Grammar in action

Preface

When the pendulum swung away from the teaching of formal grammar, there was danger that it would pass far beyond a sensible motivated teaching of functional or applied grammar to a denunciation of all grammar except usage drills. Now the pendulum is oscillating about the middle point, a mastery of the simple fundamentals of functional grammar as a foundation on which to build all English work, and will doubtless come to rest here.

Of course, the boy or girl who grows up in an atmosphere of correct and elegant English — if such a fortunate one is to be found — speaks and writes well without studying gram¬ mar. Usage drills help the less fortunate to eliminate flagrant errors, but do not give “the genuine familiarity with the elementary facts of English grammar, without which,” the department of English of the University of Wisconsin tells us, “under existing conditions it is futile to expect the vast majority of our pupils to acquire the ability to use English correctly either in speech or in writing.”

Grammar in Action is built on a belief that the important aims in grammar teaching are to help pupils (1) to write and speak correct sentences, (2) to construct varied, effective sentences, (3) to punctuate correctly, and (4) to extract thought from the printed page. Because, as Randolph found, half the errors in speech and writing are faults in sentence structure other than the choice of forms, a pupil should learn the terminology for a discussion of sentence building and should be given practice in forming, criticizing, and improving sentences.

With the exception of a brief systematic preliminary study of the parts of the sentence, analysis and diagraming, which is shorthand analysis or graphic representation of analysis, are taught when needed. Thus the work is motivated; the probability that the study of analysis will function in class

iii

IV

PREFACE and outside of class, increased; and the habit of using analy¬ sis in correcting sentences, building varied, forceful, mature sentences, extracting thought from the printed page, and punctuating correctly, established. Chapter XIX, for ex¬ ample, gives the pupil practice in applying his knowledge of grammar to the improvement of sentences by placing some¬ thing besides adjectives before the subject, building complex sentences, using appositives, series, and participles, -and occasionally using an interrogative, an exclamatory, or an imperative sentence.

The criteria for the selection of grammar material and the determination of how much emphasis should be placed on each point selected are the frequency of use and the fre¬ quency, persistency, and social seriousness of errors. There¬ fore the topics were selected, the eliminations were made, and the emphasis on items was determined by a study of the investigations of Lyman, Johnson, Charters and Miller, Earhart and Small, Sears and Diebel, Randolph, Richardson, and Stormzand and O’Shea {How Much English Grammar), and of my own investigation {The English Journal, November and December, 1917).

The sentences in the corrective exercises are with few ex¬ ceptions actual pupil sentences. Most of the sentences for analysis and punctuation are typical high-school, college, newspaper, magazine, and book sentences; a few, literary gems; none, childish prattle.

In the text there are no grammatical enigmas or lengthy, complicated sentences. Pupils learn nothing about using the language by puzzling over intricate sentences.

In the first half of the book complex and compound sen¬ tences are rare. Pupils apply what they learn first in the correction and construction of simple sentences and then in building and improving compound and complex sentences.

The explanations are addressed to the pupil, not to the teacher. My use in the classroom of much of the material in the text convinces me that teachers will not need to simplify, develop, clarify, or illustrate the explanations.

With few exceptions the terminology of the Joint Com-

PREFACE y mittee on Grammatical Nomenclature has been used. When the Joint Committee name is unnecessarily difficult, it has been placed in parenthesis after a simpler old established term.

In matters of divided usage the text is liberal, not puristic or pedantic. Certainly there is no value in teaching untruths about the language.

True to its name, Grammar in Action has a maximum of examples and practice in functional grammar, and a minimum of theory and rules. This practice includes the building of both sentences and compositions.

J. C. T.

Contents

I. The Simple Sentence

Simple Predicate . 2

Simple Subject. 4

CHAPTER I THE SIMPLE SENTENCE Sentence Sense

Which of these groups of words express complete thoughts?

1. Father sat in the shade of the old apple tree.

2. In time of trouble Fred was a true friend.

4. In the shade of the old apple tree.

5. A true friend in time of trouble.

6. The remarkable inventions of the last fifty years.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are sentences, because they express complete thoughts. In each, the italicized word makes a statement about a person, place, or thing. In 4, 5, and 6 we do not know what the thoughts of the writer are. These word-groups do not express complete thoughts, do not make statements, do not say anything, are half-sentences.

