Part 4
9. Ugh! may the red mange destroy the dogs of this village!
10. Talk of the curiosity of women!
11. So blessedly evanescent is the memory of seasickness!
12. Hark! how the music leaps out from his throat!
XVII. CONJUNCTIONS
=57.= Notice the sentences,—
Every pine and fir and hemlock wore ermine too dear for an earl.
I stood and watched by the window.
The parts of the compound subject in the first sentence and of the compound predicate in the second are joined by the word _and_. This very common word has a use different from that of any word studied thus far; hence it is considered another part of speech. Because it is a joining word, it is called a =conjunction=.
There are many conjunctions besides _and_ that we all have frequent occasion to use. Among these are _nor_, _or_, _but_, _yet_, _therefore_, _so_, and _hence_.
=58.= Conjunctions may join not only single words, such as nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, but also phrases, and even whole sentences; as,—
You may enter without money and without price.
The stiff rails were softened to swan’s down, And still fluttered down the snow.
=59.= Although the word _but_ is commonly used as a conjunction, yet, in the sentence, “I work every day but Sunday,” it is a preposition, and means _except_. What is its object? The great difference between a conjunction and a preposition is that a preposition always has an object, whereas a conjunction never has one.
=Summary.=—A =conjunction= is a word that joins sentences or parts of sentences.
=Exercise.=—Select all the conjunctions in the following sentences, and tell what they join:—
1. Crow was ten years old now, and he was very black and polished and thin.
2. Mount St. Michael was not only strongly fortified, but it was well guarded by nature.
3. The horse neither switches his tail, nods his head, nor stamps his feet.
4. Thirty years later, the remnants of her wedding gowns,—the blue silk, the black silk, the striped silk, and the plaid silk,—were cut into diamonds and squares, and then pieced together lovingly and proudly into a patchwork quilt.
5. There are several steamboats which run up and down the Seine like omnibuses, and the charge to passengers is about two cents apiece.
6. After steaming for several hours over the smooth river and between these flat lowlands, we reach the city of Rotterdam.
7. These great ice streams are always moving slowly downwards; hence they carry off, year by year, the snow which falls upon the mountain above.
8. The stars danced overhead, and by his side the broad and shallow river ran over its stony bed with a loud but soothing murmur that filled all the air with entreaty.
9. The things that Mowgli did and saw and heard when he was wandering from one people to another, with or without his four companions, would make many stories.
10. I drove the cows home through the sweet ferns and down the rocky slopes.
11. The sucker’s mouth is not formed for the gentle angleworm nor the delusive fly of the fisherman.
12. Our ancestors were very worthy people, but their wall papers were abominable.
13. The keeper of the lodgings did not supply meals to his guests; so we breakfasted at a small chophouse in a crooked street.
14. The Northmen had no compass; they must steer by the sun or by the stars, guess at their rate of sailing, and tell by that how many more days distant was their destination.
15. Through this silence and through this waste, where the sudden lights flapped and went out again, the sleigh and the two that pulled it crawled like things in a nightmare.
16. There may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help.
17.
Over the meadows and through the woods, To grandfather’s house we go.
18. The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people are much in want of one.
XVIII. CLAUSES. SIMPLE SENTENCES
=60.= We have learned that a sentence must contain a subject and a predicate. We have another name for a combination of subject and predicate. We call it a =clause=.
=61.= When a sentence consists of but one clause, we call it a =simple sentence=; and we say that this clause is =independent=, because it can stand alone and make sense.
=62.= A simple sentence may have a compound subject or a compound predicate, or both, and yet so long as these subjects and predicates go together, we say that there is only one clause; as in the sentence, “The lion and the mouse helped each other and became friends.”
=Summary.=—A =clause= is any combination of subject and predicate.
An =independent clause= is one that can stand alone and make sense.
A =simple sentence= contains but one independent clause.
A simple sentence may have a compound subject or a compound predicate, or both.
=Exercise.=—Analyze the following simple sentences:—
MODEL.—_Then a piece of mica, or a little pool, or even a highly polished leaf will flash like a heliograph._
This is a simple, declarative sentence.
The subject is _a piece of mica, or a little pool, or even a highly polished leaf_. The predicate is _will flash like a heliograph then_.
The subject is compound. The simple subjects are the nouns _piece_, _pool_, and _leaf_, which are joined by the conjunction _or_. _Piece_ is modified by the prepositional phrase _of mica_ and the adjective _a_. _Pool_, is modified by the adjectives _little_ and _a_. _Leaf_ is modified by the adjective element _highly polished_, and the adjectives _a_ and _even_. The base word of the adjective element is the adjective _polished_, which is modified by the adverb _highly_.
