+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 of pork. 4. It was a blue soft beautiful sky. 5. A fried dish of bacon. 6. We saw in the distance a precipitous, barren, towering mountain. 7. Two gray fiery little eyes. 8. A docile and mild pupil. 9. A pupil, docile and mild.
+Direction+.—Write correct sentences illustrating every point in these two Cautions.
Miscellaneous Errors.
+Direction+.—Give the Cautions which these expressions violate, and correct the errors:—
1. I can bear the heat of summer, but not cold of winter. 2. The North and South Pole. 3. The eldest son of a duke is called a marquis. 4. He had deceived me, and so I had a little faith in him. 5. An old and young man. 6. A prodigious snowball hit my cheek. 7. The evil is intolerable and not to be borne. 8. The fat, two lazy men. 9. His penmanship 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.
CLASSES OF VERBS AND ADVERBS.
+Introductory Hints+.—You learned in Lesson 28 that in saying Washington captured we do not fully express the act performed. Adding Cornwallis, we complete the predicate by naming the one that receives the act that passes over from the doer. Transitive means passing over, and so all verbs that represent an act as passing over from a doer to a receiver are called +Transitive Verbs+. If we say Cornwallis was captured by Washington, 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 passing 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.
Washington 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, pronouns, 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 classed 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 illustrated by substituting 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 class; as, so and as.
Some adverbs, as you have learned, connect clauses, and are therefore called +Conjunctive Adverbs+.