Five of the following are sentences and five are half-sentences. Which are the sentences? In each sentence point out the word which makes a statement about a person, place, or thing.

1. Prince Otto is now in exile.

2. Otto, the son of the late emperor of Austria, at work on a problem in algebra.

3. Margaret Barrington, a Girl Scout of Atlanta, Georgia, on / the back of her favorite cow.

4. The picture shows Margaret on the back of a cow.

5. Cameo, one of~the cleverest trick dogs in Los Angeles, in charge of a class for the benefit of three less gifted friends.

6. In Los Angelas dogs g6 to school.

7. Sabatini writes stories about ships and the sea.

8. Rafael Sabatini, author of Captain Blood and many other popular romances about ships and the sea.

9. A wreath from Queen Marie was laid on the grave.

10. A wreath in memory of the mother of Washington.

Every sentence has two parts, a subject and a predi¬ cate.

Simple Predicate

In each sentence look at the word which makes the statement about a person, place, or thing, asks a question, or gives a command:

1. The pup trotted from a local train with a dozen other passen¬ gers.

Trotted makes a statement about the pup.

2. Hulit prepares seals for circus acts.

Prepares tells what Hulit does.

3. A West Virginia girl of eighteen skated thirty-five miles to see her mother.

Skated says something about a West Virginia girl.

4. Well, figure this out for yourself.

Figure tells you to do something.

5. Where are my books?

Are asks about books.

These words which make the statements about the persons, places, or things, give commands, or ask questions are the simple predicates or predicate verbs of the sentences.

In each sentence find the simple predicate:

1. A prison has crowbars for window screens.

2. Take my case as an example.

3. All listened attentively to the eloquent argument.

4. Fog is the great enemy of the air navigator.

5. Into the ballroom of the fashionable hotel walked two little ragamuffins.

6. For just one minute the stranger hesitated.

7. At the southern end of the valley there is a salt lake with¬ out an outlet.

8. At the age of eighty-eight John D. Rockefeller still enjoyed his favorite game, golf.

9. Where is the magazine?

10. Down came the rain in torrents.

Auxiliaries

What are the simple predicates in these sentences?

1. He is reading The Making of an American.

2. The best man will be elected.

3. When was the north pole discovered?

4. How long have you and your brothers been collecting stamps?

Is reading, will be elected, was discovered, and have

been collecting are the simple predicates. The verbs read, elect, discover, and collect have auxiliaries which help them to make the statements or ask the ques¬ tions. Sometimes, as in 3 and 4, there are words be¬ tween the parts of the verb.

The auxiliaries are is (be, am, is, are, was, were, been), have, had, do, did, may, can, might, could, must, shall, will, should, and would.

Find the simple predicates in the following sen¬ tences :

1. Frightful or excessive punishment does not prevent crime.

2. What did the Indian teach the white man?

3. Have you ever studied flag etiquette?

4. You can almost hear the children’s shouts of laughter.

5. Why are glass tops put on desks?

6. China is coming out of her long sleep at last.

7. Could a scout with nothing but a knife live in the mountains for about six months?

8. New fire-fighting equipment will be installed during the next sixty days.

9. When did you see him?

10. Who will be elected secretary?

11. Is the garden furniture brilliantly painted?

12. Lindbergh could probably have made $2,000,000.

Find in a magazine or a book ten sentences in which the verb consists of two or more words. Copy the sentences, and underline the verb.

Simple Subject

In each sentence what word names the person, place, or thing spoken of?

1. The people in the grandstand waved their flags.

People answers the question, “ Who or what waved? ” and is the subject of the sentence.

2. Hockey is played on skates.

Hockey, the subject, answers the question, “ Who or what is played? ”

3. In through the back door went a short, dumpy old lady.

Lady, the subject, answers the question, “ Who or what went? ”

4. Is the doll dressed like an American child?

Doll, the subject, answers the question, “ Who or what is dressed? ”

One can easily find the subject of a question by changing the question to a statement, “ The doll is dressed like an American child/’ before asking, “ Who or what is dressedf ”

Frequently in commands and requests the subject is not expressed.

