of me, and both would be
puzzled to find a substitute for who.
I, you, my, me, what, we, it, he, who, him, she, them, and other words
are used in place of nouns, and are, therefore, called +Pronouns+ (Lat.
pro, for, and nomen, a noun).
By means of these handy little words we can represent any or every object
in existence. We could hardly speak or write without them now, they so
frequently shorten the expression and prevent confusion and repetition.
+DEFINITION.—A Noun is the name of anything.+
+DEFINITION.—A Pronoun is a word used for a noun.+
The principal office of nouns is to name the things of which we say, or
assert, something in the sentence.
+Direction+.—-Write, according to the model, the names of things that can
burn, grow, melt, love, roar, or revolve.
+Model.+— Nouns.
Wood |
Paper |
Oil |
Houses + burn or burns.
Coal |
Leaves |
Matches |
Clothes |
+Remark.+—Notice that, when the subject adds s or es to denote more
than one, the predicate does not take s. Note how it would sound if both
should add s.
+Every subject+ of a sentence is a +noun+, or some word or words used as a
noun. But not every noun in a sentence is a subject.
+Direction.+—Select and write all the nouns and pronouns, whether
subjects or not, in the sentences given in Lesson 18.
In writing them observe the following rules:—
+CAPITAL LETTER—RULE.—Proper, or individual, names and words derived
from them begin with capital letters.+
+PERIOD and CAPITAL LETTER—RULE.—Abbreviations generally begin with
capital letters and are always followed by the period.+
* * * * *
LESSON 9.
CAPITAL LETTERS.
+Direction.+—From the following words select and write in one column
those names that distinguish individual things from others of the same
class, and in another column those words that are derived from individual
names:—
Observe Rule 1, Lesson 8.
ohio, state, chicago, france, bostonian, country, england, boston, milton,
river, girl, mary, hudson, william, britain, miltonic, city, englishman,
messiah, platonic, american, deity, bible, book, plato, christian,
broadway, america, jehovah, british, easter, europe, man, scriptures, god.
+Direction.+—Write the names of the days of the week and the months of
the year, beginning each with a capital letter; and write the names of the
seasons without capital letters.
+Remember+ that, when a class name and a distinguishing word combine to
make one individual name, each word begins with a capital letter; as,
Jersey City. [Footnote: Dead Sea is composed of the class name sea,
which applies to all seas, and the word Dead, which distinguishes one sea
from all others.]
But, when the distinguishing word can by itself be regarded as a complete
name, the class name begins with a small letter; as, river Rhine.
+Examples+.—Long Island, Good Friday, Mount Vernon, Suspension Bridge, New
York city, Harper’s Ferry, Cape May, Bunker Hill, Red River, Lake Erie,
General Jackson, White Mountains, river Thames, Astor House, steamer Drew,
North Pole.
+Direction+.—Write these words, using capital letters when needed:—
ohio river, professor huxley, president adams, doctor brown, clinton
county, westchester county, colonel burr, secretary stanton, lake george,
green mountains, white sea, cape cod, delaware bay, atlantic ocean, united
states, rhode island.
+Remember+ that, when an individual name is made up of a class name, the
word of, and a distinguishing word, the class name and the distinguishing
word should each begin with a capital letter; as, Gulf of Mexico. But,
when the distinguishing word can by itself be regarded as a complete name,
the class name should begin with a small letter; as, city of London.
[Footnote: The need of some definite instruction to save the young writer
from hesitation and confusion in the use of capitals is evident from the
following variety of forms now in use: City of New York, city of New
York, New York City, New York city, New York State, New York state,
Fourth Avenue, Fourth avenue, Grand Street, Grand street, Grand
st., Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean, Mediterranean Sea,
Mediterranean sea, Kings County, Kings county, etc.
The usage of newspapers and of text-books on geography would probably favor
the writing of the class names in the examples above with initial capitals;
but we find in the most carefully printed books and periodicals a tendency
to favor small letters in such cases.
In the superscription of letters, such words as street, city, and
county begin with capitals.
Usage certainly favors small initials for the following italicized words:
river Rhine, Catskill village, the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. If
river and village, in the preceding examples, are not essential parts
of the individual names, why should river, ocean, and county, in
Hudson river, Pacific ocean, Queens county, be treated differently?
We often say the Hudson, the Pacific, Queens, without adding the
explanatory class name.
The principle we suggest may be in advance of common usage; but it is in
the line of progress, and it tends to uniformity of practice and to an
improved appearance of the page. About a century ago every noun began with
a capital letter.
The American Cyclopedia takes a position still further in advance, as
illustrated in the following: Bed river, Black sea, gulf of Mexico,
Rocky mountains. In the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Little, Brown, & Co.,
9th ed.) we find Connecticut river, Madison county, etc., quite
uniformly; but we find Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean, etc.]
+Direction+.—Write these words, using capital letters when needed:—
city of atlanta, isle of man, straits of dover, state of Vermont, isthmus
of darien, sea of galilee, queen of england, bay of naples, empire of
china.
+Remember+ that, when a compound name is made up of two or more
distinguishing words, as, Henry Clay, John Stuart Mill, each word begins
with a capital letter.
+Direction+.—Write these words, using capital letters when needed:—
great britain, lower california, south carolina, daniel webster, new
england, oliver wendell holmes, north america, new orleans, james russell
lowell, british america.
+Remember+ that, in writing the titles of books, essays, poems, plays,
etc., and the names of the Deity, only the chief words begin with capital
letters; as, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Supreme Being, Paradise
Lost, the Holy One of Israel.
+Direction+.—Write these words, using capital letters when needed:—
declaration of independence, clarendon’s history of the great rebellion,
webster’s reply to hayne, pilgrim’s progress, johnson’s lives of the poets,
son of man, the most high, dombey and son, tent on the beach, bancroft’s
history of the united states.
+Direction+.—Write these miscellaneous names, using capital letters when
needed:—
erie canal, governor tilden, napoleon bonaparte, cape of good hope, pope’s
essay on criticism, massachusetts bay, city of boston, continent of
america, new testament, goldsmith’s she stoops to conquer, milton’s hymn on
the nativity, indian ocean, cape cod bay, plymouth rock, anderson’s history
of the united states, mount washington, english channel, the holy spirit,
new york central railroad, old world, long island sound, flatbush village.
* * * * *
LESSON 10.
ABBREVIATIONS.
+Direction+.—Some words occur frequently, and for convenience may he
abbreviated in writing. Observing Rule 2, Lesson 8, abbreviate these words
by writing the first five letters:—
Thursday and lieutenant.
These by writing the first four letters:—
Connecticut, captain, Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, professor, president, Tennessee, and
Tuesday.
These by writing the first three letters:—
Alabama, answer, Arkansas, California, colonel, Delaware, England, esquire,
Friday, general, George, governor, honorable, Illinois, Indiana, major,
Monday, Nevada, reverend, Saturday, secretary, Sunday, Texas, Wednesday,
Wisconsin, and the names of the months except May, June, and July.
These by writing the first two letters:—
Company, county, credit, example, and idem (the same).
These by writing the first letter:—
East, north, south, and west. [Footnote: When these words refer to sections
of the country, they should begin with capitals.]
These by writing the first and the last letter:—
Doctor, debtor, Georgia, junior, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Master, Mister, numero (number), Pennsylvania, saint, street, Vermont, and
Virginia.
These by writing the first letter of each word of the compound with a
period after each letter:—
Artium baccalaureus (bachelor of arts), anno Domini (in the year of our
Lord), artium magister (master of arts), ante meridiem (before noon),
before Christ, collect on delivery, District (of) Columbia, divinitatis
doctor (doctor of divinity), member (of) Congress, medicinae doctor (doctor
of medicine), member (of) Parliament, North America, North Carolina, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, postmaster, post meridiem (afternoon),
post-office, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and United States.
+Direction.+—The following abbreviations and those you have made should
be committed to memory:—
Acct. or acct., account.
Bbl. or bbl., barrel.
Chas., Charles.
Fla., Florida.
LL. D., legum doctor (doctor of laws).[Footnote: The doubling of the
l to ll and in LL. D., and of p in pp.,
with no period between the letters, comes from pluralizing the nouns
line, lean, and page.]
Messrs., messieurs (gentlemen).
Mme., madame.
Mo., Missouri.
Mrs., (pronounced missis) mistress.
Mts., mountains.
Ph.D., philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy).
Recd., received.
Robt., Robert.
Supt., superintendent.
Thos., Thomas.
bu., bushel.
do., ditto (the same)
doz., dozen.
e.g., exempli gratia (for example)
etc., et caetera (and others).
ft., foot, feet.
hhd., hogshead.
hdkf., handkerchief.
i.e., id est (that is).
l., line.
ll., lines.
lb., libra (pound).
oz., ounce.
p., page.
pp., pages.
qt., quart.
vs., versus (against).
viz., videlicet (namely).
yd., yard.
+Remark.+—In this Lesson we have given the abbreviations of the states as
now regulated by the “U. S. Official Postal Guide.” In the “Guide” Iowa
and Ohio are not abbreviated. They are, however, frequently abbreviated
thus: Iowa, Ia. or Io.; Ohio, 0.
The similarity, when hurriedly written, of the abbreviations Cal., Col.;
Ia., Io.; Neb., Nev.; Penn., Tenn., etc., has led to much confusion.
* * * * *
LESSON 11.
VERBS.
+Introductory Hints+.—We told you in Lesson 8 how, by noticing the
essential likenesses in things and grouping the things thus alike, we could
throw the countless objects around us into comparatively few classes.
We began to classify words according to their use, or office, in the
sentence; we found one class of words that name things, and we called them
nouns.
But in all the sentences given you, we have had to use another class of
words. These words, you notice, tell what the things do, or assert that
they are, or exist.
When we say Clocks tick, tick is not the name of anything; it tells
what clocks do: it asserts action.
When we say Clocks are, or There are clocks, are is not the name of.
anything, nor does it tell what clocks do; it simply asserts existence, or
being.
When we say Clocks hang, stand, last, lie, or remain, these words
hang, stand, last, etc., do not name anything, nor do they tell that
clocks act or simply exist; they tell the condition, or state, in which
clocks are, or exist; that is, they assert state of being.
All words that assert action, being, or state of being, we call +Verbs+
(+Lat+. verbum, a word). The name was given to this class because it was
thought that they were the most important words in the sentence.
Give several verbs that assert action. Give some that assert being, and
some that assert state of being.
+DEFINITION+.—+A Verb is a word that asserts action, being-, or state of
being+.
There are, however, two forms of the verb, the participle and the
infinitive (see Lessons 37 and 40), that express action, being, or state of
being, without asserting it.
+Direction.+—Write after each of the following nouns as many appropriate
verbs as you can think of:—
Let some express being and some express state of being.
+Model.—Noun.
| burns.
| melt.
| scorches.
Fire | keep.
(or) + spreads.
Fires | glow.
| rages.
| heat.
| exists.
+Remark.+—Notice that the simple form of the verb, as, burn, melt,
scorch, adds s or es when its subject noun names but one thing.
Lawyers, mills, horses, books, education, birds, mind.
A verb may consist of two, three, or even four words; as, is learning, may
be learned, could have been learned. [Footnote: Such groups of words are
sometimes called verb-phrases. For definition of phrase, see Lesson
17.]
+Direction.+—Unite the words in columns 2 and 3 below, and append the
verbs thus formed to the nouns and pronouns in column 1 so as to make
good sentences:—
+Remark.+—Notice that is, was, and has are used with nouns naming one
thing, and with the pronouns he, she, and it; and that are, were, and
have are used with nouns naming more than one thing, and with the
pronouns we, you, and they. I may be used with am, was, and have.
1 2 3
Words am confused.
Cotton is exported.
Sugar are refined.
Air coined.
Teas was delivered.
Speeches were weighed.
I, we, you has been imported.
He, she, it, they have been transferred.
As verbs are the only words that assert, +every predicate+ must be a verb,
or must contain a verb.
+Naming the class+ to which a word belongs is the +first step in parsing.+
+Direction+.—Parse five of the sentences you have written.
+Model+.—Poland was dismembered.
+Parsing+.—Poland is a noun because ——; was dismembered is a verb
because it asserts action.
* * * * *
LESSON 12.
MODIFIED SUBJECT.
ADJECTIVES.
+Introductory Hints+.—The subject noun and the predicate verb are not
always or often the whole of the structure that we call the sentence,
though they are the underlying timbers that support the rest of the verbal
bridge. Other words may be built upon them.
We learned in Lesson 8 that things resemble one another and differ from one
another. They resemble and they differ in what we call their qualities.
Things are alike whose qualities are the same, as, two oranges having the
same color, taste, and odor. Things are unlike, as an orange and an apple,
whose qualities are different.
It is by their qualities, then, that we know things and group them.
Ripe apples are healthful. Unripe apples are hurtful. In these two
sentences we have the same word apples to name the same general class of
things; but the prefixed words ripe and unripe, marking opposite qualities
in the apples, separate the apples into two kinds—the ripe ones and the
unripe ones.
These prefixed words ripe and unripe, then, limit the word apples in
its scope; ripe apples or unripe apples applies to fewer things than
apples alone applies to.
If we say the, this, that apple, or an, no apple, or some, many,
eight apples, we do not mark any quality of the fruit; but the, this, or
that points out a particular apple, and limits the word apple to the
one pointed out; and an, no, some, many, or eight limits the word in
respect to the number of apples that it denotes.
These and all such words as by marking quality, by pointing out, or by
specifying number or quantity limit the scope or add to the meaning of the
noun, +modify+ it, and are called +Modifiers+.
In the sentence above, apples is the +Simple Subject+ and ripe apples
is the +Modified Subject+.
Words that modify nouns and pronouns are called +Adjectives+ (Lat. ad,
to, and jacere, to throw).
+DEFINITION.—A Modifier is a word or a group of words joined to some
part of the sentence to qualify or limit the meaning+.
The +Subject+ with its +Modifiers+ is called the +Modified Subject+, or
Logical Subject.
+DEFINITION.—An Adjective is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun+.
Analysis and Parsing.
1. The cold November rain is falling.
rain | is falling
=========================|==============
\The \cold \November |
+Explanation.+—The two lines shaded alike and placed uppermost stand for
the subject and the predicate, and show that these are of the same rank,
and are the principal parts of the sentence. The lighter lines, placed
under and joined to the subject line, stand for the less important parts,
the modifiers, and show what is modified. [Footnote: TO THE TEACHER.—When
several adjectives are joined to one noun, each adjective does not always
modify the unlimited noun. That old wooden house was burned. Here
wooden modifies house, old modifies house limited by wooden, and
that modifies house limited by old and wooden. This may be
illustrated in the diagram by numbering the modifiers in the order of their
rank, thus:—
|
==================|=======
\3 \2 \1 |
Adverbs, and both phrase and clause modifiers often differ in rank in the
same way. If the pupils are able to see these distinctions, it will be well
to have them made in the analysis, as they often determine the punctuation
and the arrangement. See Lessons 13 and 21.]
+TO THE TEACHER.+—While we, from experience, are clear in the belief that
diagrams are very helpful in the analysis of sentences, we wish to say that
the work required in this book can all be done without resorting to these
figures. If some other form, or no form, of written analysis is preferred,
our diagrams can be omitted without break or confusion.
When diagrams are used, only the teacher can determine how many shall be
required in any one Lesson, and how soon the pupil may dispense with their
aid altogether.
+Oral Analysis.+—(Here and hereafter we shall omit from the oral analysis
and parsing whatever has been provided for in previous Lessons.) The,
cold, and November are modifiers of the subject. The cold November
rain is the modified subject.
TO THE TEACHER.—While in these “models” we wish to avoid repetition, we
should require of the pupils full forms of oral analysis for at least some
of the sentences in every Lesson.
+Parsing.+—The, cold, and November are adjectives modifying
rain—cold and November expressing quality, and the pointing out.
2. The great Spanish Armada was destroyed.
3. A free people should be educated.
4. The old Liberty Bell was rung.
5. The famous Alexandrian library was burned.
6. The odious Stamp Act was repealed.
7. Every intelligent American citizen should vote.
8. The long Hoosac Tunnel is completed.
9. I alone should suffer.
10. All nature rejoices.
11. Five large, ripe, luscious, mellow apples were picked.
12. The melancholy autumn days have come.
13. A poor old wounded soldier returned.
14. The oppressed Russian serfs have been freed.
15. Immense suspension bridges have been built.
* * * * *
LESSON 13.
COMPOSITION—ADJECTIVES.
+Caution.+—When two or more adjectives are used with a noun, care must be
taken in their arrangement. If they differ in rank, place nearest the noun
the one most closely modifying it. If of the same rank, place them where
they will sound best—generally in the order of length, the shortest first.
+Explanation.+—Two honest young men were chosen, A tall, straight,
dignified person entered. Young tells the kind of men, honest tells
the kind of young men, and two tells the number of honest young men;
hence these adjectives are not of the same rank. Tall, straight, and
dignified modify person independently—the person is tall and straight
and dignified; hence these adjectives are of the same rank.
Notice the comma after tall and straight; and may be supplied; in the
first sentence and cannot be supplied. See Lesson 21.
+Direction.+—Arrange the adjectives below, and give your reasons:—
1. A Newfoundland pet handsome large dog.
2. Level low five the fields.
3. A wooden rickety large building.
4. Blind white beautiful three mice.
5. An energetic restless brave people.
6. An enlightened civilized nation.
+Direction.+—Form sentences by prefixing modified subjects to these
predicates:—
1. ——— have been invented.
2. ——— were destroyed.
3. ——— are cultivated.
4. ——— may be abused.
5. ——— was mutilated.
6. ——— were carved.
7. ——— have been discovered.
8. ——— have fallen.
9. ——— will be respected.
10. ——— have been built.
+Direction.+—Construct ten sentences, each of which shall contain a
subject modified by three adjectives—one from each of these columns:—
Let the adjectives be appropriate. For punctuation, see Lesson 21.
The dark sunny
That bright wearisome
This dingy commercial
Those short blue
These soft adventurous
Five brave fleecy
Some tiny parallel
Several important cheerless
Many long golden
A warm turbid
+Direction+.—Prefix to each of these nouns several appropriate
adjectives:—
River, frost, grain, ships, air, men.
+Direction+.—Couple those adjectives and nouns below that most
appropriately go together:—
Modest, lovely, flaunting, meek, patient, faithful, saucy, spirited,
violet, dahlia, sheep, pansy, ox, dog, horse, rose, gentle, duck, sly,
waddling, cooing, chattering, homely, chirping, puss, robin, dove, sparrow,
blackbird, cow, hen, cackling.
* * * * *
LESSON 14.
MODIFIED PREDICATE.
ADVERBS.
+Introductory Hints+.—You have learned that the subject may be modified;
let us see whether the predicate may be.
If we say, The leaves fall, we express a fact in a general way. But, if
we wish to speak of the time of their falling, we can add a word and say,
The leaves fall early; of the place of their falling, The leaves fall
here; of the manner, The leaves fall quietly; of the cause, Why do
the leaves fall?
We may join a word to one of these modifiers and say, The leaves fall
very quietly. Here very modifies quietly by telling the degree.
Very quietly is a group of words modifying the predicate. The predicate
with its modifiers is called the +Modified Predicate+. Such words as very,
here, and quietly form another part of speech, and are called +Adverbs+
(Lat. ad, to, and verbum, a word, or verb).
Adverbs may modify adjectives; as, Very ripe apples are healthful.
Adverbs modify verbs just as adjectives modify nouns—by limiting them. The
horse has a proud step = The horse steps proudly.
The +Predicate+ with its +Modifiers+ is called the +Modified +Predicate, or
Logical Predicate.
+DEFINITION.—An Adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or
an adverb.+ [Footnote: See Lesson 92 and foot-note.]
Analysis and Parsing.
1. The leaves fall very quietly.
leaves | fall
========|======
\The | \quietly
\very
+Oral Analysis+.—Very quietly is a modifier of the predicate; quietly
is the principal word of the group; very modifies quietly; the leaves
is the modified subject; fall very quietly is the modified predicate.
+Parsing+.—Quietly is an adverb modifying fall, telling the manner;
very is an adverb modifying quietly, telling the degree.
2. The old, historic Charter Oak was blown down.
3. The stern, rigid Puritans often worshiped there.
4. Bright-eyed daisies peep up everywhere.
5. The precious morning hours should not be wasted.
6. The timely suggestion was very kindly received.
7. We turned rather abruptly.
8. A highly enjoyable entertainment was provided.
9. The entertainment was highly enjoyed.
10. Why will people exaggerate so!
11. A somewhat dangerous pass had been reached quite unexpectedly.
12. We now travel still more rapidly.
13. Therefore he spoke excitedly.
14. You will undoubtedly be very cordially welcomed.
15. A furious equinoctial gale has just swept by.
16. The Hell Gate reef was slowly drilled away.
* * * * *
LESSON 15.
COMPOSITION—ADVERBS.
+Caution+.—So place adverbs that there can be no doubt as to what you
intend them to modify. Have regard to the sound also.
+Direction+.—Place the, italicized words below in different positions,
and note the effect on the sound and the sense:—
1. I immediately ran out.
2. Only one was left there.
3. She looked down proudly.
4. Unfortunately, this assistance came too late.
+Direction+.—Construct on each of these subjects three sentences having
modified subjects and modified predicates:—-
For punctuation, see Lesson 21.
+Model+. —— clouds ——.
1. Dark, heavy, threatening clouds are slowly gathering above.
2. Those, brilliant, crimson clouds will very soon dissolve.
3. Thin, fleecy clouds are scudding over.
l. —— ocean ——.
2. —— breeze ——.
3. —— shadows ——.
4. —— rock ——.
5. —— leaves ——.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which these adverbs shall modify
verbs:—
Heretofore, hereafter, annually, tenderly, inaudibly, legibly, evasively,
everywhere, aloof, forth.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which five of these adverbs shall
modify adjectives, and five shall modify adverbs:—
Far, unusually, quite, altogether, slightly, somewhat, much, almost, too,
rather.
* * * * *
LESSON 16.
REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—In all school work, but especially here, where the
philosophy of the sentence and the principles of construction are developed
in progressive steps, success depends largely on the character of the
reviews.
Let reviews be, so far as possible, topical. Require frequent outlines of
the work passed over, especially of what is taught in the “Introductory
Hints.” The language, except that of Rules and Definitions, should be the
pupil’s own, and the illustrative sentences should be original.
+Direction+.—Review from Lesson 8 to Lesson 15, inclusive.
Give the substance of the “Introductory Hints” (tell, for example, what
three things such words as tick, are, and remain do in the sentence,
what office they have in common, what such words are called, and why; what
common office such words as ripe, the, and eight have, in what three
ways they perform it, what such words are called, and why, etc.). Repeat
and illustrate definitions and rules; illustrate what is taught of the
capitalization and the abbreviation of names, and of the position of
adjectives and adverbs.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
(SEE PAGES 150-153.)
TO THE TEACHER.—After the pupil has learned a few principles of analysis
and construction through the aid of short detached sentences that exclude
everything unfamiliar, he may be led to recognize these same principles in
longer related sentences grouped into paragraphs. The study of paragraphs
selected for this purpose may well be extended as an informal preparation
for what is afterwards formally presented in the regular lessons of the
text-book.
These “Exercises” are offered only as suggestions. The teacher must, of
course, determine where and how often this composition should be
introduced.
We invite special attention to the study of the paragraph.
* * * * *
LESSON 17.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES AND PREPOSITIONS.
+Introductory Hints+.—To express our thoughts with greater exactness we
may need to expand a word modifier into several words; as, A long ride
brought us there = A ride of one hundred miles brought us to Chicago.
These groups of words, of one hundred miles and to Chicago—the one
substituted for the adjective long, the other for the adverb there—we
call +Phrases+. A phrase that does the work of an adjective is called an
+Adjective Phrase+. A phrase that does the work of an adverb is called an
+Adverb Phrase+.
As adverbs modify adjectives and adverbs, they may modify their equivalent
phrases; as, The train stops only at the station. They sometimes modify
only the introductory word of the phrase—this introductory word being
adverbial in its nature; as, He sailed nearly around the globe.
That we may learn the office of such words as of, to, and at, used to
introduce these phrases, let us see how the relation of one idea to another
may be expressed. Wealthy men. These two words express two ideas as
related. We have learned to know this relation by the form and position of
the words. Change these, and the relation is lost—men wealth. But by
using of before wealth the relation is restored—-men of wealth. The
word of, then, shows the relation between the ideas expressed by the
words men and wealth.
All such relation words are called +Prepositions+ (Lat. prae, before, and
positus, placed—their usual position being before the noun with which
they form a phrase).
A phrase introduced by a preposition is called a +Prepositional Phrase+.
This, however, is not the only kind of phrase.
+DEFINITION.—A Phrase is a group of words denoting related ideas, and
having a distinct office, but not expressing a thought+.
+DEFINITION.—A Preposition is a word that introduces a phrase modifier,
and shows the relation, in sense, of its principal word to the word
modified.+
Analysis and Parsing.
1. The pitch of the musical note depends upon the rapidity of vibration.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions in Lesson 12, concerning the use of
diagrams.
pitch depends
==========|=================
\The \of \upon
\ \
\ note \ rapidity
\———— \——————
\the \musical \the \of
\
\vibration
\————-
+Explanation+.—The diagram of the phrase is made up of a slanting line
standing for the introductory word, and a horizontal line representing the
principal word. Under the latter are drawn the lines which represent the
modifiers of the principal word.
+Oral Analysis+.—-The and the adjective phrase of the musical note are
modifiers of the subject; the adverb phrase upon the rapidity of
vibration is a modifier of the predicate. Of introduces the first
phrase, and note is the principal word; the and musical are modifiers
of note; upon introduces the second phrase, and rapidity is the
principal word; the and the adjective phrase of vibration are modifiers
of rapidity; of introduces this phrase, and vibration is the
principal word.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions in Lesson 12, concerning oral analysis.
+Parsing+.—Of is a preposition showing the relation, in sense, of note
to pitch; etc., etc.
TO THE TEACHER.—Insist that, in parsing, the pupils shall give specific
reasons instead of general definitions.
2. The Gulf Stream can be traced along the shores of the United States by
the blueness of the water.
3. The North Pole has been approached in three principal directions.
4. In 1607, Hudson penetrated within six hundred miles of the North Pole.
[Footnote: “1607” may be treated as a noun, and “six hundred” as one
adjective.]
5. The breezy morning died into silent noon.
6. The Delta of the Mississippi was once at St. Louis.
7. Coal of all kinds has originated from the decay of plants.
8. Genius can breathe freely only in the atmosphere of freedom.
\in \
\ _____\below
\atmosphere \just \
\___________ \Falls
\ \______
\only \
\the
+Explanation+.——Only modifies the whole phrase, and just modifies the
preposition.
9. The Suspension Bridge is stretched across the Niagara river just below
the Falls.
10. In Mother Goose the cow jumps clear over the moon.
11. The first standing army was formed in the middle of the fifteenth
century.
12. The first astronomical observatory in Europe was erected at Seville by
the Saracens.
13. The tails of some comets stretch to the distance of 100,000,000 miles.
14. The body of the great Napoleon was carried back from St. Helena to
France.
* * * * *
LESSON 18.
COMPOSITION-PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES.
+COMMA-RULE.—Phrases that are placed out of their usual order [Footnote:
For the usual order of words and phrases, see Lesson 51.] and made
emphatic, or that are loosely connected with the rest of the sentence,
should be set off by the comma.+ [Footnote: An expression in the body of a
sentence is set off by two commas; at the beginning or at the end, by one
comma.]
+Remark.+—This rule must be applied with caution. Unless it is desired to
make the phrase emphatic, or to break the continuity of the thought, the
growing usage among writers is not to set it off.
+Direction.+—Tell why the comma is, or is not, used in these
sentences:—
1. Between the two mountains lies a fertile valley.
2. Of the scenery along the Rhine, many travelers speak with enthusiasm.
3. He went, at the urgent request of the stranger, for the doctor.
4. He went from New York to Philadelphia on Monday.
5. In the dead of night, with a chosen band, under the cover of a truce, he
approached.
+Direction+.—Punctuate such of these sentences as need punctuation:—
1. England in the eleventh century was conquered by the Normans.
2. Amid the angry yells of the spectators he died.
3. For the sake of emphasis a word or a phrase may be placed out of its
natural order.
4. In the Pickwick Papers the conversation of Sam Weller is spiced with
wit.
5. New York on the contrary abounds in men of wealth.
6. It has come down by uninterrupted tradition from the earliest times to
the present day.
+Direction+.—See in how many places the phrases in the sentences above
may stand without obscuring the thought.
+Caution+.—So place phrase modifiers that there can be no doubt as to what
yon intend them to modify. Have regard to the sound also.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors in position, and use the comma when
needed:—
1. The honorable member was reproved for being intoxicated by the
president.
2. That small man is speaking with red whiskers.
3. A message was read from the President in the Senate.
4. With his gun toward the woods he started in the morning.
5. On Monday evening on temperance by Mr. Gough a lecture at the old brick
church was delivered.
+Direction+.—Form a sentence out of each of these groups of words:—
(Look sharply to the arrangement and the punctuation.)
1. Of mind of splendor under the garb often is concealed poverty.
2. Of affectation of the young fop in the face impertinent an was seen
smile.
3. Has been scattered Bible English the of millions by hundreds of the
earth over the face.
4. To the end with no small difficulty of the journey at last through deep
roads we after much fatigue came.
5. At the distance a flood of flame from the line from thirty iron mouths
of twelve hundred yards of the enemy poured forth.
+Direction+.—See into how many good, clear sentences you can convert
these by transposing the phrases:—
1. He went over the mountains on a certain day in early boyhood.
2. Ticonderoga was taken from the British by Ethan Allen on the tenth of
May in 1775.
* * * * *
LESSON 19.
COMPOSITION—PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES.
+Direction+.—Rewrite these sentences, changing the italicized words into
equivalent phrases:—
+Model+.—The sentence was carefully written. The sentence was written
with care.
1. A brazen image was then set up.
2. Those homeless children were kindly treated.
3. Much has been said about the Swiss scenery.
4. An aerial trip to Europe was rashly planned.
5. The American Continent was probably discovered by Cabot.
+Direction+.—Change these adjectives and adverbs into equivalent phrases;
and then, attending carefully to the punctuation, use these phrases in
sentences of your own:—
1. Bostonian
2. why
3. incautiously
4. nowhere
5. there
6. hence
7. northerly
8. national
9. whence
10. here
11. Arabian
12. lengthy
13. historical
14. lucidly
15. earthward
+Direction+.—Compose sentences, using these phrases as modifiers:—
Of copper; in Pennsylvania; from the West Indies; around the world; between
the tropics; toward the Pacific; on the 22d of February; during the reign
of Elizabeth; before the application of steam to machinery; at the
Centennial Exposition of 1876.
* * * * *
LESSON 20.
COMPOUND SUBJECT AND COMPOUND PREDICATE.
CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS.
+Introductory Hints.+—Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth reigned in England.
The three words Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth have the same
predicate—the same act being asserted of the king and the two queens.
Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth are connected by and, and being
understood between Edward and Mary. Connected subjects having the same
predicate form a +Compound Subject+.
Charles I. was seized, was tried, and was beheaded. The three predicates
was seized, was tried, and was beheaded have the same subject—the
three acts being asserted of the same king. Connected predicates having the
same subject form a +Compound Predicate.+
A sentence may have both a compound subject and a compound predicate; as,
Mary and Elizabeth lived and reigned in England.
The words connecting the parts of a compound subject or of a compound
predicate are called +Conjunctions+ (Lat. con, or cum, together, and
jungere, to join).
A conjunction may connect other parts of the sentence, as two word
modifiers—A dark and rainy night follows; Some men sin deliberately
and presumptuously.
It may connect two phrases; as, The equinox occurs in March and in
September.
It may connect two clauses, that is, expressions that, standing alone,
would be sentences; as, The leaves of the pine fall in spring, but the
leaves of the maple drop in autumn.
+Interjections+ (Lat. inter, between, and jacere, to throw) are the
eighth and last part of speech.
Oh! ah! pooh! pshaw! etc., express bursts of feeling too sudden and
violent for deliberate sentences.
_Hail! fudge! indeed! amen! _etc., express condensed thought as well as
feeling.
Any part of speech may be wrenched from its construction with other words,
and may lapse into an interjection; as, behold! shame! what!
Professor Sweet calls interjections sentence-words.
Two or more connected subjects having the same predicate form a +Compound
Subject+.
Two or more connected predicates having the same subject form a +Compound
Predicate+.
+DEFINITION.—A Conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, or
clauses.+
+DEFINITION.—An Interjection is a word used to express strong or sudden
feeling.+
Analysis and Parsing.
1. Ah! anxious wives, sisters, and mothers wait for the news.
Ah
——
wives
========\
‘\
‘ \ | wait
sisters ‘x \=====|===========
========’ \ \anxious \for
‘and/ \
‘ / \news
mothers ‘ / ——-
========’/ \the
+Explanation+.—The three short horizontal lines represent each a part of
the compound subject. They are connected by dotted lines, which stand for
the connecting word. The x shows that a conjunction is understood. The line
standing for the word modifier is joined to that part of the subject line
which represents the entire subject. Turn this diagram about, and the
connected horizontal lines will stand for the parts of a compound
predicate.
+Oral Analysis+.—-Wives, sisters, and mothers form the compound
subject; anxious is a modifier of the compound subject; and connects
sisters and mothers.
+Parsing+.—And is a conjunction connecting sisters and mothers; ah
is an interjection, expressing a sudden burst of feeling.
2. In a letter we may advise, exhort, comfort, request, and discuss.
(For diagram see the last sentence of the “Explanation” above.)
3. The mental, moral, and muscular powers are improved by use.
powers came
================= =========
\The \ X \ and \ \ and \of
\…\…..\ \…….\ parentage
\ \ \muscular \ \—————-
\ \moral \from
\mental \ land
\————-
4. The hero of the Book of Job came from a strange land and of a strange
parentage.
5. The optic nerve passes from the brain to the back of the eyeball, and
there spreads out.
6. Between the mind of man and the outer world are interposed the nerves of
the human body.
7. All forms of the lever and all the principal kinds of hinges are found
in the body.
8. By perfection is meant the full and harmonious development of all the
faculties.
9. Ugh! I look forward with dread to to-morrow.
10. From the Mount of Olives, the Dead Sea, dark and misty and solemn, is
seen.
11. Tush! tush! ‘t will not again appear.
12. A sort of gunpowder was used at an early period in China and in other
parts of Asia.
13. Some men sin deliberately and presumptuously.
14. Feudalism did not and could not exist before the tenth century.
15. The opinions of the New York press are quoted in every port and in
every capital.
16. Both friend and foe applauded.
friend
—————————-\
‘ \
‘ \ | applauded
‘and…. Both >===|===========
‘ /
foe ‘ /
————’—————/
+Explanation+.—The conjunction both is used to strengthen the real
connective and. Either and neither do the same for or and nor in
either—or, neither—nor.
+Remark.+—A phrase that contains another phrase as a modifier is called a
+Complex Phrase+. Two or more phrases connected by a conjunction form a
+Compound Phrase+.
+Direction.+—Pick out the simple, the complex, and the compound phrases
in the sentences above.
* * * * *
LESSON 21.
COMPOSITION—-CONNECTED TERMS AND INTERJECTIONS.
+COMMA—RULE.—Words or phrases connected by conjunctions are separated
from each other by the comma unless all the conjunctions are expressed.+
+Remark+.—When words and phrases stand in pairs, the pairs are separated
according to the Rule, but the words of each pair are not.
When one of two terms has a modifier that without the comma might be
referred to both, or, when the parts of compound predicates and of other
phrases are long or differently modified, these terms or parts are
separated by the comma though no conjunction is omitted.
When two terms connected by or have the same meaning, the second is
logically explanatory of the first, and is set off by the comma, i. e.,
when it occurs in the body of a sentence, a comma is placed after the
explanatory word, as well as before the or.
+Direction.+—Justify the punctuation of these sentences:—
1. Long, pious pilgrimages are made to Mecca.
2. Empires rise, flourish, and decay.
3. Cotton is raised in Egypt, in India, and in the United States.
4. The brain is protected by the skull, or cranium.
5. Nature and art and science were laid under tribute.
6. The room was furnished with a table, and a chair without legs.
7. The old oaken bucket hangs in the well.
+Explanation.+—No comma here, for no conjunction is omitted. Oaken
limits bucket, old limits bucket modified by oaken, and the
limits bucket modified by old and oaken. See Lesson 13.
8. A Christian spirit should be shown to Jew or Greek, male or female,
friend or foe.
9. We climbed up a mountain for a view.
+Explanation+.—No comma. Up a mountain tells where we climbed, and for
a view tells why we climbed up a mountain.
10. The boy hurries away from home, and enters upon a career of business or
of pleasure.
11. The long procession was closed by the great dignitaries of the realm,
and the brothers and sons of the king.
+Direction+.—Punctuate such of these sentences as need punctuation, and
give your reasons:—
1. Men and women and children stare cry out and run.
2. Bright healthful and vigorous poetry was written by Milton.
3. Few honest industrious men fail of success in life.
(Where is the conjunction omitted?)
4. Ireland or the Emerald Isle lies to the west of England.
5. That relates to the names of animals or of things without sex.
6. The Hebrew is closely allied to the Arabic the Phoenician the Syriac and
the Chaldee.
7. We sailed down the river and along the coast and into a little inlet.
8. The horses and the cattle were fastened in the same stables and were fed
with abundance of hay and grain.
9. Spring and summer autumn and winter rush by in quick succession.
10. A few dilapidated old buildings still stand in the deserted village.
+EXCLAMATION POINT—RULE.—All Exclamatory Expressions must be followed
by the exclamation point.+
+Remark+.—Sometimes an interjection alone and sometimes an interjection
and the words following it form the exclamatory expression; as, Oh! it
hurts. Oh, the beautiful snow!
O is used in direct address; as, O father, listen to me. Oh is used as
a cry of pain, surprise, delight, fear, or appeal. This distinction,
however desirable, is not strictly observed, O being frequently used in
place of Oh.
+CAPITAL LETTERS—RULE.—The words I and O should be written in capital
letters.+
+Direction.+—Correct these violations of the two rules given above:—
1. o noble judge o excellent young man.
2. Out of the depths have i cried unto thee.
3. Hurrah the field is won.
4. Pshaw how foolish.
5. Oh oh oh i shall be killed.
6. o life how uncertain o death how inevitable.
* * * * *
LESSON 22.
ANALYSIS AND PARSING.
+Direction+.—Beginning with the 8th sentence of the first group of
exercises in Lesson 21, analyze thirteen sentences, omitting the 4_th of
the second group._
+Model+.—A Christian spirit should be shown to Jew or Greek, male or
female, friend or foe.
spirit |should be shown / Jew
===============|================ __/’————
\A \Christian | \ /’ \’ Greek
\ / ‘ \————
\ / ‘
\to / x ‘ / male
\—/ ‘_/’————
\ ‘ \’ female
\ x ‘ \————
\ ‘
\ ‘ / friend
\__/’————-
\’ foe
\————-
* * * * *
LESSON 23.
COMPOSITION—CONNECTED TERMS.
Direction.+—Using the nouns below, compose sentences with compound
subjects; compose others in which the verbs shall form compound predicates;
and others in which the adjectives, the adverbs, and the phrases shall form
compound modifiers:—
In some let there be three or more connected terms. Observe Rule, Lesson
21, for punctuation. Let your sentences mean something.
NOUNS.
Washington, beauty, grace, Jefferson, symmetry, lightning, Lincoln,
electricity, copper, silver, flowers, gold, rose, lily.
VERBS.
Examine, sing, pull, push, report, shout, love, hate, like, scream, loathe,
approve, fear, obey, refine, hop, elevate, skip, disapprove.
ADJECTIVES.
+Direction.+—See Caution, Lesson 13.
Bright, acute, patient, careful, apt, forcible, simple, homely, happy,
short, pithy, deep, jolly, mercurial, precipitous.
ADVERBS.
+Direction.+—See Caution, Lesson 15. Neatly, slowly, carefully, sadly,
now, here, never, hereafter.
PHRASES.
On sea; in the city; by day; on land; by night; in the country; by hook;
across the ocean; by crook; over the lands; along the level road; up the
mountains.
* * * * *
LESSON 24.
REVIEW.
CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION.
Direction.+—Give the reason for every capital letter and for every mark
of punctuation used below:—
1. The sensitive parts of the body are covered by the cuticle, or skin.
2. The degrees of A.B., A.M., D.D., and LL.D. are conferred by the colleges
and the universities of the country.
3. Oh, I am so happy!
4. Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters rejoice at the news.
5. Plants are nourished by the earth, and the carbon of the air.
6. A tide of American travelers is constantly flooding Europe.
7. The tireless, sleepless sun rises above the horizon, and climbs slowly
and steadily to the zenith.
8. He retired to private life on half pay, and on the income of a large
estate in the South.
+Direction.+—Write these expressions, using capital letters and marks of
punctuation where they belong:—
1. a fresh ruddy and beardless french youth replied
2. maj, cal, bu, p m, rev, no, hon, ft, w, e, oz, mr, n y, a b, mon, bbl,
st
3. o father o father i cannot breathe here
4. ha ha that sounds well
5. the edict of nantes was established by henry the great of france
6. mrs, vs, co, esq, yd, pres, u s, prof, o, do, dr
7. hurrah good news good news
8. the largest fortunes grow by the saving of cents and dimes and dollars
9. the baltic sea lies between sweden and russia
10. the mississippi river pours into the gulf of mexico
11. supt, capt, qt, ph d, p, cr, i e, doz
12. benjamin franklin was born in boston in 1706 and died in 1790
+Direction.+—Correct all these errors in capitalization and punctuation,
and give your reasons:—
1 Oliver cromwell ruled, over the english People,
2. halloo. I must speak to You!
3. john Milton, went abroad in Early Life, and, stayed, for some time, with
the Scholars of Italy,
4. Most Fuel consists of Coal and Wood from the Forests
5. books are read for Pleasure and the Instruction and improvement of the
Intellect,
6. In rainy weather the feet should be protected by overshoes or galoches
7. hark they are coming!
8. A, neat, simple and manly style is pleasing to Us.
9. alas poor thing alas,
10. i fished on a, dark, and cool, and mossy, trout stream.
* * * * *
LESSON 25.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW.
ANALYSIS.
1. By the streets of By-and-by, one arrives at the house of
Never.—Spanish Proverb [Footnote: By-and-by has no real streets, the
London journals do not actually thunder, nor were the cheeks of William
the Testy literally scorched by his fiery gray eyes. Streets, house,
colored, thunder, and scorched are not, then, used here in their
first and ordinary meaning, but in a secondary and figurative sense.
These words we call +Metaphors+. By what they denote and by what they
only suggest they lend clearness, vividness, and force to the thought
they help to convey, and add beauty to the expression.
For further treatment of metaphors and other figures of speech, see
pages 87, 136, 155, 156, 165, and Lesson 150.]
2. The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest
navigators.—Gibbon.
3. The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through the center of each and
every town or city.—Holmes.
4. The arrogant Spartan, with a French-like glorification, boasted forever
of little Thermopylae.—De Quincey.
5. The purest act of knowledge is always colored by some feeling of
pleasure or pain.—Hamilton.
6. The thunder of the great London journals reverberates through every
clime.—Marsh.
7. The cheeks of William the Testy were scorched into a dusky red by two
fiery little gray eyes.—Irving.
8. The study of natural science goes hand in hand with the culture of the
imagination.—Tyndall. [Footnote: Hand in hand may be treated as one
adverb, or with may be supplied.]
9. The whole substance of the winds is drenched and bathed and washed and
winnowed and sifted through and through by this baptism in the
sea.—Swain.
10. The Arabian Empire stretched from the Atlantic to the Chinese Wall, and
from the shores of the Caspian Sea to those of the Indian
Ocean.—Draper.
11. One half of all known materials consists of oxygen.—Cooke.
12. The range of thirty pyramids, even in the time of Abraham, looked down
on the plain of Memphis.—Stanley.
* * * * *
LESSON 26.
WRITTEN PARSING.
+Direction+.—Parse the sentences of Lesson 25 according to this +Model
for Written Parsing.
| Nouns. | Pron. | Verbs. | Adj. | Adv. | Prep. | Conj.| Int.|
|————|———-|————|————|———|———-|———|——-|
1st |streets,| | |the,the.| |By,of, | | |
sentence|By-and- | one. |arrives.| | |at,of | | |
| by, | | | | | | | |
|house, | | | | | | | |
|Never. | | | | | | | |
————|————|———-|————|————|———|———-|———|——-|
| | | | | | | | |
2d | | | | | | | | |
sentence| | | | | | | | |
TO THE TEACHER.—Until the +Subdivisions+ and +Modifications+ of parts of
speech are reached, +Oral and Written Parsing+ can be only a classification
of the words in the sentence. You must judge how frequently a lesson like
this is needed, and how much parsing should be done orally day by day. In
their +Oral Analysis+ let the pupils give at first the reasons for every
statement, but guard against their doing this mechanically and in set
terms; and, when you think it can safely be done, let them drop it. But ask
now and then, whenever you think they have grown careless or are guessing,
for the reason of this, that, or the other step taken.
Here it may be well to emphasize the fact that the part of speech to which
any word belongs is determined by the use of the word, and not from its
form. Such exercises as the following are suggested:—
Use right words.
Act right.
Right the wrong.
You are in the right.
Pupils will be interested in finding sentences that illustrate the
different uses of the same word. It is hardly necessary for us to make
lists of words that have different uses. Any dictionary will furnish
abundant examples. It is an excellent practice to point out such words in
the regular exercises for analysis.
* * * * *
LESSON 27.
REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions, Lesson 16.
+Direction+.—Review from Lesson 17 to Lesson 21, inclusive.
Give the substance of the “Introductory Hints” (tell, for example, what
such words as long and there may be expanded into, how these expanded
forms may be modified, how introduced, what the introductory words are
called, and why, etc.). Repeat and illustrate definitions and rules;
illustrate fully what is taught of the position of phrases, and of the
punctuation of phrases, connected terms, and exclamatory expressions. How
many parts of speech are there?
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
(SEE PAGES 153-156.)
TO THE TEACHER.—See notes to the teacher, pages 30, 150.
* * * * *
LESSON 28.
NOUNS AS OBJECT COMPLEMENTS.
Introductory Hints.+—In saying Washington captured, we do not fully
express the act performed by Washington. If we add a noun and say,
Washington captured Cornwallis, we complete the predicate by naming that
which receives the act.
Whatever fills out, or completes, is a +Complement+. As Cornwallis
completes the expression of the act by naming the thing acted upon—the
object—we call it the +Object Complement+. Connected objects completing
the same verb form a +Compound Object Complement+; as, Washington captured
Cornwallis and his army.
+DEFINITION.—The Object Complement of a Sentence completes the
predicate, and names that which receives the act.+
The complement with all its modifiers is called the +Modified Complement.+
+Analysis.+
1. Clear thinking makes clear writing.
thinking | makes | writing
============|=====================
\ clear | \clear
+Oral Analysis+.—-Writing is the object complement; clear writing is
the modified complement, and makes clear writing is the entire predicate.
2. Austerlitz killed Pitt.
3. The invention of gunpowder destroyed feudalism.
4. Liars should have good memories.
5. We find the first surnames in the tenth century.
6. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.
7. Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning-rod.
8. At the opening of the thirteenth century, Oxford took and held rank with
the greatest schools of Europe.
took
/————-\
Oxford | / ‘ \ | rank
========|=and’ ==========
| \ ‘ /
\ ‘ held /
\———-/
revolves
/——————
moon | / ‘
======|== and’
| \ ‘
\ ‘ keeps | side
\———————-
9. The moon revolves, and keeps the same side toward us.
10. Hunger rings the bell, and orders up coals in the shape of bread and
butter, beef and bacon, pies and puddings.
11. The history of the Trojan war rests on the authority of Homer, and
forms the subject of the noblest poem of antiquity.
12. Every stalk, bud, flower, and seed displays a figure, a proportion, a
harmony, beyond the reach of art.
13. The natives of Ceylon build houses of the trunk, and thatch roofs with
the leaves, of the cocoa-nut palm.
14. Richelieu exiled the mother, oppressed the wife, degraded the brother,
and banished the confessor, of the king.
15. James and John study and recite grammar and arithmetic.
James study grammar
=========\ /===========\ /===============
‘ \ | / ‘ \ | / ‘
‘and ==|== and’ ===== and’
John ‘ / | \ ‘ recite / \ ‘ arithmetic
=========/ \===========/ \===============
* * * * *
LESSON 29.
NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES AS ATTRIBUTE COMPLEMENTS.
+Introductory Hints+.—The subject presents one idea; the predicate
presents another, and asserts it of the first. Corn is growing presents
the idea of the thing, corn, and the idea of the act, growing, and asserts
the act of the thing. Corn growing lacks the asserting word, and Corn
is lacks the word denoting the idea to be asserted.
In logic, the asserting word is called the copula—it shows that the two
ideas are coupled into a thought—and the word expressing the idea asserted
is called the predicate. But, as one word often performs both offices, e.
g., Corn grows, and, as it is disputed whether any word can assert
without expressing something of the idea asserted, we pass this distinction
by as not essential in grammar, and call both that which asserts and that
which expresses the idea asserted, by one name—the predicate. [Footnote:
We may call the verb the predicate; but, when it is followed by a
complement, it is an incomplete predicate.]
The maple leaves become. The verb become does not make a complete
predicate; it does not fully express the idea to be asserted. The idea may
be completely expressed by adding the adjective red, denoting the quality
we wish to assert of leaves, or attribute to them—The maple leaves become
red.
Lizards are reptiles. The noun reptiles, naming the class of the
animals called lizards, performs a like office for the asserting word are.
Rolfe’s wife was Pocahontas. Pocahontas completes the predicate by
presenting a second idea, which was asserts to be identical with that of
the subject.
When the completing word expressing the idea to be attributed does not
unite with the asserting word to make a single verb, we distinguish it as
the +Attribute Complement.+ [Footnote: Subjective Complement may, if
preferred, be used instead of Attribute Complement.] Connected attribute
complements of the same verb form a +Compound Attribute Complement+.
Most grammarians call the adjective and the noun, when so used, the
+Predicate Adjective+ and the +Predicate Noun+.
+DEFINITION.—The Attribute Complement of a Sentence completes the
predicate and belongs to the subject.+
Analysis.
1. Slang is vulgar.
Slang | is \ vulgar
==========|=================
|
+Explanation+.—The line standing for the attribute complement is, like the
object line, a continuation of the predicate line; but notice that the line
which separates the incomplete predicate from the complement slants toward
the subject to show that the complement is an attribute of it.
+Oral Analysis+.—Vulgar is the attribute complement, completing the
predicate and expressing a quality of slang; is vulgar is the entire
predicate.
2. The sea is fascinating and treacherous.
3. The mountains are grand, tranquil, and lovable.
4. The Saxon words in English are simple, homely, and substantial.
5. The French and the Latin words in English are elegant, dignified, and
artificial. [Footnote: The assertion in this sentence is true only in
the main.]
6. The ear is the ever-open gateway of the soul.
7. The verb is the life of the sentence.
8. Good-breeding is surface-Christianity.
9. A dainty plant is the ivy green.
+Explanation+.—The subject names that of which the speaker says something.
The terms in which he says it,—the predicate,—he, of course, assumes that
the hearer already understands. Settle, then, which—plant or ivy—Dickens
supposed the reader to know least about, and which, therefore, Dickens was
telling him about; and you settle which word—plant or ivy—is the
subject. (Is it not the writer’s poetical conception of “the green ivy”
that the reader is supposed not to possess?)
10. The highest outcome of culture is simplicity.
11. Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of
good-breeding.
12. The north wind is full of courage, and puts the stamina of endurance
into a man.
13. The west wind is hopeful, and has promise and adventure in it.
14. The east wind is peevishness and mental rheumatism and grumbling, and
curls one up in the chimney-corner.
15. The south wind is full of longing and unrest and effeminate suggestions
of luxurious ease.
* * * * *
LESSON 30.
ATTRIBUTE COMPLEMENTS—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
1. He went out as mate and came back captain.
as
—-
‘
went \ ‘ mate
/=======================
He | / ‘ \out
====|=and ‘
| \ ‘ came \ captain
\=======================
\back
+Explanation+.—Mate, like captain, is an attribute complement. Some
would say that the conjunction as connects mate to he; but we think
this connection is made through the verb went, and that as is simply
introductory. This is indicated in the diagram.
2. The sun shines bright and hot at midday.
3. Velvet feels smooth, and looks rich and glossy.
4. She grew tall, queenly, and beautiful.
5. Plato and Aristotle are called the two head-springs of all philosophy.
6. Under the Roman law, every son was regarded as a slave.
7. He came a foe and returned a friend.
8. I am here. I am present.
+Explanation+.—The office of an adverb sometimes seems to fade into that
of an adjective attribute and is not easily distinguished from it. Here,
like an adjective, seems to complete am, and, like an adverb to modify
it. From their form and usual function, here, in this example, should be
called an adverb, and present an adjective.
9. This book is presented to you as a token of esteem and gratitude.
10. The warrior fell back upon the bed a lifeless corpse.
11. The apple tastes and smells delicious.
12. Lord Darnley turned out a dissolute and insolent husband.
13. In the fable of the Discontented Pendulum, the weights hung speechless.
14. The brightness and freedom of the New Learning seemed incarnate in the
young and scholarly Sir Thomas More.
15. Sir Philip Sidney lived and died the darling of the Court, and the
gentleman and idol of the time.
* * * * *
LESSON 31.
OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS.
+Introductory Hints+.—He made the wall white. Here made does not fully
express the act performed upon the wall. We do not mean to say, He made
the white wall, but, He made-white (whitened) the wall. White helps
made to express the act, and at the same time it denotes the quality
attributed to the wall as the result of the act.
They made Victoria queen. Here made does not fully express the act
performed upon Victoria. They did not make Victoria, but made-queen
(crowned) Victoria. Queen helps made to express the act, and at the
same time denotes the office to which the act raised Victoria.
A word that, like the adjective white or the noun queen, helps to
complete the predicate and at the same time belongs to the object
complement, differs from an attribute complement by belonging not to the
subject but to the object complement, and so is called an +Objective
Complement+.
As the objective complement generally denotes what the receiver of the act
is made to be, in fact or in thought, it is sometimes called the factitive
complement or the factitive object (Lat. facere, to make). [Footnote:
See Lesson 37, last foot-note.]
Some of the other verbs which are thus completed are call, think,
choose, and name.
+DEFINITION.—The Objective Complement completes the predicate and
belongs to the object complement.+
Analysis.
1. They made Victoria queen.
They | made / queen | Victoria
======|=========================
|
+Explanation+.—The line that separates made from queen slants toward
the object complement to show that queen belongs to the object.
+Oral Analysis+.—Queen is an objective complement completing made and
belonging to Victoria; made Victoria queen is the complete predicate.
2. Some one has called the eye the window of the soul.
3. Destiny had made Mr. Churchill a schoolmaster.
4. President Hayes chose the Hon. Wm. M. Evarts Secretary of State.
5. After a break of sixty years in the ducal line of the English nobility,
James I. created the worthless Villiers Duke of Buckingham.
6. We should consider time as a sacred trust.
+Explanation+.—As may be used simply to introduce an objective
complement.
7. Ophelia and Polonius thought Hamlet really insane.
8. The President and the Senate appoint certain men ministers to foreign
courts.
9. Shylock would have struck Jessica dead beside him.
10. Custom renders the feelings blunt and callous.
11. Socrates styled beauty a short-lived tyranny.
12. Madame de Stael calls beautiful architecture frozen music.
13. They named the state New York from the Duke of York.
14. Henry the Great consecrated the Edict of Nantes as the very ark of the
constitution.
* * * * *
LESSON 32.
COMPOSITION—COMPLEMENTS.
+Caution.+—Be careful to distinguish an adjective complement from an
adverb modifier.
+Explanation.+—Mary arrived safe. We here wish to tell the condition of
Mary on her arrival, and not the manner of her arriving. My head feels
bad (is in a bad condition, as perceived by the sense of feeling). The
sun shines bright (is bright, as perceived by its shining).
When the idea of being is prominent in the verb, as in the examples above,
you see that the adjective, and not the adverb, follows.
+Direction.+—Justify the use of these adjectives and adverbs:—
1. The boy is running wild.
2. The boy is running wildly about.
3. They all arrived safe and sound.
4. The day opened bright.
5. He felt awkward in the presence of ladies.
6. He felt around awkwardly for his chair.
7. The sun shines bright.
8. The sun shines brightly on the tree-tops.
9. He appeared prompt and willing.
10. He appeared promptly and willingly.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors and give your reasons:—
1. My head pains me very bad.
2. My friend has acted very strange in the matter.
3. Don’t speak harsh.
4. It can be bought very cheaply.
5. I feel tolerable well.
6. She looks beautifully.
+Direction+.—Join to each of the nouns below three appropriate adjectives
expressing the qualities as assumed, and then make complete sentences by
asserting these qualities:—
+Model.+
Hard |
brittle + glass.
transparent |
Glass is hard, brittle, and transparent.
Coal, iron, Niagara Falls, flowers, war, ships.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences containing these nouns as attribute
complements:—
Emperor, mathematician, Longfellow, Richmond.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences, using these verbs as predicates, and
these pronouns as attribute complements:—
Is, was, might have been; I, we, he, she, they.
+Remark+.—Notice that these forms of the pronouns—I, we, thou, he, she,
ye, they, and who—are never used as object complements or as principal
words in prepositional phrases; and that me, us, thee, him, her, them,
and whom are never used as subjects or as attribute complements of
sentences.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which each of the following verbs shall
have two complements—the one an object complement, the other an objective
complement:—
Let some object complements be pronouns, and let some objective complements
be introduced by as.
+Model+.—They call me chief. We regard composition as very
important.
Make, appoint, consider, choose, call.
* * * * *
LESSON 33.
NOUNS AS ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS.
+Introductory Hints+.—Solomon’s temple was destroyed. Solomon’s limits
temple by telling what or whose temple is spoken of, and is therefore a
modifier of temple.
The relation of Solomon to the temple is expressed by the apostrophe and
s (‘s) added to the noun Solomon. When s has been added to the noun
to denote more than one, this relation of possession is expressed by the
apostrophe alone (‘); as, boys’ hats. This same relation of possession
may be expressed by the preposition of; Solomon’s temple = the temple
of Solomon.
Dom Pedro, the emperor, was welcomed by the Americans. The noun emperor
modifies Dom Pedro by telling what Dom Pedro is meant. Both words name
the same person.
Solomon’s and emperor, like adjectives, modify nouns; but they are
names of things, and are modified by adjectives and not by adverbs; as,
the wise Solomon’s temple; Dom Pedro, the Brazilian emperor. These are
conclusive reasons for calling such words nouns.
They represent two kinds of +Noun Modifiers+—the +Possessive+ and the
+Explanatory+.
The Explanatory Modifier is often called an +Appositive+. It identifies or
explains by adding another name of the same thing.
Analysis.
1. Elizabeth’s favorite, Raleigh, was beheaded by James I.
favorite (Raleigh) | was beheaded
====================|==============
\Elizabeth’s | \by
\ James I
\—————-
+Oral Analysts+.—Elizabeth’s and Raleigh are modifiers of the subject;
the first word telling whose favorite is meant, the second what favorite.
Elizabeth’s favorite, Raleigh is the modified subject.
2. The best features of King James’s translation of the Bible are derived
from Tyndale’s version.
3. St. Paul, the apostle, was beheaded in the reign of Nero.
4. A fool’s bolt is soon shot.
5. The tadpole, or polliwog, becomes a frog.
6. An idle brain is the devil’s workshop.
7. Mahomet, or Mohammed, was born in the year 569 and died in 632.
8. They scaled Mount Blanc—a daring feat.
They | scaled | Mount Blanc ( feat )
======|===================== =======
| \a \daring
+Explanation+.—Feat is explanatory of the sentence, They scaled Mount
Blanc, and in the diagram it stands, enclosed in curves, on a short line
placed after the sentence line.
9. Bees communicate to each other the death of the queen, by a rapid
interlacing of the antennae. [Footnote: For uses of each other and
one another, see Lesson 124.]
+Explanation+.—Each other may be treated as one term, or each may be
made explanatory of bees.
10. The lamp of a man’s life has three wicks—brain, blood, and breath.
+Explanation.+—Several words may together be explanatory of one.
11. The turtle’s back-bone and breast-bone—its shell and coat of
armor—are on the outside of its body.
back-bone shell
=============\ ========\
‘\ /’ \ | are
and’ \==========(======/ ‘and \=)=|=======
‘ / \turtle’s \its \ ‘ / |
breast-bone ‘/ \The \’ coat /
=============/ ========/
12. Cromwell’s rule as Protector began in the year 1653 and ended in 1658.
+Explanation+.—As, namely, to wit, viz., i.e., e.g., and that is may
introduce explanatory modifiers, but they do not seem to connect them to
the words modified. In the diagram they stand like as in Lesson 30.
Protector is explanatory of Cromwell’s.
13. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, three powerful nations,
namely, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, united for the dismemberment of
Poland.
14. John, the beloved disciple, lay on his Master’s breast.
15. The petals of the daisy, day’s-eye, close at night and in rainy
weather.
* * * * *
LESSON 34.
COMPOSITION—NOUNS AS ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS.
+COMMA—RULE.—An Explanatory Modifier, when it does not restrict the
modified term or combine closely with it, is set off by the comma.+
[Footnote: See foot-note, Lesson 18]
+Explanation+.—The words I and O should be written in capital letters.
The phrase I and O restricts words, that is, limits its application,
and no comma is needed.
Jacob’s favorite sons, Joseph and Benjamin, were Rachel’s children. The
phrase Joseph and Benjamin explains sons without restricting, and
therefore should be set off by the comma.
In each of these expressions, I myself, we boys, William the Conqueror,
the explanatory term combines closely with the word explained, and no comma
is needed.
+Direction+.—Give the reasons for the insertion or the omission of commas
in these sentences:—
1. My brother Henry and my brother George belong to a boat-club.
2. The author of Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, was the son of a tinker.
3. Shakespeare, the great dramatist, was careless of his literary
reputation.
4. The conqueror of Mexico, Cortez, was cruel in his treatment of
Montezuma.
5. Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru, was a Spaniard.
6. The Emperors Napoleon and Alexander met and became fast friends on a
raft at Tilsit.
+Direction+.—Insert commas below, where they are needed, and give your
reasons:—
1. The Franks a warlike people of Germany gave their name to France.
2. My son Joseph has entered college.
3. You blocks! You stones! 0 you hard hearts!
4. Mecca a city in Arabia is sacred in the eyes of Mohammedans.
5. He himself could not go.
6. The poet Spenser lived in the reign of Elizabeth.
7. Elizabeth Queen of England ruled from 1558 to 1603.
+Direction.+—Compose sentences containing these expressions as
explanatory modifiers:—
The most useful metal; the capital of Turkey; the Imperial City; the great
English poets; the hermit; a distinguished American statesman.
+Direction.+—Punctuate these expressions, and employ each of them in a
sentence:—
See Remark, Lesson 21. Omit or, and note the effect.
1. Palestine or the Holy Land ——.
2. New York or the Empire State ——.
3. New Orleans or the Crescent City ——.
4. The five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch ——.
+Remember+ that (‘s) and (‘) are the possessive signs—(‘) being used
when s has been added to denote more than one, and (‘s) in other cases.
+Direction.+—Copy the following, and note the use of the possessive
sign:—
The lady’s fan; the girl’s bonnet; a dollar’s worth; Burns’s poems; Brown &
Co.’s business; a day’s work; men’s clothing; children’s toys; those girls’
dresses; ladies’ calls; three years’ interest; five dollars’ worth.
+Direction.+—Make possessive modifiers of the following words, and join
them to appropriate nouns:—
Woman, women; mouse, mice; buffalo, buffaloes; fairy, fairies; hero,
heroes; baby, babies; calf, calves.
+Caution.+—Do not use (‘s) or (‘) with the pronouns its, his, ours,
yours, hers, theirs.
* * * * *
LESSON 35.
NOUNS AS ADVERB MODIFIERS.
