_pool_, and _leaf_, which are joined by the conjunction _or_. _Piece_
is modified by the prepositional phrase _of mica_ and the adjective
_a_. _Pool_, is modified by the adjectives _little_ and _a_. _Leaf_ is
modified by the adjective element _highly polished_, and the adjectives
_a_ and _even_. The base word of the adjective element is the adjective
_polished_, which is modified by the adverb _highly_.
The simple predicate is _will flash_. It is modified by the prepositional
phrase _like a heliograph_, and the adverb _then_.
1. Through three good months the valley was wrapped in cloud
and soaking mist.
2. In the very heart of London stands the great Bank of England.
3. Would not any boy respond to the sweet invitation of those
ripe berries?
4. A fool and his money are soon parted.
5. A large, warm tear splashed down on the program.
6. In the sunny days the sucker lies in the deep pools, by some
big stone or near the bank.
7. The feeling of a boy towards pumpkin pie has never been
properly considered.
8. Shall the adventures of the Peterkin family be published?
9. No healthy boy could long exist without numerous friends in
the animal kingdom.
10. No sound of joy or sorrow was heard from either bank.
11. At length has come the bridal day of beauty and of strength.
12. On one hot summer morning a little cloud rose from the sea
and floated lightly and happily across the blue sky.
13. Donkeys, horses, negroes of every age, size, and shade,
carts, crates, sacks, barrels, and boxes are mingled in
seemingly inextricable confusion.
14. In the midst of the wild confusion the voice of the Boots
was heard.
15. Then he strolled across the pasture, between the black
stumps, the blueberry patches, the tangles of wild raspberry;
pushed softly through the fringe of wild cherry and young
birch saplings, and crept silently under the branches of a low
hemlock.
16. The moss was supported by solid earth or a framework of
ancient tree roots.
17. Alas! with every blow of the chisel the brick crumbled at
my feet.
18. A dish of apples and a pitcher of chilly cider were always
served during the evening.
19. I sat down in the middle of the path and never stirred for
a long time.
20. The mayor and other civic authorities in London came down
to Greenwich in barges.
XIX. COMPOUND SENTENCES
=63.= We have seen that sentences may be joined together by conjunctions.
When two or more independent clauses are joined together in this way, we
say that the sentence is =compound=; as, “Coral reefs resemble great rock
ledges, and vessels are often wrecked upon them.”
=64.= The conjunctions most used in compound sentences are _and_, _or_,
_but_, _yet_, _therefore_, and _so_.
_And_ shows that two clauses are in the same line of thought; as, “His
eye was bright, and his face was ruddy.”
_Or_ shows a choice between two clauses; as, “You must work, or you must
go hungry.”
_But_ and _yet_ show a contrast; as, “I mailed the letter, but Uncle Joe
never received it.”
_Therefore_ and _so_ show that the second clause is a consequence of the
first; as, “There are fires in the forests north of us, therefore the air
is full of smoke.”
=65.= Sometimes when the relation between clauses is perfectly evident,
the conjunction is omitted; as, “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
In order that the reader may have no doubt as to where a clause ends, it
is usually followed by a comma, which speaks to the eye of the reader
just as a pause speaks to the ear of the listener. When the clauses are
long or the conjunction is omitted, a semicolon may be used instead of
the comma.
=Summary.=—A =compound sentence= contains two or more independent clauses.
The clauses of a compound sentence are separated from each other by a
comma or a semicolon.
=Exercise.=—Select all the clauses in the following compound sentences.
Tell the relation between them, and how they are joined. Tell the subject
and predicate of each clause. Account for the punctuation.
1. Over the porch grew a hop-vine, and a brandy-cherry tree
shaded the door, and a luxuriant cranberry vine flung its
delicious fruit across the window.
2. Mr. Peterkin liked to take a doze on his sofa in the room,
but the rest of the family liked to sit on the piazza.
3. Prosperity makes friends; adversity tries them.
4. The whole family planted the potatoes; George dug the holes
with his hoe, Mollie dropped into each one three pieces of an
old potato, Paul raked the black earth over them, and Mother
supervised and praised them all.
5. Some of the letter-carriers must take very long walks, but
English people do not appear to object to that sort of thing.
6. Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war?
7. At the end of the first year the young lions shed their
teeth, the first indications of manes appeared on the males,
and the playfulness between brother and sister ceased.
