logs, and awaited patiently the arrival of my hosts.
6. All the world likes molasses candy.
7. The children brought home great bunches of the brilliant
leaves, and some they pressed and varnished, while others
Katherine dipped in melted wax.
8. John trod down the exquisite ferns and the wonderful mosses
without compunction. But he gathered from the crevices of the
rocks the columbine and the eglantine and the blue harebell;
he picked the high-flavored alpine strawberry, the blueberry,
the boxberry, wild currants and gooseberries and fox grapes; he
brought home armfuls of the pink and white laurel and the wild
honeysuckle; he dug the roots of the fragrant sassafras and of
the sweet flag; he ate the tender leaves of the wintergreen and
its red berries; he gathered the peppermint and the spearmint;
he gnawed the twigs of the black birch; he dug the amber gum
from the spruce-tree; he brought home such medicinal herbs for
the garret as the goldthread, the tansy, and the loathsome
“boneset,” and he laid in for the winter, like a squirrel,
stores of beechnuts, hazelnuts, hickorynuts, chestnuts, and
butternuts.
=Exercise 2.=—Analyze the following sentences:—
NOTE.—If any part of a sentence is compound, state that fact
before analyzing it. If the subject or object is compound, give
the base words first, and then the modifiers of each. If the
predicate is compound, analyze the first predicate completely,
then the second, and so on. If any adverb or prepositional
phrase modifies the idea denoted by the verb and the object, be
sure to say so in your analysis. For instance, in the sentence,
“We have seen his star in the east,” the predicate verb is
_have seen_. It is completed by the direct object _his star_,
and then modified by the prepositional phrase _in the east_.
1. Sometimes a perfume like absinthe sweetened all the air.
2. The little brown field mouse ran along in the grass, poked
his nose into everything, and finally spied a smooth, shiny
acorn.
3. My son, descend those steps and enter that door.
4. Many and many a pair of mittens had those busy fingers knit.
5. Always within a few moments the rabbits would resume their
leaping progress through the white glitter and the hard, black
shadows.
6. The visit of the tax collector seldom gives unmixed joy.
7. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy
tavern.
8. The first glimpse of a new country always quickens the sense
of the traveler.
9. Rebecca took off her hat and cape and hung them in the hall,
put her rubber shoes and umbrella carefully in the corner, and
then opened the door of paradise.
10. The scent of herbs and the fragrance of fruit filled the
great unfinished chamber.
11. A polished brazen rod on a broad wooden pedestal beside the
armchair held half a dozen lamps of silver on sliding arms.
12. Messala hugged the stony wall with perilous clasp.
13. Amrah rubbed her eyes, bent closer down, clasped her hands,
gazed wildly around, looked at the sleeper, then stooped and
raised his hand, and kissed it fondly.
14. The proprietor of the fruit stand has a bald head, a long
face, and a nose like the beak of a hawk.
15. Without more ado Mr. Cary grasped his arm firmly, and
fairly lifted him into the room.
XXIV. INTRANSITIVE VERBS ASSERTING ACTION
=81.= Transitive verbs, as we have seen, assert action performed upon
some person or thing. There are many other verbs in our language that
assert action, but the action is not performed _upon_ anything. On the
contrary, the action ends in itself; as in the sentence, “The wind in the
chimney sighed and moaned and shivered.” Here the wind is said to perform
three actions, but these actions were not received by anything. Verbs
like _sighed_, _moaned_, and _shivered_ are said to be =intransitive
verbs=.
=82.= Not all intransitive verbs assert action. The verb _be_ and a
few others (see Lesson XXV) which assert merely _being_, are also
intransitive verbs; as, “I _am_ hungry,” “You _are_ kind,” “He _is_
extravagant,” “They _were_ careless.”
=83.= It frequently happens that the same verb may be used in one
sentence as a transitive verb, and in another as an intransitive verb. If
we say, “The horse kicked his master,” the verb _kicked_ is transitive.
Why? If we say, “The poor boy kicked and squirmed and groaned,” the verb
_kicked_ is intransitive. Why?
We should always classify a verb as it is used in the particular sentence
under consideration.
=Summary.=—An =intransitive verb= is one that asserts (1) being, or (2)
action that is not received by any person or thing.
=Exercise 1.=—Select all the verbs in the following sentences, and
classify them as transitive or intransitive. Tell the subject of each
verb. If the verb is transitive, tell its object.
1. The princess sat at table next to the king and queen.
2. At these words a grave smile of approval lighted the gaunt
face of the Hindu.
3. The spring murmured drowsily beside him. The branches waved
dreamily across the blue sky overhead. A deep sleep fell upon
David Swan.
