A grammar of the English language

Front matter

^SMITH'S ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

fa i.j ii j

English Language

Preface

Since there are already numerous works on the " Grammar of the English Language," not one of which is entirely without merit, the question may well be asked why another should be added to the number.

Perhaps the best reply to this inquiry will be to specify those characteristics which, the authors hope, will recommend this book to the favorable consideration of their fellow-teachers and of all others interested in the cause of education.

They trust that the work will be found, on examination, to be plain and practical, to be simple in its outlines and in its details, and to be adapted equally to the class-room and to the study. Such at least is its design ; and, with this constantly in view, the authors' aim has been to pursue a course midway between the extremes of prolixity and conciseness. They have desired to say just enough to make the subject plain, — further to explain that enough by examples and models, — and still further to enforce it by numerous exercises involving the principles which those exercises are designed to illustrate.

They have desired, by simplicity of arrangement, by clearness of statement, by the avoidance of unnecessary words, and by the absence of theories and speculations, to create in the mind of the pupil a consciousness that the principles of the language are not beyond his comprehension, and that he can master each principle and its application as it comes before him.

The usual division of Grammar into four parts is followed ; and each is treated of before the introduction of the succeeding part, because it is believed to be the experience of the best teachers that the pupil can acquire a knowledge of the subject more easily and more thoroughly by having his attention directed to but one thing at a time.

In order to render the work thoroughly progressive, nothing is anticipated when anticipation can possibly be avoided ; and no part, or division, or subdivision, is introduced, without explanation or some reference by which the mind of the pupil is prepared for its reception, until the portion under present consideration has been thoroughly treated. Thus the pupil is enabled to advance intelligently ; and the teacher enjoys the satisfaction of knowing that his pupils understand what they are learning.

4 PREFACE.

In Orthography are given a simple explanation of the nature and of the classes of letters, and the most important rules for spelling simple, derivative, and compound words.

In Etymology, the different parts of speech are given ; their nature is explained ; and their various uses and applications are illustrated. The nomenclature and the arrangement of the tenses now becoming general, have been adopted ; and the names of the participles given by Mr. Goold Brown have been used, because they are considered to be such as the nature of the participles requires, — the most logical, and therefore the best.

Syntax is introduced with explanations of sentences and of their different kinds and forms, — in which the ideas of simple, complex, and compound are kept prominent, as in the treatment of words. A division of this part into Analysis and Synthesis is then made. The portion assigned to Analysis, including the models and exercises, occupies about twenty pages ; the design being to present a practical outline of all that is necessary to a complete understanding of the subject. Under Synthesis, the Rules of Syntax, with accompanying notes and exercises, are given in a form well adapted to didactic instruction. Although the analysis of sentences is regarded as of paramount importance, it has been left to the discretion of the teacher whether parsing and analysis shall be taught together, or whether they shall be taught separately ; each forms a distinct subject, but both are so arranged that any point in either may be readily consulted.

Punctuation is given under Syntax, because it is intimately connected with sentences, modifying their meaning to a very great extent. For the same reason, Figures have been introduced under the same head.

Prosody, as its definition and use require, treats only of verse and of the quantity of syllables, of accent, and of the laws of versification.

With this brief summary, and with thanks to those teachers and others who have offered suggestions, the authors send forth their work, hoping that it may be favorably received, where other books, more voluminous or of a less practical character, have proved unsatisfactory.

An elementary work, designed as an introduction to this, is now in course of preparation.

Philadelphia, July 3, 1866.

