1. Point out every adjective. Tell whether it is descriptive or definitive (§§ 169–171), and mention the substantive to which it belongs. If the adjective can be compared, give its three degrees of comparison.51
1. The old, unpainted shingles of the house were black with moisture. 2. “My very dog,” sighed poor Rip, “has forgotten me!” 3. Loud was the lightsome tumult on the shore.—Byron. 4. Sweet are the shy recesses of the woodland. 5. Rows of pewter and earthen dishes glittered along the dresser. 6. The major spoke in a matter-of-fact way. 7. The sheep and the cow have no cutting teeth, but only a hard pad in the upper jaw.—Huxley. 8. The faint, foggy daylight glimmered dimly on the bare floor and stairs. 9. He wiped his serious, perplexed face on a red bandanna handkerchief, a shade lighter than his complexion. 10. The yellow moonlight sleeps on all the hills.—Beattie. 11. The young hostess seemed to perform her office with a certain degree of desperate determination. 12. This warning is meant in a friendly spirit.
13. The house remained untenanted for three years. 14. Numberless torrents, with ceaseless sound, descend to the ocean. 15. The contest between the two branches of the legislature lasted some days longer.
2. Write five sentences containing descriptive adjectives; five containing definitive adjectives.
3. Write sentences containing demonstrative, indefinite, relative, and interrogative adjectives.
4. Write sentences in which the indefinite article is directly followed by—
Point out the comparatives and the superlatives. Mention any superlatives used for emphasis (§ 200).
1. The Governor-General is the frankest and best-natured of men. 2. The company grew merrier and louder as their jokes grew duller. 3. A knock alarmed the outer gate. 4. At once there came the politest and friendliest reply. 5. Many a poet has been poorer than Burns, but no one was ever prouder.—Carlyle. 6. The last tyrant ever proves the worst.—Pope. 7. The profoundest secrecy was observed in the whole transaction. 8. Earth has not anything to show more fair. 9. The natural principle of war is to do the most harm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves.—Irving. 10. During the rest of the journey, Rose was in the strangest state of mind. 11. There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. 12. Little he ate, and less he spake. 13. Our journey hither was through the most beautiful part of the finest country in the world. 14. Meanwhile the throng without was constantly becoming more numerous and more savage. 15. Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force. 16. She might have been more lenient.
17. You’ll have to be more practical. 18. How does a love of gain transform the gravest of mankind into the most contemptible and ridiculous!—Goldsmith. 19. Most authors speak of their fame as if it were quite a priceless matter.
20. Loveliest and best! thou little know’st
The rank, the honor, thou hast lost!—Scott.21. Of two such lessons, why forget
The nobler and the manlier one?—Byron.
1. Parse each adverb by telling whether it is an adverb of manner, time, place, or degree, and by mentioning the verb, adjective, or adverb which it modifies. Compare the adverbs which are capable of comparison.
1. A great part of the island is rather level. 2. They had worked very hard and very cheerfully. 3. When spake I such a word? 4. We can ill spare the commanding social benefits of cities.—Emerson. 5. She looked up and met his eyes, and thereupon both became very grave. 6. The silence of the prairie at night was well-nigh terrible. 7. Far in the West there lies a desert land. 8. The whistling ploughman stalks afield. 9. Swiftly they glided along. 10. He has only just arrived in England. 11. Fast the white rocks faded from his view. 12. Whole ranks instantly laid down their pikes and muskets. 13. Thick clouds of dust afar appeared. 14. Bitter sobs came thick and fast. 15. How long are you going to be in Paris? 16. To-morrow I intend to hunt again. 17. Answer made King Arthur, breathing hard. 18. Some of us laughed heartily. 19. They had spoken simply and openly about that from the very start.
2. Form an adverb of manner from each of the following adjectives. Use each adverb in a sentence. Tell what it modifies.
3. Fill each blank with an adverb of degree modifying the adjective or the adverb.
1. Point out the relative adverbs, and mention the subordinate clause introduced by each. Tell whether each adverb expresses time, place, or manner.
1. Just as the sun went down, they heard a murmur of voices. 2. On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. 3. There is no place of general resort wherein I do not often make my appearance. 4. Wherever he determines to sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of nest. 5. I hastened to the spot whence I had come. 6. Where rolled the ocean, thereon was his home.—Byron. 7. Where shineth thy spirit, there liberty shineth too!—Moore. 8. He will look on the world, wheresoever he can catch a glimpse of it, with eager curiosity. 9. Until Lady Glenmore came to call next day, we heard of nothing unusual. 10. When she and Miss Pole left us, we endeavored to subside into calmness. 11. Small service is true service while it lasts. 12. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips. 13. As they ascended, Rip every now and then heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder. 14. The village clock struck five as Mr. Millbank and his guests entered the gardens of the mansion. 15. When only a small space was left between the armies, the Highlanders suddenly drew their broadswords and rushed forward with a fearful yell.—Macaulay. 16. When he rejoined his companions, he said something to them in Welsh.
