Chapter 8

Wrong: In the parlor my cousin kept a collection of animals which he shot.

Right: In the parlor my cousin kept a collection of animals which he had shot.

=c. General statements equally true in the past and in the present are usually expressed in the present tense.=

Faulty: He said that Venus was a planet.

Right: He said that Venus is a planet.

=d. The subjunctive mode of the verb _to be_ is used to express a condition contrary to fact, or a wish.=

Faulty: If he was here, I should be happy.

Right: If he were here, I should be happy.

Faulty: I wish that I was a man.

Right: I wish that I were a man.

=e. Use the correct auxiliary. Make sure that the tense, mode, or aspect of successive verbs is not altered without reason.=

Wrong: By giving strict obedience to commands, a soldier _learns_ discipline, and consequently _would have_ steady nerves in time of war. [_Learns_ should be followed by _will have_.]

Wrong: An automobile _should be_ kept in good working order so that its life _is_ lengthened. [_Should be_ is properly followed by _may be_.]

Exercise:

1. Every one hoped that you would have spoken.

2. I saw it in the window. It was the very book I wanted so long.

3. If I was sick, I should go home.

4. They expected to have won the game.

5. The Masons never invite men to join their lodge, but if a person expresses a desire to join, his friends would probably be able to secure membership for him.

=Adjective and Adverb=

=56a. Do not use an adjective to modify a verb.=

Crude: He spoke slow and careful.

Right: He spoke slowly and carefully.

Crude: He sure did good in his classes.

Right: He surely did well in his classes.

=b. In such sentences as _He stood firm_ and _The cry rang clear_ the modifier should be an adjective if it refers to the subject, an adverb if it refers to the verb.=

Right: The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home. [Here the thought is that the sun which shines is bright.]

Right: He worked diligently. [Here the modifier refers to the manner of working rather than to the person who works. It should therefore be an adverb.]

Right: It stood immovable. The shot rang loud. He becomes angry. The weeds grow thick. They remain obstinate. He seems intelligent.

=c. After a verb pertaining to the senses, _look_, _sound_, _taste_, _smell_, _feel_, an adjective is used to denote a quality pertaining to the subject.= (An adverb is used only when the reference is clearly to the verb.)

She looks _beautiful_. [Not _beautifully_.]

The dinner bell sounds _good_. [Not _well_.]

My food tastes _bad_. [Not _badly_.]

That flower smells _bad_. [Not _badly_.]

I feel good [_in good spirits_.]

I feel well [_in good health_. An adjectival use of _well_.]

I feel bad [_in bad health or spirits_. "I feel badly" would mean "My sense of touch is impaired."]

Exercise:

1. They fought ---- (heroic, heroically). Dave stumbled ----(awkward, awkwardly).

2. Margaret ---- (sure, surely) worked ---- (faithful, faithfully) in economics.

3. At this reply the teacher grew ---- (wrathful, wrathfully). I hear you ---- (plain, plainly).

4. I feel ---- (giddy, giddily). Your rose looks ---- (sweet, sweetly). No perfume smells so ---- (dainty, daintily).

5. That salad tastes ---- (good, well). I feel ---- (bad, badly) today. Your voice sounds ---- (good, well) and ----(familiar, familiarly).

=A Word in a Double Capacity=

=57. Do not use a verb, conjunction, preposition, or noun in a double capacity when one of the uses is ungrammatical.=

Wrong [verb]: An opera house was built in one part of town, and two churches in another.

Right: An opera house was built in one part of town, and two churches were built in another.

Wrong [verb]: He always has and will do it.

Right: He always has done it, and always will do it.

Wrong [conjunction]: He was as old, if not older, than any other man in the community.

Right: He was as old as any other man in the community, if not older.

Wrong [preposition]: He was fond and diligent in work.

Right: He was fond of work and diligent in it.

Wrong [noun]: He is one of the most skilful, if not the most skilful, tennis players in the state.

Right: He is one of the most skilful tennis players in the state, if not the most skilful.

