Front matter
THE ESSENTIALS OF
GRAMMAR AND
'ViL.L.iAM rr^>\i^i\ vv l^d R
Contents
Suggestions to Teach f^ks ii
I. The Sentence and its Elements 1
Sentence defined.
Chapter I
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS Section 1. An Idea
I. A teacher said to her class, " I have something in my hand. I wish you to guess what it is. It is white. It is smalL It is round. It is useful. It is light. Who can guess what it is ? " " It is a crayon/' answered one o£ the pupils. The w^ords she had used — small, white, round, useful, light — express qualities, or attributes, of crayon. All these attributes make up a picture, or idea, of a crayon. Such a mind-picture is called an idea.
Exercisp:
II. Tell what attributes unite to make the idea of arrow, baseball, book, tree, gun, mountain, forest, stream, ice, stone. Be sure to select attributes which, added together, wdll make a good mental picture of each object.
III. On a small piece of paper write the names of ten attributes of an^ object. Select good ones. Be sure not to name the object. Exchange these slips. Each may then tell the name of the object described on the slip of paper he has.
Section 2. A Sentence
I. When any one thinks, " The rose is fragrant," he unites the idea of " rose " with the idea of " fragrance." Such a union of two ideas makes a thought. When this thought is expressed in words, these words form a sentence. " The rose is fragrant," then, IS a sentence.
A sentence ^ is the expression of a complete thought in words.
II. Make sentences about the ten objects named in Section I, Exercise II.
Section 3. Kinds of Sentences
I. In the last exercise you doubtless made statements about the different objects. You could as well have asked questions about some of the things ; as, "Is the arrow straight ?" Besides making statements and asking questions, a person may give a command ; as, " John, throw me the ball."
When a sentence simply tells, or declares, a fact, it is called a declarative sentence ; when it asks a question, it is called an interrogative sentence ; when it states a command, it is called an imperative sentence.
A declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence may become exclamatory when it expresses strong emotion ; as, " Hold the fort ! I am coming ! " " How brightly breaks the morning ! "
1 For the rule for the use of capital letters, see page 259, 1, 1.
A declarative sentence is one that states a fact.
An interrogative sentence is one that asks a question.
An imperative sentence is one that gives a command.
An exclamatory sentence is one that expresses strong emotion.
II. Tell what kind of sentence each of the followino- is.
1. Twinkle, twinkle, little star!
2. How I wonder what you are!
3. Where are you going, pretty maid ?
4. Lincoln was a kind man.
5. Can Henry kick the ball ?
6. Bring us a drink.
7. What have you in your pocket ?
8. Robinson Crusoe became a man of many trades.
9. Roll on, thou deep and dark-blue ocean, roll!
10. The trout flashes through the crystal water.
11. James is a busy newsboy.
12. Which is the great commandment.'^
13. The Lord is my shepherd.
14. Praise ye the Lord !
15. A soft answer turneth away wrath.
Section 4. Subject and Predicate
I. In the sentence, ^' Rover is playful," the word "Rover" names that of which something is thought and said ; it is called the subject of the sentence. The word " playful " tells what attribute is asserted, or predicated,^ of the subject " Rover" ; it is called the predicate attribute^ of the sentence. The word
^ For the meaning of these words, see the dictionary. The definitions will help you to understand what these words mean in gram-
" is " asserts the relation existing between the subject and the predicate attribute. It is used to link, or couple, the subject and predicate attribute ; it is called the copula/ The copula and the predicate attribute form the predicate of the sentence.
The subject of a sentence names that of which something is asserted.
The predicate of a sentence is that part of it which asserts something of the subject.
The predicate attribute of a sentence names that which is asserted of the subject.
The copula of a sentence asserts the relation between the subject and the predicate attribute.
Exercisp: II. Tell what kind of sentence each of the following is, and select the subject arid the predicate. Separate the predicate into copula and predicate attribute.
