An aid-book in elementary English grammar ...

Front matter

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Shelf .JL.55

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Preface

This little book is not intended to be a text-book at all, but only an aid-book in the child's hand to help him understand some of the obscure inductions of his regular text-book, or in the teacher's hand to guide her in methods of procedure, and enable her to make her instruction — especially if it be oral — more attractive, and therefore more effective. It is not properly a Language-Book, but only a side-light to Language-Books already in t^ie field. It is a simple exposition of the most essential elements of English Grammar, as well as an attempt to point out the true method of teaching or acquiring it.

The work is altogether elementary, being made up almost entirely of the expository portions of the author's "Elementary Language-Book, in Graded Lessons ; or, Learning to Make English. " It is in the form of familiar talks addressed to the pupil.

If in either the teacher's or the child's hand it shall serve to smooth the rugged path of English Grammar, its purpose will be accomplished.

Lain & Robertson, Book and Job Printers, 17 Willoughby St., Brooklyn, N.Y.

CQ

Chapter I. Introduction

Section. rage.

1. The Term "L an gu ago,' 7 - - - - 1

2. Words and Letters, ----.- 1

3. Sounds of the Letters, .... 2

4. Vowels and Consonants, - - - - 3

5. Some Vowel-Sounds, ..... 5 G. Mental Pictures, or Ideas, - - - C

7. "Words Represent Ideas, ----- 9

8. Syllables, - 11

9. Various Sorts of Words, ----- 12

Chapter II. The Sentence

2. The Phrase, 15

3. Subject and Predicate, - - - - - 16

4. The Bare Sentence, 18

6. Summary of the Preceding Remarks, 21

7. Bare Sentences Enlarged, - - - - - 22

8. Building up Sentences Step by Step, 23

IV. CONTENTS.

Chapter III. The Parts Of Speech

Section. Page.

1. Names, or Nouns, - - - - - 24

2. Particular Names, - - - - - * - 25

4. The Pronoun, 26

5. Examples for Practice, - - - - - 28

6. The Adjective, 29

7. The Article, 30

8. The Adverb, 30

9. The Preposition, 32

10. The Conjunction, 36

11. The Interjection, 37

12. Classified according to Their Use, 38

13. A Bird's-Eye View, 40

14. Condensed Summary, ----- 41

CHAPTER IY.

SOME SUB-CLASSES OE WOBDS.

1. Nouns: Common and Proper, -

2. Surnames, - - - - -

3. Christian Names, -

4. Days of the Week, etc., -

6. TheYerb,

7- Transitive and Intransitive Yerbs,

8. How to Tell Them Apart, -

CONTENTS. V.

Section. Page.

10. Verbs with a Hard Name, 51

11. Some Curious Verbs, - - - - - -52

12. Adjectives : The Articles, 53

13. The Indefinite Articles, - - - - - 54

14. Origin of the Word " A," - - - 56

15. The Definite Article, 57

16. Proper Adjectives, ------ 57

17-19. A Bird's-Eye View, 58

Chapter V. Abbeeviations And Punctuation

1. Abbreviations, ------ 61

2. How to Abbreviate, - - - - - - 62

3.' Punctuation, - - - . - 63

4. The Comma : Words in a Series, - - - - 64

5. The Comma : Spoken to by Name, 68

Chapter VI. The Sign 's ; Ok, Belonging To

1. The Apostrophe and s, - - - 67

3. Another Sign that Means, "Of," or, " Belonging to," 6S

4. The Reason Why - 68

Chapter VII. Number

1. Singular and Plural, - - 70

2. Puzzling Forms, - - - 71

VI. CONTENTS,

Section. Page.