Exercise:

1. He is as old, if not older, than she is.

2. Two boats were in the water, and one on the shore.

3. From childhood he has, and to old age he will, have many hobbies.

4. A visit to a ten cent store is better, or at least as good, as a visit to a circus. You see as many or more queer things than in any show.

5. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, secrets in keeping our health, is to keep our teeth in good condition. A famous physician said that one of the next, if not the very next, marked advance in medical science will be through discoveries in the realm of dentistry.

Parts of Speech, Other Grammatical Terms, Conjugation

The Parts of Speech and Their Uses

=Noun.= A noun is a name. It may be =proper= (_Philip Watkins_), or =common=. Common nouns may be =concrete= (_man_, _windmill_), or =abstract= (_gratitude_, _nearness_). =A= noun applied to a group is said to be =collective= (_family_, _race_). The uses of a noun =are=: to serve as the subject of a verb, to serve as the object of a verb or a preposition, to be in apposition with another noun (Jenkins, our _coach_), to indicate possession (_Joseph's_ coat of many colors); and less frequently, to serve as an adjective (the _brick_ sidewalk) or adverb (John went _home_), and to indicate direct address (_Jehovah_, help us!).

=Pronoun.= A pronoun is a word which takes the place of a noun. It may be =personal= (_I_, _thou_, _you_, _he_, _she_, _it_, _we_, _they_), =relative= (_who_, _which_, _what_, _that_, _as_, and compounds _whoever_, _whichsoever_, etc.), =interrogative= (_who_, _which_, _what_), =demonstrative= (_this_, _that_, _these_, _those_), or =indefinite= (_some_, _any_, _one_, _each_, _either_, _neither_, _none_, _few_, _all_, _both_, etc.). Strictly speaking, the last two groups, demonstratives and indefinites, are adjectives used as pronouns. Certain pronouns are also used as adjectives, notably the =possessives= (_my_, _his_, _their_, etc.) and the relative or interrogative _which_ and _what_. The addition of _-self_ to a personal pronoun forms a =reflexive pronoun= or =intensive= (I blamed _myself_. You _yourself_ are at fault). A noun for which the pronoun stands is called the =antecedent=. The uses of pronouns are in general the same as those of nouns. In addition, relatives serve as connectives (the man _who_ spoke), interrogatives ask questions (_what_ man?), and demonstratives point out (_that_ man).

=Verb.= A verb is a word or word-group which makes an assertion about the subject. It may express either action or mere existence. It may be =transitive= (_trans_ meaning "across"; hence action carried across, requiring a receiver of the act; Brutus _stabbed_ Cæsar; Cæsar is _stabbed_) or =intransitive= (not requiring a receiver of the act: Montgomery _fell_). Its meaning is dependent upon its voice, mode, and tense. Voice shows the relationship between the subject and the assertion made by the verb. The =active voice= shows the subject as actor (They _elected_ Washington); the =passive voice=, as acted upon (Washington _was elected_). (A transitive verb may be active or passive, but an intransitive verb has no voice.) Mode indicates the manner of predicating an action, whether as assertion, condition, command, etc. There are three modes in English. The =indicative mode= affirms or denies (He _went_. She _did not dance_.) The =subjunctive= expresses condition or wish (If he _were_ older, he would be wiser. Would that I _were_ there!). The =imperative= expresses command or exhortation (_Remain_ there. _Go!_ _Let_ us pray). =Modal auxiliaries= with these three modes form =modal aspects= of the verb. There are as many different aspects as there are auxiliaries. Aspects are sometimes spoken of as separate modes or called collectively the "potential mode." Tense expresses the time of the action or existence. The tenses are the =present=, the =past=, the =future= (employing the auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_), the =perfect= (employing _have_), the =past perfect= (employing _had_), and the =future perfect= (employing _shall have_ and _will have_). =Verbals= are certain forms of the verb used as other parts of speech (noun, adjective, adverb). For the verbal forms, infinitive, gerund, and participle, see the separate headings.

