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ETYMOLOGY.
CHAPTER III.

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF VERBS.

P. TO-DAY we will begin our | second lesson on the Verbs; and I warn you, Willie, that it will be a very long one.

W. Why will it be long, papa?

P. Because there are so many kinds of verbs. And then each verb is divided into so many parts. And again, these have such different inflections. And what is worse than all

Ion. What is that? P. Oh, nothing very bad! But different verbs are often joined together to make new verbs; and thus a great variety is formed.

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L. I should call such verbs Compound Verbs." We have had several compound verbs in our parsing exercises-You shall be sent; I have taken. I suppose that the other verbs, such as I said, I take, are "Simple Verbs."

P. Yes; that is the case. Thus you have simple and compound verbs to begin with.

Ion. We meet with simple and compound kinds in almost everything. In our Botany Lessons we have simple and compound peduncles, simple and compound leaves, a simple and compound corolla, simple and compound pistils.

P. True. The words simple and compound are very general terms. But in verbs the forms are very various. Thus we

have, to sing, I sing, sang, sings, singing, sung, was singing, did sing, shall sing, have sung, had sung, shall have sung, may sing, may be singing, can sing, might sing, may have sung, could have sung, would have sung, and so on. Therefore I give you warning once more, that we going to undertake a difficult part of grammar; but it may all become easy if you will give to it patient and close attention.

are

We will begin to-day with the different kinds of verbs. Do you remember our first lesson on verbs?

W. Yes, papa. You said

that the verbs are words which declare a doing something, such as "I jump"; and there are others which declare a being something, or that something is being done-such as, "I am," "Tom is kicked."

P. The first verb, "I jump," simply shows that the nominative is doing something. Because the nominative acts, we call "I jump" an ACTIVE VERB.

In the verb "Tom is kicked," the nominative does not act. Tom merely allows the action of kicking to be done to him. The kicking passes on to him. Thus we call "is kicked" a PASSIVE

VERB.

Let us look at the next verb, "I am." Suppose you say, "I am here." Does "I am" show that you are doing something,

or does it show that you are being done to?

L. It does not show either; it only expresses a being something. So "I am " is neither

an active nor a passive verb.

-some one to do it, and some one for it to be done to. Such as, John killed the cat. Mary struck James. Mamma kissed Tetty. Jane saw an ox." L. But, papa, nothing was P. And when a noun is nei-done to the ox when Jane saw it? ther of the masculine nor P. No; the ox was seen, feminine gender, what word do we use to express neither? Ion. Neuter, papa. And I suppose that verbs which are neither active nor passive are called NEUTER VERBS.

P. They are. Thus we make three classes of veròs.

1. Verbs in which the nominative is doing something are called ACTIVE VERBS; as, I dance.

2. Verbs in which the nomi-. native is being done to are called PASSIVE VERBS; as, John is hurt.

3. Verbs in which the nominative is being something are called NEUTER VERBS; as, I am good.

W. Are there any other kinds of verbs beside the active, passive, and neuter, papa?

P. Yes, there are different kinds of active verbs. Tell me the difference between these two. John jumped; John killed. W. They are both active; the only difference is, that the last one, killed, is not "sense" by itself, unless you say what he killed.

certainly, but the action of
seeing was not done to the cow,
it merely passed on to it, as we
say. So we call such a verb
transitive, which means
"pas-
sing across." We make the
rule about such verbs in this
way:

"All active verbs in which the action must pass on to some other thing are said to be "TRANSITIVE VERBS."

The rule concerning the other active verbs is very easy to understand. These verbs express actions which we may perform without doing them to others; such as, I run. When you run the action does not pass on to any one else. You cannot run anybody. You cannot say, "I run John."

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Ion. Nor can you say, "I laugh John. Nor "I cry John," nor "I sneeze John,” nor "I swim John." All those actions are done without their passing on to any one else.

P. So those active verbs are not "transitive," and we therefore call them "Intransitive verbs."

L. That makes two kinds of

P. That is the difference I wanted you to observe. To kill is like a great many more verbs, -it does not make "sense" un-active verbs. less you say whom the action is done to.

I said in a previous lesson, "Generally when an action is performed there are two parties

The Transitive Active Verbs; such as, I touch him.

The Intransitive Active Verbs; such as, I fly.

P. There is another kind of

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The COMPOUND VERB, in which two or more words express the action; as, I did stand, I was falling.

The ACTIVE VERB transitive, where the action passes across to some other thing; as, I caught John, I bit the bread.

The ACTIVE VERB intransitive, in which the action does not pass on to some other thing; as, I jump, I cry.

The PASSIVE VERB, in which the I am nominative is acted upon; as, caught; I was bitten.

The NEUTER VERB, in which the nominative is simply being something (it is not acting nor being acted upon); as, I am, I sleep, Ï

remain.

The AUXILIARY VERBS are so called because they help to form compound verbs; as, I shall fall, I will sing, I did shake.

THE LITTLE SPRING.

BENEATH a green and mossy bank
There flows a clear and fairy stream;
There the pert squirrel oft has drank,
And thought perhaps 'twas made for him.

Their pitchers there the labourers fill,
As drop by drop the crystals flow,
Singing their silvery welcome still
To all who to the fountain go.

Then to the river on it glides,
Its tributary drop to bear;
Its modest head a moment hides,
Then rises up and sparkles there.
The touching lesson on my heart
Falls like the gentle dews of heaven,
Bids me with humble love impart
The little treasure God has given.
For from a source as small as this
Full many a cup of joy may flow,
And on the stream of human bliss
Its little ray of gladness throw.

MRS. FOLLEN.

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A JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR THE FAMILY AND THE SCHOOL.

22nd Week.

MONDAY.

Moral Biography.

INDUSTRY.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER.

this lesson, for he soon set to work to mend his fortunes. He first got employment at the house of Mr. Palmer, a celebrated printer. Here he made himself famous, not only as a workman, but by writing a treatise on a religious subject. This brought him under the notice of many eminent men, such as Dr. Pemberton, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton; Sir Hans Sloane, and others.

P. So BENJAMIN FRANKLIN It seems as if Franklin learned travelled over the ATLANTIC OCEAN, and reached London. Before he landed, as soon as the ship arrived in the Thames, Franklin searched the letterbag, but he found no letters for himself, nor any letter of credit for £100. The letters of recommendation proved worthless. The truth was, the governor, whom Franklin thought to be his friend, had deceived him; and before long he stood alone and desolate in the streets of London, as badly off as when he first entered Philadelphia.

What would be his thoughts now? He was not the man to despair. He would think to himself, "Well, I can rise once more! I have risen before." Then he would think, "I have learned something. I will not be cheated like this again. I shall know better than to depend upon others. Next time I think I am getting on very fast, I will stop to see if I am safe." Then he would make up his mind, "I will learn, in future, to depend on myself; I will go and find some work at once. It is much better to rise slowly by one's self, than to rise suddenly by the help of others."

From Mr. Palmer's Franklin removed, for higher wages, to the office of Mr. Watts, a printer. Here he was soon known for his industry; and his fellowworkmen were also astonished at his temperance and frugality. They had each been accustomed to spend five or six shillings a-week on beer; all day long the beer-boy was seen coming in and out of the office. But he never had the pleasure of bringing any beer for Franklin. His comrades laughed at him, saying, "You will never be able to get through your work." To their surprise, however, they found, as others had done before, that he did more work than any of them, and was more clear-headed.

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