3. How the Plural of Nouns is Formed, 71

4. Some Other Plurals, - - - - - -72

5. Singular and Plural in Verbs, 73

6. Verbs Change their Forms as Nouns do, - - 75

7. Is, Are ; Has, Have ; Was, Were, - - - 76

Introduction

1. The Term " Language." — If I wish to communicate my thoughts to you I must use some kind of language. If you are mute, that is, if you cannot hear nor speak, I must use some sign-language, as, for example, one that is made with the fingers. If you can read writing, I may write you a letter. Thisjs written language. If you can only read printing, then I must print what I have to say ; and this is also called written language. But the common way is by speaking, or, by the use of spoken language. If we both understand English, I may use the English language. If we both understand French, I may use the French language, and so on ; all people using their own mother-tongue, or whatever other language they may have learned. Accordingly we say that

Language is the way we have of communicating OUR THOUGHTS TO ONE ANOTHER.

2. Words Letters. — There are thous-

2 INTEODUCTION.

ands of different languages in the world, used by thousands of different races, or tribes of men. All of thern are made by putting icords together ; and these words are composed, in all languages that we are much acquainted with, of letters* In the English language a vast number of words are used, more than 100,000, but only 26 letters. These 26 letters, taken together in proper order, are called, as you all know, the alphabet. Some languages contain more, and some fewer than ours.

Letters, whether printed, or made with pen or pencil, have two forms, capitals arid small letters.] The common style of letters made with the pen or pencil is called script.

3. Sounds of the Letters.— Each one of the 26 letters of our alphabet represents, or, stands for one or more sounds of the voice. Take the word ape, and pronounce the first sound of it — the sound that is represented by the letter a. Open the mouth wide and let the voice flow from the throat without interruption for a moment, thus : a - Then,

* The Chinese language has no alphabet.

t Strange as it may seem, "small letters" are sometimps very large— much larger than some " capitals. " Compare these two letters— a, a. The first, which is the larger, is what is called a "small letter;" the second is a "capital." The name, " small letters," is given to them because they are smaller than the capitals that are used along with them. Thus, in the word "America," the first letter is a "capital," and the rest are " small letters. "

VOWELS AND CONSONANTS. 6

closing the lips, finish the word with a little puff of

the breath — a pe. Again, take the word ant,

and treat it in the same way, thus : a nt. Again,

take the word ark, and do likewise, thus : a rk.

Again, take the word awl, and do the same, thus :

a wl. * Here we have four different sounds, all

represented by the same letter, a. These sounds all come up from the throat, and flow freely out of the mouth. Not all the alphabetic sounds are formed in that way. For example, take the word ape again. After prolonging the first sound for a moment,

a , the lips are brought together and a simple

ptiff of the breath is given to complete the word. That puff is represented by the letter p. It is nothing but the breath exploding at the lips. It does not come up out of the throat at all, as the sound of a does.

4. Vowels and Consonants. — Five of the letters of our alphabet represent sounds that are formed somewhat as the sounds of a are formed ; and these we group together and call vowels. They are as follows :

a, e 5 i, o, u.

To these must be added w and y as they are sounded in some words, as cow, boy, etc. The remaining 19 letters, together with w and y as they are sounded

* A lias other sounds besides these four.

4 INTRODUCTION.

in other words, as west, yes, etc.. are called consonants. *

Thus we see that the vowelsf may be called voiceletters, or throat letters, or letters whose sounds come up from the throat and flow freely out of the mouth ; while the consonants are something quite different. The letter p, as we have already seen in the word ape is nothing but the breath exploding at the lips, or a kind of breath -letter. Try the letter b as heard in bat. In uttering it we close the lips and make a smothered sound in the throat, so we say that b represents a smothered sound of the voice.

If we should try all the other letters called ' * consonants, " we should find that none of them represent sounds that come up from the throat and flow freely out of the mouth, but sounds that are held back or interrupted or forced out. Therefore we say that

Vowels are lettees which repeesent, or stand for sounds that come up from the throat and flow freely out of the mouth.

Consonants are lettees which repeesent, de stand for sounds that are stopped or interrupted or forced out.

Vowel-sounds being formed wholly in the throat,

* In awkward, for example, tlic first w is a vowel, while the second is a consonant. t Latin vox (vocis), the voice.

SOME VOWEL-SOUNDS. O

the vowels may be called throat-letters, or voiceletters.

