Practical Exercises in English

by Huber Gray Buehler

Near, nearly.
49. It isn't —— finished yet.
50. We are —— the end of the lesson.
51. I am —— suffocated.
52. We are not —— through our work.
53. He is not —— so young as I.
54. I will answer you as —— as I can remember.
55. We are —— the end of the term; our school-days are —— over.
56. Mr. Patterson came very —— breaking the greatest record ever made in America.

Some, somewhat, something.
57. Thank you, I feel —— better this morning.
58. —— attempted, —— done, has earned a night's repose.
59. He resembles his father ——.
60. She felt —— encouraged by this (these) news.
61. —— evil beast hath devoured him.
62. He knows —— of Arabic.
63. We came back —— sooner than we intended.
64. If a man thinketh himself to be —— when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
65. Dorothy looks —— like her mother.
66. Yes, I'm —— frightened, I admit.
67. It provoked me ——.
68. A widow, —— old, and very poor.

This, these; that, those.
69. You will always see —— kind of man lounging in front of taverns.
70. Take up —— ashes.
71. —— pile of clothes is (are) to be carried to the laundry.
72. —— kind of tree is (are) common in Pennsylvania.
73. —— brass tongs cost three dollars.
74. —— class will be graduated in June.
75. In New England there is not one country-house in fifty which has not its walls ornamented with half a score of poems of —— sort.
76. How do you like —— style of shoe?
77. Do you like —— sort of pen?
78. —— sort of person is always entertaining.
79. Look at —— assortment of knives.
80. Beware of —— kind of dog.
81. Problems of —— sort are very easy to solve.
82. Young ladies should let —— sort of thing alone.

First, second, secondly, etc.
83. I shall —— show why we should worship God, and —— explain how we should worship him.
84. Adam was formed ——, then Eve.
85. Let us consider —— what the young ruler desired; —— what he had; —— what he lacked.
86. My —— proposition is that the measure is unnecessary; my —— that it is unjust; my —— that it is unconstitutional.
87. I will not lie; I will die ——.
88. I like the old English ballads because, ——, they are very quaint; ——, they show the derivations of many of our words; and, ——, they show different steps which our language has taken in becoming what it is.

Adjective or Adverb.[112]—Illiterate persons often forget that adjectives go with nouns and pronouns, but adverbs with verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Even cultivated persons are sometimes in doubt whether to use an adjective or an adverb after certain verbs, as "grow," "look," "sound," "smell," "taste." If the added word applies to the subject of the verb, it should be an adjective; if to the verb, it should be an adverb. We say "We feel warm" when we mean that we are warm; we say "We feel warmly on this subject," when we mean that our feeling is warm. "As a rule, it is proper to use an adjective whenever some form of the verb 'to be' or 'to seem' may be substituted for the verb, an adverb when no such substitution can be made."[113] Thus, "He looked angry; he spoke angrily." Sometimes we may use either adjective or adverb with no difference in meaning: as, "We were sitting quiet (quietly) round the fire."

Regarding the form of adverbs, ill-taught pupils often suppose that all words ending in "-ly" are adverbs, and that all adverbs end in "-ly." A glance at the italicized words in the following expressions will remove this delusion: "Come here;" "very pretty;" "he then rose;" "lay it lengthwise;" "he fell backward;" "run fast;" "now it is done;" "a friendly Indian;" "a buzzing fly." Though no comprehensive rule can be given for the form of adverbs, which must be learned for the most part by observation, it may be helpful to know that most "adjectives of quality," like gentle, true, take the suffix "-ly" to make a corresponding adverb; and that the comparative and superlative degrees of adverbs ending in "-ly" usually prefix more and most.

[112] "Foundations," pp. 120-128.
[113] Ibid., p. 121.

EXERCISE LXIV.

1. Write careful (carefully).
2. His teacher spoke cold (coldly) to him after she found he had acted dishonorable (dishonorably).
3. Speak slow (slowly) and distinct (distinctly).
4. He behaved bad (badly).
5. He is a remarkable (remarkably) good shot.
6. They were in a terrible (terribly) dangerous position.
7. I am only tolerable (tolerably) well, sir.
8. He acted very different (differently) from his brother.
9. It is discouraging to see how bad (badly) the affairs of our nation are sometimes managed.
10. He writes plainer (more plainly) than he once did.
11. You are exceeding (exceedingly) kind.
12. He struggled manful (manfully) against the waves.
13. You have been wrong (wrongly) informed.
14. Sure (surely) he is a fine gentleman.
15. She dresses suitable (suitably) to her station.
16. That part of the work was managed easy (easily) enough.
17. You behaved very proper (properly).
18. I can read easier (more easily) than I can write.
19. She knew her lesson perfect (perfectly) to-day.
20. I live free (freely) from care.
21. Lessons are easiest (most easily) learned in the morning.
22. Walk as quiet (quietly) as you can.
23. He acted independent (independently).
24. He spoke quite decided (decidedly).
25. We ought to value our privileges higher (more highly).
26. He was ill (illy) equipped for the journey.[114]
27. Relative (relatively) to its size, an ant is ten times stronger than a man.
28. That will ill (illy) accord with my notions.[114]
29. He is an exceeding (exceedingly) good boy.
30. One can scarce (scarcely) help smiling at the blindness of this critic.
31. I had studied grammar previous (previously) to his instructing me, but to no purpose.

[114] See page 110.