1. The Amazon is broad.
2. Plains are level.
3. The Andes are high.
4. The Indians were friendly.
5. The rose is fragrant.
6. Pines are healthful.
7. The forest is peaceful.
8. The colonists grew fearful.
9. The sea looks rough.
10. Sea-breezes are refreshing.
11. Is the frost here?
1 For the meaning of this word, see the dictionary. The definitions will help you to understand what this word means in grammar.
12. The woods are sere.
13. The blue jay is noisy.
14. Where are the flowers ?
15. A child will he happy.
16. Beethoven was deaf.
17. Milton was blind.
18. Byron was lame.
19. Holmes was humorous.
20. Emerson was wise.
21. Lowell was witty.
22. Is wrestling exciting?
23. Singing is enjoyable.
24. The settlers became suspicious.
25. Were their arrows poisoned ?
26. How beautiful are the flowers !
Exercise in. Supply copulas and predicate attributes for the following subjects.
1. My mother 4. Dickens 7. Rivers 10. Warships
2. The birds 5. Trees 8. The leaves 11. Rover
3. New York 6. America 9. A graceful spire
Exercise IV. Supply subjects and copulas for the following predicate attributes.
I. easy
4. brilliant
7. expensive
10. helpful
2. high
5. noble
8. interesting
II. light
3. jolly
6. soft
9. honorable
12. wide
Section 5. Nouns
I. In Section 4, Exercise II, think what each subject names. Tell which subjects name persons; actions ; objects in nature.
Though these words are not all names of things which we can see, hear, or know through the senses, they are all names of things about which we can think. They are names of objects.^ Names of objects are nouns.
A noun is a word that names an object.
II. In Section 4, Exercise II, select the nouns, and give the reason for calling each a noun. This exercise may be continued with other sentences.
Section 6. Pronouns
I. (a) Watt invented the steam engine, but he did not perfect it. . (b) To be square in sports is sometimes hard, but it is manly. (c) Blessed is the man who has found his work.
What is a noun ? What word in (a) represents the noun *' Watt" without naming him ? What word means "steam engine," but does not name it ? Neither of the words is a noun, because neither names an object, though each represents an object. In (b) what one word stands for the words, "To be square in sports" ? What words in (c) represent objects without naming them as nouns do ? All these words that stand for nouns are pronouns.^
1 An object is " anything that is perceived, known, thought of, or signified." — Century Dictionary.
^ Look in a dictionary for meaning of pro.
The difference between nouns and pronouns may be understood if you keep in mind the fact that when a noun stands all alone, it names a definite object. " Football," for example, names a very popular game; "Benedict Arnold" names a very unpopular man. These words are nouns. " It " or '^ that " or " they " does not suggest immediately any definite thing. "I do not care for it " may mean that I do not care for some dish at table, or for football, or for one of a thousand other things. A noun names an object; but a pronoun does not name an object ; it only represents it.
The pronouns most often used are the different forms of I, you, he, she, it, who, which, what, that. (See Section 63.)
A pronoun is a word that represents an object without naming it.
II. Select the nouns and pronouns in the following sentences.
1. If you would be well served, you must serve yourself.
2. Placing her hand on the cushion, her foot in the hand
3. "Nothing is wanting now," he said, with a smile,
"but the distaff; Then you would be in truth my queen, my beautiful
Bertha." 4- Every hour has its task or pleasure. 5. Down through the golden leaves the sun was pouring
his splendor.
6. The little meadow violet lifts its cup of blue.
7. We deceive ourselves oftener than others deceive us.
8. The stream wears a smooth bed for itself.
9. For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day.
10. Oh, sleep! it is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole.
11. He who ascends to mountain-tops shall find
The loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds and snow.
12. The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
13- He was chubby and plump — a right jolly old elf; I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head. Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle. And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
Exercise III. Frame ten sentences, using the following pronouns: I, themselves, that, which, whom, it, her, this,
my, him.
Section 7. Nouns and Pronouns
I, Select the nouns and pronouns in the two paragraphs beginning at the bottom of page 208 ; and name the object which each pronoun represents.
II. Separate the sentences below into their two parts, subject and predicate. Then separate the predicate into its two elements, copula and predicate attribute. This is called the analysis of a sentence.