5. Some Votvel- Sounds.— We have just seen that a has several different sounds. A certain sound in ape, a different one in ant, and so on. In like manner each of the other four vowels has more than one sound, as is shown in the following tables. My young readers will do well to add to these lists a few examples of their own ? They oan easily think of others if they try, and success is always pleasant. I.

WORDS IN WHICH a IS SOUNDED AS IT IS IN

APE

ANT cape lake face play spade lamp

black

plant

rap

daudy car

starch

alarm

dark

hard hall

squaw

dawn

quart

warm

WORDS IN WHICH C IS SOUNDED A3 IT IS IN

H E

HER

HEN the were deck equal fern bed speak verb stem secret perch step teach verse pet

INTBODUCTION.

IV. WOKDS IN WHICH l IS SOUNDED AS IT IS IN

WORDS IN WHICH IS SOUNDED AS IT IS IN

BITE

BIT

N

NOT pie

twice

ride

like

pile pin

kick

rich

milk

fix poke

sold

flow

grove

toad lock

chop

honest

pod

hog

V. Woeds In Which V, Is Sounded As It Is In

TUBE

TUB

6. Mental Pictures, or Ideas.— There is in the back part of your eye a kind of mirror, called the retina, on which an image is made of any object or collection of objects that you may happen to look at. Behind the retina there is a nerve, * called the

* Nerves are fine, thread-like substances, found in every part of our bodies, one of whose uses is to inform the mind (that is shut up in the body, as it were,) of what is going on outside.

MENTAL PICTUKES, OB IDEAS. 7

optic nerve (or seeing nerve), proceeding from it to the brain. The brain is that part of us where the thinking is done ; and the business of the optic nerve is to take to the brain an impression of the image made on the retina ; and this impression on the brain is called a mental picture, or idea. The ear does a similar service.

When I speak a word to you, the air in front of my mouth is thrown into little waves, like the waves produced in a still pond by throwing stones into it. If a fine pebble be thrown into the pond, a fine circular ripple will be produced which will go widening and widening to the shore. If a handful of fine pebbles be thrown in, there will be a number of fine ripple-circles formed, which will chase each other to the shore. If large stones be thrown in, a series of waves will be produced. These ripples and waves on the water's surface show to the eye what happens in the great atmospheric ocean that surrounds our earth, whenever we hear a sound. This atmospheric ocean, or atmosphere, or simply the air, as we call it, is thrown into ripples or waves, which flow in circles away from the center of disturbance, that is, away from the spot where the sound began. Perhaps you understand now what I meant a moment ago when I said that if I should speak a word to you the air in front of my mouth would be thrown into little waves. These waves reach and enter your ear*

8 INTRODUCTION,

A little way down in the ear there is stretched across the passage a thin membrane, something like the parchment that drum-heads are made of. It is sometimes called the drum of the ear, though its proper name is the tympanum. Just beyond the tympanum is a set of four very small bones — the exact purpose of them we do not quite understand ; but a nerve goes off from there called the auditory nerve (or hearing nerve), to the brain, just as the optic nerve goes off from the retina of the eye to the brain. Now, when I speak a word to you, the air in front of my lips is thrown into little waves, or vibrations, which run off in circles, widening and widening till they enter the ear passage, and, striking the tympanum, set it vibrating, or trembling. The four little bones catch up the vibration, and convey it to the auditory nerve, which in turn takes up the story and carries it to the brain. The brain having the power of thinking, interprets* the sound and understands what is meant.

In a similar way the organs! of smell, of touch, and of taste convey to the brain each its own peculiar impressions ; and it is through these five senses, as they are termed, that the mind gets all its infor-

* Interpret means to explain, to translate.

t An organ is an instrument— something used to produce a desired effect. Thus the eye is the organ of sight, or the instrument which the mind uses to see with: the ear is the organ of hearing, etc.

WORDS REPRESENT IDEAS. 9

mation about the external world. This information comes to the mind in the form of nerve-impressions, and these nerve-impressions are what we mean by mental pictures, or ideas.