=Adjective.= An adjective is a word used to modify a noun or pronoun. An adjective may be =attributive= (_bright_ sun, _cool-headed_ adventurers) or =predicate= (The field is _broad_. The meat tastes _bad_. I want this _ready_ by Christmas). Adjectives assume three forms known as degrees of comparison. The =positive degree= indicates the simple quality of the object without reference to any other. The =comparative degree= indicates that two objects are compared (Stanley is the _older_ brother). The =superlative degree= indicates that three or more objects are compared (Stanley is the _oldest_ child in the family) or that the speaker feels great interest or emotion (A _most excellent_ record). Ordinarily _er_ or _r_ is added to the positive to form the comparative, and _est_ or _st_ to the positive to form the superlative (brave, braver, bravest). But some adjectives (sometimes those of two, and always those of more than two, syllables) prefix _more_ (or _less_) to the positive to form the comparative, and _most_ (or _least_) to the positive to form the superlative (beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful). Some adjectives express qualities that do not permit comparison (_dead_, _four-sided_, _unique_).

=Adverb.= An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb (She played _well_; _unusually_ handsome; _very_ sternly); or, more rarely, a verbal noun (Walking _fast_ is good for the health), a preposition (The ship drifted _almost_ upon the breakers), or a conjunction (It came _just_ when we wished). Certain adverbs (_fatally_, _entirely_) do not logically admit of comparison. Those that do are compared like adjectives of more than two syllables (_slowly_, _more_ or _less slowly_, _most_ or _least slowly_).

=Preposition.= A preposition is a connective _placed before_ a substantive (called its object) in order to subordinate the substantive to some other word in a sentence (The boast _of_ heraldry, the pomp _of_ power. He ran _toward_ the enemy _without_ fear).

=Conjunction.= A conjunction is a word used to _join together_ words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. A =coördinate conjunction= connects elements of equal rank (See 36). =Correlative conjunctions= are conjunctions used in pairs (See 31). A =subordinate conjunction= is one that connects elements unequal in rank (See 36). When a conjunction, in addition to its function as a connective, indicates a relation of time, place, or cause, it is often called a =conjunctive adverb= or =relative adverb=.

=Interjection.= An interjection is a word _thrown into_ speech to express emotion. It has no grammatical connection with other words. (_Oh_, is that it? _Well_, I'll do it. _Hark!_)

=Other Grammatical Terms=

=Absolute expression.= An expression (usually composed of a substantive and a participle, perhaps with modifiers) which, though not formally and grammatically joined, is in thought related to the remainder of the sentence. (_The relief party having arrived_, we went home. _This disposed of_, the council proceeded to other matters. _Defeated_, he was not dismayed.)

=Antecedent.= A substantive to which a pronoun or participle refers. Literally, _antecedent_ means _that which goes before_; but sometimes the antecedent follows the dependent word. (The _man_ who hesitates is lost. Entering the store, _we_ saw a barrel of apples.) _Man_ is the antecedent of the pronoun _who_, and _we_ is the antecedent of the participle _entering_.

=Auxiliary.= _Be_, _have_, _do_, _shall_, _will_, _ought_, _may_, _can_, _must_, _might_, _could_, _would_, _should_, etc., when used with participles and infinitives of other verbs, are called auxiliary verbs.

=Case.= The relation of a substantive to other words in the sentence as shown by inflectional form or position. The subject of a verb, or the predicate of the verb _to be_, is in the nominative case. The object of a verb or preposition, or the "assumed subject" of an infinitive, is in the objective case. A noun or pronoun which denotes possession is in the possessive case.

=Clause.= A portion of a sentence which contains a subject and a verb, perhaps with modifiers. The following sentence contains one dependent (subordinate) and one independent (principal) clause: _When the storm ceased, the grove was a ruin_.

=Conjugation.= The inflectional changes in the verb to indicate person, number, tense, voice, mode, and modal aspect.

=Declension.= The changes in a noun, pronoun, or adjective to indicate person, number, or case.

