Higher Lessons in English Part 47

8. The fat, two lazy men.

9. His penmans.h.i.+p is fearful.

10. A white and red flag were flying.

11. His unusual, unexpected, and extraordinary success surprised him.

12. He wanted a apple, an hard apple.

13. A dried box of herrings.

14. He received a honor.

15. Such an use!

16. The day was delightful and warm.

17. Samuel Adams's habits were unostentatious, frugal, and simple.

18. The victory was complete, though a few of the enemy were killed or captured.

19. The truth is mighty and will prevail.

20. The scepter, the miter, and coronet seem to me poor things for great men to contend for.

21. A few can swim across the Straits of Dover, for the width is great and the current strong.

22. I have a contemptible opinion of you.

23. She has less friends than I.

LESSON 92.

CLa.s.sES OF VERBS AND ADVERBS.

+Introductory Hints+.--You learned in Lesson 28 that in saying _Was.h.i.+ngton captured_ we do not fully express the act performed. Adding _Cornwallis_, we complete the predicate by naming the one that receives the act that pa.s.ses over from the doer. _Transitive_ means _pa.s.sing over_, and so all verbs that represent an act as pa.s.sing over from a doer to a receiver are called +Transitive Verbs+. If we say _Cornwallis was captured by Was.h.i.+ngton_, the verb is still transitive; but the object, _Cornwallis_, which names the receiver, is here the subject of the sentence, and not, as before, the object complement. You see that the object, the word that names the receiver of the act, may be the subject, or it may be the object complement.

All verbs that, like _fall_ in _Leaves fall_, do not represent the act as pa.s.sing over to a receiver, and all that express mere being or state of being are called +Intransitive Verbs+.

A verb transitive in one sentence; as, He _writes_ good English, may be intransitive in another; as, He _writes_ well--meaning simply He _is_ a good _writer_. A verb is transitive only when an object is expressed or obviously understood.

_Was.h.i.+ngton captured Cornwallis_. Here _captured_ represents the act as having taken place in past time. _Tense_ means _time_, and hence this verb is in the past tense. _Cornwallis captured, the war speedily closed_. Here _captured_ is, as you have learned, a participle; and, representing the act as past at the time indicated by _closed_, it is a past participle. Notice that _ed_ is added to _capture_ (final _e_ is always dropped when _ed_ is added) to form its past tense and its past participle. All verbs that form the past tense and the past participle by adding _ed_ to the present are called +Regular Verbs+.

All verbs that do not form the past tense and the past participle by adding _ed_ to the present; as, _fall, fell, fallen; go, went, gone_, are called +Irregular Verbs+.

_Early, hereafter, now, often, soon, presently_, etc., used to modify any verb--as, _will go_ in, I _will go soon_--by expressing time, are called +Adverbs of Time+.

_Away, back, elsewhere, hence, out, within_, etc., used to modify any verb--as, _will go_ in, I _will go away_--by expressing direction or place, are called +Adverbs of Place+.

_Exceedingly, hardly, quite, sufficiently, too, very_, etc., used to modify a word--as the adjective _hot_ in, The tea is _very hot_--by expressing degree, are called +Adverbs of Degree+.

_Plainly, so, thus, well, not_, [Footnote: It may be worth remarking that while there are many negative nouns, p.r.o.nouns, verbs, adjectives, and conjunctions in oar language, negation is more frequently expressed in English by the adverb than by any other part of speech--than by all other parts of speech. A very large per cent of these adverbs modify the verb.

That is to say, it is largely through the adverb that what the predicate expresses is declared not to be true of the thing named by the subject. It is very suggestive that much of what is said consists of denial--is taken up in telling not what is true of things but what is not true of them.

"The negative particle in our language is simply the consonant +n+. In Saxon it existed as a word +ne+; but we have lost that word, and it is now a letter only, which, enters into many words, as into _no, not, nought, none, neither, nor, never_."--_Earle_.

_No_ and _yes_ (_nay_ and _yea_), when used to answer Questions, show how the thought presented is regarded, and may therefore be cla.s.sed with adverbs of manner. They are sometimes called _independent adverbs_. They seem to modify words omitted in the answer but contained in the question; as, Did you see him? _No_ = I did _no_ (_not_) see him; Will you go? _Yes_.

The force of _yes_ may be ill.u.s.trated by subst.i.tuting _certainly_--Will you go? _Certainly_. _Certainly_ I will go, or I will _certainly_ go. As _no_ and _yes_ represent or suggest complete answers, they may be called +sentence-words+.] etc., used to modify a word--as, _spoke_ in, He _spoke plainly_--by expressing manner, are called +Adverbs of Manner+.

_Hence, therefore, why_, etc., used in making an inference or in expressing cause--as, It is dark, _hence_, or _therefore_, the sun is down; _Why_ is it dark?--are called +Adverbs of Cause+.

Some adverbs fall into more than one cla.s.s; as, _so_ and _as_.

Some adverbs, as you have learned, connect clauses, and are therefore called +Conjunctive Adverbs+.

DEFINITIONS.

+A _Verb_ is a word that a.s.serts action, being, or state of being+.

CLa.s.sES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO MEANING.

+A _Transitive Verb_ is one that requires an object+. [Footnote: The +object+ of a transitive verb, that is, the name of the receiver of the action, may be the +object complement+, or it may be the +subject+; as, Brutus stabbed _Caesar_; _Caesar_ was stabbed by Brutus. See page 187.]

+An _Intransitive Verb_ is one that does not require an object+.

CLa.s.sES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO FORM.

+A _Regular Verb_ is one that forms its past tense and past participle by adding _ed_ to the present+.

+An _Irregular Verb_ is one that does not form its past tense and past participle by adding _ed_ to the present+.

+An _Adverb_ is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.

[Footnote: Adverbs have several exceptional uses. They may be used independently; as, _Now, there_ must be an error here. They may modify a phrase or a preposition; as, He came _just_ in time; It went _far_ beyond the mark. They may modify a clause or a sentence; as, He let go _simply_ because he was exhausted; _Certainly_ you may go.

It may also be noted here that adverbs are used interrogatively; as, _How, when_, and _where_ is this to be done? and that they may add to the office of the adverb that of the conjunction; as, I go _where_ I am sent.]

CLa.s.sES OF ADVERBS.

+_Adverbs of Time_ are those that generally answer the question+, _When?_

+_Adverbs of Place_ are those that generally answer the question+, _Where?_

+_Adverbs of Degree_ are those that generally answer the question+, _To what extent?_

+_Adverbs of Manner_ are those that generally answer the question+, _In what way?_

+_Adverbs of Cause_ are those that generally answer the question+, _Why?_

+Direction+.--_Point out the transitive and the intransitive, the regular and the irregular verbs in Lesson_ 14, _and cla.s.sify the adverbs_.

LESSON 93.

CONSTRUCTION OF ADVERBS.

+Caution+.--Choose apt adverbs, but do not use them needlessly or instead of other forms of expression; avoid such as repeat the idea or exaggerate it.

+Examples+.--I could _ill_ (not _illy_) afford the time. Do _as_ (not _like_) I do. A diphthong is _the union of_ two vowels (not _where_ or _when_ two vowels unite) in the same syllable. _This_ (not _this here_ or _this 'ere_) sentence is correct. He wrote _that_ (not _how that_) he had been sick. The belief in immortality is _universally_ held (not _universally_ held _everywhere_). His nose was _very_ (not _terribly_ or _frightfully_) red,

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