Ideas aee mental, pictures, of* impressions on the brain, conveyed* through one of the eive

SENSES.

7. Words Represent Ideas, — As letters represent sounds of the voice, so words represent ideas, or mental impressions. If I show you a peach, your eye at once catches the image of it, the optic nerve conveys to the brain an exact impression of this image, and the mind at once understands peach.

If, instead of showing you the fruit, I speak the word " peach" in your heariug, your ear at once catches the sound, the auditory nerve conveys to the brain an exact impression of what it heard at the little chime of the ear-bellsf (which God has hung for the ear's exclusive use just back of the tympanum), and the mind at once, as before, understands peach.

If, instead of showing you the peach, or speaking the word, I have you close your eyes and let you smell it, at -once the nerve of smell conveys to the

* Conveyed means carried.

t Those four little bones of the ear spoken of on the preceding page*

10 tNTBODUCTlON.

brain its peculiar impression, and at once the mind understands again

peach.

If, instead of either of these ways, I have yon shut your eyes, and cut off the sense of smell, and then let you taste the fruit, at once the taste-nerve informs the brain of it, and the mind, as clearly as before, understands

peach.

If, finally, all other avenues of impression be cut off, and I let you feel it, at once the feeling-nerve carries its impression to the brain, and at once the mind, just as in all the other instances, understands

peach.

The word ' ' peach, " then, represents a mental impression, or idea, which the mind may have got in any one of five different ways. But not every object is able to give the brain an impression through all five of the senses. Many things can go by one channel only : as, for example, color, which can go only by the eye.* Bat, however obtained,

* A person may have all his senses perfect except sight, but none of them will do to convey to the brain the impression of a bine, a red, or any color. If he has never had sight, he cannot have any idea of color. He could not understand it, if it were explained to him. He may by feeling be able to say, this is blue ; or, this is red ; showing that he feels a certain roughness, or smoothness, or softness, which

SYLLABLES. 11

the mental impression, or idea, is represented in language by a word. So we say,

A WOED EEPEESENTS AN IDEA.

8. Syllables.— Horse ; Horseman. The word " horse" is made up of several letters whose sounds blend* together so that it is pronounced with one action of the voice. Not so the word ' ' horseman. " In the pronunciation of this word there are two separate sets of sounds — one set producing the word "horse," and the other the word "man." Two actions of the voice are requisitef to call the word. A set of sounds with but one action of the voice is called a ' ' syllable. " A word of one syllable is called a "monosyllable," as, horse, dog, pig, boy, girl.

In pronouncing the words "a-corn," "i-dol," "o-cean," tb ere is first a single vowel-sound, and then a set of sounds. The parts into which a great many words are divided are called syllables, which may be thus defined :

A SYLLABLE IS ONE OE MOEE LETTEES OF A WOED PEONOUNCED WITH ONE ACTION OE THE VOICE.

A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable ; a word of two syllables, a dissyllable ; a word of

belongs to a red or a blue article ; but he can have no idea of color unless he has seen it, any more than an animal, not having a conscience, can have an idea of right and wrong.

* 151 end means to mingle, to mix.

t JRe*|uis|te means necessary.

12 INTKODUCTION.

three syllables, a trisyllable ; a word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable.

9. Various Sorts of Words.*— We learned in section 7 that words represent ideas. As there are various sorts of ideas, so there must be various sorts of words to represent, or stand for them. First, there must be names for the things we see, taste, handle, etc. ; as,

moon apple knife

These we call nouns. Then there must be words that tell what these things do ; as, The moon shines. The apple grows. The knife

cuts.

These we call veebs. Next there must be words to describe the nouns or tell what kind they are ; as, The bright moon. The ripe apple. The sharp

knife.

These we call adjectives. Next there must be words

* This paragraph is not intended to give a complete idea of the nature and offices of the different parts of speech. Much further instruction and much practice will be required to enable the pupil to recognize them readily. Little else is here intended than to introduce properly the important statement that there are eight parts of speech.

