Graded Lessons in English - Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg (classic reads txt) 📗

antelopes, and kangaroos can jump. Here the three nouns are of the same rank in the sentence. All are subjects of can jump. War has ceased, and peace has come. In this compound sentence, there are two clauses of the same rank. The word and connects the subjects of can jump, in the first sentence: and the two clauses, in the second. All words that connect words, phrases, or clauses of the same rank are called +Co-ordinate Conjunctions+.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. I will go, because you need me. Here if joins the clause, you have tears, as a modifier, expressing condition, to the independent clause, prepare to shed them now; and because connects you need me, as a modifier, expressing reason or cause, to the independent clause, I will go. These and all such conjunctions as connect dependent clauses to clauses of a higher rank are called +Subordinate Conjunctions+.

Let the teacher illustrate the meaning and use of the words subordinate and co-ordinate.

 

DEFINITIONS.

+_Co-ordinate Conjunctions_ are such as connect words, phrases, or clauses of the same rank+.

+_Subordinate Conjunctions_ are such as connect clauses of different rank+.

SENTENCE-BUILDING.

Build four short sentences for each of the three co-ordinate conjunctions that follow. In the first, let the conjunction be used to connect principal parts of a sentence; in the second, to connect word modifiers; in the third, to connect phrase modifiers; and in the fourth, to connect independent clauses.

And, or, but.

Write four short complex sentences containing the four subordinate conjunctions that follow. Let the first be used to introduce a noun clause, and the other three to connect adverb clauses to independent clauses.

That, for, if, because.

 

LESSON 77.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

What new subject begins with page 95? Name and define the different classes of nouns. Illustrate by examples the difference between common nouns and proper nouns. Name and define the different classes of pronouns. Can the pronoun I be used to stand for the one spoken to?—the one spoken of? Does the relative pronoun distinguish by its form the speaker, the one spoken to, and the one spoken of? Illustrate. Can any other class of pronouns be used to connect clauses?

For what do interrogative pronouns stand? Illustrate. Where may the antecedent of an interrogative pronoun generally be found? Ans.—The antecedent of an interrogative pronoun may generally lie found in the answer to the question.

Name and define the different classes of adjectives. Give an example of each class. Name and define the different classes of verbs, made with respect to their meaning. Give an example of each class. Name and define the different classes of verbs, made with respect to their form. Give an example of each class.

Name and define the different classes of adverbs. Give examples of each kind. Name and define the different classes of conjunctions. Illustrate by examples.

Are prepositions and interjections subdivided? (See “Schemes” for the conjunction, the preposition, and the interjection, p. 188.)

+To the Teacher+.—See COMPOSITION EXERCISES in the Supplement— Selection from Dr. John Brown.

We suggest that other selections from literature be made and these exercises continued.

 

MODIFICATIONS OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

 

LESSON 78.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.

You have learned that two words may express a thought, and that the thought may be varied by adding modifying words. You are now to learn that the meaning or use of a word may sometimes be changed by simply changing its form. The English language has lost many of its inflections, or forms, so that frequently changes in the meaning and use of words are not marked by changes in form. These changes in the form, meaning, and use of the parts of speech, we call their +Modifications+.

The boy shouts. The boys shout. I have changed the form of the subject boy by adding an s to it. The meaning has changed. Boy denotes one lad; boys, two or more lads. This change in the form and meaning of nouns is called +Number+. The word boy, denoting one thing, is in the +Singular Number;+ and boys, denoting more than one thing, is in the +Plural Number+.

Let the teacher write other nouns on the board, and require the pupils to form the plural of them.

 

DEFINITIONS.

+_Modifications of the Parts of Speech_ are changes in their form, meaning, and use+.

NUMBER.

+Number is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes one thing or more than one+.

+The Singular Number denotes one thing+.

+The Plural Number denotes more than one thing+.

+RULE.—The plural of nouns is regularly formed by adding s to the singular+.

 

Write the plural of the following nouns.

Tree, bird, insect, cricket, grasshopper, wing, stick, stone, flower, meadow, pasture, grove, worm, bug, cow, eagle, hawk, wren, plough, shovel.

When a singular noun ends in the sound of s, x, z, sh, or ch, it is not easy to add the sound of s, so es is added to make another syllable.

Write the plural of the following nouns.

Guess, box, topaz, lash, birch, compass, fox, waltz, sash, bench, gas, tax, adz, brush, arch.

Many nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant form the plural by adding es without increasing the number of syllables.

Write the plural of the following nouns.

Hero, cargo, negro, potato, echo, volcano, mosquito, motto.

Common nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form the plural by changing y into i and adding es without increasing the number of syllables.

Write the plural of the following nouns.

Lady, balcony, family, city, country, daisy, fairy, cherry, study, sky.

Some nouns ending in f and fe form the plural by changing f or fe into ves without increasing the number of syllables.

