Part 3
=36.= Phrases do not always modify the word they come next to; they modify the word whose meaning they tell something about. In the sentence, “I scrambled through the evergreens to my friend’s little hut just before sunset,” there is no phrase within another phrase, but there are three entirely distinct phrases. What are they?
=37.= A series of phrases consists of two or more phrases each modifying the same word; as, “Ours is a government _of the people_, _for the people_, and _by the people_.” Phrases in a series are separated from each other by a comma. Why do not the phrases in the sentence in § 35 form a series?
It might seem at first thought that the sentence in § 36 contains a series of three phrases; but it does not, for the phrases do not modify the same word. _Through the evergreens_ modifies _scrambled_; _to my friend’s little hut_ modifies _scrambled through the evergreens_. What does the third phrase modify?
In the punctuation of phrases a good deal must be left to the judgment of the writer. That punctuation is best which most clearly reveals the structure and meaning of the sentence.
=Summary.=—A =phrase= is a group of related words having neither a subject nor a predicate, and used like a part of speech.
A phrase is often used like an adjective to modify a noun, or like an adverb to modify a verb.
Phrases in a series are separated from each other by a comma.
=Exercise.=—Select all the phrases in these sentences, and tell what each phrase modifies. Account for the punctuation of the phrases in sentences 2 and 9. Why are commas omitted in sentence 5?
1. I passed a very comfortable night in the carrot bin.
2. The four little rabbits lived with their mother, in a sand bank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.
3. He went along over hills and mountains, and on the third day came to a wide forest.
4. During those long winter evenings I read six of Scott’s novels aloud to my mother.
5. Mr. Jeremy Fisher lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond.
6. On that evening, before sunset, some women were washing clothes on the upper step of the flight that led down into the basin of the Pool of Siloam.
7. On the fourth day after our arrival came a letter from my mamma.
8. Jelly fishes generally float near the surface of the sea, and are often washed up on the shore by the waves.
9. Where no human hand would have dared to rest, the young lions crawled fearlessly—across the knotty muscles of the back, over the sinewy neck, across the death-dealing paws, even between the frightful jaws.
10. Tom arched his back like a contortionist at a circus.
11. The women of the different provinces in Holland are known by their head dresses.
12. The last words rang out like silver trumpets.
13. A farm without a boy would very soon come to grief.
14. In winter I get up at night.
=38.= =Analyzing= a sentence is the process of separating it into its parts, and telling the relation between those parts. In analyzing the sentences in the following exercise proceed according to this outline:—
(1) Tell whether the sentence is declarative or interrogative.
(2) Divide it into subject and predicate.
(3) Select the simple subject and give its modifiers.
(4) Select the simple predicate and give its modifiers.
(5) If a predicate is compound, select the two or more predicate verbs, and then give the modifiers of each.
Tell the exact truth in good, clear English. For example, in analyzing the expression, _the four little rabbits_, do not say that _the_, _four_, and _little_ are adjectives modifying _rabbits_, but say that _rabbits_ is modified by the adjectives _little_, _four_, and _the_. Why should they be given in this order?
=Exercise.=—Analyze sentences 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, and 14 in the exercise on p. 33.
XII. PREPOSITIONS
=39.= In the preceding lesson we considered a phrase as a unit. We shall now examine its structure, and see what parts it is composed of. If we look carefully at these phrases,—
with their mother
to a wide forest
over the sinewy neck
like silver trumpets
we see that the first word is not a noun, a pronoun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. If we try to put this word anywhere else in the phrase, we see that it must come at the beginning; in short, that it is the introductory word of the phrase. If we had only this introductory word given, the word _with_, for instance, we should ask at once _with what?_ or _with whom?_ The answer to this second question is _their mother_, the rest of the phrase.
If we examine the other three phrases in the same way, we shall come to the conclusion that a phrase is made up of two parts: (1) an introductory word, (2) an answer to the question made by putting _whom_ or _what_ after the introductory word. We call the introductory word a =preposition=, and we say that the rest of the phrase is the =object of the preposition=. A preposition is a part of speech.
A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object is called a =prepositional phrase=. Not all phrases are of this kind. We shall study the other kinds later.
=40.= There are not a great many prepositions in the English language, hardly more than a hundred in all. Most of them are short words, and of very great usefulness. Some of the commonest are: _across_, _after_, _before_, _between_, _by_, _for_, _from_, _in_, _over_, _to_, _through_, _toward_, _under_, _with_, _without_.
=41.= The object of a preposition may be a single word, as in the phrase _without fences_, but oftener it is a group of words. The base word of the group is usually a noun. A pronoun also may be the object of a preposition, as in the phrases _for me_, _to him_, _with us_. The object of a preposition may be compound, as in the phrases, _over land and sea_, _by day and night_.