STATEMENTS. 13

to describe the verbs, or tell 7ww they do what they say ; as,

The moon shines softly. The appple grows slowly. The knife cuts deeply.

These we call advekbs. There are four other kinds of words, making eight in all, which are called the eight pakts of speech. But the four above enumerated* — nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs — make up nearly all the words there are in the English language. Of the other four there are only about 300 altogether.

The most important of these eight Parts of Speech is the noun, because a thing must have a name before we can talk much about it. The second in importance is the verb.

Chapter II. The Sentence

1. Statements.— Take the name ''John." Suppose I were to tell you something about him — that he is asleep — that he is sick — that he goes to school — that he likes candy, thus :

* Enumerate means to mention one by one.

John is asleep. John is sick.

John goes to school. John likes candy.

All of these four expressions make perfect sense. They all inform you of something. They all declare or state something about John, and are called statements. They have another name, too — sentences.

If I should simply say ' ' John. " and stop there, you would wait to hear what I was going to say about him. I should not give you any information by that expression. I should not state anything. The word is not a statement, not a sentence.

In the same way, if I should say ' ' is asleep, " you would naturally ask, ' ' Who is asleep ? " The expression ' ' is asleep " is not enough to give you any information. It might be John that ' ' is asleep, " or the cat, or the baby. This expression, then, is also insufficient. It does not state anything, and is therefore not a statement, or sentence.

Thus we see that to make a statement, it is necessary to have these two parts :

First, We must have to begin with, the name of somebody or something or some place ; this name is very properly called the subject of the remark we are going to make.

And, secondly, something must be said about that subject. These two parts are necessary to every statement, ox sentence.

THE PHEASE. 15

A STATEMENT IS A EEMAEK CONSISTING OF TWO PAETS.

Observe that while a statement is made up of only two pavts^ it may contain many words. In fact sentences generally consist of several words, as, The

COOK MAKES PIES ; DAISY FED THE BIED. It WOuld

not do to say, ' i The cook makes, "or " Daisy fed ;" that would not be perfect sense, and so there would be no sentence. Both these sentences, The cook makes pies, and Daisy fed the bird % consist of two parts, just as boys play. l l The cook, " and * * makes pies," are the two parts of the first, and " Daisy" and ' ' fed the bird " the two parts of the other.

2. The Phrase* — Suppose I were to say to you all of a sudden, ' ' in the house. " You would stare at me, and wonder what I meant. The words ' ' in the house " do not make a statement. They are only a part of a statement. They are correct as far as they go, but their meaning is incomplete. But if I were to say, "house the in, " you might laugh, for these words are not properly put together ; there is no sense in them.

Expressions like ' ' in the house, " ' ' sweet apples, " "made of gold," " baby's cradle, " "makes pies," etc. , composed of words properly put together, but incomplete by themselves, are called phrases.

A PHEASE IS A SET OF WOEDS PEOPEELY PUT TO- GETHEB, BUT INCOMPLETE BY THEMSELVES,

3. Subject and Predicate. — I have told you that in every sentence there are two parts. There is first, a thing mentioned to begin with, that is, a subject ; and, secondly, something is said about that subject. Take the sentence,

Brooks flow.

Observe, first, that something is mentioned to begin with, a subject, viz, ' ' brooks, " and then something is said about this subject, viz., "flow." Again, take the following : Three beautiful brooks flow through my father's

farm.

Here we have, as before, first, something mentioned to begin with, a subject, viz., "three beautiful brooks," and then we have, secondly, something said about them, viz. , ' ' flow through my father's farm. " Now turn the sentence a little, thus : Through my father's farm flow three beautiful

brooks.

What is the subject now ? ' 'Three beautiful brooks, " the same as before ; for the sense is just the same. Though these three words stand last in the sentence, yet they stood first in the mind of the person that composed the sentence, and are therefore the leading words of the sentence, o'r the subject, out of which all the rest grows.

