Turn to the sentences from Stevenson’s Treasure Island in Section 1 and try reading a few without the prepositional phrases. Notice how many of the picturesque and vivid details, as well as necessary facts, are supplied by the phrases. ARE THE SENTENCES THAT YOU WRITE AS RICH IN PHRASES AS THEY MIGHT BE? It is sometimes enlightening to set off the phrases in a theme you have written.
PRACTICE:
Develop the following bare sentences by the addition of prepositional phrases.1You may add any- thing that seems appropriate and effective. DON’T OVERDO IT. Punctuate your sentences carefully.
Enclose the phrases.
Example:
The waves dashed and roared.
(During the storm) the waves dashed (over the rocks) (at the base) (of the cliff) and roared (with a hollow, booming sound).
1. The airplane circled and then sped away.
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2. The car rattled, groaned, and then stopped.
3. I faced the assignment and sighed.
4. I turned and ran.
5. The savage animal crouched and snarled
6. The sound annoyed me.
6. ;
WORD STUDY 2.
Master the spelling and the pronunciation:
(Part of speech and definition)
business (to) discriminate
commercial
forehead—fore ’(h)ead intricate height
punctuation turbulent
For further progress:
casualty
reticence ait ot Sg eres yet tin eet be ee
d Pe!
¥, ia
Write effective sentences using the words which you have defined. |
can:
Examples:
It is important to learn to discriminate between worthless books and those that contribute to- ward one’s understanding of life.
The tapestry was woven in an intricate design which must have required infinite patience. _
i}
A turbulent mountain stream dashed over the rocks, foaming and splashing. ; rnd ee The boy’s careless driving resulted in a casualty that cost the lives of three people.
The children were puzzled by their father’s reticence when they questioned him alae 5 experiences in the World War; he always turned the conversation to other subjects or became | absorbed in his NEWsDapeE.
ae
Write original sentences here: ' £
* ee bevolat)":
ae oem meen HA
SECTION 5
REVIEW OF NOUNS, THE NOUN AS SUBJECT
REVIEW OF NOUNS
A noun is the name of a person, place, object, condition, or quality.
Examples:
OO EO en Martha, John, teacher
EMER cake. alt Fa csztestacasi cece Chicago, city, park TI ce sree e nel icceun desk, pencil, building
Condition or quality... darkness, happiness, health, sanity, courtesy, cowardice
1. A proper noun is the name of an individual person, place, or object: James, New York, Spirit of St. Louis.
2. Acommon noun is a name that is common to all of a class: boy, city, airplane.
a. A concrete noun may be applied to a person, place, or object.
b. An abstract noun is the name of a quality or condition (see examples above).
c. A collective noun is the name of a group of individuals: audience, club, team, crowd, flock.
INFLECTION
The term inflection refers to the changes in a word to indicate certain changes in meaning; the inflection of a noun includes three kinds of meanings—gender, number, and case.
1.Gender. If a noun refers to the male sex, it is of the masculine gender: ram, rooster, stag, man, boy.
If a noun refers to the female sex, it is of the feminine gender: doe, girl, heroine, actress.
If a noun may be applied to either sex, it is called common gender: student, clerk, baby, teacher.
If a noun does not indicate any sex, it is called neuter gender: tree, book, window.
2. Number. If a noun indicates only one, it is in the singular number: woman, mouse, activity.
If a noun indicates two or more, it is in the plural number: women, mice, activities.
3. Case. A noun is said to be in the nominative, possessive, or objective case, according to its use in the sentence. These important points will be studied in connection with the uses of nouns and pronouns.
NOTE: You cannot always be sure what part of speech a word is until you see it used in a sentence.
They quickly extinguished the light. (noun) Anne, will you please light the candles? (verb)
His studio was a pleasant, light room filied with paintings. (adjective)
If a word can naturally have a, an, the or a possessive before it, the word is a noun.
THE NOUN AS SUBJECT
The most common use of a noun is as subject of a verb, for every complete sentence must have at least one subject and one verb. (As you know, sometimes the subject is not expressed but is understood;
this occurs only in sentences that give commands or make requests, such as ‘‘Close your books” and
In order to locate the subjects we should begin by locating the verbs. Perhaps you are already fairly sure of the verbs. Some points to remember are:
1. Many words that come from verbs and are somewhat like verbs do not make a statement or ask a question or give a command.
a. Expressions like to go, to think, to employ are never part of the verb; they are infinitives.
b. No “‘ing word” (going, thinking, employing) can by itself be a verb; it must be helped by an auxiliary verb.
Helen is going to the party. (verb)
From the window we watched the stream of cars going past. (not a verb)
. The word there is never the subject and is never part of the verb. It may be used simply to introduce the statement, and it is then called an expletive.
There are two extra pencils in the drawer. (The subject of the verb are is pencils.)
. The word not is never a part of the verb. It is an adverb usually, and it frequently separates the words that form the verb. Other adverbs, also, may separate parts of the verb.
She would not have gone if she had not been invited.
The building was completely destroyed by the storm.
Even when not is part of a contraction, it does not become part of the verb.
It doesn’t need more explanation She couldn’t come to school today.
. Some of the most common auxiliaries which form part of the verb are: am, is, ure, was, were, been, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, might, do, does, did, have, has, had, must.
TO FIND THE SUBJECT OF A VERB, always ask the question “Who?” or “What ” and then say the verb. If you are thinking clearly, the answer will always be the subject.
Examples:
The president appointed the committee.
“Who appointed?”—President is the subject.
An accident happened at the corner.
“What happened?”— Accident is the subject.
On the corner stood a tall policeman.
“Who stood?”—Policeman is the subject.
PRACTICE:
Turn to the sentences from _Treasure Island in Section 1, p. 4. Underline each verb with one straight line and underline each subject with one wavy line.
SUGGESTIONS:
The word you underline as a verb must have a subject. It might be you understood, but only in a command or a request.
The words who, which, and that are often subjects. Watch for them!
There are 11 verbs in the first 4 sentences
Sometimes the same noun or pronoun serves as subject for two or more verbs (the compound verb).
Also two or more nouns or pronouns may be subjects of one verb (the compound subject).
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SECTION 6