8. The clumsy wheels of several old-fashioned coaches were
heard, and the gentlemen and ladies composing the bridal party
came through the church with the sudden and gladsome effect of
a burst of sunshine.
9. I had never been called pretty before, so I was flattered.
10. The yellow cur has not the speed of the greyhound, but
neither does he bear the seeds of lung and skin diseases.
11. The party did not return to Skarpsno until half-past eight
in the evening, yet the sun was still above the horizon.
12. We cherish every memorial of our worthy ancestors; we
celebrate their patience and fortitude; we admire their daring
enterprise; we teach our children to venerate their piety.
13. Every animal has some great strength, or it could not live;
every animal has some great weakness, or the other animals
could not live.
14. Human action can be modified to some extent, but human
nature cannot be changed.
15. Captain John Smith was exasperatingly sure of himself, and
older men found his pretensions well-nigh unbearable.
XX. DEPENDENT CLAUSES. COMPLEX SENTENCES
=66.= We have seen that in both simple and compound sentences the clauses
are independent. There is a third class of sentences, however, containing
=dependent clauses=.
In the simple sentence, “At night his antelope skin was spread on the
ground,” the prepositional phrase _on the ground_ tells place, and
modifies the verb _was spread_.
In the sentence, “At night his antelope skin was spread _where the
darkness overtook him_,” the group of words where the darkness overtook
him has the same use as the phrase _on the ground_, for it tells place
and modifies the verb _was spread_.
But this group of words contains a subject and a predicate; hence it is
a clause. It could not stand alone and make sense; hence it cannot be
an independent clause. It could not be in the sentence at all unless
the verb _was spread_ were there too for it to modify. It is therefore
dependent on the verb, and so we call it a =dependent clause=. It has the
same use as an adverb, because it modifies a verb. We find many dependent
clauses used in this way, because our language does not afford enough
adverbs or even prepositional phrases to express our meaning.
=67.= When dependent clauses modify verbs, they answer such questions as
these,—_was spread where?_ _was spread why?_ _how?_ _when?_ _under what
condition?_ _for what purpose?_
=68.= In the sentence, “They went into a small parlor, which smelt very
spicy,” the parlor is described by the adjective _small_ and by the group
of words _which smelt very spicy_. What is this group of words? How do we
know? What words does it modify? What, then, is the use of some dependent
clauses? When dependent clauses modify nouns, they point out or describe
objects just as adjectives do.
=69.= In the sentences that we have just been studying there is an
independent clause as well as a dependent clause. A sentence of this kind
is called a =complex sentence=.
A complex sentence may contain any number of dependent clauses, but
only one independent clause, for as soon as a sentence contains two
independent clauses it becomes a compound sentence.
=Summary.=—A =dependent clause= is one that is used like a part of speech
and does not make sense when it stands alone.
A dependent clause may be used like an adjective to modify a noun, or
like an adverb to modify a verb.
A =complex sentence= consists of one independent clause and one or more
dependent clauses.
=Exercise.=—Select all the clauses in the following sentences, and
classify them. Tell what the dependent clauses modify. Tell the subject
and predicate of each clause.
NOTE.—Frequently a dependent clause modifies more than the
verb. In the sentence, “The little boys wanted a house with a
great many doors, so that they could go in and out often,” the
dependent clause _so that they could go in and out often_ tells
the purpose of their wanting a house with a great many doors;
hence, it modifies not merely the verb _wanted_, but the whole
predicate _wanted a house with a great many doors_. Try to tell
the exact truth about each sentence that you study.
1. He was always catching sculpins when every one else with the
same bait was catching mackerel.
2. If we cross the Atlantic by one of the fast steamships, we
shall make the voyage in about a week.
3. The Rotterdam quays, which stretch for more than a mile
along the river, are busy and lively places.
4. Every Sunday morning the wash boiler was filled with water,
and the largest tub was set in the middle of the kitchen floor,
so that the three children might have their weekly scrubbing.
5. People who devote themselves too severely to study of the
classics are apt to become dried up.
6. He charged upon the rows of the mullein stalks as if they
were rebels in regimental ranks, and hewed them down without
mercy.
7. Every boy who is good for anything is a natural savage.
8. Rude soldiers now eat, drink, and sleep, where popes and
cardinals once moved about in state.
9. Mowgli, who had never known the meaning of real hunger, fell
back on stale honey three years old.
