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doctor were there. 5. Did you say it was who broke the window?

CAUTION III.-Do not use "who" as the object of a transitive verb or of a preposition.

Write correctly:·

I.

are you talking to?

man I do not like. 4.

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2. Tell me you work for. 3. He is a did your sister marry?

CAUTION IV. Do not use "which" as a relative to represent persons, or "who" to represent animals, children, or objects without life.

Write correctly : —

2. The dog

I. Those are rich should not be proud. bought, was stolen. 3. They have found the child was old dog Hero was killed. 5. They study will learn.

was lost.

you

4. It

CAUTION V. - Avoid the use of different kinds of pronouns in the same construction.

Write correctly:

2. I

3. I will

1. If thou or you will go, I will pay your or thy expenses. hope you or thou will put money into thy or your purse. show thee or you what we have, and you or thou may take which will please you or thou. 4. Learn thy or your lesson, then amuse yourself or thyself.

CAUTION VI. Do not use a pronoun and its antecedents as subjects of the same sentence.

Correct:

1. The girls they all screamed. 2. Mr. Snell he has gone to Paris. 3. The dogs they barked, and the horses they ran. 4. Many words they darken speech. 5. Ella Jones she is my classmate.

CLASSES OF VERBS

105

THE VERB

CII. ORAL LESSON

John studies.

What is the subject of the sentence? What is the predicate? Does the sentence tell what John studies?

John studies grammar.

In this sentence, the meaning of "studies" is completed by the word "grammar," which is an objective element.

A verb which requires an objective element to complete its meaning, is called a transitive verb; a verb which does not require an objective element to complete its meaning, is called an intransitive verb. What kind of a verb is "studies" in the sentence "John studies grammar"? Why? What kind of a verb is "run," in the sentence "John runs "?

The fields look green.

What is the subject of this sentence? What is the predicate? What is the office of the word "look"? Its use is copulative; and such copulative words are called copulative verbs.

CIII. DEFINITION OF VERB

A verb is a word which expresses being, action, or state; as, I am; George writes; The house stands.

The being, action, or state, may be stated abstractly or represented as belonging to a subject; as, “To write"; "Boys write."

CIV. CLASSES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO USE

With respect to their use, verbs may be divided into copulative, transitive, and intransitive.

A copulative verb is used to join a predicate to a subject, and to make an assertion; as, "Sugar is sweet."

The copula to be is the only pure copulative. The verbs become, seem, appear, stand, walk, and other verbs of motion, position, and condition, together with such verb groups as is named, is called, is styled, is elected, is appointed, is constituted, is made, is chosen, is esteemed, and some others, are frequently used as copulatives.

Ex. "The road became rough"; "The men appeared cheerful"; "He is styled the Czar of all the Russias"; "Sir Walter Scott is called the Wizard of the North"; "General Washington was elected first President of the United States."

A transitive verb requires an object to complete its meaning; as, "The hunter killed a bear"; "The scholar learned his lesson"; "That house has seven gables."

An intransitive verb does not require an object to complete its meaning; as, "Flowers bloom"; "Grass grows"; "The wind blows furiously."

The action expressed by the transitive verb has reference to some object external to the subject, upon which it terminates: the action expressed by an intransitive verb has no such reference, but affects the subject only. If an object is required to complete its meaning, a verb is transitive, otherwise intransitive. A verb is transitive if its subject can be made its object by inverting the sentence.

Ex. "That boy studies algebra." The verb "studies" is transitive, because its meaning is completed by the object "algebra." "That boy studies." The verb "studies" is transitive, because some word, as "lesson," "grammar,” etc., is required to complete its meaning. "The winds blow." The verb "blow" is intransitive, because the action expressed by it affects the subject only, and does not require the addition of an object to complete its meaning. "The letter was written by me,” i.e. I wrote the letter. The verb "was written " is transitive, because its subject becomes its object by inverting the sentence.

Some verbs are transitive in one signification, and intransitive in another.

Ex. "It breaks my chain"; "Glass breaks easily". "He returned the book"; "I returned home."

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An intransitive verb becomes transitive when it is followed by an object like itself in meaning

Ex."He lives a noble life." "And he dreamed yet another dream." "Those men are playing a game of chess." "Grinned horribly a ghastly smile.”

CV.

CLASSES OF VERBS WITH RESPECT TO FORM

With respect to their form, verbs are either regular or irregular.

A regular verb indicates past time, and forms its perfect participle by adding d or ed to the simplest form of the verb; as, love, love-d, love-d; count, count-ed, count-ed.

An irregular verb does not add d or ed to the present indicative, but indicates past time or forms its perfect participle by some other change in its spelling as, see, saw, seen; go, went, gone.

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The properties of verbs are voice, mode, tense, number, and person.

CVII. VOICE

Voice is that form of the transitive verb which shows whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

Transitive verbs have two voices: an active and a passive voice.

The active voice represents the subject as acting upon an object; as, “John struck James"; "The boy was studying a lesson"; "The cat caught the mouse."

The passive voice represents the subject as being acted

upon; as, "James was struck by John"; "The mouse was caught"; "The lesson was studied."

The passive voice is formed by prefixing some form of the copulative verb to be to the perfect participle of a transitive verb.

The direct object of a verb in the active voice becomes its subject in the passive.

Ex.-"The boy shut the door" (active); "The door was shut by the boy" (passive); "He saw the comet"; "The comet was seen by the astronomer."

Certain verbs are sometimes used, with a passive signification, in the active voice.

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Ex.—“This stick splits easily"; "Butter sells for forty cents" "This ground plows well"; "The stone breaks readily"; "I have nothing to wear"; "He has some ax to grind"; "He has no money to spend foolishly"; "The house is building"; "Wheat sells for one dollar a bushel."

A few verbs sometimes assume the passive form, though used in an active sense.

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Ex. "The melancholy days are come," i.e. have come; "Babylon is fallen," i.e. has fallen; "She is gone," i.e. has gone; "The hour is arrived," i.e. has arrived; "He was come now," he said, "to the end of his journey."

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Tell which of the verbs, in the following sentences, are in the active voice, and which in the passive:

1. Sarah loves flowers. 2. John was astonished at the news. 3. William saw a meteor. 4. A meteor was seen. 5. I have written a letter. 6. That poem was written by Saxe. 7. He should have waited longer. 8. The heavens declare the glory of God.

9. He

found the money. 10. Peace was declared before the battle of New Orleans. II. The money was found in the waste basket. 12. I lowered our flag when I saw that the courthouse flag had been lowered.

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