2. Point out the interrogative adverbs, and tell what each modifies.
1. Why look’st thou so? 2. Whence came ye, jolly satyrs? whence came ye?—Keats. 3. Where now shall I go, poor, forsaken, and blind?—Campbell. 4. Why weep ye by the tide?—Scott. 5. See how the world its veterans rewards!—Pope. 6. How wildly will ambition steer!—Dryden. 7. Where have you been these twenty long years? 8. Here was a Cæsar! When comes such another?—Shakspere. 9. When shall we three meet again? 10. History is clarified experience, and yet how little do men profit by it! Nay, how should we expect it of those who so seldom are taught anything by their own?—Lowell. 11. Why did you not bring what I asked for?
3. Write ten sentences containing relative adverbs; ten containing interrogative adverbs.
1. Point out the comparatives and superlatives. Tell whether each is an adjective or an adverb.
1. I thought it the most prudent method to lie still. 2. When the people observed I was quiet, they discharged no more arrows. 3. You know your own feelings best. 4. He was taller than any of the other three who attended him. 5. The song and the laugh grew less and less frequent. 6. The harder I try to forget it, the more it comes into my mind. 7. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky. 8. I answered in a few words, but in a most submissive manner. 9. Their sight is much more acute than ours. 10. The natives came by degrees to be less apprehensive of any danger from me. 11. Whoever performs his part with the most agility, and holds out longest in leaping, is rewarded with the blue-colored silk. 12. It received less damage than I expected. 13. Long live the most puissant king of Lilliput! 14. Fast are the flying moments, faster are the hoofs of our horses. 15. Nigh come the strangers and more nigh.—Scott.
2. Write sentences containing either the comparative or the superlative of the following words:—
3. Write six sentences containing adverbs which are incapable of comparison; six containing adjectives which are incapable of comparison.
1. Write five sentences in which cardinal numerals are adjectives, five in which they are nouns. Use the same numerals in the ordinal form as adjectives, as nouns.
2. Write five sentences, each containing a numeral adverb; five containing an adverbial phrase that includes a numeral.
1. Point out all the verbs and verb-phrases. Tell whether each is transitive or intransitive. Tell which are copulative; which are auxiliary. Mention any examples of the copula.
1. Little tasks make large return. 2. We must now return to the fortress of Tillietudlem and its inhabitants. 3. Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty. 4. The sunshine might now be seen stealing down the front of the opposite house. 5. He sat apart from them all, and looked at them with a melancholy, haughty countenance; while the rest hallooed and sang and laughed, and the room rang. 6. You cannot relieve me, but you may add to the torments I suffer. 7. One gains nothing by attempting to shut out the sprites of the weather. They come in at the keyhole; they peer through the dripping panes; they insinuate themselves through the crevices of the casement, or plump themselves down chimney astride of the raindrops.—Whittier. 8. A large lamp threw a strong mass of light upon the group. 9. The baron pardoned the young couple on the spot. 10. Every now and then he would turn his head slowly round.
11. The river sleeps along its course and dreams of the sky and of the clustering foliage. 12. A severe gale compelled him to seek shelter. 13. Miss Betsy Barker dried her eyes and thanked the Captain heartily. 14. Pray you, look not sad. 15. I am! yet what I am who cares, or knows?—Clare. 16. After all, it is a glorious pastime to find oneself in a real gale of wind, in a big ship, with not a rock to run against within a thousand miles.—Kingsley. 17. We will talk over all this another time. 18. What is progress? Movement. But what if it be movement in the wrong direction?—Disraeli. 19. They say you are a melancholy fellow. 20. The valiant Clifford is no more. 21. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of shellfish had fastened about it, and long seaweed flaunted at its sides.—Irving. 22. Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on.
2. Frame twenty sentences, each containing a verb-phrase. Use the auxiliaries mentioned in § 210. Let some of the sentences be interrogative.
3. Make a list of twenty verbs that are transitive in one sense, intransitive in another (§ 212). Use these verbs in sentences.
4. Illustrate the absolute use of transitive verbs by framing ten sentences (§ 213).
5. Make a list of six copulative verbs (§ 214). Use them in sentences. Frame sentences in which the same verbs are not copulative (§ 215).
6. Use the copula (§ 214) in twenty sentences, several of which shall illustrate its use in verb-phrases.
1. Write ten sentences in each of which a weak (or regular) verb is used in the past tense; ten, in each of which a strong (or irregular) verb is used in the past tense.