The second part of the sentence, or the part that tells something about the subject, has a hard name ;

SUBJECT AND PEEDICATE. 17

it is called the predicate. * In the sentence, Brooks flow, ' * flow " is the predicate ; it tells, or declares something about the subject, "brooks." In the sentence, Three beautiful brooks flow through my father's farm, the words, * i flow through my father's farm, " are the predicate ; they are the part of the sentence that tells something about the subject, "three beautiful brooks."

Subject and predicate, then, are the two parts of every sentence ; and whether the sentence be short or long, every word in it belongs to one or other of these two parts.

When words stand in the sentence in the same order they had in the mind of the person that composed the sentence, as in

Three beautiful brooks How through my father's farm,

that is, the subject first and the predicate last, with their adjuncts,] if *they have any, placed as they would be in common and simple speech, the sentence is said to have the natural order. But when this order is changed, as it very often is, both in speaking and writing, as in

Through my father's farm How three beautiful brooks,

* That is, the asserting, or declaring word, from the Latin predico, I assert, or declare. t See remarks about adjuncts on page 21, in which the predicate, preceded by its adjuncts, comes first, and the subject last, the sentence is said to have an inverted order,

EVEEY SENTENCE IS MADE UP OF TWO PABTS, SUB- JECT AND PREDICATE.

4. The Bare Sentence. — Consider the following sentences, in which the subject and predicate are separated by a vertical line :

1. Mary's pretty little Kitty | sleeps quietly on the rug.

2. Little Kitty | sleeps quietly.

3. Kitty | sleeps.

Each of these examples is a sentence ; there is one statement in each and only one — one subject and one predicate. In the first example the statement is fuller than it is in the second ; and in the second it is fuller than it is in the third. In the first the subject consists of four words,

Mary's pretty little Kitty, and the predicate consists of five words,

Sleeps quietly on the rug.

Now take the subject,

Mary's pretty little Kitty, and strip off the first word, "Mary's;" there is left,

pretty little Kitty.

This omission does not destroy the sentence, for what is left makes sense when used along with the predicate, thus :

THE BAKE SENTENCE. 19

Pretty little Kitty | sleeps quietly on the rug.

It is not now so full a statement as it was before, but it is a perfect statement, and is therefore a sentence. Again, strip off the second word of the subject, " pretty;" there is left,

little Kitty.

This is enough to keep the sentence unbroken, for

Little Kitty | sleeps quietly on the rug makes sense, and is therefore a perfect sentence, though it is not so full as before. Again, strip off the third word of the subject, "little," and there is left,

Kitty.

Even this is enough to keep the sentence whole, for

Kitty | sleeps quietly on the rug makes perfect sense, and is therefore a sentence ; but the original subject,

Mary's pretty little Kitty, has been stript bare in the operation, and the word that is left, "Kitty," we call the bare subject.

Let us now treat the predicate,

sleeps quietly on the rug, in the same way. First strip off the word that stands next to ' ' sleeps, " viz, ' * quietly;" there is left,

sleeps on the rug.

This is not so full as the predicate was before, but when taken along with the bare subject " Kitty," it is enough to make a perfect sentence, thus :

Kitty sleeps on the rug.

Again, strip off from the predicate the last three words, " on the rug " (which have to be taken together), and there is left,

sleeps.

This is enough to make perfect sense when taken along with the bare subject '^Kitty, 5 ' thus :

Kitty sleeps.

But the original predicate,

sleeps quietly on the rug, has been stript bare in the operation, and the word that is left, "sleeps," we call the ba re predicate. The little stript sentence,

Kitty sleeps, is a very different sentence from the one we began with, viz.,

Mary's pretty little Kitty sleeps quietly on the rug, but it is just as truly a sentence ; for it makes perfect sense, it expresses a thought, it contains a subject and a predicate.

If we had taken out of the original sentence either of these two words — " Kitty sleeps, " we should have destroyed the sentence, but so long as these two words remain, the sentence stands unbroken, no matter what adjuncts are cut off. These two,