Model Analysis. " Example is the school of mankind " is a declarative sentence ; — a sentence, because it is the expression of a complete thought in words; declarative, because it states a fact.
"Example" is the subject, because it names that of which something is asserted.
" Is the school of mankind" is the predicate, because it asserts something of the subject.
''The school of mankind" is the predicate attribute, because it names that which is asserted of the subject.
"Is" is the copula, because it asserts the relation between the subject and the predicate attribute.
Model for Written Analysis
SUBJECT PREDICATE
COPULA PREDICATE ATTRIBUTE
Example is the school of mankind
Edison is a great inventor
1. Edison is a great inventor.
2. Mahogany is a beautiful wood.
3. Florence Nightingale was a noble woman.
5. Lowell was the son of a minister.
6. Pennsylvania is the coal-bin of the United States. 7- Rome was the capital of the world.
8. Lew Wallace is the author of " Ben Hur."
9. Shakespeare is the greatest author of all time.
10. Gold is the standard of the world's money.
11. Every flower is a hint of God's beauty.
12. No good thing is failure. 13- No bad thing is success.
Section 8. Group of Words as Subject
I. In the sentences of the preceding lessons, the subjects have been nouns or pronouns. Study the sentences in this lesson to find whether the subject is always a noun or a pronoun.
(a) To be up and doing is a joy.
(b) Whatever Abraham Lincoln said was earnest and
sincere.
(c) To feel an honest joy at the success of another is
noble.
In (a), what is a joy? What words, then, express the subject of the thought? Is there a noun in the subject? In (b), the assertion is that something was earnest and sincere. What ? Repeat the group of words used to express the subject of the thought. What does (c) assert is noble ? What, then, is the subject of the sentence?
In some sentences, the subject is not a noun or a pronoun ; it is a group of words. All the words of the group are required to name, or represent, that of which something is asserted.
Exercise
II. Give both the oral and the written analysis of the sentences below, following the model in Section 7. Ask yourself these questions : —
What is the subject of the thought ? What is asserted of the subject?
What word joins the subject with the predicate attribute ?
1. Well heo'un is ojood.
2. Well (lone is better.
3. The cloudy sky is sad and gray.
4. To catch fish in a tub is unsportsmanlike.
5. What Washington did was wise.
6. November woods are bare and still.
7. To guess and to know are two different things.
8. Not to weep over a dish of peeled onions is difficult.
9. Silence is a great peacemaker.
10. To gossip about one's neighbors is a common, but
contemptible, fault.
11. Helen Hunt Jackson was the Indians' friend.
12. To be angry with a door or a woodbox is boylike.
13. Slow and steady wins the race.
Exercise III. Write five sentences, with copulas and predicate attributes, and with nouns as subjects. Write five more with groups of words as subjects. Be ready to separate these sentences into their three elements. Composition
Section 9. Copula and Predicate Attribute United
I. (a) The brook is murmuring. (f) The brook murmurs.
(b) The waters are dancing. (g) The waters dance.
(c) A storm was raging. (h) A storm raged.
(d) Twilight is deepening. (i) Twilight deepens.
(e) The owl is hooting. (j) The owl hoots.
In (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e), point out each copula and each predicate attribute, two separate words in each sentence. Opposite each sentence is another which asserts the same attribute of the same subject. In (f), the attribute, '* murmuring," is asserted of the brook just as truly as in (a). In (g), what is asserted of the subject ? In (h) ? (i) ? (j) ? What one word, then, in each of the last five sentences, both asserts and tells what attribute is asserted ?
The union of the copula with the predicate attribute gives a new kind of predicate. So far the predicates have contained the copula and predicate attribute as separate words. These same elements are to be found in predicates of this new^ kind as in the first; but the difference is this, — that in this second kind of predicate the copula and the attribute are united in one word.
The tide The wind
The tide The wind
PREDICATE
COPULA
was is
PREDICATE ATTRIBUTE rising rising
PREDICATE
rose rises
Exercise II. Unite the copula and the predicate attribute of each of the following sentences into one word. Analyze the sentences you have made, using the following model.