2. Construct sentences in which the past tense of each of the following verbs is used: drink, lie, sow, get, wake, dwell, sing, pay, bid, light, bereave, build, ride, hang, swim, lay, split, shrink, slay, wring, weave, thrive, spin, tread, shake, burst, slink, dive, flee, fly, swing, wet, fling, kneel, let, chide.
3. Point out all the verbs (except the copula and auxiliaries) in Exercise 28, 1, and conjugate them in the present and the past tense. Tell which are weak (regular) and which are strong (irregular). Account for the person and number.
1. Fill each blank with am, is, or are.
2. Make a list of ten collective nouns. Use them in sentences (1) with a singular verb, (2) with a plural verb. Explain the difference in meaning.
3. Use the relative who in ten sentences in which the antecedent is in the first or the second person.
1. Explain the use of will and shall in the following sentences.
1. We shall never forget what you have done for us. 2. “You ought to know my military secretary,” said the general, as Lothair entered, “and therefore I will introduce you.” 3. I am very patient; I will wait. 4. If I do return, I will vote against them. But I will not return. I have made up my mind to that. 5. I will send you Jennings’s poem, if you like. 6. You will of course make a drawing and an estimate, and send them to me (§ 240). 7. Do congratulate her for me, will you? 8. Another Athens shall arise.—Shelley. 9. “I won’t allow it!” cried Lady Niton, “he sha’n’t go!” 10. Shall I find you at home if I call some day soon, between five and six o’clock? 11. You must be convinced, and on reflection you will be convinced. 12. Before my journey to Rochdale, you shall have due notice where to address me. 13. I consider myself a first-rate shot, and you shall practise with me. 14. Shall I ever forget that party? 15. Shall you hunt to-morrow, Mr. Deronda? 16. When shall you be at Cambridge?
17. Lady St. Jerome is a little indisposed—a cold caught at one of her bazaars. She will hold them, and they say that no one ever sells so much.—Disraeli. 18. Will you be good enough to keep an account of all the manuscripts you receive, for fear of omission? 19. O rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more.—Tennyson. 20. Will you forward the inclosed immediately to Corbet, whose address I do not exactly remember? 21. Byron was no common man: yet if we examine his poetry with this view, we shall find it far enough from faultless.—Carlyle. 22. I shall be in town by Sunday next, and will call and have some conversation on the subject of Westall’s proposed design. 23. Will you go down, dear? I will follow you in a moment. 24. Will not your trip to Bath afford you an opportunity to take a peep at Weston? 25. Never, as long as I live, will I speak to you again, nor shall Harry, whom you have humiliated!
26. Yet he for whom I grieve shall never know it. 27. Shall you let him go to Italy? 28. Prone to the dust Oppression shall be hurled.—Campbell. 29. You sha’n’t go on with this affair, I tell you, Harry. 30. I shall probably return this evening, but I will see you before I go.—Trollope. 31. In the interim I shall leave town; on Sunday I shall set out for Herefordshire, from whence, when wanted, I will return. 32. If my father does not return with me in the spring, it shall not be for want of urging on my part.—Cooper.
2. Fill each blank with will or shall.
3. Write declarative sentences, using will or shall in the first person (singular or plural) to express a threat, a promise, resolution, consent, desire, determination, simple futurity.
4. Fill the blanks in the following questions with will or shall. Write sentences (using will or shall) in answer.
1. Name all the complete (or compound) tenses and explain their formation.
1. Four long years in the times of the war had he languished a captive.—Longfellow. 2. The adventurer has subsequently returned to his native country. 3. Spiders had built their webs in the angles of the walls and ceilings. 4. Whole fleets had been cast away. Large mansions had been blown down. 5. I am just returned from staying three days at a delightful inn by the river Ouse, where we always go to fish (§ 242, 1, note).—Fitz Gerald. 6. In the evening we reached a village where I had determined to pass the night. 7. I have sent by the Gisbornes a copy of the “Elegy on Keats.” 8. I have really done my best. 9. Our visits to the islands have been more like dreams than realities. 10. We are here arrived at the crisis of Burns’s life. 11. The chills of a long winter had suddenly given way; the north wind had spent its last gasp; and a mild air came stealing from the west. 12. The officer at last turned away, having satisfied himself that the room was empty. 13. Carson will have reached shelter long before this.
2. Construct ten sentences in which the verbs in Exercise 29, 2 are used in the perfect tense.
3. Turn the verbs in these sentences into the pluperfect tense; into the future perfect tense. Write sentences in which the same verbs are used as perfect participles; as perfect infinitives.
