Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/1048



"Verbs connected by and, or, or nor, must generally be in the same mood and tense; and, when the tense has different forms, they must be in the same form."--Id.

"This will habituate him to reflection; exercise his judgement on the meaning of the author; and, without any great effort on his part, impress indelibly on his memory the rules which he is required to give. After the exercises under any rule have been gone through, agreeably to the direction in the note at the bottom of page 88th, they may be read over again in a corrected state, the pupil making an emphasis on the correction made; or they may be presented in writing, at the next recitation."--Bullions cor.

"Man, but for that, no action could attend;   And, but for this, were active to no end."--Pope.

LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"'Johnson, the bookseller and stationer' indicates that bookseller and stationer are terms belonging to the same person; 'the bookseller and the stationer,' would indicate that they belong to different persons."--Bullions cor.

"Past is [commonly] an adjective; passed, the past tense or perfect participle of the verb: and they ought not (as they frequently are) to be confounded with each other."--Id.

"Not only the nature of the thoughts and sentiments, but the very selection or arrangement of the words, gives English poetry a character which separates it widely from common prose."--Id.

"Men of sound, discriminating, and philosophical minds--men prepared for the work by long study, patient investigation, and extensive acquirements--have laboured for ages to improve and perfect it; and nothing is hazarded in asserting, that, should it be unwisely abandoned, it will be long before an other, equal in beauty, stability, and usefulness, will be produced in its stead."--Id., on the common "system of English Grammar."

"The article the, on the other hand, is used to restrict; and is therefore termed Definite. Its proper office is, to call the attention to a particular individual or class, or to any number of such; and accordingly it is used with nouns of either number, singular or plural."--Id.

"Hence, also, the infinitive mood, a participle with its adjuncts, a member of a sentence, or a whole proposition, forming the subject of discourse, or the object of a verb or preposition, and being the name of an act or circumstance, is, in construction, regarded as a noun; and is usually called, 'a substantive phrase:' as, To play, is pleasant.'--That he is an expert dancer, is no recommendation.'--'Let your motto be, Honesty is the best policy.'"--Id.

"In accordance with his definition, Murray has divided verbs into three classes: Active, Passive, and Neuter;--and included in the first class transitive verbs only; and, in the last, all verbs used intransitively"--Id.

"Moreover, as the name of the speaker or that of the person spoken to is seldom expressed, (the pronoun I being used for the former, and THOU or YOU for the latter,) a noun is very rarely in the first person; not often in the second; and hardly ever in either, unless it is a proper noun, or a common noun denoting an object personified."--Id.

"In using the parsing exercises, it will save much time, (and this saving is all-important,) if the pupil be taught to say all things belonging to the noun, in the fewest words possible; and to say them always in the same order, after the example above."--Id.

"In any phrase or sentence, the adjectives qualifying a noun may generally be found by prefixing the phrase, 'What kind of,' to the noun, in the form of a question; as, 'What kind of horse?' 'What kind of stone?' 'What kind of way?' The word containing the answer to the question, is an adjective."--Id.

"In the following exercise, let the pupil first point out the nouns, and then the adjectives; and tell how he knows them to be such."--Id.

"In the following sentences, point out the improper ellipses; show why they are improper; and correct them."--Id.

"SINGULAR.                  PLURAL.    1. I am smitten,      1. We are smitten,    2. Thou art smitten,  2. You are smitten,    3. He is smitten;     3. They are smitten."--Wright cor.

CHAPTER II.--UTTERANCE.

The second chapter of Prosody, treating of articulation, pronunciation, elocution and the minor topics that come under Utterance, contains no exercises demanding correction in this Key.

CHAPTER III.--FIGURES.

In the third chapter of Prosody, the several Figures of speech are explained; and, as the illustrations embrace no errors for correction, nothing here corresponds to the chapter, but the title.

CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.

FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE, CORRECTED.

LESSON I.--RHYTHM RESTORED.

"Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in me.'" --Young.

"Canst thou grow sad, thou say'st, as earth grows bright." --Dana.