Model. " Mozart composes " is a declarative sentence ; a sentence, because . . . ; declarative, because . . .
*' Mozart" is the subject, because it names that of which something is asserted.
"Composes" is the predicate, because it asserts something of the subject.
1. Mozart was composing.
2. Raphael was painting.
3. Angelo was designing.
4. We are reciting.
5. The tide was rising.
6. Rain was falling.
7- Washington was praying.
8. Trees are orrowincj.
9. Maize is sprouting.
10. The bells are ringing.
11. The snow is melting.
12. The church was burning. 13- The fog was thickening.
14- The whistle was blowing.
15. Danger was threatening.
16. The enemy was retreating.
17. The settlers are returning.
18. Men are working.
19- Women were weeping. 20. Duty is calling.
Section lO. Verbs
I. (a) The sky is clouded.
(b) The clouds seem threatening.
(c) The wind whistles.
(d) The rain will be welcome.
All these sentences contain subject, copula, and predicate attribute. In one of the sentences given, the word that asserts also tells what is asserted. Read it, and point out the word that asserts and also contains the predicate attribute. In each of the other sentences, point out the word or the group of words that asserts the relation between the subject and the predicate attribute. Is it possible to make a sentence without a word that asserts ? A word used to assert is called a verb.^
Most verbs do some other work besides uniting the subject and predicate attribute. Is, in its various forms, is the only verb whose use may be solely to connect the subject and predicate attribute ; it is generally a pure copula.
The verbs most often used to connect subject and predicate attribute are is, are, seems, becomes, looks, appears, grows, tastes, and feels.
In which sentence do you find more than one word used to make the assertion ? A group of words, then, may be used just like a single word in making an assertion. Such a group is called a verb-phrase.
In saying that a verb is a word that asserts, it is intended to regard a question or a command as a kind of assertion.
A verb is a word that asserts.
A verb-phrase is a group of words that asserts.
Exercise II. In the following sentences, separate the subject and predicate. Tell whether the copula and predicate attribute are separate, or united in one w^ord.
1. The violet is sweet.
2. Pocahontas was an Indian girl,
3. To do one's best is worthy.
4. The cost of crown jewels seems fabulous.
5. That great men do silly things at times is true.
6. Robins run.
7. Woodpeckers climb.
^ Look in a dictionary for the derivation of the word verb. Do you know any reason why this name should be selected for the asserting word of a sentence ?
8. The monkey chatters.
9. The sun sets.
10. The wind dies.
11. The world seems silent.
12. The cock is crowing, The stream is flowing, The small birds twitter, The lake doth glitter.
The green field sleeps in the sun.
Section 11. Review
What is a sentence ? Can you say a sentence, or must it be written ? What are the three kinds of sentences you have learned ? What two elements are found in every sentence? What is the subject of a sentence? Is it always just one w^ord ? What kinds of words are usually found as subjects? Define a noun. Define a pronoun. What is the difference betw^een a noun and a pronoun ? What is the predicate of a sentence? What two elements combined make the predicate? Are they always separate words? What class of words is found in every predicate ? Define a verb. Why is the verb the most important class of words ? What is a copula ? a predicate attribute?
Section 12. Complements
I. Write in two groups the sentences in Section 10, Exercise II. In one group, write the sentences containing predicates consisting of a verb and a predicate attribute; in the other group, place the sentences containing predicates consisting of a verb alone. In sentences where the verb alone makes a complete assertion about the subject, the verb is called a complete verb.
In the first group of sentences, does the verb alone tell what is asserted of the subject? Read, these sentences aloud, omitting all words that follow the verbs. Each sentence, as read, lacks one of the three necessary elements of every sentence: it has no predicate attribute. The verb alone does not make the complete assertion about the subject. Such a verb is called an incomplete verb. Verb-phrases may be complete or incomplete the same as verbs.
It is plain that a third element must always be added to an incomplete verb to tell what is asserted of the subject. Since this element completes the meaning of the verb, it is called a complement.