10. Iron-clads are so called because their sides are covered
with thick plates of iron or steel, capable of resisting very
heavy shot.
11. Although many people ascend Mont Blanc every year, the
undertaking requires a great deal of muscular as well as
nervous strength.
12. If a boy repeats _Thanatopsis_ while he is milking, that
operation acquires a certain dignity.
13. The thrill that ran into my fingers’ ends then has not run
out yet.
14. Even a dog, who is very far removed from the wild wolf,
his ancestor, can be waked out of deep sleep by a cart wheel
touching his flank, and can spring away unharmed before that
wheel comes on.
15. The boys slipped off down the roadside to a place where
they could dig sassafras or the root of the sweet flag.
16. The little company of Englishmen who, in 1620, exchanged
Holland for America were not soldiers and traders like the men
who had led and established the colony at Jamestown.
17. Miles Standish came with the Pilgrims to America because he
liked both them and their enterprise.
18. The early settlers went to church in military array and
laid their arms down close by them while they worshiped and
heard the sermon.
19. The colonists chose for their place of settlement a high
bluff, which rose upon the eastern bank of a little stream.
Tell the part of speech and use of _always_, sentence 1, _Sunday_ 4,
_too_ and _severely_ 5, _now_, _once_, and _about_ 8.
Analyze the predicate _was set in the middle of the kitchen floor_.
What is the grammatical use of the group of words _as well as_ in
sentence 11?
XXI. REVIEW: CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES
=70.= We have seen that sentences are classified according to =purpose=,
as declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory.
A =declarative= sentence is one that states, or declares, something.
An =interrogative= sentence is one that asks a question.
An =imperative= sentence is one that expresses a command or an entreaty.
An =exclamatory= sentence is one that expresses sudden or strong feeling.
=71.= We have seen also that sentences may consist of one clause or of
several, and that clauses may be independent or dependent. Sentences are
therefore classified according to =structure=, as simple, compound, or
complex.
A =simple= sentence is one that contains but one independent clause.
A =compound= sentence is one that contains two or more independent
clauses.
A =complex= sentence is one that contains one independent clause and one
or more dependent clauses.
=Exercise 1.=—Write a complex declarative sentence, a compound
interrogative sentence, a complex imperative sentence, and a simple
exclamatory sentence.
=Exercise 2.=—Classify the following sentences according to both purpose
and structure. Give the reasons for your classification. Tell what the
dependent clauses modify. Tell also the subject and predicate of each
clause.
1. The oxen sagged along in their great clumsy way.
2. Give me quickly my seven-league boots, that I may go after
those boys and catch them.
3. How sweet and demure the girls looked!
4. Within sight of that tall elm tree were passed my happiest
years.
5. Did you ever know a child who was not interested in animals?
6. My grandfather never skipped over an advertisement, even if
he had read it fifty times before.
7.
Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
8. Must I keep order along the whole line?
9. All the trees and the bushes and the bamboos and the mosses
and the juicy-leaved plants wake with a noise of growing that
you can almost hear.
10.
How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view!
11. Sometimes it is impolite to tell the truth, and then one
can only say nothing or talk of the weather.
12. Toll ye the church bell sad and slow.
13. Some boys go scowling always through life, as if they had a
stone bruise on each heel.
14. Proud bird of the mountain, thy plume shall be torn!
15. Mowgli had the good conscience that comes from paying debts.
16. Cease to do evil; learn to do well.
17. The first was a brass band, the second was a string band,
the third was a rubber band, and the fourth was a man who
played on the jew’s-harp.
18.
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
19. On Sunday the hens went silently about, and the roosters
crowed in psalm tunes.
20.
Up! up! my friend, and quit your books,
Or surely you’ll grow double!
21. Is the world growing better or are we moving in a circle?
22. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
23. When a man has heard the great things calling to him, how
they call and call, day and night!
24. O ye who have young children, if it is possible, give them
happy memories.
Find an interjection in this exercise.
What independent elements do you find in sentences 7, 14, and 24? What is
the base word of each?
XXII. REVIEW: PARTS OF SPEECH
=72.= We have seen that words are classified according to their use into
eight parts of speech,—nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs,
prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
A =noun= is a name word.
A =verb= is an asserting word.
A =pronoun= is a word used instead of a noun.
An =adjective= is a word used to point out or describe an object and
modify a noun or a pronoun.
An =adverb= is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb.