Write the plural of the following nouns.

Sheaf, loaf, beef, thief, calf, half, elf, shelf, self, wolf, life, knife, wife.

 

LESSON 79.

NUMBER.

From the following list of nouns, select, and write in separate columns: 1st. Those that have no plural; 2d. Those that have no singular; 3d. Those that are alike in both numbers.

Pride, wages, trousers, cider, suds, victuals, milk, riches, flax, courage, sheep, deer, flour, idleness, tidings, thanks, ashes, scissors, swine, heathen.

The following nouns have very irregular plurals. Learn to spell the plurals.

Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Man, men. Foot, feet. Woman, women. Ox, oxen. Child, children. Tooth, teeth. Mouse, mice. Goose, geese.

 

Learn the following plurals and compare them with the groups in the preceding Lesson.

Moneys, flies, chimneys, valleys, stories, berries, lilies, turkeys, monkeys, cuckoos, pianos, vetoes, solos, folios, gulfs, chiefs, leaves, roofs, scarfs, inches.

 

LESSON 80.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.—GENDER.

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—_The lion was caged. The lioness was caged_. In the first sentence, something was said about a male lion; and in the second, something was said about a female lion. Modifications of the noun to denote the sex of the object, we call +Gender+. Knowing the sex of the object, you know the gender of its name. The word lion, denoting a male animal, is in the +Masculine Gender;+ and lioness, denoting a female lion, is in the +Feminine Gender+.

The names of things without sex are in the +Neuter Gender+.

Such words as cousin, child, friend, neighbor, may be either masculine or feminine.

 

+DEFINITIONS.

Gender is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes sex.

The Masculine Gender denotes the male sex.

The Feminine Gender denotes the female sex.

The Neuter Gender denotes want of sex+.

The masculine is distinguished from the feminine in three ways:—

1st. By a difference in the ending of the nouns.

2d. By different words in the compound names.

3d. By words wholly or radically different.

Arrange the following pairs in separate columns with reference to these ways.

Abbot, abbess; actor, actress; Francis, Frances; Jesse, Jessie; bachelor, maid; beau, belle; monk, nun; gander, goose; administrator, administratrix; baron, baroness; count, countess; czar, czarina; don, donna; boy, girl; drake, duck; lord, lady; nephew, niece; landlord, landlady; gentleman, gentlewoman; peacock, peahen; duke, duchess; hero, heroine; host, hostess; Jew, Jewess; man-servant, maid-servant; sir, madam; wizard, witch; marquis, marchioness; widow, widower; heir, heiress; Paul, Pauline; Augustus, Augusta.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

What new way of varying the meaning of words is introduced in Lesson 78? Illustrate. What are modifications of the parts of speech? What is number? How many numbers are there? Name and define each. Give the rule for forming the plural of nouns. Illustrate the variations of this rule. What is gender? How many genders are there? Name and define each. In how many ways are the genders distinguished? Illustrate.

 

LESSON 81.

NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.—PERSON AND CASE.

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—Number and gender, as you have already learned, are modifications affecting the meaning of nouns and pronouns. Number is almost always indicated by the ending; gender, sometimes. There are two other modifications which refer not to changes in the meaning of nouns and pronouns, but to their different uses and relations. In the English language, these changes are not often indicated by a change of form.

I Paul have written. Paul, thou art beside thyself. He brought Paul before Agrippa. In these three sentences the word Paul has three different uses. In the first, it is used as the name of the speaker; in the second, as the name of one spoken to; in the third, as the name of one spoken of. You will notice that the form of the noun was not changed. This change in the use of nouns and pronouns is called +Person+. The word I in the first sentence, the word thou in the second, and the word he in the third have each a different use. I, thou, and he are personal pronouns, and, as you have learned, distinguish person by their form. I, denoting the speaker, is in the +First Person+; thou, denoting the one spoken to, is in the +Second Person+; and he, denoting the one spoken of, is in the +Third Person+.

Personal pronouns and verbs are the only words that distinguish person by their form.

The bear killed the man. The man killed the bear. The bear’s grease was made into hair oil. In the first sentence, the bear is represented as performing an action; in the second, as receiving an action; in the third, as possessing something. So the word bear in these sentences has three different uses. These uses of nouns are called +Cases+. The use of a noun as subject is called the +Nominative Case+; its use as object is called the +Objective Case+; and its use to denote possession is called the +Possessive Case+.

The possessive is the only case of nouns that is indicated by a change in form.

A noun or pronoun used as an attribute complement is in the nominative case. A noun or pronoun following a preposition as the principal word of a phrase is in the objective case. I and he are nominative forms. Me and him are objective forms.

The following sentences are therefore incorrect: It is me; It is him; Me gave the pen to he.

+DEFINITIONS.

Person is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes the speaker, the one spoken to, or the one spoken of.

The First Person