A complement is an element of a sentence that completes the assertion made by an incomplete verb.
The word in the predicate naming an attribute of the subject is called an attribute complement.
An attribute complement is a complement that names an attribute of the subject.
Give sentences to show that the attribute complement is also a predicate attribute. . Exercise
II. Analyze the sentences below, following the model in Section 7. Use the term attribute complement instead of predicate attribute.
1. Experience is expensive.
2. Tlie plays of Shakespeare are instructive.
3. To talk with great men is a liberal education.
4. Honesty is the best policy. 5- Rubies are scarce.
6. Is iron the most useful metal ?
7. Good manners are a source of wealth.
8. The Cyclops were terrible giants.
9. To study the stars is fascinating.
10. What time we sleep is well spent.
11. To use a dictionary is a sign of culture.
12. Was Jenny Lind a beautiful singer.^ 13- Snow is delicate crystals.
14. To cheat an ignorant man is dishonorable cowardice.
15. Are the birds happy?
16. The way was pathless and long. 17- The goal was more dreary yet.
18. Their only food Avas a pittance of Indian corn.
Section 13. The Object Complement I. (a) March brings wind
(b) April brings showers.
(c) April showers bring May flowers.
(d) Longfellow wrote Hiawatha.
(e) He loved children.
(f) Many hands make light work.
(g) The nightingale's notes close the eye of day. (h) The dead leaves fall.
In this lesson, there is only one complete verb. Find it. Point out the incomplete verb in each of the other sentences. Tell what words are used to complete the meaning of each. Show that each of these complements names the receiver of the action asserted by the verb. Such a complement is called an object^ complement, or, very often, simply an object.
An object complement is a complement that names the receiver of the action.
II. Write five sentences containing predicates consisting of a verb and an attribute complement ; five sentences in which a complete verb makes the predicate ; five sentences in which the following words shall be used as objects : honor, Cape Horn, the stars, rainbow, Alexander Hamilton.
III. Analyze the following sentences according to the model given.
Model. " The nightingale's notes close the eye of day" is a declarative sentence ; a sentence, because . . . ; declarative, because ...
"The nightingale's notes" is the subject, because . . .
"Close the eye of day" is the predicate, because . . .
"Close" is the verb, because . . .
"The eye of day" is the object complement, or object, because it names the receiver of the action asserted by the verb.
Model for Written Analysis
Subject The nightingale's notes
Predicate close the eye of day
Verb close
Object Complement the eye of day
^ Look in a dictionary and learn the meaning of the Latin words from which the word object is derived.
1. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
2. The moon causes the tides.
3. Edison invented the phonograph.
4. Some persons inherit great wealth.
5. Are they unfortunate ?
6. Wealth is a doubtful fortune.
8. Did Pocahontas save Captain John Smith ?
10. Health is man's greatest wealth.
11. The real heroes of the war are the " great, brave.
patient, nameless People."
12. The sweetest type of heaven is home.
13- Every great thought alters the world.
14- The top of honor is a slippery place.
15- One spring wind unbinds the mountam snow.
16. The great mind knows the power of gentleness.
17. A small leak will sink a ship.
18. Kindness shall win my love. 19- The old clock of the town
Strikes night's last hour. The morning's crown Touches the silence.
Section 14. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (a) Autumn paints the maples
(b) The maples are painted by Autumn.
(c) The bluebirds sing sweet songs of spring.
(d) Sweet songs of spring are sung by the bluebirds. fe) Fresh winds purify the air.
(f) The air is purified by fresh winds.
Have both sentences of each pair the same meaning? In both, is the action performed by the same persons or things ? Show that each verb asserts an action received by an object. In which sentence of each pair does the object complement name the receiver of the action ? In the other sentence, the same receiver of the same action is named by what element ?
All these verbs assert actions received by objects; they are called transitive verbs/ In the sentences, the receiver of the action is named by the subject or by the object complement. A verb is transitive, then, if the subject or the object complement names the receiver of the action asserted.