=42.= In Lesson XI, it was pointed out that a phrase modifies a noun or a verb. It does so because the preposition shows a certain relation between its object and the noun or verb that the phrase modifies. In the sentence, “The porters at the German railroad stations are dressed in fine green uniforms,” the preposition _at_ shows a relation of place between the porters and the German railroad stations, and the preposition _in_ shows a relation of manner between the act of dressing and the fine green uniforms.
=Summary.=—A =prepositional phrase= consists of a preposition and its object.
A =preposition= is a word that is used with its object to form a phrase, and shows the relation of its object to the word the phrase modifies.
NOTE.—A prepositional phrase in its natural order consists of (1) the preposition and (2) its object.
The =object= of a preposition is found by asking the question made by putting _whom_ or _what_ after the preposition.
The object of a preposition may be simple or compound.
The base word of the object may be a noun or a pronoun.
=Exercise.=—Select the prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Tell what each phrase modifies. Divide each phrase into preposition and object. Find the base word of the object, and tell what part of speech it is.
1. This monster lives in a den under yonder mountain with a brother of his.
2. I carried both letters in my apron pocket.
3. At the age of ten years he fled from the multiplication table and ran away to sea.
4. In the dusk of spring evenings we sat on the window seat and watched the lights come out on the high bluff and the long bridge.
5.
The stormy March is come at last, With wind, and cloud, and changing skies.
6. With a fair and strong breeze we soon ran into the little cove to the northward of Fort Moultrie.
7. On the projecting bluffs, and occasionally on the very mountain tops, stand the ruins of great castles of the olden times.
8. In the ancient city of London on a certain autumn day in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor family of the name of Canty.
9. Now I was comforted by the thought of a tassel, and an ivory handle, and blue and gold changeable silk.
10. A polar storm can blow for ten days without a break.
11. The aërial path of Hushwing, from his nest in the swamp to his watchtower on the clearing’s edge, led him past the pool and the crouching panther.
12.
All the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter.
What part of speech are these words: _yonder_, sentence 1, _apron_ 2, _multiplication_ 3, _spring_ 4, _very_ 7, _autumn_ 8, _break_ 10?
What is peculiar about the object of _at_ in sentence 5, and of _to_ in sentence 6?
=43.= Good English requires accuracy in the use of prepositions. Study the following prepositions, and avoid errors in their use.
=Among= and =between=. The word _between_ usually refers to only two persons or things, while _among_ refers to more than two.
I walked between my father and my mother.
She walked among us like an angel.
=At= and =in=. We use _in_ when speaking of countries and large cities, _at_ when speaking of villages or buildings.
The train arrives in Los Angeles at noon.
The train stopped at every little station.
=At= and =to=. _At_ conveys the idea of _being_ in a place, and _to_ conveys the idea of _going_ to a place.
Were you at school yesterday?
I came to school early this morning.
My sister is at home.
We speak of going to school, to church, to the factory, to the store, to the office, etc., but we do not use _to_ before _home_. We say “I am _at_ home,” or “Come home,” in the latter case omitting the preposition entirely.
=Beside= and =besides=. _Beside_ means by the side of, and _besides_ means in addition to.
Little Em’ly sat beside David.
Nobody remained besides the old nurse.
=By= and =with=. _By_ refers to the agent, or doer of an action, and _with_ to the instrument, or means employed.
The cherry tree was cut down by George Washington with a little hatchet.
=In= and =into=. _In_ usually conveys the idea of rest, and _into_ of motion.
We stayed in the library all the evening.
Our hostess took us into the Simmons Library.
I went into the Bank.
I put my money in the Bank.
=Off.= This preposition should not be followed by _of_. We should say,
The pitcher fell off the table.
I got off the car.
In place of the word _onto_ we should use _on_ or _upon_.
He climbed upon the roof of the pilot house.
He stepped on a loose board.
Some words are followed by certain prepositions to express certain meanings; as,
_Agree with_ thine adversary.
Brutus _agreed to_ the plan.
Brutus _differed with_ Cassius.
My watch is _different from_ yours.
Imogen _parted from_ him with tears.
Imogen would not _part with_ her bracelet.
Many people _died of_ yellow fever.
I am _sorry for_ the mistake.
=Exercise.=—Supply the correct preposition in each of these sentences, and give your reason in each case:—
1. The fugitive slave ran —— the trees, and took his stand —— two large cypresses.
2. While we were —— New Orleans, we stayed —— the St. Charles Hotel.
3.
And so —— the silent sea I wait the muffled oar.