Contents

PAGE

Grammar. Definition and Division 9

PART I. — ORTHOGRAPHY. Letters, Definitions and Classes of . . . . . .10

Words 12

Spelling 13

Rules of 13

General Exercises in 16

PART II. — ETYMOLOGY. Classes of "Words 17

Parts of Speech, Definitions of 17

Nouns, Classes of 19

Properties of 20

Number 20

Person 26

Gender 26

Case 30

Declension of 31

Parsing 32

Exercises in 32

Pronouns 34

Properties of ........ 34

Personal 34

Compound Personal 36

Relative 37

Compound Relative 39

Interrogative 40

1* 5

6 CONTENTS.

PAGB

Articles . . .42

Adjectives 44

Pronominal 45

Comparison of . . 47

Verbs 50

Classes of, according to meaning 51

Properties of 52

Mode 53

Tense 55

Number and Person 58

Classes of, according to formation .... 61

Principal Parts 61

List of Irregular Verbs 61

Defective .66

List of 66

Auxiliary .67

Conjugation of 68

Auxiliaries 68

To Be 70

To Love, Active Voice, 75

To Love, Passive Voice 78

Progressive Forin, To Learn 81

Interrogative Form, To See 83

Negative Form 84

Negative-Interrogative Form 85

Adverbs 88

Conjunctive ......... 90

Comparison of 90

Prepositions . .92

Conjunctions 95

Interjections . . . 97

"Words used as different Parts of Speech . . . . .98

General Exercises in Parsing 100

CONTEXTS.

Part III. — Syntax. Page

Sentences, Definition of . 9 . . . . . . . 102

Classes of, according to use 102

Classes of, according to form . . . . . . 103

Divisions of Syntax 107

Analysis 107

Distinctions of Subject and Predicate . . . 109

Simple Subject and Simple Predicate . . . 109 Complex Subject and Complex Predicate 109, 110

Compound Subject and Compound Predicate . 110 Exercises on Subjects and Predicates . Ill, 113

Independent Parts 114

Qualifications of Simple Subject . .*'.'. . 115

Qualifications of Qualifying Words .... 116

Qualifications of Simple Predicate . . . 118

Qualifications of Qualifying Words .... 119

Classification of Phrases 120

Classification of Dependent Clauses 121

Analysis of Sentences 122

General Exercises in Analysis 126

Synthesis 129

Rules or Syntax 130

Kule I.— Subject of Finite Verb 131

Rule II. — Nominative Case Independent .... 134

Rule III. — Possessive Case 137

Rule IV.— Objective Case 141

Rule V. — Apposition 145

Rule YI.— Same Case after Verbs 148

Rule VII. — Personal Pronouns 150

Rule VIII. — Relative Pronouns 154

Rule IX.— Articles 159

Rule X.— Adjectives 163

Rule XI. — Pronominal Adjectives .... 167

Rule XII. — Agreement of Finite Verbs .... 170

Rule XIII.— Infinitives . . . . . 175

Rule XIV.— Participles * . 178

Rule XV.— Adverbs 182

Rule XVI.— Prepositions 185

Rule XVII.— Conjunctions 190

Rule XVIII.— Interjections 195

General Rule 195

5 CONTENTS.

PAGE

Period 208

Interrogation Point, Exclamation Point . . . 209

Colon, Semicolon . . . . . . . . 210

Dash, Curves 214

Brackets 215

Other Marks used in Writing 215

Capitals 216

Figures of Orthography ....... 217

Figures of Etymology 218

Figures of Syntax 218

Figures of Khetoric 219

PART IV. — PROSODY. Verse 222

Kinds of 222

Versification 223

Feet 223

Kinds of Feet . 223

Denominations of Verse 224

Iambic Verse ........ 225

Trochaic Verse 226

Anapestic Verse 226

Dactylic Verse 227

Amphibraic Verse 228

Mixed Verse 228

Poetic Pauses 228

GRAMMAR

OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Grammar is the science which treats of the correct use of language.

Science means the principles of some branch of knowledge arranged according to a regular system or order.

Language is the means by which human beings express their thoughts. Language is either spoken or written.

English Grammar is the science which treats of the correct use of the English language, both in speaking and in writing.

English Grammar may be divided into four parts; — Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.

Orthography treats of Letters, and teaches how to spell correctly.