1. Tell whether each verb is in the active or the passive voice.
2. If the verb is active, change it to the passive, and make such other changes as may be necessary. If the verb is passive, change it to the active.
3. Conjugate each verb in the tense in which it occurs.
1. The customs of mankind are influenced in many ways by climate. 2. The door, which was slightly ajar, was suddenly pushed open. 3. The landlord handed the stranger the newspaper. 4. After a short pause, my host resumed his narration. 5. During the greater part of that night my slumbers were disturbed by strange dreams. 6. Not a word was spoken, not a sound was made. 7. The great willow tree had caught and retained among its leaves a whole cataract of water. 8. Early in the morning I was awakened by the voices of Peter and his wife. 9. He that is loudly praised will be clamorously censured.—Johnson. 10. Out of this story he formed a tragedy. 11. The assailants were repulsed in their first attack, and several of their bravest officers were shot down in the act of storming the fortress sword in hand. 12. This fatal question has disturbed the quiet of many other minds. 13. No genius was ever blasted by the breath of critics.—Johnson. 14. The jury then heard the opinion of the judge.
15. What cruel maxims are we taught by a knowledge of the world!—Miss Burney. 16. Their departure made another material change at Mansfield. 17. The appearance of a housemaid prevented any further conversation. 18. Each word of this leave-taking was overheard by Kezia. 19. Before nine o’clock next morning the two canoes were installed on a light country cart. 20. An old harper was summoned from the servants’ hall. 21. He had been wounded at Waterloo. 22. This advice struck the disputants dumb. 23. Through the night were heard the mysterious sounds of the desert. 24. A violent storm of rain obliged them to take shelter in an inn. 25. Far was heard the fox’s yell.—Scott. 26. Adams highly commended the doctor’s opinion.
4. Rewrite the following sentences, changing the form of the verbs from active to passive, or from passive to active. Notice the effect upon subjects and objects.
1. I was brought up by my uncle. 2. I have found them. 3. We were delayed by the storm. 4. They were warned by the pilot. 5. She saw us. 6. That winter will never be forgotten by any of us. 7. You surprise me. 8. Will you meet me? 9. Was he struck by a bullet? 10. Have you forgotten me? 11. How the crowd cheered him! 12. Tom, the blacksmith, makes horseshoes. 13. The schooner was run down by the steamship. 14. The old man has opened a little shop. 15. Mary has invited Ellen. 16. Mary might have invited Ellen. 17. Mary will invite Ellen. 18. The storm has made great havoc along the coast. 19. The children have been called home by their nurse. 20. He vexes me. 21. The tower was struck by lightning yesterday. 22. A policeman helped her over the crossing. 23. I was amused by your letter.
5. Use each of the following verbs in both the active and the passive of the past, the future, and the perfect (or present perfect):—send, bring, teach, drink, get, set, lay, leave, find, forget.
6. Use each of the verbs in § 105 in the active voice of the past tense with both a direct and an indirect object. Change to the passive.
1. Point out all the progressive and all the emphatic verb-phrases. Mention the tense and voice of each. Note any instances where do and did are not emphatic.
1. Thus did the long sad years glide on. 2. Now pray do settle in England. 3. Meanwhile, I go about in my little ship, where I do think I have two honest fellows to deal with. 4. I remember. I do indeed remember—too well! 5. Not until it was broad daylight did I quit the haunted house. 6. Do but look on her eyes. 7. Roland reached the boat just as the gang plank was being hauled in. 8. We are being entertained by the Archers. 9. The man at our wheel was spinning his spokes desperately to avoid banging into vessels we could not see, but whose bells were ringing everywhere about us. 10. Wild weeds are gathering on the wall. 11. I did actually pick up a French crown piece, worth about a dollar and six cents, near high-water mark. 12. I was loitering about the old gray cloisters of Westminster Abbey. 13. The friends of Coningsby were now hourly arriving. 14. My eyes have been leaving me in the lurch again.
15. They had been for some time passing through narrow gorges of the mountains, along the edges of a tumbling stream. 16. We are just sitting down to dinner with a pleasant party. 17. The large Newfoundland house-dog was standing by the door. 18. “Do thou,” said Bertram, “lead the way.”—Scott. 19. Music in his ears his beating heart did make. 20. Over the hillsides the wild knell is tolling.—Holmes.
2. Write sentences in which the verb teach is used in the present progressive, past progressive, future progressive, perfect progressive, pluperfect progressive, and future perfect progressive tenses of the active voice.
3. Write ten questions containing some form of do (or did).
Point out all the verbs in the imperative or the subjunctive mood. Tell the subjects of the imperatives and explain the forms and uses of the subjunctives.
