Part 9
=159.= We learned in Lesson IX that adjectives are used (1) to describe objects, (2) to point them out. Adjectives are therefore divided into two classes,—(1) =descriptive adjectives=, and (2) =limiting adjectives=.
=160.= Descriptive adjectives tell the qualities of objects. They are very useful words, for they enable us to see things with the imagination. In the following sentence the well-chosen adjectives make us feel that we are looking into the very eyes of the eagle,—“His eyes, clear, direct, unacquainted with fear, had a certain hardness in their vitreous brilliancy, perhaps by reason of the sharp contrast between the bright gold iris and the unfathomable pupil.”
It is also through descriptive adjectives that we are able to identify things when we do see them. After reading this sentence we could pick out a moose calf from a score of other animals,—“The moose calf is uncouth, to be sure, with his high, humped fore shoulders, his long, lugubrious, overhanging snout, his big ears set low on his big head, his little eyes crowded back toward his ears, his long, big-knuckled legs, and the spindling lank diminutiveness of his hind quarters.”
=161.= One variety of descriptive adjective is the adjective derived from a proper noun; as, _Scotch_ from _Scotland_, _French_ from _France_, and _Greek_ from _Greece_. These are called =proper adjectives=.
Proper adjectives include within themselves many other adjectives. If we speak of a Scotch collie, a French costume, or a Grecian nose, the listener gets the same picture that he would get if we used a long series of other adjectives.
=162.= Many proper adjectives may be used as proper nouns, naming a class of people, as when we speak of the Scotch, the French, the Russians, the Americans.
What proper noun have we to name the inhabitants of Spain? of Turkey? of Denmark? of Sweden?
What proper noun have we to designate one man who is a native of England? of Scotland? of France? of China? Italy? Germany? What is the plural of each of these nouns?
=Exercise.=—Supply the correct word in each of the following sentences:—
1. Three (_French_ or _Frenchmen_) spent the evening at the house.
2. The (_French_ or _Frenchmen_) are said to be very polite.
3. Why are so many (_Scotch_ or _Scotchmen_) captains of steamships?
4. Are the (_Irish_ or _Irishmen_) as thrifty as the Germans?
5. Are there many (_Welsh_ or _Welshmen_) in this locality?
=Summary.=—=Descriptive adjectives= are those which tell the qualities of objects.
=Proper adjectives= are those derived from proper nouns. They always begin with a capital letter.
=Exercise 1.=—Write a list of the proper adjectives derived from the following proper nouns. Use them in sentences to modify appropriate nouns.
Africa Alaska Asia China Christ Denmark England Germany India Ireland Italy Japan Jew Malta Norway Paris Portugal Spain Sweden Turkey
=Exercise 2.=—In the following sentences select all the descriptive adjectives and tell what objects they describe. In so far as you can, tell what qualities the adjectives denote, as color, size, form, texture, surface, material, nature, etc. Account for the punctuation and capitalization.
1. All the time the crocodile’s little eyes burned like coals under the heavy, horny eyelids on the top of his triangular head, as he shoved his bloated barrel body along between his crutched legs.
2. It is a little village of great antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists in the early times of the province.
3. The dog and his master hunted together, fur-wrapped boy and savage, long-haired, narrow-eyed, white-fanged, yellow brute.
4. We always smiled to hear the judge’s wife talk about her Turkish carpets, her little Chippendale chairs, her Wedgwood china, and her Persian shawls.
5. This crowded, lively, and interesting thoroughfare is over two miles long.
6. In queer little _châlets_, or Swiss huts, live the people who attend to the cattle, and make butter and cheese.
7. The split and weatherworn rocks of the gorge had been used since the beginning of the Jungle by the Little People of the Rocks,—the busy, furious, black, wild bees of India.
8. At every stride the loose-hung, wide-cleft, spreading hoofs of the moose came sharply together with a flat, clacking noise.
9. Out comes the negro pilot, and scrambles up on deck.
10. Yonder lies a Norwegian ship, with her sailors climbing the shrouds like so many monkeys.
11. Mowgli’s voice could be heard in all sorts of wet, starlighted, blossoming places, helping the big frogs through their choruses, or mocking the upside-down owls that hoot through the white nights.