Etymology treats of Words, teaches how to classify them, and shows their changes of form and meaning.

Syntax treats of Sentences, and teaches how to construct them from words.

Prosody treats of Verse, and teaches how to arrange words according to the principles of Versification.

10 CLASSES OF LETTERS — VOWELS.

Part First. ORTHOGRAPHY

Orthography treats of Letters, and teaches how to spell correctly.

Letters are particular marks or signs used to represent certain sounds of the human voice.

The sounds of all words in the English language can be represented by different combinations of the twenty-six letters in its alphabet.

CLASSES OP LETTEES.

Letters are divided into two classes; Vowels and Consonants.

A Vowel is a letter which represents a simple, perfect sound; as, a, e, o.

A Consonant is a letter which represents a sound which can be perfectly made only with the aid of a vowel; as, /,

VOWELS.

A Vowel is a letter which represents a simple, perfect sound.

The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

W and y are vowels when they end a word or a syllable, or are followed in the same syllable by a vowel which is not sounded ; as in snow, lowly, dye. In all other positions they are consonants.

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS. 11

All the other letters are consonants.

Exercise. — Mention the vowels and the consonants in the following words, and give the reasons: — Animal, muslin, grammar, thousand, mountain, happiness, board, school, arithmetic, December, bread, wonder, beware, dwell, youth, destiny, myrtle, sympathy, knawledge, lawyer, strength, journey, phlegm, plague, weigh.

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.

When two vowels are used to represent one sound, they form what is called a Diphthong ; as oa in load; oi in voice.

There are two kinds of diphthongs; Proper and Improper.

A Proper Diphthong is one in which both vowels are sounded ; as, ou in mouse ; oy in joyful. There are four proper diphthongs ; oi, ou, oy, and ow.

An Improper Diphthong is one in which but one of the vowels is sounded ; as, ea in beat ; eu in neuter.

When three vowels are used to represent one sound, they form what is called a Triphthong ; as, eau in beauty ; iew in view.

There are two kinds of triphthongs ; Proper and Improper.

A Proper Triphthong is one in which all three vowels are sounded ; as, uoy in buoy.

An Improper Triphthong is one in which but one or two of the vowels are sounded ; as eye, and ieu in lieu. The principal improper triphthongs are, ieu, eau, iew.

The consonant q is always followed by u; when so placed, u is never considered as part of a diphthong or a triphthong.

Exercise. — Mention the proper and the improper diphthongs and triphthongs in the following words, and give the reasons : — Moaning, employ, outset, beauty, though, plough, review, chair, growling, lieu, slaughter, news, learn, coast, thief, loud, buoy, quoit, eye, gracious, herbaceous, outlie, broad, heroes, receive, ocean, beaus.

12 CONSONANTS — SYLLABLES — WORDS.

CONSONANTS.

A Consonant is a letter which represents a sound which can be perfectly made only with the aid of a vowel.

The consonants are divided into two classes ; Semi-vowels and Mutes.

Semi-VOWels are letters which can be imperfectly sounded without -the aid of a vowel ; as, c, j, v, y.

They are c soft, f, g soft, Ji, j, I, m, n, r, s, v, w, x, y, and z.

C has its soft sound (the sound of s) before e, i, and y; before other letters it has the sound of k.

G has its soft sound (the sound of j) before e, i, and y; there are, however, some exceptions.

Four of the semi-vowels, I, m, n, and r, are called Liquids, on account of their smooth aDd flowing sound.

Mutes are letters which can not be sounded without the aid of a vowel ; as, p, q, t, Jc.

They are b, c hard, d, g hard, Jc, p, q, and t.

SYLLABLES.

A Syllable is a letter or a number of letters, which, when uttered, form one sound ; as, far, a-far, com-mence.

A syllable may be either a word or a part of a word ; it always contains a vowel, — or, when spoken, a vowel sound.

WOEDS.