A =preposition= is a word that is used with its object to form a phrase,
and shows the relation of its object to the word the phrase modifies.
A =conjunction= is a word that joins sentences or parts of sentences.
An =interjection= is a word used to express sudden or strong feeling.
=Exercise.=—Tell what part of speech each word is in the following
sentences. Tell in each case how you know.
1. Toto’s good grandmother bore this commotion quietly for some
time.
2. “Now, set those baskets down.” He spoke sharply.
3. Mowgli knew the manners and customs of the villagers very
fairly.
4. No other mother ever made such deep, smooth, golden custard
pies, or fried such light and spicy doughnuts.
5. Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are strongly
associated together in the minds of all readers of English
history.
6. The tamest tiger is a tiger still.
7. The negro cleared for us a path to an enormously tall tree.
8. Nobody scolded me or laughed at me.
9. Then my eyes came back to the wall paper, and I studied out
figures in its spreading vines.
10. Perhaps a little starch would have some effect.
11. The roaring hot wind of the Jungle came and went between
the rocks and the rattling branches.
12. Ring-ting! I wish I were a primrose.
13. O love, they die in yon rich sky.
=73.= In sentence 13 in the preceding exercise, it is evident that the
word _love_, which is often a verb, is used as a term of address, and
therefore is a noun. Many words may be used as verbs or as nouns.
=Exercise.=—Tell what part of speech the italicized words are in the
following sentences. Give your reason in each case.
1. Don’t scour your porcelain _sink_ with sapolio.
2. When bodies _sink_ in Lake Superior, they never rise.
3. Oh, what _fall_ was there, my countrymen.
4. We _fall_ to rise, are baffled to fight better.
5. Alice gave the branch a vigorous _shake_.
6. Nay, do not _shake_ your gory locks at me.
7. Will you _show_ me your lineage book?
8. There are ten thousand moving picture _shows_ in the United
States.
9. What a good _catch_ our right fielder made.
10. Did you _catch_ this sturgeon last night?
Make sentences in which the following words shall be used as nouns and as
verbs: _fight_, _pay_, _rap_, _shed_, _shoe_, _sting_, _tread_.
=74.= Many words that are usually adjectives may also be used as nouns.
Such words fall into different classes:—
(1) Adjectives denoting color; as, _black_, _white_, _red_. We may say,
“The blacks were once slaves of the whites.” We may also say, “Red and
green are complementary colors.”
(2) Certain adjectives denoting qualities of persons, which may also
be used to name classes of persons having those qualities; as, _rich_,
_poor_, _old_, _young_, _bad_, _good_. We say, “The rich should not scorn
the poor,” “The good die young.”
(3) Certain adjectives denoting qualities, which may also be used to name
classes of things having those qualities; as, _good_, _evil_, _true_,
_false_. We say, “Love the good, cherish the true, admire the beautiful.”
(4) Certain other adjectives, such as _native_, _secret_, _fat_, _lean_,
_thick_. We say, “The natives had no secrets,” “Jack Sprat would eat no
fat,” “He was always in the thick of the fight.”
=Exercise.=—Make sentences containing the following words used as
adjectives and as nouns: _purple_, _blue_, _brave_, _righteous_, _evil_,
_wet_, _cold_, _sweet_, _right_, _wrong_, _solid_, _strong_.
=75.= Some words may be used both as adjectives and as adverbs. When
_well_ means the opposite of _sick_, as in the sentence, “Grace never was
a well child,” it is an adjective. When _well_ means in a good manner, as
in the sentence, “Esther sings well,” it is an adverb.
=Exercise.=—Tell what part of speech the italicized words are in the
following sentences. Give your reason in each case.
1. The paper is large _enough_, but I have not _enough_ string.
2. As she came _near_ I recognized one of my _near_ neighbors.
3. _All_ flesh is grass.
4. The girls playing basket ball are _all_ tired out.
5. The doctor liked a _fast_ horse.
6. We must walk _fast_ this cold morning.
7. Nobody could play golf _worse_ than I.
8. May I never do a _worse_ deed!
9. Have you _any_ ribbon to match this sample?
10. Will this color do _any_ better?
11. Somebody _else_ will marry her then.
12. How _else_ could I get there in time?
Make sentences containing the following words used as adjectives and
as adverbs: _high_, _last_, _long_, _low_, _much_, _round_, _slow_,
_straight_.