+Introductory Hints.+—He gave me a book. Here we have what many
grammarians call a double object. Book, naming the thing acted upon,
they call the direct object; and me, naming the person toward whom the
act is directed, they call the +indirect+, or dative, +object+.
You see that me and book do not, like Cornwallis and army, in
Washington captured Cornwallis and his army, form a compound object
complement; they cannot be connected by a conjunction, for they do not
stand in the same relation to the verb gave. The meaning is not, He gave
me and the book.
We treat these indirect objects, which generally denote the person to or
for whom something is done, as equivalent to phrase modifiers. If we change
the order of the words, a preposition must be supplied; as, He gave a book
to me. He bought me a book; He bought a book for me. He asked me
a question; He asked a question of me. When the indirect object
precedes the direct, no preposition is expressed or understood.
Teach, tell, send, promise, permit, and lend are other examples of
verbs that take indirect objects.
Besides these indirect objects, +nouns denoting measure+, quantity, weight,
time, value, distance, or direction are often used adverbially, being
equivalent to phrase modifiers. We walked four miles an hour; It weighs
one pound; It is worth a dollar a yard; I went home that way; The
wall is ten feet six inches high.
The idiom of the language does not often admit a preposition before nouns
denoting measure, direction, etc. In your analysis you need not supply one.
+Analysis.+
1. They offered Caesar the crown three times.
They | offered | crown
========|==========================
| \ \ times \the
\ ———-
\ \three
\
\ Caesar
—————-
+Oral Analysis.+—Caesar and times are nouns used adverbially, being
equivalent to adverb phrases modifying the predicate offered.
2. We pay the President of the United States $50,000 a year.
3. He sent his daughter home that way.
4. I gave him a dollar a bushel for his wheat, and ten cents a pound for
his sugar.
5. Shakespeare was fifty-two years old the very day of his death.
6. Serpents cast their skin once a year.
7. The famous Charter Oak of Hartford, Conn., fell Aug. 21, 1856.
8. Good land should yield its owner seventy-five bushels of corn an acre.
9. On the fatal field of Zutphen, Sept. 22, 1586, his attendants brought
the wounded Sir Philip Sidney a cup of cold water.
10. He magnanimously gave a dying soldier the water.
11. The frog lives several weeks as a fish, and breathes by means of gills.
12. Queen Esther asked King Ahasuerus a favor.
13. Aristotle taught Alexander the Great philosophy.
14. The pure attar of roses is worth twenty or thirty dollars an ounce.
15. Puff-balls have grown six inches in diameter in a single night.
* * * * *
LESSON 36.
REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions, Lesson 16.
+Direction.+—Review from Lesson 28 to Lesson 35, inclusive.
Give the substance of the “Introductory Hints” (for example, show clearly
what two things are essential to a complete predicate; explain what is
meant by a complement; distinguish clearly the three kinds of complements;
show what parts of speech may be employed for each, and tell what general
idea—action, quality, class, or identity—is expressed by each attribute
complement or objective complement in your illustrations, etc.). Repeat and
illustrate definitions and rules; explain and illustrate fully the
distinction between an adjective complement and an adverb modifier;
illustrate what is taught of the forms I, we, etc., me, us, etc.;
explain and illustrate the use of the possessive sign.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
(SEE PAGES 156-159.)
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, pages 30, 150.
* * * * *
LESSON 37.
VERBS AS ADJECTIVES AND AS NOUNS—PARTICIPLES.
+Introductory Hints.+—Corn grows; Corn growing. Here growing differs
from grows in lacking the power to assert. Growing is a form of the
verb that cannot, like grows, make a complete predicate because it only
assumes or implies that the corn does the act. Corn may be called the
assumed subject of growing.
Birds, singing, delight us. Here singing does duty (1) as an adjective,
describing birds by assuming or implying an act, and (2) as a verb by
expressing the act of singing as going on at the time birds delight us.
By singing their songs birds delight us. Here singing has the nature of
a verb and that of a noun. As a verb it has an object complement, songs;
and as a noun it names the act, and stands as the principal word in a
prepositional phrase.
Their singing so sweetly delights us. Here, also, singing has the
nature of a verb and that of a noun. As a verb it has an adverb modifier,
sweetly, and as a noun it names an act and takes a possessive modifier.
This form of the verb is called the +Participle+ (Lat. pars, a part, and
capere, to take) because it partakes of two natures and performs two
offices—those of a verb and an adjective, or those of a verb and a noun.
(For definition see Lesson 131.)
Singing birds delight us. Here singing has lost its verbal nature, and
expresses a permanent quality of birds—telling what kind of birds,—and
consequently is a mere adjective. The singing of the birds delights us.
Here singing is simply a noun, naming the act and taking adjective
modifiers.
There are two kinds of participles; [Footnote: Grammarians are not agreed
as to what these words that have the nature of the verb and that of the
noun should be called. Some would call the simple forms doing, writing,
and injuring, in sentences (1), (6), and (7), Lesson 38, Infinitives.
They would also call by the same name such compound forms as being
accepted, having been shown, and having said in these expressions:
“for the purpose of being accepted;” “is the having been shown over a
place;” “I recollect his having said that.” But does it not tax even
credulity to believe that a simple Anglo-Saxon infinitive in -an, only
one form of which followed a preposition, and that always to, could have
developed into many compound forms, used in both voices, following almost
any preposition, and modified by the and by nouns and pronouns in the
possessive? No wonder the grammarian Mason says, “An infinitive in -ing,
set down by some as a modification of the simple infinitive in -an or
-en, is a perfectly unwarranted invention.”
Others call these words modernized forms of the Anglo-Saxon Verbal Nouns
in -ung, -ing. But this derivation of them encounters the stubborn fact
that those verbal nouns never were compound, and never were or could be
followed by objects. These words, on the contrary, are compound, as we have
seen, and have objects. That they are from nouns in -ung is otherwise,
and almost for the same reasons, as incredible as that they are from
infinitives in -an.
Others call these words Gerunds. A gerund in Latin is a simple form of
the verb in the active voice, never found in the nominative, and never in
the accusative (objective) after a verb. A gerund in Anglo-Saxon is a
simple form of the verb in the active voice—the dative case of the
infinitive merely—used mainly to indicate purpose, and always preceded by
the preposition to. To call these words in question gerunds is to stretch
the term gerund immensely beyond its meaning in Anglo-Saxon, and make it
cover words which sometimes (1) are highly compounded; sometimes (2) are
used in the passive voice; sometimes (3) follow other prepositions than
to; sometimes (4) do not follow any preposition; sometimes (5) are
objects of verbs; sometimes (6) are subjects of verbs; sometimes (7) are
modified by the; sometimes (8) are modified by a noun or pronoun in the
possessive; and generally (9) do not indicate purpose. We submit that the
extension of a class term so as to include words having these relations
that the Anglo-Saxon gerund never had, is not warranted by any precedent
except that furnished above in the extension of the term infinitive or of
the term verbal noun!
Still others call some of these words Infinitives; some of them Verbal
Nouns; and some of them Gerunds.
The forms in question—seeing, having seen, being seen, having been seen,
and having been seeing, for instance—are now made from the verb in
precisely the same way when partaking the nature of the noun as when
partaking the nature of the adjective. What can they possibly be but the
forms that all grammarians call participles extended to new uses? If the
uses of the original participles have been extended, why may we not carry
over the name? The name participle is as true to its etymology when
applied to the nounal use of the verb as when applied to the adjectival
use. For convenience of classification we call these disputed forms
participles, as good grammarians long ago called them and still call
them, though some of them may be traced back to the Saxon verbal noun or to
the infinitive, and though the Saxon participle was adjectival. The name
participle neither confounds terms nor misleads the student. The nounal
and the adjectival uses of participial forms we distinguish very sharply.]
one sharing the nature of the verb and that of the adjective; the other,
the nature of the verb and that of the noun. Participles commonly end in
ing, ed, or en.
The participle, like other forms of the verb, may be followed by an object
complement or an attribute complement.
Analysis and Parsing.
The +participle+ may be used as an +adjective modifier+.
1. Hearing a step, I turned.
I | turned
===|=========
\ |
\ hea
\ ring | step
————|———
\a
+Explanation+.—The line standing for the participle is broken; one part
slants to represent the adjective nature of the participle, and the other
is horizontal to represent its verbal nature.
+Oral Analysis+.—The phrase hearing a step is a modifier of the subject;
[Footnote: Logically, or in sense, hearing a step modifies the predicate
also. I turned when or because I heard a step. See Lesson 79.] the
principal word is hearing, which is completed by the noun step; step
is modified by a.
+Parsing+.—Hearing is a form of the verb called participle because the
act expressed by it is merely assumed, and it shares the nature of an
adjective and that of a verb.
2. The fat of the body is fuel laid away for use.
+Explanation+.—The complement is here modified by a participle phrase.
3. The spinal marrow, proceeding from the brain, extends down-ward through
the back-bone.
4. Van Twiller sat in a huge chair of solid oak, hewn in the celebrated
forest of the Hague.
+Explanation+.—The principal word of a prepositional phrase is here
modified by a participle phrase.
5. Lentulus, returning with victorious legions, had amused the populace
with the sports of the amphitheater.
The +participle+ may be used as an +attribute complement+.
6. The natives came crowding around.
+Explanation+.—Crowding here completes the predicate came, and belongs
to the subject natives. The natives are represented as performing the act
of coming and the accompanying act of crowding. The assertive force of the
predicate came seems to extend over both verbs. [Footnote: Some
grammarians prefer to treat the participle in such constructions as
adverbial. But is crowding any more adverbial here than are pale and
trembling in “The natives came pale and trembling“?]
7. The city lies sleeping.
8. They stood terrified.
9. The philosopher sat buried in thought.
\and \and \
\….\….\
\ \ \star
\ \ \ ving
\ \sav \———-
\ \ ing
\gru \—————
\ bbing
\——————-
|
miser | kept \ / \
======|======================
|
10. The old miser kept grubbing and saving and starving.
The +participle+ may be used as an +objective complement+.
11. He kept me waiting.
+Explanation+.—Waiting completes kept and relates to the object
complement me. Kept-waiting expresses the complete act performed upon
me. He kept-waiting me=He detained me. The relation of waiting to
me may be seen by changing the form of the verb; as, I was kept
waiting. See Lesson 31.
12. I found my book growing dull. [Footnote: It will be seen by this and
following examples that we extend the application of the term objective
complement beyond its primary, or factitive, sense. In “I struck the man
dead,” the condition expressed by dead is the result of the act
expressed by struck. In “I found the man dead,” the condition is not
the result of the act, and so grammarians say that in this second example
dead should be treated simply as an “appositive” adjective modifying
man. While dead does not belong to man as expressing the result of
the act, it is made to belong to man through the asserting force of the
verb, and therefore is not a mere modifier of man. Dead helps found
to express the act. Not found, but found-dead tells what was done to
the man.
If we put the sentence in the passive form, “The man was found dead,” it
will be seen that dead is more than a mere modifier; it belongs to man
through the assertive force of was found. If dead is here merely an
“appositive” adjective, “I found the man dead” must equal “I found the man,
who was dead” (or, “and he was dead”). The two sentences obviously are not
equal. “I caught him asleep” does not mean, “I caught him, and he was
asleep.”
If, in the construction discussed above, dead is an objective complement,
quiet, stirring, and (to) stir in the
following sentences are objective complements:—
I saw the leaves quiet.
I saw the leaves stirring.
I saw the leaves stir.
The adjective, the participle, and the infinitive do not here seem to
differ essentially in office. See Lesson 31 and page 78.]
\grow
\ wing \ dull
\———————-
|
I | found / / \ | book
=====|==============================
| \my
+Explanation+.—The diagram representing the phrase complement is drawn
above the complement line, on which it is made to rest by means of a
support. All that stands on the complement line is regarded as the
complement. Notice that the little mark before the phrase points toward the
object complement. The adjective dull completes growing and belongs to
book, the assumed subject of growing.
13. He owned himself defeated.
14. No one ever saw fat men heading a riot or herding together in turbulent
mobs.
15. I felt my heart beating faster.
16. You may imagine me sitting there.
17. Saul, seeking his father’s asses, found himself suddenly turned into a
king.
* * * * *
LESSON 38.
PARTICIPLES—CONTINUED.
Analysis and Parsing.
The +participle+ may be used as +principal word+ in a +prepositional
phrase+.
1. We receive good by doing good.
We | receive | good
=====|====================
| \by
\——-,doing | good
———————
+Explanation+.—The line representing the participle here is broken; the
first part represents the participle as a noun, and the other as a verb.
+Oral Analysis+.—The phrase by doing good is a modifier of the
predicate; by introduces the phrase; the principal word is doing, which
is completed by the noun good.
+Passing+.—Doing is a participle; like a noun, it follows the
preposition by, and, like a verb, it takes an object complement.
2. Portions of the brain may be cut off without producing any pain.
3. The Coliseum was once capable of seating ninety thousand persons.
4. Success generally depends on acting prudently, steadily, and vigorously.
5. You cannot fully sympathize with suffering without having suffered.
(Suffering is here a noun.)
The +participle+ may be the +principal word+ in a phrase used as a
+subject+ or as an +object complement+.
6. Your writing that letter so neatly secured the position.
—-, writing | letter
‘————————————
\Your | \neatly \that
| \so
|
/ \ | secured | position
=========|=========’===========
| \the
+Explanation+.—The diagram of the subject phrase is drawn above the
subject line. All that rests on the subject line is regarded as the
subject.
+Oral Analysis+.—The phrase your writing that letter so neatly is the
subject; the principal word of it is writing, which is completed by
letter; writing, as a noun, is modified by your, and, as a verb, by the
adverb phrase so neatly.
7. We should avoid injuring the feelings of others.
8. My going there will depend upon my father’s giving his consent.
9. Good reading aloud is a rare accomplishment.
The +participial form+ may be used as a +mere noun+ or a +mere adjective+.
10. The cackling of geese saved Rome.
11. Such was the exciting campaign, celebrated in many a long-forgotten
song. [Footnote: “Manig man in Anglo-Saxon was used like German
mancher mann, Latin multus vir, and the like, until the thirteenth
century; when the article was inserted to emphasize the distribution
before indicated by the singular number.”—Prof. F. A. March.]
+Explanation+.—Many modifies song after song has been limited by a
and long-forgotten.
12. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.
13. He was a squeezing, grasping, hardened old sinner.
The +participle+ may be used in +independent+ or +absolute phrases+.
14. The bridge at Ashtabula giving way, the train fell into the river.
+Explanation+.—The diagram of the absolute phrase, which consists of a
noun used independently with a participle, stands by itself. See lesson 44.
15. Talking of exercise, you have heard, of course, of Dickens’s
“constitutionals.”
* * * * *
LESSON 39.
COMPOSITION—PARTICIPLES.
+COMMA—RULE.—The Participle used as an adjective modifier, with the words
belonging to it, is set off+ [Footnote: An expression in the body of a
sentence is set off by two commas; at the beginning or at the end, by one
comma.] +by the comma unless restrictive+.
+Explanation+.—A bird, lighting near my window, greeted me with a song.
The bird sitting on the wall is a wren. Lighting describes without
restricting; sitting restricts—limits the application of bird to a
particular bird.
+Direction+.—Justify the punctuation of the participle phrases in Lesson
37.
+Caution+.—In using a participle, be careful to leave no doubt as to what
you intend it to modify.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors in arrangement, and punctuate, giving
your reasons:—
1. A gentleman will let his house going abroad for the summer to a small
family containing all the improvements.
2. The town contains fifty houses and one hundred inhabitants built of
brick.
3. Suits ready made of material cut by an experienced tailor handsomely
trimmed and bought at a bargain are offered cheap.
4. Seated on the topmost branch of a tall tree busily engaged in gnawing an
acorn we espied a squirrel.
5. A poor child was found in the streets by a wealthy and benevolent
gentleman suffering from cold and hunger.
+Direction+.—Recast these sentences, making the reference of the
participle clear, and punctuating correctly:—
+Model+.—Climbing to the top of the hill the Atlantic ocean was seen.
Incorrect because it appears that the ocean did the climbing.
Climbing to the top of the hill, we saw the Atlantic ocean.
1. Entering the next room was seen a marble statue of Apollo.
2. By giving him a few hints he was prepared to do the work well.
3. Desiring an early start the horse was saddled by five o’clock.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which each of these three participles
shall be used as an adjective modifier, as the principal word in a
prepositional phrase, as the principal word in a phrase used as a subject
or as an object complement, as a mere adjective, as a mere noun, and in an
absolute phrase:—
Buzzing, leaping, waving.
* * * * *
LESSON 40.
VERBS AS NOUNS—INFINITIVES.
+Introductory Hints+.—I came to see you. Here the verb see, like the
participle, lacks asserting power—I to see asserts nothing. See,
following the preposition to, [Footnote: For the discussion of to with
the infinitive, see Lesson 134.] names the act and is completed by you,
and so does duty as a noun and as a verb. In office it is like the second
kind of participles, described in Lesson 37, and from many grammarians has
received the same name—some calling both gerunds, and others calling
both infinitives. It differs from this participle in form, and in
following only the preposition to. Came to see=came for seeing.
This form of the verb is frequently the principal word of a phrase used as
a subject or as an object, complement; as, To read good books is
profitable; I like to read good books. Here also the form with to is
equivalent to the participle form reading. Reading good books is
profitable.
As this form of the verb names the action in an indefinite way, without
limiting it to a subject, we call it the +Infinitive+ (Lat. infinitus,
without limit). For definition, see Lesson 131. The infinitive, like the
participle, may have what is called an assumed subject. The assumed
subject denotes that to which the action or being expressed by the
participle or the infinitive belongs.
Frequently the infinitive phrase expresses purpose, as in the first example
given above, and in such cases to expresses relation, and performs its
full function as a preposition; but, when the infinitive phrase is used as
subject or as object complement, the to expresses no relation. It serves
only to introduce the phrase, and in no way affects the meaning of the
verb.
The infinitive, like other forms of the verb, may be followed by the
different complements.
Analysis and Parsing.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used as an +adjective modifier+ or an
+adverb modifier+.
1. The hot-house is a trap to catch sunbeams.
hot-house | is \ trap
============|================
\The | \a \to
\ catch | sunbeams
\———-‘—————
+Oral Analysis+.—To introduces the phrase; catch is the principal
word, and sunbeams completes it.
+Parsing+.—To is a preposition, introducing the phrase and showing the
relation, in sense, of the principal word to trap; catch is a form of the
verb called infinitive; like a noun, it follows the preposition to and
names the action, and, like a verb, it is completed by sunbeams.
2. Richelieu’s title to command rested on sublime force of will and
decision of character.
3. Many of the attempts to assassinate William the Silent were defeated.
4. We will strive to please you.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase is here used adverbially to modify
the predicate.
5. Ingenious Art steps forth to fashion and refine the race.
6. These harmless delusions tend to make us happy.
+Explanation+.—Happy completes make and relates to us.
7. Wounds made by words are hard to heal.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase is here used adverbially to modify
the adjective hard. To heal = to be healed.
8. The representative Yankee, selling his farm, wanders away to seek new
lands, to clear new cornfields, to build another shingle palace, and
again to sell off and wander.
9. These apples are not ripe enough to eat.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase is here used adverbially to modify
the adverb enough. To eat = to be eaten.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used as +subject+ or +complement.+
10. To be good is to be great.
\To \to
\ be \good \ be \ great
\———————————-
| |
/ \ | is \ / \
========|==================
|
Explanation.—To, in each of these phrases, shows no relation—it serves
merely to introduce. The complements good and great are adjectives used
abstractly, having no noun to relate to.
11. To bear our fate is to conquer it.
12. To be entirely just in our estimate of others is impossible.
13. The noblest vengeance is to forgive.
14. He seemed to be innocent.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase here performs the office of an
adjective. To be innocent = innocent.
15. The blind men’s dogs appeared to know him.
16. We should learn to govern ourselves.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase is here used as an object complement.
17. Each hill attempts to ape her voice.
* * * * *
LESSON 41.
INFINITIVES—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used +after a preposition+ as the +principal
term+ of another phrase.
1. My friend is about to leave me.
\to
\ leave | me
\———-‘——
\ about |
\ / \
\————————-
|
friend | is \ / \
========|=====================
\My |
+Explanation+.—The preposition about introduces the phrase used as
attribute complement; the principal part is the infinitive phrase to leave
me.
2. Paul was now about to open his mouth.
3. No way remains but to go on.
+Explanation+.—But is here a preposition.
The +infinitive+ and its +assumed subject+ may form the +principal term+ in
a phrase introduced by the preposition +for+.
4. For us to know our faults is profitable.
us
———-
| \to
\ | \ know | faults
\For | \———’————
\ / \ \our
\———-
|
/ \ | is \ profitable
=============|======================
|
+Explanation+.—For introduces the subject phrase; the principal part of
the entire phrase is us to know our faults; the principal word is us,
which is modified by the phrase to know our faults.
5. God never made his work for man to mend.
+Explanation+.—-The principal term of the phrase for man to mend is not
man, but man to mend.
6. For a man to be proud of his learning is the greatest ignorance.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used as an +explanatory modifier.+
7. It is easy to find fault.
\to
\ find | fault
\——-‘———
|
It (/ \) | is \ easy
=========|===========
|
+Explanation+.—The infinitive phrase to find fault explains the subject
it. Read the sentence without it, and you will see the real nature of
the phrase. This use of it as a substitute for the real subject is a very
common idiom of our language. It allows the real subject to follow the
verb, and thus gives the sentence balance of parts.
8. It is not the way to argue down a vice to tell lies about it.
9. It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope.
10. It is not all of life to live.
11. This task, to teach the young, may become delightful.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used as +objective complement.+
12. He made me wait.
+Explanation+.—The infinitive wait (here used without to) completes
made and relates to me. He made-wait me = He detained me.
See “Introductory Hints,” Lesson 31, and participles used as objective
complements, Lesson 37. Compare I saw him do it with I saw him doing
it. Compare also He made the stick bend—equaling He made-bend (=
bent) the stick—with He made the stick straight—equaling He
made-straight (= straightened) the stick.
The relation of these objective complements to me, him, and stick may
be more clearly seen by changing the form of the verb, thus: I was made to
wait; He was seen to do it, He was seen doing it; The stick was made
to bend; The stick was made straight.
13.We found the report to be true. [Footnote: Some prefer to treat the
report to be true as an object clause because it is equivalent to the
clause that the report is true. But many expressions logically
equivalent are entirely different in grammatical construction; as, I
desire his promotion; I desire him to be promoted; I desire that he
should be promoted. Besides, to teach that him is the subject, and
to be promoted the predicate, of a
clause would certainly be confusing.]
\to
\ be \ true
\———————
|
We | found / / \ | report
===|==========================
|
14. He commanded the bridge to be lowered. [Footnote: Notice the difference
in construction between this sentence and the sentence He commanded
him to lower the bridge. Him represents the one to whom the command
is given, and to lower the bridge is the object complement. This last
sentence = He commanded him that he should lower the bridge. Compare
He told me to go with He told (to) me a story; also He taught me
to read with He taught (to) me reading. In such sentences as (13)
and (14) it may not always be expedient to demand that the pupil shall
trace the exact relations of the infinitive phrase to the preceding
noun and to the predicate verb. If preferred, in such cases, the
infinitive and its assumed subject may be treated as a kind of phrase
object, equivalent to a clause. This construction is similar to the
Latin “accusative with the infinitive.”]
15. I saw the leaves stir. [Footnote: See pages 68 and 69, foot-note.]
+Explanation+.—Stir is an infinitive without the to.
16. Being persuaded by Poppaesa, Hero caused his mother, Agrippina, to be
assassinated.
* * * * *
LESSON 42.
INFINITIVES—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
The +infinitive phrase+ may be used +independently+. [Footnote: These
infinitive phrases can be expanded into dependent clauses. See Lesson 79.
For the infinitive after as, than, etc., see Lesson 63. Participles and
infinitives unite with other verbs to make compound forms; as, have
walked, shall walk.]
+Explanation+.—In the diagram the independent element must stand by
itself.
1. England’s debt, to put it in round numbers, is $4,000,000,000.
2. Every object has several faces, so to speak.
3. To make a long story short, Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were
executed.
Infinitives and Participles.
MISCELLANEOUS.
4. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.
5. We require clothing in the summer to protect the body from the heat of
the sun.
6. Rip Van Winkle could not account for everything’s having changed so.
7. This sentence is not too difficult for me to analyze.
8. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole,
9. Conscience, her first law broken, wounded lies.
10. To be, or not to be,—that is the question.
11. I supposed him to be a gentleman.
12. Food, keeping the body in health by making it warm and repairing its
waste, is a necessity.
13. I will teach you the trick to prevent your being cheated another time.
14. She threatened to go beyond the sea, to throw herself out of the
window, to drown herself.
15. Busied with public affairs, the council would sit for hours smoking and
watching the smoke curl from their pipes to the ceiling.
* * * * *
LESSON 43.
COMPOSITION—THE INFINITIVE.
+Direction+.—Change the infinitives in these sentences into participles,
and the participles into infinitives:—
Notice that to, the only preposition used with the infinitive, is changed
to toward, for, of, at, in, or on, when the infinitive is changed to a
participle.
1. I am inclined to believe it.
2. I am ashamed to be seen there.
3. She will be grieved to hear it.
4. They trembled to hear such words.
5. It will serve for amusing the children.
6. There is a time to laugh.
7. I rejoice to hear it.
8. You are prompt to obey.
9. They delight to do it.
10. I am surprised at seeing you.
11. Stones are used in ballasting vessels.
+Direction+.—Improve these sentences by changing the participles into
infinitives, and the infinitives into participles:—
1. We began ascending the mountain.
2. He did not recollect to have paid it.
3. I commenced to write a letter.
4. It is inconvenient being poor.
5. It is not wise complaining.
+Direction+.—Vary these sentences as in the model:—
+Model+.—Rising early is healthful; To rise early is healthful; It
is healthful to rise early; For one to rise early is healthful.
(Notice that the explanatory phrase after it is not set off by the
comma.)
1. Reading good books is profitable.
2. Equivocating is disgraceful.
3. Slandering is base.
4. Indorsing another’s paper is dangerous.
5. Swearing is sinful.
+Direction.+—Write nine sentences, in three of which the infinitive
phrase shall be used as an adjective, in three as an adverb, and in three
as a noun.
+Direction.+—Write eight sentences in which these verbs shall be followed
by an infinitive without the to:—
+Model.+—We saw the sun sink behind the mountain.
Bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, and see.
* * * * *
LESSON 44.
WORDS AND PHRASES USED INDEPENDENTLY.
+Introductory Hints.+—In this Lesson we wish to notice words and phrases
that in certain uses have no grammatical connection with the rest of the
sentence.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. Dear Brutus serves only to
arrest attention, and is independent by address.
Poor man! he never came back again. Poor man is independent by
exclamation.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Rod and staff simply call
attention to the objects before anything is said of them, and are
independent by pleonasm—a construction used sometimes for rhetorical
effect, but out of place in ordinary speech.
His master being absent, the business was neglected. His master being
absent logically modifies the verb was neglected by assigning the cause,
but the phrase has no connective expressed or understood, and is therefore
grammatically independent. This is called the absolute phrase. An
absolute phrase consists of a noun or a pronoun used independently with a
modifying participle.
His conduct, generally speaking, was honorable. Speaking is a participle
without connection, and with the adverb generally forms an independent
phrase.
To confess the truth, I was wrong. The infinitive phrase is independent.
The adverbs well, now, why, there are sometimes independent; as, Well,
life is an enigma; Now, that is strange; Why, it is already noon;
There are pitch-pine Yankees and white-pine Yankees.
Interjections are without grammatical connection, as you have learned, and
hence are independent.
Whatever is enclosed within marks of parenthesis is also independent of the
rest of the sentence; as, I stake my fame (and I had fame), my heart, my
hope, my soul, upon this cast.
+Analysis+.
1. The loveliest things in life, Tom, are but shadows.
+Explanation.+—Tom is independent by address. But is an adjective
modifying shadows.
2. There are one-story intellects, two-story intellects, and three-story
intellects with skylights.
+Explanation+.—Often, as in this sentence, there is used idiomatically,
merely to throw the subject after the verb, the idea of place having faded
out of the word. To express place, another there may follow the
predicate; as, There is gold there.
3. Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro.
4. Hope lost, all is lost.
5. The smith, a mighty man is he.
6. Why, this is not revenge.
7. Well, this is the forest of Arden.
8. Now, there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, a pool.
9. To speak plainly, your habits are your worst enemies.
10. No accident occurring, we shall arrive to-morrow.
11. The teacher being sick, there was no school Friday.
12. Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts.
13. Properly speaking, there can be no chance in our affairs.
14. But the enemies of tyranny—their path leads to the scaffold.
15. She (oh, the artfulness of the woman!) managed the matter extremely
well.
retreat | began
=========|=======
\later
\—-\
\ day
\———-
\A
16. A day later (Oct. 19, 1812) began the fatal retreat of the Grand Army,
from Moscow.
See Lesson 35.
* * * * *
LESSON 45.
COMPOSITION—INDEPENDENT WORDS AND PHRASES.
+COMMA—RULE.—Words and phrases independent or nearly so are set off by
the comma.+
+Remark+.—Interjections, as you have seen, are usually followed by the
exclamation point; and there, used merely to introduce, is never set off
by the comma. When the break after pleonastic expressions is slight, as in
(5), Lesson 44, the comma is used; but, if it is more abrupt, as in (14),
the dash is required. If the independent expression can be omitted without
affecting the sense, it may be enclosed within marks of parenthesis, as in
(15) and (16). (For the uses of the dash and the marks of parenthesis, see
Lesson 148.)
Words and phrases nearly independent are those which, like however, of
course, indeed, in short, by the bye, for instance, and accordingly, do
not modify a word or a phrase alone, but rather the sentence as a whole;
as, Lee did not, however, follow Washington’s orders.
+Direction.+—Write sentences illustrating the several kinds of
independent expressions, and punctuate according to the Rule as explained.
+Direction.+—Write short sentences in which these words and phrases, used
in a manner nearly independent, shall occur, and punctuate them
properly:—
In short, indeed, now and then, for instance, accordingly, moreover,
however, at least, in general, no doubt, by the bye, by the way, then, too,
of course, in fine, namely, above all, therefore.
+Direction.+—Write short sentences in which these words shall modify same
particular word or phrase so closely as not to be set off by the comma:—
Indeed, surely, too, then, now, further, why, again, still.
+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.+
(SEE PAGES 160-162.)
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, pages 30,150.
* * * * *
LESSON 46.
SENTENCES CLASSIFIED WITH RESPECT TO MEANING.
+Introductory Hints+.—In the previous Lessons we have considered the
sentence with respect to the words and phrases composing it. Let us now
look at it as a whole.
The mountains lift up their heads. This sentence is used simply to
affirm, or to declare a fact, and is called a +Declarative Sentence.+
Do the mountains lift up their heads? This sentence expresses a question,
and is called an +Interrogative Sentence.+
Lift up your heads. This sentence expresses a command, and is called an
+Imperative Sentence+. Such expressions as You must go, You shall go
are equivalent to imperative sentences, though they have not the imperative
form.
How the mountains lift up their heads! In this sentence the thought is
expressed with strong emotion. It is called an +Exclamatory Sentence+.
How and what usually introduce such sentences; but a declarative, an
interrogative, or an imperative sentence may become exclamatory when the
speaker uses it mainly to give vent to his feelings; as, It is impossible!
How can I endure it! Talk of hypocrisy after this!
+DEFINITION.—A Declarative Sentence is one that is used to affirm or to
deny.+
+DEFINITION.—An Interrogative Sentence is one that expresses a
question.+
+DEFINITION.—An Imperative Sentence is one that expresses a command or
an entreaty.+
+DEFINITION.—An Exclamatory Sentence is one that expresses sudden
thought or strong feeling.+ [Footnote: For punctuation, see page 42.]
+INTERROGATION POINT—RULE.—Every direct interrogative sentence should be
followed by an interrogation point.+
+Remark.+—When an interrogative sentence is made a part of another
sentence, it may be direct; as, He asked, “What is the trouble?” or
indirect; as, He asked what the trouble was. (See Lesson 74.)
Analysis.
+Direction.+—Before analyzing these sentences, classify them, and justify
the terminal marks of punctuation:—
1. There are no accidents in the providence of God.
2. Why does the very murderer, his victim sleeping before him, and his
glaring eye taking the measure of the blow, strike wide of the mortal
part?
3. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.
(The subject is you understood.)
4. How wonderful is the advent of spring!
5. Oh! a dainty plant is the ivy green!
6. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.
7. Alexander the Great died at Babylon in the thirty-third year of his age.
8. How sickness enlarges the dimensions of a man’s self to himself!
9. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
10. Lend me your ears.
11. What brilliant rings the planet Saturn has!
12. What power shall blanch the sullied snow of character?
13. The laws of nature are the thoughts of God.
14. How beautiful was the snow, falling all day long, all night long, on
the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead!
15. Who, in the darkest days of our Revolution, carried your flag into the
very chops of the British Channel, bearded the lion in his den, and
woke the echoes of old Albion’s hills by the thunders of his cannon and
the shouts of his triumph?
* * * * *
LESSON 47.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW
Analysis.
1. Poetry is only the eloquence and enthusiasm of religion.—Wordsworth.
2. Refusing to bare his head to any earthly potentate, Richelieu would
permit no eminent author to stand bareheaded in his presence.
—Stephen.
3. The Queen of England is simply a piece of historic heraldry; a flag,
floating grandly over a Liberal ministry yesterday, over a Tory ministry
to-day.—Conway.
4. The vulgar intellectual palate hankers after the titillation of foaming
phrase.—Lowell.
5. Two mighty vortices, Pericles and Alexander the Great, drew into strong
eddies about themselves all the glory and the pomp of Greek literature,
Greek eloquence, Greek wisdom, Greek art.—De Quincey.
6. Reason’s whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, lie in three words—
health, peace, and competence.—Pope.
7. Extreme admiration puts out the critic’s eye.—Tyler. [Footnote:
Weighty thoughts tersely expressed, like (7), (8), and (10) in this
Lesson, are called Epigrams. What quality do you think they impart to
one’s style?]
8. The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun.—
Longfellow.
9. Things mean, the Thistle, the Leek, the Broom of the Plantagenets,
become noble by association.—F. W. Robertson.
10. Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the night.—
Beecher.
11. In that calm Syrian afternoon, memory, a pensive Ruth, went gleaning
the silent fields of childhood, and found the scattered grain still
golden, and the morning sunlight fresh and fair.—Curtis. [Footnote:
In Ruth of this sentence, we have a type of the metaphor called
+Personification+—a figure in which things are raised above their
proper plane, taken up toward or to that of persons. Things take on
dignity and importance as they rise in the scale of being.
Note, moreover, that in this instance of the figure we have an
+Allusion+. All the interest that the Ruth of the Bible awakens in us
this allusion gathers about so common a thing as memory.]
* * * * *
LESSON 48.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW.
Analysis.
1. By means of steam man realizes the fable of Aeolus’s bag, and carries
the two-and-thirty winds in the boiler of his boat.—Emerson.
2. The Angel of Life winds our brains up once for all, then closes the
case, and gives the key into the hands of the Angel of
Resurrection.—Holmes.
3. I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the
Old.—Canning.
4. The prominent nose of the New Englander is evidence of the constant
linguistic exercise of that organ.—Warner.
5. Every Latin word has its function as noun or verb or adverb ticketed
upon it.—Earle.
6. The Alps, piled in cold and still sublimity, are an image of
despotism.—Phillips.
7. I want my husband to be submissive without looking so.—Gail Hamilton.
8. I love to lose myself in other men’s minds.—Lamb.
9. Cheerfulness banishes all anxious care and discontent, soothes and
composes the passions, and keeps the soul in a perpetual
calm.—Addison.
10. To discover the true nature of comets has hitherto proved beyond the
power of science.
+Explanation+.—Beyond the power of science = impossible, and is
therefore an attribute complement. The preposition beyond shows the
relation, in sense, of power to the subject phrase.
11. Authors must not, like Chinese soldiers, expect to win victories by
turning somersets in the air.—Longfellow.
* * * * *
LESSON 49.
REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION.
+Direction+.—Give the reasons, so far as you have been taught, for the
marks of punctuation used in Lessons 44, 46, 47, and 48.
* * * * *
LESSON 50.
REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions, Lesson 16.
+Direction+.—Review from Lesson 37 to Lesson 46, inclusive.
Give, in some such way as we have outlined in preceding Review Lessons, the
substance of the “Introductory Hints;” repeat and illustrate definitions
and rules; illustrate the different uses of the participle and the
infinitive, and illustrate the Caution regarding the use of the participle;
illustrate the different ways in which words and phrases may be
grammatically independent, and the punctuation of these independent
elements.
* * * * *
LESSON 51.
ARRANGEMENT—USUAL ORDER.
TO THE TEACHER.—If, from lack of time or from the necessity of conforming
to a prescribed course of study, it is found desirable to abridge these
Lessons on Arrangement and Contraction, the exercises to be written may be
omitted, and the pupil may be required to illustrate the positions of the
different parts, in both the Usual and the Transposed order, and then to
read the examples given, making the required changes orally.
The eight following Lessons may thus be reduced to two or three.
Let us recall the +Usual Order+ of words and phrases in a simple
declarative sentence.
The verb follows the subject, and the object complement follows the verb.
+Example+.—Drake circumnavigated the globe.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write three sentences each with an
object complement.
An adjective or a possessive modifier precedes its noun, and an explanatory
modifier follows it.
+Examples+.—Man’s life is a brief span. Moses, the lawgiver, came down
from the Mount.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write four sentences, two with
possessive modifiers and two with explanatory, each sentence containing an
adjective.
The attribute complement, whether noun or adjective, follows the verb, the
objective complement follows the object complement, and the indirect object
precedes the direct.
+Examples+.—Egypt is the valley of the Nile. Eastern life is dreamy.
They made Bonaparte consul. They offered Caesar a crown.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write four sentences illustrating the
positions of the noun and of the adjective when they perform these
offices.
If adjectives are of unequal rank, the one most closely modifying the noun
stands nearest to it; if of the same rank, they stand in the order of their
length—the shortest first.
+Examples+.—Two honest young men enlisted. Cassino has a lean and
hungry look. A rock, huge and precipitous, stood in our path.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write three sentences illustrating the
relative position of adjectives before and after the noun.
An adverb precedes the adjective, the adverb, or the phrase which it
modifies; precedes or follows (more frequently follows) the simple verb or
the verb with its complement; and follows one or more words of the verb if
the verb is compound.
+Examples+.—The light far in the distance is so very bright. I soon
found him. I hurt him badly. He had often been there.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write sentences illustrating these
several positions of the adverb.
Phrases follow the words they modify; if a word has two or more phrases,
those most closely modifying it stand nearest to it.
+Examples+.—Facts once established are facts forever. He sailed for
Liverpool on Monday.
+Direction+.—Observing this order, write sentences illustrating the
positions of participle and prepositional phrases.
* * * * *
LESSON 52.
ARRANGEMENT—TRANSPOSED ORDER.
+Introductory Hints+.—The usual order of words, spoken of in the preceding
Lesson, is not the only order admissible in an English sentence; on the
contrary, great freedom in the placing of words and phrases is sometimes
allowable. Let the relation of the words be kept obvious and, consequently,
the thought clear, and in poetry, in impassioned oratory, in excited speech
of any kind, one may deviate widely from this order.
A writer’s meaning is never distributed evenly among his words; more of it
lies in some words than in others. Under the influence of strong feeling,
one may move words out of their accustomed place, and, by thus attracting
attention to them, give them additional importance to the reader or hearer.
When any word or phrase in the predicate stands out of its usual place,
appearing either at the front of the sentence or at the end, we have what
we may call the +Transposed Order+. I dare not venture to go down into the
cabin—Venture to go down into the cabin I dare not. You shall die—Die you
shall. Their names will forever live on the lips of the people—Their names
will, on the lips of the people, forever live.
When the word or phrase moved to the front carries the verb, or the
principal word of it, before the subject, we have the extreme example of
the transposed order; as, A yeoman had he. Strange is the magic of a
turban. The whole of a verb is not placed at the beginning of a
declarative sentence except in poetry; as, Flashed all their sabers bare.
TO THE TEACHER.——Where, in our directions in these Lessons on Arrangement
and Contraction, we say change, transpose, or restore, the pupils need
not write the sentences. They should study them and be able to read them.
Require them to show what the sentence has lost or gained in the change.
+Direction+.—Change these sentences from the usual to the transposed
order by moving words or phrases to the front, and explain the effect:—
1. He could not avoid it.
2. They were pretty lads.
3. The great Queen died in the year 1603.
4. He would not escape.
5. I must go.
6. She seemed young and sad.
7. He cried, “My son, my son!”
8. He ended his tale here.
9. The moon shone bright.
10. A frozen continent lies beyond the sea.
11. He was a contentious man.
12. It was quoted so.
13. Monmouth had never been accused of cowardice.
+Direction+.—Change these sentences from the transposed order to the
usual, and explain the effect:—
1. Him, the Almighty Power hurled headlong.
2. Volatile he was.
3. Victories, indeed, they were.
4. Of noble race the lady came.
5. Slowly and sadly we laid him down.
6. Once again we’ll sleep secure.
7. This double office the participle performs.
8. That gale I well remember.
9. Churlish he often seemed.
10. One strong thing I find here below.
11. Overhead I heard a murmur.
12. To their will we must succumb.
13. Him they hanged.
14. Freely ye have received.
+Direction+.—Write five sentences, each with one of the following nouns
or adjectives as a complement; and five, each with one of the adverbs or
phrases as predicate modifier; then transpose the ten with these same words
moved to the front, and explain the effect:—
Giant, character, happy, him, serene, often, in the market, long and
deeply, then, under foot.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by placing the italicized words
last, and note the effect:—
1. The clouds lowering upon our house are buried in the deep bosom of the
ocean.
2. Aeneas did bear from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder the old
Anchises.
3. Such a heart beats in the breast of my people.
4. The great fire roared up the deep and wide chimney.
+Direction+.—Change these to the usual order:—
1. No woman was ever in this wild humor wooed and won.
2. Let a shroud, stripped from some privileged corpse, be, for its proper
price, displayed.
3. An old clock, early one summer’s morning, before the stirring of the
family, suddenly stopped.
4. Treasures of gold and of silver are, in the deep bosom of the earth,
concealed.
5. Ease and grace in writing are, of all the acquisitions made in school,
the most difficult and valuable.
+Direction+.—Write three sentences, each with the following noun or
adjective or phrase in its usual place in the predicate, and then
transpose, placing these words wherever they can properly go:—
Mountains, glad, by and by.
* * * * *
LESSON 53.
ARRANGEMENT—TRANSPOSED ORDER.
+Direction+.—Restore these sentences to their usual order by moving the
object complement and the verb to their customary places, and tell what is
lost by the change:—
1. Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth.
2. “Exactly so,” replied the pendulum.
3. Me restored he to mine office.
4. A changed France have we.
5. These evils hath sin wrought.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by moving the object complement
and the verb, and tell what is gained by the change:—
1. The dial-plate exclaimed, “Lazy wire!”
2. The maiden has such charms.
3. The English character has faults and plenty of them.
4. I will make one effort more to save you.
5. The king does possess great power.
6. You have learned much in this short journey.
+Direction+.—Write six transposed sentences with these nouns as object
complements, and then restore them to their usual order:—
Pause, cry, peace, horse, words, gift.
+Direction+.—Restore these sentences to their usual order by moving the
attribute complement and the verb to their usual places, and tell what is
lost by the change:—
1. A dainty plant is the ivy green.
2. Feet was I to the lame.
3. A mighty man is he.
4. As a mark of respect was the present given.
5. A giant towered he among men.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by moving the attribute complement
and the verb, and tell what is gained by the change:—
1. We are merry brides.
2. Washington is styled the “Father of his Country.”
3. He was a stark mosstrooping Scot.
4. The man seemed an incarnate demon.
5. Henry VIII. had become a despot.
+Direction+.—Using these nouns as attribute complements, write three
sentences in the usual order, and then transpose them:—
Rock, desert, fortress.
+Direction+.—Restore these sentences to their usual order by moving the
adjective complement and the verb to their customary places:—
1. Happy are we to-night, boys.
2. Good and upright is the Lord.
3. Hotter grew the air.
4. Pale looks your Grace.
5. Dark rolled the waves.
6. Louder waxed the applause.
7. Blood-red became the sun.
8. Doubtful seemed the battle.
9. Wise are all his ways.
10. Wide open stood the doors.
11. Weary had he grown.
12. Faithful proved he to the last.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by moving the adjective complement
and the verb:—
1. My regrets were bitter and unavailing.
2. The anger of the righteous is weighty.
3. The air seemed deep and dark.
4. She had grown tall and queenly.
5. The peacemakers are blessed.
6. I came into the world helpless.
7. The untrodden snow lay bloodless.
8. The fall of that house was great.
9. The uproar became intolerable.
10. The secretary stood alone.
+Direction+.—Write five transposed sentences, each with one of these
adjectives as attribute complement, and then restore the sentences to the
usual order:—
Tempestuous, huge, glorious, lively, fierce.
* * * * *
LESSON 54.
ARRANGEMENT—TRANSPOSED ORDER.
+Direction+.—Restore these sentences to the usual order by moving the
adverb and the verb to their customary places, and note the loss:—
1. Then burst his mighty heart.
2. Here stands the man.
3. Crack! went the ropes.
4. Down came the masts.
5. So died the great Columbus of the skies.
6. Tictac! tictac! go the wheels of thought.
7. Away went Gilpin.
8. Off went his bonnet.
9. Well have ye judged.
10. On swept the lines.
11. There dozed the donkeys.
12. Boom! boom! went the guns.
13. Thus waned the afternoon.
14. There thunders the cataract age after age.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by moving the adverb and the
verb:—
1. I will never desert Mr. Micawber.
2. The great event occurred soon after.
3. The boy stood there with dizzy brain.
4. The Spaniard’s shot went whing! whing!
5. Catiline shall no longer plot her ruin.
6. A sincere word was never utterly lost.
7. It stands written so.
8. Venus was yet the morning star.
9. You must speak thus.
10. Lady Impudence goes up to the maid.
11. Thy proud waves shall be stayed here.
+Direction+.—Write ten sentences in the transposed order, using these
adverbs:—
Still, here, now, so, seldom, there, out, yet, thus, never.
+Direction+.—Restore these sentences to the usual order by moving the
phrase and the verb to their customary places, and note the loss:—
1. Behind her rode Lalla Rookh.
2. Seven years after the Restoration appeared Paradise Lost.
3. Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.
4. To such straits is a kaiser driven.
5. Upon such a grating hinge opened the door of his daily life.
6. Between them lay a mountain ridge.
7. In purple was she robed.
8. Near the surface are found the implements of bronze.
9. Through the narrow bazaar pressed the demure donkeys.
10. In those days came John the Baptist.
11. On the 17th of June, 1775, was fought the battle of Bunker Hill.
12. Three times were the Romans driven back.
+Direction+.—Transpose these sentences by moving the phrase and the
verb:—
1. The disciples came at the same time.
2. The dreamy murmur of insects was heard over our heads.
3. An ancient and stately hall stood near the village.
4. His trusty sword lay by his side.
5. Pepin eventually succeeded to Charles Martel.
6. The house stands somewhat back from the street.
7. Our sphere turns on its axis.
8. The bridle is red with the sign of despair.
9. I have served in twenty campaigns.
10. Touch proper lies in the finger-tips and in the lips.
+Direction+.—Write ten sentences in the usual order, using these
prepositions to introduce phrases, and then transpose the sentences, and
compare the two orders:—
Beyond, upon, toward, of, by, into, between, in, at, to.
+Direction+.—Write six sentences in the transposed order, beginning them
with these words:—
There (independent), nor, neither.
* * * * *
LESSON 55.
ARRANGEMENT—INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES.
If the interrogative word is subject or a modifier of it, the order is
usual.
+Examples+.—Who came last evening? What star shines brightest?
+Direction+.—Write five interrogative sentences, using the first word
below as a subject; the second as a subject and then as a modifier of the
subject; the third as a subject and then as a modifier of the subject:—
Who, which, what.
If the interrogative word is object complement or attribute complement or a
modifier of either, the order is transposed.
+Examples+.—Whom did you see? What are personal consequences? Which
course will you choose?
+Direction+.—Write an interrogative sentence with the first word below as
object complement, and another with the second word as attribute
complement. Write four with the third and the fourth as complements, and
four with the third and the fourth as modifiers of the complement:—
Whom, who, which, what.
If the interrogative word is an adverb, the order is transposed.
+Examples+.—Why is the forum crowded? Where are the flowers, the fair
young flowers?
+Direction+.—Write five interrogative sentences, using these adverbs:—
How, when, where, whither, why.
If there is no interrogative word, the subject stands after the verb when
this is simple; after the first word of it when it is compound.
+Examples+.—Have you your lesson? Has the gentleman finished?
+Direction+.—Write six interrogative sentences, using these words:—
Is, has, can learn, might have gone, could have been found, must see.
+Direction+.—Change the sentences you have written in this Lesson into
declarative sentences.
* * * * *
LESSON 56.
ARRANGEMENT—IMPERATIVE AND EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES.
The subject is usually omitted in the imperative sentence; but, when it is
expressed, the sentence is in the transposed order.
+Examples+.—Praise ye the Lord. Give (thou) me three grains of corn.
+Direction+.—Using these verbs, write ten sentences, in five of which the
subject shall be omitted; and in five, expressed:—
Remember, listen, lend, love, live, choose, use, obey, strive, devote.
Although any sentence may without change of order become exclamatory
(Lesson 46), yet exclamatory sentences ordinarily begin with how or
what, and are usually in the transposed order.
+Examples+.—How quietly the child sleeps! How excellent is thy
loving-kindness! What visions have I seen! What a life his was!
+Direction+.—Write six exclamatory sentences with the word how modifying
(1) an adjective, (2) a verb, and (3) an adverb—in three sentences let the
verb follow, and in three precede, the subject. Write four sentences with
the word what modifying (1) an object complement and (2) an attribute
complement—in two sentences let the verb follow, and in two precede, the
subject.
* * * * *
LESSON 57.
CONTRACTION OF SENTENCES.
+Direction+.—Contract these sentences by omitting the repeated modifiers
and prepositions, and all the conjunctions except the last:—
1. Webster was a great lawyer, a great statesman, a great debater, and a
great writer.
2. By their valor, by their policy, and by their matrimonial alliances,
they became powerful.
3. Samuel Adams’s habits were simple and frugal and unostentatious.
4. Flowers are so fragile, so delicate, and so ornamental!
5. They are truly prosperous and truly happy.
6. The means used were persuasions and petitions and remonstrances and
resolutions and defiance.
7. Carthage was the mistress of oceans, of kingdoms, and of nations.
+Direction+.—Expand these by repeating the adjective, the adverb, the
preposition, and the conjunction:—
1. He was a good son, father, brother, friend.
2. The tourist traveled in Spain, Greece, Egypt, and Palestine.
3. Bayard was very brave, truthful, and chivalrous.
4. Honor, revenge, shame, and contempt inflamed his heart.
+Direction+.—Write six sentences, each with one of these words used four
times; and then contract them as above, and note the effect of the
repetition and of the omission:—
Poor, how, with, through, or, and.
+Direction+.—Expand these sentences by supplying subjects:—
1. Give us this day our daily bread.
2. Why dost stare so?
3. Thank you, sir.
4. Hear me for my cause.
5. Where hast been these six months?
6. Bless me!
7. Save us.
+Direction+.—Expand these by supplying the verb or some part of it:—
1. Nobody there.
2. Death to the tyrant.
3. All aboard!
4. All hands to the pumps!
5. What to me fame?
6. Short, indeed, his career.
7. When Adam thus to Eve.
8. I must after him.
9. Thou shalt back to France.
10. Whose footsteps these?
+Direction+.—Expand these by supplying both subject and verb, and note
the loss in vivacity:—
1. Upon them with the lance.
2. At your service, sir.
3. Why so unkind?
4. Forward, the light brigade!
5. Half-past nine.
6. Off with you.
7. My kingdom for a horse!
8. Hence, you idle creatures!
9. Coffee for two.
10. Shine, sir?
11. Back to thy punishment, false fugitive.
12. On with the dance.
13. Strange, strange!
14. Once more unto the breach.
15. Away, away!
16. Impossible!
+Direction+.—Contract these by omitting the subject or the verb:—
1. Art thou gone?
2. Will you take your chance?
3. His career was ably run.
4. Are you a captain?
5. May long life be to the republic.
6. How great is the mystery!
7. Canst thou wonder?
8. May a prosperous voyage be to you.
9. Are you here?
+Direction+.—Contract these by omitting both subject and verb, and note
the gain in force and animation:—
1. I offer a world for sale.
2. Now, then, go you to breakfast.
3. Sit you down, soothless insulter.
4. I want a word with you, wife.
5. Those are my sentiments, madam.
6. Bring ye lights there.
7. It is true, sir.
8. We will drink a health to Preciosa.
9. I offer a penny for your thoughts.
10. Whither are you going so early?
+Direction+.—Construct ten full sentences, using in each, one of these
adverbs or phrases or nouns, and then contract the sentences by omitting
both subject and verb:—
Why, hence, to arms, silence, out, to your tents, peaches, room, for the
guns, water.
* * * * *
LESSON 58.
REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions, Lesson 16.
+Direction+.—Review from Lesson 51 to Lesson 57, inclusive.
Illustrate the different positions—Usual and Transposed—that the words
and phrases of a declarative sentence may take; illustrate the different
positions of the parts of an interrogative, of an imperative, and of an
exclamatory sentence; illustrate the different ways of contracting
sentences.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
(SEE PAGES 162-165.)
TO THE TEACHER.—See notes to the teacher, pages 30, 150.
* * * * *
LESSON 59.
COMPLEX SENTENCE—ADJECTIVE CLAUSE.
+Introductory Hints+.—The sentences given for analysis in the preceding
Lessons contain each but one subject and one predicate. They are called
+Simple Sentences+.
A discreet youth makes friends. In Lesson 17 you learned that you could
expand the adjective discreet into a phrase, and say, A youth of
discretion makes friends. You are now to learn that you can expand it into
an expression that asserts, and say, A youth that is discreet makes
friends. This part of the sentence and the other part, A youth makes
friends, containing each a subject and a predicate, we call +Clauses+.
The adjective clause that is discreet, performing the office of a single
word, we call a +Dependent Clause+; A youth makes friends, not performing
such office, we call an +Independent Clause+.
The whole sentence, composed of an independent and a dependent clause, we
call a +Complex Sentence+.
A dependent clause that does the work of an adjective is called an
+Adjective Clause+.
Analysis.
1. They that touch pitch will be defiled.
They | will be defiled
=======|=====================
` |
`
`
that ` | touch | pitch
————|————’———-
|
+Explanation+.—The relative importance of the two clauses is shown by
their position, by their connection, and by the difference in the shading
of the lines. The pronoun that is written on the subject line of the
dependent clause. That performs the office of a conjunction also. This
office is shown by the dotted line. As modifiers are joined by slanting
lines to the words they modify, you learn from this diagram that that
touch pitch is a modifier of they.
+Oral Analysis+.—This is a complex sentence because it consists of an
independent clause and a dependent clause. They will be defiled is the
independent clause, and that touch pitch is the dependent. That touch
pitch is a modifier of they because it limits the meaning of they; the
dependent clause is connected by its subject that to they.
TO THE TEACHER.—Illustrate the connecting force of who, which, and
that by substituting for them the words for which they stand, and noting
the loss of connection.
2. The lever which moves the world of mind is the printing-press.
3. Wine makes the face of him who drinks it to excess blush for his habits.
+Explanation+.—The adjective clause does not always modify the subject.
4. Photography is the art which enables commonplace mediocrity to look like
genius.
5. In 1685 Louis XIV. signed the ordinance that revoked the Edict of
Nantes.
6. The thirteen colonies were welded together by the measures which Samuel
Adams framed.
+Explanation+.—The pronoun connecting an adjective clause is not always a
subject.
7. The guilt of the slave-trade, [Footnote: See Lesson 61, foot-note.]
which sprang out of the traffic with Guinea, rests with John Hawkins.
8. I found the place to which you referred.
I | found | place
====|==================
| \the `
`
you | referred `
———|————— `
| \to `
\ which `
\———-
9. The spirit in which we act is the highest matter.
10. It was the same book that I referred to.
+Explanation+.—The phrase to that modifies referred. That connects
the adjective clause. When the pronoun that connects an adjective clause,
the preposition never precedes. The diagram is similar to that of (8).
11. She that I spoke to was blind.
12. Grouchy did not arrive at the time that Napoleon most needed him.
+Explanation+.—A preposition is wanting. That = in which. (Can you find
a word that would here sound better than that?)
13. Attention is the stuff that memory is made of.
14. It is to you that I speak.
+Explanation+.—Here the preposition, which usually would stand last in the
sentence, is found before the complement of the independent clause. In
analysis restore the preposition to its usual place—It is you that I speak
to. That I speak to modifies the subject.
15. It was from me that he received the information.
(Me must be changed to I when from is restored to its usual
position.)
16. Islands are the tops of mountains whose base is in the bed of the
ocean.
mountains
—————-
`
` base | is
` ———|——-
` \
`…..\whose
+Explanation+.—The connecting pronoun is here a possessive modifier of
base.
17. Unhappy is the man whose mother does not make all mothers interesting.
* * * * *
LESSON 60.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
1. Trillions of waves of ether enter the eye and hit the retina in the time
you take to breathe.
+Explanation+.—The connecting pronoun that [Footnote: When whom,
which, and that would, if used, be object complements, they are often
omitted. Macaulay is the only writer we have found who seldom or never
omits them.] is omitted.
2. The smith takes his name from his smoothing the metals he works on.
3. Socrates was one of the greatest sages the world ever saw.
4. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.
+Explanation+.—The adjective clause modifies the omitted antecedent of
whom. Supply him.
5. He did what was right.
He | did | x
====|======================
| `
`
what ` | was \ right
————-|——————-
+Explanation+.—The adjective clause modifies the omitted word thing, or
some word whose meaning is general or indefinite. [Footnote: Many
grammarians prefer to treat what was right as a noun clause (see Lesson
71), the object of did. They would treat in the same way clauses
introduced by whoever, whatever, whichever.
“What was originally an interrogative and introduced substantive clauses.
Its use as a compound relative is an extension of its use as an indirect
interrogative; it is confined to clauses which may be parsed as
substantives, and before which no antecedent is needed, or permitted to be
expressed. Its possessive whose has, however, attained the full
construction of a relative.”—Prof. F. A. March.]
6. What is false in this world below betrays itself in a love of show.
7. The swan achieved what the goose conceived.
8. What men he had were true.
The relative pronoun what here precedes its noun like an adjective.
Analyze as if arranged thus: The men what (= that or whom) he had
were true.
9. Whoever does a good deed is instantly ennobled.
+Explanation+.—The adjective clause modifies the omitted subject (man or
he) of the independent clause.
10. I told him to bring whichever was the lightest.
11. Whatever crushes individuality is despotism.
12. A depot is a place where stores are deposited.
depot | is \ place
=======|==============
\A | \a `
\where
stores | ` are deposited
———-|——————————-
|
+Explanation+.—The line representing where is made up of two parts. The
upper part represents where as a conjunction connecting the adjective
clause to place, and the lower part represents it as an adverb modifying
are deposited. As where performs these two offices, it may be called a
conjunctive adverb. By changing where to the equivalent phrase in
which, and using a diagram similar to (8), Lesson 59, the double nature of
the conjunctive adverb will be seen.
13. He raised the maid from where she knelt. (Supply the place
before where.)
14. Youth is the time when the seeds of character are sown.
15. Shylock would give the duke no reason why he followed a losing suit
against Antonio.
16. Mark the majestic simplicity of those laws whereby the operations of
the universe are conducted.
* * * * *
LESSON 61.
COMPOSITION—ADJECTIVE CLAUSE.
+COMMA—RULE.—The Adjective Clause, when not restrictive, is set off by
the comma.+
+Explanation+.—I picked the apple that was ripe. I picked the apple,
which was ripe. In the first sentence the adjective clause restricts or
limits apple, telling which one was picked; in the second the adjective
clause is added merely to describe the apple picked, the sentence being
nearly equivalent to, I picked the apple, and it was ripe. This
difference in meaning is shown by the punctuation.[Footnote: There are
other constructions in which the relative is more nearly equivalent to and
he or and it; as, I gave the letter to my friend, who will return it to
you.
Those who prefer to let their classification be governed by the logical
relation rather than by the grammatical construction call such a sentence
compound, making the relative clause independent, or co-ordinate with its
antecedent clause.
Such classification will often require very careful discrimination; as, for
instance, between the preceding sentence and the following: I gave the
letter to my friend, who can be trusted.
But we know of no author who, in every case, governs his classification of
phrases and clauses strictly by their logical relations. Let us examine the
following sentences:—
John, who did not know the law, is innocent. John is innocent; he
did not know the law. John is innocent because he did not know the
law.
No grammarian, we think, would class each of these three italicized clauses
as an adverb clause of cause. Do they differ in logical force? The student
should carefully note all those constructions in which the grammatical form
and the logical force differ. (See pages 119, 121, 138, 139, 142, 143.)]
+Caution+.—The adjective clause should be placed as near as possible to
the word it modifies.
+Direction+.—Correct the following errors of position, and insert the
comma when needed:—
1. The Knights of the Round Table flourished in the reign of King Arthur
who vied with their chief in chivalrous exploits.
2. Solomon was the son of David who built the Temple.
3. My brother caught the fish on a small hook baited with a worm which we
had for breakfast.
4. I have no right to decide who am interested.
+Direction+.—Construct five complex sentences, each containing an
adjective clause equivalent to one of the following adjectives:—
Ambitious, respectful, quick-witted, talkative, lovable.
+Direction+.—Change the following simple sentences to complex sentences
by expanding the participle phrases into adjective clauses:—
1. Those fighting custom with grammar are foolish.
2. The Constitution framed by our fathers is the sheet-anchor of our
liberties.
3. I am thy father’s spirit, doomed for a certain term to walk the night.
4. Some people, having lived abroad, undervalue the advantages of their
native land.
5. A wife and children, threatened with widowhood and orphanage, have knelt
at your feet on the very threshold of the Senate Chamber.
+Direction+.—Change these simple sentences to complex sentences by
expanding the infinitive phrases into adjective clauses:—
1. I have many things to tell you.
2. There were none to deliver.
3. He had an ax to grind.
4. It was a sight to gladden the heart.
5. It was a din to fright a monster’s ear.
+Direction+.—Form complex sentences in which these pronouns and
conjunctive adverbs shall be used to connect adjective clauses:—
Who, which, that, what, whoever, and whatever.
When, where, and why.
+Direction+.—Change “that which”, in the following sentences to “what”,
and “what” to “that which”; “whoever” to “he who”, and “whatever” to
“anything” or “everything which”; “where” and “when” to “at”, “on”, or “in
which”; “wherein” to “in which”; and “whereby” to “by which”:—
1. That which is seen is temporal.
2. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder.
3. Whoever lives a pious life blesses his race.
4. Whatever we do has an influence.
5. Scholars have grown old and blind, striving to put their hands on the
very spot where brave men died.
6. The year when Chaucer was born is uncertain.
7. The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.
8. You take my life in taking the means whereby I live.
+Direction+.—Expand these possessive and explanatory modifiers into
adjective clauses:—
1. A man’s heart deviseth his way.
2. Reason’s whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, Lie in three
words—health, peace, and competence.
* * * * *
LESSON 62.
+Direction+.—Analyze the first nine sentences in the preceding Lesson,
and write illustrative sentences as here directed:—
Give an example of an adjective clause modifying a subject; one modifying a
complement; one modifying the principal word of a phrase; one modifying
some word omitted; one whose connective is a subject; one whose connective
is a complement; one whose connective is the principal word of a phrase;
one whose connective is a possessive modifier; one whose connective is
omitted; one whose connective is an adverb.
* * * * *
LESSON 63.
COMPLEX SENTENCE—ADVERB CLAUSE.
+Introductory Hints+.—He arrived late. You have learned that you can
expand the adverb late into a phrase, and say, He arrived at midnight.
You are now to learn that you can expand it into a clause of +Time+, and
say, He arrived when the clock struck twelve.