A Written "Word is a letter, or a number of letters properly combined, used as the sign of some idea; as, i, day, army.

A Spoken Word is a sound, or a combination of sounds, used to express some idea.

Words are named according to the number of syllables which they contain.

A word which contains one syllable is called a Monosyllable; as, truth: one which contains two syllables is

DIVISION OF WOKDS — SPELLING — RULES, ETC. 13

called a Dissyllable; as, truthful: one which contains three syllables is callea a Trisyllable; as, untruthful: one which contains more than three syllables is called a Polysyllable ; as, untruthfulness , incomprehensible.

DIVISION OF WORDS.

"Words are divided according to their formation into Simple, or Compound ; Primitive, or Derivative.

A Silfcple Word is one which is not formed by uniting two or more words or parts of words ; as, hand, paper, father.

A Compound Word is one which is formed by the union of two or more simple words ; as, hand-machine, newspaper. The words forming a compound are sometimes connected by the hyphen ( - ) ; as, father-in-law.

A Primitive Word is one which is formed from no other word, and is in its first or simplest form ; as, sin, wind, lady.

A Derivative Word is one which is formed from a primitive word by some change, or by prefixing or suffixing another syllable or word ; as, sinful, windy, lady-like.

Exercise. — Tell to which of the above divisions each of the following words belongs, and give the reason : — Breakfast, fleetness, spice, lover, within, uneasy, self-taught, teach, statesman, write, movable, president, circle, prison-ship, copying, useful, store-house, citizen, chief, harmed, certain, poet, penman, outlaw, evergreen, star-gazer.

SPELLINGS

Spelling is the art of combining letters properly, to form syllables and words. This art is best learned from spelling-books, dictionaries, and from habits of observation in reading.

RULES OF SPELLING.

Monosyllables. — 1. The final letter of a monosyllable ending withy, I, or s, preceded by a single vowel, is doubled; as, muff, bill, moss.

14 RULES OF SPELLING.

2. The final letter of a monosyllable ending with any other consonant is not doubled ; as, bar, rag, rod.

Exercise. — Apply the rule for spelling each of the following words, and correct all false orthography : — Mil, uss, eg, hass, clef, carr, tel, fiz, fil, ad, nodd, pas, fuz, pur, mis, was, robb, hill, war.

Doubling the Final Consonant. — 1. The final consonant of a monosyllable, or of a word accented on the last syllabl#ending with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, is doubled on receiving a suffix beginning with a vowel ; as, hot, hotter; occur, occurring; transfer, transferring.

2. The final consonant is not doubled, if it is not preceded by a single vowel, if it is preceded by one or more consonants, or if the accent is not on the last syllable ; as, toil, toiling; sound, sounded; differ, different.

Final x is never doubled, being equivalent to the two consonants ksovgz; as, fix, fixed; tax, taxing.

The spelling of derivatives from words ending with single I is variable. Some writers double the I even in words not accented on the last syllable ; while others strictly follow the rule. It is preferable to follow the general rule ; as, travel, traveler.

Exercise. — Apply the rule in forming each of the following words: — Suffix ed to tap, tax, incur, inter, retreat, enter; ing to sound, acquit, recruit, shed, drip, shoot; er to cool, loud, work, mix, labor; ist to novel, art, algebra, humor; ent to excel, depend, concur.

Final E. — 1. In words ending with silent e, e is generally omitted on receiving a suffix beginning with a vowel; as, move, movable ; love, loved; able, abler.

In words ending with ce or ge, e is retained before terminations beginning with a, o, or u, in order to preserve the soft sounds of c and g; as, trace, traceable; courage, courageous.

In words ending with ie, e is omitted and i changed into y before the termination ing, in order to prevent the doubling of i; as, tie. tying; belie, belying.

E is retained in dye, singe, springe, swinge, tinge, hoe, shoe, and toe, before the termination ing; as, dye, dyeing ; shoe, shoeing.