4.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
An angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
5. Mr. Jeremy stuck his pole into the mud, and fastened the
boat to it.
6. The cat got up and stretched herself, and came and sniffed
at the basket.
7. I would have spared the woman who gave thee the milk.
8. His hair had fallen about his shoulders.
9. They sang patriotic songs, they told stories, they fired
torpedoes, they frightened the cats.
10. I could have killed a buck while thou wast striking.
11. Away rolled the bogghun, away and away, over the meadows
and into the forest; away and away bounded the Princess in
pursuit. The golden nose ring flashed and glittered in the
sunlight, the golden bangles on her wrists and ankles tinkled
and rang their tiny bells as she went. The monkeys swinging
by their tails from the branches, chattered with astonishment
at us; the wild parrot screamed at us; all the birds sang and
chirped and twittered.
12. The chipmunk appeared at the mouth of his den, looked
quickly about, took a few leaps to a tussock of grass, paused a
breath with one foot raised, slipped quickly a few yards over
some dry leaves, paused again by a stump beside a path, rushed
across the path to the pile of loose stones, went under the
first and over the second, gained the pile of posts, made his
way through that, surveyed his course a half moment from the
other side of it, and then darted on to some other cover, and
presently beyond my range, where he must have gathered acorns,
for no other nut-bearing trees than oaks grew near.
=Exercise 2.=—Tell whether the italicized verbs in the following
sentences are transitive or intransitive. Give your reason in each case.
If a verb is transitive, tell how it is completed. If it is intransitive,
tell how it is modified.
1. All the brooks _have burst_ their icy chains.
2. The boiler _burst_ with a tremendous noise.
3. _Do_ your duty; that is best.
4. Such language _will_ never _do_ for a teacher.
5. Miss Clarissa _draws_ and paints very well.
6. Giotto _drew_ a perfect circle with one sweep of his arm.
7. The swallow _flies_ with a graceful dipping motion.
8. The boys _are flying_ their kites on the common.
9. _Give_ us this day our daily bread.
10. The rope was stretched so tightly that it _did_ not _give_
with his weight.
11. All day he sits in his arm chair and _reads_.
12. _Have_ you _read_ “The Man without a Country”?
13. The woodworkers _have struck_ for shorter hours.
14. David _struck_ Uriah Heep on the cheek.
15. Aunt Betsy _swept_ down upon the trespassers.
16. I _must sweep_ the spiders off the porch.
XXV. INTRANSITIVE VERBS ASSERTING BEING. NOUNS AS SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS
=84.= There is no other verb used oftener than the verb _be_, with its
various forms,—_is_, _are_, _am_, _was_, _will be_, _has been_, etc. In
the sentence, “The lake is the mother of the great rivers,” there would
be no assertion without the verb _is_, and yet it does not assert action
of any sort. The sentence plainly means that the lake and the mother
of the great rivers are identical; that is, they are one and the same
thing. The verb _is_ enables us to assert identity. A verb of this kind
is intransitive. It is often called a verb of =being=, to distinguish it
from verbs that assert action.
=85.= Some other verbs of this kind are _seem_, _appear_, _become_,
_grow_, _feel_, _look_, _smell_, _taste_, and _sound_. They are classed
as verbs of being because they mean—to be in appearance, in looks, in
smell, in taste, etc., as, “You appear ill,” “She looks young,” “The milk
tastes sour.”
Verbs that assert being are intransitive verbs.
=86.= Intransitive verbs of being usually need a complement. In the
sentence, “I am a spinner of long yarns,” if we had merely the subject
and the verb, _I am_, we should ask, _am what?_ The group of words _a
spinner of long yarns_ answers this question, and so completes the
predicate. It is not an object complement, however, for it cannot name
the receiver of an action since the verb does not assert action at all.
This complement denotes identity with the subject; hence it is called a
=subjective complement=.
Often the subjective complement denotes the class to which the person or
thing named by the subject belongs; as, “Corn is a grain,” “My friend is
a farmer.”
=87.= The subject and the object complement denote two different persons
or things, but the subject and the subjective complement always refer to
the same person or thing.
=88.= The subjective complement is sometimes a single noun, as in the
sentence, “Stars are suns.” When the subjective complement is a group of
words, a noun is usually the base word; as, “Procrastination is the thief
of time.”
In sentences containing a subjective complement, the subject comes before
the verb, and the subjective complement after the verb, unless the
sentence is transposed; as, “Lords of the sea are we.”
=89.= Sometimes, instead of having a complement, a verb of being is
modified by a prepositional phrase, or even by an adverb, denoting place;
as, “My bark is on the sea,” “Yonder is my home.”