XLV. LIMITING ADJECTIVES
=163.= Limiting adjectives are those which merely point out an object without telling any quality of it. The most useful limiting adjectives are _this_, _that_, and their plural forms _these_ and _those_. These four words are often called =demonstrative adjectives=.
Some limiting adjectives tell number or amount, but in a somewhat indefinite way, as _all_, _some_, _several_, _few_, _much_, _little_, _more_, _most_.
Some tell number definitely, as _one_, _two_, _six hundred_, _three million_, _first_, _second_, _fiftieth_.
Number words, like _one_, _two_, _three_, _four_, _five_, etc., are often called =numeral adjectives=.
=164.= The limiting adjective _enough_ may precede or follow the noun it modifies. We may say _enough butter_ or _butter enough_; _enough time_ or _time enough_.
The limiting adjective _else_ always follows the noun or pronoun that it modifies. We say _who else_, _nobody else_, _everybody else_, _nothing else_.
=165.= When the interrogative pronouns _which_ and _what_ are used to modify a noun, as in _which picture?_ _what city?_ they cease to be pronouns, and become limiting adjectives. Since they are used to ask questions, we call them =interrogative adjectives=.
NOTE.—_Which_ and _what_, when used as adjectives, are sometimes called =pronominal adjectives=.
=166.= Three very common words, _a_, _an_, and _the_, are classed with limiting adjectives. They are called =articles.= _The_ is a =definite article=; _an_ and _a_ are the =indefinite article=. _A_ is really the same word as _an_, but when it is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound, as _bicycle_, the _n_ is dropped for the sake of a more pleasing sound.
=167.= We use _the_ when we wish to specify a particular object, and _an_ or _a_ when we do not care to be specific. What is the difference between these sentences?
The man on horseback came to the turn in the road.
A man on horseback came to a turn in the road.
=168.= We use _the_ before a singular noun to designate a whole class of objects; as, “The oak is a sturdy tree,” “The cow is a domestic animal.”
=169.= We repeat the article when we wish to denote more than one person or thing. What is the difference between these pairs of sentences?
(_a_) The secretary and treasurer came late. (_b_) The secretary and the treasurer came together.
(_a_) I saw a red and green signal. (_b_) I saw a red and a green signal.
=170.= We use _an_ or _a_ after the adjectives _many_ and _such_ instead of before them; as, _many_ a man, _such_ a storm.
=171.= The sentence, “I have _few_ books,” means I have few compared with many; but the sentence, “I have _a few_ books,” means I have a few compared with none. What is the difference in meaning between these sentences?
I have little time for sewing.
I have a little time for sewing.
=Summary.=—=Limiting adjectives= are those which merely point out.
Limiting adjectives that denote a definite number are called =numerals=.
_Which_ and _what_ may be used as =interrogative adjectives=.
The =articles= are _the_, _an_, and _a_.
_The_ is a =definite article=. _An_ and _a_ are =indefinite articles=.
=Exercise 1.=—Select all the limiting adjectives, including articles, and tell what they modify. Give reasons for the articles used.
1. What business brings you here?
2. In that same village, and in one of these very houses, there lived, many years since, a simple, good-natured fellow of the name of Rip Van Winkle.
3. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains.
4. Which fan did your mother carry when she was a young lady in Maine?
5. Lobo had only five followers during the latter part of his reign.
6. What excuse shall I make to Dame Van Winkle?
7. The dog managed so that each fresh rush should be toward the settlement.
8. No wild animal dies of old age.
9. Which part in the play of _Julius Cæsar_ did Edwin Booth take?
10. When this dog of marvelous wind saw that the wolf was dead, he gave him no second glance.
11. After much pains on my behalf and many pains on his, Bingo learned to go at the word in quest of our old yellow cow.
12.
I only ask a hut of stone, A very plain brown stone will do, That I may call my own; And close at hand is such a one In yonder street that fronts the sun.
13. No other living thing can go so slow as a boy sent on an errand.
14. What courage can withstand the ever-during and all-besetting terrors of a woman’s tongue?
=Exercise 2.=—Classify the words _which_ and _what_ in the following sentences as interrogative pronouns or interrogative adjectives. Where they are pronouns, tell their case. Where they are adjectives, tell what they modify.
