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

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 illustrating every point in these five Cautions_.

 

*

 

LESSON 88.

CONSTRUCTION OF PRONOUNS—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 Washington, 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 class. 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 shiners 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.

CLASSES 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 quantity of it.

Adjectives which limit by expressing quality are called +Descriptive Adjectives+; and those which limit by pointing out, numbering, or denoting quantity 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 God, the blue sky; or (2) when they are attribute complements, denoting qualities asserted 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 pronoun+.[Footnote: Pronouns, 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 pronouns 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 quantity+.[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, brass kettle, small grains, Mansard roof, some feeling, all men, hundredth anniversary, the Pitt diamond, the patient Hannibal, little thread, crushing argument, moving spectacle, the martyr president, tin pans, few people, less trouble, this toy, any book, brave Washington, Washington 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 petition, 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 class—to any one. The is used to distinguish (1) one thing or several things from others, and (2) one class of things from other classes.

+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 title of an earl because gold, gas, and earl are here meant to denote each the whole of a class, and a limits its noun to one thing of a class.

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 class; and the before lot distinguishes the field from the yard or the stable—things in other classes. The horse is a noble animal. Here the distinguishes this class of animals from other classes. 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. 2. Churchill received the title of a duke. 3. A hill is from the same root as column. 4. Dog is a quadruped. 5. I expected some such an offer. 6. The woman is the equal of man. 7. The sculpture is a fine art. 8. Unicorn is kind of a rhinoceros. 9. Oak is harder than the maple.

+Caution.+—Use an, a, or the before each of two or more connected adjectives, when these adjectives modify different nouns, expressed or understood; but, when they modify the same noun, the article should not be repeated.

+Explanation+.—_A cotton and a silk umbrella_ means two umbrellas—one cotton and the other silk; the word umbrella is understood after cotton. A cotton and silk umbrella means one umbrella partly cotton and partly silk; cotton and silk modify the same noun—_umbrella_. The wise and the good means two classes; the wise and good means one class.

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

1. The Northern and Southern Hemisphere. 2. The Northern and the Southern Hemispheres. 3. The right and left hand. 4. A Pullman and Wagner sleeping-coach. 5. The fourth and the fifth verses. 6. The fourth and fifth verse. 7. A Webster’s and Worcester’s dictionary.

+Caution+.—Use an, a, or the before each of two or more connected nouns denoting things that are to be distinguished from each other or emphasized.

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

1. There is a difference between the sin and sinner. 2. We criticise not the dress but address of the speaker. 3. A noun and pronoun are alike in office. 4. Distinguish carefully between an adjective and adverb. 5. The lion, as well as tiger, belongs to the cat tribe. 6. Neither the North Pole nor South Pole has yet been reached. 7. The secretary and treasurer were both absent.

(_The secretary and treasurer was absent_—referring to one person—is correct.)

+Caution+.—_A few_ and a little mean some as opposed to none; few means not many, and little means not much.

+Examples+.—He saved a few things and a little money from the wreck. Few shall part where many meet. Little was said or done about it.

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

1. There are a few pleasant days in March, because it is a stormy month. 2. He saved a little from the fire, as it broke out in the night. 3. Few men live to be & hundred years old, but not many. 4. Little can be done, but not much.

+Direction+.—_Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these Cautions_.

 

*

 

LESSON 91.

CONSTRUCTION OF ADJECTIVES—CONTINUED.

+Caution+.—Choose apt adjectives, but do not use them needlessly; avoid such as repeat the idea or exaggerate it.

+Remark+.—The following adjectives are obviously needless: Good virtues, verdant green, painful toothache, umbrageous shade.

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

1. It was splendid fun. 2. It was a tremendous dew. 3. He used less words than the other speaker. 4. The lad was neither docile nor teachable. 5. The belief in immortality is common and universal. 6. It was a gorgeous apple. 7. The arm-chair was roomy and capacious. 8. It was a lovely bun, but I paid a frightful price for it.

+Caution+.—So place adjectives that there can be no doubt as to what you intend them to modify. If those forming a series are of different rank, place nearest the noun the one most closely modifying it. If they are of the same rank, place them where they will sound best—generally in the order of length, the shortest first.

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

1. A new bottle of wine. 2. The house was comfortable and large. 3. A salt barrel