Higher Lessons in English by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg (small books to read TXT) 📖

itself or suspended in cisterns of clouds, that it may drop them as rain or dew upon the thirsty earth.

The +adverb clause+ may express +concession+.

10. Although the brain is only one-fortieth of the body, about one-sixth of the blood is sent to it. 11. Though the atmosphere presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface, still we do not feel its weight. 12. Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. 13. If the War of the Roses did not utterly destroy English freedom, it arrested its progress for a hundred years.

+Explanation+.—If here = even if = though.

14. Though many rivers flow into the Mediterranean, they are not sufficient to make up the loss caused by evaporation.

 

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LESSON 66.

COMPOSITION-ADVERB CLAUSES.

+COMMA—RULE.—An Adverb Clause is set off by the comma unless it closely follows and restricts the word it modifies+.

+Explanation+.—I met him in Paris, when I was last abroad. I will not call him villain, because it would be unparliamentary. Paper was invented in China, if the Chinese tell the truth. In these sentences the adverb clauses are not restrictive, but are supplementary, and are added almost as afterthoughts.

Glass bends easily when it is red-hot. Leaves do not turn red because the frost colors them. It will break if you touch it. Here the adverb clauses are restrictive; each is very closely related in thought to the independent clause, and may almost be said to be the essential part of the sentence.

When the adverb clause precedes, it is set off.

+Direction+.–_Tell why the adverb clauses are or are not set off in Lessons_ 63 and 64.

+Direction+.–_Write, after these independent clauses, adverb clauses of time, place, degree, etc. (for connectives, see Lesson 100), and punctuate according to the Rule_:—

1. The leaves of the water-maple turn red—time. 2. Our eyes cannot bear the light—time. 3. Millions of soldiers sleep—place. 4. The Bunker Hill Monument stands—place. 5. Every spire of grass was so edged and tipped with dew—_degree_. 6. Vesuvius threw its lava so far—_degree_. 7. The tree is inclined—_manner_. 8. The lion springs upon his prey—_manner_. 9. Many persons died in the Black Hole of Calcutta—_cause_. 10. Dew does not form in a cloudy night—_cause_. 11. That thunderbolt fell a mile away—_evidence_. 12. We dream in our sleep—_evidence_. 13. Peter the Great worked in Holland in disguise—_purpose_. 14. We put salt into butter and upon meat—_purpose_. 15. Iron bends and molds easily—_condition_. 16. Apples would not fall to the ground—_condition_. 17. Europe conquered Napoleon at last—_concession_. 18. Punishment follows every violation of nature’s laws—_concession_.

 

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LESSON 67.

+COMPOSITION-ADVERB CLASSES+.

ARRANGEMENT.

The adverb clause may stand before the independent clause, between the parts of it, or after it.

+Direction+.–_Think, if you can, of another adverb clause to follow each independent clause in the preceding Lesson, and by means of a caret (^) indicate where this adverb clause may properly stand in the sentence. Note its force in its several positions, and attend to the punctuation. Some of these adverb clauses can stand only at the end_.

 

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LESSON 68.

COMPOSITION—ADVERB CLAUSES.

An adverb clause may be contracted into a participle or a participle phrase.

+Example+.—_When he saw me_, he stopped = Seeing me, he stopped.

+Direction+.—_Contract these complex sentences to simple ones_:—

1. Coral animals, when they die, form vast islands with their bodies. 2. The water will freeze, for it has cooled to 32 deg. 3. Truth, though she may be crushed to earth, will rise again. 4. Error, if he is wounded, writhes with pain, and dies among his worshipers. 5. Black clothes are too warm in summer, because they absorb heat.

An adverb clause may be contracted to an absolute phrase.

+Example+.—_When night came_ on, we gave up the chase = Night coming on, we gave up the chase.

+Direction+.—_Contract these complex sentences to simple ones_:—

1. When oxygen and carbon unite in the minute blood-vessels, heat is produced. 2. It will rain to-morrow, for “Probabilities” predicts it. 3. Washington retreated from Long Island because his army was outnumbered. 4. If Chaucer is called the father of our later English poetry, Wycliffe should be called the father of our later English prose.

An adverb clause may be contracted to a prepositional phrase having for its principal word (1) a participle, (2) an infinitive, or (3) a noun.

+Direction+.—_Contract each of these adverb clauses to a prepositional phrase having a participle for its principal word_:—

+Model+.—They will call before they leave the city = They will call before leaving the city.

1. The Gulf Stream reaches Newfoundland before it crosses the Atlantic. 2. If we use household words, we shall be better understood. 3. He grew rich because he attended to his business. 4. Though they persecuted the Christians, they did not exterminate them.

+Direction+.—_Contract each of these adverb clauses to an infinitive phrase_:—

+Model+.—She stoops that she may conquer = She stoops to conquer.

1. The pine tree is so tall that it overlooks all its neighbors. 2. Philip II. built the Armada that he might conquer England. 3. He is foolish, because he leaves school so early in life. 4. What would I not give if I could see you happy! 5. We are pained when we hear God’s name used irreverently.