He stood where I am. The clause introduced by where expresses +Place+,
and is equivalent to the adverb here or to the phrase in this place.
This exercise is as profitable as it is pleasant. The clause introduced
by as … as modifies profitable, telling the +Degree+ of the quality
expressed by it.
A clause that does the work of an adverb is an +Adverb Clause+.
Analysis.
The +adverb clause+ may express +time+.
1. When pleasure calls, we listen.
we | listen
===|=========
| \
`When
`
pleasure | \ calls
————-|—-\———-
|
+Explanation+.—When modifies both listen and calls, denoting that
the two acts take place at the same time. It also connects pleasure
calls, as an adverb modifier, to listen. The offices of the conjunctive
adverb when may be better understood by expanding it into two phrases
thus: We listen at the time at which pleasure calls. At the time
modifies listen, at which modifies calls, and which connects.
The line representing when is made up of three parts to picture these
three offices. The part representing when as a modifier of calls is,
for convenience, placed above its principal line instead of below it.
2. While Louis XIV. reigned, Europe was at war.
3. When my father and my mother forsake me, then ths Lord will take me up.
Lord | will take | me
======|=====================
\The | \up \
..\ then
` \
`
`When
father \
——————’\ \
\my ‘ \ \
‘ \ \
‘ \ | \ forsake | me
‘and \——|——————————-
‘ / |
‘ /
mother ‘ /
——————’/
\my
+Explanation+.—By changing then into at the time, and when into at
which, the offices of these two words will be clearly seen. For
explanation of the line representing when, see Lesson 14 and (1) above.
4. Cato, before he durst give himself the fatal stroke, spent the night in
reading Plato’s “Immortality.” [Footnote: Some prefer, in constructions
like this, to treat before, ere, after, till, until, and
since as prepositions followed by noun clauses.]
5. Many a year is in its grave since I crossed this restless wave.
[Footnote: See (11), Lesson 38, and foot-note.]
+Explanation+.—Many here modifies year, or, rather, year as modified
by a.
6. Blucher arrived on the field of Waterloo just as Wellington was meeting
the last onslaught of Napoleon.
Blucher | arrived
===========|===========
| \
\———\
\ `as
\ just `
\ `
\
Wellington | \ was meeting | onslaught
———————|——-\————————————
|
+Explanation+.—Just may be treated as a modifier of the dependent
clause. A closer analysis, however would make it a modifier of as. Just
as=just at the time at which. Just here modifies at the time. At
the time is represented in the diagram by the first element of the as
line.
The +adverb clause+ may express +place+.
7. Where the snow falls, there is freedom.
8. Pope skimmed the cream of good sense and expression wherever he could
find it.
9. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
The +adverb clause+ may express +degree+.
10. Washington was as good as he was great.
+Explanation+.—The adverb clause as he was great modifies the first
as, which is an adverb modifying good. The first as, modified by the
adverb clause, answers the question, Good to what extent or degree? The
second as modifies great and performs the office of a conjunction, and
is therefore a conjunctive adverb. Transposing, and expanding as … as
into two phrases, we have, Washington was good in the degree in which he
was great. See diagram of (3) and of (20).
11. The wiser he grew, the humbler he became. [Footnote: The, here, is
not the ordinary adjective the. It is the Anglo-Saxon demonstrative
pronoun used in an instrumental sense. It is here an adverb. The first
the = by how much, and modifies wiser; the second the = by so
much, and modifies humbler.]
+Explanation+.—The words the … the are similar in office to as …
as—He became humbler in that degree in which he became wiser.
12. Gold is heavier than iron.
Gold | is \ heavier
=======|==============
| \
` than
`
iron | x \ \ x
———-|———————-
+Explanation+.—Heavier = heavy beyond the degree, and than = in
which. The sentence = Gold is heavy beyond the degree in which iron is
heavy. Is and heavy are omitted. Frequently words are omitted after
than and as. Than modifies heavy (understood) and connects the
clause expressing degree to heavier, and is therefore a conjunctive
adverb.
13. To be right is better than to be president.
+Explanation+.—To be right is better (good in a greater degree) than to be
president (would be good).
14. It was so cold that the mercury froze. [Footnote: In this sentence,
also in (15) and (17), the dependent clause is sometimes termed a
clause of Result or Consequence. Clauses of Result express different
logical relations, and cannot always be classed under Degree.]
+Explanation+.—The degree of the cold is here shown by the effect it
produced. The adverb so, modified by the adverb clause that the mercury
froze, answers the question, Cold to what degree? The sentence = It was
cold to that degree in which the mercury froze. That, as you see,
modifies froze and connects the clauses; it is therefore a conjunctive
adverb.
15. It was so cold as to freeze the mercury.
+Explanation+.—It was so cold as to freeze the mercury (would indicate or
require).
16. Dying for a principle is a higher degree of virtue than scolding for
it.
17. He called so loud that all the hollow deep of hell resounded.
18. To preach is easier than to practice.
19. One’s breeding shows itself nowhere more than in his religion.
[Footnote: For the use of he instead of the indefinite pronoun one
repeated, see Lesson 124.]
20. The oftener I see it, the better I like it.
I | like | it
=====|===========
| \
\——\ better
\the \
…\
` \
`
I | ` see | it
——|—`———————
` \
`The \
`…..\oftener
\
* * * * *
LESSON 64.
ADVERB CLAUSE-CONTINUED.
+Introductory Hints+.—He lived as the fool lives. The adverb clause,
introduced by as, is a clause of +Manner+, and is equivalent to the
adverb foolishly or to the phrase in a foolish manner.
The ground is wet because it has rained. The adverb clause, introduced by
because, assigns the +Real Cause+ of the ground’s being wet.
It has rained, for the ground is wet. The adverb clause, introduced by
for, does not assign the cause of the raining, but the cause of our
believing that it has rained; it gives the +Evidence+ of what is asserted.
[Footnote: Evidence should be carefully distinguished from Cause. Cause
produces an effect; Evidence produces knowledge of an effect.
Clauses of Evidence are sometimes treated as independent.]
Analysis.
The +adverb clause+ may express +manner+.
1. He died as he lived.
+Explanation+.—He died in the manner in which he lived. For diagram, see
(1), Lesson 63.
2. The upright man speaks as he thinks.
3. As the upright man thinks so he speaks.
(For diagram of as … so, see when … then (3), Lesson 63.)
4. As is the boy so will be the man.
5. The waves of conversation roll and shape our thoughts as the surf rolls
and shapes the pebbles on the shore.
The +adverb clause+ may express +real cause+.
6. The ground is wet because it has rained.
ground | is \ wet
==========|=============
\The | `
`
` because
`
it | ` has rained
——|———————-
+Explanation+.—Because, being a mere conjunction, stands on a line
wholly dotted.
7. Slang is always vulgar, as it is an affected way of talking.
8. We keep the pores of the skin open, for through them the blood throws
off its impurities.
9. Since the breath contains poisonous carbonic acid, wise people ventilate
their sleeping rooms.
10. Sea-bathing is the most healthful kind of washing, as it combines fresh
air and vigorous exercise with its other benefits.
11. Wheat is the most valuable of grains because bread is made from its
flour.
The +adverb clause+ may express +evidence+.
12. God was angry with the children of Israel, for he overthrew them in the
wilderness.
13. Tobacco and the potato are American products, since Raleigh found them
here.
14. It rained last night, because the ground is wet this morning.
15. We Americans must all be cuckoos, for we build our homes in the nests
of other birds.
* * * * *
LESSON 65.
ADVERB CLAUSE-CONTINUED.
+Introductory Hints+.—If it rains, the ground will be wet. The adverb
clause, introduced by if, assigns what, if it occurs, will be the cause
of the ground’s being wet, but, as here expressed, is only a +Condition+
ready to become a cause.
He takes exercise that he may get well. The adverb clause, introduced by
that, assigns the cause or the motive or the +Purpose+ of his exercising.
The ground is dry, although it has rained. The adverb clause, introduced
by although, expresses a +Concession+. It is conceded that a cause for
the ground’s not being dry exists; but, in spite of this opposing cause, it
is asserted that the ground is dry.
All these dependent clauses of real cause, evidence, condition, purpose,
and concession come, as you see, under the general head of +Cause+,
although only the first kind assigns the cause proper.
Analysis.
The +adverb clause+ may express +condition+.
1. If the air is quickly compressed, enough heat is evolved to produce
combustion.
2. Unless your thought packs easily and neatly in verse, always use prose.
(Unless = if not.)
3. If ever you saw a crow with a king-bird after him, you have an image of
a dull speaker and a lively listener.
4. Were it not for the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the harbors and the
rivers of Britain would be blocked up with ice for a great part of the
year.
+Explanation+.—The relative position of the subject and the verb renders
the if unnecessary. This omission of if is a common idiom.
5. Should the calls of hunger be neglected, the fat of the body is thrown
into the grate to keep the furnace in play.
The +adverb clause+ may express +purpose+.
6. Language was given us that we might say pleasant things to each other.
+Explanation+.—That, introducing a clause of purpose, is a mere
conjunction.
7. Spiders have many eyes in order that they may see in many directions at
one time.
+Explanation+.—The phrases in order that, so that = that.
8. The ship-canal across the Isthmus of Suez was dug so that European
vessels need not sail around the Cape of Good Hope to reach the Orient.
9. The air draws up vapors from the sea and the land, and retains them
dissolved in itself or suspended in cisterns of clouds, that it may drop
them as rain or dew upon the thirsty earth.
The +adverb clause+ may express +concession+.
10. Although the brain is only one-fortieth of the body, about one-sixth of
the blood is sent to it.
11. Though the atmosphere presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on
every square inch of surface, still we do not feel its weight.
12. Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar, yet will not his
foolishness depart from him.
13. If the War of the Roses did not utterly destroy English freedom, it
arrested its progress for a hundred years.
+Explanation+.—If here = even if = though.
14. Though many rivers flow into the Mediterranean, they are not sufficient
to make up the loss caused by evaporation.
* * * * *
LESSON 66.
COMPOSITION-ADVERB CLAUSES.
+COMMA—RULE.—An Adverb Clause is set off by the comma unless it closely
follows and restricts the word it modifies+.
+Explanation+.—I met him in Paris, when I was last abroad. I will not
call him villain, because it would be unparliamentary. Paper was invented
in China, if the Chinese tell the truth. In these sentences the adverb
clauses are not restrictive, but are supplementary, and are added almost as
afterthoughts.
Glass bends easily when it is red-hot. Leaves do not turn red because
the frost colors them. It will break if you touch it. Here the adverb
clauses are restrictive; each is very closely related in thought to the
independent clause, and may almost be said to be the essential part of the
sentence.
When the adverb clause precedes, it is set off.
+Direction+.—-Tell why the adverb clauses are or are not set off in
Lessons 63 and 64.
+Direction+.—-_Write, after these independent clauses, adverb clauses of
time, place, degree, etc. (for connectives, see Lesson 100), and
punctuate according to the Rule_:—
1. The leaves of the water-maple turn red—time.
2. Our eyes cannot bear the light—time.
3. Millions of soldiers sleep—place.
4. The Bunker Hill Monument stands—place.
5. Every spire of grass was so edged and tipped with dew—degree.
6. Vesuvius threw its lava so far—degree.
7. The tree is inclined—manner.
8. The lion springs upon his prey—manner.
9. Many persons died in the Black Hole of Calcutta—cause.
10. Dew does not form in a cloudy night—cause.
11. That thunderbolt fell a mile away—evidence.
12. We dream in our sleep—evidence.
13. Peter the Great worked in Holland in disguise—purpose.
14. We put salt into butter and upon meat—purpose.
15. Iron bends and molds easily—condition.
16. Apples would not fall to the ground—condition.
17. Europe conquered Napoleon at last—concession.
18. Punishment follows every violation of nature’s laws—concession.
* * * * *
LESSON 67.
+COMPOSITION-ADVERB CLASSES+.
ARRANGEMENT.
The adverb clause may stand before the independent clause, between the
parts of it, or after it.
+Direction+.—-Think, if you can, of another adverb clause to follow each
independent clause in the preceding Lesson, and by means of a caret (^)
indicate where this adverb clause may properly stand in the sentence. Note
its force in its several positions, and attend to the punctuation. Some of
these adverb clauses can stand only at the end.
* * * * *
LESSON 68.
COMPOSITION—ADVERB CLAUSES.
An adverb clause may be contracted into a participle or a participle
phrase.
+Example+.—When he saw me, he stopped = Seeing me, he stopped.
+Direction+.—Contract these complex sentences to simple ones:—
1. Coral animals, when they die, form vast islands with their bodies.
2. The water will freeze, for it has cooled to 32 deg.
3. Truth, though she may be crushed to earth, will rise again.
4. Error, if he is wounded, writhes with pain, and dies among his
worshipers.
5. Black clothes are too warm in summer, because they absorb heat.
An adverb clause may be contracted to an absolute phrase.
+Example+.—When night came on, we gave up the chase = Night coming on,
we gave up the chase.
+Direction+.—Contract these complex sentences to simple ones:—
1. When oxygen and carbon unite in the minute blood-vessels, heat is
produced.
2. It will rain to-morrow, for “Probabilities” predicts it.
3. Washington retreated from Long Island because his army was outnumbered.
4. If Chaucer is called the father of our later English poetry, Wycliffe
should be called the father of our later English prose.
An adverb clause may be contracted to a prepositional phrase having for its
principal word (1) a participle, (2) an infinitive, or (3) a noun.
+Direction+.—Contract each of these adverb clauses to a prepositional
phrase having a participle for its principal word:—
+Model+.—They will call before they leave the city = They will call
before leaving the city.
1. The Gulf Stream reaches Newfoundland before it crosses the Atlantic.
2. If we use household words, we shall be better understood.
3. He grew rich because he attended to his business.
4. Though they persecuted the Christians, they did not exterminate them.
+Direction+.—Contract each of these adverb clauses to an infinitive
phrase:—
+Model+.—She stoops that she may conquer = She stoops to conquer.
1. The pine tree is so tall that it overlooks all its neighbors.
2. Philip II. built the Armada that he might conquer England.
3. He is foolish, because he leaves school so early in life.
4. What would I not give if I could see you happy!
5. We are pained when we hear God’s name used irreverently.
+Direction+.—Contract each of these adverb clauses to a prepositional
phrase having a noun for its principal word:—
+Model+.—He fought that he might obtain glory = He fought for glory.
1. Luther died where he was born.
2. A fish breathes, though it has no lungs.
3. The general marched as he was ordered.
4. Criminals are punished that society may be safe.
5. If you are free from vices, you may expect a happy old age.
An adverb clause may be contracted by simply omitting such words as may
easily be supplied.
+Example+.—When you are right, go ahead = When right, go ahead.
+Direction+.—Contract these adverb clauses:—
1. Chevalier Bayard was killed while he was fighting for Francis I.
2. Error must yield, however strongly it may be defended.
+Explanation+.—However modifies strongly, and connects a concessive
clause.
3. Much wealth is corpulence, if it is not disease.
4. No other English author has uttered so many pithy sayings as Shakespeare
has uttered.
(Frequently, clauses introduced by as and than are contracted.)
5. The sun is many times larger than the earth is large.
(Sentences like this never appear in the full form.)
6. This is a prose era rather than it is a poetic era.
An adverb clause may sometimes be changed to an adjective clause or phrase.
+Example+.—This man is to be pitied, because he has no friends = This
man, who has no friends, is to be pitied = This man, having no friends,
is to be pitied = This man, without friends, is to be pitied.
+Direction+.—Change each of the following adverb clauses first to an
adjective clause and then to an adjective phrase:—
1. A man is to be pitied if he does not care for music.
2. When a man lacks health, wealth, and friends, he lacks three good
things.
* * * * *
LESSON 69.
ANALYSIS.
+Direction.+—_Tell the kind of adverb clause in each of the sentences in
Lesson 68, and note the different positions in which these clauses stand.
Select two sentences containing time clauses; one, a place clause; two,
degree; one, manner; two, real cause; two, evidence; two, purpose; two,
condition; and two, concession, and analyze them_.
* * * * *
LESSON 70.
REVIEW.
+Direction.+—Compose sentences illustrating the different kinds of adverb
clauses named in Lessons 63, 64, 65, and explain fully the office of each.
For connectives, see Lesson 100. Tell why the adverb clauses in Lesson 68
are or are not set off by the comma. Compose sentences illustrating the
different ways of contracting adverb clauses.
+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.+
(SEE PAGES 165-168.)
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, pages 30, 150.
* * * * *
LESSON 71.
THE COMPLEX SENTENCE-NOUN CLAUSE.
+Introductory Hints.+—In Lessons 40 and 41 you learned that an infinitive
phrase may perform many of the offices of a noun. You are now to learn that
a clause may do the same.
Obedience is better than sacrifice = To obey is better than sacrifice =
That men should obey is better than sacrifice. The dependent clause that
men should obey is equivalent to a noun, and is the +Subject+ of is.
Many people believe that the beech tree is never struck by lightning. The
dependent clause, introduced by that, is equivalent to a noun, and is the
+Object Complement+ of believe.
The fact that mold, mildew, and yeast are plants is wonderful. The clause
introduced by that is equivalent to a noun, and is +Explanatory+ of
fact.
A peculiarity of English is, that it has so many borrowed words. The
clause introduced by that is equivalent to a noun, and is an +Attribute
Complement+ relating to peculiarity.
Your future depends very much on who your companions are. The clause who
your companions are is equivalent to a noun, and is the +Principal Term+
of a +Phrase+ introduced by the preposition on.
A clause that does the work of a noun is a +Noun Clause+.
Analysis.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +subject+.
1. That the earth is round has been proved.
That
————
‘
earth | is ‘ \ round
———-|———————
\the | |
|
/ \ | has been proved
=============|=================
|
+Explanation+.—The clause that the earth is round is used like a noun as
the subject of has been proved. The conjunction that [Footnote: “That
was originally the neuter demonstrative pronoun, used to point to the fact
stated in an independent sentence; as, It was good; he saw that. By an
inversion of the order this became, He saw that (namely) it was good, and
so passed into the form He saw that it was good, where that has been
transferred to the accessory clause, and has become a mere sign of
grammatical subordination.”—C. P. Mason.] introduces the noun clause.
This is a peculiar kind of complex sentence. Strictly speaking, there is
here no principal clause, for the whole sentence cannot be called a clause,
i.e., a part of a sentence. We may say that it is a complex sentence in
which the whole sentence takes the place of a principal clause.
2. That the same word is used for the soul of man and for a glass of gin is
singular.
3. “What have I done?” is asked by the knave and the thief.
4. Who was the discoverer of America is not yet fully determined by
historians.
+Explanation+.—The subject clause is here an indirect question. See Lesson
74.
5. When letters were first used is not certainly known.
6. “Where is Abel, thy brother?” smote the ears of the guilty Cain.
7. When to quit business and enjoy their wealth is a problem never solved
by some.
+Explanation+.—When to quit business and enjoy their wealth is an
indirect question. When to quit business = When they are to quit
business, or When they ought to quit business. Such constructions may be
expanded into clauses, or they may be treated as phrases equivalent to
clauses.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +object complement+.
8. Galileo taught that the earth moves.
that
———-
‘
earth | ‘ moves
———|———-
\the |
|
Galileo | taught | / \
=========|==============
|
+Explanation+.—Here the clause introduced by that is used like a noun as
the object complement of taught.
9. The Esquimau feels intuitively that bear’s grease and blubber are the
dishes for his table.
10. The world will not anxiously inquire who you are.
11. It will ask of you, “What can you do?”
12. The peacock struts about, saying, “What a fine tail I have!”
13. He does not know which to choose.
(See explanation of (7), above.)
14. No one can tell how or when or where he will die.
15. Philosophers are still debating whether the will has any control over
the current of thought in our dreams.
* * * * *
LESSON 72.
NOUN CLAUSE—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +attribute complement+.
1. A peculiarity of English is, that it has so many borrowed words.
2. Tweed’s defiant question was, “What are you going to do about it?”
3. The question ever asked and never answered is, “Where and how am I to
exist in the Hereafter?”
4. Hamlet’s exclamation was, “What a piece of work is man!”
5. The myth concerning Achilles is, that he was invulnerable in every part
except the heel.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +explanatory modifier+.
6. It has been proved that the earth is round.
that
———-
‘
earth | is ‘ \ round
———|———————
\the |
|
It (/ \) | has been proved
==========|==================
|
+Explanation+.—The grammatical subject it has no meaning till explained
by the noun clause.
7. It is believed that sleep is caused by a diminution in the supply of
blood to the brain.
8. The fact that mold, mildew, and yeast are plants is wonderful.
9. Napoleon turned his Simplon road aside in order that he might save a
tree mentioned by Caesar.
+Explanation+.—Unless in order that is taken as a conjunction connecting
an adverb clause of purpose (see (7), Lesson 65), the clause introduced by
that is a noun clause explanatory of order. [Footnote: A similar
explanation may be made of on condition that, in case that, introducing
adverb clauses expressing condition.]
10. Shakespeare’s metaphor, “Night’s candles are burnt out,” is one of the
finest in literature.
11. The advice that St. Ambrose gave St. Augustine in regard to conformity
to local custom was in substance this: “When in Rome, do as the Romans
do.”
12. This we know, that our future depends on our present.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +principal term+ of a +prepositional
phrase+.
13. Have birds any sense of why they sing?
birds | Have | sense
=======|================ they | sing
| \any \ ——-|———
\ of | \why
\ / \
\——————-
+Explanation+.—Why they sing is an indirect question, here used as the
principal term of a prepositional phrase.
14. There has been some dispute about who wrote “Shakespeare’s Plays.”
15. We are not certain that an open sea surrounds the Pole.
+Explanation+.—By supposing of to stand before that, the noun clause
may be treated as the principal term of a prepositional phrase modifying
the adjective certain. By supplying of the fact, the noun clause will
become explanatory.
16. We are all anxious that the future shall bring us success and triumph.
17. The Sandwich Islander is confident that the strength and valor of his
slain enemy pass into himself.
* * * * *
LESSON 73.
COMPOSITION—NOUN CLAUSE.
+COMMA—RULE.—The Noun Clause used as attribute complement is generally
set off by the comma.+
+Remarks+.—Present usage seems to favor the omission of the comma with the
clause used as subject or as object complement, except where the comma
would contribute to clearness.
The punctuation of the explanatory clause is like that of other explanatory
modifiers. See Lesson 34. But the real subject made explanatory of it is
seldom set off. See next Lesson for the punctuation of noun clauses that
are questions or quotations.
+Direction+.—Give the reasons for the use or the omission of the comma
with the noun clauses in the preceding Lesson.
By using it as a substitute for the subject clause, this clause may be
placed last.
+Example+.—That the story of William Tell is a myth is now believed =
It is now believed that the story of William Tell is a myth.
+Direction+.—By the aid of the expletive it, transpose five subject
clauses in Lesson 71.
Often the clause used as object complement may be placed first.
+Direction+.—Transpose such of the clauses used as object complements, in
the preceding Lessons, as admit transposition. Punctuate them if they need
punctuation.
The noun clause may be made prominent by separating it and inserting the
independent clause between its parts,
+Example+.—The story of William Tell, it is now believed, is a myth.
(Notice that the principal clause, used parenthetically, is set off by the
comma.)
+Direction+.—Write the following sentences, using the independent clauses
parenthetically:—
1. We believe that the first printing-press in America was set up in Mexico
in 1536.
2. I am aware that refinement of mind and clearness of thinking usually
result from grammatical studies.
3. It is true that the glorious sun pours down his golden flood as cheerily
on the poor man’s cottage as on the rich man’s palace.
+Direction+.—Vary the following sentence so as to illustrate five
different kinds of noun clauses:—
+Model+.—
1. That stars are suns is the belief of astronomers.
2. Astronomers believe that stars are suns.
3. The belief of astronomers is, that stars are suns.
4. The belief that stars are suns is held by astronomers.
5. Astronomers are confident that stars are suns.
1. Our conclusion is, that different forms of government suit different
stages of civilization.
The noun clause may be contracted by changing the predicate to a
participle, and the subject to a possessive.
+Example+.—That he was brave cannot be doubted = His being brave
cannot be doubted.
+Direction+.—Make the following complex sentences simple by changing the
noun clauses to phrases:—
1. That the caterpillar changes to a butterfly is a curious fact.
2. Everybody admits that Cromwell was a great leader.
3. A man’s chief objection to a woman is, that she has no respect for the
newspaper.
4. The thought that we are spinning around the sun at the rate of twenty
miles a second makes us dizzy.
5. She was aware that I appreciated her situation.
The noun clause may be contracted by making the predicate, when changed to
an infinitive phrase, the objective complement, and the subject the object
complement.
+Direction+.—Make the following complex sentences simple by changing the
predicates of the noun clauses to objective complements, and the subjects
to object complements:—
+Model+.—King Ahasuerus commanded that Haman should be hanged = King
Ahasuerus commanded Haman to be hanged.
1. I believe that he is a foreigner.
2. The Governor ordered that the prisoner should be set free.
3. Many people believe that Webster was the greatest of American statesmen.
4. How wide do you think that the Atlantic ocean is?
5. They hold that taxation without representation is unjust.
+Direction+.—Expand into complex sentences such of the sentences in
Lesson 41 as contain an objective complement and an object complement
that together are equivalent to a clause.
A noun clause may be contracted to an infinitive phrase.
+Example+.—That he should vote is the duty of every American citizen =
To vote is the duty of every American citizen.
+Direction+.—Contract these noun clauses to infinitive phrases:—
1. That we guard our liberty with vigilance is a sacred duty.
2. Every one desires that he may live long and happily.
3. The effect of looking upon the sun is, that the eye is blinded.
4. Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed.
5. We are all anxious that we may make a good impression.
6. He does not know whom he should send.
7. He cannot find out how he is to go there.
* * * * *
LESSON 74.
COMPOSITION—NOUN CLAUSE—CONTINUED.
+QUOTATION MARKS—RULE.—Quotation marks (“”) inclose a copied word or
passage+.
+Remarks+.—Single marks (‘ ‘) inclose a quotation within a quotation. If,
within the quotation having single marks, still another quotation is made,
the double marks are again used; as, “The incorrectness of the dispatches
led Bismarck to declare, ‘It will soon come to be said, “He lies like the
telegraph.”‘” This introduction of a third quotation should generally be
avoided, especially where the three marks come at the end, as above.
When a quotation is divided by a parenthetical expression, each part of the
quotation is inclosed; as, “I would rather be right,” said Clay, “than be
president.”
In quoting a question, the interrogation point must stand within the
quotation marks; as, He asked, “What are you living for?” but, when a
question contains a quotation, this order is reversed; as, May we not find
“sermons in stones”? So also with the exclamation point.
+CAPITAL LETTER—RULE.—The first word of a direct quotation making
complete sense or of a direct question introduced into a sentence should
begin with a capital letter+.
+Remarks+.—A +direct quotation+ is one whose exact words, as well as
thought, are copied; as, Nathan said to David, “Thou art the man.” An
+indirect quotation+ is one whose thought, but not whose exact words, is
copied; as, Nathan told David that he was the man. The reference here of
the pronoun he is somewhat ambiguous. Guard against this, especially in
indirect quotations.
The direct quotation is set off by the comma, begins with a capital letter,
and is inclosed within quotation marks—though these may be omitted. The
indirect quotation is not generally set off by the comma, does not
necessarily begin with a capital letter, and is not inclosed within
quotation marks.
A +direct question+ introduced into a sentence is one in which the exact
words and their order in an interrogative sentence (see Lesson 55) are
preserved, and which is followed by an interrogation point; as, Cain asked,
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” An +indirect question+ is one which is
referred to as a question, but not directly asked or quoted as such, and
which is not followed by an interrogation point; as, Cain asked whether he
was his brother’s keeper.
The direct question introduced into a sentence is set off by the comma (but
no comma is used after the interrogation point), begins with a capital
letter, and is inclosed within quotation marks—though these may be
omitted. An indirect question is not generally set off by a comma, does not
necessarily begin with a capital letter, and is not inclosed within
quotation marks.
If the direct quotation, whether a question or not, is formally introduced
(see Lesson 147), it is preceded by the colon; as, Nathan’s words to David
were these: “Thou art the man.” He put the question thus: “Can you do
it?”
+Direction+.—Point out the direct and the indirect quotations and
questions in the sentences of Lesson 71, tell why they do or do not begin
with capital letters, and justify the use or the omission of the comma, the
interrogation point, and the quotation marks.
+Direction+.—Rewrite these same sentences, changing the direct quotations
and questions to indirect, and the indirect to direct.
+Direction+.—Write five sentences containing direct quotations, some of
which shall be formally introduced, and some of which shall be questions
occurring at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence. Change these
to the indirect form, and look carefully to the punctuation and the
capitalization.
+Direction+.—Write sentences illustrating the last paragraph of the
Remarks under the Rule for Quotation Marks.
* * * * *
LESSON 75.
ANALYSIS.
+Direction+.—Analyze the sentences given for arrangement and contraction
in Lesson 73.
* * * * *
LESSON 76.
THE COMPOUND SENTENCE.
+Introductory Hints+.—Cromwell made one revolution, and Monk made
another. The two clauses are independent of each other. The second clause,
added by the conjunction and to the first, continues the line of thought
begun by the first.
Man has his will, but woman has her way. Here the conjunction connects
independent clauses whose thoughts stand in contrast with each other.
The Tudors were despotic, or history belies them. The independent
clauses, connected by or, present thoughts between which you may choose,
but either, accepted, excludes the other.
The ground is wet, therefore it has rained. Here the inferred fact, the
raining, really stands to the other fact, the wetness of the ground, as
cause to effect—the raining made the ground wet. It has rained, hence
the ground is wet. Here the inferred fact, the wetness of the ground,
really stands to the other fact, the raining, as effect to cause—the
ground is made wet by the raining. But this the real, or logical relation
between the facts in either sentence is expressed in a sentence of the
compound form—an and may be placed before therefore and hence.
Unless the connecting word expresses the dependence of one of the clauses,
the grammarian regards them both as independent.
Temperance promotes health, intemperance destroys it. Here the
independent clauses are joined to each other by their very position in the
sentence—connected without any conjunction. This kind of connection is
common.
Sentences made up of independent clauses we call +Compound Sentences.
+DEFINITION.—A Clause is a part of a sentence containing’ a subject and
its predicate.+
+DEFINITION.—A Dependent Clause is one used as an adjective, an adverb,
or a noun.+
+DEFINITION.—An Independent Clause is one not dependent on another
clause.+
SENTENCES CLASSIFIED WITH RESPECT TO FORM.
+DEFINITION.—A Simple Sentence is a sentence that contains but one
subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound.+
+DEFINITION.—A Complex Sentence is a sentence composed of an independent
clause and one or more dependent clauses.+
+DEFINITION.—A Compound Sentence is a sentence composed of two or more
independent clauses.+
Analysis.
+Independent Clauses+ in the +same line+ of thought.
1. Light has spread, and bayonets think.
Light | has spread
=======|=============
| ‘
‘
‘ and
…….
‘
‘
bayonets | ‘ think
===========|==========
|
+Explanation+.—The clauses are of equal rank, and so the lines on which
they stand are shaded alike, and the line connecting them is not slanting.
As one entire clause is connected with the other, the connecting line is
drawn between the predicates merely for convenience.
+Oral Analysis+.—This is a compound sentence because it is made up of
independent clauses.
2. Hamilton smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams
of revenue gushed forth.
3. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness
thrust upon them.
+Independent Clauses+ expressing thoughts in +contrast.+
4. The man dies, but his memory lives.
5. Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust.
6. Ready writing makes not good writing, but good writing brings on ready
writing.
+Independent Clauses+ expressing thoughts in +alternation+.
7. Be temperate in youth, or you will have to be abstinent in old age.
8. Places near the sea are not extremely cold in winter, nor are they
extremely warm in summer.
(Here a choice is denied.)
9. Either Hamlet was mad, or he feigned madness admirably.
(See (16), Lesson 20.)
+Independent Clauses+ expressing thoughts one of which is an +inference+
from the other.
10. People in the streets are carrying umbrellas, hence it must be raining.
11. I have seen, therefore I believe.
I | have seen
===|===========
| ‘
‘
I | ‘ believe
===|=’=========
|\’
\therefore
+Explanation+.—In such constructions and may be supplied, or the adverb
may be regarded as the connective. The diagram illustrates therefore as
connective.
+Independent Clauses+ joined in the sentence +without a conjunction+.
12. The camel is the ship of the ocean of sand; the reindeer is the camel
of the desert of snow.
13. Of thy unspoken word thou art master; thy spoken word is master of
thee.
14. The ship leaps, as it were, from billow to billow.
+Explanation+.—As it were is an independent clause used parenthetically.
As simply introduces it.
15. Religion—who can doubt it?—is the noblest of themes for the exercise
of intellect.
16. What grave (these are the words of Wellesley, speaking of the two
Pitts) contains such a father and such a son!
* * * * *
LESSON 77.
COMPOSITION—COMPOUND SENTENCE.
+COMMA and SEMICOLON—RULE.—Independent Clauses, when short and closely
connected, are separated by the+ +comma; but, when the clauses are slightly
connected, or when they are themselves divided into parts by the comma, the
semi-colon is used+.
+Remark+.—A parenthetical clause may be set oil by the comma or by the
dash, or it may be inclosed within marks of parenthesis—the marks of
parenthesis showing the least degree of connection in sense. See the last
three sentences in the preceding Lesson.
+Examples+.—
1. We must conquer our passions, or our passions will conquer us.
2. The prodigal robs his heirs; the miser robs himself.
3. There is a fierce conflict between good and evil; but good is in the
ascendant, and must triumph at last.
(The rule above is another example.)
+Direction+.—Punctuate the following sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. The wind and the rain are over the clouds are divided in heaven over the
green hill flies the inconstant sun.
2. The epic poem recites the exploits of a hero tragedy represents a
disastrous event comedy ridicules the vices and follies of mankind
pastoral poetry describes rural life and elegy displays the tender
emotions of the heart.
3. Wealth may seek us but wisdom must be sought.
4. The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.
5. Occidental manhood springs from self-respect Oriental manhood finds its
greatest satisfaction in self-abasement. [Footnote: In this sentence we
have a figure of speech called +Antithesis+, in which things unlike in
some particular are set over against each other. Each part shines with
its own light and with the light reflected from the other part.
Antithesis gives great force to the thought expressed by it. Sentences
containing it furnish us our best examples of +Balanced Sentences+. You
will find other antitheses in this Lesson and in the preceding.]
6. The more discussion the better if passion and personality be avoided and
discussion even if stormy often winnows truth from error.
+Direction+.—Assign reasons for the punctuation of the independent
clauses in the preceding Lesson.
+Direction+.—Using the copulative and, the adversative but, and the
alternative or or nor, form compound sentences out of the following simple
sentences, and give the reasons for your choice of connectives:—
Read not that you may find material for argument and conversation. The rain
descended. Read that you may weigh and consider the thoughts of others. Can
the Ethiopian change his skin? Righteousness exalteth a nation. The floods
came. Great was the fall of it. Language is not the dress of thought. Can
the leopard change his spots? The winds blew and beat upon that house. Sin
is a reproach to any people. It is not simply its vehicle. It fell.
Compound sentences may be contracted by using but once the parts common to
all the clauses, and compounding the remaining parts.
+Example+.—Time waits for no man, and tide waits for no man = Time
and tide wait for no man.
+Direction+.—Contract these compound sentences, attending carefully to
the punctuation:—
1. Lafayette fought for American independence, and Baron Steuben fought for
American independence.
2. The sweet but fading graces of inspiring autumn open the mind to
benevolence, and the sweet but fading graces of inspiring autumn dispose
the mind for contemplation.
3. The spirit of the Almighty is within us, the spirit of the Almighty is
around us, and the spirit of the Almighty is above us.
A compound sentence may be contracted by simply omitting from one clause
such words as may readily be supplied from the other.
Example.—He is witty, but he is vulgar = He is witty but vulgar.
+Direction+.—Contract these sentences:—
1. Mirth should be the embroidery of conversation, but it should not be the
web.
2. It is called so, but it is improperly called so.
3. Was Cabot the discoverer of America, or was he not the discoverer of
America?
4. William the Silent has been likened to Washington, and he has justly
been likened to him.
5. It was his address that pleased me, and it was not his dress that
pleased me.
A compound sentence may sometimes be changed to a complex sentence without
materially changing the sense.
+Example+.—Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of
themselves = If you take care of the minutes, the hours will take care of
themselves. (Notice that the imperative form adds force.)
+Direction+.—Change these compound sentences to complex sentences:—
1. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
2. Govern your passions, or they will govern you.
3. I heard that you wished to see me, and I lost no time in coming.
4. He converses, and at the same time he plays a difficult piece of music.
5. He was faithful, and he was rewarded.
+Direction+.—Change one of the independent clauses in each of these
sentences to a dependent clause, and then change the dependent clause to a
participle phrase:—
+Model+.—The house was built upon a rock, and therefore it did not fall
= The house did not fall, because it was built upon a rock = The house,
being built upon a rock, did not fall.
1. He found that he could not escape, and so he surrendered.
2. Our friends heard of our coming, and they hastened to meet us.
+Direction+.—Using and, but, and or as connectives, compose three
compound sentences, each containing three independent clauses.
* * * * *
LESSON 78.
COMPLEX AND COMPOUND CLAUSES.
+Introductory Hints+.—Sun and moon and stars obey. Peter the Great went
to Holland, to England, and to France. I came, I saw, I conquered.
Here we have co-ordinate words, co-ordinate phrases, and co-ordinate
clauses, that is, words, phrases, and clauses of equal rank, or order.
Leaves fall so very quietly. They ate of the fruit from the tree in the
garden. Regulus would have paused if he had been the man that he was
before captivity had unstrung his sinews. Here just as the word modifier
quietly is itself modified by very, and very by so; and just as
fruit, the principal word in a modifying phrase, is modified by another
phrase, and the principal word of that by another: so man, in the adverb
clause which modifies would have paused, is itself modified by the
adjective clause that he was, and was by the adverb clause before
captivity had unstrung his sinews. These three dependent clauses in the
complex clause modifier, like the three words and the three phrases in the
complex word modifier and the complex phrase modifier, are not co-ordinate,
or of equal rank.
Mary married Philip; but Elizabeth would not marry, although Parliament
frequently urged it, and the peace of England demanded it. This is a
compound sentence, composed of the simple clause which precedes but and
the complex clause which follows it—the complex clause being composed of
an independent clause and two dependent clauses, one co-ordinate with the
other, and the two connected by and.
Analysis.
The +clauses+ of +complex+ and +compound+ sentences may themselves be
+complex+ or +compound+.
insects
—————
` ` `
` ` `which | are admired
` ` `=====|=============
` ` | ‘
` ` ‘ x
` ` …..
` ` ‘
` `which | are decorated
` ======|===============
` | ‘
` ‘and
` ……..
` ‘
` which | soar ‘
`======|=======
|
hour | had passed
=========|=============
\The |` ‘
` ‘ and
` …….
` ‘
opportunity | ` had escaped
============|==`============
\the | ` \
` ‘
` ‘
`’
`
`while
`
he | ` tarried
——|——————-
|
that
——-
‘
earth | ‘ is \ round
=========|======’========
| ‘
that ‘ and
——- ……
‘ ‘
it | ‘ revolves ‘
===|=’============’=
|
He | proved | / \
====|=============
|
+Explanation+.—The first diagram illustrates the analysis of the compound
adjective clause in (3) below. Each adjective clause is connected to
insects by which. And connects the co-ordinate clauses. The second
diagram shows that the clause while he tarried modifies both predicates
of the independent clauses. While modifies had passed, had escaped, and
tarried, as illustrated by the short lines under the first two verbs and
the line over tarried. The office of while as connective is shown by
the dotted lines. The third diagram illustrates the analysis of a complex
sentence containing a compound noun clause.
1. Sin has a great many tools, but a lie is a handle which fits them all.
2. Some one has said that the milkman’s favorite song should be, “Shall we
gather at the river?”
3. Some of the insects which are most admired, which are decorated with the
most brilliant colors, and which soar on the most ethereal wings, have
passed the greater portion of their lives in the bowels of the earth.
4. Still the wonder grew, that one small head could carry all he knew.
5. When a man becomes overheated by working, running, rowing, or making
furious speeches, the six or seven millions of perspiration tubes pour
out their fluid, and the whole body is bathed and cooled.
6. Milton said that he did not educate his daughters in the languages,
because one tongue was enough for a woman. [Footnote: In tongue, as
here used, we have a +Pun+—a witty expression in which a word agreeing
in sound with another word, but differing in meaning from it, is used in
place of that other.]
7. Glaciers, flowing down mountain gorges, obey the law of rivers; the
upper surface flows faster than the lower, and the center faster than
the adjacent sides.
8. Not to wear one’s best things every day is a maxim of New England
thrift, which is as little disputed as any verse in the catechism.
9. In Holland the stork is protected by law, because it eats the frogs and
worms that would injure the dikes.
10. It is one of the most marvelous facts in the natural world that, though
hydrogen is highly inflammable, and oxygen is a supporter of
combustion, both, combined, form an element, water, which is
destructive to fire.
11. In your war of 1812, when your arms on shore were covered by disaster,
when Winchester had been defeated, when the Army of the Northwest had
surrendered, and when the gloom of despondency hung, like a cloud, over
the land, who first relit the fires of national glory, and made the
welkin ring with the shouts of victory? [Footnote: The when clauses
in (11), as the which clauses in (3), are formed on the same plan,
have their words in the same order. This principle of +Parallel
Construction+, requiring like ideas to be expressed alike, holds also
in phrases, as in (10) and (14), Lesson 28, and in (14) and (15),
Lesson 46, and holds supremely with sentences in the paragraph, as is
explained on page 168. Parallel construction contributes to the
clearness, and consequently to the force, of expression.]
* * * * *
LESSON 79.
EXPANSION.
+Participles+ may be expanded into different kinds of +clauses+.
+Direction+.—Expand the participles in these sentences into the clauses
indicated:—
1. Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it. (Adjective clause.)
2. Desiring to live long, no one would be old. (Concession.)
3. They went to the temple, suing for pardon. (Purpose.)
4. White garments, reflecting the rays of the sun, are cool in summer.
(Cause.)
5. Loved by all, he must have a genial disposition. (Evidence.)
6. Writing carefully, you will learn to write well. (Condition.)
7. Sitting there, I heard the cry of “Fire!” (Time.)
8. She regrets not having read it. (Noun clause.)
9. The icebergs floated down, cooling the air for miles around,
(Independent clause.)
+Absolute phrases+ may be expanded into different kinds of +clauses+.
+Direction+.—Expand these absolute phrases into the clauses indicated:—
1. Troy being taken by the Greeks, Aeneas came into Italy. (Time.)
2. The bridges having been swept away, we returned. (Cause.)
3. A cause not preceding, no effect is produced. (Condition.)
4. All things else being destroyed, virtue could sustain itself.
(Concession.)
5. There being no dew this morning, it must have been cloudy or windy last
night. (Evidence.)
6. The infantry advanced, the cavalry remaining in the rear. (Independent
clause.)
+Infinitive+ phrases may be expanded into different kinds of +clauses+.
+Direction+.—Expand these infinitive phrases into the clauses
indicated:—
1. They have nothing to wear. (Adjective clause.)
2. The weather is so warm as to dissolve the snow. (Degree.)
3. Herod will seek the young child to destroy it. (Purpose.)
4. The adversative sentence faces, so to speak, half way about on but.
(Condition.)
5. He is a fool to waste his time so. (Cause.)
6. I shall be happy to hear of your safe arrival. (Time.)
7. He does not know where to go. (Noun clause.)
+Direction+.—Complete these elliptical expressions:—
1. And so shall Regulus, though dead, fight as he never fought before.
2. Oh, that I might have one more day!
3. He is braver than wise.
4. What if he is poor?
5. He handles it as if it were glass.
6. I regard him more as a historian than as a poet.
7. He is not an Englishman, but a Frenchman.
8. Much as he loved his wealth, he loved his children better.
9. I will go whether you go or not.
10. It happens with books as with mere acquaintances.
11. No examples, however awful, sink into the heart.
* * * * *
LESSON 80.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW.
Analysis.
1. Whenever the wandering demon of Drunkenness finds a ship adrift, he
steps on board, takes the helm, and steers straight for the
Maelstrom.—Holmes.
2. The energy which drives our locomotives and forces our steamships
through the waves comes from the sun.—Cooke.
3. No scene is continually loved but one rich by joyful human labor, smooth
in field, fair in garden, full in orchard.—Ruskin.
4. What is bolder than a miller’s neck-cloth, which takes a thief by the
throat every morning?—German Proverb.
5. The setting sun stretched his celestial rods of light across the level
landscape, and smote the rivers and the brooks and the ponds, and they
became as blood.—Longfellow.
6. Were the happiness of the next world as closely apprehended as the
felicities of this, it were a martyrdom to live.—Sir T. Browne.
7. There is a good deal of oratory in me, but I don’t do as well as I can,
in any one place, out of respect to the memory of Patrick
Henry.—Nasby.
8. Van Twiller’s full-fed cheeks, which seemed to have taken toll of
everything that went into his mouth, were curiously mottled and streaked
with dusky red, like a spitzenburg apple.—Irving.
9. The evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is
robbing the human race.—Mill.
10. There is no getting along with Johnson; if his pistol misses fire, he
knocks you down with the butt of it.—Goldsmith.
11. We think in words; and, when we lack fit words, we lack fit
thoughts.—White.
12. To speak perfectly well one must feel that he has got to the bottom of
his subject.—Whately.
13. Office confers no honor upon a man who is worthy of it, and it will
disgrace every man who is not.—Holland.
14. The men whom men respect, the women whom women approve, are the men and
women who bless their species.—Parton.
* * * * *
LESSON 81.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES IN REVIEW.
Analysis.
1. A ruler who appoints any man to an office when there is in his dominions
another man better qualified for it sins against God and against the
state.—Koran.
2. We wondered whether the saltness of the Dead Sea was not Lot’s wife in
solution.—Curtis.
3. There is a class among us so conservative that they are afraid the roof
will come down if you sweep off the cobwebs.—Phillips.
4. Kind hearts are more than coronets; and simple faith, than Norman
blood.—Tennyson.
5. All those things for which men plow, build, or sail obey
virtue.—Sallust.
6. The sea licks your feet, its huge flanks purr very pleasantly for you;
but it will crack your bones and eat you for all that.—Holmes.
7. Of all sad words of tongue or pen the saddest are these: “It might have
been.”—Whittier.
8. I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets.
—Napoleon.
9. He that allows himself to be a worm must not complain if he is trodden
on.—Kant.
10. It is better to write one word upon the rock than a thousand on the
water or the sand.—Gladstone.
11. A breath of New England’s air is better than a sup of Old England’s
ale.—Higginson.
12. We are as near to heaven by sea as by land.—Sir H. Gilbert.
13. No language that cannot suck up the feeding juices secreted for it in
the rich mother-earth of common folk can bring forth a sound and lusty
book.—Lowell.
14. Commend me to the preacher who has learned by experience what are human
ills and what is human wrong.—Boyd.
15. He prayeth best who loveth best all things both [Footnote: See Lesson
20.] great and small; for the dear God, who loveth us, he made and
loveth all.—Coleridge.
* * * * *
LESSON 82.
REVIEW.
Show that an adjective may be expanded into an equivalent phrase or clause.
Give examples of adjective clauses connected by who, whose, which, what,
that, whichever, when, where, why, and show that each connective performs
also the office of a pronoun or that of an adverb. Give and illustrate
fully the Rule for punctuating the adjective clause, and the Caution
regarding the position of the adjective clause. Show that an adjective
clause may be equivalent to an Infinitive phrase or a participle phrase.
Show that an adverb may be expanded into an equivalent phrase or clause.
Illustrate the different kinds of adverb clauses, and explain the office of
each and the fitness of the name. Give and explain fully the Rule for the
punctuation of adverb clauses. Illustrate the different positions of adverb
clauses. Illustrate the different ways of contracting adverb clauses.
* * * * *
LESSON 83.
REVIEW.
Illustrate five different offices of a noun clause. Explain the two
different ways of treating clauses introduced by in order that, etc.
Explain the office of the expletive it. Illustrate the different
positions of a noun clause used as object complement. Show how the noun
clause may be made prominent. Illustrate the different ways of contracting
noun clauses. Give and illustrate fully the Rule for quotation marks.
Illustrate and explain fully the distinction between direct and indirect
quotations, and the distinction between direct and indirect questions
introduced into a sentence. Tell all about their capitalization and
punctuation.
* * * * *
LESSON 84.
REVIEW.
Illustrate and explain the distinction between a dependent and an
independent clause. Illustrate and explain the different ways in which
independent clauses connected by and, but, or, and hence are related in
sense. Show how independent clauses may be joined in sense without a
connecting word. Define a clause. Define the different kinds of clauses.
Define the different classes of sentences with regard to form. Give the
Rule for the punctuation of independent clauses, and illustrate fully.
Illustrate the different ways of contracting independent clauses.
Illustrate and explain the difference between compound and complex word
modifiers; between compound and complex phrases; between compound and
complex clauses. Give participle phrases, absolute phrases, and infinitive
phrases, and expand them into different kinds of clauses. What three parts
of speech may connect clauses?
GENERAL REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—This scheme will be found very helpful in a general
review. The pupils should be able to reproduce it except the Lesson
numbers.
Scheme for the Sentence.
(The numbers refer to Lessons.)
+PARTS.+
+Subject.+
Noun or Pronoun (8).
Phrase (38, 40).
Clause (71).
+Predicate.+
Verb (11).
+Complements.+
+Object.+
Noun or Pronoun (28).
Phrase (38, 40).
Clause (71).
+Attribute.+
Adjective (29, 30).
Participle (37).
Noun or Pronoun (29, 30).
Phrase (37, 40).
Clause (72).
+Objective.+
Adjective (31).
Participle (37).
Noun (or Pronoun) (31).
Phrase (37, 41).
+Modifiers.+
Adjectives (12).
Adverbs (14).
Participles (37).
Nouns and Pronouns (33, 35).
Phrases (17, 37, 38, 40, 41).
Clauses (59, 60, 63, 64, 65).
+Connectives.+
Conjunctions (20, 64, 65, 71, 76).
Pronouns (59, 60).
Adverbs (60, 63, 64).
+Independent Parts+ (44).
+Classes.+
+Meaning.+ Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamatory (46).
+Form.+ Simple, Complex, Compound (76).
Additional Selections.
TO THE TEACHER.—We believe that you will find the preceding pages
unusually full and rich in illustrative selections; but, should additional
work be needed for reviews or for maturer classes, the following selections
will afford profitable study. Let the pupils discuss the thought and the
poetic form, as well as the logical construction of these passages. We do
not advise putting them in diagram.
Speak clearly, if you speak at all;
Carve every word before you let it fall.—Holmes.
The robin and the blue-bird, piping loud,
Filled all the blossoming orchards with their glee;
The sparrows chirped as if they still were proud
Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be;
And hungry crows, assembled in a crowd,
Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly,
Knowing who hears the ravens cry, and said,
“Give us, O Lord, this day, our daily bread!”
—Longfellow,
Better to stem with heart and hand
The roaring tide of life than lie,
Unmindful, on its flowery strand,
Of God’s occasions drifting by.
Better with naked nerve to bear
The needles of this goading air
Than, in the lap of sensual ease, forego
The godlike power to do, the godlike aim to know.
—Whittier.
Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ‘t is prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside,
Doubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified.—Lowell.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
TO THE TEACHER.—These and similar “Exercises” are entirely outside of the
regular lessons. They are offered to those teachers who may not, from lack
of time or of material, find it convenient to prepare extra or
miscellaneous work better suited to their own needs.
The questions appended to the following sentences are made easy of answer,
but in continuing such exercises the teacher will, of course, so frame the
questions as more and more to throw responsibility on the pupil.
It will be evident that this work aims not only to enforce instruction
given before Lesson 17, but, by an easy and familiar examination of words
and groups of words, to prepare the way for what is afterwards presented
more formally and scientifically. ADAPTED FROM IRVING’S “SKETCH BOOK.”
1. From this piazza the wondering Ichabod entered the hall.
2. This hall formed the center of the mansion and the place of usual
residence.
3. Here, rows of resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his
eyes.
4. In one corner stood a huge bag of wool ready to be spun.
5. In another corner stood a quantity of linsey-woolsey just from the loom.
6. Ears of Indian corn and strings of dried apples and peaches hung in gay
festoons along the walls.
7. These were mingled with the gaud of red peppers.
8. A door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor.
9. In this parlor claw-footed chairs and dark mahogany tables shone like
mirrors.
10. Andirons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs, glistened from
their covert of asparagus tops. [Footnote: Asparagus tops were
commonly used to ornament the old-fashioned fireplace in summer.]
11. Mock-oranges and conch-shells decorated the mantelpiece.
12. Strings of various-colored birds’ eggs were suspended above it.
13. A corner-cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of
old silver and well-mended china.
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—Find the two chief words in each
of the first three sentences. As a part of the sentence what is each of
these words called? To what class of words, or part of speech, does each
belong? Notice that in the fourth and the fifth sentence the subject is put
after the predicate. Change the order of words and read these sentences.
Read in their regular order the two chief words of each. In the sixth
sentence what word says, or asserts, something about both ears and strings?
In the ninth sentence put what before the predicate shone and find two
nouns that answer the question. In the eleventh sentence what two things
does decorated tell something about? In the seventh sentence these
stands for what two nouns, or names, found in the preceding sentence? Find
the subject and the predicate of each sentence from the sixth to the
thirteenth inclusive. To what class of words does each of these chief parts
belong? Find in these sentences nouns that are not subjects. Find several
compound nouns the parts of which are joined with the hyphen.
The and wondering in the first sentence go with what noun? The group of
words from this piazza goes with what word? In the second sentence put
what before, and then after, formed, and find the names that answer
these questions. What does of the mansion go with? What does of usual
residence describe? In the third sentence what word tells where the
dazzling occurred? Find a group of three words telling what the rows were
composed of. What group of words tells the position of the rows? In the
fourth sentence what group of words shows where the bag stood? Of wool
ready to be spun describes what? A and huge are attached to what?
TO THE TEACHER.—We have here suggested some of the devices by which pupils
may be led to see the functions of words and phrases. We recommend that
this work be varied and continued through the selection above and through
others that may easily be made. Such exercises, together with the more
formal and searching work of the regular lessons, will be found of
incalculable value to the pupil. They will not only afford the best mental
discipline but will aid greatly in getting thought and in expressing
thought.
+The Force and the Beauty of the Description above.—+ Can you find any
reason why we are invited to see this picture through the eyes of the
interested and wondering Ichabod? Do you think the word wondering well
chosen and suggestive? Look through this picture carefully and tell what
there is that indicates thrift, industry, and prosperity. Find more common
expressions for center of the mansion and place of usual residence.
Notice in the third sentence the effect of resplendent and dazzled. How
is a similar effect produced in the ninth and the tenth sentence? You see
that this great artist in words does not here need to repeat his language.
We can easily imagine that he could produce the same effect in a great
variety of ways. In the fourth sentence does the expression ready to be
spun tell what is actually seen, or what is only suggested? What is gained
by this expression and by just from the loom in the next sentence? Do you
think an unskillful artist would have used in gay festoons? Read the
seventh and make it more common but less quaint. Do you think the picture
gains, or loses, by representing the door as “ajar” instead of wide open?
Why? Can you see any similar effect from introducing their covert in the
tenth sentence? What does the expression knowingly left open suggest to
you? This selection from Irving illustrates the +Descriptive+ style of
writing.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITION WORK.
In the description above we have taken some liberties with the original,
for we have broken it up into single sentences. The parts of this picture
as made by Irving were smoothly and delicately blended together.
You may rewrite this description; and, where it can be done to advantage,
you may join the sentences neatly together. Perhaps some of these sentences
may be changed to become parts of other sentences,
TO THE TEACHER.—It will be found profitable for pupils to break up for
themselves into short sentences model selections from classic English, and,
after examining the structure and style as suggested above, to note and, so
far as possible, explain how these were blended together in the original. A
written reproduction of the selection may then be made from memory.
This study of the thought, the structure, and the style of the great
masters in language must lead to a discriminating taste for literature; and
the effect upon the pupil’s own habits of thought and expression will
necessarily be to lift him above the insipid, commonplace matter and
language that characterize much of the so-called “original” composition
work.
In the study of these selections, especially in the work of copying, the
rules for punctuation, and other rules, formally stated further on, may
easily be anticipated informally.
For composition work more nearly original the class might read together or
discuss, descriptions of home scenes; then, drawing from imagination or
experience, they might make descriptions of their own. In these
descriptions different persons might be introduced, with their attitudes,
employments, and acts of hospitality.
For exercises in narration pupils might write about trips to these homes,
telling about the preparation, the start, the journey, and the reception.
(For studies on narrative style, see pages 157-162.)
To insure thoroughness, all such compositions should he short.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
ADAPTED FROM IRVING’S “SKETCH BOOK.”
1. Every window and crevice of the vast barn seemed bursting forth with the
treasures of the farm.
2. The flail was busily resounding within from morning till night.
3. Swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the eaves.
4. Rows of pigeons were enjoying the sunshine on the roof.
5. Some sat with one eye turned up as if watching the weather.
6. Some sat with their heads under their wings or buried in their bosoms.
7. Others were swelling and cooing and bowing about their dames.
8. Sleek, unwieldy porkers were grunting in the repose and abundance of
their pens.
9. From these pens sallied forth, now and then, troops of sucking pigs, as
if to snuff the air.
10. A stately squadron of snowy geese was riding in an adjoining pond,
convoying whole fleets of ducks.
11. Regiments of turkeys were gobbling through the farmyard.
12. Guinea fowls fretted about, like ill-tempered housewives, with their
peevish, discontented cry.
13. Before the barn-door strutted the gallant cock, clapping his burnished
wings, and crowing in the pride and gladness of his heart—sometimes
tearing up the earth with his feet, and then generously calling his
ever-hungry family of wives and children to enjoy the rich morsel which
he had discovered.
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—In the first sentence seemed
asserts something about what two things? Every goes with what word or
words? What word or words does the phrase of the vast barn make more
definite in meaning? The two words window and crevice are joined
together by what word? The group of words bursting forth with the
treasures of the farm describes what? Notice that bursting also helps
seemed to say something about window and crevice. Seemed does not make
sense, but seemed bursting does. What does forth modify? What does
with the treasures of the farm modify? In the third sentence what two
nouns form the subject of skimmed? What connects these two nouns? In the
fourth what word tells what the rows were enjoying? In the fifth turned up
as if watching the weather describes what? As if watching the weather
goes with what? The expression introduced by as if is a shortened form.
Putting in some of the words omitted, we have as if they were watching the
weather. They were watching the weather, if standing by itself, would make
a complete sentence. You see that one sentence may be made a part of
another sentence. What does each of the two phrases under their wings and
buried in their bosoms describe? What connects these two phrases? In the
seventh sentence were is understood before cooing and before bowing.
How many predicate verbs do you find, each asserting something about the
pigeons represented by others? Why are these verbs not separated by
commas? What two nouns form the principal part of the phrase in the eighth
sentence? What connects these two nouns? Read the ninth sentence and put
the subject before the predicate. You may now explain as if to snuff the
air, remembering that a similar expression in the fifth sentence was
explained. In the tenth sentence convoying whole fleets of ducks
describes what? Does convoying assert anything about the squadron? Change
it into a predicate verb. In the twelfth sentence find one word and two
phrases joined to fretted. Clapping, crowing, tearing, and calling,
in the thirteenth, all describe what? Notice that all the other words
following the subject go with these four. Find the three words that answer
the questions made by putting what after clapping, tearing, calling.
What phrase tells the cause of crowing? The phrase to enjoy the rich
morsel which he had discovered tells the purpose of what? Which he had
discovered limits the meaning of what? The pronoun which here stands for
morsel. Which he had discovered = He had discovered morsel. Here you
will see a sentence has again been made a part of another sentence. Notice
that without which there would be no connection.
TO THE TEACHER.—It may be well to let the pupils complete the examination
of the structure of the sentences above and point out nouns, verbs,
pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
It will be noticed that in the questions above we especially anticipate the
regular lessons that follow Lesson 27. This we do in all such “Exercises.”
+The Beauty and the Force of the Description above+.—Why may we say that
this farmyard scene is surrounded by an atmosphere of plenty, happiness,
and content? Which do you prefer, the first sentence above, or this
substitute for it: “The large barn was entirely full of the products of the
farm”? Give every reason that you can find for your preference. We often
speak of a barn or storehouse as “bursting with plenty,” or of a table as
“groaning with a load of good things,” when there is really no bursting nor
groaning. Such expressions are called +Figures of Speech+. Examine the
second sentence and compare it with the following: “The men were busy all
day pounding out the grain with flails.” Do the words busily resounding
joined to flail bring into our imagination men, grain, pounding, sound,
and perhaps other things? A good description mentions such things and uses
such words as will help us to see in imagination many things not mentioned.
In the third sentence would you prefer skimmed to flew? Why? Compare
the eighth sentence with this: “Large fat hogs were grunting in their pens
and reposing quietly with an abundant supply of food.” Sleek, unwieldy
porkers would be too high-sounding an expression for you to use
ordinarily, but it is in tone with the rest of the description. In the
repose and abundance of their pens is much better than the words
substituted above. It is shorter and stronger. It uses instead of the verb
reposing and the adjective abundant the nouns repose and abundance,
and makes these the principal words in the phrase. Repose and abundance are
thus made the striking features of the pen. Arrange the ninth sentence in
as many ways as possible and tell which way you prefer. Is a real squadron
referred to in the tenth sentence? and were the geese actually convoying
fleets? These are figurative uses of words. What can you say of regiments
in the eleventh? In the twelfth Guinea fowls are compared to housewives.
Except in this one fancied resemblance the two are wholly unlike. Such
comparisons frequently made by as and like are called +Similes+. If we
leave out like and say, “Guinea fowls are fretting housewives,” we have a
figure of speech called +Metaphor+. This figure is used above when flocks
are called “squadrons” and “fleets.” In the thirteenth sentence notice how
well chosen and forceful are the words strutted, gallant, burnished,
generously, ever-hungry, rich morsel. See whether you can find substitutes
for these italicized words. Were the wings actually burnished? What can you
say of this use of burnished?
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITION WORK.
The sentences in the description above, when read together, have a somewhat
broken or jerky effect. You may unite smoothly such as should be joined.
The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh can all be put into one. There is
danger of making your sentences too long. Young writers find it difficult
to make very long sentences perfectly clear in meaning.
TO THE TEACHER.—While the pupils’ thoughts and style are somewhat toned up
by the preceding exercises, it may he well to let them write similar
descriptions drawn from their reading, their observation, or their
imagination.
If the compositions contain more than two or three short paragraphs each,
it will be almost impossible to secure good work.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
FROM FRANKLIN’S “AUTOBIOGRAPHY.”
1. I was dirty from my journey, my pockets were stuffed out with shirts and
stockings, and I knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. 2. I was
fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of rest; I was very hungry; and
my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in
copper. 3. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at
first refused it on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking
it.
1. Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the markethouse I
met a boy with bread. 2. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring
where he got it, I went immediately to the baker’s he directed me to, in
Second Street, and asked for biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston;
but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. 3. Then I asked for a
three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. 4. So not considering or
knowing the difference of money, or the greater cheapness and the names of
his bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any sort. 5. He gave me,
accordingly, three great puffy rolls. 6. I was surprised at the quantity,
but took it; and, having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll
under each arm, and eating the other.
* * * * *
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—Break up sentence 1, paragraph 1,
into three distinct sentences, and tell what changes this will make in
capitals and punctuation. Do the same for 2. Which read more closely
together, and are more closely connected, the parts of 2, or of 1? How is
this shown to the eye? Analyze the first two sentences you made from 1.
Find two object complements of knew, one a noun and the other a group of
five words. Find in 2 a phrase whose principal part is made up of three
nouns. What have you learned about the commas used with these nouns? In
making separate sentences of 3 what words do you change or drop? Are these
the words that bind the parts of 3 together? What noun is used adverbially
after gave? Supply a preposition and then tell what phrases modify
gave. Find the object complement of gave. What modifies refused by
telling when? What, by telling why?