4. In that Sunday school class there was no girl —— Gertrude.
5. This mark must have been made —— a knife.
6. When you are —— Rome, you must do as the Romans do.
7. Come —— the garden, Maud.
8. Put the silver —— a safe place.
9. John Gilpin’s wig fell —— his head.
10. Get —— this stump so that you can see better.
11. I left the programs —— home.
12. Nobody agrees —— Kate about renting the cottage.
13. Did Will agree —— your plans for the wedding?
14. Charlie differed —— his family about saving his money.
15. An apricot has a different flavor —— a peach.
16. What did the crew die ——?
17. Aren’t you sorry —— his misfortune?
18. The child cried when he parted —— his playthings, and would not be comforted when he parted —— his old playmates.
XIII. TERM OF ADDRESS. EXCLAMATORY NOUN
=44.= When we speak directly to persons, we often call them by name; as,—
Anne, sister Anne, do you see any one coming?
We do this for several reasons,—sometimes for politeness, sometimes to show clearly just whom we are speaking to. This name is not necessary to the structure of the sentence; that is, it forms no part of the subject or the predicate. We say, therefore, that it is =independent=. We call it a =term of address=.
=45.= Sometimes, instead of using a person’s name, we invent a term of address, as when the Arab said to his horse,
“We are far from home, O _racer with the swiftest winds_, but God is with us.”
What noun is the base word of this term of address?
=46.= A term of address may come at the beginning of a sentence, or at the end, or somewhere within the sentence. It must be set off by commas to show that it is independent.
=47.= Sometimes a noun or a noun with modifiers is used as an =exclamation=; thus,—
A rainbow! it is too late in the day for that.
Joy to the world! the Lord has come.
A noun used like _rainbow_ and _joy_ is called an =exclamatory noun=. What feeling does the exclamatory noun in the first sentence express? in the second?
=Summary.=—A =term of address= is a word or a group of words used as a name to show to whom a remark is made.
The base word of a term of address is usually a noun.
An =exclamatory noun= is a noun used to express strong or sudden feeling. It may be modified or unmodified.
When a word or a group of words is no part of the subject or the predicate of a sentence, it is said to be =independent=.
A term of address and an exclamatory noun are independent elements in a sentence.
A term of address is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma.
An exclamatory noun is set off by an exclamation point.
=Exercise.=—Select the terms of address in the following sentences. Find the base word of each. Select also the exclamatory nouns, and tell what feeling they express.
1. Little brother, canst thou raise me to my feet?
2. “Now, my dears,” said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, “you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden.”
3. Indeed I was seeking thee, Flathead, but each time we meet thou art longer and broader by the length of my arm.
4. Come, Lillie, it is time to go to bed.
5. Sweet, sweet home! there’s no place like home.
6. Why, Father, you are rather old to play cat’s cradle.
7.
Sail on, sail on, O ship of State! Sail on, O Union strong and great!
8. Sir, I humbly beg your pardon.
9. I understand, noble lord, that you have lost two of your men.
10. Jefferson, I think I will go down into the kitchen and bake a pie.
11. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
12. There is none like thee in the jungle, wise, old, strong, and most beautiful Kaa.
13. Our price, your royal highness, is three shillings.
14. Grand old outlaw, hero of a thousand lawless raids, in a few minutes you will be but a great load of carrion.
15.
Brood, kind creature, you need not fear Thieves and robbers while I am here.
16. Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can.
17. The stately homes of England! how beautiful they stand!
18. O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells.
XIV. IMPERATIVE SENTENCES
=48.= Besides declarative and interrogative sentences there is another kind of sentence used when we speak directly to a person for the purpose of telling him what to do; as, “Run into the garden, and fetch me the largest pumpkin you can find.” This is called an =imperative sentence=.
=49.= The imperative sentence is often used in giving orders, commands, or directions, but it is used also in giving advice, and in making requests or entreaties; as,—
Fling away ambition.
Kindly reply by return mail.
Give us this day our daily bread.
=50.= Usually only the predicate of an imperative sentence is expressed, and so the first word of such a sentence is likely to be a verb. The subject is the pronoun _you_, _thou_, or _ye_, signifying the person or persons addressed. It is customary to omit this pronoun, and we say that the subject is “understood.” Occasionally, however, it is expressed in familiar conversation; as, “You go away.” Sometimes, too, in solemn commands the pronoun _thou_ or _ye_ is expressed; as, “Go and do thou likewise.” “Keep ye the law.”
Note that the verb in an imperative sentence commands rather than asserts.
An imperative sentence is frequently preceded by a term of address, but this must not be mistaken for the subject; as, “Father, hear our prayer.”
=Summary.=—An =imperative sentence= is one that expresses a command or an entreaty.
The subject of an imperative sentence is the pronoun _you_, _thou_, or _ye_. This pronoun is usually omitted.
=Exercise.=—Tell what the following imperative sentences denote. Select the predicate verbs, and the subjects whenever they are expressed. Select also the terms of address.