=Ellipsis, elliptical expression.= An expression partially incomplete, so that words have to be understood to complete the meaning. An idea or relation corresponding to the omitted words is present, at least vaguely, in the mind of the speaker. Elliptical sentences are usually justifiable except when the reader cannot instantly supply the understood words. Examples of proper ellipses: You are as tall as I [am tall]. Is your sister coming? I think [my sister is] not [coming]. I will go if you will [go]. [I give you] Thanks for your advice.

=Gerund.= A verbal in _-ing_ used as a noun. (I do not object to your _telling_. His _having deserted_ us makes little difference.) The gerund may be regarded as a special form of the infinitive.

=Infinitive.= A verbal ordinarily introduced by _to_ and used as a noun (_To err_ is human). In such sentences as "The road to follow is the river road," _follow_ may be regarded as the noun of a phrase (compare _the road to Mandalay_), or the entire phrase may be regarded as an adjective. Similarly, in "He hastened to comply," _comply_ may be regarded as a noun or _to comply_ as an adverb. After certain verbs (_bid_, _dare_, _help_, _make_, _need_, etc.) the _to_ is omitted from the infinitive group. (He bids me _go_. I need not _hesitate_.)

=Inflection.= Change in the form of a word to show a modification or shade of meaning. At a very early period in our language there was a separate form for practically every modification. Although separate forms are now less numerous, _inflection_ is still a convenient term in grammar. Its scope is general: it includes the declension of nouns, the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, and the conjugation of verbs.

=Modify.= To be grammatically dependent upon and to limit or alter the quality of. In the expression "The very old man," _the_ and _old_ modify _man_, and _very_ modifies _old_.

=Participle.= A verbal used as an adjective, or as an adjective with adverbial qualities. In the sentence "Mary, being oldest, is also the best liked," _being oldest_ refers exclusively, or almost exclusively, to the subject and is therefore adjectival. In such sentences as "He fell back, exhausted" and "Running down the street, I collided with a baby carriage," the participle refers in part to the verb and is therefore adverbial as well as adjectival.

=Phrase.= A group of words forming a subordinate part of a sentence and not containing a subject and its verb. Examples: _With a whistle and a roar_ the train arrived [prepositional phrase]. _Bowing his head_, the prisoner listened to the verdict of the jury [participial phrase]. In a loose, untechnical sense _phrase_ may refer to any short group of words, even if the group includes a subject and its verb.

=Predicate.= The word or word-group in a sentence which makes an assertion about the subject. It consists of a finite verb with or without objects or modifiers.

=Predicate adjective.= An adjective in the predicate, usually linked with the subject by some form of the verb _to be_ (_is_, _was_, _were_, etc.). (John is _lazy_. The soldiers were very _eager_.)

=Predicate noun.= A noun linked with the subject by some form of the verb _to be_. (John is _halfback._ They were our _neighbors._)

=Sentence.= A sentence is a group of words containing (1) a subject (with or without modifiers) and a predicate (with or without modifiers) and not grammatically dependent on any words outside of itself; or (2) two or more such expressions related in thought. Sentences of type 1 are simple or complex; sentences of type 2 are compound. A =simple sentence= contains one independent clause (The dog barks angrily). A =complex sentence= contains one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses (The dog barks when the thief appears). A =compound sentence= contains two or more independent clauses (The dog barks, and the thief runs).

=Substantive.= A noun or a word standing in place of a noun. (The _king_ summoned _parliament_. The _bravest_ are the _tenderest_. _She_ was inconsolable.) A =substantive phrase= is a phrase used as a noun. (_From Dan to Beersheba_ is a term for the whole of Israel.) A =substantive clause= is a clause used as a noun. (_That he owed the money_ is certain.)

=Syntax.= Construction; the grammatical relation between the words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.

=Verbal.= Any form of the verb used as another part of speech. Infinitives, gerunds, and participles are verbals. They are used to express action without asserting it, and cannot, therefore, have subjects or be used as predicate verbs.

