3. A possessive pronoun: His words and his example are our legacy. 4. An appositive: The daughter of Nokomis, his gentle mother, died. 5. A phrase: A song of joy rang in his ears. Striving to strengthen the weak was his chosen work. Footprints pointing towards a wigwam were a sign of invitation. 6. A clause: Broken are the spells that bound you. All words, phrases or clauses used to modify the subject of a sentence have the force of adjectives. A study of the italicized words in the sentences just given will make clear the kind of modifier of each subject. Study the subjects in the following sentences and give the modifiers of each. Name the kind of modifier in each sentence. 1. The noise of the workmen disturbed the invalid. 2. The most interesting part of the story remains to be told. 3. Their dog chased the farmer's sheep. 4. The commander's orders were to let no man enter the lines. 5. The plan to study together was successful. 6. The officer of the day, Major Henry P. Whitney, had seen service on many a battlefield. 7. The object of the journey was to give the tired merchant entire change of scene and freedom from care. 8. An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves. 9. Trembling with fear, they reached the house. 10. The Golden Rule, which contains the very life and soul of politeness, should guide all our acts. Write sentences using each kind of subject modifier. XCII.-THE PREDICATE. The predicate of every sentence contains a verb; for, as we have seen, the verb is the part of speech used in making assertions. The verb of a sentence is sometimes called the predicate verb. The predicate of a simple sentence may be: 1. A verb: Dogs bark. Birds sing. Flowers bloom. Ducks swim. 2. A verb and its complement: John lives in the city. Robins build nests in trees. Longfellow was called the children's poet. We notice that besides the verb in the examples just given other words are added to the verbs to complete the sense. The complement of a verb is that which is added to the verb to complete its meaning. The verbs that require a complement are verbs of incomplete predication. 1. The tired camels may reach the spring. 2. The children love her. 3. We love sailing by moonlight. 4. I propose to arrest every doer of wrong. 6. Who knows where the violets grow? A study of these sentences shows that the complement of a transitive verb may be: 1. A noun. 2. A pronoun. 3. A phrase. 4. A clause. 1. The governor is commander-in-chief of the armies of the commonwealth. 2. It is he. 3. Slender and clear were his crystal spears. 4. The dark hall seems to gather all. 5. The image lay in its depths. 6. The book seems what I want. 7. He is here. We see from the above sentences that the complement of an intransitive verb may be: 1. A noun. 2. A pronoun. 4. A phrase. 6. An adverb. Write sentences using as the complement of transitive verbs, a noun, a pronoun, a phrase, and a clause. Write other sentences using as the complement of intransitive verbs, a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a phrase, a clause, and an adverb. The predicate of a sentence may be enlarged or modified by: 1. An adverb: 1. The mist rose slowly. 2. The wind blew fiercely. 2. An adverbial phrase: 1. The river empties into the lake. 2. Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation with fearless independence. 3. The street was filled with a hurrying throng. 4. The farmer plans to make hay in pleasant weather. 5. He worked to win the prize. 6. He studied to master his profession. 7. The physicians did all in their power to prolong the life of their distinguished patient. 3. A clause : 1. Go where glory waits thee. 2. Wait till the enemy comes near. 3. The good soldier fights that he may win. It is evident that all the modifiers of the predicate are adverbial in their nature. In our treatment of the sentence, it has been our purpose to make clear the two-fold nature of the sentence, the subject element, and the predicate element. It will be seen that the modifiers of the subject partake of the nature of the adjective, and are adjective elements, while all additions to the predicate are adverbial elements. This simple division of the sentence, if borne in mind, will make the most complicated sentences easy to understand. Study the following sentences so that you may be able to give the predicate verb in each. Name also the kind of modifier of each predicate verb. 1. The general bowed gracefully. 2. Mr. Smith was the tallest man of the party. 4. Heaven is not gained at a single bound. 5. He tried his best to make everybody happy. 6. The boatman found several people on the island. On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, With a diadem of snow. Write sentences using as modifiers of the predicate, the adverb, the adverbial phrase, and the adverbial clause. XCIII. MEANING OF SENTENCES. – We have learned that sentences are divided according to their meaning into four kinds: the declarative, the interrogative, the imperative, and the exclamatory; but we now wish to study their meaning more fully. 1. The declarative sentence states a fact in its most direct form. Whether the subject or the predicate or |