1. What have you in your basket?
2. What manner of man is this?
3. Which of these pictures did you paint?
4. Which is it, a toadstool or a mushroom?
5. Which city has the larger population?
6. Which boy threw the stone?
7. What stone did he throw?
8. What did the man come for?
9. What do you want?
10. Which will you take?
XLVI. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
=172.= Since different objects may possess the same quality in different degrees, there must be some means of telling this. We do it by changing the form of adjectives. For instance, wool, snow, and feathers have the same quality of softness, but not in the same degree, so we say that wool is _soft_, snow is _softer_, and feathers are _softest_. This change in the adjective soft to denote the degree of softness is called =comparison=.
=173.= Comparison is a =property= of adjectives. There are three =degrees= of comparison,—the =positive=, the =comparative=, and the =superlative=.
The positive degree denotes the simple quality, the comparative degree denotes more or less of this quality, and the superlative denotes most or least of this quality. When we give the three forms of an adjective, we are said to =compare= it. We compare _bold_ by saying: positive, _bold_; comparative, _bolder_; superlative, _boldest_; or positive, _bold_; comparative, _less bold_; superlative, _least bold_.
=174.= Comparison is denoted in three ways:—
(1) By adding the suffixes _er_ and _est_. These are added to adjectives of one syllable, and to a few of two syllables; as, _fine_, _finer_, _finest_; _lovely_, _lovelier_, _loveliest_.
(2) By prefixing the adverbs _more_ and _most_. This method is used in comparing longer adjectives; as, _spacious_, _more spacious_, _most spacious_; _disagreeable_, _more disagreeable_, _most disagreeable_.
(3) By prefixing the adverbs _less_ and _least_; as, _rough_, _less_ _rough_, _least rough_; _elegant_; _less elegant_, _least elegant_. This is a mode of comparing adjectives on a descending scale instead of an ascending scale.
=175.= Some adjectives cannot be compared at all; as, _asleep_, _dead_, _correct_, _round_, _square_, _principal_. Instead of saying _rounder_, we may say _more nearly round_.
=176.= Some adjectives are compared irregularly. The following are examples:—
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
good better best ill worse worst bad worse worst many more most much more most little less least far farther _or_ further farthest _or_ furthest
=Summary.=—=Comparison= in an adjective is a change of form to express quality or quantity in different degrees.
There are three =degrees= of comparison,—=positive=, =comparative=, and =superlative=.
Short adjectives are compared by adding the suffixes _er_ and _est_.
Longer adjectives are compared by prefixing _more_ and _most_.
Many adjectives may be compared on a descending scale by prefixing _less_ and _least_.
=Exercise.=—Select all the adjectives, and tell the kind and the degree of each. Compare each adjective. If any cannot be compared, state that fact.
1. There was nothing in these woods bigger than a weasel.
2. The way led through the deepest and most perilous part of the swamp.
3. This brother was younger and handsomer, and much more amiable than William.
4. As she grew older, she became less exacting and more tolerant, less certain and more hopeful, less vigorous in body, but gentler in manner and sweeter in spirit.
5. The Hotel de Cluny is one of the quaintest, queerest, pleasantest, and most homelike places we are likely to meet with.
6. The other captive was of a more restless temperament, slenderer in build, more eager and alert of eye, less companionable of mood.
7. Least vague of all was the terror of the usually unterrified weasel.
8. Those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of shrews at home.
9. At the least flourish of a broomstick or a ladle, Wolf would fly to the door with yelping precipitation.
10. The lynx was smaller than her mate, somewhat browner in hue, leaner, and of a peculiarly malignant expression.
11. The women of the village used to employ Rip to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for them.
12. The singing master’s hair was a little longer, his hands were a little whiter, his shoes a little thinner, his manner a trifle more polished than that of his soberer mates.
Tell the use of adjectives in sentences 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12.
=177.= Sometimes errors are made in the use of adjectives.
The comparative degree should be used in comparing two objects, the superlative in comparing more than two. If only two roads are open to us, we ought to say that we shall take the _shorter_.