The simple predicate is _will flash_. It is modified by the prepositional phrase _like a heliograph_, and the adverb _then_.
1. Through three good months the valley was wrapped in cloud and soaking mist.
2. In the very heart of London stands the great Bank of England.
3. Would not any boy respond to the sweet invitation of those ripe berries?
4. A fool and his money are soon parted.
5. A large, warm tear splashed down on the program.
6. In the sunny days the sucker lies in the deep pools, by some big stone or near the bank.
7. The feeling of a boy towards pumpkin pie has never been properly considered.
8. Shall the adventures of the Peterkin family be published?
9. No healthy boy could long exist without numerous friends in the animal kingdom.
10. No sound of joy or sorrow was heard from either bank.
11. At length has come the bridal day of beauty and of strength.
12. On one hot summer morning a little cloud rose from the sea and floated lightly and happily across the blue sky.
13. Donkeys, horses, negroes of every age, size, and shade, carts, crates, sacks, barrels, and boxes are mingled in seemingly inextricable confusion.
14. In the midst of the wild confusion the voice of the Boots was heard.
15. Then he strolled across the pasture, between the black stumps, the blueberry patches, the tangles of wild raspberry; pushed softly through the fringe of wild cherry and young birch saplings, and crept silently under the branches of a low hemlock.
16. The moss was supported by solid earth or a framework of ancient tree roots.
17. Alas! with every blow of the chisel the brick crumbled at my feet.
18. A dish of apples and a pitcher of chilly cider were always served during the evening.
19. I sat down in the middle of the path and never stirred for a long time.
20. The mayor and other civic authorities in London came down to Greenwich in barges.
XIX. COMPOUND SENTENCES
=63.= We have seen that sentences may be joined together by conjunctions. When two or more independent clauses are joined together in this way, we say that the sentence is =compound=; as, “Coral reefs resemble great rock ledges, and vessels are often wrecked upon them.”
=64.= The conjunctions most used in compound sentences are _and_, _or_, _but_, _yet_, _therefore_, and _so_.
_And_ shows that two clauses are in the same line of thought; as, “His eye was bright, and his face was ruddy.”
_Or_ shows a choice between two clauses; as, “You must work, or you must go hungry.”
_But_ and _yet_ show a contrast; as, “I mailed the letter, but Uncle Joe never received it.”
_Therefore_ and _so_ show that the second clause is a consequence of the first; as, “There are fires in the forests north of us, therefore the air is full of smoke.”
=65.= Sometimes when the relation between clauses is perfectly evident, the conjunction is omitted; as, “I came; I saw; I conquered.”
In order that the reader may have no doubt as to where a clause ends, it is usually followed by a comma, which speaks to the eye of the reader just as a pause speaks to the ear of the listener. When the clauses are long or the conjunction is omitted, a semicolon may be used instead of the comma.
=Summary.=—A =compound sentence= contains two or more independent clauses.
The clauses of a compound sentence are separated from each other by a comma or a semicolon.
=Exercise.=—Select all the clauses in the following compound sentences. Tell the relation between them, and how they are joined. Tell the subject and predicate of each clause. Account for the punctuation.
1. Over the porch grew a hop-vine, and a brandy-cherry tree shaded the door, and a luxuriant cranberry vine flung its delicious fruit across the window.
2. Mr. Peterkin liked to take a doze on his sofa in the room, but the rest of the family liked to sit on the piazza.
3. Prosperity makes friends; adversity tries them.
4. The whole family planted the potatoes; George dug the holes with his hoe, Mollie dropped into each one three pieces of an old potato, Paul raked the black earth over them, and Mother supervised and praised them all.
5. Some of the letter-carriers must take very long walks, but English people do not appear to object to that sort of thing.
6. Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war?
7. At the end of the first year the young lions shed their teeth, the first indications of manes appeared on the males, and the playfulness between brother and sister ceased.
8. The clumsy wheels of several old-fashioned coaches were heard, and the gentlemen and ladies composing the bridal party came through the church with the sudden and gladsome effect of a burst of sunshine.
9. I had never been called pretty before, so I was flattered.
10. The yellow cur has not the speed of the greyhound, but neither does he bear the seeds of lung and skin diseases.
11. The party did not return to Skarpsno until half-past eight in the evening, yet the sun was still above the horizon.
12. We cherish every memorial of our worthy ancestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; we admire their daring enterprise; we teach our children to venerate their piety.
13. Every animal has some great strength, or it could not live; every animal has some great weakness, or the other animals could not live.
14. Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.
15. Captain John Smith was exasperatingly sure of himself, and older men found his pretensions well-nigh unbearable.
XX. DEPENDENT CLAUSES. COMPLEX SENTENCES
=66.= We have seen that in both simple and compound sentences the clauses are independent. There is a third class of sentences, however, containing =dependent clauses=.