1. And now dispatch we toward the court, my lords.—Shakspere. 2. I think you had better speak to Lady Corisande yourself (§ 285). 3. My dear boy, God bless thee a thousand times over! 4. O that the desert were my dwelling place! 5. “Rest we here,” Matilda said.—Scott. 6. Go where thy destiny calls thee. 7. Now Hesper guide my feet.—Akenside. 8. O that such hills upheld a freeborn race!—Byron. 9. Perish those riches which are acquired at the expense of my honor or my humanity!—Goldsmith. 10. Would all were well! but that will never be.—Shakspere. 11. The distaff were more fitting for you. 12. Robert hesitated, as if he were inclined to refuse. 13. Do what they might, the hook was in their gills.—George Meredith. 14. Fare you well, fair gentlemen.—Shakspere. 15. Suffice it to say, the robbers were defeated. 16. Disclose thy treachery, or die! 17. Let us not be influenced by any angry feelings. 18. Be that as it may, Kidd never returned to recover his wealth.
19. I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward’s.—Shakspere. 20. Move we on.—Scott. 21. Mark that the signal-gun be duly fired.—Byron. 22. The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn. 23. I am glad that you liked my song, and, if I liked the others myself so well as that I sent you, I would transcribe them for you also.—Cowper. 24. I beseech you, punish me not with your hard thoughts.—Shakspere. 25. If there be change, no change I see.—Landor. 26. Be it as thou wilt. 27. Weep you no more, sad fountains. 28. If thou leave thy father, he will die.—Wordsworth. 29. Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald.—Shakspere. 30. Learn thou his purpose. 31. Come, go we in procession to the village.—Shakspere. 32. The destruction of property which took place within a few weeks would be incredible, if it were not attested by witnesses unconnected with each other and attached to very different interests.
33. I wish I were as I have been,
Hunting the hart in forest green.—Scott.34. Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.—Shakspere.35. Buried be all that has been done,
Or say that naught is done amiss.—Crabbe.
Fill each blank with a verb in the appropriate form.
Explain the meaning of each potential verb-phrase, and parse the phrase. In parsing such a phrase, describe it merely as a potential verb-phrase and tell the tense, voice, person, and number, without assigning it to any mood.
1. Enough! You may depart. 2. Men should travel. 3. What must be shall be. That’s a certain text.—Shakspere. 4. At times, with a strong effort, he would glance at the open door which still seemed to repel his eyes. 5. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.—Emerson. 6. It was sometimes sad enough to watch him as he sat alone. He would have a book near him, and for a while would keep it in his hands.—Trollope. 7. O, my friend! may I believe you? May I speak to you? 8. Presently he faced Adrian, crying, “And I might have stopped it!” 9. Nothing is impossible to the man who can will.—Emerson. 10. A scholar may be a well-bred man, or he may not.—Emerson. 11. “I trust we’re at liberty to enter,” said the elder lady with urbanity. “We were told that we might come at any time.” 12. I sent for you that I might have your counsel and assistance. 13. I could no longer doubt the doom prepared for me.
14. I am as well as I can expect to be under the excitement which I suffer. 15. I can become a party to no such absurd proceeding. 16. I could scarcely refrain from tears. 17. Come! we must go back. 18. We must be strangers to each other in future. 19. As my horse must now have eaten his provender, I must needs thank you for your good cheer, and pray you to show me this man’s residence, that I may have the means of proceeding on my journey.
1. Fill each blank with can or may.
2. Write sentences asking permission in the first, second, and third persons. Write sentences (1) granting these requests; (2) refusing them.
1. Justify the use of the auxiliary (should or would). In some of the sentences, should might be substituted for would. Which are they?
1. If I were you, I would not dwell too much on this fancy of yours. 2. I have neither servants nor clothes, and, if it had not been for these good people, I should not have had food. 3. I should delight in having her for a sister-in-law. 4. I should hardly wish to go out before Friday. 5. I shouldn’t wonder if this made him set his teeth. 6. Well, that’s over! and I’m sure neither Oliver nor I would go through it again for a million of money. 7. If I were you, I would turn it over in my mind. 8. I should be afraid to express myself in this manner, if the matter were not clear and indisputable.—Burke. 9. I should like to remain where I am for another week or ten days. 10. Would you do me the favor to look at a few specimens of my portrait-painting?—Dickens. 11. “Would you come?” she said, with a serious, searching glance, and in a kind of coaxing manner.—“I should be an intruder, my dear lady,” said Theodore, declining the suggestion.—Disraeli.
12. I should not like to be out of my seat were the House in session.—W. J. Locke. 13. If I were you I would not tempt Fate by remaining here a day longer.—W. E. Norris. 14. Candidates would rather, I suppose, climb in at a window than be absolutely excluded.—Cowper. 15. Impey would not hear of mercy or delay. 16. I should not be surprised if he were here immediately. 17. There’s a plantation of sugar-canes at the foot of that rock: should you like to look?—George Eliot.
