Higher Lessons in English Part 45

1. Talent speaks learnedly at the bar; tact, triumphantly: this is complimented by the bench; that gets the fees.

2. Charles XII. and Peter the Great were sovereigns: the one was loved by his people; the other was hated.

3. The selfish and the benevolent are found in every community; these are shunned, while those are sought after.

+Direction+.--_Write correct sentences ill.u.s.trating every point in these five Cautions_.

LESSON 88.

CONSTRUCTION OF p.r.o.nOUNS--CONTINUED.

Miscellaneous Errors.

+Direction+.--_Give the Cautions which these sentences violate, and correct the errors_:--

1. He who does all which he can does enough.

2. John's father died before he was born.

3. Whales are the largest animals which swim.

4. Boys who study hard, and that study wisely make progress.

5. There are miners that live below ground, and who seldom see the light.

6. He did that what was right.

7. General Lee, that served under Was.h.i.+ngton, had been a British officer.

8. A man should sit down and count the cost who is about to build a house.

9. They need no spectacles that are blind.

10. They buy no books who are not able to read.

11. Cotton, that is a plant, is woven into cloth.

12. Do you know that gentleman that is speaking?

13. There is no book which, when we look through it sharply, we cannot find mistakes in it.

14. The reporter which said that was deceived.

15. The diamond, that is pure carbon, is a brilliant gem.

16. The brakemen and the cattle which were on the train were killed.

17. _Reputation_ and _character_ do not mean the same thing: the one denotes what we are; the other, what we are thought to be.

18. Kosciusko having come to this country, he aided us in our Revolutionary struggle.

19. What pleased me much, and which was spoken of by others, was the general appearance of the cla.s.s.

20. There are many boys whose fathers and mothers died when they were infants.

21. Witness said that his wife's father came to his house, and he ordered him out, but he refused to go.

22. Shall you be able to sell them boots?

23. I don't know but what I may.

24. Beer and wine are favorite drinks abroad: the one is made from grapes; the other, from barley.

25. There is one marked difference between s.h.i.+ners and trout; these have scales, and those have not.

26. They know little of men, who reason thus.

27. Help thyself, and Heaven will help you.

LESSON 89.

CLa.s.sES OF ADJECTIVES.

+Introductory Hints+.--You learned in Lesson 12 that, in the sentences _Ripe apples are healthful, Unripe apples are hurtful_, the adjectives _ripe_ and _unripe_ limit, or narrow, the application of _apples_ by describing, or by expressing certain qualities of the fruit. You learned also that _the_, _this_, _an_, _no_, _some_, and _many_ limit, or narrow, the application of any noun which they modify, as _apple_ or _apples_, by pointing out the particular fruit, by numbering it, or by denoting the quant.i.ty of it.

Adjectives which limit by expressing quality are called +Descriptive Adjectives+; and those which limit by pointing out, numbering, or denoting quant.i.ty are called +Definitive Adjectives+.

Adjectives modifying a noun do not limit, or narrow, its application (1) when they denote qualities that always belong to the thing named; as, _yellow_ gold, the _good_ G.o.d, the _blue_ sky; or (2) when they are attribute complements, denoting qualities a.s.serted by the verb; as, The fields were _green_; The ground was _dry_ and _hard_.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+An _Adjective_ is a word used to modify a noun or a p.r.o.noun+.[Footnote: p.r.o.nouns, like nouns, are often modified by an "appositive" adjective, that is, an adjective joined loosely without restricting: thus--_Faint_ and _weary_, _he_ struggled on or, _He_, _faint_ and _weary_, struggled on.

Adjectives that complete the predicate belong as freely to p.r.o.nouns as to nouns.]

+A _Descriptive Adjective_ is one that modifies by expressing quality+.

+A _Definitive Adjective_ is one that modifies by pointing out, numbering, or denoting quant.i.ty+.[Footnote: The definitive adjectives _one_, _two_, _three_, etc.; _first_, _second_, _third_, etc. are called +Numeral+ adjectives. _One_, _two_, _three_, etc. are called +Cardinal+ numerals; and _first_, _second_, _third_--etc. are called +Ordinal+ numerals]

The definitive adjectives _an_ or _a_ and _the_ are commonly called +Articles+. _An_ or _a_ is called the _Indefinite Article_, and _the_ is called the _Definite Article_.

A noun may take the place of an adjective.

+Examples+.--_London_ journals, the _New York_ press, _silver_ spoons, _diamond_ pin, _state_ papers, _gold_ bracelet.

+Direction+.--_Point out the descriptive and the definitive adjectives below, and name such as do not limit_:--

Able statesmen, much rain, ten mice, bra.s.s kettle, small grains, Mansard roof, some feeling, all men, hundredth anniversary, the Pitt diamond, the patient Hannibal, little thread, crus.h.i.+ng argument, moving spectacle, the martyr president, tin pans, few people, less trouble, this toy, any book, brave Was.h.i.+ngton, Was.h.i.+ngton market, three cats, slender cord, that libel, happy children, the broad Atlantic, The huge clouds were dark and threatening, Eyes are bright, What name was given? Which book is wanted?

+Direction+.--_Point out the descriptive and the definitive adjectives in Lessons 80 and 81, and tell whether they denote color, motion, shape, position, size, moral qualities, or whether they modify in some other way_.

LESSON 90.

CONSTRUCTION OF ADJECTIVES.

+Caution+.--_An_ and _a_ are different forms of _one_. _An_ is used before vowel sounds. For the sake of euphony, _an_ drops _n_ and becomes _a_ before consonant sounds.[Footnote: Some writers still use _an_ before words beginning with unaccented _h_; as, _an historian_.]

+Examples+.--_An_ inkstand, _a_ bag, _a_ historian, _a_ humble pet.i.tion, _an_ hour (_h_ is silent), _a_ unit (_unit_ begins with the consonant sound of _y_), such _a_ one (_one_ begins with the consonant sound of _w_).

+Direction+.--_Study the Caution, and correct these errors_:--

A heir, a inheritance, an hook, an ewer, an usurper, a account, an uniform, an hundred, a umpire, an hard apple, an hero.

+Caution.+--_An_ or _a_ is used to limit a noun to one thing of a cla.s.s--to any one. _The_ is used to distinguish (1) one thing or several things from others, and (2) one cla.s.s of things from other cla.s.ses.

+Explanation.+--We can say _a horse_, meaning _any one horse_; but we cannot say, _A gold_ is heavy, This is a poor kind of a _gas_, William Pitt received the t.i.tle of _an earl_ because _gold, gas,_ and _earl_ are here meant to denote each the whole of a cla.s.s, and a limits its noun to one thing of a cla.s.s.

_The horse_ or _the horses_ must be turned into _the lot_. Here _the_ before _horse_ distinguishes a certain animal, and the before horses distinguishes certain animals, from others of the same cla.s.s; and _the_ before _lot_ distinguishes the field from the yard or the stable--things in other cla.s.ses. _The horse_ is a n.o.ble animal. Here _the_ distinguishes _this cla.s.s_ of animals from other cla.s.ses. But we cannot say, _The man_ (meaning the race) is mortal, _The anger_ is a short madness, _The truth_ is eternal, _The poetry_ and _the painting_ are fine arts, because _man, anger, truth, poetry,_ and _painting_ are used in their widest sense, and name things that are sufficiently distinguished without _the_.

+Direction.+--_Study the Caution as explained, and correct these errors_:--

1. This is another kind of a sentence.