In the simple sentence, “At night his antelope skin was spread on the ground,” the prepositional phrase _on the ground_ tells place, and modifies the verb _was spread_.
In the sentence, “At night his antelope skin was spread _where the darkness overtook him_,” the group of words where the darkness overtook him has the same use as the phrase _on the ground_, for it tells place and modifies the verb _was spread_.
But this group of words contains a subject and a predicate; hence it is a clause. It could not stand alone and make sense; hence it cannot be an independent clause. It could not be in the sentence at all unless the verb _was spread_ were there too for it to modify. It is therefore dependent on the verb, and so we call it a =dependent clause=. It has the same use as an adverb, because it modifies a verb. We find many dependent clauses used in this way, because our language does not afford enough adverbs or even prepositional phrases to express our meaning.
=67.= When dependent clauses modify verbs, they answer such questions as these,—_was spread where?_ _was spread why?_ _how?_ _when?_ _under what condition?_ _for what purpose?_
=68.= In the sentence, “They went into a small parlor, which smelt very spicy,” the parlor is described by the adjective _small_ and by the group of words _which smelt very spicy_. What is this group of words? How do we know? What words does it modify? What, then, is the use of some dependent clauses? When dependent clauses modify nouns, they point out or describe objects just as adjectives do.
=69.= In the sentences that we have just been studying there is an independent clause as well as a dependent clause. A sentence of this kind is called a =complex sentence=.
A complex sentence may contain any number of dependent clauses, but only one independent clause, for as soon as a sentence contains two independent clauses it becomes a compound sentence.
=Summary.=—A =dependent clause= is one that is used like a part of speech and does not make sense when it stands alone.
A dependent clause may be used like an adjective to modify a noun, or like an adverb to modify a verb.
A =complex sentence= consists of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
=Exercise.=—Select all the clauses in the following sentences, and classify them. Tell what the dependent clauses modify. Tell the subject and predicate of each clause.
NOTE.—Frequently a dependent clause modifies more than the verb. In the sentence, “The little boys wanted a house with a great many doors, so that they could go in and out often,” the dependent clause _so that they could go in and out often_ tells the purpose of their wanting a house with a great many doors; hence, it modifies not merely the verb _wanted_, but the whole predicate _wanted a house with a great many doors_. Try to tell the exact truth about each sentence that you study.
1. He was always catching sculpins when every one else with the same bait was catching mackerel.
2. If we cross the Atlantic by one of the fast steamships, we shall make the voyage in about a week.
3. The Rotterdam quays, which stretch for more than a mile along the river, are busy and lively places.
4. Every Sunday morning the wash boiler was filled with water, and the largest tub was set in the middle of the kitchen floor, so that the three children might have their weekly scrubbing.
5. People who devote themselves too severely to study of the classics are apt to become dried up.
6. He charged upon the rows of the mullein stalks as if they were rebels in regimental ranks, and hewed them down without mercy.
7. Every boy who is good for anything is a natural savage.
8. Rude soldiers now eat, drink, and sleep, where popes and cardinals once moved about in state.
9. Mowgli, who had never known the meaning of real hunger, fell back on stale honey three years old.
10. Iron-clads are so called because their sides are covered with thick plates of iron or steel, capable of resisting very heavy shot.
11. Although many people ascend Mont Blanc every year, the undertaking requires a great deal of muscular as well as nervous strength.
12. If a boy repeats _Thanatopsis_ while he is milking, that operation acquires a certain dignity.
13. The thrill that ran into my fingers’ ends then has not run out yet.
14. Even a dog, who is very far removed from the wild wolf, his ancestor, can be waked out of deep sleep by a cart wheel touching his flank, and can spring away unharmed before that wheel comes on.
15. The boys slipped off down the roadside to a place where they could dig sassafras or the root of the sweet flag.
16. The little company of Englishmen who, in 1620, exchanged Holland for America were not soldiers and traders like the men who had led and established the colony at Jamestown.
17. Miles Standish came with the Pilgrims to America because he liked both them and their enterprise.
18. The early settlers went to church in military array and laid their arms down close by them while they worshiped and heard the sermon.
19. The colonists chose for their place of settlement a high bluff, which rose upon the eastern bank of a little stream.
Tell the part of speech and use of _always_, sentence 1, _Sunday_ 4, _too_ and _severely_ 5, _now_, _once_, and _about_ 8.
Analyze the predicate _was set in the middle of the kitchen floor_.
What is the grammatical use of the group of words _as well as_ in sentence 11?
XXI. REVIEW: CLASSIFICATION OF SENTENCES
=70.= We have seen that sentences are classified according to =purpose=, as declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory.