=76.= Some words may be used both as adverbs and as prepositions. In the
sentence, “I looked in as I went by,” both _in_ and _by_ are adverbs. How
do we know this? In the sentence, “As I went by the house, I looked in
the window,” both _in_ and _by_ are prepositions. What are their objects?
What do the phrases modify?
=Exercise.=—What part of speech are the italicized words in the following
sentences? Give your reason in each case.
1. _Beyond_ lay the city of their dreams.
2. Our house stands _beyond_ the church.
3. _Over_ the Alps lies Italy.
4. Come _over_ this evening if you can.
5. She fainted and did not come _to_ for an hour.
6. The granary is _behind_ the barn.
7. Ichabod looked _behind_ for an instant.
8. A storm of sleet was raging _without_.
9. Civilized man cannot do _without_ cooks.
Make sentences in which the following words are used both as adverbs
and as prepositions: _about_, _above_, _along_, _down_, _off_, _on_,
_through_, _under_, _up_, _within_.
XXIII. TRANSITIVE VERBS. OBJECT OF VERB
=77.= We have seen that a noun may be related to a verb as its subject.
When the verb asserts action, as in the sentence, “Many birds eat flies,”
then the subject _many birds_ names the doer, or performer, of the action.
There is another very common relation that a noun may bear to a verb. In
the sentence above, the verb _eat_ asserts an action that is not only
performed _by_ something, but is also performed _upon_ something. That
is, there is a doer of the action, many birds, and a receiver of the
action, flies. If we had merely the subject and the verb, our sentence
would be incomplete, and we should ask at once, _eat what?_
Since the word _flies_ completes the meaning of the verb _eat_, we call
it the =complement= of the verb. Since it names the receiver of the
action that is asserted by the verb _eat_, we call it the =object= or
=direct object= of the verb.
=78.= Not all verbs require an object—only those which assert action
which the subject performs _upon_ some person or thing. Such verbs are
called =transitive= verbs.
=79.= The object of a verb is not always a single word. The object may
be compound, as in the sentence, “Many birds eat flies and gnats and
mosquitoes.” Again, the object may be a group of words, of which a noun
is the base word. In the following sentence there are three transitive
verbs. What is the object of each verb? What is the base word of each
object?—“Miss Dorothea dusted the banisters round the porch, straightened
the rows of shoes in mother’s closet, and folded the daily papers in the
rack.”
=80.= Just as we can find the subject of a verb by asking the question
made by placing _who_ or _what_ before the verb, so we can find the
object of a verb that asserts action by asking the question made by
placing _whom_ or _what_ after the verb.
These questions are often a great help, especially if a sentence is long
or transposed. In the sentence, “A more miserable little beast I had
never seen,” what is the verb? Ask a question to find the subject. Ask a
question to find the object.
=Summary.=—A =transitive verb= is one that asserts action performed upon
some person or thing.
A =complement= is a word or a group of words used to complete the meaning
of a verb.
The =direct object= of a verb is a word or a group of words that
completes the meaning of a transitive verb and names the receiver of the
action.
NOTE.—Not all transitive verbs denote action that is
accompanied by motion. Some denote action of the senses; as,
“I _see_ the star,” “I _taste_ the pepper.” Others denote
action of the feelings; as, “I _love_ the truth,” “I _hate_ a
lie.” Still others do not denote action at all; as, “I _mean_
you,” “Our forefathers _owned_ slaves,” “I _kept_ her letter.”
We must enlarge our notion of transitive verbs so as to make
it include all verbs that take a complement which denotes a
different person or thing from the subject.
=Exercise 1.=—Select all the transitive verbs in these sentences. Find
both their subjects and their objects by asking the proper questions.
NOTE.—A transitive verb may be modified before it is completed.
This is true of _lifts_ in sentence 2. Oftener the idea
expressed by the verb and its object together is modified;
as in sentence 1, where the phrase _in despair_ modifies not
_shook_ but _shook her head_.
1. Dotty Dimple shook her head in despair.
2. At the word of command, the two horsemen stop, each man
lifts up his right leg, throws it over the back of his horse,
and drops it to the ground so that the two boots tap the
pavement at the same instant.
3. Her father found a pleasant seat on the shady side, hung the
basket in a rack, and opened a window.
4. When the young surveyor left Detroit, he carried a huge
green bandbox, and his wife in her far frontier home received
in due time a beautiful blue bonnet.