In 1, paragraph 2, who is described as gazing about? What does gazing
about modify? Read the group of words that tells how far or how long
Franklin walked up the street. Notice that this whole group is used like an
adverb. Find in it a subject, a predicate, and an object complement. Drop
till and see whether the parts of 1 make separate sentences. What word,
then, binds these two sentences into one? Read 2 and make of it three
distinct sentences by omitting the first and and the word but. The
second of these three sentences just made contains several sentences which
are not so easily separated, as some are used like single words to make up
the main, or principal, sentence. In this second part of 2 find the leading
subject and its two predicates. Find a phrase belonging to I and
representing Franklin as doing something. Put what after inquiring and
find the object complement. What phrase belongs to went, telling where?
He directed me to (whom) belongs to what? Who is represented as
intending? Intending such as we had in Boston belongs to what? As we had
in Boston goes with what? Notice that it seems is a sentence thrown in
loosely between the parts of another sentence. Such expressions are said to
be parenthetical. Notice the punctuation.
Notice that gazing, inquiring, intending, considering, knowing, and
having are all modifiers of I found in the different sentences of
paragraph 2. Put I before any one of these words, and you will see that
no assertion is made. These words illustrate one form of the verb (the
participle), and look in 1, paragraph 1, illustrates the other form (the
infinitive), spoken of in Lesson 11 as not asserting. Change each of these
participles to a predicate, or asserting form, and then read the sentences
in which these predicates are found. You will notice that giving these
words the asserting form makes them more prominent and forcible—brings
them up to a level with the other predicate verbs. Participles are very
useful in slurring over the less important actions that the more important
may have prominence. Show that they are so used in Franklin’s narrative.
Examine the phrase with a roll under each arm, and eating the other, and
see if you do not find an illustration of the fact that even great men
sometimes make slips. Does other properly mean one of three things? Try
to improve this expression.
+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.—The sentences above, as you
see, stand in two groups. Those of each group are more closely related to
one another than they are to the sentences of the other group. Do you see
how? In studying this short selection you may find the general topic, or
heading, to be something like this: My First Experiences in Philadelphia.
Now examine the first group of sentences and see whether its topic might
not be put thus: My Condition on Reaching Philadelphia. Then examine the
sentences of the second group and see whether all will not come under this
heading: How I Found Something to Eat. You see that even a short
composition like this has a general topic with topics under it. As sub
means under, we will call these under topics sub-topics. There are two
groups of sentences in this selection because there are two distinct
sub-topics developed. The sentences of each group stand together because
they jointly develop one sub-topic.
A group of sentences related and held together by a common thought we call
a +Paragraph+. How is the paragraph indicated to the eye? What help is it
to the reader to have a composition paragraphed? What, to the writer to
know that he must write in paragraphs?
+The Style of the Author+.—This selection is mainly +Narrative+. The
matter is somewhat tame, and the expression is commonplace. The words are
ordinary, and they stand in their usual place. Figures of speech are not
used. Yet the piece has a charm. The thoughts are homely; the expression is
in perfect keeping; the style is clear, simple, direct, and natural. The
closing sentence is slightly humorous. Benjamin Franklin trudging along the
street, hugging a great roll of bread under each arm, and eating a third
roll, must have been a laughable sight.
Have you ever known boys and girls in writing school compositions, or
reporters in writing for the newspapers, to use large words for small
ideas, and long, high-sounding phrases and sentences for plain, simple
thoughts? Have you ever seen what could be neatly said in three or four
lines “padded out” to fill a page of composition paper or a column in a
newspaper?
When Franklin said. “My pockets were stuffed out with shirts and
stockings,” he said a homely thing in a homely way; that is, he fitted the
language to the thought. To fit the expression to the thought on every
occasion is the perfection of style. If Franklin had been a weak, foolish
writer, his sentence might have taken this form:—
“Not having been previously provided with a satchel or other receptacle for
my personal effects, my pockets, which were employed as a substitute, were
protruding conspicuously with extra underclothing.”
Compare this sentence with Franklin’s and point out the faults you see in
the substitute. Can you find anything in the meaning of provided that
makes previously unnecessary? Do you now understand what Lowell meant when,
in praise of Dryden, he said, “His phrase is always a short cut to his
sense”?
TO THE TEACHER.—What is here taught of the paragraph and of style will
probably not be mastered at one reading. It will be found necessary to
return to it occasionally, and to refer pupils to it for aid in their
composition work.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITION WORK.
TO THE TEACHER.—We suggest that the pupils reproduce from memory the
extract above, and that other selections of narrative be found in the
Readers or elsewhere and studied as above.
The pupils may be able to note to what extent the narrative follows the
order of time and to what extent it is topical. They may also note the
amount of description it contains. They should, so far as possible, find
the topic for each paragraph, thus making an outline for a composition to
be completed from reproduction.
It will now require little effort to write simple original narratives of
real or imagined experiences.
* * * * *
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
FROM C. D. WARNER’S “MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN.”
1. In the driest days, my fountain became disabled; the pipe was stopped
up. 2. A couple of plumbers, with the implements of their craft, came out
to view the situation. 3. There was a good deal of difference of opinion
about where the stoppage was. 4. I found the plumbers perfectly willing to
sit down and talk about it—talk by the hour. 5. Some of their guesses and
remarks were exceedingly ingenious; and their general observations on other
subjects were excellent in their way, and could hardly have been better if
they had been made by the job. 6. The work dragged a little—as it is apt
to do by the hour.
1. The plumbers had occasion to make me several visits. 2. Sometimes they
would find, upon arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool;
and one would go back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his
comrade would await his return with the most exemplary patience, and sit
down and talk—always by the hour. 3. I do not know but it is a habit to
have something wanted at the shop. 4. They seemed to me very good workmen,
and always willing to stop, and talk about the job or anything else, when I
went near them. 5. Nor had they any of that impetuous hurry that is said to
be the bane of our American civilization. 6. To their credit be it said
that I never observed anything of it in them. 7. They can afford to wait.
8. Two of them will sometimes wait nearly half a day, while a comrade goes
for a tool. 9. They are patient and philosophical. 10. It is a great
pleasure to meet such men. 11. One only wishes there was some work he could
do for them by the hour.
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—How can you make the last part of
1 express more directly the cause of becoming disabled? Would you use a
semicolon to separate the sentences thus joined, or would you use a comma?
Give a reason for the comma after days, Find in 2 an adverb phrase that
expresses purpose. Use an equivalent adjective in place of a couple of.
Explain the use of there in 3. What adjective may be used in place of
good in a good deal? What long complex phrase modifies deal? Put
what after the preposition about and find a group of words that takes
the place of a noun. Find in this group a subject and a predicate. Find in
4 an objective complement. Find a compound infinitive phrase and tell what
it modifies. Notice that the dash helps to show the break made by repeating
talk. When 5 is divided into two sentences, what word is dropped? This,
then, must be the word that connected the two sentences. Notice that the
two main parts of 5 are separated by a semicolon. This enables the writer
to show that the two main divisions of 5 are more widely separated in
meaning than are the parts of the second division where the comma is used.
Give the three leading predicate verbs in 5 and their complements. If they
had been made by the job is joined like an adverb to what verb? What is
the predicate of this modifying group?
The infinitive phrase in 1, paragraph 2, modifies what? Is me, or
visits, the object complement of make? Put what after would find in
2 and get the object complement. Can you make a sentence of this group?
What are its principal parts? Does the writer make an unexpected turn after
talk? How is this shown to the eye? Put what after do know in 3 and
find the object complement. Can you make a sentence of this object
complement? What phrase can you put in place of the pronoun it without
changing the sense? By using the word it, a better arrangement can be
made. What group of words in 5 is used like an adjective to modify hurry?
Change the pronoun that to hurry and make a separate sentence of this
group. What word, then, must have made an adjective of this sentence and
joined it to hurry? What is the object complement of can afford in 7?
Supply a preposition after will wait in 8, and then find two groups of
words that tell the time of waiting. Find a subject and a predicate in the
second group. What explains it in 10? Find the object complement of
wishes in 11. What is the subject of was? The office of there? After
work supply the pronoun that and tell the office of the group it
introduces. What is the object complement of could do? What connects this
group to work?
+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.—There are two distinct sets
of sentences in this selection—distinct because developing two distinct
sub-topics. Accordingly, there are two paragraphs. Let us take for the
general topic The Visits of the Plumbers. Let us see whether all the
sentences of the first paragraph will not come under the sub-topic First
Visit, and those of the second under the sub-topic Subsequent Visits.
The sentences of each paragraph should be closely related to one another
and to the sub-topic. They should stand in their proper order. Do the
paragraphs above stand such tests? If they do, they possess the prime
quality of +Unity+.
+The Author’s Style+.—This selection we may call +Narrative+, though there
are descriptive touches in it. It is a story of what? Is the story clearly
told throughout? If not, where is it obscure? Is it made interesting and
entertaining? Is Mr. Warner here giving us a bit of his own experience? Or
do you think he is drawing upon his imagination? Would you call the style
plain, or does it abound with metaphors, similes, or other figures of
speech? Are the sentences generally long, or generally short? What are the
faults or foibles of these real or fancied plumbers? Does the author speak
of them in a genial and lenient way? or is he hostile, and does he hold up
their foibles to scorn and derision? Does he make us laugh with, or does he
make us laugh at, the plumbers? If the former, the style is humorous; if
the latter, the style is satirical or sarcastic. Would you call Mr.
Warner’s quality of style +Humor+? or that +form of wit+ known as +Satire+?
Is our author’s use of it delicate and refined? or is it gross and coarse?
Does it stop short of making its object grotesque, or not? Can you name any
writers whose humor or satire is coarse?
SUGGESTIONS FOB COMPOSITION WORK.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions, pages 159, 160.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
FROM BEECHER’S “LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN.”
1. Indolence inclines a man to rely upon others and not upon himself, to
eat their bread and not his own. 2. His carelessness is somebody’s loss;
his neglect is somebody’s downfall. 3. If he borrows, the article remains
borrowed; if he begs and gets, it is as the letting out of waters—no one
knows where it will stop. 4. He spoils your work, disappoints your
expectations, exhausts your patience, eats up your substance, abuses your
confidence, and hangs a dead weight upon all your plans; and the very best
thing an honest man can do with a lazy man is to get rid of him.
1. Indolence promises without redeeming the pledge; a mist of forgetfulness
rises up and obscures the memory of vows and oaths. 2. The negligence of
laziness breeds more falsehoods than the cunning of the sharper. 3. As
poverty waits upon the steps of indolence, so upon such poverty brood
equivocations, subterfuges, lying denials. 4. Falsehood becomes the
instrument of every plan. 5. Negligence of truth, next occasional
falsehood, then wanton mendacity—these three strides traverse the whole
road of lies.
1. Indolence as surely runs to dishonesty as to lying. 2. Indeed, they are
but different parts of the same road, and not far apart. 3. In directing
the conduct of the Ephesian converts, Paul says, “Let him that stole steal
no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which
is good.” 4. The men who were thieves were those who had ceased to work. 5.
Industry was the road back to honesty. 6. When stores are broken open, the
idle are first suspected.
* * * * *
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—Find in 1 two compound infinitive
phrases and tell their use. Supply the words omitted from the last part of
each compound. What shows that the parts of 2 are not closely connected?
Would a conjunction bring them more closely together? If a conjunction is
used, would you change the punctuation? A sentence that unites with another
to make one greater sentence we call a clause. Read the first part of 2
and change somebody’s first to a phrase and then to a clause used like an
adjective. What distinction can you make between the use of the semicolon
and the use of the comma in 3? The clause if he borrows is joined like an
adverb to what verb? If he begs and gets? What pronoun more indefinite
than your might take its place in 4? What noun? Explain the use of the
semicolon and the comma in 4. Supply that after thing and tell what
clause is here used like an adjective. Find the office of that by placing
it after do. Find in 4 an infinitive phrase used as attribute complement.
Change the phrase in 1, paragraph 2, to a clause. Find in 2 the omitted
predicate of the clause introduced by than. Find a compound subject in 3.
Are negligence, falsehood, and mendacity, in 5, used as subjects?
Explain their use and punctuation. (See Remark, Lesson 45.)
In 3, paragraph 3, how are the words borrowed from Paul marked? Change the
quotation from Paul so as to give his thought but not his exact words. Are
the quotation marks now needed? In 3 and 4 find clauses introduced by
that, which, and who, and used like adjectives.
+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.—You can easily learn the
sub-topic, or thought, each of these paragraphs develops. See whether you
can find it in the first sentence of each. Give the three sub-topics. Put
together the three thoughts established in these paragraphs and tell what
they prove. What they prove is that for which Mr. Beecher is contending; it
may be written at the head of the extract as the general topic. What merits
of the paragraph, already treated, are admirably illustrated in this
extract?
+The Style of the Author+.—This selection is neither descriptive nor
narrative; it is +Argumentative+. Mr. Beecher is trying to establish a
certain proposition, and in the three paragraphs is giving three reasons,
or arguments, to prove its truth. But the argument is not all thought, is
not purely intellectual. It is suffused with feeling, is impassioned. Mr.
Beecher’s heart is in his work. This feeling warms and colors his style,
and stimulates his fancy. As a consequence, figures of speech abound.
Notice that in 1, paragraph 1, the thought is repeated by means of the
infinitive phrases. Read the words Indolence inclines a man with each of
the four infinitive phrases that follow. You will see that the thought is
repeated. It is first expressed in a general way; by the aid of the second
phrase we see the same thought from the negative side; the third phrase
makes the statement more specific; the fourth puts the specific statement
negatively. The needless repetition of the same thought in different words
is one of the worst faults in writing. But Mr. Beecher’s repetition is not
needless. By every repetition here, Mr. Beecher makes his thought clearer
and stronger. Examine the other sentences of this paragraph and see whether
they enforce the leading thought by illustration, example, or consequence.
In what sentence is the style made +energetic+ by the aid of short
predicates? How does the alternation of short sentences with long
throughout the extract affect you? The alternation of plain with figurative
sentences? Can you show that the author’s style has +Variety+? Pick out the
metaphors in 1, 2, 3, and 5, paragraph 2; and in 1 and 2, paragraph 3. Pick
out the comparisons, or similes, in 3, paragraph 1, and in 3, paragraph 2.
Figures of speech should add clearness and force. If you think these do,
tell how. Indolence in 1 and 3, paragraph 2, and laziness in 2,
introduce us to another figure. Something belonging to the men, a quality,
is made to represent the men themselves. Such a figure is called
+Metonymy+.
SUGGESTIONS FOB COMPOSITION WORK.
TO THE TEACHER.—Exercises in argumentative writing may be continued by
making selections from the discussion of easy topics.
For original work we suggest debates on current topics. Compositions should
be short.
Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.
EXTRACT FROM DANIEL WEBSTER.
1. The assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an
unoccupied apartment. 2. With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall, half
lighted by the moon; he winds up the ascent of the stairs and reaches the
door of the chamber. 3. Of this he moves the lock, by soft and continued
pressure, till it turns on its hinges without noise; and he enters, and
beholds his victim before him.
1. The face of the innocent sleeper is turned from the murderer, and the
beams of the moon, resting on the gray locks of his aged temple, show him
where to strike. 2. The fatal blow is given! and the victim passes, without
a struggle or a motion, from the repose of sleep to the repose of death. 3.
It is the assassin’s purpose to make sure work; and he plies the dagger,
though it is obvious that life has been destroyed by the blow of the
bludgeon. 4. He even raises the aged arm that he may not fail in his aim at
the heart, and places it again over the wounds of the poniard. 5. To finish
the picture, he explores the wrist for the pulse. 6. He feels for it, and
ascertains that it beats no longer. 7. It is accomplished. 8. The deed is
done.
1. He retreats, retraces his steps to the window, passes out through it as
he came in, and escapes. 2. He has done the murder. No eye has seen him, no
ear has heard him. 3. The secret is his own, and it is safe.
1. Ah! gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. 2. Such a secret can be safe
nowhere. 3. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor corner where the
guilty can bestow it, and say it is safe. 4. Not to speak of that eye which
pierces through all disguises and beholds everything as in the splendor of
noon, such secrets of guilt are never safe from detection even by men. 5.
True it is, generally speaking, that “Murder will out.” 6. True it is that
Providence hath so ordained, and doth so govern things, that those who
break the great law of heaven by shedding man’s blood seldom succeed in
avoiding discovery.
* * * * *
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—Do the phrases in 1, paragraph
1, stand in their usual order, or are they transposed? In what different
places may they stand? Does either phrase need to be transposed for
emphasis or for clearness? Explain the punctuation. Begin 2 with the
lonely hall, and notice that the sentence is thrown out of harmony with
the other sentences, and that the assassin is for the moment lost sight of.
Can you tell why? Notice that in the latter part of 2 the door is
mentioned, and that 3 begins with of this, referring to the door. Can you
find any other arrangement by which 3 will follow 2 so naturally? Can you
change 3 so as to make the reference of it clearer? What is the office of
the till clause? Does the clause following the semicolon modify anything?
Would you call such a clause dependent, or would you call it
independent? Explain the punctuation of 3.
Give the effect of changing resting in 1, paragraph 2, to the assertive
form. Find in 1 a pronoun used adverbially and a phrase used as object
complement. Expand the phrase into a clause. Give the modifiers of passes
in 2. Read the first part of 3 and put the explanatory phrase in place of
it. What is the office of the though clause? Find in this a clause
doing the work of a noun and tell its office. In 4 would his in place of
the before aged and before heart be ambiguous? If so, why? Find in
this paragraph an infinitive phrase used independently. Find the object
complement of ascertains in 6. Are 7 and 8 identical in meaning?
Give the modifiers of passes in paragraph 3. Explain the as clause.
What does that in 1, paragraph 4, stand for? What kind of clause is
introduced by where in 3? By which in 4? Expand the as clause in 4
and tell its office. Find in 4 and 5 an infinitive phrase and a participle
phrase used independently. Tell the office of the that clauses in 5 and
6, and of the who clause in 6.
+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.—Look (1) at the order of the
sentences in each paragraph, and (2) at the order of the paragraphs
themselves. Neither order could be changed without making the stream of
events run up hill, for each order is the order in which the events
happened. Look (3) at the unity of each paragraph, and (4) at the larger
unity of the four paragraphs—that of each paragraph determined by the
relation of each sentence to the sub-topic of the paragraph, and that of
the four paragraphs determined by their relation to the general topic of
the extract. We add that the obvious reference of the repeated he to the
same person, and of that and secret in paragraph 4 demonstrates both
unities. Look (5), and lastly, at the fact that the sub-topic of each
paragraph is found in the first line of each paragraph. Could Webster have
done more to make his thought seen and felt?
+The Style of the Author.+—This selection is largely +Narrative.+ Its
leading facts were doubtless supplied by the testimony given in the case;
but much of the matter must have come from the imagination of Mr. Webster.
Everything is so skillfully and vividly put that the story, touched with
description, has all the effect of an argument. One quality of it is its
clearness, its perspicuity. It is noticeable also that very little imagery
is used, that the language is plain language. But it is impossible to read
these paragraphs without being most profoundly impressed with their energy,
their force.
The style is forcible because (1) the +subject-matter+ is +easily grasped+;
(2) because +simple words+ are +used+, words understood even by children;
because (3) these +words+ are +specific+ and +individual+, not generic;
because (4) of the grateful +variety of sentences+; (5) because of the
+prevalence of short sentences+; because (6) of the +repetition of the
thought+ in successive sentences; because (7), though the murder took place
some time before, Webster speaks as if it were +now taking place+ in our
very sight. Find proof of what we have just said—proof of (2), in
paragraphs 1 and 3; proof of (3), in sentences 3, 4, and 5, paragraph 2;
proof of (4), throughout; of (5) and (6), in paragraphs 3 and 4; and of
(7), in the first three paragraphs.
In paragraph 3, a remarkable sameness prevails. The sentences here are
framed largely on one plan. They are mostly of the same length. The order
of the words in them is the same; often the words are the same; and, even
when they are not, those in one clause or sentence seem to suggest those in
the next. This sameness is not accidental. The more real the murderer’s
fancied security is made in this paragraph to appear, the more startling in
the next paragraph will be the revelation of his mistake. Hence no novelty
in the words or in their arrangement is allowed to distract our attention
from the dominant thought. The sentences are made to look and sound alike
and to be alike that their effect may be cumulative. The principle of
+Parallel Construction+, the principle that sentences similar in thought
should be similar in form, is here allowed free play.
TO THE TEACHER.—Do not be discouraged should your pupils fail to grasp at
first all that is here taught. They probably will not fully comprehend it
till they have returned to it several times. It will, however, be
impossible for them to study it without profit. The meaning will grow upon
them. In studying our questions and suggestions the pupils should have the
“Extract” before them, and should try to verify in it all that is taught
concerning it.
* * * * *
PARTS OF SPEECH SUBDIVIDED
LESSON 85.
CLASSES OF NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.
+Introductory Hints+.—You have now reached a point where it becomes
necessary to divide the eight great classes of words into subclasses.
You have learned that nouns are the names of things; as, girl, Sarah.
The name girl is held in common by all girls, and hence does not
distinguish one girl from another. The name Sarah is not thus held in
common; it does distinguish one girl from other girls. Any name which
belongs in common to all things of a class we call a +Common Noun+; and any
particular name of an individual, distinguishing this individual from
others of its class, we call a +Proper Noun+. The “proper, or individual,
names” which in Rule 1, Lesson 8, you were told to begin with capital
letters are proper nouns.
Such a word as wheat, music, or architecture does not distinguish one
thing from others of its class; there is but one thing in the class denoted
by each, each thing forms a class by itself; and so we call these words
common nouns.
In Lesson 8 you learned that pronouns are not names, but words used instead
of names. Any one speaking of himself may use I, my, etc., instead of
his own name; speaking to one, he may use you, thou, your, thy,
etc., instead of that person’s name; speaking of one, he may use he,
she, it, him, her, etc., instead of that one’s name. These little
words that by their form denote the speaker, the one spoken to, or the one
spoken of are called +Personal Pronouns+.
By adding self to my, thy, your, him, her, and it, and
selves to our, your, and them, we form what are called +Compound
Personal Pronouns+, used either for emphasis or to reflect the action of
the verb back upon the actor; as, Xerxes himself was the last to cross
the Hellespont; The mind cannot see itself.
If a noun, or some word or words used like a noun, is to be modified by a
clause, the clause is introduced by who, which, what, or that; as,
I know the man that did that. These words, relating to words in another
clause, and binding the clauses together, are called +Relative Pronouns+.
By adding ever and soever to who, which, and what, we form what
are called the +Compound Relative Pronouns+ whoever, whosoever,
whichever, whatever, etc., used in a general way, and without any word
expressed to which they relate.
If the speaker is ignorant of the name of a person or a thing and asks for
it, he uses who, which, or what; as, Who did that? These pronouns,
used in asking questions, are called +Interrogative Pronouns+.
Instead of naming things a speaker may indicate them by words pointing them
out as near or remote; as, Is that a man? What is this? or by words
telling something of their number, order, or quantity; as, None are
perfect; The latter will do; Much has been done. Such words we call
+Adjective Pronouns+.
DEFINITIONS.
+A Noun is the name of anything+. [Footnote: Most common nouns are
derived from roots that denote qualities. The root does not necessarily
denote the most essential quality of the thing, only its most obtrusive
quality. The sky, a shower, and scum, for instance, have this most
noticeable feature; they are a cover, they hide, conceal. This the root
+sku+ signifies, and sku is the main element in the words sky, shower
(Saxon scu:r), and scum that name these objects, and in the adjective
obscure.
A noun denoting at first only a single quality of its object comes
gradually, by the association of this quality with the rest, to denote them
all.
Herein proper nouns differ from common. However derived, as Smith is from
the man’s office of smoothing, or White from his color, the name soon
ceases to denote quality, and becomes really meaningless.]
+A Common Noun is a name which belongs to all things of a class+.
+A Proper Noun is the particular name of an individual+.
+Remark+.—It may be well to note two classes of common nouns—collective
and abstract. A +Collective Noun+ is the name of a number of things taken
together; as, army, flock, mob, jury. An +Abstract Noun+ is the
name of a quality, an action, a being, or a state; as, whiteness,
beauty, wisdom, (the) singing, existence, (the) sleep.
+A Pronoun is a word used for a noun+. [Footnote: In our definition and
general treatment of the pronoun, we have conformed to the traditional
views of grammarians; but it may be well for the student to note that
pronouns are something more than mere substitutes for nouns, and that their
primary function is not to prevent the repetition of nouns.
1. Pronouns are not the names of things. They do not, like nouns, lay hold
of qualities and name things by them. They seize upon relations that
objects sustain to each other and denote the objects by these relations.
I, you, and he denote their objects by the relations these objects
sustain to the act of speaking; I denotes the speaker; you, the one
spoken to; and he or she or it, the one spoken of. This and that
denote their objects by the relative distance of these from the speaker;
some and few and others indicate parts separated from the rest.
Gestures could express all that many pronouns express.
2. It follows that pronouns are more general than nouns. Any person, or
even an animal or a thing personified, may use I when referring to
himself, you when referring to the one addressed, and he, she, it,
and they when referring to the person or persons, the thing or things,
spoken of—and all creatures and things, except the speaker and the one
spoken to, fall into the last list. Some pronouns are so general, and hence
so vague, in their denotement that they show the speaker’s complete
ignorance of the objects they denote. In, Who did it? Which of them did
you see? the questioner is trying to find out the one for whom Who
stands, and the person or thing that Which denotes. To what does it
refer in, it rains; How is it with you?
3. Some pronouns stand for a phrase, a clause, or a sentence, going before
or coming after. To be or not to be—that is the question. It is
doubtful whether the North Pole will ever be reached. The sails turned,
the corn was ground, after which the wind ceased. Ought you to go? I
cannot answer that. In the first of these sentences, that stands for a
phrase; in the last, for a sentence. It and which in the second and
third sentences stand for clauses.
4. Which, retaining its office as connective, may as an adjective
accompany its noun; as, I craved his forbearance a little longer, which
forbearance he allowed me.]
+A Personal Pronoun is a pronoun that by its form denotes the speaker,
the one spoken to, or the one spoken of+.
+A Relative Pronoun is one that relates to some preceding word or words
and connects clauses+.
+An Interrogative Pronoun is one with which a question is asked+.
+An Adjective Pronoun is one that performs the offices of both an
adjective and a noun+.
The simple personal pronouns are:—I, thou, you, he, she, and it.
The compound personal pronouns are:—Myself, thyself, yourself, himself,
herself, and itself.
The simple relative pronouns are:—Who, which, that, and what.
[Footnote: As, in such sentences as this: Give such things as you can
spare, may be treated as a relative pronoun. But by expanding the sentence
as is seen to be a conjunctive adverb—Give such things as those are
which you can spare.
But used after a negative is sometimes called a “negative relative” =
that not; as, There is not a man here but would die for such a cause.
When the sentence is expanded, but is found to be a preposition—There is
not a man here but (= except) the one who would die, etc.]
The compound relative pronouns are:—
Whoever or whosoever, whichever or whichsoever, whatever or
whatsoever.
The interrogative pronouns are:—
Who, which, and what.
Some of the more common adjective pronouns are:—
All, another, any, both, each, either, enough, few, former, latter, little,
many, much, neither, none, one, other, same, several, such, that, these,
this, those, whole, etc. [Footnote: The adjective pronouns this, that,
these, and those are called +Demonstrative+ pronouns. All, any, both,
each, either, many, one, other, etc. are called +Indefinite+ pronouns
because they do not point out and particularize like the demonstratives.
Each, either, and neither are also called +Distributives+.
But for the fact that such words as brave, good, etc. in the phrases the
brave, the good, etc. describe—which pronouns never do—we might call
them adjective pronouns. They may be treated as nouns, or as adjectives
modifying nouns to be supplied.
Some adjectives preceded by the are abstract nouns; as, the grand, the
sublime, the beautiful.]
The word, phrase, or clause in the place of which a pronoun is used is
called an +Antecedent+.
+Direction+.—Point out the pronouns and their antecedents in these
sentences:—
Jack was rude to Tom, and always knocked off his hat when he met him. To
lie is cowardly, and every boy should know it. Daniel and his companions
were fed on pulse, which was to their advantage. To lie is to be a coward,
which one should scorn to be. To sleep soundly, which is a blessing, is to
repair and renew the body.
+Remark+.—When the interrogatives who, which, and what introduce
indirect questions, it is not always easy to distinguish them from
relatives whose antecedents are omitted. For example—I found who called
and what he wanted; I saw what was done. The first sentence does not
mean, I found the person who called and the thing that he wanted.
“Who called” and “what he wanted” here suggest questions—questions
referred to but not directly asked. I saw what was done = I saw the
thing that was done. No question is suggested.
It should be remembered that which and what may also be interrogative
adjectives; as, Which side won? What news have you?
+Direction+.—Analyze these sentences, and parse all the pronouns:—
1. Who steals my purse steals trash.
2. I myself know who stole my purse.
3. They knew whose house was robbed.
4. He heard what was said.
5. You have guessed which belongs to me.
6. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.
7. What was said, and who said it?
8. It is not known to whom the honor belongs.
9. She saw one of them, but she cannot positively tell which.
10. Whatever is done must be done quickly.
* * * * *
LESSON 86.
CONSTRUCTION OF PRONOUNS.
TO THE TEACHER.—In the recitation of all Lessons containing errors for
correction, the pupils’ books should be closed, and the examples should be
read by you. To insure care in preparation, and close attention in the
class, read some of the examples in their correct form. Require specific
reasons.
+Caution+.—Avoid he, it, they, or any other pronoun when its
reference to an antecedent would not be clear. Repeat the noun instead,
quote the speaker’s exact words, or recast the sentence.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and relieve these sentences of their
ambiguity:—
+Model+.—The lad cannot leave his father; for, if he should leave him,
he would die = The lad cannot leave his father; for, if he should leave
his father, his father would die. Lysias promised his father never to
abandon his friends = Lysias gave his father this promise: “I will never
abandon your (or my) friends.”
1. Dr. Prideaux says that, when he took his commentary to the bookseller,
he told him it was a dry subject.
2. He said to his friend that, if he did not feel better soon, he thought
he had better go home.
(This sentence may have four meanings. Give them all, using what you may
suppose were the speaker’s words.)
3. A tried to see B in the crowd, but could not because he was so short.
4. Charles’s duplicity was fully made known to Cromwell by a letter of his
to his wife, which he intercepted.
5. The farmer told the lawyer that his bull had gored his ox, and that it
was but fair that he should pay him for his loss.
+Caution+.—Do not use pronouns needlessly.
+Direction+.—Write, these sentences, omitting needless pronouns:—
1. It isn’t true what he said.
2. The father he died, the mother she followed, and the children they were
taken sick.
3. The cat it mewed, and the dogs they barked, and the man he shouted.
4. Let every one turn from his or her evil ways.
5. Napoleon, Waterloo having been lost, he gave himself up to the English.
+Caution+.—In addressing a person, do not, in the same sentence, use the
two styles of the pronoun.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. Thou art sad, have you heard bad news?
2. You cannot always have thy way.
3. Bestow thou upon us your blessing.
4. Love thyself last, and others will love you.
+Caution+.—The pronoun them should not be used for the adjective
those, nor the pronoun what for the conjunction that. [Footnote:
What properly introduces a noun clause expressing a direct or an indirect
question, but a declarative noun clause is introduced by the conjunction
that. But may be placed before this conjunction to give a negative
force to the noun clause.
This use of but requires careful discrimination. For example—”I have no
fear that he will do it”; “I have no fear but that he will do it.” The
former indicates certainty that he will not do it, and the latter certainty
that he will do it. “No one doubts but that he will do it” is incorrect,
for it contains three negatives—no, doubts, and but. Two negatives
may be used to affirm, but not three. The intended meaning is, “No one
doubts that he will do it,” or “No one believes but that he will do
it,” or “Every one believes that he will do it.”
But what, for but that or but, is also incorrectly used to connect an
adverb clause; as, “He is not so bad but what he might be worse.” For
this office of but or but that in an adverb clause, see Lesson 109,
fourth “Example” of the uses of but.]
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. Hand me them things.
2. Who knows but what we may fail?
3. I cannot believe but what I shall see them men again.
4. We ought to have a great regard for them that are wise and good.
+Caution+.—The relative who should always represent persons; which,
brute animals and inanimate things; that, persons, animals, and things;
and what, things. The antecedent of what should not be expressed.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. Those which say so are mistaken.
2. He has some friends which I know.
3. He told that what he knew.
4. The dog who was called Fido went mad.
5. The lion whom they were exhibiting broke loose.
6. All what he saw he described.
7. The horse whom Alexander rode was named Bucephalus.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these
five Cautions.
LESSON 87.
CONSTRUCTION OF PRONOUNS—CONTINUED.
+Caution+.—Several connected relative clauses relating to the same
antecedent require the same relative pronoun.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. It was Joseph that was sold into Egypt, who became governor of the land,
and which saved his father and brothers from famine.
2. He who lives, that moves, and who has his being in God should not forget
him.
3. This is the horse which started first, and that reached the stand last.
4. The man that fell overboard, and who was drowned was the first mate.
+Caution+.—When the relative clause is not restrictive, [Footnote: See
Lesson 61.] who or which, and not that, is generally used.
+Example+.—Water, which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, covers
three-fourths of the earth’s surface.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. The earth is enveloped by an ocean of air, that is a compound of oxygen.
and nitrogen.
2. Longfellow, that is the most popular American poet, has written
beautiful prose.
3. Time, that is a precious gift, should not be wasted.
4. Man, that is born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble.
+Caution+.—The relative that [Footnote: That is almost always
restrictive. However desirable it may seem to confine who and which to
unrestrictive clauses, they are not confined to them in actual practice.
The wide use of who and which in restrictive clauses is not accounted
for by saying that they occur after this, these, those, and that,
and hence are used to avoid disagreeable repetitions of sounds. This may
frequently be the reason for employing who and which in restrictive
clauses; but usage authorizes us to affirm (1) that who and which stand
in such clauses oftener without, than with, this, these, those, or
that preceding them, and (2) that they so stand oftener than that
itself does. Especially may this be said of which.] should be used
instead of who or which (1) when the antecedent names both persons and
things; (2) when that would prevent ambiguity; and (3) when it would
sound better than who or which, e. g., after that, same, very,
all, the interrogative who, the indefinite it, and adjectives
expressing quality in the highest degree.
+Example+.—He lived near a pond that was a nuisance. (That relates to
pond—the pond was a nuisance. Which might have, for its antecedent,
pond, or the whole clause He lived near a pond; and so its use here
would be ambiguous.)
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. The wisest men who ever lived made mistakes.
2. The chief material which is used now in building is brick.
3. Who who saw him did not pity him?
4. He is the very man whom we want.
5. He is the same who he has ever been.
6. He sent his boy to a school which did him good.
7. All who knew him respected him.
8. It was not I who did it.
9. That man that you just met is my friend.
+Caution+.—The relative clause should be placed as near as possible to the
word which it modifies.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. The pupil will receive a reward from his teacher who is diligent.
2. Her hair hung in ringlets, which was dark and glossy.
3. A dog was found in the street that wore a brass collar.
4. A purse was picked up by a boy that was made of leather.
5. Claudius was canonized among the gods, who scarcely deserved the name of
man.
6. He should not keep a horse that cannot ride.
+Caution+.—When this and that, these and those, the one and the
other refer to things previously mentioned, this and these refer to
the last mentioned, and that and those to the first mentioned; the
one refers to the first mentioned, and the other to the last mentioned.
When there is danger of obscurity, repeat the nouns.
+Examples+.—High and tall are synonyms: this may be used in speaking
of what grows—a tree; that, in speaking of what does not grow—a
mountain. Homer was a genius; Virgil, an artist: in the one we most
admire the man; in the other, the work.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. Talent speaks learnedly at the bar; tact, triumphantly: this is
complimented by the bench; that gets the fees.
2. Charles XII. and Peter the Great were sovereigns: the one was loved by
his people; the other was hated.
3. The selfish and the benevolent are found in every community; these are
shunned, while those are sought after.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these
five Cautions.
* * * * *
LESSON 88.
CONSTRUCTION OF PRONOUNS—CONTINUED.
Miscellaneous Errors.
+Direction+.—Give the Cautions which these sentences violate, and correct
the errors:—
1. He who does all which he can does enough.
2. John’s father died before he was born.
3. Whales are the largest animals which swim.
4. Boys who study hard, and that study wisely make progress.
5. There are miners that live below ground, and who seldom see the light.
6. He did that what was right.
7. General Lee, that served under Washington, had been a British officer.
8. A man should sit down and count the cost who is about to build a house.
9. They need no spectacles that are blind.
10. They buy no books who are not able to read.
11. Cotton, that is a plant, is woven into cloth.
12. Do you know that gentleman that is speaking?
13. There is no book which, when we look through it sharply, we cannot find
mistakes in it.
14. The reporter which said that was deceived.
15. The diamond, that is pure carbon, is a brilliant gem.
16. The brakemen and the cattle which were on the train were killed.
17. Reputation and character do not mean the same thing: the one
denotes what we are; the other, what we are thought to be.
18. Kosciusko having come to this country, he aided us in our Revolutionary
struggle.
19. What pleased me much, and which was spoken of by others, was the
general appearance of the class.
20. There are many boys whose fathers and mothers died when they were
infants.
21. Witness said that his wife’s father came to his house, and he ordered
him out, but he refused to go.
22. Shall you be able to sell them boots?
23. I don’t know but what I may.
24. Beer and wine are favorite drinks abroad: the one is made from grapes;
the other, from barley.
25. There is one marked difference between shiners and trout; these have
scales, and those have not.
26. They know little of men, who reason thus.
27. Help thyself, and Heaven will help you.
* * * * *
LESSON 89.
CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES.
+Introductory Hints+.—You learned in Lesson 12 that, in the sentences
Ripe apples are healthful, Unripe apples are hurtful, the adjectives
ripe and unripe limit, or narrow, the application of apples by
describing, or by expressing certain qualities of the fruit. You learned
also that the, this, an, no, some, and many limit, or narrow,
the application of any noun which they modify, as apple or apples, by
pointing out the particular fruit, by numbering it, or by denoting the
quantity of it.
Adjectives which limit by expressing quality are called +Descriptive
Adjectives+; and those which limit by pointing out, numbering, or denoting
quantity are called +Definitive Adjectives+.
Adjectives modifying a noun do not limit, or narrow, its application (1)
when they denote qualities that always belong to the thing named; as,
yellow gold, the good God, the blue sky; or (2) when they are
attribute complements, denoting qualities asserted by the verb; as, The
fields were green; The ground was dry and hard.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+An Adjective is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun+.[Footnote:
Pronouns, like nouns, are often modified by an “appositive” adjective, that
is, an adjective joined loosely without restricting: thus—Faint and
weary, he struggled on or, He, faint and weary, struggled on.
Adjectives that complete the predicate belong as freely to pronouns as to
nouns.]
+A Descriptive Adjective is one that modifies by expressing quality+.
+A Definitive Adjective is one that modifies by pointing out, numbering,
or denoting quantity+.[Footnote: The definitive adjectives one, two,
three, etc.; first, second, third, etc. are called +Numeral+
adjectives. One, two, three, etc. are called +Cardinal+ numerals; and
first, second, third—etc. are called +Ordinal+ numerals]
The definitive adjectives an or a and the are commonly called
+Articles+. An or a is called the Indefinite Article, and the is
called the Definite Article.
A noun may take the place of an adjective.
+Examples+.—London journals, the New York press, silver spoons,
diamond pin, state papers, gold bracelet.
+Direction+.—Point out the descriptive and the definitive adjectives
below, and name such as do not limit:—
Able statesmen, much rain, ten mice, brass kettle, small grains, Mansard
roof, some feeling, all men, hundredth anniversary, the Pitt diamond, the
patient Hannibal, little thread, crushing argument, moving spectacle, the
martyr president, tin pans, few people, less trouble, this toy, any book,
brave Washington, Washington market, three cats, slender cord, that libel,
happy children, the broad Atlantic, The huge clouds were dark and
threatening, Eyes are bright, What name was given? Which book is wanted?
+Direction+.—Point out the descriptive and the definitive adjectives in
Lessons 80 and 81, and tell whether they denote color, motion, shape,
position, size, moral qualities, or whether they modify in some other way.
* * * * *
LESSON 90.
CONSTRUCTION OF ADJECTIVES.
+Caution+.—An and a are different forms of one. An is used before
vowel sounds. For the sake of euphony, an drops n and becomes a
before consonant sounds.[Footnote: Some writers still use an before words
beginning with unaccented h; as, an historian.]
+Examples+.—An inkstand, a bag, a historian, a humble petition,
an hour (h is silent), a unit (unit begins with the consonant sound
of y), such a one (one begins with the consonant sound of w).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
A heir, a inheritance, an hook, an ewer, an usurper, a account, an uniform,
an hundred, a umpire, an hard apple, an hero.
+Caution.+—An or a is used to limit a noun to one thing of a class—to
any one. The is used to distinguish (1) one thing or several things from
others, and (2) one class of things from other classes.
+Explanation.+—We can say a horse, meaning any one horse; but we
cannot say, A gold is heavy, This is a poor kind of a gas, William Pitt
received the title of an earl because gold, gas, and earl are here
meant to denote each the whole of a class, and a limits its noun to one
thing of a class.
The horse or the horses must be turned into the lot. Here the
before horse distinguishes a certain animal, and the before horses
distinguishes certain animals, from others of the same class; and the
before lot distinguishes the field from the yard or the stable—things in
other classes. The horse is a noble animal. Here the distinguishes
this class of animals from other classes. But we cannot say, The man
(meaning the race) is mortal, The anger is a short madness, The truth
is eternal, The poetry and the painting are fine arts, because man,
anger, truth, poetry, and painting are used in their widest sense, and
name things that are sufficiently distinguished without the.
+Direction.+—Study the Caution as explained, and correct these errors:—
1. This is another kind of a sentence.
2. Churchill received the title of a duke.
3. A hill is from the same root as column.
4. Dog is a quadruped.
5. I expected some such an offer.
6. The woman is the equal of man.
7. The sculpture is a fine art.
8. Unicorn is kind of a rhinoceros.
9. Oak is harder than the maple.
+Caution.+—Use an, a, or the before each of two or more connected
adjectives, when these adjectives modify different nouns, expressed or
understood; but, when they modify the same noun, the article should not be
repeated.
+Explanation+.—A cotton and a silk umbrella means two umbrellas—one
cotton and the other silk; the word umbrella is understood after cotton.
A cotton and silk umbrella means one umbrella partly cotton and partly
silk; cotton and silk modify the same noun—umbrella. The wise and
the good means two classes; the wise and good means one class.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution as explained, and correct these errors:—
1. The Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
2. The Northern and the Southern Hemispheres.
3. The right and left hand.
4. A Pullman and Wagner sleeping-coach.
5. The fourth and the fifth verses.
6. The fourth and fifth verse.
7. A Webster’s and Worcester’s dictionary.
+Caution+.—Use an, a, or the before each of two or more connected
nouns denoting things that are to be distinguished from each other or
emphasized.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. There is a difference between the sin and sinner.
2. We criticise not the dress but address of the speaker.
3. A noun and pronoun are alike in office.
4. Distinguish carefully between an adjective and adverb.
5. The lion, as well as tiger, belongs to the cat tribe.
6. Neither the North Pole nor South Pole has yet been reached.
7. The secretary and treasurer were both absent.
(The secretary and treasurer was absent—referring to one person—is
correct.)
+Caution+.—A few and a little mean some as opposed to none; few
means not many, and little means not much.
+Examples+.—He saved a few things and a little money from the wreck.
Few shall part where many meet. Little was said or done about it.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. There are a few pleasant days in March, because it is a stormy month.
2. He saved a little from the fire, as it broke out in the night.
3. Few men live to be & hundred years old, but not many.
4. Little can be done, but not much.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these
Cautions.
* * * * *
LESSON 91.
CONSTRUCTION OF ADJECTIVES—CONTINUED.
+Caution+.—Choose apt adjectives, but do not use them needlessly; avoid
such as repeat the idea or exaggerate it.
+Remark+.—The following adjectives are obviously needless: Good virtues,
verdant green, painful toothache, umbrageous shade.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution carefully, and correct these errors:—
1. It was splendid fun.
2. It was a tremendous dew.
3. He used less words than the other speaker.
4. The lad was neither docile nor teachable.
5. The belief in immortality is common and universal.
6. It was a gorgeous apple.
7. The arm-chair was roomy and capacious.
8. It was a lovely bun, but I paid a frightful price for it.
+Caution+.—So place adjectives that there can be no doubt as to what you
intend them to modify. If those forming a series are of different rank,
place nearest the noun the one most closely modifying it. If they are of
the same rank, place them where they will sound best—generally in the
order of length, the shortest first.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. A new bottle of wine.
2. The house was comfortable and large.
3. A salt barrel of pork.
4. It was a blue soft beautiful sky.
5. A fried dish of bacon.
6. We saw in the distance a precipitous, barren, towering mountain.
7. Two gray fiery little eyes.
8. A docile and mild pupil.
9. A pupil, docile and mild.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these
two Cautions.
Miscellaneous Errors.
+Direction+.—Give the Cautions which these expressions violate, and
correct the errors:—
1. I can bear the heat of summer, but not cold of winter.
2. The North and South Pole.
3. The eldest son of a duke is called a marquis.
4. He had deceived me, and so I had a little faith in him.
5. An old and young man.
6. A prodigious snowball hit my cheek.
7. The evil is intolerable and not to be borne.
8. The fat, two lazy men.
9. His penmanship is fearful.
10. A white and red flag were flying.
11. His unusual, unexpected, and extraordinary success surprised him.
12. He wanted a apple, an hard apple.
13. A dried box of herrings.
14. He received a honor.
15. Such an use!
16. The day was delightful and warm.
17. Samuel Adams’s habits were unostentatious, frugal, and simple.
18. The victory was complete, though a few of the enemy were killed or
captured.
19. The truth is mighty and will prevail.
20. The scepter, the miter, and coronet seem to me poor things for great
men to contend for.
21. A few can swim across the Straits of Dover, for the width is great and
the current strong.
22. I have a contemptible opinion of you.
23. She has less friends than I.
LESSON 92.
CLASSES OF VERBS AND ADVERBS.
+Introductory Hints+.—You learned in Lesson 28 that in saying Washington
captured we do not fully express the act performed. Adding Cornwallis,
we complete the predicate by naming the one that receives the act that
passes over from the doer. Transitive means passing over, and so all
verbs that represent an act as passing over from a doer to a receiver are
called +Transitive Verbs+. If we say Cornwallis was captured by
Washington, the verb is still transitive; but the object, Cornwallis,
which names the receiver, is here the subject of the sentence, and not, as
before, the object complement. You see that the object, the word that names
the receiver of the act, may be the subject, or it may be the object
complement.
All verbs that, like fall in Leaves fall, do not represent the act as
passing over to a receiver, and all that express mere being or state of
being are called +Intransitive Verbs+.
A verb transitive in one sentence; as, He writes good English, may be
intransitive in another; as, He writes well—meaning simply He is a
good writer. A verb is transitive only when an object is expressed or
obviously understood.
Washington captured Cornwallis. Here captured represents the act as
having taken place in past time. Tense means time, and hence this verb
is in the past tense. Cornwallis captured, the war speedily closed. Here
captured is, as you have learned, a participle; and, representing the act
as past at the time indicated by closed, it is a past participle. Notice
that ed is added to capture (final e is always dropped when ed is
added) to form its past tense and its past participle. All verbs that form
the past tense and the past participle by adding ed to the present are
called +Regular Verbs+.
All verbs that do not form the past tense and the past participle by adding
ed to the present; as, fall, fell, fallen; go, went, gone, are called
+Irregular Verbs+.
Early, hereafter, now, often, soon, presently, etc., used to modify any
verb—as, will go in, I will go soon—by expressing time, are called
+Adverbs of Time+.
Away, back, elsewhere, hence, out, within, etc., used to modify any
verb—as, will go in, I will go away—by expressing direction or place,
are called +Adverbs of Place+.
Exceedingly, hardly, quite, sufficiently, too, very, etc., used to modify
a word—as the adjective hot in, The tea is very hot—by expressing
degree, are called +Adverbs of Degree+.
Plainly, so, thus, well, not, [Footnote: It may be worth remarking that
while there are many negative nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and
conjunctions in oar language, negation is more frequently expressed in
English by the adverb than by any other part of speech—than by all other
parts of speech. A very large per cent of these adverbs modify the verb.
That is to say, it is largely through the adverb that what the predicate
expresses is declared not to be true of the thing named by the subject. It
is very suggestive that much of what is said consists of denial—is taken
up in telling not what is true of things but what is not true of them.
“The negative particle in our language is simply the consonant +n+. In
Saxon it existed as a word +ne+; but we have lost that word, and it is now
a letter only, which, enters into many words, as into no, not, nought,
none, neither, nor, never.”—Earle.
No and yes (nay and yea), when used to answer Questions, show how
the thought presented is regarded, and may therefore be classed with
adverbs of manner. They are sometimes called independent adverbs. They
seem to modify words omitted in the answer but contained in the question;
as, Did you see him? No = I did no (not) see him; Will you go? Yes.
The force of yes may be illustrated by substituting certainly—Will you
go? Certainly. Certainly I will go, or I will certainly go. As no
and yes represent or suggest complete answers, they may be called
+sentence-words+.] etc., used to modify a word—as, spoke in, He spoke
plainly—by expressing manner, are called +Adverbs of Manner+.
Hence, therefore, why, etc., used in making an inference or in expressing
cause—as, It is dark, hence, or therefore, the sun is down; Why is
it dark?—are called +Adverbs of Cause+.
Some adverbs fall into more than one class; as, so and as.
Some adverbs, as you have learned, connect clauses, and are therefore
called +Conjunctive Adverbs+.
DEFINITIONS.
+A Verb is a word that asserts action, being, or state of being+.
CLASSES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO MEANING.
+A Transitive Verb is one that requires an object+. [Footnote: The
+object+ of a transitive verb, that is, the name of the receiver of the
action, may be the +object complement+, or it may be the +subject+; as,
Brutus stabbed Caesar; Caesar was stabbed by Brutus. See page 187.]
+An Intransitive Verb is one that does not require an object+.
CLASSES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO FORM.
+A Regular Verb is one that forms its past tense and past participle by
adding ed to the present+.
+An Irregular Verb is one that does not form its past tense and past
participle by adding ed to the present+.
+An Adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
[Footnote: Adverbs have several exceptional uses. They may be used
independently; as, Now, there must be an error here. They may modify a
phrase or a preposition; as, He came just in time; It went far beyond
the mark. They may modify a clause or a sentence; as, He let go simply
because he was exhausted; Certainly you may go.
It may also be noted here that adverbs are used interrogatively; as, How,
when, and where is this to be done? and that they may add to the office
of the adverb that of the conjunction; as, I go where I am sent.]
CLASSES OF ADVERBS.
+Adverbs of Time are those that generally answer the question+, When?
+Adverbs of Place are those that generally answer the question+, Where?
+Adverbs of Degree are those that generally answer the question+, To
what extent?
+Adverbs of Manner are those that generally answer the question+, In
what way?
+Adverbs of Cause are those that generally answer the question+, Why?
+Direction+.—Point out the transitive and the intransitive, the regular
and the irregular verbs in Lesson 14, and classify the adverbs.
* * * * *
LESSON 93.
CONSTRUCTION OF ADVERBS.
+Caution+.—Choose apt adverbs, but do not use them needlessly or instead
of other forms of expression; avoid such as repeat the idea or exaggerate
it.
+Examples+.—I could ill (not illy) afford the time. Do as (not
like) I do. A diphthong is the union of two vowels (not where or
when two vowels unite) in the same syllable. This (not this here or
this ‘ere) sentence is correct. He wrote that (not how that) he had
been sick. The belief in immortality is universally held (not
universally held everywhere). His nose was very (not terribly or
frightfully) red,
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors.—
1. I returned back here yesterday.
2. He had not hardly a minute to spare.
3. The affair was settled amicably, peaceably, and peacefully.
4. It was awfully amusing.
5. This ‘ere knife is dull.
6. That ‘ere horse has the heaves.
7. A direct quotation is when the exact words of another are copied.
8. I do not like too much sugar in my tea.
9. He seldom or ever went home sober.
10. The belief in immortality is universally held by all.
11. I am dreadfully glad to hear that.
12. This is a fearfully long lesson.
13. He said how that he would go.
+Caution+.—So place adverbs that there can be no doubt as to what you
intend them to modify. Have regard to the sound also. They seldom stand
between to and the infinitive. [Footnote: Instances of the “cleft, or
split, infinitive”—the infinitive separated from its to by an
intervening adverb—are found in Early English and in English all the way
down, Fitzedward Hall and others have shown this.
But there can be no question that usage is overwhelmingly against an
adverb’s standing between to and the infinitive. Few writers ever place
an adverb there at all; and these few, only an occasional adverb, and that
adverb only occasionally.
Whether the adverb should be placed before the to or after the infinitive
is often a nice question, sometimes to be determined by the ear alone. It
should never stand, however, where it would leave the meaning ambiguous or
in any way obscure.]
+Examples+.—I only rowed across the river = I only (= alone, an
adjective), and no one else, rowed etc., or = I only rowed etc., +but+
did not swim or wade. I rowed only across the river = across, not
up or down etc. I rowed across the river only = the river only, not
the bay etc. Merely to see (not to merely see) her was sufficient.
Not every collegian is a scholar (not Every collegian is not a
scholar).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. I have thought of marrying often.
2. We only eat three meals a day.
3. He hopes to rapidly recruit.
4. All is not gold that glitters.
5. He tries to distinctly speak.
6. He tries distinctly to speak.
7. All that glitters is not gold.
8. His sagacity almost appears miraculous.
+Caution+.—Unless you wish to affirm, do not use two negative words so
that they shall contradict each other. [Footnote: _Not in_frequently we use
two negatives to make an affirmation; as, He is _not un_just; No man can
do nothing.]
+Examples+.—No one has (not hasn’t) yet reached the North Pole. _No
un_pleasant circumstance happened (proper, because it is intended to
affirm).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. No other reason can never be given.
2. He doesn’t do nothing.
3. He isn’t improving much, I don’t think.
4. There must be something wrong when children do not love neither father
nor mother.
5. He isn’t no sneak.
6. Charlie Ross can’t nowhere be found.
+Caution+.—Do not use adverbs for adjectives or adjectives for adverbs.
+Examples+.—The moon looks calm and peaceful (not calmly and
peacefully, as the words are intended to describe the moon). The moon
looks down calmly and peacefully on the battlefield (not calm and
peaceful, as the words are intended to tell how she performs the act). I
slept soundly (not good or sound).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. It was a softly blue sky.
2. The river runs rapid.
3. You must read more distinct.
4. It was an uncommon good harvest.
5. She is most sixteen.
6. The discussion waxed warmly.
7. The prima donna sings sweet.
8. She is miserable poor.
9. My head feels badly.
10. He spoke up prompt.
11. He went most there.
12. He behaved very bad.
13. This is a mighty cold day.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these
four Cautions.
* * * * *
LESSON 94.
CONSTRUCTION OF ADVERBS-CONTINUED.
Miscellaneous Errors.
+Direction+.—Give the Cautions which these sentences violate, and correct
the errors:—
1. Begin it over again.
2. This can be done easier.
3. The house is extra warm.
4. Most every one goes there.
5. I have a pencil that long.
6. He hasn’t his lesson, I don’t believe.
7. A circle can’t in no way be squared.
8. This is a remarkable cold winter.
9. The one is as equally deserving as the other.
10. Feathers feel softly.
11. It is pretty near finished.
12. Verbosity is when too many words are used.
13. It is a wonderful fine day.
14. He is some better just now.
15. Generally every morning we went to the spring.
16. I wish to simply state this point.
17. He tried to not only injure but to also ruin the man.
18. The lesson was prodigiously long.
19. The cars will not stop at this station only when the bell rings.
20. He can do it as good as any one can.
21. Most everybody talks so.
22. He hasn’t yet gone, I don’t believe.
23. He behaved thoughtlessly, recklessly, and carelessly.
24. That ‘ere book is readable.
25. I will not go but once.
26. I can’t find out neither where the lesson begins nor where it ends.
27. They were nearly dressed alike.
28. The tortured man begged that they would kill him again and again.
29. The fortune was lavishly, profusely, and prodigally spent.
30. I am real glad to see you.
31. We publish all the information, official and otherwise.
LESSON 95.
PREPOSITIONS.
+DEFINITION.—A Preposition is a word that introduces a phrase modifier,
and shows the relation, in sense, of its principal word to the word
modified.+
Composition.
+Direction+.—We give below a list of the prepositions in common use. Make
short sentences in which each of these shall be aptly used. Use two or
three of them in a single sentence if you wish:—
Aboard,
about,
above,
across,
after,
against,
along,
amid,
amidst,
among,
amongst,
around,
at,
athwart,
before,
behind,
below,
beneath,
beside,
besides,
between,
betwixt,
beyond,
but,
by,
down,
ere,
for,
from,
in,
into,
of,
on,
over,
past,
round,
since,
through,
throughout,
till,
to,
toward,
towards,
under,
underneath,
until,
unto,
up,
upon,
with,
within,
without.
+Remarks+.—Bating, concerning, during, excepting,
notwithstanding, pending, regarding, respecting, saving, and
touching are still participles in form and sometimes are such in use. But
in most cases the participial meaning has faded out of them, and they
express mere relations.
But, except, and save, in such a sentence as, All but or except
or save him were lost, are usually classed with prepositions.
The phrases aboard of, according to, along with, as to, because
of (by cause of), from among, from between, from under, instead of
(in stead of), out of, over against, and round about may be called
compound prepositions. But from in these compounds; as, He crawled from
under the ruins, really introduces a phrase, the principal term of which
is the phrase that follows from.
Many prepositions become adverbs when the noun which ordinarily follows
them is omitted; as, He rode past; He stands above.
* * * * *
LESSON 96.
CONSTRUCTION OF PREPOSITIONS.
+To the Teacher+.—Most prepositions express relations so diverse, and so
delicate in their shades of distinction that a definition of them based
upon etymology would mislead. A happy and discriminating use of
prepositions can be acquired only by an extended study of good authors. We
do below all that we think it prudent or profitable to do with them. He
should he a man of wide and careful reading who assumes to teach pupils
that such prepositions, and such only, should be used with certain words.
Nowhere in grammar is dogmatism more dangerous than here. That grammarian
exceeds his commission who marks out for the pupils’ feet a path narrower
than the highway which the usage of the best writers and speakers has cast
up. [Footnote: Take a single illustration. Grammarians, in general, teach
that between and betwixt “refer to two,” are used “only when two things
or sets of things are referred to.” Ordinarily, and while clinging to their
derivation, they are so used, but are they always, and must they be? “There
was a hunting match agreed upon betwixt a lion, an ass, and a fox.”—
L’Estrange. “A Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden.”—
J. B. Green. “In the vacant space between Persia, Syria, Egypt, and
Ethiopia.”—Gibbon. “His flight between the several worlds.”—Addison.
“The identity of form between the nominative, accusative, and vocative
cases in the neuter.” —G. P. Marsh. “The distinction between these three
orders has been well expressed by Prof. Max Mueller.”—W. D. Whitney.
“Between such dictionaries as Worcester’s, The Imperial, and Webster’s.”—
B. G. White. “Betwixt the slender boughs came glimpses of her ivory
neck.”—Bryant. With what clumsy circumlocutions would our speech be
filled if prepositions could never slip the leash of their etymology! What
simple and graceful substitute could be found for the last phrase in this
sentence, for instance: There were forty desks in the room with ample space
between them?
“We observe that between is not restricted to two.”—Imperial
Dictionary. “In all senses between has been, from its earliest
appearance, extended to more than two. It is still the only word available
to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and
individually—among expressing a relation to them collectively and
vaguely: we should not say, ‘The choice lies among the three candidates,’
or ‘to insert a needle among the closed petals of a flower.'”—The New
English Dictionary.
We have collected hundreds of instances of between used by good writers
with three or more.
Guard against such expressions as between each page; a choice between
one of several.]
+Direction+.—We give below a few words with the prepositions which
usually accompany them. Form short sentences containing these words
combined with each of the prepositions which follow them, and note
carefully the different relations expressed by the different
prepositions:—
(Consult the dictionary for both the preposition and the accompanying
word.)
Abide at, by, with; accommodate to, with; advantage of, over; agree
to, with; angry at, with; anxious about, for; argue against, with;
arrive at, in; attend on or upon, to; careless about, in, of;
communicate to, with; compare to, with; consists in, of; defend
against, from; die by, for, of; different from; disappointed in,
of; distinguish by, from; familiar to, with; impatient for, of;
indulge in, with; influence on, over, with; insensible of, to; sat
beside; many besides.
* * * * *
LESSON 97.
CONSTRUCTION OF PREPOSITIONS—CONTINUED.
+Direction+.—Do with the following words as with those above:—
Inquire after, for, into, of; intrude into, upon; joined to, with;
liberal of, to; live at, in, on; look after, for, on; need of;
obliged for, to; part from, with; placed in, on; reconcile to,
with; regard for, to; remonstrate against, with; sank beneath, in,
into; share in, of, with; sit in, on or upon; smile at, on;
solicitous about, for; strive for, with, against; taste for, of;
touch at, on or upon; useful for, in, to; weary of, in, with; yearn
for, towards.
* * * * *
LESSON 98.
CONSTRUCTION OF PREPOSITIONS—CONTINUED.
+Caution+.—Great care must be used in the choice of prepositions.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. This book is different to that.
2. He stays to home.
3. They two quarreled among each other.
4. He is in want for money.
5. I was followed with a crowd.
6. He fell from the bridge in the water. [Footnote: In denotes motion or
rest in a condition or place; into, change from one condition or place
into another. “When one is outside of a place, he may be able to get
into it; but he cannot do anything in it until he has got into
it.”]
7. He fought into the Revolution. [See previous footnote]
8. He bears a close resemblance of his father.
9. He entered in the plot.
10. He lives at London.
11. He lives in the turn of the road.
12. I have need for a vacation.
13. The child died with the croup.
14. He took a walk, but was disappointed of it.
15. He did not take a walk; he was disappointed in it.
16. He was accused with felony.
17. School keeps upon Monday.
18. Place a mark between each leaf.
19. He is angry at his father.
20. He placed a letter into my hands.
21. She is angry with your conduct.
22. What is the matter of him?
23. I saw him over to the house.
24. These plants differ with each other.
25. He boards to the hotel.
26. I board in the hotel.
27. She stays at the North.
28. I have other reasons beside these. [Footnote: Beside = by the side
of; besides = in addition to.]
29. You make no use with your talents.
30. He threw himself onto the bed.
31. The boys are hard to work.
32. He distributed the apples between his four brothers.
33. He went in the park.
34. You can confide on him.
35. He arrived to Toronto.
36. I agree with that plan.
37. The evening was spent by reading.
38. Can you accommodate me in one of those?
39. What a change a century has produced upon our country!
40. He stays to school late.
41. The year of the Restoration plunged Milton in bitter poverty.
42. The Colonies declared themselves independent from England.
43. I spent my Saturdays by going in the country, and enjoying myself by
fishing.
* * * * *
LESSON 99.
CONSTRUCTION OF PREPOSITIONS—CONTINUED.[Footnote: “A preposition is a
feeble word to end a sentence with,” we are told. Sentences (10) and
(13), Lesson 59, (2), Lesson 60, and many in succeeding Lessons violate the
rule so carelessly expressed.
Of this rule, laid down without regard to usage and thoughtlessly repeated,
Prof. Austin Phelps says, “A preposition as such is by no means a feeble
word;” and he quotes a burst of feeling from Rufus Choate which ends thus:
“Never, so long as there is left of Plymouth Rock a piece large enough to
make a gunflint of!” “This,” Professor Phelps says, “is purest idiomatic
English.” He adds, “The old Scotch interrogative, ‘What for?’ is as pure
English in written as in colloquial speech.”
Sentences containing two prepositions before a noun are exceedingly common
in English—”The language itself is inseparable from, or essentially a
part of, the thoughts.” Such sentences have been condemned, but the
worst that can be urged against them is, that they lack smoothness. But
smoothness is not always desirable.