1. Open everything, go everywhere except to this little room.
2. Come and hold this skein of yarn for me.
3. Go and wash Kala Nag, and attend to his ears, and see that there are no thorns in his feet.
4. Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
5. Rouse to some high and holy work of love.
6. Don’t you show your face here with a pocket on you. If your heavy pants have any in ’em, rip ’em out.
7.
Give freely and receive, but take from none By greed, or force, or fraud, what is his own.
8. Learn to box, to ride, to pull an oar, and to swim.
9. Polly dear, say good morning to Mrs. Chatterton, and then run away.
10. Do the work first which is next at hand.
11.
Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.
12. O Lord of Hosts, provide a champion for thy people.
13.
O brave marsh Mary-buds, rich and yellow, Give me your money to hold.
14.
O Columbine, open your folded wrapper Where two twin turtledoves dwell.
15.
O Cuckoopint, toll me the purple clapper That hangs in your clear, green bell.
Account for the commas in sentences 1, 3, 8, 9, and 11.
XV. INTERJECTIONS
=51.= There are certain words like _oh_, _alas_, _pshaw_, _ugh_, that are used to express strong feeling,—joy, surprise, pain, disgust, anger, etc. These words are called =interjections=. An interjection is a part of speech.
=52.= Interjections are no part of the subject or the predicate of a sentence; hence, like terms of address, they are said to be independent. They are set off from the rest of the sentence by some mark of punctuation, usually an exclamation point, sometimes only a comma.
=53.= We may use a noun or a verb in such a way that it becomes an interjection; as, “_Goodness!_ what a fright you gave me!” “_Hurrah!_ the lake is frozen over!” Such a verb as _hark_ is often used as an interjection, not to express sudden feeling so much as to arrest attention; as, “_Hark! hark!_ the dogs do bark.”
=54.= The interjection _O_ is often used before a term of address; as, “O Lord, how manifold are thy works!”
=Summary.=—An =interjection= is a word used to express sudden or strong feeling.
=Exercise.=—Select all the interjections in the following sentences, and tell what each one is used for:—
1. Boom! Boom!—two of the guns had gone off together.
2. Alas! Amanda, by mistake, had waked up the little boys an hour too early.
3. Bah! men are blood brothers of the monkey people.
4. Hallelujah! in one day more we shall be sitting in the sunshine on our own doorstep.
5.
O mother dear, Jerusalem, When shall I come to thee?
6. Ping! ping! ping! went the rifles; and Boom! boom! boom! answered the waves.
7. Aha! the world is iron in these days.
8. Alas! it was the head of old Silverspot.
9. Scrooge said, “Pooh! Pooh!” and closed the door.
10. Hark! hark! the lark at heaven’s gate sings.
11. Alack-a-day! travelers encounter all the unusual bits of weather.
12. Hey! Willie Winkie, are you coming then?
13. O comrades, if we must fight, let us fight for ourselves.
14. Hush! the winds roar hoarse and deep.
15. Lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was.
16. Piff! the packet landed exactly as it was intended, on the corn-husk mat in front of the screen door.
17. Oh, London is a man’s town.
XVI. EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
=55.= We have found that sentences are made to _state_, or to _ask_, or to _command_, and hence are classified as _declarative_, _interrogative_, and _imperative_.
There is a fourth class of sentence which resembles an interjection, being used to express sudden or strong feeling; as, “How calm and lovely the river was!” “What a pity it is!” These are called =exclamatory sentences=. They are always followed by an exclamation point.
=56.= Such sentences as those just quoted, which begin with _how_ or _what_, are exclamatory in form as well as in sense, and are therefore sometimes called pure exclamatory sentences. They are always in the transposed order. Some sentences, however, are exclamatory only in sense. They are in the natural order, and when printed, could not be distinguished from declarative or imperative sentences if it were not for the exclamation point, which indicates that they were spoken with strong feeling; as, “Now you may see that noblest of all ocean sights for beauty, a full-rigged ship under sail!” “Helen Maria! leave the room this moment!”
=Summary.=—An =exclamatory sentence= is one that expresses sudden or strong feeling.
=Exercise.=—Tell why each of these sentences is exclamatory. Rearrange in the natural order those which are transposed. Divide each of them into subject and predicate. Select the simple subject and the simple predicate.
1. How soundly he sleeps! From what a depth he draws that easy breath!
2. What tales he had told that day!
3. How doubly delicious things tasted in the clear, spicy air of the woods!
4. How keen a scent those children had for apples in the cellar!
5. Oh, how sweet the water was! How it soothed the tender spots under her weary wings! How it cooled her ears and her tired eyelids!
6. With what a glory comes and goes the year!
7. What a racket those rusty cannon had made in the heyday of their unchastened youth! What stories they might tell now if their puffy, metallic lips could only speak!
8. Burn the hut over their heads!