=Summary.=—Verbs that assert =being= or =identity= are intransitive verbs.
A =subjective complement= is a word or a group of words that completes a
verb and refers to the same person or thing as the subject.
=Exercise.=—Select all the intransitive verbs of being in the following
sentences. Find their subjects and their complements, and the base words
of each. Analyze sentences 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14.
1. This palace was the residence of the queen consort of
England.
2.
The king was in his counting house, counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlor, eating bread and honey.
3. My name is Beautiful Joe, and I am a brown dog of medium
size.
4. Her worship of God was unselfish service, and her prayers
were worthy deeds.
5. The one great poem of New England is her Sunday.
6. This guinea pig’s name was Jeff, and he and I became good
friends.
7. Patient waiters are no losers.
8. In this fine open square are magnificent fountains, handsome
statuary on tall pedestals, and crowds of vehicles and foot
passengers crossing it in every direction.
9. A jackknife in his expert hand was a whole chest of tools.
10. One of the best things in the world to be is a boy.
11. Backbiting is the meanest kind of biting, not excepting the
bite of fleas.
12. The rattle of a bucket in a neighbor’s yard, no longer
mixed with other weekday noises, seemed a new sound.
13.
Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.
14. I became an enthusiastic little cook.
15. King Arthur’s son was a handsome, polite, and brave knight.
16. The bees are abroad under the calling sky, and the red of
apple buds becomes a sign in the orchards.
17. Always darker turns the growing hemp as it rushes upward.
Account for the punctuation of sentences 3, 4, 6, 8, and 15.
XXVI. ADJECTIVES AS SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS
=90.= In the sentences, (1) “The tomato is a fruit,” (2) “That tall boy
is the winner of the race,” the base word of the subjective complement is
a noun, because we wish to assert (1) class, (2) identity.
In the sentence, “The old gentleman’s face was serene and rosy,” the base
words of the subjective complement are the two adjectives _serene_ and
_rosy_, because we wish to assert the characteristics, or qualities, of
the old gentleman’s face.
This is a very common use of the adjective, as seen in the familiar
sentences, “Grass is green,” “Honey is sweet,” “Ice is cold.”
=91.= The verbs of being that were given in Lesson XXV,—_be_, _become_,
_look_, _seem_, _appear_, _feel_, _smell_, _taste_, _sound_, and
_grow_,—often take adjectives for subjective complements; as, “My head
feels dizzy,” “This sentence sounds queer,” “Mary grew plump and strong.”
In some cases where the language affords no adjectives that exactly
express the meaning, we use a prepositional phrase as subjective
complement; as in the common expressions, “The house is _on fire_,” “The
girl is _in love_,” “The man is _in debt_.” None of these phrases denote
place, but each of them denotes a condition.
NOTE.—An adjective used as a subjective complement is often
modified by a prepositional phrase. If we say “The bin is
full,” somebody will ask “full of what?” If we say “full of
apples,” it is evident that the phrase _of apples_ modifies
_full_. We also say _glad of it_, _tired of play_, _wild with
joy_, _green with envy_, etc. These expressions are different,
however, from what we find in the sentence, “I was tired in the
evening,” where the phrase _in the evening_, denoting time,
modifies not the adjective _tired_, but the two words _was
tired_.
=Summary.=—An adjective, or a group of words of which an adjective is the
base word, may be the subjective complement of an intransitive verb.
=Exercise.=—Select all the intransitive verbs of being in the following
sentences. Find their subjects and their complements, and the base words
of each. Analyze sentences 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15.
1. The sting of a bee is sometimes deadly.
2. The woodchuck looked sulky, and scratched his nose
expressively.
3. The traveler’s limbs were numb, for the ride had been long
and wearisome.
4. She might be poor in purse and weak in body, this brave
young mother, but she was rich in hope and strong in spirit.
5. By the third day I felt too weak and sick to stir.
6. At these words the king grew purple in the face.
7. Conrad will keep quiet over his books.
8. Mary was beautiful, feminine in spirit, and lovely.
Elizabeth was talented, masculine, and plain. Mary was artless,
unaffected, and gentle. Elizabeth was heartless, intriguing,
and insincere.
9. Your grandfather looked very funny in his red nightcap, and
without his teeth.
10. Very few poetic people are good at arithmetic.
11. The garden at the back of the house was sweet with the
scent of newly blossomed lilacs and the freshness of young
grass.
12. Snow-white was the foam that flashed upward underneath the
curving prow.