Sentences containing a transitive verb and a preposition before a noun are
very common—”Powerless to affect, or to be affected by, the times.”]
CAUTION.—Do not use prepositions needlessly.
DIRECTION.—Correct these errors:—
1. I went there at about noon.
2. In what latitude is Boston in?
3. He came in for to have a talk.
4. I started a week ago from last Saturday.
5. He was born August 15, in 1834.
6. A good place to see a play is at Wallack’s.
7. He went to home.
8. I was leading of a horse about.
9. By what states is Kentucky bounded by?
10. His servants ye are to whom ye obey.
11. Where are you going to?
12. They admitted of the fact.
13. Raise your book off of the table.
14. He took the poker from out of the fire.
15. Of what is the air composed of?
16. You can tell by trying of it.
17. Where have you been to?
18. The boy is like to his father.
19. They offered to him a chair.
20. This is the subject of which I intend to write about.
21. Butter brings twenty cents for a pound.
22. Give to me a knife.
23. I have a brother of five years old.
24. To what may Italy be likened to?
25. In about April the farmer puts in his seed.
26. Jack’s favorite sport was in robbing orchards.
27. Before answering of you, I must think.
28. He lives near to the river.
29. Keep off of the grass.
+Caution+.—Do not omit prepositions when they are needed.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. There is no use going there.
2. He is worthy our help.
3. I was prevented going.
4. He was banished the country.
5. He is unworthy our charity.
6. What use is this to him?
7. He was born on the 15th August, 1834.
8. Adam and Eve were expelled the garden.
9. It was the size of a pea.
10. Egypt is the west side of the Red Sea.
11. His efforts were not for the great, but the lowly.
12. He received dispatches from England and Russia.
+Direction+.—Point out the prepositions in Lessons 80 and 81, and
name the words between which, in sense, they show the relation.
* * * * *
LESSON 100.
CLASSES OF CONJUNCTIONS AND OTHER CONNECTIVES.
+Introductory Hints+.—The stars look down upon the roofs of the living
and upon the graves of the dead, but neither the living nor the dead
are conscious of their gaze. Here and, but, neither, and nor
connect words, phrases, and clauses of equal rank, or order, and so are
called +Co-ordinate Conjunctions+. Both clauses may be independent, or both
dependent but of equal rank.
At the burning of Moscow, it seemed as [it would seem] if the heavens
were lighted up that the nations might behold the scene. Here as, if,
and that connect each a lower, or subordinate, clause to a clause of
higher rank, and hence are called +Subordinate Conjunctions+. One clause
may be independent and the other dependent, or both dependent but of
unequal rank.
+DEFINITIONS.+
+A Conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, or clauses+.
[Footnote: Some of the co-ordinate conjunctions, as and and but,
connect, in thought, sentences separated by the period, and even connect
paragraphs. In analysis and parsing, we regard only the individual sentence
and treat such connectives as introductory.]
+Co-ordinate Conjunctions are such as connect words, phrases, or clauses
of the same rank+.
+Subordinate Conjunctions are such as connect clauses of different rank+.
+Remark+.—Some of the connectives below are conjunctions proper; some are
relative pronouns; and some are adverbs or adverb phrases, which, in
addition to their office as modifiers, may, in the absence of the
conjunction, take its office upon themselves and connect the clauses.
To THE TEACHER.—We do not advise the memorizing of these lists. The pupils
should he able to name the different groups, and some of the most common
connectives of each group.
+Co-ordinate Connectives.+ [Footnote: +Copulative+ conjunctions join parts
in the same line of thought; +Adversative+ conjunctions join parts
contrasted or opposed in meaning; +Alternative+ conjunctions join parts so
as to offer a choice or a denial. See Lesson 76.]
+Copulative+.—And, both … and, as well as [Footnote: The as
well as in, He, as well as I, went; and not that in, He is as well as I
am.] are conjunctions proper. Accordingly, also, besides,
consequently, furthermore, hence, likewise, moreover, now,
so, then, and therefore are conjunctive adverbs.
+Adversative+.—But and whereas are conjunctions proper. However,
nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand,
still, and yet are conjunctive adverbs.
+Alternative+.—Neither, nor, or, either … or, and neither
… nor are conjunctions proper. Else and otherwise are conjunctive
adverbs.
+Subordinate Connectives.+
CONNECTIVES OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSES.
That, what, whatever, which, whichever, who, and whoever are
relative pronouns. When, where, whereby, wherein, and why are
conjunctive adverbs.
CONNECTIVES OF ADVERB CLAUSES.
Time.—After, as, before, ere, since, till, until, when,
whenever, while, and whilst are conjunctive adverbs.
Place.—Whence, where, and _wherever _are conjunctive adverbs.
Degree.—As, than, that, and the are conjunctive adverbs,
correlative with adjectives or adverbs.
Manner.—As is a conjunctive adverb, correlative, often, with an
adjective or an adverb.
Real Cause.—As, because, for, since, and whereas are
conjunctions proper.
Evidence.—Because, for, and since are conjunctions proper.
Purpose.—In order that, lest (= that not), that, and so that
are conjunctions proper.
Condition.—Except, if, in case that, on condition that, provided, provided
that, and unless are conjunctions proper.
Concession.—Although, if (= even if), notwithstanding, though,
and whether are conjunctions proper. However is a conjunctive adverb.
Whatever, whichever, and whoever are relative pronouns used
indefinitely.
CONNECTIVES OF NOUN CLAUSES.
If, lest, that, and whether [Footnote: Etymologically, whether is
restricted to two; but it has burst the bonds of its etymology and is very
freely used with three or more.
The repetition of whether, like the use of it with three or more things,
has been condemned, but usage allows us to repeat it.
Whether or no is also allowed.] are conjunctions proper. What, which,
and who are pronouns introducing questions; and how, when, whence,
where, and why are conjunctive adverbs introducing questions.
+Direction+.—Study the lists above, and point out all the connectives
in Lessons 80 and 81, telling which are relative pronouns, which are
conjunctions proper, and which are conjunctive adverbs.
+TO THE TEACHER+.—If the pupils lack maturity, or if it is found necessary
to abridge this work in order to conform to a prescribed course of study,
the six following Lessons may be omitted. The authors consider these
exercises very profitable, but their omission will occasion no break in the
course.
* * * * *
LESSON 101.
COMPOSITION—CONNECTIVES.
+Direction+.—Write twenty compound sentences whose clauses shall be
joined by connectives named in the three subdivisions of co-ordinate
connectives.
* * * * *
LESSON 102.
COMPOSITION—CONNECTIVES—CONTINUED.
+Direction+.—Write twenty complex sentences whose clauses shall be joined
by connectives of adjective clauses, and by connectives of adverb clauses
of time, place, degree, and manner.
* * * * *
LESSON 103.
COMPOSITION—CONNECTIVES—CONTINUED.
+Direction+.—Write twenty complex sentences whose clauses shall be joined
by connectives of adverb clauses of real cause, evidence, purpose,
condition, and concession, and by connectives of noun clauses.
* * * * *
LESSON 104.
CONNECTIVES.
Analysis.
+Direction+.—Tell what kinds of clauses follow the connectives below, and
what are the usual connectives of such clauses, and then analyze the
sentences:—
+As+ may connect a clause expressing +manner+, +time+, +degree+, +cause+,
or +evidence+.
1. Mount Marcy is not so high as Mount Washington.
2. As I passed by, I found an altar with this inscription.
3. It must be raining, as men are carrying umbrellas.
4. Ice floats, as water expands in freezing.
5. Half-learned lessons slip from the memory, as an icicle from the hand.
+If+ may connect a clause expressing +condition+, +time+, or +concession+,
or it may introduce a +noun+ clause.
6. If a slave’s lungs breathe our air, that moment he is free.
7. If wishes were horses, all beggars might ride.
8. Who knows if one of the Pleiads is really missing? [Footnote: Many
grammarians say that if here is improperly used for whether. But
this use of if is common with good authors in early and in modern
English.]
9. If the flights of Dryden are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing.
+Lest+ may connect a clause expressing +purpose+, or it may introduce a
+noun+ clause.
10. England fears lest Russia may endanger British rule in India.
11. Watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation.
+Since+ may connect a clause expressing +time+, +cause+, or +evidence+.
12. It must be raining, since men are carrying umbrellas.
13. Many thousand years have gone by since the Pyramids were built.
14. Since the Puritans could not be convinced, they were persecuted.
* * * * *
LESSON 105.
CONNECTIVES—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
+Direction+.—Tell what kinds of clauses follow the connectives below, and
what are the usual connectives of such clauses, and then analyze the
sentences:—
+That+ may connect a +noun+ clause, an +adjective+ clause, or a clause
expressing +degree+, +cause+, or +purpose+.
1. The Pharisee thanked God that he was not like other men.
2. Vesuvius threw its lava so far that Herculaneum and Pompeii were buried.
3. The smith plunges his red-hot iron into water that he may harden the
metal.
4. Socrates said that he who might be better employed was idle.
5. We never tell our secrets to people that pump for them.
+When+ may connect a clause expressing +time+, +cause+, or +condition+, an
+adjective+ clause or a +noun+ clause, or it may connect +co-ordinate+
clauses.
6. The Aztecs were astonished when they saw the Spanish horses.
7. November is the month when the deer sheds its horns.
8. When the future is uncertain, make the most of the present.
9. When the five great European races left Asia is a question.
10. When judges accept bribes, what may we expect from common people?
11. The dial instituted a formal inquiry, when hands, wheels, and weights
protested their innocence.
+Where+ may connect a clause expressing +place+, an +adjective+ clause, or
a +noun+ clause.
12. No one knows the place where Moses was buried.
13. Where Moses was buried is still a question.
14. No one has been where Moses was buried.
+While+ may connect a clause expressing +time+ or +concession+, or it may
connect +co-ordinate+ clauses.
15. Napoleon was a genius, while Wellington was a man of talents.
16. While we sleep, the body is rebuilt.
17. While Charles I. had many excellent traits, he was a bad king.
* * * * *
LESSON 106.
CONNECTIVES—CONTINUED.
Analysis.
+Direction+.—Use the appropriate connectives, and change these compound
sentences to complex without changing the meaning, and then analyze
them:—
(Let one dependent clause be an adjective clause; let three express cause;
five, condition; and two, concession.)
1. Caesar put the proffered crown aside, but he would fain have had it.
2. Take away honor and imagination and poetry from war, and it becomes
carnage.
3. His crime has been discovered, and he must flee.
4. You must eat, or you will die.
5. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom.
6. Let but the commons hear this testament, and they would go and kiss dead
Caesar’s wounds.
7. Men are carrying umbrellas; it is raining.
8. Have ye brave sons? look in the next fierce brawl to see them die.
9. The Senate knows this, the Consul sees it, and yet the traitor lives.
10. Take away the grandeur of his cause, and Washington is a rebel instead
of the purest of patriots.
11. The diamond is a sparkling gem, and it is pure carbon.
+Direction+.—Two of the dependent clauses below express condition, and
three express concession. Place an appropriate conjunction before each, and
then analyze the sentences:—
12. Should we fail, it can be no worse for us.
13. Had the Plantagenets succeeded in France, there would never have been
an England.
14. Were he my brother, I could do no more for him.
15. Were I so disposed, I could not gratify the reader.
16. Were I [Admiral Nelson] to die this moment, more frigates would be
found written on my heart.
* * * * *
LESSON 107.
CONSTRUCTION OF CONNECTIVES.
+Caution+.—Some conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs may stand in
correlation with other words. And may be accompanied by both; as, by
as, by so, or by such; but (but also and but likewise), by not
only; if, by then; nor, by neither; or, by either or by
whether; that, by so; the, by the; though, by yet; when, by
then; and where, by there.
Be careful that the right words stand in correlation, and stand where they
belong.
+Examples+.—Give me neither riches nor (not or) poverty. I cannot find
either my book or (not nor) my hat. Dogs not only bark (not not only
dogs bark) but also bite. Not only dogs (not dogs not only) bark but
wolves also. He was neither (not neither was) rich nor poor.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution, and correct these errors:—
1. He not only gave me advice but also money.
2. A theatrical part may either imply some peculiarity of gesture or a
dissimulation of my real sentiments.
3. She not only dressed richly but tastefully.
4. Neither Massachusetts or Pennsylvania has the population of New York.
5. Thales was not only famous for his knowledge of nature but also for his
moral wisdom.
6. Not only he is successful but he deserves to succeed.
7. There was nothing either strange nor interesting.
+Caution+.—Choose apt connectives, but do not use them needlessly or
instead of other parts of speech.
+Examples+.—Seldom, if (not or) ever, should an adverb stand between
to and the infinitive. I will try to (not and) do better next time.
No one can deny that (not but) he has money. [Footnote: See foot-note,
page 176.] A harrow is drawn over the ground, which (not and which)
covers the seed. Who doubts that (not but that or but what) Napoleon
lived [Footnote: See foot-note, page 176.] The doctor had scarcely left
when (not but) a patient called. He has no love for his father or
(not nor) for his mother (the negative no is felt throughout the
sentence, and need not be repeated by nor). He was not well, nor (not
or) was he sick (not is expended in the first clause; nor is needed
to make the second clause negative).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. The excellence of Virgil, and which he possesses beyond other poets, is
tenderness.
2. Try and recite the lesson perfectly to-morrow.
3. Who can doubt but that there is a God?
4. No one can eat nor drink while he is talking.
5. He seldom or ever went to church.
6. No one can deny but that the summer is the hottest season.
7. I do not know as I shall like it.
8. He said that, after he had asked the advice of all his friends, that he
was more puzzled than before.
+Caution+.—Else, other, otherwise, rather, and adjectives and
adverbs expressing a comparison are usually followed by than. But else,
other, and more, implying something additional, but not different in
kind, may be followed by but or besides.
+Examples+.—A diamond is nothing else than carbon. Junius was no other
than Sir Philip Francis. The cripple cannot walk otherwise than on
crutches. Americans would rather travel than stay at home. I rose
earlier than I intended. He can converse on other topics besides
politics.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. Battles are fought with other weapons besides pop-guns.
2. The moon is something else but green cheese.
3. Cornwallis could not do otherwise but surrender.
4. It was no other but the President.
5. He no sooner saw the enemy but he turned and ran.
+Caution+.—Two or more connected words or phrases referring to another
word or phrase should each make good sense with it.
+Examples+.—I have always (add said) and still do say that labor is
honorable. Shakespeare was greater than any other poet that has (add
lived) or is now alive. The boy is stronger than his sister, but not so
tall (not The boy is stronger, but not so tall, as his sister).
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Examples, and correct these
errors:—
1. Gold is heavier, but not so useful, as iron.
2. Gold is not so useful, but heavier, than iron.
3. This is as valuable, if not more so, than that.
4. Faithful boys have always and always will learn their lessons.
5. Bread is more nutritious, but not so cheap, as potatoes.
6. This dedication may serve for almost any book that has, is, or may be
published.
* * * * *
LESSON 108.
MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors, telling what Caution each violates:—
1. Carthage and Rome were rival powers: this city in Africa, and that in
Europe; the one on the northern coast of the Mediterranean, the other on
the southern.
2. The right and left lung were diseased.
3. The right and the left lungs were diseased.
4. My friend has sailed for Europe, who was here yesterday.
5. There are some men which are always young.
6. I cannot think but what God is good.
7. Thimbles, that are worn on the finger, are used in pushing the needle.
8. A told B that he was his best friend.
9. Them scissors are very dull.
10. Ethan Allen, being a rash man, he tried to capture Canada.
11. The lady that was thrown from the carriage, and who was picked up
insensible, died.
12. The eye and ear have different offices.
13. I only laugh when I feel like it.
14. This is the same man who called yesterday.
15. He was an humble man.
16. He was thrown forward onto his face.
17. A knows more, but does not talk so well, as B.
18. The book cost a dollar, and which is a great price.
19. At what wharf does the boat stop at?
20. The music sounded harshly.
21. He would neither go himself or send anybody.
22. It isn’t but a short distance.
23. The butter is splendid.
24. The boy was graceful and tall.
25. He hasn’t, I don’t suppose, laid by much.
26. One would rather have few friends than a few friends.
27. He is outrageously proud.
28. Not only the boy skated but he enjoyed it.
29. He has gone way out West.
30. Who doubts but what two and two are four?
31. Some people never have and never will bathe in salt water.
32. The problem was difficult to exactly understand.
33. It was the length of your finger.
34. He bought a condensed can of milk.
35. The fish breathes with other organs besides lungs.
36. The death is inevitable.
37. She wore a peculiar kind of a dress.
38. When shall we meet together?
39. He talks like you do. [Footnote: The use of the verb do as a
substitute for a preceding verb is one of the most remarkable idioms in
the language. In its several forms it stands for the finite forms and
for the infinitive and the participle of verbs, transitive and
intransitive, regular and irregular. It prevents repetition, and hence
is euphonic; it abbreviates expression, and therefore is energetic.]
40. This word has a different source than that.
41. No sooner did I arrive when he called.
* * * * *
LESSON 109.
VARIOUS USES OF WHAT, THAT, AND BUT.
+What+ may be used as a +relative pronoun+, an +interrogative pronoun+, a
+definitive adjective+, an +adverb+, and an +interjection+.
+Examples+.—He did what was right. What did he say? What man is
happy with the toothache? What with confinement and what with bad diet,
the prisoner found himself reduced to a skeleton (here what = partly,
and modifies the phrase following it). What! you a lion?
+That+ may be used as a +relative pronoun+, an +adjective+ +pronoun+, a
+definitive adjective+, a +conjunction+, and a +conjunctive adverb+.
+Examples+.—He that does a good deed is instantly ennobled. That is
heroism. That man is a hero. We eat that we may live. It was so cold
that the mercury froze.
+But+ may be used as a +conjunction+, an +adverb+, an +adjective+, and a
+preposition+.
+Examples+.—The ostrich is a bird, but (adversative conjunction) it
cannot fly. Not a sparrow falls but (= unless—subordinate conjunction)
God wills it. He was all but (conjunction or preposition) dead = He was
all dead, but he was not dead, or He was all (anything in that line)
except (the climax) dead. No man is so wicked but (conjunctive adverb)
he loves virtue = No man is wicked to that degree in which he loves not
virtue (so = to that degree, but = in which not). We meet but
(adverb = only) to part. Life is but (adjective = only) a dream. All
but (preposition = except) him had fled. The tears of love were
hopeless but (preposition = except) for thee. I cannot but remember =
I cannot do anything but (preposition = except) remember. There is no
fireside but (preposition) has one vacant chair (except the one which
has); or, regarding but as a negative relative = that not, the sentence
= There is no fireside that has not one vacant chair.
+Direction+.—Study the examples given above, point out the exact use of
what, that, and but in these sentences, and then analyze the sentences:—
1. He did nothing but laugh.
2. It was once supposed that crystal is ice frozen so hard that it cannot
be thawed.
3. What love equals a mother’s?
4. There is nobody here but me.
5. The fine arts were all but proscribed.
6. There’s not a breeze but whispers of thy name.
7. The longest life is but a day.
8. What if the bee love not these barren boughs?
9. That life is long which answers life’s great end.
10. What! I the weaker vessel?
11. Whom should I obey but thee?
12 What by industry and what by economy, he had amassed a fortune.
13. I long ago found that out.
14. One should not always eat what he likes.
15. There’s not a white hair on your face but should have its effect of
gravity.
16. It was a look that, but for its quiet, would have seemed disdain.
17. He came but to return.
* * * * *
LESSON 110.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
Lesson 85.—Define a noun. What is the distinction between a common and a
proper noun? Why is music a common noun? What is a collective noun? An
abstract noun? Define a pronoun. What are the classes of pronouns? Define
them. What is an antecedent?
Lesson 86.—Give and illustrate the Cautions respecting he, it, and
they; the needless use of pronouns; the two styles of the pronoun; the
use of them for those, and of what for that; and the use of who,
which, that, and what.
Lesson 87.—Give and illustrate the Cautions respecting connected
relative clauses; the relative in clauses not restrictive; the use of
that instead of who or which; the position of the relative clause;
and the use of this and that, the one and the other.
Lesson 89.—Define an adjective. What two classes are there? Define them.
What adjectives do not limit? Illustrate.
Lesson 90.—Give and illustrate the Cautions respecting the use of the
adjectives an, a, and the; and the use of a few and few, a
little and little.
Lesson 91.—Give and illustrate the Cautious respecting the choice and
the position of adjectives.
Lesson_ 93.—Define a verb. What are transitive verbs? Intransitive?
_Illustrate. What distinction is made between the object and the object
complement? What are regular verbs? Irregular? Illustrate. What are the
several classes of adverbs? Define them. What is a conjunctive adverb?
Lesson 93.—Give and illustrate the Cautions respecting the choice and
the position of adverbs, the use of double negatives, and the use of
adverbs for adjectives and of adjectives for adverbs.
* * * * *
LESSON 111.
REVIEW QUESTIONS—CONTINUED.
Lesson 95.—Define a preposition. Name some of the common prepositions.
What is said of some prepositions ending in ing? Of but, except, and
save? Of certain compound prepositions? When do prepositions become
adverbs?
Lesson 98.—Give and illustrate the Caution as to the choice of
prepositions. What, in general, is the difference between in and into?
Lesson 99.—Give and illustrate the two Cautions relating to the use of
prepositions.
Lesson 100.—Define a conjunction. What are the two great classes of
conjunctions, and what is their difference? What other parts of speech
besides conjunctions connect? What are adverbs that connect called? Into
what three classes are co-ordinate connectives subdivided? Give some of the
conjunctions and the conjunctive adverbs of each class. What three kinds of
clauses are connected by subordinate connectives? The connectives of adverb
clauses are subdivided into what classes? Give a leading connective of each
class.
Lessons 104, 105.—Illustrate two or more offices of each of the
connectives as, if, lest, since, that, when, where, and
while.
Lesson 107.—Give and illustrate the four Cautions relating to the
construction of connectives.
Lesson 109.—Illustrate the offices of what, that, and but.
* * * * *
GENERAL REVIEW.
Schemes for the Conjunction, Preposition, and Interjection.
(The numbers refer to Lessons.)
| Co-Ordinate. |
THE CONJUNCTION. +Classes+. + Subordinate + 106-107.
| |
THE PREPOSITION. No Classes (95, 98, 99).
THE INTERJECTION. No Classes (20, 21).
MODIFICATIONS OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.
* * * * *
LESSON 112.
+Introductory Hints+.—You have learned that two words may express a
thought, and that the thought may be varied by adding modifying words. You
are now to learn that the meaning or use of a word may be changed by simply
changing its form. The English language has lost most of its inflections,
or forms, so that many of the changes in the meaning and the use of words
are not now marked by changes in form. These changes in the form, the
meaning, and the use of the parts of speech we call their +Modifications+.
[Footnote: Those grammarians that attempt to restrict number, case, mode,
etc.—what we here call Modifications—to form, find themselves within
bounds which they continually overleap. They define number, for instance,
as a form, or inflection, and yet speak of nouns “plural in form but
singular in sense,” or “singular in form but plural in sense;” that is, if
you construe them rigorously, plural or singular in form but singular or
plural form in sense. They tell you that case is a form, and yet insist
that nouns have three cases, though only two forms; and speak of the
nominative and the objective case of the noun, “although in fact the two
cases are always the same in form”—the two forms always the same in form!
On the other hand, those that make what we call Modifications denote only
relations or conditions of words cannot cling to these abstract terms. For
instance, they ask the pupil to “pronounce and write the possessive of
nouns,” hardly expecting, we suppose, that the “condition” of a noun will
be sounded or written; and they speak of “a noun in the singular with a
plural application,” in which expression singular must be taken to mean
singular form to save it from sheer nonsense.
We know no way to steer clear of Scylla and keep out of Charybdis but to do
what by the common use of the word we are allowed; viz., to take
Modifications with such breadth of signification that it will apply to
meaning and to use, as well as to form. Primarily, of course, it meant
inflections, used to mark changes in the meaning and use of words. But we
shall use Modifications to indicate changes in meaning and use when the
form in the particular instance is wanting, nowhere, however, recognizing
that as a modification which is not somewhere marked by form.]
Modifications of Nouns and Pronouns.
NUMBER.
The boy shouts. The boys shout. The form of the subject boy is
changed by adding an s to it. The meaning has changed. Boy denotes one
lad; boys, two or more lads. This change in the form and the meaning of
nouns is called +Number+; the word boy, denoting one thing, is in the
+Singular Number+; and boys, denoting more than one thing, is in the
+Plural Number+. Number expresses only the distinction of one from more
than one; to express more precisely how many, we use adjectives, and say
two boys, four boys, many or several boys.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Modifications of the Parts of Speech are changes in their form, meaning,
and use+.
+Number is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes one thing
or more than one.+
+The Singular Number denotes one thing+.
+The Plural Number denotes more than one thing+.
NUMBER FORMS.
+RULE.—The plural of nouns is regularly formed by adding s to the
singular+.
To this rule there are some exceptions.
When the singular ends in a sound that cannot unite with that of s, es
is added and forms another syllable.[Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, as was the
plural termination for a certain class of nouns. In later English, as was
changed to es, which became the regular plural ending; as, bird-es,
cloud-es. In modern English, e is dropped, and s is joined to the
singular without increase of syllables. But, when the singular ends in an
s-sound, the original syllable es is retained, as two hissing sounds
will not unite.]
+Remark+.—Such words as horse, niche, and cage drop the final e
when es is added. See Rule 1, Lesson 137.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns, and note
what letters represent sounds that cannot unite with the sound of +s+:—
Ax or axe, arch, adz or adze, box, brush, cage, chaise, cross, ditch,
face, gas, glass, hedge, horse, lash, lens, niche, prize, race, topaz.
The following nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant add es without
increase of syllables.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Buffalo, calico, cargo, echo, embargo, grotto, hero, innuendo, motto,
mosquito, mulatto, negro, portico (oes or os), potato, tornado,
torpedo, veto, volcano.
The following nouns in o preceded by a consonant add s only.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Canto, domino (os or oes), duodecimo, halo, junto, lasso, memento,
octavo, piano, proviso, quarto, salvo, solo, two, tyro, zero (os or
oes).
Nouns in o preceded by a vowel add s.
Bamboo, cameo, cuckoo, embryo, folio, portfolio, seraglio, trio.
Common nouns [Footnote: See Rule 2, Lesson 127. In old English, such words
as lady and fancy were spelled ladie, fancie. The modern plural
simply retains the old spelling and adds s,] in y after a consonant
change y into i and add es without increase of syllables. Nouns in
y after a vowel add s.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Alley, ally, attorney, chimney, city, colloquy, [Footnote: U after q is
a consonant] daisy, essay, fairy, fancy, kidney, lady, lily, money, monkey,
mystery, soliloquy, turkey, valley, vanity.
The following nouns change f or fe into ves.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Beef, calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, staff,
[Footnote: Staff (a stick or support), staves or staffs; staff (a
body of officers), staffs. The compounds of staff are regular; as,
flagstaffs.] thief, wharf, [Footnote: In England, generally wharfs.]
wife, wolf.
The following nouns in f and fe are regular.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Belief, brief, chief, dwarf, fife, grief, gulf, hoof, kerchief, proof,
reef, roof, safe, scarf, strife, waif.
(Nouns in ff, except staff, are regular; as, cuff, cuffs.)
The following plurals are still more irregular.
+Direction+.—Learn to form the following plurals:—
Child, children; foot, feet; goose, geese; louse, lice; man, men; mouse,
mice; Mr., Messrs.; ox, oxen; tooth, teeth; woman, women.
(For the plurals of pronouns, see Lesson 124.)
* * * * *
LESSON 113.
NUMBER FORMS—CONTINUED.
Some nouns adopted from foreign languages still retain their original
plural forms. Some of these take the English plural also.
+Direction+.—Learn to form the following plurals:—
Analysis, analyses; antithesis, antitheses; appendix, appendices or
appendixes; automaton, automata or automatons; axis, axes; bandit,
banditti or bandits; basis, bases; beau, beaux or beaus; cherub,
cherubim or cherubs; crisis, crises; datum, data; ellipsis, ellipses;
erratum, errata; focus, foci: fungus, fungi or funguses; genus, genera;
hypothesis, hypotheses; ignis fatuus, ignes fatui; madame, mesdames; magus,
magi; memorandum, memoranda or memorandums; monsieur, messieurs; nebula,
nebulae; oasis, oases; parenthesis, parentheses; phenomenon, phenomena;
radius, radii or radiuses; seraph, seraphim or seraphs; stratum,
strata; synopsis, synopses; terminus, termini; vertebra, vertebrae; vortex,
vortices or vortexes.
The following compound nouns, in which the principal word stands first,
vary the first word; as, sons-in-law.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of the following words:—
Aid-de-camp, attorney-at-law, billet-doux, [Footnote: Plural, billets-doux,
pronounced bil’-la:-doo:z ] commander-in-chief, court-martial,
cousin-german, father-in-law, hanger-on, man-of-war.
The following, and most compounds, vary the last word; as, pailfuls,
gentle_men_. [Footnote: Pails full is not a compound. This expression
denotes a number of pails, each full.]
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Courtyard, dormouse, Englishman, fellow-servant, fisherman, Frenchman,
forget-me-not, goose-quill, handful, maid-servant, man-trap, mouthful,
pianoforte, portemonnaie, spoonful, stepson, tete-a-tete, tooth-brush.
The following nouns (except Norman) are not compounds of man—add s
to all.
Brahman, German, Mussulman, Norman, Ottoman, talisman.
The following compounds vary both parts; as, man-singer, men-singers.
+Direction+.—Form the plural of each of the following nouns:—
Man-child, man-servant, woman-servant, woman-singer.
Compounds consisting of a proper name preceded by a title form the plural
by varying either the title or the name; as, the Miss Clarks or the
Misses Clark; but, when the title Mrs. is used, the name is usually
varied; as, the Mrs. Clarks. [Footnote: Of the two forms, the Miss
Clarks and the Misses Clark, we believe that the former is most used by
the best authors. The latter, except in formal notes or when the title is
to be emphasized, is rather stiff if not pedantic. Some authorities say
that, when a numeral precedes the title, the name should always be varied;
as, the two Miss Clarks.
The forms, the Misses Clarks and the two Mrs. Clark, have little
authority.]
+Direction+.—Form the plural of the following compounds:—
Miss Jones, Mr. Jones, General Lee, Dr. Brown, Master Green.
A title used with two or more different names is made plural; as, Drs.
Grimes and Steele, Messrs. Clark and Maynard.
+Direction+.—Put each of the following expressions in its proper form:—
General Lee and Jackson; Miss Mary, Julia, and Anna Scott; Mr, Green,
Stacy, & Co.
Letters, figures, and other characters add the apostrophe and s to form
the plural; [Footnote: Some good writers form the plural of words named
merely as words, in the same way; as, the if’s and and’s; but the (‘)
is here unnecessary.] as, a’s, 2’s, ——’s.
+Direction.+—Form the plural of each of the following characters:—S,
i, t, +, x, [Dagger], 9, 1, 1/4, [Yough], [Cyrillic: E].
* * * * *
LESSON 114.
NUMBER FORMS—CONTINUED.
Some nouns have two plurals differing in meaning.
+Direction.+—Learn these plurals and their meanings:—
Brother,
brothers (by blood),
brethren (of the same society).
Cannon,
cannons (individuals),
cannon (in a collective sense).
Die,
dies (stamps for coining),
dice (cubes for gaming).
Fish,
fishes (individuals),
fish (collection). [Footnote: The names of several sorts of fish, as,
herring, shad, trout, etc. are used in the same way. The compounds of
fish, as codfish, have the same form in both numbers.]
Foot,
feet (parts of the body),
foot (foot-soldiers).
Genius,
geniuses (men of genius),
genii (spirits).
Head,
heads (parts of the body),
head (of cattle).
Horse,
horses (animals),
horse (horse-soldiers).
Index,
indexes (tables of reference),
indices (signs in algebra).
Penny,
pennies (distinct coins),
pence (quantity in value).
Sail,
sails (pieces of canvas),
sail (vessels).
Shot,
shots (number of times fired),
shot (number of balls).
The following nouns and pronouns have the same form in both numbers.
+Direction.+—Study the following list:—
Bellows, corps, [Footnote: The singular is pronounced ko:r, the plural
ko:rz.] deer, gross, grouse, hose, means, odds, pains (care), series,
sheep, species, swine, vermin, who, which, that (relative), what, any,
none.
(The following have two forms in the plural).
Apparatus, apparatus or apparatuses; heathen, heathen or heathens.
(The following nouns have the same form in both numbers when used with
numerals; they add s in other cases; as, four score, by scores.)
Dozen, score, yoke, hundred, thousand.
The following nouns have no plural.
(These are generally names of materials, qualities, or sciences.)
Names of materials when taken in their full or strict sense can have no
plural, but they may be plural when kinds of the material or things made of
it are referred to; as, cottons, coffees, tins, coppers.
+Direction.+—Study the following list of words:—
Bread, coffee, copper, flour, gold, goodness, grammar (science, not a
book), grass, hay, honesty, iron, lead, marble, meekness, milk, molasses,
music, peace, physiology, pride, tin, water.
The following plural forms are commonly used in the singular.
Acoustics, ethics, mathematics, politics (and other names of sciences in
ics), amends, measles, news.
The following words are always plural.
(Such words are generally names of things double or multiform in their
character.)
+Direction+.—Study the following list:—
Aborigines, annals, ashes, assets, clothes, fireworks, hysterics, literati,
mumps, nippers, oats, pincers, rickets, scissors, shears, snuffers, suds,
thanks, tongs, tidings, trousers, victuals, vitals.
The following were originally singular forms, but they are now treated as
plural.
Alms (Anglo-Saxon aelmaesse), eaves (A. S. efese), riches (Norman
French richesse).
The following have no singular corresponding in meaning.
Colors (flag), compasses (dividers), goods (property), grounds (dregs),
letters (literature), manners (behavior), matins (morning service); morals
(character), remains (dead body), spectacles (glasses), stays (corsets),
vespers (evening service).
(The singular form is sometimes an adjective.)
Bitters, greens, narrows, sweets, valuables, etc.
Collective nouns are treated as plural when the individuals in the
collection are thought of, and as singular when the collection as a whole
is thought of.
+Examples+.—The committee were unable to agree, and they asked to be
discharged. A committee was appointed, and its report will soon be
made.
(Collective nouns have plural forms; as, committees, armies.)
* * * * *
LESSON 115.
REVIEW IN NUMBER.
+Direction+.—Write the plural of the singular nouns and pronouns in the
following list, and the singular of those that are plural; give the Rule or
the Remark that applies to each; and note those that have no plural, and
those that have no singular:—
Hope, age, bench, bush, house, loss, tax, waltz, potato, shoe, colony,
piano, kangaroo, pulley, wharf, staff, fife, loaf, flagstaff, handkerchief,
Mr., child, ox, beaux, cherubim, mesdames, termini, genus, genius, bagnio,
theory, galley, muff, mystery, colloquy, son-in-law, man-of-war, spoonful,
maid-servant, Frenchman, German, man-servant, Dr. Smith, Messrs. Brown and
Smith, x, 1/2, deer, series, bellows, molasses, pride, politics, news,
sunfish, clothes, alms, goods, grounds, greens, who, that.
+Direction.+—Give five words that have no plural, five that have no
singular, and five that have the same form in both numbers.
+Direction.+—Correct the following plurals, and give the Remark that
applies to each:—
Stagees, foxs, mosquitos, calicos, heros, soloes, babys, trioes, chimnies,
storys, elfs, beefs, scarves, oxes, phenomenons, axises, terminuses,
genuses, mother-in-laws, aldermans, Mussulmen, teeth-brushes, mouthsful,
attorney-at-laws, man-childs, geese-quills, 2s, ms. swines.
* * * * *
LESSON 116.
NUMBER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.
The number of a noun may be determined not only by its form but also by the
verb, the adjective, and the pronoun used in connection with it.
+Remark.+—These scissors are so dull that I cannot use them. The
plurality of scissors is here made known in four ways. In the following
sentence this, is, and it are incorrectly used: This scissors is so
dull that I cannot use it.
+Direction+.—Construct sentences in which the number of each of the
following nouns shall be indicated by the form of the verb, by the
adjective, and by the pronoun used in connection with it:—
(With the singular nouns use the verbs is, was, and has been; the
adjectives an, one, this, and that; the pronouns he, his, him, she,
her, it, and its.)
(With the plural nouns use the verbs are, were, and have been; the
adjectives these, those, and two; the pronouns they, their, and
them.)
Bellows, deer, fish, gross, means, series, species, heathen, trout, iron,
irons, news, eaves, riches, oats, vermin, molasses, Misses, brethren, dice,
head (of cattle), pennies, child, parent, family, crowd, meeting.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which the first three of the following
adjective pronouns shall be used as singular subjects, the fourth as a
plural subject, and the remainder both as singular and as plural
subjects:—
Each, either, neither, both, former, none, all, any.
* * * * *
LESSON 117.
NOUNS AND PRONOUNS—GENDER.
+Introductory Hints+.—The lion was caged. The lioness was caged. In the
first sentence something is said about a male lion, and in the second
something is said about a female lion. The modification of the noun to
denote the sex of the thing which it names is called +Gender+. Lion,
denoting a male animal, is in the +Masculine Gender; and lioness,
denoting a female animal, is in the +Feminine Gender+. Names of things that
are without sex are said to be in the +Neuter Gender+. Such nouns as
cousin, child, friend, neighbor are either masculine or feminine. Such
words are sometimes said to be in the Common Gender.
Sex belongs to the thing; and gender, to the noun that names the thing.
Knowing the sex of the thing or its lack of sex, you know the gender of the
noun in English that names it; for in our language gender follows the sex.
But in such modern languages as the French and the German, and in Latin and
Greek, the gender of nouns naming things without reference to sex is
determined by the likeness of their endings in sound to the endings of
words denoting things with sex. The German for table is a masculine noun,
the French is feminine, and the English, of course, is neuter. [Footnote:
In Anglo-Saxon, the mother-tongue of our language, gender was grammatical,
as in the French and the German; but, since the union of the Norman-French
with the Anglo-Saxon to form the English, gender has followed sex.]
* * * * *
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Gender is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes sex+.
+The Masculine Gender denotes the male sex+.
+The Feminine Gender denotes the female sex+.
+The Neuter Gender denotes want of sex+.
Gender Forms.
No English nouns have distinctive neuter forms, but a lew have different
forms to distinguish the masculine from the feminine.
The masculine is distinguished from the feminine in three ways:—
1st. By a difference in the ending of the words.
2d. By different words in the compound names.
3d. By using words wholly or radically different.
Ess is the most common ending for feminine nouns. [Footnote: The suffix
ess came into the English language from the Norman-French. It displaced
the feminine termination of the mother-tongue (A. S. estre, old English
ster). The original meaning of ster is preserved in spinster. Er
(A. S. ere) was originally a masculine suffix; but it now generally
denotes an agent without reference to sex; as, read-er, speak-er.]
+Direction+.—Form the feminine of each of the following masculine nouns
by adding e s s :—
Author, baron, count, deacon, giant, god (see Rule 3, Lesson 127), heir,
host, Jew, lion, patron, poet, prince (see Rule 1, Lesson 127), prior,
prophet, shepherd, tailor, tutor.
(Drop the vowel e or o in the ending of the masculine, and add ess.)
Actor, ambassador, arbiter, benefactor, conductor, director, editor,
enchanter, hunter, idolater, instructor, preceptor, tiger, waiter.
(Drop the masculine er or or, and add the feminine ess.)
Adventurer, caterer, governor, murderer, sorcerer.
(The following are somewhat irregular.)
+Direction+.—Learn these forms:—
Abbot, abbess; duke, duchess; emperor, empress; lad, lass; marquis,
marchioness; master, mistress; negro, negress.
Ess was formerly more common than now. Such words as editor and
author are now frequently used to denote persons of either sex.
+Direction+.—Give five nouns ending in e r or o r that may be applied to
either sex.
Some words, mostly foreign, have various endings in the feminine.
+Direction+.—Learn the following forms:—
Administrator, administratrix; Augustus, Augusta; beau, belle; Charles,
Charlotte; Cornelius, Cornelia; czar, czarina; don, donna; equestrian,
equestrienne; executor, executrix; Francis, Frances; George, Georgiana;
Henry, Henrietta; hero, heroine; infante, infanta; Jesse, Jessie; Joseph,
Josephine; Julius, Julia or Juliet; landgrave, landgravine; Louis, Louisa
or Louise; Paul, Pauline; signore or signor, siguora; sultan, sultana;
testator, testatrix; widower, widow.
In some compounds distinguishing words are prefixed or affixed.
+Direction+.—Learn the following forms:—
Billy-goat, nanny-goat; buck-rabbit, doe-rabbit; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow;
Englishman, Englishwoman; gentleman, gentlewoman; grandfather, grandmother;
he-bear, she-bear; landlord, landlady; man-servant, maid-servant; merman,
mermaid; Mr. Jones, Mrs. or Miss Jones; peacock, peahen.
Words wholly or radically different are used to distinguish the masculine
from the feminine.
(This is a matter pertaining to the dictionary rather than to grammar.)
+Direction+.—Learn the following forms:—
Bachelor, maid; buck, doe; drake, duck; earl, countess; friar or monk,
nun; gander, goose; hart, roe; lord, lady; nephew, niece; sir, madam; stag,
hind; steer, heifer; wizard, witch; youth, damsel or maiden.
The pronoun has three gender forms:—Masculine he, feminine she, and
neuter it. [Footnote: It, although a neuter form, is used idiomatically
to refer to a male or a female as, It was John; It was Mary.]
+Direction+.—Give five examples of each of the three ways of
distinguishing the masculine from the feminine.
* * * * *
LESSON 118.
GENDER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.
Gender as a matter of orthography is of some importance, but in grammar it
is chiefly important as involving the correct use of the pronouns he,
she, and it.
When a singular noun is used so as to imply persons of both sexes, it is
commonly represented by a masculine pronoun. [Footnote: When it is
necessary to distinguish the sexes, both the masculine and the feminine
pronoun should be used; as, Each person was required to name his or her
favorite flower.]
+Example+.—Every person has his faults.
The names of animals are often considered as masculine or feminine without
regard to the real sex.
+Examples+.—The grizzly bear is the most savage of his race. The cat
steals upon her prey.
+Remark+.—The writer employs he or she according as he fancies the
animal to possess masculine or feminine characteristics. He is more
frequently employed than she.
The neuter pronoun it is often used with reference to animals and very
young children, the sex being disregarded.
+Examples+.—When the deer is alarmed, it gives two or three graceful
springs. The little child reached out its hand to catch the sunbeam.
+Remark+.—It is quite generally used instead of he or she, in
referring to an animal, unless some masculine or feminine quality seems to
predominate.
Inanimate things are often represented as living beings, that is, they are
personified, and are referred to by the pronoun he or she.
+Example+.—The oak shall send his roots abroad and pierce thy mold.
+Remark+.—The names of objects distinguished for size, power, or sublimity
are regarded as masculine; and the names of those distinguished for grace,
beauty, gentleness, or productiveness are considered as feminine.
Personification adds beauty and animation to style.
+Direction+.—Study what is said above, and then fill each of the blanks
in the following sentences with a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter
pronoun, and in each case give the reason for your selection:—
1. No one else is so much alone in the universe as —— who denies God.
2. A person’s manners not unfrequently indicate —— morals,
3. Everybody should think for ——.
4. The forest’s leaping panther shall yield —— spotted hide.
5. The catamount lies in the boughs to watch —— prey.
6. The mocking-bird poured from —— little throat floods of delirious
music.
7. The wild beast from —— cavern sprang, the wild bird from —— grove.
8. The night-sparrow trills —— song.
9. The elephant is distinguished for —— strength and sagacity.
10. The bat is nocturnal in —— habits.
11. The dog is faithful to —— master.
12. The child was unconscious of —— danger.
13. The fox is noted for —— cunning.
14. Belgium’s capital had gathered then —— beauty and —— chivalry.
15. Despair extends —— raven wing.
16. Life mocks the idle hate of —— arch-enemy, Death.
17. Spring comes forth —— work of gladness to contrive.
18. Truth is fearless, yet —— is meek and modest.
+Direction+.—Write sentences in which the things named below shall be
personified by means of masculine pronouns:—
Death, time, winter, war, sun, river, wind.
+Direction+.—Write sentences in which the things named below shall be
personified by means of feminine pronouns:—
Ship, moon, earth, spring, virtue, nature, night, England.
+Caution+.—Avoid changing the gender of the pronoun when referring to the
same antecedent.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. The polar bear is comparatively rare in menageries, as it suffers so
much from the heat that he is not easily preserved in confinement.
2. The cat, when it comes to the light, contracts and elongates the pupil
of her eye.
3. Summer clothes herself in green, and decks itself with flowers.
4. War leaves his victim on the field, and homes desolated by it mourn over
her cruelty.
* * * * *
LESSON 119.
NOUNS AND PRONOUNS—PERSON AND CASE.
+Introductory Hints+.—Number and gender, as you have learned, are
modifications affecting the meaning of nouns and pronouns—number being
almost always indicated by form, or inflection; gender, sometimes. There
are two modifications which do not refer to changes in the meaning of nouns
and pronouns but to their different uses and relations. These uses and
relations are not generally indicated by form, or inflection.
I, Paul, have written. Paul, thou art beside thyself. He brought
Paul before Agrippa. In these three sentences the word Paul has three
different uses, though, as you see, its form is not changed. In the first
it is used to name the speaker; in the second, to name the one spoken to;
in the third, to name the one spoken of. These different uses of nouns and
pronouns and the forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification
called +Person+. I, thou, and he are personal pronouns, and, as you see,
distinguish person by their form. I, denoting the speaker, is in the
+First Person+; thou, denoting the one spoken to, is in the +Second
Person+; and he, denoting the one spoken of, is in the +Third Person+.
Instead of I a writer or speaker may use the plural we; and through
courtesy it came to be customary, except among the Friends, or in the
language of prayer and poetry, to use the plural you instead of thou.
The bear killed the man. The man killed the bear. The bear’s grease
was made into hair oil. In the first sentence the bear is represented as
performing an act; in the second, as receiving an act; in the third, as
possessing something. These different uses of nouns and pronouns and the
forms used to mark these uses constitute the modification called +Case+. A
noun used as subject is in the +Nominative Case+; used as object complement
it is in the +Objective Case+; and used to denote possession it is in the
+Possessive Case+.
Some of the pronouns have a special form for each case; but of nouns the
possessive case is the only one that is now marked by a peculiar form. We
inflect below a noun from the Anglo-Saxon, [Footnote: The Anglo-Saxon cases
are nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative; the Latin are
nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative; the
English are nominative, possessive (genitive), and objective.
ANGLO-SAXON.
Hlaford, lord.
Singular. Plural.
Nom. hlaford, hlaford-as.
Gen. hlaford-es, hlaford-a.
Dat. hlaford-e, hlaford-um.
Acc. hlaford, hlaford-as.
Voc. hlaford, hlaford-as.
LATIN.
Dominus, lord.
Singular. Plural.
Nom. domin-us, domin-i.
Gen. domin-i, domin-orum.
Dat. domin-o, domin-is.
Acc. domin-um, domin-os.
Voc. domin-e, domin-i.
Ab. domin-o, domin-is.
ENGLISH.
Lord.
Singular.
Nom. lord,
Pos. lord-‘s,
Obj. lord;
Plural.
Nom. lord-s,
Pos. lord-s’,
Obj. lord-s.]
and one from the Latin, the parent of the Norman-French, in order that you
may see how cases and the inflections to mark them have been dropped in
English. In English, prepositions have largely taken the place of case
forms, and it is thought that by them our language can express the many
relations of nouns to other words in the sentence better than other
languages can by their cumbrous machinery of inflection.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Person is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes the
speaker, the one spoken to, or the one spoken of+.
+The First Person denotes the one speaking+.
+The Second Person denotes the one spoken to+.
+The Third Person denotes the one spoken of+.
A noun is said to be of the first person when joined as an explanatory
modifier to a pronoun of the first person; as, I, John, saw these things;
We Americans are always in a hurry. [Footnote: It is doubtful whether a
noun is ever of the first person. It may be said that, in the sentence I,
John, saw these things, John speaks of his own name, the expression
meaning, I, and my name is John, etc.]
A noun is of the second person when used as explanatory of a pronoun of the
second person, or when used independently as a term of address; as, Ye
crags and peaks; Idle time, John, is ruinous.
+Direction+.—Compose sentences in which there shall be two examples of
nouns and two of pronouns used in each of the three persons.
+Person Forms+.
Personal pronouns and verbs are the only classes of words that have
distinctive person forms.
+Direction+.—From the forms of the pronouns given in Lesson 124, select
and write in one list all the first person forms; in another list, all the
second person forms; and in another, all the third person forms.
Person is regarded in grammar because the verb sometimes varies its form to
agree with the person of its subject; as, I see; Thou seest; He sees.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Case is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes its office
in the sentence+.
+The Nominative Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as subject
or as attribute complement+.
+The Possessive Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as
possessive modifier+.
+The Objective Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as object
complement, or as principal word in a prepositional phrase+.
A noun or pronoun used independently is said to be in the nominative case.
+Examples+.—I am, dear madam, your friend. Alas, poor Yorick! He
being dead, we shall live. Liberty, it has fled! (See Lesson 44.)
A noun or pronoun used as explanatory modifier is in the same case as the
word explained—”is put by apposition in the same case.”
+Examples+.—The first colonial Congress, that of 1774, addressed the
King, George III. He buys is goods at Stewart’s, the dry-goods
merchant.
A noun or pronoun used as objective complement is in the objective case.
+Examples+.—They made him speaker. He made it all it is.
A noun or pronoun used as attribute complement of a participle or an
infinitive is in the same case (Nom. or Obj.) as the word to which it
relates as attribute.
+Examples+.—Being an artist, he appreciated it. I proved it to be
him.
+Remark+.—When the assumed subject of the participle or the infinitive is
a possessive, the attribute complement is said to be in the nominative
case; as, Its being he [Footnote: The case of he in these examples is
rather doubtful. The nominative and the objective forms of the pronoun
occur so rarely in such constructions that it seems impossible to determine
the usage. It is therefore a matter of no great practical importance.
Some, reasoning from the analogy of the Latin, would put the attribute
complement of the abstract infinitive in the objective, supposing for and
some other word to be understood; as, For one to be him, etc. Others,
reasoning from the German, to which our language is closely allied, would
put this complement in the nominative.
The assumed subject of the infinitive being omitted when it is the same in
sense as the principal subject, him, in the sentence I wish (me or
myself) to be him, is the proper form, being in the same case as me.]
should make no difference. When the participle or the infinitive is used
abstractly, without an assumed subject, its attribute complement is also
said to be in the nominative case; as, To be he [Footnote: See footnote
above.] is to be a scholar; Being a scholar is not being an idler.
+Direction+.—Study carefully the Definitions and the Remark above, and
then compose sentences in which a noun or a pronoun shall be put in the
nominative case in four ways; in the objective in five ways; in the
possessive in two ways.
* * * * *
LESSON 120.
ANALYSIS AND PARSING.
+Direction.+—Analyze the following sentences, and give the case of each
noun and pronoun:—
1. Not to know what happened before we were born is to be always a child.
2. His being a Roman saved him from being made a prisoner.
3. I am this day weak, though anointed king.
+Explanation.+—Nouns used adverbially are in the objective case because
equivalent to the principal word of a prepositional phrase. (See Lesson
35.)
4. What made Cromwell a great man was his unshaken reliance on God.
5. Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, was not a prophet’s son.
6. Arnold’s success as teacher was remarkable.
+Explanation.+—Teacher, introduced by as and used without a possessive
sign, is explanatory of Arnold’s.
7. Worship thy Creator, God; and obey his Son, the Master, King, and
Saviour of men.
8. Bear ye one another’s [Footnote: For the use of one another, see
Lesson 124.] burdens.
+Explanation.+—The singular one is explanatory of the plural ye, or
one another’s may be treated as a compound.
9. What art thou, execrable shape, that darest advance?
10. O you hard hearts! you cruel men of Rome!
11. Everybody acknowledges Shakespeare to be the greatest of dramatists.
12. Think’st thou this heart could feel a moment’s joy, thou being absent?
13. Our great forefathers had left him naught to conquer but his country.
(For the case of him see explanation of (3) above.)
14. I will attend to it myself.
+Explanation+.—Myself may be treated as explanatory of I.
15. This news of papa’s puts me all in a flutter. [Footnote: See second
foot-note, page 247.]
16. What means that hand upon that breast of thine? [Footnote: See second
foot-note, page 247.]
* * * * *
LESSON 121.
PARSING.
+TO THE TEACHER+.—We do not believe that the chief end of the study of
grammar Is to be able to parse well, or even to analyze well, though
without question analysis reveals more clearly than parsing the structure
of the sentence, and is immeasurably superior to it as intellectual
gymnastics. We would not do away with parsing altogether, but would give it
a subordinate place.
But we must be allowed an emphatic protest against the needless and
mechanical quoting, in parsing, of “Rules of Syntax.” When a pupil has said
that such a noun is in the nominative case, subject of such a verb, what is
gained by a repetition of the definition in the Rule: “A noun or a pronoun
which is the subject of a finite verb is in the nominative case”? Let the
reasons for the disposition of words, when given at all, be specific.
+Parsing+—a word is giving its classification, its modifications, and its
syntax, i.e., its relation to other words.
+Direction+.—Select and parse in full all the nouns and pronouns found in
the first ten sentences of Lesson 120. For the agreement of pronouns, see
Lesson 142.
+Model for Written Parsing+.—Elizabeth’s favorite, Raleigh, was beheaded
by James I.
CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. | SYNTAX.
————————-|———————————-|———————————————
|Per- Num- Gen- |
Nouns. Kind.|son. ber. der. Case.|
————————-|———————————-|———————————————
Elizabeth’s Prop.| 3d Sing. Fem. Pos. | Mod. of favorite.
favorite Com. | 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Sub. of was beheaded.
Raleigh Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Nom. | Expl. Mod. of favorite.
James I. Prop.| 3d Sing. Mas. Obj. | Prin. word of Prep. phrase.
TO THE TEACHER.—For exercises in parsing nouns and pronouns, see Lessons
28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 44, 46, 59, 60, 71, 73, 78, 80, and 81. Other
exercises may be selected from examples previously given for analysis, and
parsing continued as long as you think it profitable.
* * * * *
LESSON 122.
CASE FORMS—NOUNS.
Nouns have two case forms, the simple form, common to the nominative and
the objective case, and the possessive form.
+RULE.—The Possessive Case of nouns is formed in the singular by adding
to the nominative the apostrophe and the letter s (‘s); in the plural
by adding (‘) only. If the plural does not end in s, (‘s) are both
added. [Footnote: In Anglo-Saxon, es was a genitive (possessive) ending
of the singular; as, sta:n, genitive sta:n-es. In old English, es and
is were both used. In modern English, the vowel is generally dropped, and
(‘) stands in its place. The use of the apostrophe has been extended to
distinguish the possessive from other forms of the plural.
Some have said that our possessive ending is a remnant of the pronoun
his. Phrases like, “Mars his sword,” “The Prince his Players,” “King
Lewis his satisfaction” are abundant in Early, and in Middle, English.
But it has been proved that the his in such expressions is an error that
gained its wide currency largely through the confusion of early English
orthography.
Professor Hadley has clearly shown that the Saxon termination has never
dropped out of the language, but exists in the English possessive ending
to-day.]
+Examples+.—Boy’s, boys’, men’s.
+Remark+.—To avoid an unpleasant succession of hissing sounds, the s in
the possessive singular is sometimes omitted; as, conscience’ sake,
goodness’ sake, Achilles’ sword, Archimedes’ screw (the s in the
words following the possessive here having its influence). In prose this
omission of the s should seldom occur. The weight of usage inclines to
the use of s in such names as Miss Rounds’s, Mrs. Hemans’s, King
James’s, witness’s, prince’s. Without the s there would be no
distinction, in spoken language, between Miss Round’s and Miss Rounds’,
Mrs. Heman’s and Mrs. Hemans’.
+Remark+.—Pronounce the (‘s) as a separate syllable (= es) when the
sound of s will not unite with the last sound of the nominative.
+Remark+.—When the singular and the plural are alike in the nominative,
some place the apostrophe after the s in the plural to distinguish it
from the possessive singular; as, singular, sheep’s; plural, sheeps’.
+Direction+.—Study the Rule and the Remarks given above, and then write
the possessive singular and the possessive plural of each of the following
nouns:—
Actor, elephant, farmer, king, lion, genius, horse, princess, buffalo,
hero, mosquito, negro, volcano, junto, tyro, cuckoo, ally, attorney, fairy,
lady, monkey, calf, elf, thief, wife, wolf, chief, dwarf, waif, child,
goose, mouse, ox, woman, beau, seraph, fish, deer, sheep, swine.
Compound names and groups of words that may be treated as compound names
add the possessive sign to the last word; as, a man-of-war’s rigging, the
queen of England’s palace,[Footnote: In parsing the words queen and
England separately, the (‘s) must be regarded as belonging to queen;
but the whole phrase queen of England’s may be treated as one noun in the
possessive case.] Frederick the Great’s verses.
+Remark+.—The possessive plural of such terms is not used.
The preposition of with the objective is often used instead of the
possessive case form—David’s Psalms = Psalms of David.
+Remarks+.—To denote the source from which a thing proceeds, or the idea
of belonging to, of is used more frequently than (‘s).
The possessive sign (‘s) is confined chiefly to the names of persons, and
of animals and things personified. We do not say the tree’s leaves, but
the leaves of the tree.
The possessive sign however is often added to names of things which we
frequently hear personified, or which we wish to dignify, and to names of
periods of time, and to words denoting value; as, the earth’s surface,
fortune’s smile, eternity’s stillness, a year’s interest, a day’s
work, a dollar’s worth, two cents’ worth.
By the use of of, such expressions as witness’s statement,
mothers-in-law’s faults may be avoided.
+Direction+.—Study carefully the principles and Remarks given above, and
then make each of the following terms indicate possession, using either the
possessive sign or the preposition of, as may seem most appropriate, and
join an appropriate name denoting the thing possessed:—
Father-in-law, William the Conqueror, king of Great Britain, aid-de-camp,
Henry the Eighth, attorney-at-law, somebody else,[Footnote: In such
expressions as everybody else’s business, the possessive sign is removed
from the noun and attached to the adjective. (See Lesson lai.) The
possessive sign should generally be placed immediately before the name of
the thing possessed.] Jefferson, enemy, eagle, gunpowder, book, house,
chair, torrent, sun, ocean, mountain, summer, year, day, hour, princess,
Socrates.
* * * * *
LESSON 123.
CONSTRUCTION OF POSSESSIVE FORMS.
As the possessive is the only case of nouns that has a distinctive
inflection, it is only with this case that mistakes can occur in
construction.
+Caution+.—When several possessive nouns modify the same word and imply
common possession, the possessive sign is added to the last only. If they
modify different words, expressed or understood, the sign is added to
each.
+Explanation+.—William and Henry’s boat; William’s and Henry’s
boat. In the first example, William and Henry are represented as jointly
owning a boat; in the second, each is represented as owning a separate
boat—boat is understood after William’s.
+Remark+.—When the different possessors are thought of as separate or
opposed, the sign may be repeated although joint possession is implied; as,
He was his father’s, mother’s, and sister’s favorite; He was the
King’s, as well as the people’s, favorite.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors, and give your reasons:—
1. The Bank of England was established in William’s and Mary’s reign.
2. Messrs. Leggett’s, Stacy’s, Green’s, & Co.’s business prospers.
3. This was James’s, Charles’s, and Robert’s estate.
4. America was discovered during Ferdinand’s and Isabella’s reign.
5. We were comparing Caesar and Napoleon’s victories.
6. This was the sage and the poet’s theme.
+Explanation+.—If an article precedes the possessive, the sign is
repeated.
7. It was the king, not the people’s, choice.
8. They are Thomas, as well as James’s, books.
+Caution+.—When a possessive noun is followed by an explanatory word, the
possessive sign is added to the explanatory word only. But, if the
explanatory word has several modifiers, or if there are more explanatory
words than one, only the principal word takes the sign.
+Remarks+.—When a common noun is explanatory of a proper noun, and the
name of the thing possessed is omitted, the possessive sign may be added
either to the modifying or to the principal word; as, We stopped at
Tiffany, the jeweler’s, or We stopped at Tiffany’s, the jeweler.
If the name of the thing possessed is given, the noun immediately before it
takes the sign.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. This is Tennyson’s, the poet’s, home.
2. I took tea at Brown’s, my old friend and schoolmate’s.
3. This belongs to Victoria’s, queen of England’s, dominion.
4. This province is Victoria’s, queen of England’s.
5. That language is Homer’s, the greatest poet of antiquity’s.
6. This was Franklin’s motto, the distinguished philosopher’s statesman’s.
7. Wolsey’s, the cardinal’s, career ended in disgrace.
+Direction+.—-Tell which of the sentences above may be improved by using
other forms to denote possession. (See the following Caution.)
+Caution+.—The relation of possession may be expressed not only by (‘s)
and by of but by the use of such phrases as belonging to, property
of, etc. In constructing sentences be careful to secure smoothness and
clearness and variety by taking advantage of these different forms.
+Direction+.—Improve the following sentences:—
1. This is my wife’s father’s opinion.
+Correction+.—This is the opinion of my wife’s father, or held by my
wife’s father.
2. This is my wife’s father’s farm.
3. France’s and England’s interest differs widely.
4. Frederick the Great was the son of the daughter of George I. of England.
5. My brother’s wife’s sister’s drawings have been much admired.
6. The drawings of the sister of the wife of my brother have been much
admired.
Of is not always equivalent to the (‘s),
+Explanation+.—The president’s reception means the reception given by
the president, but the reception of the president means the reception
given to the president.
+Direction+.—Construct sentences illustrating the meaning of the
following expressions:—
A mother’s love, the love of a mother; a father’s care, the care of a
father; my friend’s picture, a picture of my friend.
+Caution+.—Often ambiguity may be prevented by changing the assumed
subject of a participle from a nominative or an objective to a possessive.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. The writer being a scholar is not doubted.
+Correction+.—This is ambiguous, as it may mean either that the writer is
not doubted because he is a scholar, or that the writer’s scholarship is
not doubted. It should be, The writer’s being [Footnote: The participle
may be modified not only, as here, by a noun in the possessive but by the
articles a and the—-as said in Lesson 37. Whether it be the imposing
a tax or the issuing a paper currency.—Bagehot. Not a making war on
them, not a leaving them out of mind, but the putting a new
construction upon them, the taking them from under the old conventional
point of view.—Matthew Arnold. Poltroonery is the acknowledging an
infirmity to be incurable.—Emerson. The giving away a man’s
money.—Burke. It is not the finding of a thing but the making
something out of it, after it is found, that is of consequence.—Lowell.
As seen in this last quotation, the participle may be followed by a
preposition and so become a pure noun (Lesson 38).] a scholar is not
doubted, or That the writer is a scholar is not doubted.
2. I have no doubt of the writer being a scholar.
3. No one ever heard of that man running for office.
4. Brown being a politician prevented his election.
5. I do not doubt him being sincere.
6. Grouchy being behind time decided the fate of Waterloo.
* * * * *
LESSON 124.
NUMBER AND CASE FORMS.
Declension.
+DEFINITION.—Declension is the arrangement of the cases of nouns and
pronouns in the two numbers+.
+Direction+.—Learn the following declensions:—
Declension of Nouns.
LADY. BOY. MAN.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Nom. lady, ladies, boy, boys, man, men,
Pos. lady’s, ladies’, boy’s, boys’, man’s, men’s,
Obj. lady; ladies. boy; boys. man; men.
Declension of Pronouns.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON— SECOND PERSON—
common form old form.
_Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Nom. I, we,* you, you, thou, ye(++) or you
Pos. my or our or your or your or thy or ye(++) or you
mine,+ ours, yours, yours, thine, yours,
Obj. me; us. you; you. thee; you.
[Footnote *: Strictly speaking, we can hardly be the plural of I, says
Professor Sweet, for I does not admit of plurality. We means I and
you, I and he, I and she, or I and they, etc.]
[Footnote +: The forms mine, ours, yours, thine, hers, and
theirs are used only when the name of the thing possessed is omitted; as,
Yours is old, mine is new = Your book is old, etc. Mine and thine
were formerly used before words beginning with a vowel sound; as, thine
enemy, mine honor.