Not all verbs assert action ; and of those that do, not all assert action received by an object. If a verb does not assert action received by an object, it is not transitive, and is called an intransitive verb. Study the following sentences : —
(a) The laughing streams awake.
(b) Our mother was a beautiful girl.
(c) Her word is truth.
(d) Friends cheer.
(e) Coleridge talked.
Point out the verbs that assert action. Is the action asserted by any of these verbs received by an object.'' Point out the verbs that do not assert action. Are any of these verbs, then, transitive ?
A transitive verb is one that asserts an action received by an object.
An intransitive verb is one that does not assert an action received by an object.
^ Look in a dictionary for the meaning of the word transitive.
Verb-phrases may be transitive or intransitive the same as verbs.
Section 15. Two Uses of Same Verbs
I. In the following sentences, note the different uses of the same verb.
(a) The fire burned in the grate.
(b) The fire burned the child's fingers.
(c) The child's fingers were burned by the fire.
(d) Millet painted.
(e) He painted the Angelas.
(f) The Angelas v^as painted by Millet.
(g) Shakespeare wrote.
(h) He wrote the world's greatest dramas.
(i) The world's greatest dramas were written by Shakespeare.
Which verbs are transitive ? Which intransitive ? Give reason in each case. The use, then, is what makes the verb transitive or intransitive.
II. Classify the verbs in Section 13, Exercise III, as transitive or intransitive.
Section 16. The Objective Complement
I. The following sentences show that the meaning of a sentence may be changed by changing the order of the words. In one sentence of each pair is an element of the sentence not yet studied.
(a) Tom Sawyer painted the fence white ,
(b) Tom Sawyer painted the white fence.
(c) Spring rains wash the gardens clean.
(d) Spring rains wash the clean gardens.
(e) Snow turns the brown fields white.
(f) Snow turns the brown white fields.
(g) A smile makes a sad heart glad. (h) A smile makes a glad sad heart.
Do the two sentences of each pair have the same meaning ? Which sentence, (a) or (b), asserts that the fence was white as a result of the painting ? Which that it was white before it was painted ? What word in (c) and (d) is the object complement? What word names an attribute of " gardens" ? In which sentence is this attribute caused by the action named by the verb ? Show that the sentences (f) and (h) make impossible assertions. Show that the attribute of the object complement in (e) and in (g) is a result of the action expressed by the verb.
If a word names an attribute of an object complement, and this attribute is the result of the action asserted by the verb, it is called an objective complement.
Two questions must be answered to determine whether a word is an objective complement : —
(1) Does the word name an attribute of the object complement ?
(2) Is this attribute the result of the action named by the verb?
If the word fulfills both these conditions, it is an objective complement.
(a) I found the boy tired.
(b) The work had made the boy tired.
In both these sentences, "tired" is an attribute of "the boy," the object. In (a), the attribute "tired" is not the result of the action named by the verb ; therefore it is not an objective complement. In (b), the attribute is the result of the action named by the verb ; therefore it is an objective complement.
(c) Adversity made him humble.
(d) Adversity (made humble) him.
(e) Adversity humbled him.
In (c), the verb "made" alone does not express the idea of the sentence. "Adversity made him" is not at all the thought intended. The verb "made" with the objective complement "humble" expresses the action upon him. This is seen in (d). This is just one action and can be expressed in one word, as it is in (e). So, too, the former sentence could be made to read "The work tired him," instead of "The work made him tired."
An objective complement is a complement that names an attribute of the object resulting from the action asserted by the verb.
PREDICATE
VERB
OBJECT
OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT
Adversity made him humble
The death of the queen made
Edward VII king
When there is an objective complement in a sentence, is the verb transitive or intransitive.^ complete or incomplete ? Can there be an objective complement without an object ?
II. Analyze the sentences below, according to the model.
Model. " Adversity made him humble " is a declarative sentence.
"Adversity" is the subject, because . . .
'* Made him humble" is the predicate, because . . .
'* Made" is the verb, because ...
"Him" is the object, because . . .
" Humble" is an objective complement, because it names an attribute of the object resulting from the action asserted by the verb.
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