How to Speak and Write Correctly | Page 9

in asking questions.
Affirmations and commands are expressed by the verb; and different inflections of the
verb express number, person, time and manner. With regard to time, an affirmation may
be present or past or _future_; with regard to manner, an affirmation may be positive or
conditional, it being doubtful whether the condition is fulfilled or not, or it being implied
that it is not fulfilled;--the verb may express command or _entreaty_; or the sense of the
verb may be expressed without affirming or commanding. The verb also expresses that an
action or state is or was going on, by a form which is also used sometimes as a noun, and
sometimes to qualify nouns.
Affirmations are modified by adverbs, some of which can be inflected to express different
degrees of modification.
Words are joined together by _conjunctions_; and the various relations which one thing
bears to another are expressed by _'prepositions. Sudden emotions_ of the mind, and
exclamations are expressed by interjections.
Some words according to meaning belong sometimes to one part of speech, sometimes to
another. Thus, in "After a storm comes a calm," calm is a noun; in "It is a calm evening,"
calm is an adjective; and in "Calm your fears," calm is a verb.
The following sentence containing all the parts of speech is parsed etymologically:
_"I now see the old man coming, but, alas, he has walked with much difficulty."_
I, a personal pronoun, first person singular, masculine or feminine gender, nominative
case, subject of the verb see.
now, an adverb of time modifying the verb see.
see, an irregular, transitive verb, indicative mood, present tense, first person singular to
agree with its nominative or subject I.
the, the definite article particularizing the noun man.
old, an adjective, positive degree, qualifying the noun man.
man, a common noun, 3rd person singular, masculine gender, objective case governed by
the transitive verb see
.
coming, the present or imperfect participle of the verb "to come" referring to the noun
man.
but, a conjunction.
alas, an interjection, expressing pity or sorrow.
he, a personal pronoun, 3rd person singular, masculine gender, nominative case, subject

of verb has walked.
has walked, a regular, intransitive verb, indicative mood, perfect tense, 3rd person
singular to agree with its nominative or subject he.
with, a preposition, governing the noun difficulty.
much, an adjective, positive degree, qualifying the noun difficulty.
difficulty, a common noun, 3rd person singular, neuter gender, objective case governed
by the preposition with.
N.B.--Much is generally an adverb. As an adjective it is thus compared:
Positive Comparative Superlative much more most




CHAPTER III
THE SENTENCE
Different Kinds--Arrangement of Words--Paragraph
A sentence is an assemblage of words so arranged as to convey a determinate sense or
meaning, in other words, to express a complete thought or idea. No matter how short, it
must contain one finite verb and a subject or agent to direct the action of the verb.
"Birds fly;" "Fish swim;" "Men walk;"--are sentences.
A sentence always contains two parts, something spoken about and something said about
it. The word or words indicating what is spoken about form what is called the subject and
the word or words indicating what is said about it form what is called the predicate.
In the sentences given, birds, fish and men are the subjects, while fly, swim and walk are
the predicates.
There are three kinds of sentences, simple, compound and complex.
The simple sentence expresses a single thought and consists of one subject and one
predicate, as, "Man is mortal."
A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences of equal importance the

parts of which are either expressed or understood, as, "The men work in the fields and the
women work in the household," or "The men work in the fields and the women in the
household" or "The men and women work in the fields and in the household."
A complex sentence consists of two or more simple sentences so combined that one
depends on the other to complete its meaning; as; "When he returns, I shall go on my
vacation." Here the words, "when he returns" are dependent on the rest of the sentence
for their meaning.
A clause is a separate part of a complex sentence, as "when he returns" in the last
example.
A phrase consists of two or more words without a finite verb.
Without a finite verb we cannot affirm anything or convey an idea, therefore we can have
no sentence.
Infinitives and participles which are the infinite parts of the verb cannot be predicates. "I
looking up the street" is not a sentence, for it is not a complete action expressed. When
we hear such an expression as "A dog running along the street," we wait for something
more to be