The expression a friend of mine presents a peculiar construction. The
explanation generally given is, that of is partitive, and that the
expression is equivalent to one friend of my friends.
It is said that this construction can be used only when more than one thing
is possessed such expressions as This heart of mine, That temper of
yours are good, idiomatic English. This naughty world of ours.—Byron.
This moral life of mine.—Sheridan Knowles. Dim are those heads of
theirs.—-Carlyle.
Some suggest that the word possessing or owning is understood after these
possessives; as, This temper of yours (your possessing); others say that
of simply marks identity, as does of in city of (=viz.) New York (see
Lesson 34). They would make the expression = This temper, your temper.
The s in ours, yours, hers, and theirs is the s of his and its
extended by analogy to our, your, her, and their, forms already
possessive. Ours, yours, hers, and theirs are consequently double
possessives.]
[Footnote ++: Ye is used in Chaucer and in the King James version of the
Bible exclusively in the nominative, as was its original _ge__ in the
Saxon. Shakespeare uses you in the nominative. You (the Saxon
accusative eow) has now taken the place of ye, and is both nominative
and objective.
THIRD PERSON—Mas. THIRD PERSON—Fem. THIRD PERSON—Neut.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Nom. he, they, she, they, it, they,
Pos. his, their or her or their or its,* their or
theirs, hers, theirs, theirs,
Obj. him; them. her; them. it; them.
[Footnote *: The possessive its is our only personal pronoun form not
found in Saxon. His, the possessive of the masculine he, was there the
possessive (genitive) of the neuter hit also—our it. But it came to be
thought improper to employ his to denote inanimate things as well as
animate. The literature of the 16th and 17th centuries shows a growing
sense of this impropriety, and abounds with of it, thereof, her,
it, the, and it own in place of his as the possessive of it. The
first appearance of the new coinage its is placed in 1598. Long after its
introduction many looked askance at its, because of the grammatical
blunder it contains—the_ t_ in its being a nominative neuter ending, and
the s a possessive ending. But no one thinks now of shunning what was
then regarded as a grammatical monstrosity.]
COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.
Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and
Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj.
myself* thyself himself;
or ourselves. or yourselves. herself; themselves.
ourself; yourself; itself;
[Footnote *: The compound personal pronouns are used (1) for emphasis; as,
I myself saw it: and (2) as reflexives, to turn the action of the verb
back upon the actor; as, He found himself deserted by his friends. They
are not the only words used in this last relation; where no obscurity would
arise, we may use the simple personal pronouns instead. And millions in
those solitudes … have laid them down in their last sleep.—Bryant.
My uncle stopped a minute to look about him.—Dickens.
The compound personal pronouns should not be used as subjects.]
+Remark+.—The possessive of these pronouns is wanting.
Ourself and we are used by rulers, editors, and others to hide their
individuality, and give authority to what they say.
+Relative Pronouns+.
Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu.
Nom. who, which, that, what,
Pos. whose, whose, ———, ———,
Obj. whom. which. that. what.
+Remark+.—From the composition of which—hwa:-lic, or hwaet-lic =
who-like, or what-like, it is evident that whose is not formed from
which. It is, in fact, the possessive of what transferred to which.
Much has been said against this whose, but it is in general use. Those
who regard usage as the final arbiter in speech need not avoid this form of
the pronoun.
+Interrogative Pronouns+.
The interrogative pronouns who, which, and what are declined like the
relatives who, which, and what.
+Compound Relative Pronouns+.
Singular and Plural. Singular and Plural.
Nom. whoever, whosoever,
Pos. whosever, whosesoever,
Obj. whomever. whomsoever.
Whichever, whichsoever, whatever, and whatsoever do not change their
form.
+Adjective Pronouns+.
This and that with their plurals, these and those, have no
possessive form, and are alike in the nominative and the objective. One
and other are declined like nouns; and another, declined like other
in the singular, has no plural. Either, neither, former, and latter
sometimes take the apostrophe and s (‘s) in the singular. Each,
either, and neither are always singular; both is always plural; and
all, any, farmery latter, none, same, some, and such are either
singular or plural. [Footnote: On the pages immediately preceding Lesson 1,
we said that +usage+, as determined by the majority of the best writers and
speakers of the generation, is the only authority in language; and we there
explained how we are able to appeal to usage as we all along have done. In
treating of the adjective pronouns we now appeal to it again. In the first
twelve paragraphs below we give alternative expressions. Only the second of
these alternative locutions in each paragraph is allowed by many
grammarians; they utterly condemn the first. On the warrant of usage we say
that both expressions are correct.
1. We may use +each other+ with more than two; we may use one another in
such a case. We may say, “Several able men were in correspondence with
each other,” or “with one another.”
2. We may use +one another+ with only two; we may use each other in such
a case. We may say, “The two countries agreed to stand by one another,”
or “by each other.”
3. We may use +all, both+, and +whole+ with a preposition and a noun
following; we may use these words as adjectives qualifying the noun. We may
say, “All of the people,” “Both of the trees,” “The whole of the
farm,” or “All the people,” “Both trees,” “The whole farm.”
4. We may use the pronouns +either+ and +neither+, as we do the
conjunctions either and neither, with more than two; we may use any
one and none in such cases. We may say, “Here are three candidates;
you may vote for either or for neither of them,” or “for any one or
for none of them.”
5. We may use +he+ or some other personal pronoun after the indefinite one;
we may repeat the one in such a case. We may say, “The home one must
quit, yet taking much of its life along with him,” or “along with one.”
6. We may use +such+ before an adjective and its noun; we may use so with
the adjective in such a case. We may say, “Such a strong argument,”
“Such admirable talent,” or “So strong an argument,” “Talent so
admirable.”
7. We may use the plural +ones+; we may use the noun for which ones
stands. We may say, “You have red roses, I have white ones,” or “white
roses.”
8. We may apply +the other two+ to those that remain when one of three
things has been taken from the rest; we may use the two others in such a
case. We may say, “One of them kept his ground; the other two ran away,”
or “the two others ran away.”
9. We may use +a+ before a noun in the singular and +or two+ after it; we
may use one or two before the noun in the plural. We may say, “I will go
in a day or two,” or “in one or two days.”
10. We may use +either+ in the sense of each; we may use each instead.
We may say, “He wrested the land on either side of the Seine,” or “on
each side of the Seine.”
11. We may insert a noun, or a noun and other words, between +other+ and
+than+; we may place the than immediately after other. We may say, “We
must look for somee other reasons for it than those suggested,” or “for
some reasons for it other than those suggested.”
12. We may use +none+ in the plural; we may use none in the singular. We
may say, “None hear thy voice,” or “None hears thy voice.”
The paragraphs below contain noteworthy uses of adjective pronouns but no
really alternative expressions.
13. Usage is overwhelmingly in favor of +any one else’s, no one else’s,
somebody else’s, nobody else’s+, instead of any one’s else, etc. There is
scarcely any authority for placing the (‘s) upon one or body.
“Written by Dickens for his own or any one else’s children.” This form is
common and convenient. We are advised to shun it, but we need not.
14. Usage is also decidedly in favor of +first two, last three+, etc.,
instead of two first, three last, etc.]
Descriptive adjectives used as nouns are plural, and are not declined. Such
expressions as “the wretched’s only plea” and “the wicked’s den” are
exceptional.
* * * * *
LESSON 125.
CASE FORMS—PRONOUNS.
The pronouns I, thou, he, she, and who are the only words in the
language that have each three different case forms.
+Direction+.—Study the Declensions, and correct these errors:—
Our’s, your’s, hi’s, her’s, it’s, their’s, yourn, hisn, hern, theirn.
Construction of Case Forms—Pronouns.
+Caution.—I, we, thou, ye, he, she, they,+ and +who+ are +nominative+
forms, and must not be used in the objective case. +Me, us, thee, him, her,
[Footnote: Her is also a possessive.] them,+ and +whom+ are objective
forms, and must not be used in the nominative case.
Remark.—The eight nominative forms and the seven objective forms here
given are the only distinctive nominative and objective forms in the
language. All the rules of syntax given in the grammars to guide in the use
of the nominative and the objective case apply, practically, only to these
fifteen words.
+Direction.+—Study carefully the Definitions and principles given under
the head of case, Lesson 119, and then correct these errors, giving your
reasons in every instance:—
1. It is not me you are in love with. [Footnote: Dr. Latham defends It is
me, but condemns It is him, and It is her. Dean Alford regards as
correct the forms condemned by Latham, and asserts that thee and me
are correct in, “The nations not so blest as thee” “Such weak minister
as me may the oppressor bruise.” Professor Bain justifies If I were
him, It was her, He is better than me, and even defends the use of
who as an objective form by quoting from Shakespeare, “Who servest
thou under?” and from Steele, “Who should I meet?”
They justify such expressions as It is me from the analogy of the
French c’est moi, and on the ground that they are “more frequently
heard than the prescribed form.” But such analogy would justify It are
them (ce sont eux); and, if the argument from the speech of the
uneducated is to have weight, we have good authority for “Her ain’t a
calling we: us don’t belong to she.” A course of reading will satisfy
one that the best writers and speakers in England are not in the habit
of using such expressions as It is me, and that these are almost, if
not quite unknown in American literature. No one has freed himself from
the influence of early associations that are in a careless moment some
vicious colloquialism may not creep into his discourse. A Violation of
every principle of grammar may be defended, if such inadvertencies are
to be erected into authority. To whatever is the prevailing, the
habitual, usage of a majority of the best writers and speakers the
grammarian should bow without question; but not to the accidental slips
of even the greatest writers, or to the common usage of the unreflecting
and the uncultivated.]
2. She was neither better bred nor wiser than you or me. [See previous
Footnote.]
3. Who servest thou under? [See previous footnote.]
4. It was not them, it was her.
5. Its being me should make no difference.
6. Him and me are of the same age.
7. Them that study grammar talk no better than me.
8. I am not so old as her; she is older than me by ten years.
9. He was angry, and me too.
10. Who will go? Me.
11. It isn’t for such as us to sit with the rulers of the land.
12. Not one in a thousand could have done it as well as him.
13. Him being a stranger, they easily misled him.
14. Oh, happy us! surrounded thus with blessings.
15. It was Joseph, him whom Pharaoh promoted.
16. I referred to my old friend, he of whom I so often speak.
17. You have seen Cassio and she together.
18. Between you and I, I believe that he is losing his mind.
19. Who should I meet the other day but my old friend? 20. Who did he refer
to, he or I?
21. Who did he choose? Did he choose you and I?
22. He that is idle and mischievous reprove.
23. We will refer it to whoever you may choose.
24. Whosoever the court favors is safe.
25. They that are diligent I will reward.
20. Scotland and thee did in each other live.
27. My hour is come, but not to render up my soul to such as thee.
28. I knew that it was him.
29. I knew it to be he.
30. Who did you suppose it to be?
31. Whom did you suppose it was?
32. I took that tall man to be he.
33. I thought that tall man was him.
Although than is not a preposition, it is sometimes followed by whom,
as in the familiar passage from Milton: “Beelzebub… than whom, Satan
except, none higher sat.” Than whom is an irregularity justified only on
the basis of good usage. Whom here may be parsed as an objective case
form used idiomatically in place of who.
* * * * *
LESSON 126.
CONSTRUCTION OF CASE FORMS.
MISCELLANEOUS—REVIEW.
Direction.—Correct these errors, and give your reasons:—
1. Who was Joseph’s and Benjamin’s mother?
2. It did not occur during Washington, Jefferson, or Adams’s
administration.
3. I consulted Webster, Worcester, and Walker’s dictionary.
4. This state was south of Mason’s and Dixon’s line.
5. These are neither George nor Fanny’s books.
6. Howard’s, the philanthropist’s, life was a noble one.
7. It is Othello’s pleasure, our noble and valiant general’s.
8. He visited his sons-in-law’s homes.
+Explanation.+—If the possessive plural of such nouns were used, this
would be correct; but it is better to avoid these awkward forms.
9. A valuable horse of my friend William’s father’s was killed.
10. For Herodias’s sake, his brother Philip’s wife.
11. For the queen’s sake, his sister’s.
12. Peter’s, John’s, and Andrew’s occupation was that of fishermen.
13. He spoke of you studying Latin.
14. It being difficult did not deter him.
15. What need is there of the man swearing?
16. I am opposed to the gentleman speaking again.
17. He thought it was us.
18. We shall shortly see which is the fittest object of scorn, you or me.
19. I shall not learn my duty from such as thee.
20. A lady entered, whom I afterwards found was Miss B.
21. A lady entered, who I afterwards found to be Miss B.
22. Ask somebody’s else opinion.
23. Let him be whom he may.
24. I am sure it could not have been them.
25. I understood it to be they.
26. It is not him whom you thought it was.
27. Let you and I try it.
28. All enjoyed themselves, us excepted.
29. Us boys enjoy the holidays.
30. It was Virgil, him who wrote the “Aeneid.”
31. He asked help of men whom he knew could not help him.
TO THE TEACHER.—These schemes and questions under the head of General
Review are especially designed to aid in securing an outline of technical
grammar.
The questions given below may be made to call for minute details or only
for outlines. In some cases a single question may suffice for a whole
lesson.
Scheme for the Noun.
(The numbers refer to Lessons.)
NOUN.
Uses.
Subject (4, 8).
Object Complement (28).
Attribute Complement (29, 30).
Objective Complement (31).
Adjective Modifier (33).
Adverb Modifier (35).
Principal word in Prep. Phrase (17).
Independent (44).
Classes.
Common (85). (Abstract and Collective.)
Proper (85).
Modifications.
Number.
Singular (112-116).
Plural (112-116).
Gender.
Masculine (117, 118).
Feminine (117, 118).
Neuter (117, 118).
Person.
First (119).
Second (119).
Third (119).
Case.
Nominative (119).
Possessive (119, 122, 123).
Objective (119).
Questions on the Noun.
1. Define the noun and its classes.—Lesson 85.
2. Name and define the modifications of the noun.—Lessons 112, 117, 119.
3. Name and define the several numbers, genders, persons, and
cases.—Lessons 112, 117, 119.
4. Give and illustrate the several ways of forming the plural.—Lessons
112, 113, 114.
5. Give and illustrate the several ways of distinguishing the
genders.—Lesson 117.
6. How is the possessive case formed?—Lesson 122.
7. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the
possessive forms.—Lesson 128.
+Scheme for the Pronoun.+
PRONOUN. +Uses+.—Same as those of the Noun. +Classes+. Personal (85, 86,
87). Relative (85, 86, 87). Interrogative (85). Adjective (85, 87).
+Modifications+.—Same as those of the Noun (112, 117, 118, 119, 124,
125, 142).
Questions on the Pronoun.
1. Define the pronoun and its classes, and give the lists.—Lesson 85.
2. Decline the several pronouns.—Lesson 124.
3. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the
different pronouns.—Lessons 86, 87.
4. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the number
forms, the gender forms, and the case forms.—Lessons 118, 125, 142.
* * * * *
LESSON 127.
COMPARISON.
+Introductory Hints.+—That apple is sweet, that other is sweeter, but
this one is the sweetest. The adjective sweet, expressing a quality of
the three apples, is, as you see, inflected by adding er and est.
Adjectives, then, have one modification, and this is marked by form, or
inflection. This modification is called +Comparison+, because it is used
when things are compared with one another in respect to some quality common
to them all, but possessed by them in different degrees. The form of the
adjective which expresses the simple quality, as sweet, is of the
+Positive Degree+; that which expresses the quality in a greater or a less
degree, as sweeter, less sweet, is of the +Comparative Degree+; and
that which expresses the quality in the greatest or the least degree, as
sweetest, least sweet, is of the +Superlative Degree+.
But even the positive implies a comparison; we should not say, This apple
is sweet, unless this particular fruit had more of the quality than
ordinary apples possess.
Notice, too, that the adjective in the comparative and superlative degrees
always expresses the quality relatively. When we say, This apple is
sweeter than that, or, This apple is the sweetest of the three, we do
not mean that any one of the apples is very sweet, but only that one apple
is sweeter than the other, or the sweetest of those compared.
The several degrees of the quality expressed by the adjective may be
increased or diminished by adverbs modifying the adjective. We can say
very, exceedingly, rather, or somewhat sweet; far, still, or
much, sweeter; by far or much the sweetest.
Some adverbs, as well as adjectives, are compared.
Adjectives have one modification; viz., +Comparison+. [Footnote: Two
adjectives, this and that, have number forms—this, these; that,
those. In Anglo-Saxon and Latin, adjectives have forms to indicate
gender, number, and case.]
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Comparison is a modification of the adjective (or the adverb) to express
the relative degree of the quality in the things compared.+ [Footnote:
Different degrees of quantity, also, may sometimes be expressed by
comparison.]
+The Positive Degree expresses the simple quality.+
+The Comparative Degree expresses a greater or a less degree of the
quality.
+The Superlative Degree expresses the greatest or the least degree of the
quality+.
+RULE.—Adjectives are regularly compared by adding er to the positive to
form the comparative, and est to the positive to form the superlative+.
RULES FOR SPELLING.
+RULE I.—Final e is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel; as+,
fine, finer; love, loving.
+Exceptions.+—The e is retained (1) after c and g when the suffix
begins with a or o; as, peaceable, changeable; (2) after o; as,
hoeing; and (3) when it is needed to preserve the identity of the word;
as, singeing, dyeing.
+RULE II.—-Y after a consonant becomes i before a suffix net beginning
with i; as,+ witty, wittier; dry, dried.
Exceptions.—-Y does not change before ‘s, nor in forming the plural of
proper nouns; as, lady’s, the Marys, the Henrys.
+RULE III.—In monosyllables and words accented on the last syllable, a
final consonant after a single vowel doubles before a suffix beginning with
a vowel; as+, hot, hotter; begin, beginning.
Exceptions.—X, k, and v are never doubled, and gas has gases in
the plural.
Adjectives of more than two syllables are generally compared by prefixing
more and most. This method is often used with adjectives of two
syllables and sometimes with those of one.
+Remark+.—More beautiful, most beautiful, etc. can hardly be called
degree forms of the adjective. The adverbs more and most have the
degree forms, and in parsing they may be regarded as separate words. The
adjective, however, is varied in sense the same as when the inflections
er and est are added.
Degrees of diminution are expressed by prefixing less and
least[Footnote: This use of an adverb to form the comparison was borrowed
from the Norman-French. But note how the adverb is compared, The Saxon
superlative ending +st+ is in most and least; and the Saxon comparative
ending +s+, unchanged to +r+, is the last letter in less—changed to +r+,
as it regularly was, in coming into English, it is the r in more.
When it was forgotten that less is a comparative, er was added, and we
have the double comparative lesser—in use to-day.
After the French method of comparing was introduced into English, both
methods were often used with the same adjective; and, for a time, double
comparatives and double superlatives were common; as, worser, most
boldest. In “King Lear” Shakespeare uses the double comparative a dozen
times.]; as, valuable, less valuable, least valuable. Most
definitive and many descriptive adjectives cannot be compared, as their
meaning will not admit of different degrees.
Direction.—From this list of adjectives select those that cannot be
compared, and compare those that remain:—
Observe the Rules for Spelling given above.
Wooden, English, unwelcome, physical, one, that, common, handsome, happy,
able, polite, hot, sweet, vertical, two-wheeled, infinite, witty, humble,
any, thin, intemperate, undeviating, nimble, holy, lunar, superior.
Of the two forms of comparison, that which is more easily pronounced and
more agreeable to the ear is to be preferred.
+Direction+.—Correct the following:—
Famousest, virtuousest, eloquenter, comfortabler, amusingest.
Some +adverbs+ are compared by adding er and est, and some by prefixing
more and most.
+Direction+.—Compare the following:—
Early, easily, fast, firmly, foolishly, late, long, often, soon, wisely.
Some adjectives and adverbs are irregular in their comparison.
+Direction+.—Learn to compare the following adjectives and adverbs:—
Adjectives Irregularly Compared.
Pos. Comp. Superlative.
(Aft),* after, aftmost or
aftermost.
Bad, |
Evil, + worse, worst.
Ill |
Far, farther, fartherest or
fathermost
Fore, former, foremost or
first.
(Forth), further, furtherest or
furthermost.
Good, better, best.
Hind, hinder, hindmost or
hindermost.
(In), inner, inmost or
innermost.
Late, later or latest or
latter last.
Little,+ less or least.
lesser,
Many or more, most.
Much,
Near, nearer nearest or
next.
Old, older or oldest or
elder, eldest.
(Out), outer or outmost or
utter, outermost;
utmost or
uttermost.
Under, ——, undermost.
(Up), upper, upmost or
uppermost.
Top, ——, topmost.
[Footnote *: The words inclosed in curves are adverbs—the adjectives
following having no positive form.]
[Footnote +: For the comparative and the superlative of little, in the
sense of small in size, smaller and smallest are substituted; as,
little boy, smaller boy, smallest boy.]
Adverbs Irregularly Compared.
Pos. Comp. Superlative.
Badly,| worse, worst.
Ill, |
Far, farther, farthest,
Forth, further, furthest.
Little, less, least,
Much, more, most.
Well, better, best.
TO THE TEACHER.—We give below a model for writing the parsing of
adjectives. A similar form may be used for adverbs.
Exercises for the parsing of adjectives and adverbs may be selected from
Lessons 12, 14, 29, 30, 31, 44, 46, 47, 48, 60, 63, 64, 65.
Model for Written Parsing.—All the dewy glades are still.
CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATION. |SYNTAX
—————————-|———————-|—————————————————
Adjectives.| Kind. | Deg. of Comp. |
All | Def. | ——— | Modifier of glades.
the | ” | ——— | ” ” ”
dewy | Des. | Pos. | ” ” ”
still | ” | ” | Completes are and modifies glades.
* * * * *
LESSON 128.
CONSTRUCTION OF COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES.
+Caution+.—In stating a comparison avoid comparing a thing with itself.
[Footnote: A thing may, of course, be compared with itself as existing
under different conditions; as, The star is brighter to-night; The
grass is greener to-day.]
+Remark+.—The comparative degree refers to two things (or sets of things)
as distinct from each other, and implies that one has more of the quality
than the other. The comparative degree is generally followed by than.
[Footnote: The comparative is generally used with reference to two things
only, but it may be used to compare one thing with a number of things taken
separately or together as, He is no better than other men; It
contains more than all the others combined.]
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Remark, and correct these
errors:—
1. London is larger than any city in Europe.
+Correction+.—The second term of comparison, any city in Europe,
includes London, and so London is represented as being larger than itself.
It should be, London is larger than any other city in Europe, or,
London is the largest city in Europe.
2. China has a greater population than any nation on the globe.
3. I like this book better than any book I have seen.
4. There is no metal so useful as iron.
(A comparison is here stated, although no degree form is employed.)
5. All the metals are less useful than iron.
6. Time ought, above all kinds of property, to be free from invasion.
+Caution+.—In using the superlative degree be careful to make the latter
term of the comparison, or the term introduced by of, include the former.
+Remarks+.—The superlative degree refers to one thing (or set of things)
as belonging to a group or class, and as having more of the quality than
any of the rest. The superlative is generally followed by of.
Good writers sometimes use the superlative in comparing two things; as,
This is the best of the two. But in such cases usage largely favors the
comparative; as, This is the better of the two.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Remarks, and correct these
errors:—
1. Solomon was the wisest of all the other Hebrew kings.
+Correction+.—Of (= belonging to) represents Solomon as belonging to a
group of kings, and other excludes him from this group—a contradiction
in terms. It should be, Solomon was the wisest of Hebrew kings, or
Solomon was wiser than any other Hebrew king.
2. Of all the other books I have examined, this is the most satisfactory.
3. Profane swearing is, of all other vices, the most inexcusable.
4. He was the most active of all his companions.
(He was not one of his own companions.)
5. This was the most satisfactory of any preceding effort.
6. John is the oldest of any boy in his class.
+Caution+.—Avoid double comparatives and double superlatives, and the
comparison of adjectives whose meaning will not admit of different
degrees.[Footnote: Many words which grammarians have considered incapable
of comparison are used in a sense short of their literal meaning, and are
compared by good writers; as, My chiefest entertainment.—Sheridan. The
chiefest prize.—Byron. Divinest Melan- choly.—Milton. Extremest
hell.—Whittier. Most perfect harmony—Longfellow. Less perfect
imitations.—Macaulay. The extension of these exceptional forms should
not be encouraged.]
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. A more beautifuler location cannot be found.
2. He took the longest, but the most pleasantest, route.
3. Draw that line more perpendicular.
+Correction+.—Draw that line perpendicular, or more nearly
perpendicular.
4. The opinion is becoming more universal.
5. A worser evil awaits us.
6. The most principal point was entirely overlooked.
7. That form of expression is more preferable.
+Caution+.—When an adjective denoting one, or an adjective denoting more
than one, is joined to a noun, the adjective and the noun must agree in
number.
+Remark+.—A numeral denoting more than one may be prefixed to a singular
noun to form a compound adjective; as, a ten-foot pole (not a ten-feet
pole), a three-cent stamp.
+Direction+.—Study the Caution and the Remark, and correct these
errors:—
1. These kind of people will never be satisfied.
2. The room is fifteen foot square; I measured it with a two-feet rule.
3. The farmer exchanged five barrel of potatoes for fifty pound of sugar.
4. These sort of expressions should be avoided.
5. We were traveling at the rate of forty mile an hour.
6. Remove this ashes and put away that tongs.
Miscellaneous.
1. He was more active than any other of his companions.
+Correction+.—As he is not one of his companions, other is unnecessary.
2. He did more to accomplish this result than any other man that preceded
or followed him.
3. The younger of the three sisters is the prettier.
(This is the construction which requires the superlative. See the second
Remark in this Lesson.)
4. This result, of all others, is most to be dreaded.
5. She was willing to take a more humbler part.
6. Solomon was wiser than any of the ancient kings.
7. I don’t like those sort of people.
8. I have the most entire confidence in him.
9. This is the more preferable form.
10. Which are the two more important ranges of mountains in North America?
11. He writes better than any boy in his class.
GENERAL REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, page 255.
Scheme for the Adjective.
(The numbers refer to Lessons.)
ADJECTIVE.
Uses.
Modifier (12).
Attribute Complement (29, 30).
Objective Complement (31).
Classes.
Descriptive (89-91).
Definitive (89-91).
Modification.—Comparison.
Pos. Deg. |
Comp. ” + 127, 128.
Sup. ” |
Questions on the Adjective.
1. Define the adjective and its classes.—Lesson 89.
2. Define comparison and the degrees of comparison.—Lesson 127.
3. Give and illustrate the regular method and the irregular methods
of comparison.—Lesson 127.
4. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of
adjectives.—Lessons 90, 91.
5. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of comparative
and superlative forms.—Lesson 128.
Scheme for the Adverb.
ADVERB.
Classes.
Time. |
Place. |
Degree. + 92-94.
Manner. |
Cause. |
Modification.—Comparison.
Pos. Deg. |
Comp. ” + 127, 128.
Sup. ” |
Questions on the Adverb.
1. Define the adverb and its classes.—Lesson 92.
2. Illustrate the regular method and the irregular methods of comparison.
—Lesson 127.
3. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of adverbs.
—Lesson 93.
* * * * *
LESSON 129.
MODIFICATIONS OF THE VERB.
VOICE.
+Introductory Hints+.—He picked a rose. A rose was picked by him. The
same thing is here told in two ways. The first verb, picked, shows that
the subject names the actor; the second verb, was picked, shows that the
subject names the thing acted upon. These different forms and uses of the
verb constitute the modification called +Voice+. The first form is in the
+Active Voice+; the second is in the +Passive Voice+.
The active voice is used when the agent, or actor, is to be made prominent;
the passive, when the thing acted upon is to be made prominent. The passive
voice may be used when the agent is unknown, or when, for any reason, we do
not care to name the agent; as, The ship was wrecked; Money is coined.
DEFINITIONS.
+Voice is that modification of the transitive verb which shows whether
the subject names the actor or the thing acted upon+.
+The Active Voice shows that the subject names the actor+.
+The Passive Voice shows that the subject names the thing acted upon.+
The passive form is compound, and may be resolved into an asserting word
(some form of the verb be) and an attribute complement (a past participle
of a transitive verb). An expression consisting of an asserting word
followed by an adjective complement or by a participle used adjectively may
be mistaken for a verb in the passive voice.
+Examples.+—The coat was sometimes worn by Joseph (was worn—
passive voice). The coat was badly worn (was—incomplete predicate,
worn—adjective complement).
+Remark.+—To test the passive voice note whether the one named by the
subject is acted upon, and whether the verb may be followed by by before
the name of the agent without changing the sense.
+Direction.+—-Tell which of the following completed predicates may be
treated as single verbs, and which should not be so treated:—
1. The lady is accomplished.
2. This task was not accomplished in a day.
3. Are you prepared to recite?
4. Dinner was soon prepared.
5. A shadow was mistaken for a foot-bridge.
6. You are mistaken.
7. The man was drunk before the wine was drunk.
8. The house is situated on the bank of the river.
9. I am obliged to you.
10. I am obliged to do this.
11. The horse is tired.
12. A fool and his money are soon parted.
13. The tower is inclined.
14. My body is inclined by years.
+Direction.+—Name all the transitive verbs in Lesson 78, and give their
voice.
* * * * *
LESSON 130.
COMPOSITION—VOICE.
The +object complement+ of a verb in the +active voice+ becomes the
+subject+ when the verb is changed to the +passive voice.+
+Example.+—The Danes invaded England = England was invaded by the Danes.
+Remark.+—You will notice that in the first sentence the agent is made
prominent; in the second sentence, the receiver.
+Direction.+—In each of these sentences change the voice of the
transitive verb without altering the meaning of the sentence, and note the
other changes that occur:—
1. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, wore a winged cap and winged shoes.
2. When the Saxons subdued the Britons, they introduced into England their
own language, which was a dialect of the Teutonic, or Gothic.
3. My wife was chosen as her wedding dress was chosen, not for a fine,
glossy surface, but for such qualities as would wear well.
4. Bacchus, the god of wine, was worshiped in many parts of Greece and
Rome.
5. The minds of children are dressed by their parents as their bodies are
dressed—in the prevailing fashion.
6. Harvey, an English physician, discovered that blood circulates.
7. The luxury of Capua, more powerful than the Roman legions, vanquished
the victorious Carthaginians.
8. His eloquence had struck them dumb.
+Remark.+—Notice that the objective complement becomes the attribute
complement when the verb is changed from the active to the passive voice.
9. That tribunal pronounced Charles a tyrant.
10. The town had nicknamed him Beau Seymour.
11. Even silent night proclaims my soul immortal.
12. We saw the storm approaching.
(Notice that the objective complement is here a participle.)
13. He kept his mother waiting.
14. We found him lying dead on the field.
15. We all believe him to be an honest man.
(Notice that the objective complement is here an infinitive phrase.)
16. Some, sunk to beasts, find pleasure end in pain.
17. Everybody acknowledged him to be a genius.
The +indirect,+ or dative, +object+ is sometimes made the +subject+ of a
verb in the passive voice, while the object complement is retained after
the verb. [Footnote: Some grammarians condemn this construction. It is true
that it is a violation of the general analogies, or laws, of language; but
that it is an idiom of our language, established by good usage, is beyond
controversy.
Concerning the parsing of the noun following this passive, there is
difference of opinion. Some call it an adverbial modifier, some call it a
“retained object,” and some say that it is a noun without grammatical
construction. In “I offered him money,” him represents the one to whom
the act was directed, and money names the thing directly acted upon. In
“He was offered money,” the relation of the act to the person and to the
thing is not changed; money still names the thing directly acted upon.]
+Example.+—The porter refused him admittance = He was refused
admittance by the porter.
+Direction.+—Change the voice of the transitive verbs in these sentences,
and note the other changes that occur:—
18. They were refused the protection of the law.
19. He was offered a pension by the government.
20. I was asked that question yesterday.
21. He told me to leave the room.
+Explanation.+—Here the infinitive phrase is the object complement, and
(to) me is used adverbially. To leave the room = that I should leave the
room.
22. I taught the child to read.
23. I taught the child reading.
24. They told me that your name was Fontibell.
+Direction.+—Change the following transitive verbs to the passive form,
using first the regular and then the idiomatic construction:—
+Model.+—He promised me a present = A present was promised me (regular)
= I was promised a present (idiomatic).
25. They must allow us the privilege of thinking for ourselves.
26. He offered them their lives if they would abjure their religion.
An intransitive verb is sometimes made transitive by the aid of a
preposition.
+Example.+—All his friends laughed at him = He was laughed at
(ridiculed) by all his friends.
+Remark.+—-Was laughed at may be treated as one verb. Some grammarians,
however, would call at an adverb. The intransitive verb and preposition
are together equivalent to a transitive verb in the passive voice.
+Direction.+—Change the voice of the following verbs:—
27. This artful fellow has imposed upon us all.
28. The speaker did not even touch upon this topic.
29. He dropped the matter there, and did not refer to it afterward.
+Remark.+—The following sentences present a peculiar idiomatic
construction. A transitive verb which, in the active voice, is followed by
an object complement and a prepositional phrase, takes, in the passive, the
principal word of the phrase for its subject, retaining the complement and
the preposition to complete its meaning; as, They took care of it, It was
taken care of.
+Direction.+—Put the following sentences into several different forms,
and determine which is the best:—
30. His original purpose was lost sight of (forgotten). [Footnote: Some
would parse of as an adverb relating to was lost, and sight as a
noun used adverbially to modify was lost; others would treat sight
as an object [complement] of was lost; others would call was lost
sight of a compound verb; and others, believing that the logical
relation of these words is not lost by a change of position, analyze
the expression as if arranged thus: Sight of his original purpose was
lost.]
31. Such talents should be made much of.
32. He was taken care of by his friends.
33. Some of his characters have been found fault with as insipid.
* * * * *
LESSON 131.
MODIFICATIONS OF THE VERB—CONTINUED.
MODE, TENSE, NUMBER, AND PERSON.
+Introductory Hints.+—James walks. Here the walking is asserted as an
actual fact. James may walk. Here the walking is asserted not as an
actual, but as a possible, fact. If James walk out, he will improve. Here
the walking is asserted only as thought of, without regard to its being or
becoming either an actual or a possible fact. James, walk out. Here the
walking is not asserted as a fact, but as a command—James is ordered to
make it a fact. These different uses and forms of the verb constitute the
modification which we call +Mode.+ The first verb is in the +Indicative
Mode;+ the second in the +Potential Mode;+ the third in the +Subjunctive
Mode;+ the fourth in the +Imperative Mode.+
For the two forms of the verb called the +Participle+ and the +Infinitive,+
see Lessons 37 and 40.
I walk. I walked. I shall walk. In these three sentences the manner of
asserting the action is the same, but the time in which the action takes
place is different. Walk asserts the action as going on in present time,
and, as +Tense+ means time, is in the +Present Tense.+ Walked asserts the
action as past, and is in the +Past Tense.+ Shall walk asserts the action
as future, and is in the +Future Tense.+
I have walked out to-day. I had walked out when he called. I shall have
walked out by to-morrow. Have walked asserts the action as completed at
the present, and is in the +Present Perfect Tense.+ Had walked asserts
the action as completed in the past, and is in the +Past Perfect Tense.+
Shall have walked asserts action to be completed in the future, and is in
the +Future Perfect Tense.+
I walk. Thou walkest. He walks. They walk. In the second sentence walk
is changed by adding +est+; in the third sentence, by adding +s.+ Verbs are
said to agree in +Person+ and +Number+ with their subjects. But this
agreement is not generally marked by a change in the form of the verb.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Mode is that modification of the verb which denotes the manner of
asserting the action or being+.
+The Indicative Mode asserts the action or being as a fact+. [Footnote:
In “Are you going?” or “You are going?” a fact is referred to the hearer
for his admission or denial. In “Who did it?” the fact that some person did
it is asserted, and the hearer is requested to name the person. It will be
seen that the Indicative Mode may be used in asking a question.]
+The Potential Mode asserts the power, liberty, possibility, or necessity
of acting or being+.
+The Subjunctive Mode asserts the action or being as a mere condition,
supposition, or wish+.
+The Imperative Mode asserts the action or being as a command or an
entreaty+.
+The Infinitive is a form of the verb which names the action or being in
a general way, without asserting it of anything+.
+The Participle is a form of the verb partaking of the nature of an
adjective or of a noun, and expressing the action or being as assumed+.
+The Present Participle denotes action or being as continuing at the time
indicated by the predicate+.
+The Past Participle denotes action or being as past or completed at the
time indicated by the predicate+.
+The Past Perfect Participle denotes action or being as completed at a
time previous to that indicated by the predicate+.
+Tense is that modification of the verb which expresses the time of the
action or being+.
+The Present Tense expresses action or being as present+.
+The Past Tense expresses action or being as past+.
+The Future Tense expresses action or being as yet to come+.
+The Present Perfect Tense expresses action or being as completed at the
present time+.
+The Past Perfect Tense expresses action or being as completed at some
past time+.
+The _Future Perfect Tense _expresses action or being to be completed at
some future time+.
+_Number _and _Person _of a verb are those modifications that show its
agreement with the number and person of its subject+.
* * * * *
LESSON 132.
FORMS OF THE VERB.
CONJUGATION.
+DEFINITIONS+.
+Conjugation is the regular arrangement of all the forms of the verb+.
+_Synopsis _is the regular arrangement of the forms of one number and
person in all the modes and tenses+.
+_Auxiliary Verbs _are those that help in the conjugation of other verbs.+
The auxiliaries are do, did, have, had, shall, should, will, would, may,
might, can, could, must, and be (with all its variations, see Lesson
135).
+The Principal Parts of a verb, or those from which the other parts are
derived, are the present indicative or the present infinitive, the past
indicative, and the past participle.+
List of Irregular Verbs. [Footnote: Grammarians have classed verbs on the
basis of their form or history as Strong (or Old) and Weak (or New).
Strong verbs form their past tense by changing the vowel of the present
without adding anything; weak verbs form their past tense by adding ed,
d, or t. Some weak verbs change the vowel of the present; as, tell,
told; teach, taught. These are weak because they add d or t.
Some weak verbs shorten the vowel of the present without adding anything;
as, feed, fed; lead, led; and some have the present and the past alike;
as, set, set; rid, rid. They have dropped the past tense ending.
The past participle of all strong verbs once ended in en or n, but in
many verbs this ending is now lost.
Since most verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding ed,
we call such Regular, and all others Irregular. Our irregular verbs include
all strong verbs and those that may be called “irregular weak” verbs.
Of the ed added to form the past tense of regular verbs, d is what
remains of did; we did love, for instance, being written love-did-we.
This derivation of d in ed is questioned. The d of the participle is
not from did but is from an old participle suffix. The e in the ea of
both these forms is the old connecting vowel.]
TO THE TEACHER.—It would be well to require the pupils, in studying and in
reciting these lists of irregular verbs, to frame short sentences
illustrating the proper use of the past tense and the past participle,
e.g. I began yesterday; He has begun to do better. In this way the
pupils will be saved the mechanical labor of memorizing forms which they
already know how to use, and they will be led to correct what has been
faulty in their use of other forms.
+Remarks.+—Verbs that have both a regular and an irregular form are called
+Redundant.+
Verbs that are wanting in any of their parts, as can and may, are
called +Defective.+
The present participle is not here given as a principal part. It may always
be formed from the present tense by adding ing.
In adding ing and other terminations, the Rules for Spelling (see
Lesson 127) should be observed.
The forms below in Italics are regular; and those in smaller type are
obsolete, and need not be committed to memory.
Present. Past. Past Par.
Abide, abode, abode.
Awake, awoke, awaked.
awaked.
Be or am, was, been.
Bear, bore, born,
(bring forth) bare, borne.
Bear, bore, borne.
(carry) bare,
Beat, beat, beaten,
beat.
Begin, began, begun.
Bend, bent, bent,
bended, bended.
Bereave, bereft, bereft,
bereaved, bereaved.
Beseech, besought, besought.
Bet, bet, bet,
betted, betted.
Bid, bade, bid, bidden, bid.
Bind, bound, bound.
Bite, bit, bitten, bit.
Bleed, bled, bled.
Blend, blent, blent,
blended, blended.
Bless, blest, blest,
blessed, blessed.
Blow, blew, blown.
Break, broke, broken.
brake,
Breed, bred, bred.
Bring, brought, brought.
Build, built, built.
Burn burnt, burnt,
burned, burned.
Burst, burst, burst.
Buy, bought, bought.
Can,[1] could, ——-.
Cast, cast, cast.
Catch, caught, caught.
Chide, chid, chidden,
chid.
Choose, chose, chosen.
Cleave, cleaved, cleaved.
(adhere) clave,
Cleave cleft, cleft,
(split) clove, cloven,
clave, cleaved.
Cling, clung, clung.
Clothe, clad, clad,
clothed clothed.
(Be)Come, came, come.
Cost, cost, cost.
Creep, crept, crept.
Crow crew, crowed.
crowed,
Cut, cut, cut.
Dare, durst, dared.
(venture) dared,
Deal, dealt, dealt.
Dig, dug, dug,
digged, digged.
Do, did, done.
Draw, drew, drawn.
Dream, dreamt, dreamt,
dreamed, dreamed.
Dress drest, drest,
dressed, dressed.
Drink, drank, drunk.
Drive, drove, driven.
Dwell dwelt, dwelt,
dwelled, dwelled.
Eat, ate, eaten.
(Be) Fall, fell, fallen.
Feed, fed, fed.
Feel, felt, felt.
Fight, fought, fought.
Find, found, found.
Flee, fled, fled.
Fling, flung, flung.
Fly, flew, flown.
Forsake, forsook, forsaken.
Forbear, forbore, forborne.
Freeze, froze, frozen.
(For)Get, got, got, gotten.[2]
Gild, gilt, gilt,
gilded, gilded.
Gird, girt, girt,
girded, girded.
(For)Give, gave, given.
Go, went,[3] gone.
(En)Grave graved, graved,
graven.
Grind, ground, ground.
Grow, grew, grown.
Hang, hung, hung,
hanged, hanged.[4]
Have, had, had.
Hear, heard heard.
Heave hove, hove,[5]
heaved, heaved.
Hew, hewed, hewed,
hewn.
Hide, hid, hidden, hid.
Hit, hit, hit.
(Be)Hold, held, held,
holden.
Hurt, hurt, hurt.
Keep, kept, kept.
Kneel knelt, knelt,
kneeled, kneeled.
Knit knit, knit,
knitted, knitted.
Know, knew, known.
Lade, laded, laded,
(load) laden.
Lay, laid, laid.
Lead, led, led.
[Footnote 1: Can, may, shall, will, must, and ought were originally past
forms. This accounts for their having no change in the third person.]
[Footnote 2: Gotten is obsolescent except in forgotten.]
[Footnote 3: Went is the past of wend, to go.]
[Footnote 4: Hang, to execute by hanging, is regular.]
[Footnote 5: Hove is used in sea language.]
* * * * *
LESSON 133.
LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS—CONTINUED.
Present. Past. Past Par.
Lean, leant, leant,
leaned, leaned.
Leap, leapt, leapt,
leaped, leaped.
Learn, learnt, learnt,
learned, learned.
Leave, left, left.
Lend, lent, lent.
Let, let, let.
Lie, lay, lain.
(recline)
Light, lighted, lighted,
lit, lit.[1]
Lose, lost, lost.
Make, made, made.
May, might, ——.
Mean, meant, meant.
Meet, met, met.
Mow, mowed, mowed,
mown.
Must, ——, ——.
Ought, ——, ——.
Pay, paid, paid.
Pen, pent, pent,
(inclose) penned, penned.
Put, put, put.
Quit, quit, quit,
quitted, quitted.
——, quoth,[2] ——.
Rap, rapt, rapt,
rapped, rapped.
Read, read, read.
Rend, rent, rent.
Rid, rid, rid.
Ride, rode, ridden.
Ring, rang, rung,
rung,
(A)Rise, rose, risen.
Rive, rived, riven,
rived.
Run, ran, run.
Saw, sawed, sawed,
sawn.
Say, said, said.
See, saw, seen.
Seek, sought, sought.
Seethe, seethed, seethed,
sod, sodden.
Sell, sold, sold.
Send, sent, sent.
(Be)Set, set, set.
Shake, shook, shaken.
Shall, should, ———.
Shape, shaped, shaped,
shapen
Shave, shaved, shaved,
shaven.
Shear, sheared, sheared,
shore, shorn.
Shed, shed, shed.
Shine, shone, shone.
Shoe, shod, shod.
Shoot, shot, shot.
Show, showed, shown,
showed.
Shred, shred, shred.
Shrink, shrank, shrunk,
shrunk, shrunken.
Shut, shut, shut.
Sing, sang, sung.
sung,
Sink, sank, sunk,
sunk, sunken.
Sit, sat, sat.
Slay, slew, slain.
Sleep, slept, slept.
Slide, slid, slidden,
slid.
Sling, slung, slung.
slang
Slink, slunk, slunk.
Slit, slit, slit,
slitted, slitted.
Smell, smelt, smelt,
smelled, smelled.
Smite, smote, smitten,
smit.
Sow, sowed, sown,
sowed.
Speak, spoke, spoken.
spake,
Speed, sped, sped.
Spell, spelt, spelt,
spelled, spelled.
Spend, spent, spent.
Spill, spilt, spilt,
spilled, spilled.
Spin, spun, spun.
span,
Spit, spit, spit,
spat, spitten.
Split, split, split.
Spoil, spoilt, spoilt,
spoiled, spoiled.
Spread, spread, spread.
Spring, sprang, sprung.
sprung,
Stand, stood, stood.
Stave, stove, stove,
staved, staved.
Stay, staid, staid,
stayed, stayed.
Steal, stole, stolen.
Stick, stuck, stuck.
Sting, stung, stung.
Stink, stunk, stunk.
stank,
Strew, strewed, strewn,
strewed.
Stride, strode, stridden.
Strike, struck, struck,
stricken.
String, strung, strung,
Strive, strove, striven.
Strow, strowed, strown,
strowed.
Swear, swore, sworn
sware,
Sweat, sweat, sweat,
sweated, sweated.
Sweep, swept, swept.
Swell, swelled, swelled,
swollen.
Swim, swam, swum.
swum,
Swing, swung, swung.
Take, took, taken,
Teach, taught, taught.
Tear, tore, torn.
tare,
Tell, told, told.
Think, thought, thought.
Thrive, throve, thriven,
thrived, thrived.
Throw, threw, thrown.
Thrust, thrust, thrust.
Tread, trod, trodden,
trod.
Wake, waked, waked,
woke, woke.
Wax, waxed, waxed,
waxen.
Wear, wore, worn.
Weave, wove, woven.
Weep, wept, wept.
Wet, wet, wet.
Will, would, ——.
Win, won, won.
Wind, wound, wound.
Work, wrought, wrought,
worked, worked.
(to)wit,
wot, wist, ——.
Wring, wrung, wrung.
Write, wrote, written.
[Footnote 1: Lighted Is preferred to lit.]
[Footnote 2: Quoth, now nearly obsolete, is used only in the first and
the third person of the past tense. Quoth I = said I. Other forms
nearly obsolete are sometimes met in literature; as, “Methinks I scent
the morning air”; “Woe worth the day.” Methinks (A. S. thincan, to
seem, not thencan, to think) = seems to me. In the sentence above, I
scent the morning air is the subject, thinks is the predicate, and me
is a “dative,” or a pronoun used adverbially. Woe worth (A. S.
weorthan, to be or become) the day = Woe be to the day, or Let
woe be to the day, or May woe be to the day.]
NOTE.—Professor Lounsbury says, “Modern English has lost not a single one
[irregular, or strong, verb] since the reign of Queen Elizabeth”; and adds,
“The present disposition of the language is not only to hold firmly to the
strong verbs it already possesses but … even to extend their number
whenever possible.” And he instances a few which since 1600 have deserted
from the regular conjugation to the irregular.
But it should be said that new English verbs, from whatever source derived,
form their past tense and participle in ed. So that while the regular
verbs are not increasing by desertions from the irregular, the regular
verbs are slowly gaining in number.
* * * * *
LESSON 134.
FORMS OF THE VERB—CONTINUED.
CONJUGATION [Footnote: We give the conjugation of the verb in the simplest
form consistent with what is now demanded of a text-book. Much of this
scheme might well be omitted.
Those who wish to reject the Potential Mode, and who prefer a more
elaborate and technical classification of the mode and tense forms, are
referred to pages 373, 374. ]—SIMPLEST FORM.
REMARK.—English verbs have few inflections compared with those of other
languages. Some irregular verbs have seven forms—+see+, +saw+, +seeing+,
+seen+, +sees+, +seest+, +sawest+; regular verbs have six—+walk+,
+walked+, +walking+, +walks+, +walkest+, +walkedst+. As a substitute for
other inflections we prefix auxiliary verbs, and make what are called
compound, or periphrastic, forms.
+Direction+.—Fill out the following forms, using the principal parts of
the verb walk—present +walk+; past +walked+; past participle +walked+:—
INDICATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. (I) /Pres./, 1. (We) /Pres./,
2. (You) /Pres./, 2. (You) /Pres./,
(Thou) /Pres./+est,[1],
3. (He) /Pres./+s;[1] 3. (They) /Pres./.
PAST TENSE.
1. (I) /Past/, 1. (We) /Past/,
2. (You) /Past/, 2. (You) /Past/,
(Thou) /Past/+st+,
3. (He) /Past/; 3. (They) /Past/.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. (I) shall /Pres./, 1. (We) shall /Pres./,
2. (You) will /Pres./, 2. (You) will /Pres./,
(Thou) wil-+t+ /Pres./,
3. (He) will /Pres./; 3. (They) will /Pres./.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) have /Past Par./, 1. (We) have /Past Par./,
2. (You) have /Past Par./, 2. (You) have /Past Par./,
(Thou) ha-+st+ /Past Par./,
3. (He) ha-+s+ /Past Par./; 3. (They) have /Past Par./.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) had /Past Par./, 1. (We) had /Past Par./
2. (You) had /Past Par./, 2. (You) had /Past Par./
(Thou) had-+st+ /Past Par./,
3. (He) had /Past Par./; 3. (They) had /Past Par./
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) shall have /Past Par./, 1. (We) shall have /Past Par./,
2. (You) will have /Past Par./, 2. (You) will have /Past Par./,
(Thou) wil-+t+ have /Past Par./,
3. (He)…will have…./Past Par./; 3. (They) will have /Past Par./.
[Footnote 1: In the indicative present, second, singular, old style, st
is sometimes added in stead of est; and in the third person, common
style, es is added when s will not unite. In the third person, old
style, eth is added.]
POTENTIAL MODE.[2]
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. (I) may /Pres./, 1. (We) may /Pres./,
2. (You) may /Pres./, 2. (You) may /Pres./,
(Thou) may-+st+ /Pres./,
3. (He) may /Pres./; 3. (They) may /Pres./.
PAST TENSE.
1. (I) might /Pres./, 1. (We) might /Pres./,
2. (You) might /Pres./, 2. (You) might /Pres./,
(Thou) might-+st+ /Pres./,
3. (He) might /Pres./; 3. (They) might /Pres./.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) may have /Past Par./, 1. (We) may have /Past Par./,
2. (You) may have /Past Par./, 2. (You) may have /Past Par./,
(Thou) may-+st+ have /Past Par./,
3. (He) may have /Past Par./. 3. (They) may have /Past Par./.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) might have /Past Par./, 1. (We) might have /Past Par./,
2. (You) might have /Past Par./, 2. (You) might have /Past Par./,
(Thou) might-+st+ have /Past Par./,
3. (He) might have /Past Par./. 3. (They) might have /Past Par./.
Singular.
[Footnote 2: Those who do not wish to recognize a Potential Mode, but
prefer the unsatisfactory task of determining when may, can, must, might,
could, would, and should are independent verbs in the indicative, and when
auxiliaries in the subjunctive, are referred to pages 370-374.]
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.[3]
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular.
2. (If thou) /Pres./ 3. (If he) /Pres./
[Footnote 3: The subjunctive as a form of the verb is fading out of the
language. The only distinctive forms remaining (except for the verb be)
are the second and the third person singular of the present, and even these
ate giving way to the indicative. Such forms as If he have loved, etc.
are exceptional. It is true that other forms, as, If he had known, Had he
been, Should he fall, may be used in a true subjunctive sense, to
assert what is a mere conception of the mind, i. e., what is merely thought
of, without regard to its being or becoming a fact; but in these cases it
is not the form of the verb but the connective or something in the
construction of the sentence that determines the manner of assertion. In
parsing, the verbs in such constructions may be treated as indicative or
potential, with a subjunctive meaning.
The offices of the different mode and tense forms are constantly
interchanging; a classification based strictly on meaning would be very
difficult, and would confuse the learner.]
IMPERATIVE MODE.[4]
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
2. /Pres./ (you or thou); 2. /Pres./ (you or ye).
[Footnote 4: From such forms as Let us sing, Let them talk, some
grammarians make a first and a third person imperative. But us is not the
subject of the verb-phrase let-sing, and let is not of the first
person. Us is the object complement of let, and the infinitive sing
is the objective complement, having us for its assumed subject.
Some would find a first and a third person imperative in such sentences as
“Now tread we a measure”; “Perish the thought.” But these verbs
express strong wish or desire and by some grammarians are called “optative
subjunctives.” “Perish the thought” = “May the thought perish,” or “I
desire that the thought may perish,” or “Let the thought perish.”]
INFINITIVES.
PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
(To)[5] /Pres./ (To) have /Past Par./
[Footnote 5: To, as indicated by the (), is not treated as a part of the
verb. Writers on language are generally agreed that when to introduces an
infinitive phrase used as an adjective or an adverb, it performs its proper
function as a preposition, meaning toward, for, etc.; as, I am inclined
to believe; I came to hear. When the infinitive phrase is used as a
noun, the to expresses no relation; it seems merely to introduce the
phrase. When a word loses its proper function without taking on the
function of some other part of speech, we do not see why it should change
its name. In the expressions, For me to do this would be wrong; Over
the fence is out of danger, few grammarians would hesitate to call for
and over prepositions, though they have no antecedent term of relation.
We cannot see that to is a part of the verb, for it in no way affects the
meaning, as does an auxiliary, or as does the to in He was spoken to. Those
who call it a part of the verb confuse the learner by speaking of it as the
“preposition to” (which, as they have said, is not a preposition) “placed
before the infinitive,” i.e., placed before that of which it forms a part
—placed before itself.
In the Anglo-Saxon, to was used with the infinitive only in the dative
case, where it had its proper function as a preposition; as, nominative
etan (to eat); dative to etanne; accusative e:tan. When the dative
ending ne was dropped, making the three forms alike, the to came to be
used before the nominative and the accusative, but without expressing
relation.
This dative of the infinitive, with to, was used mainly to indicate
purpose. When, after the dropping of the ne ending, the idea of purpose
had to be conveyed by the infinitive, it became usual in Elizabethan
literature to place for before the to, “And for to deck heaven’s
battlements.”-Greene. “What went ye out for to see?”-Bible. “Shut the
gates for to preserve the town.”—K. Hen. VI., Part III.]
PARTICIPLES
PRESENT PAST PAST PERFECT.
/Pres./+ing+. /Past Par./ Having /Past Par./
+May+, +can+, and +must+ are potential auxiliaries in the present and the
present perfect tense; +might+, +could+, +would+, and +should+, in the past
and the past perfect.
The +emphatic+ form of the present and the past tense indicative is made by
prefixing +do+ and +did+ to the present. Do is prefixed to the imperative
also.
TO THE TEACHES.—Require the pupils to fill out these forma with other
verbs, regular and irregular, using the auxiliaries named above.
* * * * *
LESSON 135.
FORMS OF THE VERB-CONTINUED.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB +BE+.
[Footnote: The conjugation of be contains three distinct roots—as, be,
was. Am, art, is, are are from as. Am = as-m (m is the m in
me). Art = as-t (t is the th in thou).
Be was formerly conjugated, I be, Thou beest, He beth or bes; We
be, Ye be, They be.]
+Direction+.—Learn the following forms, paying no attention to the line at
the right of each verb:—
INDICATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. (I) am ——, 1. (We) are ——,
2. (You) are —— or 2. (You) are ——,
(Thou) art ——,
3. (He) is ——; 3. (They) are ——.
PAST TENSE.
1. (I) was ——, 1. (We) were ——,
2. (You) were —— or 2. (You) were ——,
(Thou) wast ——,
3. (He) was ——; 3. (They) were ——.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. (I) shall be ——, 1. (We) shall be ——,
2. (You) will be —— or 2. (You) will be ——,
(Thou) wilt be ——,
3. (He) will be ——; 3. (They) will be ——.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) have been ——, 1. (We) have been ——,
2. (You) have been —— or 2. (You) have been ——,
(Thou) hast been ——,
3. (He) has been ——; 3. (They) have been ——.
PAST PERFECT
1. (I) had been ——, 1. (We) had been ——,
2. (You) had been —— or 2. (You) had been ——,
(Thou) hadst been ——,
3. (He) had been ——; 3. (They) had been ——.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) shall have been ——, 1. (We) shall have been ——,
2. (You) will have been —— or 2. (You) will have been ——,
(Thou) wilt have been ——,
3. (He) will have been ——; 3. (They) will have been ——.
POTENTIAL MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. (I) may be ——, 1. (We) may be ——,
2. (You) may be —— or 2. (You) may be ——,
(Thou) mayst be ——,
3. (He) may be ——; 3. (They) may be ——.
PAST TENSE.
1. (I) might be ——, 1. (We) might be ——,
2. (You) might be —— or 2. (You) might be ——,
(Thou) mightst be ——,
3. (He) might be ——; 3. (They) might be ——.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. (I) may have been ——, 1. (We) may have been ——,
2. (You) may have been —— or 2. (You) may have been ——,
(Thou) mayst have been ——,
3. (He) may have been ——; 3. (They) may have been ——.
PAST PERFECT TENSE,
1. (I) might have been ——, 1. (We) might have been ——,
2. (You) might have been —— or 2. (You) might have been ——,
(Thou) mightst have been ——,
3. (He) might have been ——; 3. (They) might have been ——.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
PBESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. (If I) may have been ——, 1. (If we) may have been ——,
2. (If you) may have been —— or 2. (If you) may have been ——,
(If thou) mayst have been ——,
3. (If he) may have been ——; 3. (If they) may have been ——.
PAST TENSE.
Singular.
1. (If I) were ——-,
2. (If you) were ——, or
(If thou) wert ——,
3. (If he) were ——;
IMPERATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
2. Be (you or thou) ——; 2. Be (you or ye) ——.
INFINITIVES.
PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
(To) be ——. (To) have been ——.
PARTICIPLES.
PRESENT. PAST. PAST PERFECT.
Being ——. Been. Having been ——.
* * * * *
LESSON 136.
FORMS OF THE VERB—CONTINUED.
CONJUGATION—PROGRESSIVE AND PASSIVE FORMS.
A verb is conjugated in the +progressive form+ by joining its present
participle to the different forms of the verb be.
A transitive verb is conjugated in the +passive voice+ by joining its past
participle to the different forms of the verb be.
+Remark+.—The progressive form denotes a continuance of the action or
being; as, The birds are singing.
Verbs that in their simple form denote continuance—such as love,
respect, know—should not be conjugated in the progressive form. We
say, I love the child—not I am loving the child.
+Remarks+.—The progressive form is sometimes used with a passive meaning;
as, The house is building. In such cases the word in ing was once a
verbal noun preceded by the preposition a, a contraction from on or
in; as, While the ark was a preparing; While the flesh was in
seething. In modern language the preposition is dropped, and the word in
ing is treated adjectively.
Another passive progressive form, consisting of the verb be completed by
the present passive participle, has recently appeared in our language—The
house is being built, or was being built. Although condemned by many
linguists as awkward and otherwise objectionable, it has grown rapidly into
good use, especially in England, Such a form seems to be needed when the
simpler form would be ambiguous, i.e., when its subject might be taken to
name either the actor or the receiver; as, The child is whipping; The
prisoner is trying. Introduced only to prevent ambiguity, the so-called
neologism has pushed its way, and is found where the old form would not be
ambiguous. As now used, the new form stands to the old in about the ratio
of three to one.
+Direction+.—Conjugate the verb choose in the progressive form by filling
all the blanks left after the different forms of the verb be, in the
preceding Lesson, with the present participle choosing; and then in the
passive form by filling these blanks with the past participle chosen.
Notice that after the past participle of the verb be no blank is left.
The past participle of the passive is not formed by the aid of be; it is
never compound. The past participle of a transitive verb is always passive
except in such forms as have chosen, had chosen. (See have written,
Lesson 138.) In the progressive, the past participle is wanting. All the
participles of the verb choose are arranged in order
below.
Present. Past. Past Perfect.
Simplest form. Choosing, chosen, having chosen.
Progressive form. Being choosing,* ———, having been choosing.
Passive form. Being chosen, chosen, having been chosen.
[Footnote *: This form is not commonly used.]
+Direction+.—Write and arrange as above all the participles of the verbs
break, drive, read, lift.
TO THE TEACHER.—Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate
them in the progressive and in the passive form. Require them to give
synopses of all the forms. Require them in some of their synopses to use
it or some noun for the subject in the third person.
* * * * *
LESSON 137.
CONJUGATION—CONTINUED.
INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE FORMS.
A verb may be conjugated +interrogatively+ in the indicative and potential
modes by placing the subject after the first auxiliary; as, Does he sing?
A verb may be conjugated +negatively+ by placing not after the first
auxiliary; as, He does not sing. Not is placed before the infinitive
and the participles; as, not to sing, not singing.
A question with negation is expressed in the indicative and potential
modes by placing the subject and not after the first auxiliary; as, Does
he not sing?
+Remark+.—Formerly, it was common to use the simple form of the present
and past tenses interrogatively and negatively thus: Loves he? I know
not. Such forms are still common in poetry, but in prose they are now
scarcely used. We say, Does he love? I do not know. The verbs be and
have are exceptions, as they do not take the auxiliary do. We say, Is
it right? Have you another?
+Direction+.—Write a synopsis in the third person, singular, of the verb
walk conjugated (1) interrogatively, (2) negatively, and (3) so as to
express a question with negation. Remember that the indicative and the
potential are the only modes that can be used interrogatively.
To THE TEACHER.—Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate
them negatively and interrogatively in the progressive and in the passive
form. Require the pupils to give synopses of all the forms.
* * * * *
LESSON 138.
MODE AND TENSE FORMS.
COMPOUND FORMS—ANALYSIS.
The +compound+, or +periphrastic, forms+ of the verb consisting of two
words may each be resolved into an +asserting word and a participle+ or an
+infinitive+.
If we look at the original meaning of the forms +I do write, I shall write,
I will write+, we shall find that the so-called auxiliary is the real verb,
and that write is an infinitive used as object complement. +I do write =
I do+ or +perform+ the action (to) write. +I shall write = I owe+ (to)
+write. I will write = I determine+ (to) +write+.
+May write, can write, must write, might write, could write, would write+,
and +should write+ may each be resolved into an asserting word and an
infinitive.
The forms +is writing, was written+, etc. consist each of an asserting word
(the verb be), and a participle used as attribute complement.
The forms +have written+ and +had written+ are so far removed from their
original meaning that their analysis cannot be made to correspond with
their history. They originated from such expressions as I have a letter
written, in which have ( = possess) is a transitive verb taking
letter for its object complement, and written is a passive participle
modifying letter. The idea of possession has faded out of have, and the
participle has lost its passive meaning. The use of this form has been
extended to intransitive verbs—Spring has come, Birds have flown, etc.
being now regularly used instead of the more logical perfect tense forms,
Spring is come, Birds are flown. (Is come, are flown, etc. must not
be mistaken for transitive verbs in the passive voice.) [Footnote: A
peculiar use of had is found in the expressions had rather go and had
better go, condemned by many grammarians who suppose had to be here used
incorrectly for would or should. Of these expressions the “Standard
Dictionary,” an authority worthy of our attention, says:—
“Forms disputed by certain grammatical critics from the days of Samuel
Johnson, the critics insisting upon the substitution of would or
should, as the case may demand, for had; but had rather and had
better are thoroughly established English, idioms having the almost
universal popular and literary sanction of centuries. ‘I would rather not
go’ is undoubtedly correct when the purpose is to emphasize the element of
choice, or will, in the matter; but in all ordinary cases ‘I had rather
not go’ has the merit of being idiomatic and easily and universally
understood.