RULES OF SPELLING. 15

2. In words ending with silent e, e is generally retained on receiving a suffix beginning with a consonant ; as, dire, direful; care, careless.

The following words are exceptions: — Abridgment, acknowledgment, argument, judgment, duly, truly, awful, nursling, wisdom, wholly.

Exekcise. — Apply the rule in forming each of the following words: — Suffix ing or ed to rage, untie, hoe, die, dye, sing, singe, budge; able to service, manage, peace, charge, notice, change; ible to force, sense, reverse; ment to refine, commence, advance, induce; ly to wide, safe, rude,

"Words ending with Y. — 1. In words ending with y preceded by a consonant, y is changed into i on receiving one or more suffixed letters or syllables ; as, try, tries ; lively, liveliest.

Yis not changed into i before the termination ing; as, dry, drying; rely, relying.

2. In words ending with y preceded by a vowel, y is retained on receiving one or more suffixed letters or syllables ; as, money, moneys; joy, joyful; pay, payable.

Paid from pay, laid from lay, said and saith from say, staid from l, and daily from day, are exceptions.

Exercise. — Apply the rule in forming each of the following words:— Suffix ed to pry, deny ; es to lady, dry, fancy, try ; ly to greedy, lazy, day, hungry, steady; ing to rely, ally, cry, defy, enjoy, pay, obey; ish to boy, gray ; ed to convey, employ, waylay, prepay.

Words ending with a Double Letter. — In words ending with any double letter except I, the double letter is retained on receiving a suffix which does not commence with the same letter ; as, puff, puffing ; careless, carelessly.

Exercise. — Apply the rule in forming each of the following words: — Suffixing to witness, pun', buzz; ly to full, stiff; es to pass, dress, moss; est to tall, dull, gross.

Compounds. — In compound words, the simple words from which they are formed are generally spelled in the same manner as when alone ; as, scoop-net, blue-eyed, paymaster.

In words ending with II, one I is often dropped when forming part of a compound or derivative word ; as, all, also; till, until; except allspice, and a few others.

16 RULES OF SPELLING — EXEECISES.

Exercise. — Apply the rule in forming each of the following words: — Suffix full to sin, cup, play; prefix all to mighty, so, ways, spice. Write compounds from pen and knife; heart and felt; eye and sight; salt and cellar. Form and write ten other compounds.

General Exercise I. — Apply the rules in the correction of the following words : —

General Exercise II. — Correct the spelling in the following sentences, and apply the rule for each correction : —

Artfull practices should be avoided. Never expect to obtain true happyness without virtue. The vallies among those cheerles mountains are not often visitted by the raies of the sun. I can not go untill the expres-train shall have arrived. The surly fellow answered grufly to my playfull remark. The soldier displaid great courage on the battle-field. The armys were well supplyed with wholsome food. The arguement of the lawyer proved the shamefull conduct of the prisoner. Bad beginings somtimes end in succes. The rogueish boies were caught stealling the neighbor's apples.

We can not injure others without injureing ourselves. The commitee refused to sign the bill which was refered to them. The recruitting officer acquited the soldier of the charge of desertion. Although he was the humbleest of the unhappy queen's followers, yet he remainned faithful untill the last moment. Our chimnies are very smokey in winddy weather. As he payed no attention to his speling he wass unable to rise in his clas. Be careful to shunn the company of the silly andviceious. A spent bal wounded two officers of his staf while standding near him. The battle which followed was one of the bloodyest of the warr.

Truthfullnes is better than mere refinment of manners. His palness was attributeable to his excesive fright. Dayly newspapers were a great rarity a hundred years ago. Delaies are usualy dangerous. The culprit was relieved of his handcufs. Flocks of wild turkies are now seldom seen. The smaler of the two books is to be prefered. Clouds envelopped the tops of the mountains. This gloryous news has fullfiled our highest hopes. You are inexcuseable for makeing such mistakes as these. Carlesness is allways deserving of censure.