=Exercise.=—Select the proper adjective for each of these sentences, and give your reasons:—
1. Which would be the (_cheapest_ or _cheaper_) route—by water or by rail?
2. Prince is the (_swifter_ or _swiftest_) horse, but Pete is the (_stronger_ or _strongest_).
3. Which is the (_higher_ or _highest_)—the Eiffel Tower or the Washington Monument?
4. Of the two leading candidates, Wilson and Harmon, which is (_more likely_ or _most likely_) to be nominated?
Sometimes an ill-chosen adjective is used after the verb _feel_. The sentence, “I feel _good_,” is correct only when it means “I feel righteous,” while “I feel _well_,” means “I am in good health.” In this sentence _well_ is an adjective meaning the opposite of _sick_.
NOTE.—We also have the adverb _well_, denoting manner, as in the sentence, “LaFollette spoke _well_.”
The sentence, “Rufus looks _good_,” is correct when we mean that Rufus looks as if he were a good man; but we should say, “Rufus looks _well_ (not _good_) in gray.” Here _well_ is an adjective meaning pleasing or acceptable.
The limiting adjectives _this_ and _these_ should not be followed by the word _here_. We point out sufficiently when we say _this book_, _these books_.
The personal pronoun _them_ should never be used for the limiting adjective _those_. We should say _those horses_, _those wagons_, _those tents_.
If we modify a noun by the limiting adjective _each_, _every_, _either_, _neither_, or _no_, we must use a singular pronoun to represent that noun; as,—
Each man took _his_ appointed place.
Every girl made _her_ own costume.
Neither man lost _his_ job.
=Exercise.=—Supply the correct pronoun in each of these sentences:—
NOTE.—The masculine pronoun should be used when there is no word in the sentence that indicates whether the male or the female sex is referred to.
1. Everybody came and brought —— appetite.
2. Each lady contributed whatever —— chose.
3. No young person can afford to waste —— time.
4. Neither doctor will give —— assistance.
5. No day is without —— disappointments.
6. If either man calls, tell —— that I am busy.
7. Every girl in the class said that —— did not understand the lesson.
8. Every boy wishes that —— might be president.
9. No soldier acknowledged that —— was afraid.
10. Neither chair is in —— place.
XLVII. REVIEW OF ADJECTIVES
=178.= In our study of adjectives in Lessons IX, XXVI, XXXIII, XXXVII, XLIV, XLV, and XLVI we have learned that adjectives may be classified as limiting adjectives and descriptive adjectives; that _which_ and _what_ are interrogative adjectives; that adjectives have the property of comparison; and that adjectives may be used in four different ways: (1) before a noun to modify that noun; (2) after a noun as an appositive modifier; (3) as a subjective complement of certain intransitive verbs, and (4) as the objective complement of certain transitive verbs.
=Exercise.=—Make an outline of the subject, Adjectives, to recite from in class. Illustrate each point you make with a good sentence of your own composition.
=179.= When we parse an adjective, we should tell:—
(1) Its class,—descriptive, limiting, or interrogative.
(2) Its degree (if it admits of comparison).
(3) Its use, and what it modifies.
=Exercise.=—Parse each adjective in the following sentences:—
1. The puppy grew bigger and clumsier each day. His most friendly overtures to the cat were wholly misunderstood.
2. Paris is an immense city, full of broad and handsome streets, magnificent buildings, grand open places with fountains and statues, great public gardens and parks free to everybody.
3. His gray eyes, clear and kind, flashed like fire when he spoke of his adventures.
4. Which picture shall we hang between these two front windows—the little Nydia or this pretty landscape?
5. It was clear that the whelps of last spring had betaken themselves to other and safer hunting grounds.
6. For a moment the boy felt afraid—afraid in his own woods.
7. Below us lies a lake, clear and cold, whereon fairies might launch their airy shallops.
8. Jo Calone threw down his saddle on the dusty ground, and turned his horses loose.
9. What fun the rabbits must have been having!
10. The full moon of October, deep orange in a clear, deep sky, hung large and somewhat distorted just over the wooded hills.
11. For a long time pain and hunger kept me awake.
12. How sweet and demure those girls looked!
13. Do you suppose that any old Roman ever had twenty-four different kinds of pie at one dinner?
14. There was something in their cries that sounded strangely wild and fierce.
15. The cardinal bird drew herself up very straight, raised her crest, and opened her big beak.
16. What harm can a naked frog do us?
17. Land in London is so valuable that a single acre of it has been sold for four and a half million dollars.
18. The old servant made our lives miserable by her cantankerous ways.
XLVIII. ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS
=180.= When we say, “This ring was my mother’s,” we use the word _this_ as an adjective modifying the noun _ring_. When we say, “This was my mother’s ring,” we use the one word _this_ in place of _this ring_ as subject of the sentence, hence _this_ is no longer an adjective, but has become a pronoun. Since its ordinary use is that of an adjective, we call it an =adjective pronoun=.