“If for ‘You had better stay at home’ we substitute ‘You should better
stay at home,’ an entirely different meaning is expressed, the idea of
expediency giving place to that of obligation.”
In the analysis of “I had rather go,” had is the predicate verb, the
infinitive go is the object complement, and the adjective rather
completes had and belongs to go, i.e., is objective complement. Had
(= should hold or regard) is treated as a past subjunctive. Rather is
the comparative of the old adjective rathe = early, from which comes
the idea of preference. The expression means, “I should hold going
preferable.”
The expressions “You had better stay,” “I had as lief not be,” are
similar in construction to “I had rather go.” “I had sooner go” is
condemned by grammarians because sooner is never an adjective. If
sooner is here allowed as an idiom, it is a modifier of had. The
expression equals, “I should more willingly have going.”]
Compounds of more than two words may be analyzed thus: +May have been
written+ is composed of the compound auxiliary +may have been+ and the
participle +written; may have been+ is composed of the compound auxiliary
+may have+ and the participle +been+; and +may have+ is composed of the
auxiliary +may+ and the infinitive +have+. May is the asserting word—the
first auxiliary is always the asserting word.
+Direction+.—Study what has been said above and analyze the following
verbal forms, distinguishing carefully between participles that may be
considered as part of the verb and words that must be treated as attribute
complements:—
1. I may be mistaken.
2. The farm was sold.
3. I shall be contented.
4. Has it been decided?
5. You should have been working.
6. The danger might have been avoided.
7. He may have been tired and sleepy.
8. She is singing.
9. I shall be satisfied.
10. The rule has not been observed.
11. Stars have disappeared.
12. Times will surely change.
TENSE FORMS—MEANING.
The +Present Tense+ is used to express (1) what is actually present, (2)
what is true at all times, (3) what frequently or habitually takes place,
(4) what is to take place in the future, and it is used (5) in describing
past or future events as if occurring at the time of the speaking.
+Examples+.—I hear a voice (action as present). The sun gives light
(true at all times). He writes for the newspapers (habitual). Phillips
speaks in Boston to-morrow night (future). He mounts the scaffold; the
executioners approach to bind him; he struggles, resists, etc. (past
events pictured to the imagination as present). The clans of Culloden are
scattered in fight; they rally, they bleed, etc. (future events now
seen in vision).
The +Past Tense+ may express (1) simply past action or being, (2) a past
habit or custom, (3) a future event, and (4) it may refer to present time.
+Examples+.—The birds sang (simply past action). He wrote for the
newspapers (past habit). If I should go, you would miss me (future
events). If he were here, he would enjoy this (refers to present time).
The +Future Tense+ may express (1) simply future action or being, (2) a
habit or custom as future or as indefinite in time.
+Examples+.—I shall write soon (simply future action). He will sit
there by the hour (indefinite in time).
The +Present Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed in
present time (i.e., a period of time—an hour, a year, an age—of which
the present forms a part), and (2) action or being to be completed in a
future period.
+Examples+.—Homer has written poems (the period of time affected by this
completed action embraces the present). When I have finished this, you
shall have it (action to be completed in a future period).
The +Past Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed at some
specified past time, and (2) in a conditional or hypothetical clause it may
express past time.
+Examples+.—I had seen him when I met you (action completed at a
specified past time). If I had had time, I should have written (I had
not time—I did not write.)
The +Future Perfect Tense+ expresses action to be completed at some
specified future time.
+Example+.—I shall have seen him by to-morrow noon.
+Direction+.—Study what has been said above about the meaning of the
tense forms, and describe carefully the time expressed by each of the
following verbs:—
1. I go to the city to-morrow.
2. The village master taught his little school.
3. Plato reasons well.
4. A triangle has three sides.
5. To-morrow is the day appointed.
6. Moses has told many important facts.
7. The ship sails next week.
8. She sings well.
9. Cicero has written orations.
10. He would sit for hours and watch the smoke curl from his pipe.
11. You may hear when the next mail arrives,
12. Had I known this before, I could have saved you much trouble.
13. He will occasionally lose his temper.
14. At the end of this week I shall have been in school four years.
15. If I were you, I would try that.
16. He will become discouraged before he has thoroughly tried it.
17. She starts, she moves, she seems to feel the thrill of life along her
keel.
+Model for Written Parsing adapted to all Parts of Speech+. Oh! it has a
voice for those who on their sick beds lie and waste away.
|CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS.
————-|————————-|——————————————————————-|
Sentence.|Class. |Sub-C. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.| Gen. |Case.|
| | | | | | | | | |
Oh! |Int. | | | | | | | | |
it |Pro. |Per. | | | |Sing.| ad.| Neut. |Nom. |
has |Vb. |Ir., Tr. | Act. | Ind.|Pres. | ” | ” | | |
a |Adj. |Def. | | | | | | | |
voice |N. |Com. | | | | ” | ” | ” |Obj. |
for |Prep. | | | | | | | | |
those |Pro. |Adj. | | | |Plu. | ” |M. or F.| ” |
who |Pro. |Rel. | | | | ” | ” | ” |Nom. |
on |Prep. | | | | | | | | |
their |Pro. |Per. | | | | ” | ” | ” |Pos. |
sick |Adj. |Des. | | | | | | | |
beds |N. |Com. | | | | ” | ” | Neut. |Obj. |
lie |Vb. |Ir.,Int. | — | Ind.|Pres. | ” | ” | | |
and |Conj. |Co-or. | | | | | | | |
waste |Vb. |Reg.,Int.| — | ” | ” | ” | ” | | |
away. |Adv. |Place. | | | | | | | |
—————————————————————————————————————
| | SYNTAX.
————-|———-|—————————————————-
Sentence.|Deg. of|
| Comp.|
Oh! | |Independent.
it | |Subject of has.
has | |Predicate of it.
a | — |Modifier of voice.
voice | |Object comp of has.
for | |Shows Rel. of has to those.
those | |Prin. word in Prep. phrase.
who | |Subject of lie and waste.
on | |Shows Rel. of lie to beds.
their | |Possessive Mod. of beds.
sick | Pos. |Modifier of beds.
beds | |Prin. word in Prep. phrase.
lie | |Predicate of who.
and | |Connects lie and waste.
waste | |Predicate of who.
away. | — |Modifier of waste.
——————————————————————————-
TO THE TEACHER.—For further exercises in parsing the verb and for
exercises in general parsing, select from the preceding Lessons on
Analysis.
* * * * *
LESSON 139
PARSING.
+Direction+.—Select and parse, according to the Model below, the verbs in
the sentences of Lesson 42. For the agreement of verbs, see Lesson 142.
+Model for Written Parsing—Verbs+.—The Yankee, selling his farm,
wanders away to seek new lands.
CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS.
—————————————-|———————————————|
Verbs. | Kind. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.|
*selling|Pr. Par., Ir., Tr.| Act. | — | — | — | — |
wanders |Reg., Int. | — |Ind. |Pres. |Sing.| 3d.|
*seek |Inf., Ir., Tr. | Act. | — | ” | — | |
| | | | | | |
| SYNTAX
————|————-
Verbs. |
selling |Mod. of Yankee.
wanders |Pred. of Yankee.
seek |Prin. word in phrase
| Mod. of wanders.
[Footnote: Participles and infinitives have neither person nor number.]
(See Model for Written Parsing on opposite page.)
* * * * *
LESSON 140.
CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS.
+Caution+.—Be careful to give every verb its proper form and meaning.
+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—
1. I done it myself.
2. He throwed it into the river, for I seen him when he done it.
3. She sets by the open window enjoying the scene that lays before her.
+Explanation+.—Lay (to place) is transitive, lie (to rest) is
intransitive; set (to place) is transitive, sit (to rest) is
intransitive. Set in some of its meanings is intransitive.
4. The tide sits in.
5. Go and lay down.
6. The sun sits in the west.
7. I remember when the corner stone was lain.
8. Sit the plates on the table.
9. He sat out for London yesterday.
10. Your dress sets well.
11. The bird is setting on its eggs.
12. I laid there an hour.
13. Set down and talk a little while.
14. He has laid there an hour.
15. I am setting by the river.
16. He has went and done it without my permission.
17. He flew from justice.
18. Some valuable land was overflown.
19. She come just after you left.
20. They sung a new tune which they had not sang before.
21. The water I drunk there was better than any that I had drank before.
22. The leaves had fell.
23. I had rode a short distance when the storm begun to gather.
24. I found the water froze.
25. He raised up.
26. He run till he became so weary that he was forced to lay down.
27. I knowed that it was so, for I seen him when he done it.
28. I had began to think that you had forsook us.
29. I am afraid that I cannot learn him to do it.
30. I guess that I will stop.
31. I expect that he has gone to Boston.
32. There ain’t any use of trying.
33. I have got no mother.
34. Can I speak to you?
35. He had ought to see him.
+Explanation+.—As ought is never a participle, it cannot be used after
had to form a compound tense.
+Caution+.—A conditional or a concessive clause takes a verb in the
indicative mode when the action or being is assumed as a fact, or when the
uncertainty lies merely in the speaker’s knowledge of the fact. But when
the action or being in such a clause is merely thought of as a contingency,
or in such a clause the speaker prefers to put hypothetically something of
whose truth or untruth he has no doubt, the subjunctive is used. The
subjunctive is frequently used in indirect questions, in expressing a wish
for that which it is impossible to attain at once or at all, and instead of
the potential mode in independent clauses.
+Examples+.—
1. If (= since) it rains, why do you go?
2. If it rains (now), I cannot go out.
3. If it rain, the work will be delayed.
4. Though it rain to-morrow, we must march.
5. If there be mountains, there must be valleys between.
6. Though honey be sweet, one can’t make a meal of it.
7. If my friend were here, he would enjoy this.
8. Though immortality were improbable, we should still believe in it.
9. One may doubt whether the best men be known.
10. I wish the lad were taller.
11. Oh! that I were a Samson in strength.
12. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck.
+Explanation+.—In (1) the raining is assumed as a fact. In (2) the speaker
is uncertain of the fact. In the conditional clause of (3) and in the
concessive clause of (4) the raining is thought of as a mere contingency.
The speaker is certain of the truth of what is hypothetically expressed in
the conditional clause of (5) and in the concessive clause of (6), and is
certain of the untruth of what is hypothetically expressed in the
conditional clause of (7) and in the concessive clause of (8). There is an
indirect question in (9), a wish in (10) for something not at once
attainable and in (11) for something forever unattainable, and in (12) the
subjunctive mode is used in place of the potential.
+Remarks+.—When there is doubt as to whether the indicative or the
subjunctive mode is required, use the indicative.
The present subjunctive forms may be treated as infinitives used to
complete omitted auxiliaries; as, If it (should) rain, the work will be
delayed; Till one greater man (shall) restore us, etc. This will often
serve as a guide in distinguishing the indicative from the subjunctive
mode.
If, though, lest, unless, etc. are usually spoken of as signs of the
subjunctive mode, but these words are now more frequently followed by the
indicative than by the subjunctive.
+Direction+.—Justify the mode of the italicized verbs in the following
sentences:—
1. If this were so, the difficulty would vanish.
2. If he was there, I did not see him.
3. If to-morrow be fine, I will walk with you.
4. Though this seems improbable, it is true.
5. If my friend is in town, he will call this evening.
6. If he ever comes, we shall know it.
+Explanation+.—In (6) and (7) the coming is referred to as a fact to be
decided in future time.
7. If he comes by noon, let me know.
8. The ship leaps, as it were, from billow to billow.
9. Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob.
10. If a pendulum _is drawn _to one side, it will swing to the other.
+Explanation+.—Be is often employed in making scientific statements like
the preceding, and may therefore be allowed, If a pendulum is drawn =
Whenever a pendulum is drawn.
11. I wish that I were a musician.
12. Were I so disposed, I could not gratify you.
13. This sword shall end thee unless thou yield.
14. Govern well thy appetite, lest sin surprise thee.
15. I know not whether it is so or not.
16. Would he were fatter!
17. If there were no light, there would be no colors.
18. Oh, that he were a son of mine!
19. Though it be cloudy to-night, it will be cold.
20. Though the whole exceed a part, we sometimes prefer a part to the
whole.
21. Whether he go or not, I must be there.
22. Though an angel from heaven command it, we should not steal.
23. If there be an eye, it was made to see.
24. It were well it were done quickly.
+Direction+.—Supply in each of the following sentences a verb in the
indicative or the subjunctive mode, and give a reason for your choice:—
1. I wish it —— in my power to help you.
2. I tremble lest he ——.
3. If he —— guilty, the evidence does not show it.
4. He deserves our pity, unless his tale —— a false one.
5. Though he —— there, I did not see him.
6. If he —— but discreet, he will succeed.
7. If I —— he, I would do differently.
8. If ye —— men, fight.
* * * * *
LESSON 141.
CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS—CONTINUED.
+Caution+.—Be careful to employ the tense forms of the different modes in
accordance with their meaning, and in such a way as to preserve the proper
order of time.
+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—
1. That custom has been formerly quite popular.
2. Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
3. He that was dead sat up and began to speak.
4. A man bought a horse for one hundred dollars; and, after keeping it
three months, at an expense of ten dollars a month, he sells it for two
hundred dollars. What per cent does he gain?
5. I should say that it was an hour’s ride.
6. If I had have seen him, I should have known him.
7. I wish I was in Dixie.
8. We should be obliged if you will favor us with a song.
9. I intended to have called.
+Explanation+.—This is incorrect; it should be, I intended to call. The
act of calling was not completed at the time indicated by intended.
+Remark+.—Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending,
permitting, etc. are followed by verbs denoting present or future time.
[Footnote: The “Standard Dictionary” makes this restriction: “The doubling
of the past tenses in connection with the use of have with a past
participle is proper and necessary when the completion of the future act
was intended before the occurrence of something else mentioned or thought
of. Attention to this qualification, which has been overlooked in the
criticism of tense-formation and connection, is especially important and
imperative. If one says, ‘I meant to have visited Paris and to have
returned to London before my father arrived from America,’ the past
[present perfect] infinitive … is necessary for the expression of the
completion of the acts purposed. ‘I meant to visit Paris and to return
to London before my father arrived from America,’ may convey suggestively
the thought intended, but does not express it.”]
The present infinitive expresses an action as present or future, and the
present perfect expresses it as completed, at the time indicated by the
principal verb. I am glad to have met you is correct, because the meeting
took place before the time of being glad.
I ought to have gone is exceptional. Ought has no past tense form, and
so the present perfect infinitive is used to make the expression refer to
past time.
10. We hoped to have seen you often.
11. I should not have let you eaten it.
12. I should have liked to have seen it.
13. He would not have dared done that.
14. You ought to have helped me to have done it.
15. We expected that he would have arrived last night.
16. The experiment proved that air had weight.
+Remark+.—What is true or false at all times is generally expressed in the
present tense, whatever tense precedes.
There seems to be danger of applying this rule too rigidly. When a speaker
does not wish to vouch for the truth of the general proposition, he may use
the past tense, giving it the form of an indirect quotation; as, He said
that iron was the most valuable of metals. The tense of the dependent
verb is sometimes attracted into that of the principal verb; as, I knew
where the place was.
17. I had never known before how short life really was.
18. We then fell into a discussion whether there is any beauty independent
of utility. The General maintained that there was not; Dr. Johnson
maintained that there was.
19. I have already told you that I was a gentleman.
20. Our fathers held that all men were created equal.
+Caution+.—Use will and would to imply that the subject names the one
whose will controls the action; use shall and should to imply that the
one named by the subject is under the control of external influence.
+Remark+.—The original meaning of shall (to owe, to be obliged) and
will (to determine) gives us the real key to their proper use.
The only case in which some trace of the original meaning of these
auxiliaries cannot be found is the one in which the subject of will names
something incapable of volition; as, The wind will blow. Even this may be
a kind of personification.
+Examples+.—I shall go; You will go; He will go. These are the
proper forms to express mere futurity, but even here we can trace the
original meaning of shall and will. In the first person the speaker
avoids egotism by referring to the act as an obligation or duty rather than
as something under the control of his own will. In the second and third
persons it is more courteous to refer to the will of others than to their
duty.
I will go. Here the action is under the control of the speaker’s will. He
either promises or determines to go.
You shall go; He shall go. Here the speaker either promises the going
or determines to compel these persons to go; in either case the one who
goes is under some external influence.
Shall I go? Here the speaker puts himself under the control of some
external influence—the will of another.
Will I go?—i. e., Is it my will to go?—is not used except to repeat
another’s question. It would be absurd for one to ask what his own will is.
Shall you go? Ans. I shall. Will you go? Ans. I will. Shall
he go? Ans. He shall. Will he go? Ans. He will. The same
auxiliary is used in the question that is used in the answer.
No difficulty shall hinder me. The difficulty that might do the hindering
is not to be left to itself, but is to be kept under the control of the
speaker.
He says that he shall go; He says that he will go. Change the indirect
quotations introduced by that to direct quotations, and the application
of the Caution will be apparent.
You will see that my horse is at the door by nine o’clock. This is only
an apparent exception to the rule. A superior may courteously avoid the
appearance of compulsion, and refer to his subordinate’s willingness to
obey.
They knew that I should be there, and that he would be there. The same
principles apply to should and would that apply to shall and will.
In this example the events are future as to past time; making them future
as to present time, we have, They know that I shall be there, and that he
will be there.
My friend said that he should not set out to-morrow. Change the
indirect to a direct quotation, and the force of should will be seen.
+Direction+.—Assign a reason for the use of shall or will in each of the
following sentences:—
1. Hear me, for I will speak.
2. If you will call, I shall be happy to accompany you.
3. Shall you be at liberty to-day?
4. I shall never see him again.
5. I will never see him again.
6. I said that he should be rewarded.
7. Thou shalt surely die.
8. Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again.
9. Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee.
10. Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet
would I not put forth my hand against the king’s son.
+Direction+.—Fill each of the following blanks with shall, will, should,
or would, and give the reasons for your choice:—
1. He knew who —— betray him.
2. I —— be fatigued if I had walked so far.
3. You did better than I —— have done.
4. If he —— come by noon, —— you be ready?
5. They do me wrong, and I —— not endure it.
6. I —— be greatly obliged if you —— do me the favor.
7. If I —— say so, I —— be guilty of falsehood.
8. You —— be disappointed if you —— see it.
9. —— he be allowed to go on?
10. —— you be unhappy, if I do not come?
+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—
1. Where will I leave you?
2. Will I be in time?
3. It was requested that no person would leave his seat.
4. They requested that the appointment would be given to a man who should
be known to his party.
5. When will we get through this tedious controversy?
6. I think we will have rain.
* * * * *
LESSON 142.
CONSTRUCTION OF NUMBER AND PERSON FORMS.
AGREEMENT.—VERBS—PRONOUNS.
+Caution+.—A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.
+Remarks+.—Practically, this rule applies to but few forms. +Are+ and
+were+ are the only plural forms retained by the English verb. In the
common style, most verbs have one person form, made by adding +s+ or +es+
(has, in the present perfect tense, is a contraction of the indicative
present—ha(ve)s). The verb be has +am+ (first person) and +is+
(third person).
In the solemn style, the second person singular takes the ending +est+,
+st+, or +t+, and, in the indicative present, the third person singular
adds +eth+. (See Lessons 134 and 135.)
Need and dare, when followed by an infinitive without to, are
generally used instead of needs and dares; as, He need not do it; He
dare not do it.
+Caution+.—A collective noun requires a verb in the plural when the
individuals in the collection are thought of; but, when the collection as a
whole is thought of, the verb should be singular.
+Examples+.—
l. The multitude were of one mind.
2. The multitude was too large to number.
3. A number were inclined to turn back,
4. The number present was not ascertained.
+Caution+.—When a verb has two or more subjects connected by and, it
must agree with them in the plural.
+Exceptions+.—l. When the connected subjects are different names of the
same thing, or when they name several things taken as one whole, the verb
must be singular; as, My old friend and schoolmate is in town. Bread and
milk is excellent food.
2. When the connected subjects are preceded by each, every, many a, or
no, they are taken separately, and the verb agrees with the nearest; as,
Every man, woman, and child was lost.
3. When the subjects are emphatically distinguished, the verb agrees with
the first and is understood with the second; as, Time, and patience also,
is needed. (The same is true of subjects connected by as well as; as,
Time, as well as patience, is needed.)
4. When one of the subjects is affirmative and the other negative, the verb
agrees with the affirmative; as, Books, and not pleasure, occupy his
time.
5. When several subjects follow the verb, each subject may be emphasized by
making the verb agree with that which stands nearest; as, Thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory.
+Remark+.—When one of two or more subjects connected by and is of the
first person, the verb is in the first person; when one of the subjects is
of the second person, and none of the first, the verb is in the second
person. I, you, and he = we; you and he = you. We say, Mary and I
shall (not will) be busy to-morrow.
+Caution+.—When two or more subjects are connected by or or nor, the
verb agrees in person and number with the nearest; as, Neither poverty nor
wealth was desired; Neither he nor they were satisfied.
When the subjects require different forms of the verb, it is generally
better to express the verb with each subject or to recast the sentence.
+Remarks+.—When a singular and a plural subject are used, the plural
subject is generally placed next to the verb.
In using pronouns of different persons, it is generally more polite for the
speaker to mention the one addressed first, and himself last, except when
he confesses a fault.
+Caution+.—A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and
person; as, Thou who writest; He who writes; They who write, etc.
The three special Cautions given above for the agreement of the verb will
also aid in determining the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent.
+Remarks+.—The pronoun and the verb of an adjective clause relating to the
indefinite subject it take, by attraction, the person and number of the
complement when this complement immediately precedes the adjective clause;
as, It is I that am in the wrong; It is thou that liftest me up; It is
the dews and showers that make the grass grow.
The pronoun you, even when singular, requires a plural verb.
+Direction+.—Justify the use of the following italicized verbs and
pronouns:—
1. Books is a noun.
2. The good are great.
3. The committee were unable to agree, and they asked to be discharged.
4. The House has decided not to allow its members the privilege.
5. Three times four is twelve. [Footnote: “Three times four is twelve”
and “Three times four are twelve” are both used, and both are
defended. The question is (see Caution for collective nouns), Is the
number four thought of as a whole, or are the individual units composing
it thought of? The expression = Four taken three times is twelve.
Times is a noun used adverbially.]
6. Five dollars is not too much.
7. Twice as much is too much.
8. Two hours is a long time to wait.
9. To relieve the wretched was his pride.
10. To profess and to possess are two different things.
11. Talking and eloquence are not the same.
12. The tongs are not in their place.
13. Every one is accountable for his own acts.
14. Every book and every paper was found in its place.
15. Not a loud voice, but strong proofs bring conviction.
16. This orator and statesman has gone to his rest.
17. Young’s “Night Thoughts” is his most celebrated poetical work.
18. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it.
19. The hue and cry of the country pursues him.
20. The second and the third Epistle of John contain each a single
chapter.
21. Man is masculine because it denotes a male.
22. Therein consists the force and use and nature of language.
23. Neither wealth nor wisdom is the chief thing.
24. Either you or I am right.
25. Neither you nor he is to blame.
26. John, and his sister also, is going.
27. The lowest mechanic, as well as the richest citizen, is here
protected in his right.
28. There are one or two reasons. [Footnote: When two adjectives
differing in number are connected without a repetition of the noun, the
tendency is to make the verb agree with the noun expressed.]
29. Nine o’clock and forty-five minutes is fifteen minutes of ten.
30. Mexican figures, or picture-writing, represent things, not words.
[Footnote: The verb here agrees with figures, as picture-writing is
logically explanatory of figures.]
31. Many a kind word and many a kind act has been put to his credit.
+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—
1. Victuals are always plural.
2. Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives” are his great work.
3. What sounds have each of the vowels?
4. “No, no,” says I.
5. “We agree,” says they.
6. Where was you?
7. Every one of these are good in their place.
8. Neither of them have recited their lesson.
9. There comes the boys.
10. Each of these expressions denote action.
11. One of you are mistaken.
12. There is several reasons for this.
13. The assembly was divided in its opinion.
14. The public is invited to attend.
15. The committee were full when this point was decided.
16. The nation are prosperous.
17. Money, as well as men, were needed.
18. Now, boys, I want every one of you to decide for themselves.
19. Neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven.
20. She fell to laughing like one out of their right mind.
21. Five years’ interest are due.
22. Three quarters of the men was discharged.
23. Nine-tenths of every man’s happiness depend upon this.
24. No time, no money, no labor, were spared.
25. One or the other have erred in their statement.
26. Why are dust and ashes proud?
27. Either the master or his servants is to blame.
28. Neither the servants nor their master are to blame.
29. Our welfare and security consists in unity.
30. The mind, and not the body, sin.
31. He don’t like it.
32. Many a heart and home have been desolated by drink.
GENERAL REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, page 255*.
+Scheme for the Verb.+
(The numbers refer to Lessons.)
VERB.
Uses.
To assert action, being, or state.—Predicate (4, 11)
To assume action, being, or state.
Participles (37)
Infinitives (40)
Classes.
Form.
Regular (92).
Irregular (92, 132, 133).
(Redundant and Defective)
Meaning.
Transitive (92).
Intransitive (92).
Modifications.
Voice.
Active (129, 130).
Passive (129, 130).
Mode.
Indicative (131, 134-137).
Potential (131, 134-137).
Subjunctive (131, 134-137, 140).
Imperative (131, 134-137).
Tense.
Present. |
Past. |
Future. + 131, 134-138,
Present Perfect.| 140, 141.
Past Perfect. |
Future Perfect. |
Number.
Singular. + 131, 134, 135.
Plural. |
Person.
First. |
Second. + 131, 134, 135.
Third. |
Participles.—Classes.
Present. |
Past. + 131, 134, 136.
Past Perfect. |
Infinitives.—
Present. |
Present Perfect.| 131, 134, 135.
+Questions on the Verb+.
1. Define the verb and its classes.—Lessons 92, 132.
2. Define the modifications of the verb.—Lessons 129, 131.
3. Define the several voices, modes, and tenses.—Lessons 129, 131.
4. Define the participle and its classes.—Lesson 131.
5. Define the infinitive.—Lesson 131.
6. Give a synopsis of a regular and of an irregular verb in all the
different forms.—Lessons 134, 135, 136, 137.
7. Analyze the different mode and tense forms, and give the functions of
the different tenses.—Lesson 138.
8. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the mode
and tense forms, and of the person and number forms.—Lessons 140, 141,
142.
* * * * *
LESSON 143.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
Lesson 112.—What are Modifications? Have English words many inflections?
Have they lost any? What is Number? Define the singular and the plural
number. How is the plural of nouns regularly formed? In what ways may the
plural be formed irregularly? Illustrate.
Lesson 113.—Give the plural of some nouns adopted from other languages.
How do compounds form the plural? Illustrate the several ways. How do
letters, figures, etc. form the plural? Illustrate.
Lesson 114.—Give examples of nouns having each two plurals differing in
meaning. Some which have the same form in both numbers. Some which have no
plural. Some which are always plural. What is said of the number of
collective nouns?
Lesson 116.—In what four ways may the number of nouns be determined?
Illustrate.
Lesson 117.—What is Gender? Define the different genders. What is the
difference between sex and gender? The gender of English nouns follows
what? Have English nouns a neuter form? Have all English nouns a masculine
and a feminine form? In what three ways may the masculine of nouns be
distinguished from the feminine? Illustrate. Give the three gender forms of
the pronoun.
Lesson 118.—How is gender in grammar important? When is the pronoun of
the masculine gender used? When is the neuter pronoun it used? By the aid
of what pronouns are inanimate things personified? In personification, when
is the masculine pronoun used, and when is the feminine? Illustrate. What
is the Caution relating to gender?
Lesson 119.—What is Person? Is the person of nouns marked by form?
Define the three persons. When is a noun in the first person? In the second
person? What classes of words have distinctive person forms? Why is person
regarded in grammar? What is Case? Define the three cases. What is the case
of a noun used independently? Of an explanatory modifier? Of an objective
complement? Of a noun or pronoun used as attribute complement? Illustrate
all these.
Lesson 121.—What is Parsing? Illustrate the parsing of nouns.
* * * * *
LESSON 144.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
Lesson 122.—How many case forms have nouns, and what are they? How is
the possessive of nouns in the singular formed? Of nouns in the plural?
Illustrate. What is the possessive sign? To which word of compound names or
of groups of words treated as such is the sign added? Illustrate. Instead
of the possessive form, what may be used? Illustrate.
Lesson 123.—In what case alone can mistakes in the construction of nouns
occur? Illustrate the Cautions relating to possessive forms.
Lesson 124.—What is Declension? Decline girl and tooth. Decline the
several personal pronouns, the relative and the interrogative. What
adjective pronouns are declined wholly or in part? Illustrate.
Lesson 125.—What words in the language have each three different case
forms? What are the nominative, and what the objective, forms of the
pronouns?
Lesson 127.—What one modification have adjectives? What is Comparison?
Define the three degrees. How are adjectives regularly compared? What are
the Rules for Spelling? Illustrate them. How are adjectives of more than
one syllable generally compared? How are degrees of diminution expressed?
Can all adjectives be compared? Illustrate. How are some adverbs compared?
Illustrate the irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs.
Lesson 128.—To how many things does the comparative degree refer? What
does it imply? Explain the office of the superlative. What word usually
follows the comparative, and what the superlative? Give the Cautions
relating to the use of comparatives and superlatives, and illustrate them
fully.
Lesson 129.—What is Voice? Of what class of verbs is it a modification?
Name and define the two voices. When is the one voice used, and when the
other? Into what may the passive form be resolved? Illustrate. What may be
mistaken for a verb in the passive voice? Illustrate.
Lesson 130.—In changing a verb from the active to the passive, what does
the object complement become? How may an intransitive verb sometimes be
made transitive? Illustrate.
* * * * *
LESSON 145.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
Lesson 131.—What is Mode? Define the four modes. What is Tense? Define
the six tenses. Define the infinitive. Define the participle. Define the
classes of participles. What are the number and person of a verb?
Lesson 132.—What is Conjugation? Synopsis? What are auxiliary verbs?
Name them. What are the principal parts of a verb? What are redundant and
what are defective verbs?
Lesson 134.—How many inflectional forms may irregular verbs have? How
many have regular verbs? What is said of the subjunctive mode? Of to with
the infinitive? How is a verb conjugated in the emphatic form?
Lesson 136.—How is a verb conjugated in the progressive form? How is a
transitive verb conjugated in the passive voice? Give an example of a verb
in the progressive form with a passive meaning. What does the progressive
form denote? Can all verbs be conjugated in this form? Why? Give all the
participles of the verbs choose, break, drive, read, lift.
Lesson 137.—How may a verb be conjugated interrogatively? Negatively?
Illustrate. How may a question with negation be expressed in the indicative
and potential modes?
Lesson 138.—Into what may the compound, or periphrastic, forms of the
verb be resolved? Illustrate fully. What is said of the participle in have
written, had written, etc.? Give and illustrate the several uses of the
six tenses.
Lesson 140.—Show how the general Caution for the use of the verb is
frequently violated. When does a conditional or a concessive clause require
the verb to be in the indicative? Illustrate. When is the subjunctive used?
Illustrate the many uses of the subjunctive.
Lesson 141.—Give and illustrate the general Caution relating to mode and
tense forms. Give and illustrate the Caution in regard to will and
would, shall and should.
Lesson 142.—Give and illustrate the Cautions relating to the agreement
of verbs and pronouns. Illustrate the exceptions and the Remarks.
* * * * *
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS.
+Suggestions for the Study of the following Selections.+
+TO THE TEACHER+.—The pupil has now reached a point where he can afford to
drop the diagram—its mission for him is fulfilled. For him to continue its
use with these “Additional Examples,” unless it be to outline the relations
of clauses or illustrate peculiar constructions, is needless; he will
merely be repeating that with which he is already familiar.
These extracts are not given for full analysis or parsing. This, also, the
pupil would find profitless, and for the same reason. One gains nothing in
doing what he already does well enough—progress is not made in climbing
the wheel of a treadmill. But the pupil may here review what has been
taught him of the uses of adjective pronouns, of the relatives in
restrictive and in unrestrictive clauses, of certain idioms, of double
negatives, of the split infinitive, of the subjunctive mode, of the
distinctions in meaning between allied verbs, as lie and lay, of
certain prepositions, of punctuation, etc. He should study the general
character of each sentence, its divisions and subdivisions, the relations
of the independent and the dependent parts, and their connection, order,
etc. He should note the +periodic structure+ of some of these sentences—of
(4) or (19), for instance—the meaning of which remains in suspense till
near or at the close. He should note in contrast the +loose structure+ of
others—for example, the last sentence in (20)—a sentence that has several
points at any one of which a complete thought has been expressed, but the
part of the sentence following does not, by itself, make complete sense.
Let him try to see which structure is the more natural, and which is the
more forcible, and why; and what style gains by a judicious blending of the
two.
Especially should the pupil look at the thought in these prose extracts and
at the manner in which it is expressed. This will lead him to take a step
or two over into the field of literature. If the attempt is made, one
condition seems imperative—the pupil should thoroughly understand what the
author says. We know no better way to secure this than to exact of him a
careful reproduction in his own words of the author’s thought. This will
reveal to him the differences between his work and the original; and bring
into relief the peculiarity of each author’s style—the stateliness of De
Quincey’s, for instance, the vividness of Webster’s, the oratorical
character of Macaulay’s, the ruggedness of Carlyle’s, the poetical beauty
of Emerson’s, the humor of Irving’s, and the brilliancy of Holmes’s—the
last lines from whom are purposely stilted, as we learn from the context.
The pupil may see how ellipses and transpositions and imagery abound in
poetry, and how, in the use of these particulars, poets differ from each
other. He may note that poems are not pitched in the same key—that the
extracts from Wordsworth and Goldsmith and Cowper, for example, deal with
common facts and in a homely way, that the one from Lowell is in a higher
key, while that from Shelley is all imagination, and is crowded with
audacious imagery, all exquisite except in the first line, where the moon,
converted by metaphor into a maiden, has that said of her that is
inconsistent with her in her new character.
1. It is thought by some people that all those stars which you see
glittering so restlessly on a keen, frosty night in a high latitude, and
which seem to have been sown broadcast with as much carelessness as
grain lies on a threshing-floor, here showing vast zaarahs of desert
blue sky, there again lying close, and to some eyes presenting
“The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest,”
are, in fact, gathered into zones or strata; that our own wicked
little earth, with the whole of our peculiar solar system, is a part of
such a zone; and that all this perfect geometry of the heavens, these
radii in the mighty wheel, would become apparent, if we, the
spectators, could but survey it from the true center; which center may
be far too distant for any vision of man, naked or armed, to reach.—De
Quincey
2. On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar off,
they [our fathers] raised their flag against a power to which, for
purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her
glory, is not to be compared—a power which has dotted over the surface
of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose
morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours,
circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial
airs of England.—Webster.
3. In some far-away and yet undreamt-of hour, I can even imagine that
England may cast all thoughts of possessive wealth back to the barbaric
nations among whom they first arose; and that, while the sands of the
Indus and adamant of Golconda may yet stiffen the housings of the
charger and flash from the turban of the slave, she, as a Christian
mother, may at last attain to the virtues and the treasures of a Heathen
one, and be able to lead forth her Sons, saying, “These are my
Jewels.”—Ruskin.
4. And, when those who have rivaled her [Athens’s] greatness shall have
shared her fate; when civilization and knowledge shall have fixed their
abode in distant continents; when the scepter shall have passed away
from England; when, perhaps, travelers from distant regions shall in
vain labor to decipher on some moldering pedestal the name of our
proudest chief, shall hear savage hymns chanted to some misshapen idol
over the ruined dome of our proudest temple, and shall see a single
naked fisherman wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand
masts,—her influence and her glory will still survive, fresh in eternal
youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the intellectual
principle from which they derived their origin, and over which they
exercise their control.—Macaulay.
5. To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware. When thoughts
Of the last, bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony and shroud and pall
And breathless darkness and the narrow house
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart,—
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature’s teachings, while from all around—
Earth and her waters and the depths of air—
Comes a still voice.—Bryant.
6. Pleasant it was, when woods were green,
And winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,
Where, the long drooping boughs between,
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go;
Or where the denser grove receives
No sunlight from above,
But the dark foliage interweaves
In one unbroken roof of leaves,
Underneath whose sloping eaves
The shadows hardly move.—Longfellow.
7. I like the lad who, when his father thought
To clip his morning nap by hackneyed praise
Of vagrant worm by early songster caught,
Cried, “Served him right! ’tis not at all surprising;
The worm was punished, sir, for early rising.”—Saxe.
8. There were communities, scarce known by name
In these degenerate days, but once far-famed,
Where liberty and justice, hand in hand,
Ordered the common weal; where great men grew
Up to their natural eminence, and none
Saving the wise, just, eloquent, were great;
Where power was of God’s gift to whom he gave
Supremacy of merit—the sole means
And broad highway to power, that ever then
Was meritoriously administered,
Whilst all its instruments, from first to last,
The tools of state for service high or low,
Were chosen for their aptness to those ends
Which virtue meditates.—Henry Taylor.
9. Stranger, these gloomy boughs
Had charms for him; and here he loved to sit,
His only visitant a straggling sheep,
The stone-chat, or the glancing sand-piper;
And on these barren rocks, with fern and heath
And juniper and thistle sprinkled o’er,
Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hour
A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here
An emblem of his own unfruitful life;
And, lifting up his head, he then would gaze
On the more distant scene,—how lovely ‘t is
Thou seest,—and he would gaze till it became
Far lovelier, and his heart could not sustain
The beauty, still more beauteous.—Wordsworth.
10. But, when the next sun brake from underground,
Then, those two brethren slowly with bent brows
Accompanying, the sad chariot-bier
Past like a shadow thro’ the field, that shone
Full-summer, to that stream whereon the barge,
Pall’d all its length in blackest samite, lay.
There sat the life-long creature of the house,
Loyal, the dumb old servitor, on deck,
Winking his eyes, and twisted all his face.
So those two brethren from the chariot took
And on the black decks laid her in her bed,
Set in her hand a lily, o’er her hung
The silken case with braided blazonings,
And kiss’d her quiet brows, and, saying to her,
“Sister, farewell forever,” and again,
“Farewell, sweet sister,” parted all in tears.—Tennyson
11. Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘t is something, nothing;
‘T was mine, ‘t is his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.—Shakespeare.
12. When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he, returning, chide,—
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
—Milton.—Sonnet on his Blindness.
13. Ah! on Thanksgiving Day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest;
When the gray-haired New-Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored;
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,—
What moistens the lip, and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin-pie?
—Whittier.
14. That orbed maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon,
Glides glimmering o’er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent’s thin roof,
The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.
—Shelley.—The Cloud.
15. Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening’s close,
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose.
There, as I passed with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came softened from below;
The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung,
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young,
The noisy geese that gabbled o’er the pool,
The playful children just let loose from school,
The watch-dog’s voice that bayed the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind,—
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade,
And filled each pause the nightingale had made.
—Goldsmith.
16. To sit on rocks, to muse o’er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest’s shady scene,
Where things that own not man’s dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne’er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o’er steeps and foaming falls to lean;—
This is not solitude; ‘t is but to hold
Converse with nature’s charms, and view her stores unrolled.
—Byron.
17. The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang,
And through the dark arch a charger sprang,
Bearing Sir Launfal, the maiden knight,
In his gilded mail, that flamed so bright
It seemed the dark castle had gathered all
Those shafts the fierce sun had shot over its wall
In his siege of three hundred summers long,
And, binding them all in one blazing sheaf,
Had cast them forth; so, young and strong
And lightsome as a locust leaf,
Sir Launfal flashed forth in his maiden mail
To seek in all climes for the Holy Grail.—Lowell.
18. Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise,—
We love the play-place of our early days;
The scene is touching, and the heart is stone
That feels not at the sight, and feels at none.
The wall on which we tried our graving skill,
The very name we carved subsisting still;
The bench on which we sat while deep employed,
Tho’ mangled, hacked, and hewed, not yet destroyed;
The little ones, unbuttoned, glowing hot,
Playing our games, and on the very spot,
As happy as we once, to kneel and draw
The chalky ring and knuckle down at taw,
To pitch the ball into the grounded hat,
Or drive it devious with a dexterous pat;—
The pleasing spectacle at once excites
Such recollection of our own delights
That, viewing it, we seem almost t’ obtain
Our innocent, sweet, simple years again.—Cowper.
19. Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the torch of
science has now been brandished and borne about, with more or less
effect, for five thousand years and upwards; how, in these times
especially, not only the torch still burns, and perhaps more fiercely
than ever, but innumerable rush-lights and sulphur-matches, kindled
thereat, are also glancing in every direction, so that not the smallest
cranny or doghole in nature or art can remain unilluminated,—it might
strike the reflective mind with some surprise that hitherto little or
nothing of a fundamental character, whether in the way of philosophy or
history, has been written on the subject of Clothes.—Carlyle.
20. When we see one word of a frail man on the throne of France tearing a
hundred thousand sons from their homes, breaking asunder the sacred
ties of domestic life, sentencing myriads of the young to make murder
their calling and rapacity their means of support, and extorting from
nations their treasures to extend this ruinous sway, we are ready to
ask ourselves, Is not this a dream? and, when the sad reality comes
home to us, we blush for a race which can stoop to such an abject lot.
At length, indeed, we see the tyrant humbled, stripped of power, but
stripped by those who, in the main, are not unwilling to play the
despot on a narrower scale, and to break down the spirit of nations
under the same iron sway.—Channing.
21. There are days which occur in this climate, at almost any season of the
year, wherein the world reaches its perfection; when the air, the
heavenly bodies, and the earth make a harmony, as if Nature would
indulge her offspring; when, in these bleak upper sides of the planet,
nothing is to desire that we have heard of the happiest latitudes, and
we bask in the shining hours of Florida and Cuba; when everything that
has life gives sign of satisfaction, and the cattle that lie on the
ground seem to have great and tranquil thoughts.—-Emerson.
22. Did you never, in walking in the fields, come across a large flat
stone, which had lain, nobody knows how long, just where you found it,
with the grass forming a little hedge, as it were, all round it, close
to its edges; and have you not, in obedience to a kind of feeling that
told you it had been lying there long enough, insinuated your stick or
your foot or your fingers under its edge, and turned it over as a
housewife turns a cake, when she says to herself, “It’s done brown
enough by this time”? But no sooner is the stone turned and the
wholesome light of day let upon this compressed and blinded community
of creeping things than all of them which enjoy the luxury of legs—and
some of them have a good many—rush round wildly, butting each other
and everything in their way, and end in a general stampede for
underground retreats from the region poisoned by sunshine. Next year
you will find the grass growing tall and green where the stone lay; the
ground-bird builds her nest where the beetle had his hole; the
dandelion and the buttercup are growing there, and the broad fans of
insect-angels open and shut over their golden disks, as the rhythmic
waves of blissful consciousness pulsate through their glorified
being.—Holmes.
23. There is a different and sterner path;—I know not whether there be any
now qualified to tread it; I am not sure that even one has ever
followed it implicitly, in view of the certain meagerness of its
temporal rewards, and the haste wherewith any fame acquired in a sphere
so thoroughly ephemeral as the Editor’s must be shrouded by the dark
waters of oblivion. This path demands an ear ever open to the plaints
of the wronged and the suffering, though they can never repay advocacy,
and those who mainly support newspapers will be annoyed and often
exposed by it; a heart as sensitive to oppression and degradation in
the next street as if they were practiced in Brazil or Japan; a pen as
ready to expose and reprove the crimes whereby wealth is amassed and
luxury enjoyed in our own country at this hour as if they had been
committed only by Turks or pagans in Asia some centuries
ago.—Greeley.
24. To sweeten the beverage, a lump of sugar was laid beside each cup, and
the company alternately nibbled and sipped with great decorum, until an
improvement was introduced by a shrewd and economical old lady, which
was to suspend a large lump directly over the tea-table, by a string
from the ceiling, so that it could be swung from mouth to mouth—an
ingenious expedient, which is still kept up by some families in Albany,
but which prevails without exception in Communipaw, Bergen, Platbush,
and all our uncontaminated Dutch villages.—Irving.
* * * * *
COMPOSITION.
LESSON 146.
SUMMARY OF RULES FOR CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION.
CAPITAL LETTERS, TERMINAL MARKS, AND THE COMMA.
+Capital Letters+.—The first word of (1) a sentence, (2) a line of poetry,
(3) a direct quotation making complete sense or a direct question
introduced into a sentence, and (4) phrases or clauses separately numbered
or paragraphed should begin with a capital letter. Begin with a capital
letter (5) proper names (including all names of the Deity), and words
derived from them, (6) names of things vividly personified, and (7) most
abbreviations. Write in capital letters (8) the words I and 0, and (9)
numbers in the Roman notation. [Footnote: Small letters are often used in
referring to sections, chapters, etc.]
+Period+.—Place a period after (1) a declarative or an imperative
sentence, (2) an abbreviation, (3) a number written in the Roman notation,
and (4) Arabic figures used to enumerate.
+Interrogation Point+.—Every direct interrogative sentence or clause
should be followed by an interrogation point.
+Exclamation Point+.—All exclamatory expressions must be followed by the
exclamation point.
+Comma+.—Set off by the comma (1) an explanatory modifier which does not
restrict the modified term or combine closely with it; (2) a participle
used as an adjective modifier, with the words belonging to it, unless
restrictive; (3) the adjective clause when not restrictive; (4) the adverb
clause, unless it closely follows and restricts the word it modifies; (5) a
phrase out of its usual order or not closely connected with the word it
modifies; (6) a word or phrase independent or nearly so; (7) a direct
quotation introduced into a sentence, unless formally introduced; (8) a
noun clause used as an attribute complement; and (9) a term connected to
another by or and having the same meaning. Separate by the comma (10)
connected words and phrases, unless all the conjunctions are expressed;
(11) co-ordinate clauses when short and closely connected; and (12) the
parts of a compound predicate, and other phrases, when long or differently
modified. Use the comma (13) to denote an omission of words; (14) after
as, namely, etc., introducing illustrations; and (15) when it is needed
to prevent ambiguity.
+Direction+.—Give the Rule for each capital letter and each mark of
punctuation in these sentences, except the colon, the semicolon, and the
quotation marks:—
1. Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III., three sons of Catherine de
Medici and Henry II., sat upon the French throne.
2. The pupil asked, “When shall I use O, and when shall I use oh?”
3. Purity of style forbids us to use: 1. Foreign words; 2. Obsolete words;
3. Low words, or slang.
4. It is easy, Mistress Dial, for you, who have always, as everybody knows,
set yourself up above me, to accuse me of laziness.
5. He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.
6. The Holy Land was, indeed, among the early conquests of the Saracens,
Caliph Omar having, in 637 A. D., taken Jerusalem.
7. He who teaches, often learns himself.
8. San Salvador, Oct. 12, 1492.
9. Some letters are superfluous; as, c and q.
10. No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet To chase the glowing
hours with flying feet!
Direction.—Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation
in these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. and lo from the assembled crowd
there rose a shout prolonged and loud
that to the ocean seemed to say
take her o bridegroom old and gray
2. a large rough mantle of sheepskin fastened around the loins by a girdle
or belt of hide was the only covering of that strange solitary man
elijah the tishbite
3. The result however of the three years’ reign or tyranny of jas ii was
that wm of orange came over from holland and without shedding a drop of
blood became a d 1688 wm in of england
4. o has three sounds: 1. that in not; 2. that in note; 3. that in
move
5. lowell asks and what is so rare as a day in June
6. spring is a fickle mistress but summer is more staid
7. if i may judge by his gorgeous colors and the exquisite sweetness and
variety of his music autumn is i should say the poet of the family
8. new york apr 30 1789
9. some letters stand each for many sounds; as a and o
* * * * *
LESSON 147.
SUMMARY OF RULES—CONTINUED.
SEMICOLON AND COLON.
+Semicolon+.—Co-ordinate clauses, (1) when slightly connected, or (2) when
themselves divided by the comma, must be separated by the semicolon. Use
the semicolon (3) between serial phrases or clauses having a common
dependence on something which precedes or follows; and (4) before as, to
wit, namely, i. e., and that is, when they introduce examples or
illustrations.
+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation
(except the colon) in these sentences:—
1. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but it will stand, and it
will richly compensate for both.
2. Some words are delightful to the ear; as, Ontario, golden, oriole.
3. The shouts of revelry had died away; the roar of the lion had ceased;
the last loiterer had retired from the banquet; and the lights in the
palace of the victor were extinguished.
4. Send it to the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who
heard the first roar of the enemy’s cannon; let them see it who saw
their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill: and the
very walls will cry out in its support.
+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in
these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. all parts of a plant reduce to three namely root stem and leaf
2. when the world is dark with tempests when thunder rolls and lightning
flies thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds and laughest at the
storm
3. the oaks of the mountains fall the mountains themselves decay with years
the ocean shrinks and grows again the moon herself is lost in heaven
4. kennedy taking from her a handkerchief edged with gold pinned it over
her eyes the executioners holding her by the arms led her to the block
and the queen kneeling down said repeatedly with a firm voice into thy
hands o lord i commend my spirit
+Colon+.—Use the colon (1) between the parts of a sentence when these
parts are themselves divided by the semicolon, and (2) before a quotation
or an enumeration of particulars when formally introduced.
+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in
these sentences:—
1. You may swell every expense, and strain every effort, still more
extravagantly; accumulate every assistance you can beg and borrow;
traffic and barter with every little, pitiful German prince that sells
and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country: your
efforts are forever vain and impotent.
2. This is a precept of Socrates: “Know thyself.”
+Direction+.—Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in
these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. the advice given ran thus take care of the minutes and the hours will
take care of themselves
2. we may abound in meetings and movements enthusiastic gatherings in the
field and forest may kindle all minds with a common sentiment but it is
all in vain if men do not retire from the tumult to the silent culture
of every right disposition
+Direction+.—-Write sentences illustrating the several uses of the
semicolon, the colon, and the comma.
* * * * *
LESSON 148.
SUMMARY OF RULES—CONTINUED.
THE DASH, MARKS OF PARENTHESIS, APOSTROPHE, HYPHEN, QUOTATION MARKS, AND
BRACKETS.
+Dash+.—Use the dash where there is an omission (1) of letters or figures,
and (2) of such words as as, namely, or that is, introducing
illustrations or equivalent expressions. Use the dash (3) where the
sentence breaks off abruptly, and the same thought is resumed after a
slight suspension, or another takes its place; and (4) before a word or
phrase repeated at intervals for emphasis. The dash may be used (5) instead
of marks of parenthesis, and may (6) follow other marks, adding to their
force.
+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in
these sentences:—
1. The most noted kings of Israel were the first three—Saul; David, and
Solomon.
2. When Mrs. B—— heard of her son’s disgrace, she fainted away.
3. And—”This to me?” he said.
4. Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage—what are they?
5. I do not rise to supplicate you to be merciful toward the nation to
which I belong,—toward a nation which, though subject to England, yet
is distinct from it.
6. We know the uses—and sweet they are—of adversity.
7. His place business is 225—229 High street.
+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in
these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. the human species is composed of two distinct races those who borrow and
those who lend
2. this bill this infamous bill the way it has been received by the house
the manner in which its opponents have been treated the personalities to
which they have been subjected all these things dissipate my doubts
3. the account of a _____’s shame fills pp 1 19
4. lord marmion turned well was his need and dashed the rowels in his steed
+Marks of Parenthesis+.—Marks of parenthesis may be used to inclose what
has no essential connection with the rest of the sentence.
+Apostrophe+.—Use the apostrophe (1) to mark the omission of letters, (2)
in the pluralizing of letters, figures, and characters, and (3) to
distinguish the possessive from other cases.
+Hyphen+.—Use the hyphen (-) (1) to join the parts of compound words, and
(2) between syllables when a word is divided.
+Quotation Marks+.—Use quotation marks to inclose a copied word or
passage. If the quotation contains a quotation, the latter is inclosed
within single marks. (See Lesson 74.)
+Brackets+.—Use brackets [ ] to inclose what, in quoting another’s words,
you insert by way of explanation or correction.
+Direction+.—Justify the marks of punctuation used in these sentences:—
1. Luke says, Acts xxi. 15, “We took up our carriages [luggage], and went
up to Jerusalem.”
2. The last sentence of the composition was, “I close in the words of
Patrick Henry, ‘Give me liberty, or give me death.'”
3. Red-hot is a compound adjective.
4. Telegraph is divided thus: tel–e–graph.
5. The profound learning of Sir William Jones (he was master of
twenty-eight languages) was the wonder of his contemporaries.
6. By means of the apostrophe you know that love in mother’s love is a
noun, and that i’s isn’t a verb.
+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in
these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. next to a conscience void of offense without which by the bye life isnt
worth the living is the enjoyment of the social feelings
2. man the life boat
3. don’t neglect in writing to dot your is cross your ts and make your
7_s_ unlike your 9_s_ and don’t in speaking omit the hs from such
words as which when and why or insert rs in law saw and
raw
4. the scriptures tell us take no thought anxiety for the morrow
5. The speaker said american oratory rose to its high water mark in that
great speech ending liberty and union now and forever one and
inseparable
* * * * *
LESSON 149.
CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION—REVIEW.
+Direction+.—Give the reason for each capital letter and each mark of
punctuation in these sentences:—
1. A bigot’s mind is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour
upon it, the more it contracts.
2. This is the motto of the University of Oxford: “The Lord is my light.”
3. The only fault ever found with him is, that he sometimes fights ahead of
his orders.
4. The land flowing with “milk and honey” (see Numbers xiv. 8) was a long,
narrow strip, lying along the eastern edge, or coast, of the
Mediterranean, and consisted of three divisions; namely, 1. On the
north, Galilee; 2. On the south, Judea; 3, In the middle, Samaria.
5. “What a lesson,” Trench well says, “the word ‘diligence’ contains!”
6. An honest man, my neighbor,—there he stands—
Was struck—struck like a dog, by one who wore
The badge of Ursini.
7. Thou, too, sail on, 0 Ship of State;
Sail on, 0 Union, strong and great.
8. O’Connell asks, “The clause which does away with trial by jury—what,
in the name of H——n, is it, if it is not the establishment of a
revolutionary tribunal?”
9. There are only three departments of the mind—the intellect, the
feelings, and the will.
10. This—trial!
11. American nationality has made the desert to bud and blossom as the
rose; it has quickened to life the giant brood of useful arts; it has
whitened lake and ocean with the sails of a daring, new, and lawful
trade; it has extended to exiles, flying as clouds, the asylum of our
better liberty.
12. As I saw him [Weoster, the day before his great reply to Col. Hayne of
South Carolina] in the evening, (if I may borrow an illustration from
his favorite amusement) he was as unconcerned and as free of spirit as
some here present have seen him while floating in his fishing-boat
along a hazy shore, gently rocking on the tranquil tide, dropping his
line here and there, with the varying fortune of the sport. The next
morning he was like some mighty admiral, dark and terrible, casting the
long shadow of his frowning tiers far over the sea, that seemed to sink
beneath him; his broad pendant [pennant] streaming at the main, the
stars and the stripes at the fore, the mizzen, and the peak; and
bearing down like a tempest upon his antagonist, with all his canvas
strained to the wind, and all his thunders roaring from his broadsides.
13. The “beatitudes” are found in Matt. v. 3—11.
TO THE TEACHER.—If further work in punctuation is needed, require the
pupils to justify the punctuation of the sentences beginning page 314.
* * * * *
LESSON 150.
QUALITIES OF STYLE.
+Style+ is the manner in which one expresses himself. Styles differ as men
differ. But there are some cardinal qualities that all good style must
possess.
I. +Perspicuity.+—Perspicuity is opposed to obscurity of all kinds; it
means clearness of expression. It demands that the thought in the sentence
shall be plainly seen through the words of the sentence. Perspicuity is an
indispensable quality of style; if the thought is not understood, or it is
misunderstood, its expression might better have been left unattempted.
Perspicuity depends mainly upon these few things:—
1. +One’s Clear Understanding of What One Attempts to Say.+—You cannot
express to others more than you thoroughly know, or make your thought
clearer to them than it is to yourself.
2. +The Unity of the Sentence.+—Many thoughts, or thoughts having no
natural and close connection with each other, should not be crowded into
one sentence.
3. +The Use of the Right Words.+—Use such words as convey your
thought—each word expressing exactly your idea, no more, no less, no
other. Use words in the senses recognized by the best authority. Do not
omit words when they are needed, and do not use a superfluity of them. Be
cautious in the use of he, she, it, and they. Use simple
words—words which those who are addressed can readily understand. Avoid
what are called bookish, inkhorn, terms; shun words that have passed out of
use, and those that have no footing in the language—foreign words, words
newly coined, and slang.
4. +A Happy Arrangement.+—The relations of single words to each other, of
phrases to the words they modify, and of clauses to one another should be
obvious at a glance. The sentence should not need rearrangement in order to
disclose the meaning. Sentences should stand in the paragraph so that the
beginning of each shall tally exactly in thought with the sentence that
precedes; and the ending of each, with the sentence that follows. Every
paragraph should be a unit in thought, distinct from other paragraphs,
holding to them the relation that its own sentences hold to one another,
the relation that the several parts of each sentence hold to one another.
II. +Energy+.—By energy we mean force, vigor, of expression. In ordinary
discourse, it is not often sought, and in no discourse is it constantly
sought. We use energy when we wish to convince the intellect, arouse the
feelings, and capture the will—lead one to do something. When energetic,
we select words and images for strength and not for beauty; choose
specific, and not general, terms; prefer the concrete to the abstract; use
few words and crowd these with meaning; place subordinate clauses before
the independent; and put the strongest word in the clause, the strongest
clause in the sentence, the strongest sentence in the paragraph, and the
strongest paragraph in the discourse, last. Energetic thought seeks variety
of expression, is usually charged with intense feeling, and requires
impassioned delivery.
III. +Imagery—Figures of Speech+.—Things stand in many relations to each
other. Some +things are (1) like each other+ in some particular; other
+things are (2) unlike each other+ in some particular; and still other
+things stand to each other (3)+ in some +other+ noteworthy +relation than+
that of +likeness+ or +unlikeness+. Things long seen and associated by us
in any of these relations come at last readily to suggest each other.
+Figures of Speech+ are those expressions in which, departing from our
ordinary manner in speaking of things, we assert or assume any of these
notable relations. The first and great service of imagery is to the
thought—it makes the thought clearer and stronger. Imagery adds beauty to
style—a diamond brooch may adorn as well as do duty to the dress.
A +Simile+, or +Comparison+, is a figure of speech in which we point out or
assert a likeness between things otherwise unlike; as, The gloom of
despondency hung like a cloud over the land.
A +Metaphor+ is a figure of speech in which, assuming the likeness between
two things, we bring over and apply to one of them the term that denotes
the other; as, A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an
adjoining pond.
A +Personification+ is a figure of speech in which things are raised to a
plane of being above their own—to or toward that of persons. It +raises+
(1) +mere things to+ the plane of +animals+; as, The sea licks your feet,
its huge flanks purr pleasantly for you. It raises (2) +mere animals to+
the plane of +persons+; as, So talked the spirited, sly Snake. It
+raises+ (3) +mere things to+ the plane of +persons+; as, Earth fills her
lap with pleasures of her own.
An +Antithesis+ is a figure of speech in which things mutually opposed in
some particular are set over against each other; as, The mountains give
their lost children berries and water; the sea mocks their thirst
and lets them die.
A +Metonymy+ is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing connected
to another by a relation other than likeness or unlikeness is brought over
and applied to that other. The most important of these relations are (1)
that of the +sign+ to the +thing signified+; (2) that of +cause+ to
+effect+; (3) that of +instrument+ to the +user+ of it; (4) that of
+container+ to the +thing contained+; (5) that of +material+ to the +thing
made out of it+; (6) that of +contiguity+; (7) that of the +abstract+ to
the +concrete+; and (8) that of +part+ to the +whole+ or of +whole+ to the
+part+.
This last relation has been thought so important that the metonymy based
upon it has received a distinct name—+Synecdoche+.
+IV. Variety+.—Variety is a quality of style opposed to monotonous
uniformity. Nothing in discourse pleases us more than light and shade. In
discourse properly varied, the same word does not appear with offensive
frequency; long words alternate with short; the usual order now and then
yields to the transposed; the verb in the assertive form frequently gives
way to the participle and the infinitive, which assume; figures of speech
sparkle here and there in a setting of plain language; the full method of
statement is followed by the contracted; impassioned language is succeeded
by the unemotional; long sentences stand side by side with short, and loose
sentences with periods; declarative sentences are relieved by interrogative
and exclamatory, and simple sentences by compound and complex; clauses have
no rigidly fixed position; and sentences heavy with meaning and moving
slowly are elbow to elbow with the light and tripping. In a word, no one
form or method or matter is continued so long as to weary, and the reader
is kept fresh and interested throughout. Variety is restful to the reader
or hearer and therefore adds greatly to the clearness and to the force of
what is addressed to him.
TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils upon every point taken up in this
Lesson and require them to give illustrations where it is possible for them
to do so.
* * * * *
LESSON 151.
PERSPICUITY—CRITICISM.
+General Direction+.—In all your work in Composition attend carefully to
the punctuation.
+Direction+.—Point out the faults, and recast these sentences, making
them clear:—
[Footnote: These four sentences and others in these Lessons, given just as
we found them, have been culled from school compositions.]
1. He was locked in and so he sat still till the guard came and let him
out, as soon as he stepped out on the ground, he saw the dead and dying
laying about everywhere.
2. They used to ring a large bell at six o’clock
in the morning for us to get up, then we had half an hour to dress in,
after which we would go to Chapel exercises, then breakfast, school would
commence at nine o’clock and closed at four in the afternoon allowing an
hour for dinner from one until two then we would resume our studies until
four in the afternoon.
3. Jewelry was worn in the time of King Pharaoh
which is many thousand years before Christ in the time when the Israelites
left they borrowed all the jewels of the Egyptians which were made of gold
and silver.
4. When it is made of gold they can not of pure gold but has to
be mixed with some other metal which is generally copper which turns it a
reddish hue in some countries they use silver which gives it a whitish hue
but in the United States and England they use both silver and copper but
the English coins are the finest.
+Direction+.—Point out the faults, and recast these sentences, making
them clear:—
(If any one of the sentences has several meanings, give these.)
1. James’s son, Charles I., before the breath was out of his body was
proclaimed king in his stead.
2. He told the coachman that he would be the death of him, if he did not
take care what he was about, and mind what he said.
3. Richelieu said to the king that Mazarin would carry out his policy.
4. He was overjoyed to see him, and he sent for one of his workmen, and
told him to consider himself at his service.
5. Blake answered the Spanish priest that if he had sent in a complaint, he
would have punished the sailors severely; but he took it ill that he set
the Spaniards on to punish them.
+Direction+.—So place these subordinate clauses that they will remove the
obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—
1. The moon cast a pale light on the graves that were scattered around, as
it peered above the horizon.
2. A large number of seats were occupied by pupils that had no backs.
3. Crusoe was surprised at seeing five canoes on the shore in which there
were savages.
4. This tendency will be headed off by approximations which will be made
from time to time of the written word to the spoken.
5. People had to travel on horseback and in wagons, which was a very slow
way, if they traveled at all.
6. How can brethren partake of their Father’s blessing that curse each
other?
7. Two men will be tried for crimes in this town which are punishable with
death, if a full court should attend.
Direction.—Each of these sentences may have two meanings, supply the two
ellipses in each sentence, and remove the ambiguity:—
1. Let us trust no strength less than thine.
2. Study had more attraction for him than his friend.
3. He did not like the new teacher so well as his playmates.
4. He aimed at nothing less than the crown.
5. Lovest thou me more than these?
* * * * *
LESSON 152.
PERSPICUITY—CRITICISM.
Direction.—So place these italicized phrases that they will remove the
obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—
1. These designs any man who is a Briton in any situation ought to
disavow.
2. The chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes,
“He saved,” etc.
3. Hay is given to horses as well as corn to distend the stomach.
4. Boston has forty first class grammar-schools, exclusive of Dorchester.
5. He rode to town, and drove twelve cows on horseback.
6. He could not face an enraged father in spite of his effrontery.
7. Two owls sat upon a tree which grew near an old wall out of a heap of
rubbish.