1. Come early.

2. Be in your seat before eight o’clock.

You understood is the subject of both sentences.

Copy these sentences. In each sentence draw one line under the simple subject and two lines under the simple predicate.

1. The Mississippi flood caused many deaths.

2. The nest of the robin is made of mud and grass.

3. In what New England state are there the greatest number of cows?

4. Down the street marched the high-school drum corps.

5. Among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet. — Lincoln

6. In what year was the Galveston flood?

7. Never show the bottom of your purse or your mind.

8. What kind of food did the Indians eat in winter and summer?

9. A bad book is the worst of thieves.

10. In summer the air is scented with the fragrance of wild flowers.

11. In two valleys of the Great American Desert grows a strange gray-green tree.

12. One of “Ned” Lawrence’s first adventures brought him to grief.

13. In the limousine with the President rode Rebecca, the famed raccoon.

14. The World War veterans objected to this misuse of the flag.

15. The Indian armed himself with bow and arrow and toma¬ hawk.

Complete Subject

Compare 1 and 2, also 3 and 4.

1. Room.

2. The red auction room.

3. Man.

4. The smooth and sleek-faced man in the office.

Room means any room in the world; man, any man. The words the red auction are called modifiers, be¬ cause they change the meaning from any room to a particular one. Likewise the, smooth, sleek-faced and in the office change the meaning of man, tell which man is thought of.

The simple subject with its modifiers is called the complete subject.

The complete subject in each sentence is italicized. What is the simple subject? What are the modifiers of the simple subject?

1 . A clever, dear, good little child came in.

The modifiers, a clever, dear, good little, change the meaning of child.

2. An actor with a beard a foot long took the part of Stanton.

The simple subject is actor; the modifiers, an and with a beard a foot long.

3. Some weeks ago a plump little man entered the office of the United States consul at Melbourne.

The words a plump little change the meaning of man. The words some weeks ago modify entered, because they tell when the man entered. They do not describe the man or tell which man is meant.

4. In the consul’s office is a man of tact and intelligence.

The simple subject is man; the modifiers, a and of tact and intelligence. The words in the consul’s office modify is, because they tell where the man is.

Find the simple predicate, the simple subject, and the complete subject in each sentence:

1. The crimson sun went down behind the hills.

2. An addition to the high school is under construction.

3. How many children of Theodore Roosevelt are living?

4. What boy in a story by Dickens was punished for asking for more porridge?

5. By night ten thousand beacon, fires flickered across the continent.

6. A most glorious date in the history of the American Navy is September 23, 1779.

7. A large percentage of the successful flyers of the future will come from the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America.

8. And up from that treasure cave shot a strange and wonderful light.

9. This first-aid kit will help you help the other fellow.

10. Near Lake Placid are many beautiful white birches.

11. Which of your friends have good manners at the table?

12. Just behind the girl was a farmhouse of red brick.

Complete Predicate

The complete predicate includes the verb or simple predicate, its modifiers, and words used to complete its meaning. Commonly every word in the sentence belongs to either the complete subject or the complete predicate.

1. The barking of dogs | saved one hundred people adrift in the East River.

The vertical line separates the complete subject from the complete predicate. Saved is the predicate verb, because it makes the statement. Barking is the simple subject, because it answers the question, “ Who or what savedf ” The harking of dogs is the complete subject; saved one hundred people adrift in the East River, the complete predicate.

2. From the boats went up shouts of joy.

Went, the predicate verb, makes the statement. Shouts, the simple subject, answers the question,

“ Who or what wentf ” Shouts of joy is the complete subject; went up from the boats, the complete predicate.

When in a sentence like number 2 the complete predicate or part of it is before the subject, the order is inverted. The natural order of this sentence is, “ Shouts of joy went up from the boat. 57 In the natural order the complete subject comes before the complete predicate.

When there is used to introduce an inverted sentence, it is called an expletive.

There were thirty thousand people at the polo game.

Thirty thousand people | were at the polo game.

The inverted order is commonly used in questions.

When shall we three meet again?

(Natural order) We three shall meet again when?

Notice that often the subject is wedged in be¬ tween the parts of the predicate. In these sentences the complete subject is italicized. The rest of each sentence is the complete predicate.