Many limiting adjectives may be used as pronouns. We often make such sentences as these:—
_Few_ shall part where _many_ meet.
If honor is lost, then _all_ is lost.
When _two_ or _three_ are gathered together in Thy name, Thou wilt grant their requests.
=181.= The commonest adjective pronouns are _all_, _any_, _each_, _either_, _few_, _first_, _former_, _last_, _little_, _many_, _more_, _most_, _much_, _neither_, _one_, _other_, _several_, _some_, _this_, _that_, _these_, _those_.
Make sentences containing five of these adjective pronouns.
=182.= Two adjective pronouns, _one_ and _other_, may be declined.
_Singular_ _Plural_ _Singular_ _Plural_
_Nom._ one ones other others _Poss._ one’s ones’ other’s others’ _Obj._ one ones other others
Sentences like these are common:—
One sometimes tires of _one’s_ occupation.
Each envied the _other’s_ good fortune.
The two adjective pronouns, _one_ and _other_, may be modified by adjectives; as, “Many others came,” “The green ones are the prettiest.”
_Each other_ and _one another_, though consisting of two words, may be considered as one adjective pronoun.
=183.= Some adjective pronouns may be modified by articles. We say, “_The last_ is the best of all the game,” “I like gooseberries, so I picked _a few_.”
=Summary.=—An =adjective pronoun= is a limiting adjective used in place of a noun.
The adjective pronouns _one_ and _other_ may be declined.
Some adjective pronouns may be modified by adjectives.
=Exercise.=—Select the adjective pronouns in these sentences. Tell the use and case of each. Tell the noun that each pronoun stands for. Supply this noun where you can. What part of speech does the adjective pronoun become then?
1. This is the story of a bad boy.
2. Many of the protozoa are very beautiful. Some build shells for themselves of strange and curious shapes.
3. The ham turned out to be a very remarkable one.
4. There is a vast difference between the styles of 1860 and 1900. The former favored Paisley shawls and flounced skirts, the latter sanctioned the tailor-made suit and the shirt waist.
5. A little made us very happy once.
6. From time to time one or another of the leaping rabbits would take himself off through the fir trees, while others continued to arrive along the moonlight trails.
7. All is of God that is or is to be.
8. A bluejay and a red squirrel were loudly berating each other for stealing.
9. The convenience of resting one’s self in the open air is one of the comforts of Paris.
10. Each of these was a wolf of renown; most of them were above the ordinary size; one in particular, the second in command, was a veritable giant. Several of the band were especially noted. One of them was a beautiful white wolf, that the Mexicans called Blanca; this was supposed to be a female, possibly Lobo’s mate. Another was a yellow wolf of remarkable swiftness.
11. It is not easy to change one’s life all in a minute.
12. It is a blessed fact that one’s own home is the hub of the universe.
13. Every one said that I was a tomboy.
14. Some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches of similar style with that of the guide’s.
15. The years hurry onward, treading in their haste on one another’s heels.
What noun is understood after _guide’s_ in sentence 14?
XLIX. VERBS: TENSE
=184.= Three very common words are _yesterday_, _to-day_, and _to-morrow_. The word _yesterday_ refers to time that has gone, or past time; _to-day_ refers to time that now is, or =present= time; and _to-morrow_ refers to time that is to come, or =future= time.
=185.= Every event takes place in time, and so when we tell of the occurrence of any event, we must have some way of making clear whether that event took place in the past, or is taking place in the present, or will take place in the future. Of course, we might tell this by adverbs or adverbial phrases, but we have a very much better way,—we tell it by the form of the verb we use. What time do we think of when we see the verbs _eats_, _works_, _plays_, _sleeps_? What time is told by the verbs _ate_, _worked_, _played_, _slept_? What change is made in the form of the two sets of verbs? What time is told by the verbs _will eat_, _will work_, _will play_, _will sleep_?