Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

The simple verb of the predicate may be modified by:

a. An adverb or adverbial phrase; as, "He turned quickly to the right."

b. An indirect or adverbial objective; as, "I gave him money"; "He stayed a day."

c. An absolute word or phrase; as,

"The work being

finished, we repaired to our homes."

d. An infinitive; as, "He left the hall to obey his master's commands."

2. A verb and its object; as, "They built a house."

The object may be: (1) a noun or its equivalent; (2) an infinitive abbreviation for a noun clause ; as, “He felt his face flush."

3. A copula and its complement; as, "He was rich."
4. An incomplete verb and its complement; as, "The time
seems long"; "The tree grows taller."

The complement of 3 and 4 may be :

a. A substantival; as, "That is the man"; "This is he"; "My duty is to die"; "Seeing is believing."

b. An adjectival; as, "They are young"; "He stands firm"; "The building is of wood"; "They seem exhausted."

c. An adverbial; as,

"The hat is here"; "The work

is all-of-a-piece"; "He is here to stay"; "The letter is to be written."

5. A verb completed by a factitive noun or adjective; as,

"They made him king"; "He was made king"; "The pain drove him wild."

All the objects or complements of 2, 3, 4, and 5, whether substantival, adjectival, or adverbial, are themselves subject to modification, each according to its nature.

Position. The various modifiers may sometimes occupy dif ferent positions in a sentence. It is, however, a good general rule that words and phrases should be placed as near as possible to the words they qualify.

EXERCISE I.

SIMPLE SENTENCES.

1. Enlarge the subjects and the predicates of each of the following simple sentences in as many ways as you can:

[blocks in formation]

2. Combine each of the following groups of statements into a simple sentence:

a. I pursued my walk. I pursued it to a door. The door was arched. It opened. It opened to the interior of the abbey. b. She was a maiden. She was born in the country. She was shy. She was simple. She was sweet. She was different from those reared in towns. They are boisterous. They are romping.

c. His head was small. It was flat. It was flat on top. His ears were huge. His eyes were large. They were green. They were glassy.

d. Night came. with her mantle.

stars.

She came to receive their form. She came
It was bespangled. It was bespangled with

3. Analyze the following into simple sentences:

a. An old, thick-set peasant, in rags, is driving his plough in the field.

b. She seemed to have survived all love, all friendship, all society.

c. The faltering voice of the poor old woman rose to heaven far before the responses of the clerk, the swell of the organ, or the chanting of the choir.

d. There lived Baron Landshort, the oracle of his table, the absolute monarch of his little territory, and happy above all things in the possession of superior wisdom.

e. His head was covered with a brown wig, faded and shrunk from time and use, a fringe of thin grizzled hair showing below it at the sides, and corresponding to his ragged whiskers.

4. Write a simple sentence having for subject (1) a noun (or an adjective, or adverb used as a noun), (2) a pronoun, (3) a verbal (infinitive or gerund), simple or phrasal.

5. Expand by one or more modifiers each of the subjects of the sentences required by the preceding question.

6. Write a number of simple sentences having each a complete verb for predicate.

7. Enlarge the predicate of each of the sentences of the preceding question by an adverb, an adverbial phrase, an indirect or adverbial object, or by a nominative absolute.

8. Write sentences with nouns or pronouns for subjects, then expand the subject of each by an adjective, adjective pronoun, numeral adjective, an adjectival case or phrase, a verbal adjective, or a participial phrase.

9. Write a simple sentence with a copula completed by (1) an adjective of each of the various classes, (2) by a substantival of each kind, (3) by each of the different kinds of adverbial complements.

10. Write simple sentences whose predicates are incomplete verbs, completed as in the last question.

II. Expand each of the complements of the predicates required in the last question by one or more modifiers.

LESSON II.

COMPLEX SENTENCES.

A complex sentence consists of a principal statement with which is combined one or more subordinate statements. It is a simple sentence in which the modifying words or phrases are developed into clauses.

The modifying clauses are of three kinds: (1) substantive, (2) adjectival, (3) adverbial.

1. A substantive clause has the value of a noun and therefore may be :

a. The subject of a verb; as, "That one should be shut out from all society, is unendurable."

b. The object of a verb; as, "I know not what can be done." c. The object of a preposition; as, “I will give the estate to whoever may deserve it."

d. The complement of a verb; as, "The objection is, that people are not disposed to lay this truth to heart."

e. An appositive modifier; as, " Many people are of opinion that whatever is, is best."

f. In the adverbial objective relation; as, "We investigate till we are positive only that we are positive of nothing." A substantive clause may be inserted directly, or introduced by a word of adverbial or conjunctive power. See above.

2. An adjective clause has the value of an attributive or appositive adjective; hence it is always attached to a substantive. An adjective clause may be attached to the words it modifies by:

[ocr errors]

(1) A relative pronoun; as, "Fortunate is he who finds so

merciful a judge."

(2) A relative adverb; as, "It was the day when we last met." (3) A word having the value of a relative pronoun; as, "Such books as I have"; "Not a man but thinks so."

The connecting word may be omitted; as, "They roused me at the hour (at which) I desired to be called."

The antecedent and the connecting relative may be contained in the same word; as, "The actual fact differed materially from what was first reported."

3. An adverbial clause has the value of an adverb and, consequently, qualifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.

An adverbial clause may be connected with the word it modifies by:

[ocr errors]

(1) A subordinate conjunction of time, place, cause, manner, etc. Thus: "As he wended his way back, every sound fluttered his imagination"; "Water goes on contracting till it reaches 39° Fahrenheit"; "War is an evil because it produces human misery."

(2) By words ordinarily used as relative pronouns. Thus: "The man had no covering on his head which (though it) was

defended by his own thick hair."

Each subordinate clause may be modified as if it were a principal clause.

By the omission of easily supplied words a complex sentence is often made to resemble a simple sentence; as, "The supper was twice as good as the dinner" (was good).

EXERCISE II.

COMPLEX SENTENCES.

1. Analyze the following complex sentences into simple sen

tences:

a. We know that this is sometimes a hard lesson.

b. I shall only add that when I awoke I was sorry because I found that my golden scales had vanished.

c. Though the copying of this piece of music was strictly forbidden, yet Mozart, who was then but fourteen years old, determined that he would make himself master of it.

d. It is probable that when this work was begun, which must

« PreviousContinue »