1. When was Roosevelt elected president?

2. After seven years of victory the tennis champion was defeated.

3. How often have French tennis players won the championship of the United States?

4. Have any of you heard this spring the song of a bobolink?

5. Quickly and quietly the pupils in the room went back to their work.

6. Behind the well a spreading elm grows.

In each sentence find the simple predicate, the simple subject, the complete subject, and the complete predicate.

Model for Written Work

At the end of the first half of the game the score was 7 to 6 in favor of the visiting team.

The score | was 7 to 6 in favor of the visiting team at the end of the first half of the game.

1. The minutemen were too quick for the British.

2. Crime costs the American people ten billion dollars a year. (Because crime has no modifiers, it is both the simple subject and the complete subject.)

3. After a time the Indian obtained the rifle and the hunting knife from the white man.

4. At the age of seventy-seven Mrs. N. 0. Freeman is taking a course in English and American literature at Northwestern University.

5. Sound the trumpet!

6. Six times the airmen were flung back by a raging blizzard.

7. At Silverton diphtheria antitoxin was dropped from an air¬ plane into a snowbank.

8. For what is Ralph Henry Barbour famed?

9. In big league baseball what position, besides second base, third base, and shortstop, is never filled by a left-handed thrower?

10. For twelve months my friend Kakoot told all the other Eskimos about that trip in my canoe.

11. The first big football game of the season will take place this week.

12. Don’t dodge responsibility.

13. The best single-volume life of Lincoln is by an Englishman, Lord Charnwood.

14. From Tokio there landed at San Francisco the new French ambassador to the United States.

15. On the morning of January 26, 1830, the Senate chamber in the United States Capitol was filled by an excited and expectant throng.

Simple Sentence Having Compound Subject or Predicate

How many subjects and predicates has each sen¬ tence?

1. Ichabod Crane lived in Sleepy Hollow. (One subject and one predicate)

2. His father and mother live in India. (Compound subject)

3. Suddenly Jim heard a noise and hid behind a tree. (Two verbs; therefore compound predicate)

A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound.

In these sentences either the subject or the predi¬ cate is compound, or both are compound. Draw a line between the complete subject and the complete predicate. Draw a line under every subject word and predicate verb.

Model ^

All day long ^the men and boys huddled under the tent and shivered.

The men and boys | all day long huddled under the tent and shivered.

1. Washington and Lincoln are two great Americans.

2. Margaret and I stayed at home and read.

3. Oxford and Cambridge are the most famous English uni¬ versities.

4. The ladies in ancient Crete thought a great deal about their clothes and had expert dressmakers.

5. Paris and London are the two cities of A Tale of Two Cities.

6. Elephants also roar and scream from rage.

7. The men of the neighborhood took a day off, tore down the old barn, hauled the timbers to the new location, and set up the framework.

8. Four times my own ships sank, or were crushed to kindling wood against the rocks.

9. Randolph and I played tennis after school and studied after dinner.

10. Just fill out and mail the coupon.

11. Progress and achievement result only from the conquest of difficulties.

12. Then we sat around the log fire and talked.

13. The Indian squaw cooked, sewed, built the wigwam, and raised the scanty crop of corn, beans, melons, and squashes.

14. Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard.

15. Los Angeles and Detroit have grown rapidly.

Photo by Ewing Galloway

Using this picture to suggest ideas, write eight en¬ tertaining simple sentences. Describe the bear. Where does he live? What does he want — the car, a ride, money, food? Or is he warning the motorist about reckless driving? How would you feel if you were in the car? What would you do? Describe the car. In the sentences draw one line under each complete predi¬ cate. Place a check mark (vO before the subject word and an asterisk (*) before the verb.

1. A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought.

2. Every sentence has two parts, a subject and a predicate.

3. The simple predicate or predicate verb makes a statement, asks a question, or gives a command.

4. An auxiliary helps a verb to make a statement, ask a question, or give a command.

5. The simple subject names the person, place, or thing spoken of.

6. The complete subject is the simple subject with its modifiers.

7. The complete predicate is the simple predicate with its modifiers and the words that complete its meaning.

8. When the complete predicate or part of it is before the subject, the order is inverted.

9. A simple sentence has one subject and one predi¬ cate, either or both of which may be compound.