A =declarative= sentence is one that states, or declares, something.
An =interrogative= sentence is one that asks a question.
An =imperative= sentence is one that expresses a command or an entreaty.
An =exclamatory= sentence is one that expresses sudden or strong feeling.
=71.= We have seen also that sentences may consist of one clause or of several, and that clauses may be independent or dependent. Sentences are therefore classified according to =structure=, as simple, compound, or complex.
A =simple= sentence is one that contains but one independent clause.
A =compound= sentence is one that contains two or more independent clauses.
A =complex= sentence is one that contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
=Exercise 1.=—Write a complex declarative sentence, a compound interrogative sentence, a complex imperative sentence, and a simple exclamatory sentence.
=Exercise 2.=—Classify the following sentences according to both purpose and structure. Give the reasons for your classification. Tell what the dependent clauses modify. Tell also the subject and predicate of each clause.
1. The oxen sagged along in their great clumsy way.
2. Give me quickly my seven-league boots, that I may go after those boys and catch them.
3. How sweet and demure the girls looked!
4. Within sight of that tall elm tree were passed my happiest years.
5. Did you ever know a child who was not interested in animals?
6. My grandfather never skipped over an advertisement, even if he had read it fifty times before.
7.
Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough!
8. Must I keep order along the whole line?
9. All the trees and the bushes and the bamboos and the mosses and the juicy-leaved plants wake with a noise of growing that you can almost hear.
10.
How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view!
11. Sometimes it is impolite to tell the truth, and then one can only say nothing or talk of the weather.
12. Toll ye the church bell sad and slow.
13. Some boys go scowling always through life, as if they had a stone bruise on each heel.
14. Proud bird of the mountain, thy plume shall be torn!
15. Mowgli had the good conscience that comes from paying debts.
16. Cease to do evil; learn to do well.
17. The first was a brass band, the second was a string band, the third was a rubber band, and the fourth was a man who played on the jew’s-harp.
18.
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
19. On Sunday the hens went silently about, and the roosters crowed in psalm tunes.
20.
Up! up! my friend, and quit your books, Or surely you’ll grow double!
21. Is the world growing better or are we moving in a circle?
22. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
23. When a man has heard the great things calling to him, how they call and call, day and night!
24. O ye who have young children, if it is possible, give them happy memories.
Find an interjection in this exercise.
What independent elements do you find in sentences 7, 14, and 24? What is the base word of each?
XXII. REVIEW: PARTS OF SPEECH
=72.= We have seen that words are classified according to their use into eight parts of speech,—nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
A =noun= is a name word.
A =verb= is an asserting word.
A =pronoun= is a word used instead of a noun.
An =adjective= is a word used to point out or describe an object and modify a noun or a pronoun.
An =adverb= is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
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.
A =conjunction= is a word that joins sentences or parts of sentences.
An =interjection= is a word used to express sudden or strong feeling.
=Exercise.=—Tell what part of speech each word is in the following sentences. Tell in each case how you know.
1. Toto’s good grandmother bore this commotion quietly for some time.
2. “Now, set those baskets down.” He spoke sharply.
3. Mowgli knew the manners and customs of the villagers very fairly.
4. No other mother ever made such deep, smooth, golden custard pies, or fried such light and spicy doughnuts.
5. Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are strongly associated together in the minds of all readers of English history.
6. The tamest tiger is a tiger still.
7. The negro cleared for us a path to an enormously tall tree.
8. Nobody scolded me or laughed at me.
9. Then my eyes came back to the wall paper, and I studied out figures in its spreading vines.
10. Perhaps a little starch would have some effect.
11. The roaring hot wind of the Jungle came and went between the rocks and the rattling branches.
12. Ring-ting! I wish I were a primrose.
13. O love, they die in yon rich sky.
=73.= In sentence 13 in the preceding exercise, it is evident that the word _love_, which is often a verb, is used as a term of address, and therefore is a noun. Many words may be used as verbs or as nouns.
=Exercise.=—Tell what part of speech the italicized words are in the following sentences. Give your reason in each case.
1. Don’t scour your porcelain _sink_ with sapolio.
2. When bodies _sink_ in Lake Superior, they never rise.
3. Oh, what _fall_ was there, my countrymen.
4. We _fall_ to rise, are baffled to fight better.
5. Alice gave the branch a vigorous _shake_.
6. Nay, do not _shake_ your gory locks at me.
7. Will you _show_ me your lineage book?
8. There are ten thousand moving picture _shows_ in the United States.
9. What a good _catch_ our right fielder made.
10. Did you _catch_ this sturgeon last night?
Make sentences in which the following words shall be used as nouns and as verbs: _fight_, _pay_, _rap_, _shed_, _shoe_, _sting_, _tread_.