8. I spent most on the river and in the river of the time I stayed there.
9. He wanted to go to sea, although it was contrary to the wishes of his
parents, at the age of eighteen.
10. I have a wife and six children, and I have never seen one of them.
+Direction.+—So place the italicized words and phrases in each sentence
that they will help to convey what you think is the author’s thought, and
then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—
1. In Paris, every lady in full dress rides.
2. I saw my friend when I was in Boston walking down Tremont street.
3. The Prince of Wales was forbidden to become king or any other man.
4. What is his coming or going to you?
5. We do those things frequently which we repent of afterwards.
6. I rushed out leaving the wretch with his tale half told,
horror-stricken at his crime.
7. Exclamation points are scattered up and down the page by compositors
without any mercy.
8. I want to make a present to one who is fond of chickens for a Christmas
gift.
+Direction.+—Make these sentences clear by using simpler words and
phrases:—
1. A devastating conflagration raged.
2. He conducted her to the altar of Hymen.
3. A donkey has an abnormal elongation of auricular appendages.
4. Are you excavating a subterranean canal?
5. He had no capillary substance on the summit of his head.
6. He made a sad faux pas.
7. A network is anything reticulated or decussated, with interstices at
equal distances between the intersections.
8. Diligence is the sine qua non of success.
9. She has donned the habiliments of woe.
10. The deceased was to-day deposited in his last resting-place.
11. The inmates proceeded to the sanctuary.
12. I have partaken of my morning repast.
13. He took the initiative in inaugurating the ceremony.
* * * * *
LESSON 153.
ENERGY—CRITICISM.
+Direction+.—Expand these brief expressions into sentences full of long
words, and note the loss of energy:—
1. To your tents, 0 Israel!
2. Up, boys, and at them!
3. Indeed!
4. Bah!
5. Don’t give up the ship!
6. Murder will out.
7. Oh!
8. Silence there!
9. Hurrah!
10. Death or free speech!
11. Rascal!
12. No matter.
13. Least said, soonest mended.
14. Death to the tyrant!
15. I’ll none of it.
16. Help, ho!
17. Shame on you!
18. First come, first served.
+Direction+.—Condense each of these italicized expressions into one or
two words, and note the gain:—
1. He shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday.
2. The author surpassed all those who were living at the same time with
him.
3. To say that revelation is a thing which there is no need of is to talk
wildly.
4. He departed this life.
5. Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes wherein our Saviour’s
birth is celebrated this bird of dawning singeth all night long.
+Direction+.—Change these specific words to general terms, and note the
loss in energy:—-
1. Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes.
2. Break down the dikes, give Holland back to ocean.
3. Three hundred men held the hosts of Xerxes at bay.
4. I sat at her cradle, I followed her hearse.
5. Their daggers have stabbed Caesar.
6. When I’m mad, I weigh a ton.
7. Burn Moscow, starve back the invaders.
8. There’s no use in crying over spilt milk.
9. In proportion as men delight in battles and bull-fights will they
punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.
+Direction+.—Change these general terms to specific words, and note the
gain in energy:—
1. Anne Boleyn was executed.
2. It were better for him that a heavy weight were fastened to him and
that he were submerged in the waste of waters.
3. The capital of the chosen people was destroyed by a Roman general.
4. Consider the flowers how they increase in size.
5. Caesar was slain by the conspirators.
6. The cities of the plain were annihilated.
+Direction+.—Arrange these words, phrases, and clauses in the order of
their strength, placing the strongest last, and note the gain in energy:—
1. The nations of the earth repelled, surrounded, pursued, and resisted
him.
2. He was no longer consul nor citizen nor general nor even an emperor, but
a prisoner and an exile.
3. I shall die an American; I live an American; I was born an American.
4. All that I am, all that I hope to be, and all that I have in this life,
I am now ready here to stake upon it.
5. I shall defend it without this House, in all places, and within this
House; at all times, in time of peace and in time of war.
6. We must fight if we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate
our rights, if we do not mean to abandon the struggle.
* * * * *
LESSON 154.
FIGURES OF SPEECH—CRITICISM.
+Direction+.—Name the figures of speech, and then recast a few sentences,
using plain language, and note the loss of beauty and force:—
1. Lend me your ears.
2. Please address the chair.
3. The robin knows when your grapes have cooked long enough in the sun.
4. A day will come when bullets and bombs shall be replaced by
ballots.
5. Genius creates; taste appreciates what is created.
6. Caesar were no lion were not Romans hinds.
7. The soul of Jonathan was knit to that of David.
8. Traffic has lain down to rest.
9. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
10. He will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
11. Have you read Froude or Freeman?
12. The pen is mightier than the sword.
13. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient
grudge I bear him.
14. The destinies of mankind were trembling in the balance, while death
fell in showers.
15. The threaded steel flies swiftly.
16. O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb that carries anger as the flint
bears fire.
17. I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the
Old_.
18. Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks.
19. The Morn in russet mantle clad walks o’er the dew of yon high
eastern hill.
20. Homer, like the Nile, pours out his riches with a sudden overflow;
Virgil, like a river in its banks, with a constant stream.
21. The air bites shrewdly.
22. He doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.
23. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar.
24. All hands to the pumps!
25. The gray-eyed Morn smiles on the frowning Night.
26. The good is often buried with men’s bones.
27. Beware of the bottle.
28. All nations respect our flag.
29. The marble speaks.
30. I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent.
31. I am as constant as the northern star.
32. Then burst his mighty heart.
33. The ice is covered with health and beauty on skates.
34. Lentulus returned with victorious eagles.
35. Death hath sucked the honey of thy breath.
36. Our chains are forged.
37. I have bought golden opinions.
38. The hearth blazed high.
39. His words fell softer than snows on the brine.
40. Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund Day stands tiptoe on the
misty mountain top.
+Direction+.—In the first four sentences, use similes; in the second
four, metaphors; in the third four, personifications; in the last eight,
metonymies:—
1. He flew with the swiftness of an arrow.
2. In battle some men are brave, others are cowardly.
3. His head is as full of plans as it can hold.
4. I heard a loud noise.
5. Boston is the place where American liberty began.
6. Our dispositions should grow mild as we grow old.
7. The stars can no longer be seen.
8. In battle some men are brave, others are cowardly.
9. The cock tears up the ground for his family of hens and chickens.
10. The waves were still.
11. The oak stretches out its strong branches.
12. The flowers are the sweet and pretty growths of the earth and sun.
13. English vessels plow the seas of the two hemispheres.
14. Have you read Lamb’s Essays?
15. The water is boiling.
16. We have prostrated ourselves before the king.
17. Wretched people shiver in their lair of straw.
18. The soldier is giving way to the husbandman.
19. Swords flashed, and bullets fell.
20. His banner led the spearmen no more.
+Remark+.—If what is begun as a metaphor is not completed as begun, but is
completed by a part of another metaphor or by plain language, we have what,
is called a mixed metaphor. It requires great care to avoid this very
common error.
+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—
1. The devouring fire uprooted the stubble.
2. The brittle thread of life may be cut asunder.
3. All the ripe fruit of three-score years was blighted in a day.
4. Unravel the obscurities of this knotty question.
5. We must apply the axe to the fountain of this evil.
6. The man stalks into court like a motionless statue, with the cloak
of hypocrisy in his mouth.
7. The thin mantle of snow dissolved.
8. I smell a rat, I see him brewing in the air, but I shall yet nip
him in the bud.
* * * * *
LESSON 155.
VARIETY IN EXPRESSION.
+Remark+.—You learned in Lessons 52, 53, 54 that the usual order may give
way to the transposed; in 55, 56, that one kind of simple sentence may be
changed to another; in 57, that simple sentences may be contracted; in 61,
that adjectives may be expanded into clauses; in 67, that an adverb clause
may stand before, between the parts of, and after, the independent clause;
in 68, that an adverb clause may be contracted to a participle, a
participle phrase, an absolute phrase, a prepositional phrase, that it may
be contracted by the omission of words, and may be changed to an adjective
clause or phrase; in 73, that a noun clause as subject may stand last, and
as object complement may stand first, that it may be made prominent, and
may be contracted; in 74, that direct quotations and questions may be
changed to indirect, and indirect to direct; in 77, that compound sentences
may be formed out of simple sentences, may be contracted to simple
sentences, and may be changed to complex sentences; in 79, that
participles, absolute phrases, and infinitives may be expanded into
different kinds of clauses; and, in 130, that a verb may change its voice.
+Direction+.—Illustrate all these changes.
+Direction+.—Recast these sentences, avoiding offensive repetitions of
the same word or the same sounds:—
1. We have to have money to have a horse.
2. We sailed across a bay and sailed up a creek and sailed back and sailed
in all about fourteen miles.
3. It is then put into stacks, or it is put into barns either to use it to
feed it to the stock or to sell it.
4. This day we undertake to render an account to the widows and orphans
whom our decision will make; to the wretches that will be roasted at the
stake.
5. The news of the battle of Bunker Hill, fought on the 17th of June in the
year of our Lord 1775, roused the patriotism of the people to a high
pitch of enthusiasm.
+Direction+.—-Using other words wholly or in part, see in how many ways
you can express the thoughts contained in these sentences:—
1. In the profusion and recklessness of her lies, Elizabeth had no peer in
England.
2. Henry IV. said that James I. was the wisest fool in Christendom.
3. Cowper’s letters are charming because they are simple and natural.
4. George IV., though he was pronounced the first gentleman in Europe, was,
nevertheless, a snob.
* * * * *
LESSON 156.
THE PARAGRAPH.
+The Paragraph+.—The clauses of complex sentences are so closely united in
meaning that frequently they are not to be separated from each other even
by the comma. The clauses of compound sentences are less closely united—a
comma, a semicolon, or a colon is needed to divide them.
Between sentences there exists a wider separation in meaning, marked by a
period or other terminal point. But even sentences may be connected, the
bond which unites them being their common relation to the thought which
jointly they develop. Sentences thus related are grouped together and form,
as you have already learned, what we call a Paragraph, marked by beginning
the first word a little to the right of the marginal line.
+Direction+.—Notice the facts which this paragraph contains, and the
relation to each other of the clauses and the sentences expressing these
facts:—
After a breeze of some sixty hours from the north and northwest, the wind
died away about four o’clock yesterday afternoon. The calm continued till
about nine in the evening. The mercury in the barometer fell, in the
meantime, at an extraordinary rate; and the captain predicted that we
should encounter a gale from the southeast. The gale came on about eleven
o’clock; not violent at first, but increasing every moment.
1. A breeze from the north and northwest.
2. The wind died away.
3. A calm.
4. Barometer fell.
5. The captain predicted a gale.
6. It came on.
7. It increased in violence.
+Direction+.—Give and number the facts contained in the paragraph below:—
I awoke with a confused recollection of a good deal of rolling and thumping
in the night, occasioned by the dashing of the waves against the ship.
Hurrying on my clothes, I found such of the passengers as could stand, at
the doors of the hurricane-house, holding on, and looking out in the utmost
consternation. It was still quite dark. Four of the sails were already in
ribbons: the winds whistling through the cordage; the rain dashing
furiously and in torrents; the noise and spray scarcely less than I found
them under the great sheet at Niagara.
+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into a paragraph, supplying all you
need to make the narrative smooth:—
Rip’s beard was grizzled. Fowling-piece rusty. Dress uncouth. Women and
children at his heels. Attracted attention. Was eyed from head to foot. Was
asked on which side he voted. Whether he was Federal or Democrat. Rip was
dazed by the question. Stared in stupidity.
+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into two paragraphs, supplying what
you need, and tell what each paragraph is about:—
In place of the old tree there was a pole. This was tall and naked. A flag
was fluttering from it. The flag had on it the stars and stripes. This was
strange to Rip. But Rip saw something he remembered. The tavern sign. He
recognized on it the face of King George. Still the picture was changed.
The red coat gone. One of blue and buff in its place. A sword, and not a
scepter, in the hand. Wore a cocked hat. Underneath was painted—”General
Washington.”
* * * * *
LESSON 157.
THE PARAGRAPH.
+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into three paragraphs, and write on
the margin what each is about:—
The Nile rises in great lakes. Runs north. Sources two thousand miles from
Alexandria. Receives two branches only. Runs through an alluvial valley.
Course through the valley is 1,500 miles. Plows into the Mediterranean. Two
principal channels. Minor outlets. Nile overflows its banks. Overflow
caused by rains at the sources. The melting of the mountain snows. Begins
at the end of June. Rises four inches daily. Rises till the close of
September. Subsides. Whole valley an inland sea. Only villages above the
surface. The valley very fertile. The deposit. The fertile strip is from
five to one hundred and fifty miles wide. Renowned for fruitfulness. Egypt
long the granary of the world. Three crops from December to June.
Productions—grain, cotton, and indigo.
Direction.—-Weave these facts into four paragraphs, writing the margin of
each the main thought:—
The robin is thought by some to be migratory. But he stays with us all
winter. Cheerful. Noisy. Poor soloist. A spice of vulgarity in him. Dash of
prose in his song. Appetite extraordinary. Eats his own weight in a short
time. Taste for fruit. Eats with a relishing gulp, like Dr. Johnson’s. Fond
of cherries. Earliest mess of peas. Mulberries. Lion’s share of the
raspberries. Angleworms his delight. A few years ago I had a grapevine. A
foreigner. Shy of bearing. This summer bore a score of bunches. They
secreted sugar from the sunbeams. One morning, went to pick them. The
robins beforehand with me. Bustled out from the leaves. Made shrill,
unhandsome remarks about me. Had sacked the vine. Remnant of a single
bunch. How it looked at the bottom of my basket! A humming-bird’s egg in an
eagle’s nest. Laughed. Robins joined in the merriment.
* * * * *
LESSON 158.
PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.
+Direction+.—Weave these facts into four paragraphs:—
Note that the several paragraphs form a composition, or +Theme+, the
general subject of which is WOUTER VAN TWILLER (according to Diedrich
Knickerbocker).
I. +Who he was+.—Van Twiller was a Dutchman. Born at Rotterdam. Descended
from burgomasters. In 1629 appointed governor of Nieuw Nederlandts. Arrived
in June at New Amsterdam—New York city.
II. +Person+.—Was five feet six inches high, six feet five in
circumference. Head spherical, and too large for any neck. Nature set it on
the back-bone. Body capacious. Legs short and sturdy. A beer-barrel on
skids. Face a vast, unfurrowed expanse. No lines of thought. Two small,
gray eyes. Cheeks had taken toll of all that had entered his mouth. Mottled
and streaked with dusky red.
III. +Habits+.—Regular. Four meals daily, each an hour long. Smoked and
doubted eight hours. Slept twelve. As self-contained as an oyster. Rarely
spoke save in monosyllables. But never said a foolish thing. Never laughed.
Perplexed by a joke. Conceived everything on a grand scale. When a question
was asked, would put on a mysterious look. Shake his head. Smoke in
silence. Observe, at length, he had doubts. Presided at the council, in
state. Swayed a Turkish pipe instead of a scepter. Known to sit with eyes
closed two hours. Internal commotion shown by guttural sounds. Noises of
contending doubts, admirers said.
IV. +Exploits.+—Settled a dispute about accounts thus: sent for the
parties; each produced his account-book; Van T. weighed the books; counted
the leaves; equally heavy; equally thick; made each give the other a
receipt; and the constable pay the costs. Demanded why Van Rensselaer
seized Bear’s Island. Battled with doubts regarding the Yankees. Smoked and
breathed his last together.
+Direction.+—-Weave these facts into four paragraphs, write on the margin
the special topic of each, and over the whole what you think it the general
subject of the theme:—
The prophets of Baal accept Elijah’s challenge. They dress a bullock. Call
on Baal. Are mocked by Elijah. Leap upon the altar. Cut themselves. Blood.
Cry till the time of the evening sacrifice. No answer by fire. Elijah
commands the people to come near. Repairs an old altar with twelve stones,
one for each tribe. Digs a trench. Sacrifices. Pours water three times upon
it. Prays. Fire falls, consumes flesh, wood, stones, dust, licks up water.
People see it. Fall on their faces. Cry out twice, “The Lord, he is the
God.” Take the prophets to the brook Kishon, where they are slain. Elijah
ascends Mount Carrael. Bows in prayer. “Go up now, look toward the sea.”
Servant reports, “There is nothing.” “Go again seven times.” “Behold there
ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” Orders Ahab to
prepare his chariot. Girding up his loins, he runs before Ahab to Jezreel.
* * * * *
LESSON 159.
PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.
+Direction.+—Weave these facts into as many paragraphs as you think there
should be, using the variety of expression insisted on in Lesson 150, and
write on the margin of each paragraph the special topic, and over the whole
the general subject of the theme:—
Fort Ticonderoga on a peninsula. Formed by the outlet of Lake George and by
Lake Champlain. Fronts south; water on three sides. Separated by Lake
Champlain from Mount Independence, and by the outlet, from Mount Defiance.
Fort one hundred feet above the water. May 7, 1775, two hundred and seventy
men meet at Castleton, Vermont. All but forty-six, Green Mountain boys.
Meet to plan and execute an attack upon Fort T. Allen and Arnold there.
Each claims the command. Question left to the officers. Allen chosen. On
evening of the 9th, they reach the lake. Difficulty in crossing. Send for a
scow. Seize a boat at anchor. Search, and find small row boats. Only
eighty-three able to cross. Day is dawning when these reach the shore. Not
prudent to wait. Allen orders all who will follow him to poise their
firelocks. Every man responds. Nathan Beman, a lad, guides them to the
fort. Sentinel snaps his gun at A. Misses fire. Sentinel retreats. They
follow. Rush upon the parade ground. Form. Loud cheer. A. climbs the
stairs. Orders La Place, it is said, in the name of the great Jehovah and
the Continental Congress, to surrender. Capture forty-eight men. One
hundred and twenty cannon. Used next winter at the siege of Boston. Several
swords and howitzers, small arms, and ammunition.
+Direction+.—These facts are thrown together promiscuously. Classify them
as they seem to you to be related. Determine the number of paragraphs and
their order, and then do as directed above:—
Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. Wore fine garments. One day was sent to
inquire after the other sons. They were at a distance, tending the flocks.
Joseph used to dream. They saw him coming. Plotted to kill him. In one
dream his brothers’ sheaves bowed to his. In another the sun, moon, and
stars bowed to him. Plotted to throw his body into a pit. Agreed to report
to their father that some beast had devoured Joseph. Joseph foolishly told
these to his brothers. Hated him because of the dreams and their father’s
partiality. While the brothers were eating, Ishmaelites approached. They
sat down to eat. Were going down into Egypt. Camels loaded with spices. At
the intercession of Reuben they did not kill Joseph. Threw him alive into a
pit. Ishmaelites took him down into Egypt. Sold him to Potiphar. Judah
advised that he be raised from the pit. Jacob recognized the coat. Refused
comfort. Rent his clothes and put on sackcloth. They took his coat. Killed
a kid and dipped the coat in its blood. Brought it to Jacob. “This have we
found; know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.”
* * * * *
LESSON 160.
PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.
+Direction+.—Classify these promiscuous facts, determine carefully the
number and the order of the paragraphs, and then do as directed above:—
Trafalgar a Spanish promontory. Near the Straits of Gibraltar. Off
Trafalgar, fleets of Spain and France, October 21, 1805. Nelson in command
of the English fleet. The combined fleets in close line of battle.
Collingwood second in command. Had more and larger cannon than the English.
English fleet twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates. Thirty-three
sail of the line and seven frigates. He signaled those memorable words:
“England expects every man to do his duty.” Enemy had four thousand troops.
Signal received with a shout. They bore down. The best riflemen in the
enemy’s boats. C. steered for the center. C. in the Royal Sovereign led
the lee line of thirteen ships. A raking fire opened upon the Victory. N.
in the Victory led the weather line. C. engaged the Santa Anna.
Delighted at being the first in the fire. At 1.15 N. shot through the
shoulder and back. At 12 the Victory opened fire. N.’s secretary the
first to fall. Fifty fell before a shot was returned. “They have done for
me at last, Hardy,” said N. They bore him below. At 2.25 ten of the enemy
had struck. The wound was mortal. At 4 fifteen had struck. The victory that
cost the British 1,587 men won. These were his last words. At 4.30 he
expired. “How goes the day with us?” he asked Hardy. “I hope none of our
ships have struck.” N.’s death was more than a public calamity. “I am a
dead man, Hardy,” he said. Englishmen turned pale at the news. Most
triumphant death that of a martyr. He shook hands with Hardy. “Kiss me,
Hardy.” They mourned as for a dear friend. Kissed him on the cheek. Most
awful death that of the martyr patriot. The loss seemed a personal one.
Knelt down again and kissed his forehead. His articulation difficult. Heard
to say, “Thank God, I have done my duty.” Seemed as if they had not known
how deeply they loved him. Most splendid death that of the hero in the hour
of victory. Has left a name which is our pride. An example which is our
shield and strength. Buried him in St. Paul’s. Thus the spirits of the
great and the wise live after them.
TO THE TEACHER—Continue this work as long as it is needed. Take any book,
and read to the class items of facts. Require them to use the imagination
and whatever graces of style are at their command, in weaving these facts
together.
* * * * *
LESSON 161.
ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT OF THE THEME.
+Analysis of the Subject+.—A Theme is made up of groups of sentences
called Paragraphs. The sentences of each paragraph are related to each
other, because they jointly develop a single point, or thought. And the
paragraphs are related to each other, because these points which they
develop are divisions of the one general subject of the Theme.
After the subject has been chosen, and before writing upon it, it must be
resolved into the main thoughts which compose it. Upon the thoroughness of
this analysis and the natural arrangement of the thoughts thus derived,
depends largely the worth of the theme. These points form, when arranged,
the +Framework+ of the theme.
Suppose you had taken The Armada as your subject. Perhaps you could say
under these heads all you wish:
1. What the Armada was.
2. When and by whom equipped.
3. Its purpose.
4. Its sail over the Bay of Biscay and entrance into the English Channel.
5. The attack upon it by Admiral Howard and his great Captains—Drake and
Hawkins.
6. Its dispersion and partial destruction by the storm.
7. The return to Spain of the surviving ships and men.
8. The consequences to England and to Spain.
Perhaps the 1st point could include the 2d and the 3d. Be careful not to
split your general subject up into very many parts. See, too, that no point
is repeated, that no point foreign to the subject is introduced, and that
all the points together exhaust the subject as nearly as may be. Look to
the arrangement of the points. There is a natural order; (6) could not
precede (5); nor (5), (4); nor (4), (1).
TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils carefully upon every point taken up in
this Lesson.
+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these
subjects:—
1. The Arrest of Major Andre.
2. A Winter in the Arctic Region.
* * * * *
LESSON 162.
ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.
+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these
subjects:—
1. Battle of Plattsburg.
2. A Day’s Nutting.
3. What Does a Proper Care for One’s Health Demand?
* * * * *
LESSON 163.
ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.
+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these
subjects:—
1. A Visit to the Moon.
2. Reasons why one Should Not Smoke,
3. What Does a Proper Observance of Sunday Require of One?
* * * * *
LESSON 164.
ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.
+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these
subjects:—
1. The Gulf Stream.
2. A Descent into a Whirlpool.
3. What are Books Good for?
* * * * *
LESSON 165.
HOW TO WRITE A THEME.
+I. Choose a Subject+.—Choose your subject long before you are to write.
Avoid a full, round term like Patriotism or Duty; take a fragment of
it; as, How can a Boy be Patriotic? or Duties which we Schoolmates owe
Each Other. The subject should be on your level, should be interesting and
suggestive to you, and should instantly start in your mind many trains of
thought.
+II. Accumulate the Material+.—Begin to think about your subject. Turn it
over in your mind in leisure moments, and, as thoughts flash upon you, jot
them down in your blank-book. If any of these seem broad enough for the
main points, or heads, indicate this. Talk with no one on the subject, and
read nothing on it, till you have thought yourself empty; and even then you
should note down what the conversation or reading suggests, rather than
what you have heard or read.
+III. Construct a Framework+.—Before writing hunt through your material
for the main points, or heads. See to what general truths or thoughts these
jottings and those jottings point. Perhaps this or that thought, as it
stands, includes enough to serve as a head. Be sure, at any rate, that by
brooding over your material, and by further thinking upon the subject, you
get at all the general thoughts into which, as it seems to you, the subject
should be analyzed. Study these points carefully. See that no two overlap
each other, that no one appears twice, that no one has been raised to the
dignity of a head which should stand under some head, and that no one is
irrelevant. Study now to find the natural order in which these points
should stand. Let no point, to the clear understanding of which some other
point is necessary, precede that other. If developing all the points would
make your theme too long, study to see what points you can omit without
abrupt break or essential loss.
+IV. Write+.—Give your whole attention to your work as you write, and
other thoughts will occur to you, and better ways of putting the thoughts
already noted down. In expanding the main points into paragraphs, be sure
that everything falls under its appropriate head. Cast out irrelevant
matter. Do not strain after effect or strive to seem wiser than you are.
Use familiar words, and place these, your phrases, and your clauses, where
they will make your thought the clearest. As occasion calls, change from
the usual order to the transposed, and let sentences, simple, complex, and
compound, long and short, stand shoulder to shoulder in the paragraph.
Express yourself easily—only now and then putting your thought forcibly
and with feeling. Let a fresh image here and there relieve the uniformity
of plain language. One sentence should follow another without abrupt break;
and, if continuative of it, adversative to it, or an inference from it, and
the hearer needs to be advised of this, let it swing into position on the
hinge of a fitting connective. Of course, your sentences must pass rigid
muster in syntax; and you must look sharply to the spelling, to the use of
capital letters, and to punctuation.
+V. Attend to the Mechanical Execution+.—Keep your pages clean, and let
your handwriting be clear. On the left of the page leave a margin of an
inch for corrections. Do not write on the fourth page; if you exceed three
pages, use another sheet. When the writing is done, double the lower half
of the sheet over the upper, and fold through the middle; then bring the
top down to the middle and fold again. Bring the right-hand end toward you,
and across the top write your name and the date. This superscription will
be at the top of the fourth page, at the right-hand corner, and at right
angles to the ruled lines.
TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils closely upon every point in this
Lesson.
Additional Subjects for Themes.
1. Apples and Nuts.
2. A Pleasant Evening.
3. My Walk to School.
4. Pluck.
5. School Friendships.
6. When my Ship Comes In.
7. Ancient and Modern Warfare.
8. The View from my Window.
9. Homes without Hands.
10. I Can.
11. My Friend Jack.
12. John Chinaman.
13. Irish Characters.
14. Robin Hood.
15. A Visit to Olympus.
16. Monday Morning.
17. My Native Town.
18. Over the Sea.
19. Up in a Balloon.
20. Queer People.
21. Our Minister.
22. A Plea for Puss.
23. Castles in Spain.
24. Young America.
25. Black Diamonds.
26. Mosquitoes.
27. A Day in the Woods.
28. A Boy’s Trials.
29. The Yankee.
30. Robinson Crusoe.
31. Street Arabs.
32. Legerdemain.
33. Our Neighborhood.
34. Examinations.
35. Theatre-going.
36. Donkeys.
37. The Southern Negro.
38. A Rainy Saturday.
39. The Early Bird Catches the Worm.
40. Spring Sports
41. How Horatius Kept the Bridge.
42. Jack Frost
43. My First Sea Voyage.
44. Monkeys.
45. Grandmothers.
46. The Boy of the Story Book.
47. Famous Streets.
48. Pigeons.
49. Jack and Gill.
50. Make Haste Slowly.
51. Commerce.
52. The Ship of the Desert.
53. Winter Sports.
54. A Visit to Neptune.
55. Whiskers.
56. Gypsies.
57. Cities of the Dead.
58. Street Cries.
59. The World Owes me A Living.
60. Politeness.
61. Cleanliness Akin to Godliness.
62. Fighting Windmills.
63. Along the Docks.
64. Maple Sugar.
65. Umbrellas.
66. A Girl’s Trials.
67. A Spider’s Web.
68. The Story of Ruth.
69. Clouds.
70. A Country Store.
71. Timepieces.
72. Bulls and Bears.
73. Bore.
74. Our Sunday School.
75. The Making of Beer.
76. Autumn’s Colors.
77. The Watched Pot Never Boils.
78. The Mission of Birds.
79. Parasites.
80. Well-begun is Half-done.
81. The Tides.
82. The Schoolmaster in “The Deserted Village.”
83. A Day on a Trout Stream.
84. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.
85. Of What Use are Flowers?
86. A Descent in a Diving Bell.
* * * * *
LESSON 166.
LETTER-WRITING.
Letters need special treatment. In writing a letter there are five things
to consider—The Heading, The Introduction, The Body of the Letter, The
Conclusion, and The Superscription.
THE HEADING.
+Parts+.—The Heading consists of the name of the +Place+ at which the
letter is written, and the +Date+. If you write from a city, give the
door-number, the name of the street, the name of the city, and the name of
the state. If you are at a Hotel or a School or any other well-known
Institution, its name may take the place of the door-number and the name of
the street; as may also the number of your post-office box. If you write
from a village or other country place, give your post-office address, the
name of the county, and that of the state.
The Date consists of the month, the day of the month, and the year.
+How Written+.—Begin the Heading about an inch and a half from the top of
the page—on the first ruled line of commercial note. If the letter
occupies but a few lines of a single page, you may begin the Heading lower
down. Begin the first line of the Heading a little to the left of the
middle of the page. If it occupies more than one line, the second line
should begin farther to the right than the first, and the third farther to
the right than the second.
The door-number, the day of month, and the year are written in figures; the
rest, in words. Bach important word begins with a capital letter, each item
is set off by the comma, and the whole closes with a period.
+Direction+.—Study what has teen said, and write the following
headings according to these models:—
1. Ripton, Addison Co., Vt.,
July 10, 1895.
2. 250 Broadway, N. T.,
June 6, 1890.
3. Saco, Me., Feb. 25, 1887.
4. Polytechnic Institute,
Brooklyn, N. Y.,
May 3, 1888.
1. ann arbor 5 July 1820 michigan
2. champlain co clinton n y jan 14 1800
3. p o box 2678 1860 oct 19 chicago
4. philadelphia 670 1858 chestnut st 16 apr
5. saint nicholas new york 1 hotel nov 1855
THE INTRODUCTION.
+Parts+.—The Introduction consists of the +Address+—the Name, the Title,
and the Place of Business or Residence of the one addressed—and the
+Salutation+. Titles of respect and courtesy should appear in the Address.
Prefix Mr. to a man’s name, Messrs. to the names of several gentlemen;
Master to the name of a young lad; Miss to that of an unmarried lady;
Mrs. to that of a married lady; Misses to the names of several young
ladies; and Mesdames to those of several married or elderly ladies.
Prefix Dr. to the name of a physician (but never Mr. Dr.), or write
M.D. after it. Prefix Rev. to the name of a clergyman, or Rev. Mr. if
you do not know his Christian name; Rev. Dr. if he is a Doctor of
Divinity, or write Rev. before the name and D.D. after it. Prefix His
Excellency to the name of the President, [Footnote: The preferred form of
addressing the President is, To the President, Executive Mansion,
Washington, D. C.; the Salutation is simply, Mr. President. ] and to
that of a Governor or of an Ambassador; Hon. to the name of a Cabinet
Officer, a Member of Congress, a State Senator, a Law Judge, or a Mayor. If
two literary or professional titles are added to a name, let them stand in
the order in which they were conferred—this is the order of a few common
ones: A.M., Ph.D., D.D., LL.D. Guard against an excessive use of titles—
the higher implies the lower.
Salutations vary with the station of the one addressed, or the writer’s
degree of intimacy with him. Strangers may be addressed as Sir, Dear Sir,
Rev. Sir, General, Madam, etc.; acquaintances as Dear Sir, Dear Madam,
etc.; friends as My dear Sir, My dear Madam, My dear Jones, etc.; and
near relatives and other dear friends as My dear Wife, My dear Boy,
Dearest Ellen, etc.
+How Written+.—The Address may follow the Heading, beginning on the next
line, and standing on the left side of the page; or it may stand in
corresponding position after the Body of the Letter and the Conclusion. If
the letter is of an official character or is written to an intimate friend,
the Address may appropriately be placed at the bottom of the letter; but in
ordinary business letters, it should be placed at the top and as directed
above. Never omit it from the letter except when the letter is written in
the third person. There should be a narrow margin on the left side of the
page, and the Address should begin on the marginal line. If the Address
occupies more than one line, the initial words of these lines should slope
to the right.
Begin the Salutation on the marginal line or a little to the right of it
when the Address occupies three lines; on the marginal line or farther to
the right or to the left than the second line of the Address when this
occupies two lines; a little to the right of the marginal line when the
Address occupies one line; on the marginal line when the Address stands
below.
Every important word in the Address should begin with a capital letter. All
the items of it should be set off by the comma; and, as it is an
abbreviated sentence, it should close with a period. Every important word
in the Salutation should begin with a capital letter, and the whole should
be followed by a comma, or by a comma and a dash.
+Direction+.—Write these introductions according to the models:—
1. Prof. March, Easton, Pa.
My dear Sir,
2. Messrs. Smith & Jones,
771 Broadway,
New York City.
Gentlemen,
3. My dear Mother,
When, etc.
4. Messrs. Vallette & Co.,
Middlebury, Vt.
Dear Sirs,
1. mr george platt burlington iowa sir
2. mass Cambridge prof James r lowell my dear friend
3. messrs ivison blakeman taylor & co gentlemen new york
4. rev brown dr the arlington Washington dear friend d c
5. col John smith dear colonel n y auburn
* * * * *
LESSON 167.
LETTER-WRITING—CONTINUED.
THE BODY OF THE LETTER.
+The Beginning+.—Begin the Body of the Letter at the end of the
Salutation, and on the same line if the Introduction is long—in which case
the comma after the Salutation should be followed by a dash,—on the line
below if the Introduction is short.
+Style+.—Be perspicuous. Paragraph and punctuate as in other kinds of
writing. Avoid blots, erasures, interlineations, cross lines, and all other
offenses against epistolary propriety. The letter “bespeaks the man.”
Letters of friendship should be colloquial, chatty, and familiar. Whatever
is interesting to you will be interesting to your friends, however trivial
it may seem to a stranger.
Business letters should be brief, and the sentences short, concise, and to
the point. Repeat nothing, and omit nothing needful.
Official letters and formal notes should be more stately and ceremonious.
In formal notes the third person is generally used instead of the first and
the second; there is no Introduction, no Conclusion, no Signature, only the
name of the Place and the Date at the bottom, on the left side of the page,
thus:—
_Mr. & Mrs. A. request the pleasure of Mr. B.’s company at a social
gathering, on Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th, at eight o’clock.
32 Fifth Ave., Nov. 5_.
Mr. B. accepts [Footnote: Or regrets that a previous engagement (or
illness, or an unfortunate event) prevents the acceptance of ——; or
regrets that on account of —— he is unable to accept ——.] with
pleasure Mr. & Mrs. A.’s kind invitation for Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th.
Wednesday morning, Nov. 9th.
THE CONCLUSION.
+Parts+.—The Conclusion consists of the +Complimentary Close+ and the
+Signature+. The forms of the Complimentary Close are many, and are
determined by the relations of the writer to the one addressed. In letters
of friendship you may use, Your sincere, friend; Yours affectionately;
Your loving son or daughter, etc. In business letters you may use,
Yours; Yours truly; Truly yours; Yours respectfully; Very respectfully
yours, etc. In official letters you should be more deferential. Use, I
have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant; Very respectfully, your
most obedient servant; etc., etc.
The Signature consists of your Christian name and your surname. In
addressing a stranger write your Christian name in full. A lady addressing
a stranger should prefix to her signature her title, Mrs. or Miss
(placing it within marks of parenthesis), unless in the letter she has
indicated which of these titles her correspondent is to use in reply.
+How Written+.—The Conclusion should begin near the middle of the first
line below the Body of the Letter, and, if occupying two or more lines,
should slope to the right like the Heading and the Address. Begin each line
of it with a capital letter, and punctuate as in other writing, following
the whole with a period. The Signature should be very plain.
+Direction+.—Write two formal notes—one inviting a friend to a social
party, and one declining the invitation.
+Direction+.—Write the Conclusion of a letter of friendship, of a letter
of business, and of an official letter, carefully observing all that has
been said above.
+Direction+.—Write a letter of two or three lines to your father or your
mother, and another to your minister, talcing care to give properly the
Heading in its two parts, the Introduction in its two parts, and the
Conclusion in its two parts. Let the Address in the letter to your father
or your mother stand at the bottom.
* * * * *
LESSON 168.
LETTER-WRITING—CONTINUED.
THE SUPERSCRIPTION.
+Parts+.—The Superscription is what is written on the outside of the
envelope. It is the same as the Address, consisting of the Name, the Title,
and the full Directions of the one addressed.
+How Written+.—The Superscription should begin just below the middle of
the envelope and near the left edge—the envelope lying with its closed
side toward you—and should occupy three or four lines. These lines should
slope to the right as in the Heading and the Address, the spaces between
the lines should be the same, and the last line should end near the lower
right-hand corner. On the first line the Name and the Title should stand.
If the one addressed is in a city, the door-number and name of the street
should be on the second line, the name of the city on the third, and the
name of the state on the fourth. If he is in the country, the name of the
post-office should be on the second line, the name of the county on the
third, the name of the state on the fourth. The number of the post office
box may take the place of the door-number and the name of the street, or,
to avoid crowding, the number of the box or the name of the county may
stand at the lower left-hand corner. The titles following the name should
be separated from it and from each other by the comma, and every line
should end with a comma except the last, which should be followed by a
period. [Footnote: Some omit punctuation after the parts of the
Superscription. ] The lines should be straight, and every part of the
Superscription should be legible. Place the stamp at the upper right-hand
corner.
+Direction+.—Write six Superscriptions to real or imaginary friends
or acquaintances in different cities, carefully observing all that has
been said above.
+Direction+.—Write two snort letters—one to a friend at the Astor
House, New York, and one to a stranger in the country.
[Illustration: Envelope with stamp in upper-right corner. Addressed to
Master H. Buckman,
Andover,
Mass.]
[Cursive Text:
Ithaca, N. Y, June 15, ’96.
My dear Friend,
You tell me that you
begin the study of English Literature
next term. Let me assume the
relation of an older brother, and tender
you a word of counsel.
Study literature, primarily, for
the thoughts it contains. Attend
to these thoughts until you understand
them and see their connection
one with another. Accept only such
as seem to you just and true, and
accept these at their proper value.
Notice carefully the words each
author uses, see how he arranges
them, whether he puts his thought
clearly, what imagery he employs,
what allusions he makes, what
acquaintance with men, with books,
and with nature he shows, and in
what spirit he writes.
Your study of the author should
put you in possession of his thought
and his style, and should introduce
you to the man himself.
Pardon me these words of unsought
advice, and believe me.
Your true friend,
John Schuyler.
Master H. Buckman,
Andover, Mass.]
A SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF SYNTAX.
We here append a Summary of the so-called Rules of Syntax, with references
to the Lessons which treat of Construction.
I. A noun or pronoun used as subject or as attribute complement of a
predicate verb, or used independently, is in the nominative case.
II. The attribute complement of a participle or an infinitive is in the
same case (Nom. or Obj.) as the word to which it relates.
III. A noun or pronoun used as possessive modifier is in the possessive
case.
IV. A noun or pronoun used as object complement, as objective complement,
as the principal word in a prepositional phrase, or used adverbially
[Footnote: See Lesson 35.] is in the objective case.
V. A noun or pronoun used as explanatory modifier is in the same case as
the word explained.
+For Cautions, Principles, and Examples respecting the cases of nouns and
pronouns, see Lessons 119, 122, 123, 123. For Cautions and Examples to
guide in the use of the different pronouns, see Lessons 86, 87.+
VI. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person, number, and gender.
+For Cautions, Principles, and Examples, see Lessons 118,142.+
VII. A verb agrees with its subject in person and number.
+For Cautions, Examples, and Exceptions, see Lesson 142.+
VIII. A participle assumes the action or being, and is used like an
adjective or a noun.
+For Uses of the Participle, see Lessons 37, 38, 39.+
IX. An infinitive is generally introduced by to, and with it forms a
phrase used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
+For Uses of the Infinitive, see Lessons 40, 41, 42.+
X. Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
+For Cautions and Examples respecting the use of adjectives and of
comparative and superlative forms, see Lessons 90, 91, 128.+
XI. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.
+For Cautions and Examples, see Lesson 93.+
XII. A preposition introduces a phrase modifier, and shows the relation, in
sense, of its principal word to the word modified.
+For Cautions, see Lessons 98, 99.+
XIII. Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses.
+For Cautions and Examples, see Lessons 100, 107.+
XIV. Interjections are used independently.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB.
+Remarks+.—The scheme of conjugation presented below is from English
text-books. In some of these books the forms introduced by should are
classed, not as Future, but as Secondary Past Tense forms of the
Subjunctive.
If we substitute this scheme of conjugation for the simpler one given in
the preceding pages, we still fail to get a classification in which every
form corresponds in use to its name. The following examples will
illustrate:—
He returns to-morrow. (Present = Future.)
When I have performed this, I will come to you. (Present Perfect = Future
Perfect.)
If any member absents himself, he shall pay a fine. (Indicative =
Subjunctive.)
You shall go. (Indicative = Imperative.)
After memorizing all the terms and forms belonging to the conjugation here
outlined, the student will find that he has gained little to aid him in the
use of language. For instance, in this synopsis of the Subjunctive are
found nineteen forms. As there are three persons in the singular and three
in the plural, we have one hundred and fourteen subjunctive forms! How
confusing all this must be to the student, who, in his use of the
subjunctive, needs to distinguish only such as these: If he be, If he
were, If he teach! Beyond these, the subjunctive manner of assertion is
discovered from the structure of the sentence or the relation of clauses,
not from the conjugation of the verb.
Those English authors and their American copyists who eliminate the
Potential Mode from their scheme of conjugation tell us that the so-called
potential auxiliaries are either independent verbs in the indicative or are
subjunctive auxiliaries. With the meager instruction given by any one or by
all of these authors, the student will find it exceedingly difficult to
determine when these auxiliaries are true subjunctives. To illustrate:—
1. May you be happy.
2. I learn that I may be able to teach.
3. He might have done it if he had liked.
4. If he should try, he would succeed.
5. I would not tell you if I could.
6. I could not do this if I were to try.
The forms italicized above are said to be subjunctive auxiliaries; those
below are said to be independent verbs in the indicative.
7. He may be there.
8. He might ask you to go.
9. You should not have done that.
10. He would not come when called.
11. I could do this at one time.
We are told that can and must are always independent verbs in the
indicative, and that may, might, could, would, and should are either
subjunctive auxiliaries or independent verbs parsed in the indicative,
separately from the infinitives with which they seem to combine. But in
parsing these words as separate verbs the student is left in doubt as to
whether they are transitive or intransitive, and as to the office of the
infinitives that follow.
Shall (to owe) and will (to determine) are, in their original meaning,
transitive. May, can, and must denote power (hence potential); and, as
the infinitive with which they combine names the act on which this power is
exercised, some philologists regard them as originally transitive. Among
these is our distinguished critic, Prof. Francis A. March. May denotes
power from without coming from a removal of all hindrance,—hence
permission or possibility. Can denotes power from within,—hence ability.
Must denotes power from without coming from circumstances or the nature
of things,—hence necessity or obligation. Should, would, might, and
could are past forms of shall, will, may, and can.
The auxiliaries take different shades of meaning. In some constructions the
meaning is fainter or less emphatic than in others. To say just how little
of its common or original meaning may, can, must, shall, or will must
have to be an auxiliary, and how much to be a “notional,” or independent,
verb would be extremely venturesome For instance, could in (6) above
expresses power or ability to do, as does could in (11), yet we are told
that the former could is a mere auxiliary, while the latter is an
independent verb. May in (1) denotes a desired removal of all hindrance;
may in (7) denotes a possible removal of hindrance. It is hard to see why
the former may is necessarily a mere auxiliary, and the latter a
“notional,” or independent, verb. These are some of the difficulties—not
to say inconsistencies—met by the student who is taught that there is no
Potential Mode.
In a scholarly work revised by Skeat, Wrightson, speaking of I may, can,
shall, or will love, says, “These auxiliary verbs had at some time such a
clear and definite meaning that it would have been tolerably easy to
determine the case function discharged by the infinitive; but these verbs,
after passing through various shades of meaning, have at last become little
more than conventional symbols, so that it would be worse than useless to
attempt to analyze these periphrastic tenses
of our moods.”
A CONJUGATION OF TEACH.
Active Voice.
INDICATIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………He teaches.
Present Imperfect………….He is teaching.
Present Perfect……………He has taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….He has been teaching.
Past Indefinite……………He taught.
Past Imperfect…………….He was teaching.
Past Perfect………………He had taught.
Past Perfect Continuous…….He had been teaching.
Future Indefinite………….He will teach.
Future Imperfect…………..He will be teaching.
Future Perfect…………….He will have taught.
Future Perfect Continuous…..He will have been teaching.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………(If) he teach.
Present Imperfect………….(If) he be teaching.
Present Perfect……………(If) he have taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….(If) he have been teaching.
Past Indefinite……………(If) he taught.
Past Imperfect…………….(If) he were teaching.
Past Perfect………………(If) he had taught.
Past Perfect Continuous…….(If) he had been teaching.
Future Indefinite………….(If) he should teach.
Future Imperfect…………..(If) he should be teaching.
Future Perfect…………….(If) he should have taught.
Future Perfect Continuous…..(If) he should have been teaching.
IMPERATIVE MODE.
Present…………………..Teach [thou].
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………(To) teach.
Present Imperfect………….(To) be teaching.
Present Perfect……………(To) have taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….(To) have been teaching.
PARTICIPLES.
Imperfect…………………Teaching.
Perfect…………………..Having taught.
Perfect Continuous…………Having been teaching.
Passive Voice.
INDICATIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………He is taught.
Present Imperfect………….He is being taught.
Present Perfect……………He has been taught.
Past Indefinite……………He was taught.
Past Imperfect…………….He was being taught.
Past Perfect………………He had been taught.
Future Indefinite………….He will be taught.
Future Imperfect…………..————————————
Future Perfect…………….He will have been taught.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………(If) he be taught.
Present Imperfect………….————————————
Present Perfect……………(If) he have been taught.
Past Indefinite……………(If) he were taught.
Past Imperfect…………….(If) he were being taught.
Past Perfect………………(If) he had been taught.
Future Indefinite………….(If) he should be taught.
Future Imperfect…………..————————————
Future Perfect…………….(If) he should have been taught.
IMPERATIVE MODE.
Present…………………..Be [thou] taught.
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present Indefinite…………(To) be taught.
Present Perfect……………(To) have been taught.
PARTICIPLES.
Imperfect…………………Being taught.
Perfect…………………..Taught.
Compound Perfect…………..Having been taught.
INDEX.
A, or an, uses of
A and the uses of distinguished
A (day) or two, or one or two (days)
+Abbreviations+
common ones
how made and written
of names of states
+Absolute Phrases+
definition of
diagram of
expansion of
+Adjective+ an, definition of
+Adjectives+
apt ones to be used
+classes+
definitive (numeral)
descriptive
+comparison+
adjectives not compared
adjectives irregularly compared
form preferred
in er and est
with adverb
descriptive, used as nouns
errors in use of
having number forms
needless ones avoided
not always limiting
not used for adverbs
numeral
cardinal
ordinal
proper order of
scheme for general review
used as abstract nouns
+Adjective Clauses+
connectives of
definition of
= adjectives
= explanatory modifiers
= independent clauses
= infinitive phrases
= participle phrases
= possessives
modifying omitted words
position of
restrictive and unrestrictive
unrestrictive, punctuation
+Adjective Complement+
distinguished from adverb modifier
+Adjective Modifiers+
analysis of
nouns as
+Adverb+ an definition of
+Adverbs+
apt ones to be used
classes of
comparison of
errors in use of
expressing negation
irregular comparison of
modifying
clauses
phrases
prepositions
sentences
not used for adjectives
not used needlessly
position of
scheme for general review
sometimes like adjective attributes
+used+
independently (note)
interrogatively (note)
with connective force (note)
+Adverb Clause+, definition of
+Adverb Clauses+
+classes+
cause, real
concession
condition
degree (result)
evidence
manner
place
purpose
time
+contracted+
by omitting words
to absolute phrases
to participles and participle phrases
to prepositional phrases
= adjective clauses and phrases (note)
= adverbs
= independent clauses (note)
position of
punctuation of
+Adverbial Modifiers+
analysis of
nouns as
parsing of
+Adversative Connectives+, list
+Adversative+, meaning of (note)
A few, a little, vs. few and little
+Agreement+
of parts of a metaphor
of pronoun with its antecedent
of verb with the subject
+Allusion+ (note)
+Alphabet+
definition of
perfect one what
the English imperfect how
+Alternative+, meaning of (note)
+Alternative Connectives+, list
+Ambiguity+ of pronouns, how avoided
+Analysis+
examples for, additional
of a sentence
of subjects of themes
+Antecedent+, a clause, phrase, or word (note)
+Antithesis+ (note)
Any body (or one) else’s (note)
+Apostrophe+ the
+Appositives+
+Argumentative Style+
+Arrangement+
+Articles+
+classes+
definite
indefinite
errors in use of
repeated when
uses of a, or an, and the
As
introductory conjunction
relative pronoun (note)
with clauses of degree, manner, and time
with variety of clauses
As … as, construction of
As it were, construction of
+Aspirates+
+Assumed Subject+, what
+Attribute Complement+
definition of
diagram of
+Auxiliary Verbs+
Be,
conjugation of
derivation of (note)
Beside and besides distinguished (note)
Best of the two
Between with three or more (note)
+Brackets+, use of
But
adversative conjunction
a preposition
various uses of
with or without that
with what incorrect for but that or but
Can
+Capital Letters+
in abbreviations
in beginning sentences
in class names
in compound names
in names of the Deity
in proper names
in titles
rule for I and O
summary of rules for
+Case+
defined
of attribute complement
of explanatory modifier
of noun or pronoun independent
of noun or pronoun used adverbially
of objective complement
+Cases+
definitions of
in Anglo-Saxon and in Latin
+Case Forms+
errors in use of
five pronouns have three
nouns have two
only eight nominative
only seven objective
+Cause+, adverbs of
+Cause Clauses+, divisible
+Classification+
necessity of
not governed by logical relation
+Clauses+
classes
dependent
independent
complex and compound
+dependent+
adjective
adverb
noun
+independent+ (the thought)
in alternation
in contrast
in same line
inferred
+Collective Nouns+
form of verb with
of what number
+Colon+
+Comma+, rules for
+Comparison+
adjectives without it
cautions to guide in
definition of
degree used with two
degrees of, defined…257. 268
double, origin of
double, to be shunned
errors in use of
forms of
irregular
when adverb used
which form preferred
+Complement+
is what
the modified is what
+Complements+
attribute
(subjective)
object
objective
+Complex Sentences+
definition
treatment of
+Compound Attribute Complement+
+Compound Object Complement+
+Compound Personal Pronouns+
+Compound Predicate+, defined
+Compound Relative Pronouns+
+Compound Sentence+
changed to complex
contracted
defined
treatment of
+Compound Subject+, defined
+Condition Clauses without conjunction+
+Conjugation+
definition of
forms of
more elaborate form
+Conjunction a, definition of+
+Conjunctions+
+classes+
co-ordinate
subordinate
+co-ordinate+
adversative
alternative
+Conjunctions+ (cont.)
+co-ordinate+
copulative
co-ordinate connect sentences and paragraphs
scheme for review
+Conjunctive Adverbs+
are what
offices of
+Connectives+
apt ones to be chosen
+co-ordinate+
adversative
alternative
copulative
errors in use of
in correlation
introductory
+subordinate+
of adjective clauses
of adverb clauses
of noun clauses
+Consonants+, classes of
+Contraction+ of +Sentences+
+Co-ordinate Conjunctions+
+Copulative+, meaning of
+Copula+, what
+Correlatives+, errors in use of
D of the ed of verbs in past tense
D of the ed of past participles
Dare, without s form
+Dash+ the
+Declarative Sentence+, defined
+Declension+
defined
of interrogative pronouns
of nouns
of personal pronouns
of relative pronouns
+Degree+, adverbs of
+Descriptive Style+
+Diminution+, degrees of
+Diagram+
a, what
may be omitted
Do, idiomatic use of
Each other
construction of
with two or more
Ed of past tense and participle
Either and neither, pronouns and conjunctions, with two or more
Either may be used for each
+Elocution+, object of
+Energy+
defined
exercises in
secured how
+English Grammar+, definition of
+Epigrams+ are what
+Evidence+ distinguished from +Cause+
+Exclamatory Sentences+
definition of
order of words in
+Expansion+
of absolute phrases
of infinitive phrases
of participles
of sentences
+Explanatory Modifier+
definition of
punctuation of
+Figures of Speech+
basis of
definition
illustrations of
names of
uses of
First two, etc.
+Force+ (see +Energy+)
For to
+Gender+
defined
distinguished from sex
of names of animals
of what importance
of pronouns, errors in
used in personification
+Gender Forms+
+Genders+, the three defined
Had better, rather, sooner
Hand in hand, construction of
Have written, history of
He or one after the indefinite one
+Humor+, in style
+Hyphen+, use of
+Idea+ distinguished from object
If
for even if, although
for whether
omission of
variety of uses
+Imagery+, discussion of
+Imperative Sentence+
definition of
order of words in
In and Into distinguished
In case that, construction of
+Independent Clauses+
definition of
joined without conjunction
punctuated
+Independent Expressions+, punctuated
+Indirect+, or +Dative+, Object
+Inference+, expressed by an independent clause
+Infinitive+ (the),
and assumed subject after for
definition of
double nature of
old dative of
use of present perfect after past indicative
why called infinitive
+Infinitive Phrase+
after a preposition
as adjective
as adjective modifier
as adverb modifier
as attribute complement
as explanatory modifier
as object complement
as objective complement
as subject
cleft or split
does not with the noun form a clause
expansion into clauses
independent
In order that, construction of
+Interjections+
+Interrogation Point+, use of
+Interrogative Pronouns+
declension
definition
list
+Interrogative Sentences+
definition of
order of words in
+Intransitive Verbs+, definition
+Introductory Words+
+Invitations+, form of
+Irregular Verbs+
definition of
inflections of
list of
persistence of
It
for a clause
idiomatic use of
use for animals and children
vague
It is me, him, etc.
Just as, construction of
+Language+
definition of
made up of words
natural
word
Last two, etc.
Lay and lie
Less, the final s of, and lesser
Lest
equaling that not
various uses of
with noun clause
+Letters+, the alphabet
+Letters+
body of
conclusion of
heading of
illustration of
introduction of
parts of
superscription of
+Letter-Writing+
+Loose Sentence+
Many a, explanation of
+Manner+, adverbs of
+Masculine Gender+ distinguished
+Masculine Pronoun+, use of
May
+Metaphor+
definition of
exercises in use of
Methinks
+Metonymy+
definition of
exercises in use of
Mine, thine, of mine, etc
+Mode+ is what
+Modes+
+classes+,
imperative
indicative
potential
subjunctive
definitions of
imperative, no 2d and 3d persons
indicative, uses of
potential omitted
subjunctive
+Modifications+, definition
+Modified Complement+
+Modifiers+,
definition
different rank
explanatory, punctuation
Must
Myself, explanatory
+N+, Saxon ne, the negative particle
+Narrative Style+
+Natural Language+
Need, without s form
+Negation+ by adverbs
+Negatives+, double
No and yes, sentence-words
No body (or one) else’s
+Nominative Forms+, eight
+Noun+ a, definition of
+Nouns+
abstract
as adjective modifiers
as adverb modifiers
cases of
classes of
collective
common and proper
declension
gender of
number, kinds of
person of
roots of
scheme for general review
+Noun Clauses+
as attribute complement
as explanatory modifier
as object complement
as principal term of prepositional phrase
as subject
connectives of
contraction of
definition of
position of
punctuation of
+Noun Modifier+
explanatory (appositive)
explanatory of a sentence
possessive
+Number+
definition of
kinds of
of noun agreeing with adjective
of nouns determined
of verbs shows what
0 and oh distinguished
+Object+ and +Object Complement+ distinguished
+Object+, indirect
+Object+, indirect, made subject
+Object Complement+
becoming subject
compound
definition of
retained after verb in passive
+Objective Forms+, seven
+Objective Complement+
an infinitive phrase
a participle
becoming an attribute complement
definition of
extended beyond its factitive sense
Of
in place of possessive sign
not always indicating possession
Of mine, etc
On condition that
One another
syntax of
with two or more
Only,
position of
syntax of
+Order+ (words and phrases)
transposed
usual
Other, misuse of
Ought
+Paragraph+ (the)
composition of
definition of
topics and subtopics of
unity of
+Paragraphing+, exercises in
+Parallel Construction+
+Parenthesis+, marks of
+Parenthetical Classes+, punctuation
+Parsing+
definition of
first step in
models for written
+Participles+
adjectival
as adjective modifiers
as attribute complements
as mere adjectives
as mere nouns
as objective complements
as prepositions
as principal word in a phrase
definition of
expansion of
forms of
in independent phrases
misuse of
modified by a and the
modified by a possessive
nounal, called gerunds, infinitives, verbal nouns
place of
punctuation of
used in slurring
+Passive Voice+, idiomatic constructions
+Period+, use of
+Periodic Sentence+
+Person+
forms
of a noun or pronoun
of a verb
why regarded in the grammar
+Personification+, the figure
+Persons+, the three defined
+Perspicuity+
definition of
exercises in
+Phrases+
absolute
adjective and adverb
as prepositions
complex and compound
definition of
infinitive
interchange with clauses
interchange with words
participial
position of
prepositional
punctuation of
used independently
verb
+Place+, adverbs of
+Plural Number+
+Plural+
ending, origin
foreign forms of
formed irregularly
formed regularly
form same as singular
forms treated as singular
no form for
of compound words
of letters, figures, etc.
of proper names
some originally singular
some words always
two forms with different meaning
without singular of like meaning
+Possessive Ending+
added to explanatory word
ambiguity avoided by
attached to the adjective
confined to what
error respecting
errors in use of
of for
of compound names
origin of
when omitted
when pronounced es
+Predicate+
adjective defined
a verb or contains one
compound
definition of
modified
noun defined
of two or more words
+Preposition+ a, defined
+Prepositions+
becoming adverbs
ending a sentence
ending in ing
errors in use of
list of
two before a noun
where sometimes found
with verb before a noun
+Pronoun+ a, defined
+Pronouns+
agreement
Nom. and Obj. forms
+classes+
adjective
interrogative
personal
relative
declension of
denote relations
errors in use of
need of
number
scheme for review
vagueness of
+Pronouns (Adjective)+
a (day) or two
all, both, and whole before of
any body (or one) else’s, etc.
declension of
definition of
demonstrative
distributive
each other, with two or more
either, neither, with two or more
either for each
first two, last three, etc.,
he, etc. after indefinite one
indefinite
none in both numbers
ones, plural
other and than, words between
other two, when one of three is taken
partial list of
such or so with adjectives
+Pronouns (Interrogative)+
declension
definition
list
+Pronouns (Personal)+
avoided when
compound
consistent use of
declension
definition
its, history of
misuse of them for those
my and mine, etc.
order of
ours, yours, etc., double possessives
+Pronouns (Personal)+ (cont.)
use of compound
used needlessly
we hardly plural of I
we instead of I
ye has given way to you
+Pronouns (Relative)+
agreement of
compound
declension
definition
discriminated in use
omitted when
same with same antecedent
that in restrictive clauses
that instead of who and which
what misused for that
who and which restrictive and unrestrictive
with omitted antecedents
+Pun+, a
+Punctuation Marks+
exercises in
summary of rules for
+Qualities of Style+
+Question+, direct and indirect
+Quotation Marks+, use of
+Quotations+
capitalization of
definition of
direct
indirect
punctuation of
Quoth
+Regular Verbs+
definition
increasing
inflections of
+Relative Clauses+, position
+Result+, clauses of
+Review Questions+
+Review+ of +Sentence+, scheme for
+Satire+
+Semicolon+, rules for
+Sentence+ (the)
balanced
contracted
defined
expanded
loose
period
+Sentences+ (classed)
+form+
complex
compound
simple
+meaning+
declarative
exclamatory
imperative
interrogative
Set and sit
Shall and will
Should and would
+Simile+, definition and exercises in
+Simple Sentences+
definition of
treatment of
Since, various uses of
+Singular Number+
So … as, construction of
Some body (or one) else’s
+Sounds+ and +Letters+
+Speech+
figures of
mechanism of
+Spelling+, rules for
+Style+
argumentative
definition of
descriptive
illustrations
narrative
qualities of
+Subject+
assumed, what
assumed, changed to prevent ambiguity
compound
defined
determined how
+Subject+ (cont.), modified, or logical
+Subjunctive Mode+
definition of
disappearing
uses of
+Subordinate Conjunctions+
+Subordinate Connectives+
+Synecdoche+
+Synopsis+ is what
+Syntax+, rules for
+Tense+
defined
future, how used
future perfect, how used
past, how used
past perfect, how used
present, how used
present perfect, how used
+Tenses+
defined
emphatic form of
errors in use of
conjunctive adverb
Than
errors in use of
followed by adjective
replaced by but, etc.
use after comparatives
with me after it
Than whom
That and this, adjectives, plurals
That and this (Adj. Pro.)
declension
reference
That (Conj.)
with cause clause
with noun clause
with purpose clause
That, Conj. Adv., degree clause
That (Rel. Pr.)
distinguished from who and which
for who and which
generally restrictive
preposition follows
The, uses of
The … the
construction of
explanation of
+Themes+
framework of
how to write them
subjects for
The one, the other
This
+Thought+, how expressed
Three times four is twelve
To with infinitive
construction of
expressing relation
extension of
no part of
not expressed
position of
without relation
+Transitive Verbs+
definition of
conjugated passively
+Unity+ of paragraphs
Unless (= if not)
+Usage+
+Variety+
how secured
illustrations of want of
+Verb+ a, defined
+Verb+ Be
an auxiliary
conjugation of
derivation of
+Verb-Phrases+
+Verbs+ (classes)
+form+
irregular
regular
+meaning+
intransitive
transitive
+Verbs+
a modern passive progressive form
analysis of compound tense forms
as nouns
auxiliary
changing their voice
conjugated in progressive form
conjugated interrogatively
conjugated negatively
conjugation of
+Verbs+ (cont.)
defective
forms not asserting
improper forms used
indicative and potential with subjunctive meaning
inflections of
+intransitive+
definition of
made transitive
+irregular+
definition of
list of
persistence of
principal parts of
mode, defined
model for written parsing
number forms
number of defined
passive form compound
periphrastic forms resolved,
person forms
person of
potential auxiliaries
principal parts
redundant
+regular+
definition of
increasing
scheme for gen. review
Strong (or Old), Weak (or New)
subjunctive form fading
tense
the e and the d of past tense,
the e and the d of past participle
+transitive+,
definition of
conjugated passively
voice
+Verbs+ (agreement of)
attracted
errors in
with and in what
with collective noun
with subjects connected by and
with subjects connected by or or nor
with subjects emphatically distinguished
with subjects naming same thing
with subjects one affirmative and one negative
with subjects following
with subjects preceded by each, every, etc.
with subjects varying in person
+Vocal Consonants+
+Voice+, the voices defined
+Voices+ changed
+Vowels+
What
equal to that or whom
in origin
misuse for that
various uses of
without antecedent
When
conjunctive adverb
connecting various clauses
in adjective clauses
interrogative adverb
Where
conjunctive adverb
connecting various clauses
in adjective clauses
interrogative adverb
Whether
repeated
with more than two
Whether or no
Which
an adjective
an interrogative pronoun
a relative pronoun
clause as antecedent
composition of
declension
Which and Who
in restrictive clauses
in unrestrictive clauses
that used for
While, connecting various clauses
Will and would
+Words+
great number of in Eng.
spoken words what
transposed order of
use of determining the class of
usual order of
written words what
+Words+ and +Phrases+ (cont.)
connected, each making good sense with context
independent
independent nearly
in pairs, punctuation
interchangeable
made prominent
modifying sentences
Worth, a verb
Ye
Yes and No
You, verb form with