13. Is not Little Annie afraid of such a tumult?
14. His mouth felt as dry and stiff and hard as a chip.
15. The people went nearly mad for joy.
=92.= A common error is the misuse of an adverb for an adjective as the
subjective complement of a verb of being. We should say, “I feel _bad_,
or _ill_, or _unhappy_” (not _badly_).
Another common error is the misuse of an adjective for an adverb as a
modifier of a verb of action. We should say, “The child learns _easily_”
(not _easy_).
If we wish to tell a quality or condition of the subject, we should use
an adjective; as, “The oak leaves turned _brown_.” If we wish to tell
the manner of an action, we should use an adverb; as, “The leaves turned
_quickly_ this fall.”
=Exercise 1.=—Tell the part of speech of each italicized word in these
sentences, and justify its use.
1. Mary dresses _neatly_ and always looks _charming_.
2. The children must keep _quiet_ to-night.
3. Stand _straight_ and breathe _deeply_.
4. Look at them _kindly_ and speak _gently_.
5. The old bishop looks _kind_ and _gentle_.
6. This pie tastes very _queer_.
7. Mother feels _uneasy_ if we are _out late_.
8. The boy seemed _nervous_ and felt _uneasily_ of his watch
chain.
9. Poor oil made the lamp smell very _disagreeable_.
10. All the doors stood _open_.
11. The air grew _cold steadily_.
12. Keep the box _carefully_ till I return.
=Exercise 2.=—Select the right word for each of the following sentences,
and give your reason in each case:—
1. The light is so poor that I cannot see the picture (_plain_
or _plainly_).
2. I am frightened when she speaks (_cross_ or _crossly_) to me.
3. Sit with me so that you can hear (_good_ or _well_).
4. Does he always deal (_honest_ or _honestly_) with you?
5. The miser died (_miserable_ or _miserably_).
6. You came so (_sudden_ or _suddenly_) that I was taken by
surprise.
7. No wonder you fell, you move too (_quick_ or _quickly_).
8. How (_stylish_ or _stylishly_) she dresses.
9. I (_sure_ or _surely_) mailed the letter.
10. Next time I shall act more (_sensible_ or _sensibly_).
11. Money comes (_easy_ or _easily_) to him, and is soon gone.
12. I felt so (_bad_ or _badly_) that I cried.
13. I was ill yesterday, but I feel pretty (_good_ or _well_)
this morning.
14. All my rose bushes look (_fine_ or _finely_).
XXVII. REVIEW OF VERBS
=93.= A =verb= is an asserting word.
A =transitive verb= is one that asserts action performed upon some person
or thing.
A transitive verb is completed by a =direct object=.
The =direct object= of a transitive verb is a word or a group of words
that completes the meaning of the verb and names the receiver of the
action.
The =base word= of a =direct object= is usually a noun.
An =intransitive verb= is one that asserts, (1) being, or (2) action not
performed upon any person or thing.
An =intransitive verb of action= needs no complement.
An =intransitive verb of being= is usually completed by a subjective
complement.
A =subjective complement= is a word or a group of words that completes a
verb and refers to the same person or thing as the subject.
A subjective complement denotes identity with the subject, or tells the
class to which the subject belongs, or some quality of the subject.
The =base word= of a =subjective complement= may be a noun or an
adjective.
=Exercise.=—Select and classify all the verbs in the following sentences.
Tell the subject of each verb, and tell how each verb is completed or
modified.
1. As soon as he saw the cat in the soap barrel, he set the
lamp down on the cellar bottom, and laughed so that he could
hardly move.
2. When night came, I felt still more lonesome.
3. Little Toomai shall become a great tracker.
4. The wind whistled around the low, unplastered chamber, but
the beds were soft and warm, and the guests were ready for
sleep.
5. The youngest daughter was the gentlest and most beautiful
creature ever seen, and the pride of all the people in the land.
6. I am too stiff and sore from a terrible fall I have had, to
write more than one line.
7. Next month, when the city had returned to its sunbaked
quiet, the Hindu did a thing that no Englishman would have
dreamed of doing; for, so far as the world’s affairs went, he
died.
8. The knoll in the tamarack swamp was a haven of peace amid
the fierce but furtive warfare of the wilderness.
9. Beauty rose by four o’clock every morning, lighted the
fires, cleaned the house, and prepared the breakfast for the
whole family.
10. More years sped swiftly and tranquilly away.
11. What a place the old market must have been in the days of
Herod the Builder!
12. The lizard belonging to my mistress was a very beautiful
creature.
13. The rocky walls are red with the scarlet of the geranium,
aglow with the orange of the lantana, or they are hidden by the
purple veil of the wild convolvulus. The dainty sweet alyssum
clings to the rock in great patches, and the little rice plant
lays its pink cheek against it lovingly.