2. Explain the use of the auxiliary (shall, should, or will, would) in each subordinate clause.
1. With this purpose in view, he sent a skilful architect to build him such a palace as should be fit for a man of his vast wealth to live in. 2. Their majesties commanded me to submit to whatever Bobadilla should order in their name. 3. Should you find yourself able to push on to Braemar, your visit will be most welcome. 4. It’s a simple affair enough, if you’ll just leave it as it stands. 5. Fearing to awaken Joseph a second time, lest he should again hazard all by his thoughtlessness, he crept softly out of the wigwam. 6. I watched the grapes from day to day till they should have secreted sugar enough from the sunbeams. 7. If an old prophecy should come to pass, we may see a man, some time or other, with exactly such a face as that. 8. He kept his heart continually open, and thus was sure to catch the blessing from on high, when it should come.—Hawthorne. 9. This law provided that the presidency of Bengal should exercise a control over the other possessions of the Company. 10. It is time that we should proceed.
11. It is necessary that he should have some work to do. 12. I shall be thankful if you will condescend to enlighten my ignorance. 13. It was natural that the leading authors should affect a style of levity and derision.—Jeffrey. 14. I will take care that you shall not be troubled by him again. 15. That the Duke of Wellington should cordially approve is singular enough. 16. “Boys,” interrupted Wilder, “it is now proper that you should know something of my future movements.”—Cooper. 17. We all stood ready to succor them if there should be occasion.—Defoe. 18. You are so well qualified for the task yourself that it is impossible you should need any assistance; at least, it is hardly possible that I should afford you any.—Cowper. 19. The brave sufferer refused to purchase liberty, though liberty to him would have been life, by recognizing the authority which had confined him. 20. I meant that he should walk off, but he did not choose to understand me. 21. When time shall serve, you shall have the fruit of my labors.—Cowper.
22. I shall be so glad if you will tell me what to read.—George Eliot. 23. I protest against such a combat, until the king of England shall have repaid the fifty thousand bezants.—Scott. 24. Unless something should go wrong, I flatter myself that the performance will elicit your generous approbation. 25. A seat in the cabinet was offered to him, on condition that he would give efficient support to the ministry in Parliament. 26. The proposition which he made was, that Fox should be Secretary of State.
27. That night he put forth a proclamation, directing that the posts should be stopped, and that no person should, at his peril, venture to harbor the accused members.—Macaulay. 28. Hyde interfered, and proposed that the question should be divided. 29. I am sorry that you should be bothered in this way. 30. I am sorry that Murray should groan on my account.—Byron. 31. There are old brass andirons, waiting until time shall revenge them on their paltry substitutes. 32. Should he be acquitted, that, I imagine, should end the matter. 33. A rumor was circulated that some new pageant was about to be exhibited, which should put a fitting close to the splendid festivities. 34. If this new purpose of conquest shall be abandoned, Richard may yet become King of Jerusalem by compact.—Scott. 35. Saladin desires no converts save those whom the holy prophet shall dispose to submit themselves to his law. 36. Pride now came to Montezuma’s aid, and, since he must go, he preferred that it should appear to be with his own free will. 37. God forbid that I should regret those gifts!
1. Point out each infinitive and explain its construction as noun, as complementary infinitive, as infinitive of purpose, as modifier of a noun or an adjective, or as part of a verb-phrase (with an auxiliary).
2. Point out any modifiers or objects of infinitives.
1. To advance toward London would have been madness. 2. To trace the exact boundary between rightful and wrongful resistance is impossible.—Macaulay. 3. I was too young to keep any journal of this voyage. 4. The baron hastened to receive his future son-in-law. 5. It was her habit to go over to the deanery (§ 318). 6. He could not consent to turn his back upon a party of helpless travellers. 7. The fixed purpose of these men was to break the foreign yoke. 8. Here rise no cliffs the vale to shade. 9. They saw the gleaming river seaward flow (§ 322). 10. She perceived one of the eyes of the portrait move. 11. His first scheme was to seize Bristol. 12. The first business of the Commons was to elect a Speaker. 13. The old man frequently stretched his eyes ahead to gaze over the tract that he had yet to traverse. 14. When other things sank brooding to sleep, the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen.—Hardy. 15. All were anxious to hear the story of the mysterious picture. 16. I see the lights of the village gleam through the rain and the mist. 17. Then the bishop rose from his chair to speak.