+Direction+.—_Contract each of these adverb clauses to a prepositional phrase having a noun for its principal word_:—

+Model+.—He fought that he might obtain glory = He fought for glory.

1. Luther died where he was born. 2. A fish breathes, though it has no lungs. 3. The general marched as he was ordered. 4. Criminals are punished that society may be safe. 5. If you are free from vices, you may expect a happy old age.

An adverb clause may be contracted by simply omitting such words as may easily be supplied.

+Example+.—_When you are right_, go ahead = When right, go ahead.

+Direction+.—_Contract these adverb clauses_:—

1. Chevalier Bayard was killed while he was fighting for Francis I. 2. Error must yield, however strongly it may be defended.

+Explanation+.—However modifies strongly, and connects a concessive clause.

3. Much wealth is corpulence, if it is not disease. 4. No other English author has uttered so many pithy sayings as Shakespeare has uttered.

(Frequently, clauses introduced by as and than are contracted.)

5. The sun is many times larger than the earth is large.

(Sentences like this never appear in the full form.)

6. This is a prose era rather than it is a poetic era.

An adverb clause may sometimes be changed to an adjective clause or phrase.

+Example+.—This man is to be pitied, because he has no friends = This man, who has no friends, is to be pitied = This man, having no friends, is to be pitied = This man, without friends, is to be pitied.

+Direction+.—_Change each of the following adverb clauses first to an adjective clause and then to an adjective phrase_:—

1. A man is to be pitied if he does not care for music. 2. When a man lacks health, wealth, and friends, he lacks three good things.

 

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LESSON 69.

ANALYSIS.

+Direction.+—_Tell the kind of adverb clause in each of the sentences in Lesson 68, and note the different positions in which these clauses stand.

Select two sentences containing time clauses; one, a place clause; two, degree; one, manner; two, real cause; two, evidence; two, purpose; two, condition; and two, concession, and analyze them_.

 

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LESSON 70.

REVIEW.

+Direction.+—_Compose sentences illustrating the different kinds of adverb clauses named in Lessons 63, 64, 65, and explain fully the office of each. For connectives, see Lesson 100. Tell why the adverb clauses in Lesson 68 are or are not set off by the comma. Compose sentences illustrating the different ways of contracting adverb clauses_.

+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.+

(SEE PAGES 165-168.)

TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, pages 30, 150.

 

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LESSON 71.

THE COMPLEX SENTENCE-NOUN CLAUSE.

+Introductory Hints.+—In Lessons 40 and 41 you learned that an infinitive phrase may perform many of the offices of a noun. You are now to learn that a clause may do the same.

Obedience is better than sacrifice = To obey is better than sacrifice = That men should obey is better than sacrifice. The dependent clause that men should obey is equivalent to a noun, and is the +Subject+ of is.

Many people believe that the beech tree is never struck by lightning. The dependent clause, introduced by that, is equivalent to a noun, and is the +Object Complement+ of believe.

The fact that mold, mildew, and yeast are plants is wonderful. The clause introduced by that is equivalent to a noun, and is +Explanatory+ of fact.

A peculiarity of English is, that it has so many borrowed words. The clause introduced by that is equivalent to a noun, and is an +Attribute Complement+ relating to peculiarity.

Your future depends very much on who your companions are. The clause who your companions are is equivalent to a noun, and is the +Principal Term+ of a +Phrase+ introduced by the preposition on.

A clause that does the work of a noun is a +Noun Clause+.

 

Analysis.

The +noun clause+ may be used as +subject+.

1. That the earth is round has been proved.

 

That

––— ‘

earth | is ‘ round ––-|––––— the | | | / | has been proved =============|================= |

+Explanation+.—The clause that the earth is round is used like a noun as the subject of has been proved. The conjunction that [Footnote: “That was originally the neuter demonstrative pronoun, used to point to the fact stated in an independent sentence; as, It was good; he saw that. By an inversion of the order this became, He saw that (namely) it was good, and so passed into the form He saw that it was good, where that has been transferred to the accessory clause, and has become a mere sign of grammatical subordination.”—_C. P. Mason._] introduces the noun clause.

This is a peculiar kind of complex sentence. Strictly speaking, there is here no principal clause, for the whole sentence cannot be called a clause, i.e., a part of a sentence. We may say that it is a complex sentence in which the whole sentence takes the place of a principal clause.

2. That the same word is used for the soul of man and for a glass of gin is singular. 3. “What have I done?” is asked by the knave and the thief. 4. Who was the discoverer of America is not yet fully determined by historians.

+Explanation+.—The subject clause is here an indirect question. See Lesson

74.

 

5. When letters were first used is not certainly known. 6. “Where is Abel, thy brother?” smote the ears of the guilty Cain. 7. When to quit business and enjoy their wealth is a problem never solved by some.

+Explanation+.—_When to quit business and enjoy their wealth_ is an indirect question. When to quit business = When they are to quit business, or When they ought to quit business. Such constructions may be expanded into clauses, or they may be treated as phrases equivalent