=Abridged Conjugation of the verb _to take_=

=Tense= =Active Voice= =Passive Voice=

=Indicative Mode=

=Present= I take I am taken =Past= I took I was taken =Future= I shall (will) take I shall (will) be taken =Perfect= I have taken I have been taken =Past Perfect= I had taken I had been taken =Future Perfect= I shall (will) have taken I shall (will) have been taken

=Subjunctive Mode=

=Present= If I take If I be taken =Past= If I took If I were taken =Perfect= If I have taken If I have been taken =Past Perfect= If I had taken If I had been taken

=Imperative Mode=

=Present= Take

=Modal Aspects=

(Modal aspects, formed by combining auxiliaries with the main verb, give special meanings--emphatic, progressive, etc.--to the primary modes. Since there are almost as many aspects as there are auxiliaries, only a few can be enumerated here.)

=Tense= =Active Voice= =Passive Voice=

{ =Emphatic:= I do take { =Progressive:= I am taking I am being taken =Present= { =Contingent:= I may take I may be taken =Indicative= { =Potential:= I can take I can be taken { =Obligative:= I must take I must be taken { =Etc.=

{ =Emphatic:= I did take { =Progressive:= I was taking I was being taken =Past= { =Contingent:= I might take I might be taken =Indicative= { =Potential:= I could take I could be taken { =Obligative:= I must take I must be taken { =Etc.=

{ =Emphatic:= If I do take { =Progressive:= If I be taking =Present= { =Contingent:= If I might take =Subjunctive= { =Potential:= If I could take { =Obligative:= If I must take { =Etc.=

=Present= { =Emphatic:= Do take =Imperative= { =Progressive:= Be taking

=Verbals=

=Infinitive=

=Active Voice= =Passive Voice= =Present:= To take To be taken =Perfect:= To have taken To have been taken

=Gerund=

=Present:= Taking Being taken =Perfect:= Having taken Having been taken

=Participle=

=Present:= Taking Being taken =Past:= Taken =Perfect:= Having taken Having been taken

Exercise:

Copy a page of good prose from any book, leaving wide spaces between the lines. Indicate the part of speech of every word. This may be done by abbreviations placed beneath the words. For example:

"Von Arden, having fallen into a very unquiet _noun_ _part._ _prep._ _art._ _adv._ _adj._

slumber, dreamed that he was an aged man _noun_ _verb_ _conj._ _pers pro._ _verb_ _art._ _adj._ _noun_

who stood beside a window." _rel. pro._ _verb_ _prep._ _art._ _noun_

=59.= EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR

=A. Case of Pronouns=

Determine the correct form of the pronoun.

1. It is (I, me).

2. No one knows better than (she, her).

3. Then came the whistle for Gerald and (I, me).

4. It was (they, them).

5. Alice can drive a car as well as (he, him).

6. It was (she, her) (who, whom) you saw on the car.

7. John, you may go with Dan and (I, me).

8. If I were (she, her), I could not think of accepting the questionable honor.

9. One evening four of (we, us) girls decided to go to the theater.

10. Others are older than (we, us).

11. (Who, Whom) do you imagine will be our next president?

12. He does not approve of (our, us) walking on the grass.

13. Counsel will be given to (they, them) who ask for it.

14. That seems strange to you and (I, me).

15. Her mother has more regular features than (she, her).

16. Women (who, whom) some people would call "quiet" are often the wisest.

17. Between you and (I, me), I'm hungry.

18. The thought of (it, its) coming by parcel post never entered my mind.

19. He never discovered (who, whom) his enemy was.

20. In case of a fumble, the ball is given to (whoever, whomever) recovers it.

=B. Agreement=

Determine the correct form of the verb.

1. He (don't, doesn't) care for music.

2. The swimming, boating, and fishing (is, are) good.

3. Each one of the two hands of the clock (is, are) made of gold.

4. The ore is sorted and the cars having good ore (is, are) hauled to the smelter.

5. A deck of ordinary playing cards consisting of fifty-two cards (is, are) used.

6. It is safe to say that only one out of every ten of the great number of students (realizes, realize) the value of economy.

7. In spite of all obstacles, the construction of the three hundred trestles and the twenty scaffolds (was, were) completed.