18. To dismiss him from his high post was to emancipate him from all restraint. 19. This is not a time to hesitate. 20. Burghers hastened to man the wall. 21. I felt Leslie’s hand tremble on my arm. 22. He heard a mighty bowstring twang.—Morris. 23. Mr. Ralph Nickleby sat in his private office one morning, ready dressed to walk abroad. 24. I put down the letters, and began to muse over their contents. 25. Waves of clear sea are, indeed, lovely to watch. 26. Halifax had now nothing to give. 27. The neighborhood seemed to breathe a tranquil prosperity. 28. It is always perilous to adopt expediency as a guide. 29. Soldiers were drawn up to keep the passage clear.
3. Write sentences containing an infinitive used as subject, as predicate nominative, as appositive, as the object of a preposition, as an adjective; a complementary infinitive; an infinitive of purpose; an infinitive used with shall, with will, with must.
4. Note any modifiers or objects that you have used with the infinitives.
1. Point out each infinitive clause. Mention the verb of which it is the object. Find the subject of each infinitive. When it is possible, substitute a that-clause for the infinitive clause.
1. It might seem irreverent to make the gray cathedral and the tall time-worn palaces echo back the exuberant vociferation of the market. 2. We have made you wait. 3. We then went to Pembroke College, and waited on his old friend Dr. Adams, the master of it, whom I found to be a most polite, pleasing, communicative man.—Boswell. 4. The doctor expects Captain Starbuck to recover. 5. For a good sailor to foul the first buoy was ludicrous enough. 6. Will you ask Annie to feed the parrot? 7. I believe it to be a speaking likeness. 8. I suppose them to be utterly ignorant of their own condition.
9. Hepzibah bade her young guest sit down. 10. Calamity and peril often force men to combine. 11. He knew himself to be a liar whom nobody trusted. 12. I must not ask the reader to suppose that he was cheerful. 13. I felt this melancholy to be infectious. 14. No one on seeing Mr. Crawley took him to be a happy man, or a weak man, or an ignorant man, or a wise man.—Trollope. 15. Humanity impelled him to rescue the poor wretch.
2. Write sentences containing infinitive clauses used after verbs of wishing, commanding, believing, declaring, perceiving.
3. Fill each blank with a personal pronoun.
4. Fill each blank with who or whom.
1. Point out all the participles, present and past, and tell what substantive each modifies. Mention such as are used as pure adjectives. Mention any modifiers or objects of participles.
1. The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done.—Whitman. 2. Even the tight windows and the heavy silken curtains drawn close could not shut out the sound of the driving sleet. 3. Godolphin was not a reading man. 4. Mr. Sikes, dragging Oliver after him, elbowed his way through the thickest of the crowd. 5. Betrayed, deserted, disorganized, unprovided with resources, begirt with enemies, the noble city was still no easy conquest. 6. Thus regretted and cautioned on all hands, Mordaunt took leave of the hospitable household. 7. Far away, an angry white stain undulating on the surface of steely-gray waters, shot with gleams of green, diminished swiftly, without a hiss, like a patch of pure snow melting in the sun.—Conrad. 8. I set her on my pacing steed.—Keats.
9. But the poor traveller paused here barely for a minute, and then went on, stumbling through the mud, striking his ill-covered feet against the rough stones in the dark, sweating in his weakness, almost tottering at times, and calculating whether his remaining strength would serve to carry him home.—Trollope. 10. His teeth are set, his hand is clenched. 11. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a small amphitheatre. 12. He found the house gone to decay—the roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. 13. And now, sir, when you next go to the British Museum, look for a poet named Vaughan. 14. A heavy sea struck us on our starboard quarter, almost throwing us on our beam-ends. 15. He stood chuckling and rubbing his hands, and scarcely hearing a word the parson said. 16. The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust. 17. We sailed merrily forward for several days, meeting with nothing to interrupt us.
2. Write sentences containing the past participles of six weak verbs; of six strong verbs.
3. Write sentences containing a participle used as a pure adjective; a participle used as a predicate adjective; a participle modified adverbially; a participle taking an object.
4. Write ten sentences each containing a perfect participle. Substitute for each a clause introduced by when.
Explain all examples of the nominative absolute. Substitute a modifying clause in each sentence.
1. A carriage, drawn by half a dozen horses, came driving at a furious rate, the postilions smacking their whips like mad. 2. As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was of a deep blue color, the waves running high and fresh, and sparkling in the light. 3. For some years past there had been a difficulty about the rent, things not having gone at the Dragon of Wantly as smoothly as they had used to go. 4. He began to talk rapidly, all diffidence subdued. 5. Noon coming, and the Doctor not returning, Mr. Lorry advised with Lucie. 6. The second mate falling ill during the passage, I was promoted to officer of the watch. 7. The dog now roused himself and sat on his haunches, his ears moving quickly backward and forward. 8. This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak. 9. She was seated alone, her arms on the table, her head bent down. 10. There being some time upon his hands, he left his luggage at the cloak-room, and went on foot along Bedford Street to the church.