14. The spring had been a trying season for the lank she-bear.
15. Right proud the baron was of his gallant steed.
16. There is the house with the gate red-barred.
17. The big male cuffed the cubs aside without ceremony,
mounted the carcass with an air of lordship, glared about him,
and suddenly with a snarl of wrath, fixed his eyes upon the
green branches wherein the boy was concealed.
18. Rip Van Winkle was a kind neighbor and an obedient,
hen-pecked husband.
19. The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable
aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.
20. The same sweet clover smell is in the breeze.
21. David stooped down and piled the fagots in the hollow of
his arm.
22. Gentle are the days when the year is young.
23. The winter sunshine on the fields seems full of rest.
24. I feel out of place under this roof.
25. Strips of snow still whitened the fields, but on the stumps
were bluebirds, and they warbled of spring.
26. The great limb of the cedar snapped off, rolled over in the
air, and lay on the ground like a huge animal.
XXVIII. NOUNS: NUMBER
=94.= When we wish a noun to denote more than one object, we often change
its form slightly. _Man_ becomes _men_, _child_ becomes _children_,
_river_ becomes _rivers_.
This change in the form of a noun by which it denotes one object or more
than one is called =number=.
Number is said to be one of the =properties= of a noun.
=95.= When a noun denotes one object, it is said to be in the singular
number; as, _lion_, _mouse_, _knife_.
When a noun denotes more than one object, it is said to be in the
=plural= number; as, _lions_, _mice_, _knives_.
=96.= Most nouns form their plural by adding _s_ or _es_ to the singular;
as, _key_, _keys_; _hand_, _hands_; _rope_, _ropes_; _mass_, _masses_;
_fox_, _foxes_; _church_, _churches_; _bush_, _bushes_.
This is said to be the =regular= way of forming the plural. Why is it
that some words add _es_ instead of _s?_
=97.= Nouns ending in _o_ preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding
_s_; as, _folio_, _folios_; _cameo_, _cameos_.
Some nouns ending in _o_ preceded by a consonant add _es_, and others
_s_; as, _potato_, _potatoes_; _mosquito_, _mosquitoes_; _solo_, _solos_;
_piano_, _pianos_.
=98.= Some nouns form their plural =irregularly=.
(1) A few nouns change the vowel; as, _man_, _men_; _goose_, _geese_;
_mouse_, _mice_; _foot_, _feet_; _tooth_, _teeth_.
(2) A few nouns add _en_; as, _ox, oxen_; _child, children_.
(3) Nouns ending in _y_, preceded by a consonant sound, change _y_ to _i_
and add _es_; as, _fly, flies_; _fairy, fairies_.
(4) Some nouns ending in _f_ or _fe_ change _f_ or _fe_ to _v_ and add
_es_; as, _wolf_, _wolves_; _knife_, _knives_.
=99.= Some nouns have the same form in both the singular and the plural;
as, _deer_, _grouse_, _salmon_.
=100.= Some nouns ending in _s_ look like plural nouns, but are regarded
as singular; as, _news_, _athletics_, _gymnastics_.
=101.= Some nouns are used only in the plural; as, _scissors_, _pincers_,
_thanks_.
=102.= Compound nouns form their plural in three different ways:—
(1) By adding _s_ to the last word; as, _forget-me-not_, _forget-me-nots_.
(2) By adding _s_ to the principal word; as, _son-in-law_, _sons-in-law_.
(3) By pluralizing both words; as, _manservant_, _menservants_.
=103.= When a title is used with one name, we may pluralize either the
name or the title. We may say the _Misses Gray_ or the _Miss Grays_, the
_Messrs. Greenwood_ or the _Mr. Greenwoods_.
When a title is used with more than one name, we pluralize the title. We
say the _Misses Morgan and Adams_. The title _Mrs._ has no plural, so we
must say _Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Adams_.
=104.= Letters, signs, or figures form their plurals by adding an
apostrophe and _s_; as, 6’s, i’s, _t_’s.
=105.= A few foreign nouns have kept their foreign plurals. Some of these
in common use are _stratum_, _strata_; _alumnus_, _alumni_; _axis_,
_axes_.
=106.= Some nouns have two plurals used with slightly different meanings;
as, _penny_ has _pennies_ and _pence_; _brother_ has _brothers_ and
_brethren_; _die_ has _dies_ and _dice_. Find out from the dictionary the
meanings of these plurals.
The correct plural of a noun cannot always be reasoned out. It should
never be guessed. It can always be learned from a dictionary.