Composition-Rhetoric Part 71

+47. Irregular Comparison of Adjectives.+--A few adjectives are compared irregularly. These adjectives are in common use and we should be familiar with the correct forms.

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

bad } evil } worse worst ill }

far farther farthest

good } better best well }

fore former { foremost { first

late { later { latest { latter { last

little less least

many } more most much }

near nearer { nearest { next

old { older { oldest { elder { eldest

The following words are used as adverbs or prepositions in the positive degree, and as _adjectives_ in the other two degrees:--

(forth) further furthest

(in) inner { innermost { inmost

(out) { outer { outermost { utter { utmost { uttermost

(up) upper { upmost { uppermost

+48. Cautions concerning the Use of Adjectives.+

1. When two or more adjectives modify the same noun, the article is placed only before the first, unless emphasis is desired: [He is an industrious, faithful pupil].

2. If the adjectives refer to different things, the article should be repeated before each adjective: [She has a white and a blue dress].

3. When two or more nouns are in apposition, the article is placed only before the first: [I received a telegram from Mr. Richards, _the_ broker and real estate agent].

4. _This, these, that_, and _those_ must agree in number with the noun they modify: [_This kind_ of flowers; _those sorts_ of seeds].

5. When but two things are compared, the comparative degree is used: [This is the more complete of the two].

6. When _than_ is used after a comparative, whatever is compared should be excluded from the cla.s.s with which it is compared: [I like this house better than any other house; not, I like this house better than any house].

7. Do not use _a_ after _kind of, sort of_, etc.: [What kind of man is he? (not, What kind of _a_ man)]. _One_ man does not const.i.tute a cla.s.s consisting of many kinds.

+49. Constructions of Adjectives.+--Adjectives that merely describe or limit are said to be _attributive_ in construction. When the adjective limits or describes, and, at the same time, adds to the predicate, it is called a _predicate adjective_.Predicate adjectives may be used either as attribute or objective complements: [The sea is _rough_ to-day (attribute complement), He painted the boat _green_ (objective complement)].

+50. Equivalents for Adjectives.+--The following are used as equivalents for the typical adjective:--

1. A noun used in apposition: [Barrie's story of his mother, "_Margaret Ogilvy_," is very beautiful].

2. A noun used as an adjective: [A _campaign_ song].

3. A prepositional phrase: [His little, nameless, unremember'd acts _of kindness_ and _of love_].

4. Participles or participial phrases: [We saw a brook _running_ between the alders. Soldiers _hired to serve a foreign country_ are called mercenaries].

5. Relative clauses: [This is the house _that Jack built_].

6. An adverb (sometimes called the _locative_ adjective): [The book _here_ is the one I want].

VERBS

+51. Uses of Verbs.+--A _verb_ is the word or word-group that makes an a.s.sertion or statement, and it is therefore the most important part of the whole sentence. It has been already shown that such a verb as _speaks_ serves the double purpose of suggesting an activity and showing relation.

The most purely _relational_ verb is the verb _to be_, which is called the _copula_ or _linking verb_, for the very reason that it joins predicate words to the subject: [The lake _is_ beautiful]. _To be_, however, is not always a pure _copula_. In such a sentence as, "He that cometh to G.o.d must believe that He _is_," the word _is_ means _exists_.Verbs that are like the copula, such as, _appear, become, seem_, etc., are called _copulative_ verbs. Verbs that not only are relational but have descriptive power, such as _sings, plays, runs_, etc., are called _attributive_ verbs. They attribute some quality or characteristic to the subject.

+52. Cla.s.ses of Verbs.+--According to their uses in a sentence verbs are divided into two cla.s.ses: _transitive_ and _intransitive_.

A _transitive_ verb is one that takes a following substantive, expressed or implied, called the _object_, to designate the receiver or the product of the action: [They seized the _city_. They built a _city_]. The transitive verb may sometimes be used _absolutely_:[The horse eats]. Here the object is implied.

An _intransitive_ verb is one that does not take an object to complete its meaning; or, in other words, an intransitive verb is one that denotes an action, state, or feeling that involves the subject only: [He ran away.

They were standing at the water's edge].

A few verbs in our language are always transitive, and a few others are always intransitive. The verbs _lie_ and _lay, rise_ and _raise, sit_ and _set_, are so frequently misused that attention is here called to them.

The verbs _lie, rise_, and _sit_ (usually) are intransitive in meaning, while the verbs _lay, raise_, and _set_ are transitive. The word _sit_ may sometimes take a reflexive object: [They sat _themselves_ down to rest].

The majority of verbs in our language are either transitive or intransitive, according to the sense in which they are used.

[The fire _burns_ merrily (intransitive).

The fire _burned_ the building (transitive).

The bird _flew_ swiftly (intransitive).

The boy _flew_ his kite (transitive).]

Some intransitive verbs take what is known as a _cognate object_: [He died a n.o.ble _death_.] Here the object repeats the meaning of the verb.