1. Point out the present participles, and also the verbal nouns in -ing (participial nouns). Show the difference. Mention any modifiers or complements used with either.
1. The consternation was extreme. Some were for closing the gates and resisting; some for submitting; some for temporizing. 2. A troop of strange children ran at his heels, hooting after him, and pointing at his gray head. 3. The wicket opened on a stone staircase leading upward. 4. Watching and toil were to me pleasure, for my body was strong, and my spirits winged. 5. The lingerings of decent pride were visible in her appearance. 6. His deep bass voice had a quavering in it, his eyes looked dim, and the lines on his face were deep. 7. There were several French privateers hovering on the coast. 8. He does not like talking of these matters to strangers. 9. Miss Matty cared much more for the circumstance of her being a very good card-player. 10. His discourse was broken off by his man’s telling him he had called a coach. 11. Swallows and martens skimmed twittering about the eaves. 12. I have loved, lived with, and left the sea without ever seeing a ship’s tall fabric of sticks, cobwebs, and gossamer go by the board.—Conrad.
13. The sexton was a meek, acquiescing little man, of a bowing, lowly habit; yet he had a pleasant twinkling in his eye. 14. The rain always made a point of setting in just as he had some outdoor work to do. 15. I have been employed this morning in composing a Latin motto for the king’s clock. 16. Two more of the boats were lost by being stove and swamped alongside. 17. I heard the ripple washing in the reeds. 18. After wandering through two or three streets, I found my way to Shakspere’s birthplace. 19. Rip’s heart died away at hearing of these sad changes in his home and friends. 20. The fish did not bite freely, and we frequently changed our fishing ground without bettering our luck. 21. Lady Niton sat blinking and speechless. 22. I cannot help hearing things, and reading things, and observing things, and they fill me with disquietude. 23. Here was circumstance after circumstance goading me onward. 24. I sat staring at a book of my own making. 25. That thought actually drove out of my head the more pressing danger.
2. Write sentences in which (1) a verbal noun and (2) a present participle are formed from—
3. Whenever it is possible, substitute either a noun or an infinitive for each verbal noun in your sentences.
4. Select three of these verbal nouns, and write other sentences in which each is used (1) as a subject, (2) with a direct and an indirect object, (3) with an adjective modifier, (4) with an adverbial modifier.
1. Point out and parse the prepositions and conjunctions.
In parsing a preposition, tell (1) the object, and (2) the word to which the preposition shows the relation of the object.
In parsing a conjunction, indicate the words or groups of words which it connects, tell whether it is coördinate or subordinate, and mention its correlative (§ 369) if it has one.
1. Neither witch nor warlock crossed Mordaunt’s path. 2. But I will be bolder, and do not doubt to make it good, though a paradox, that one great reason why prose is not to be used in serious plays, is, because it is too near the nature of converse.—Dryden. 3. All down that immense vista of gloomy arches there was one blaze of scarlet and gold. 4. No doubt, something of Shakspere’s punning must be attributed to his age, in which direct and formal combats of wit were a favorite pastime of the courtly and accomplished.—Coleridge. 5. Bodily labor is of two kinds: either that which a man submits to for his livelihood, or that which he undergoes for his pleasure.—Addison. 6. Early upon the morrow the march was resumed. 7. The camp was broken up, and the troops were sent to quarters in different parts of the country. 8. My attention was called off for a moment by the cries of birds and the bleatings of sheep. 9. This is well to be weighed, that boldness is ever blind, for it seeth not dangers and inconveniences.—Bacon. 10. At a little distance from Sir Roger’s house, among the ruins of an old abbey, there is a long walk of aged elms. 11. Then I sent you the Greek instead of the Persian whom you asked for?—Fitz Gerald. 12. Rowland’s allowance at college was barely sufficient to maintain him decently, and, his degree nevertheless achieved, he was taken into his father’s counting-house to do small drudgery on a proportionate stipend.
13. Though this lady never expressed an idea, Richard was not mistaken in her cleverness. 14. If I am tired, your letter will refresh me. 15. The young ladies however, and Mr. Pecksniff likewise, remained in the very best of spirits in spite of these severe trials, though with something of a mysterious understanding among themselves. 16. He went along almost gaily, nor felt the fatigue of the road.
2. Write sentences in which, the following words are used as indicated:—
3. Construct sentences containing either and or, neither and nor, whether and or, not only and but also, both and and, though, if, because.
4. Construct six sentences containing coördinate conjunctions; six containing subordinate conjunctions; six containing relative adverbs.