Graded Lessons in English Part 6

Cork | Clouds | +Model+.--Wood + floats or float.

s.h.i.+ps | Boys |

Such expressions as _Cork floats_ are _sentences_, and the nouns _cork_, _s.h.i.+p_, etc., are the subjects. You will find that _+every subject+ is a +noun+ or some word or words used for a noun_.

Be prepared to a.n.a.lyze and pa.r.s.e the sentences which you have made. _Naming the cla.s.s to which a word belongs is the first step in parsing_.

+Model for a.n.a.lysis+.--This is a sentence, because -----; _cork_ is the subject, because -----; _floats_ is the predicate, because -----.

+Parsing+.--_Cork_ is a _noun_, because it is the name of a thing--the bark of a tree.

LESSON 15.

Select and write all the nouns in the sentences given in Lessons 28, 31, 34.

Tell why they are nouns.

In writing the nouns, observe the following rule.

+CAPITAL LETTER--RULE.--Every proper or individual name must begin with a capital letter+.

+To the Teacher+.--See Notes, pp. 167-169.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

With respect to what, do we cla.s.sify words (Lesson 14)? What are such cla.s.ses called? Can you ill.u.s.trate this cla.s.sification? What are all names?

What is a noun? What is the first step in parsing? What is the rule for writing individual names?

LESSON 16.

VERBS.

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.--We propose to introduce you now to another cla.s.s of words. (The teacher may here refer to the talk about birds.)

You have learned that one very large cla.s.s of words consists of _names of things_. There is another very important cla.s.s of words used to tell what these things _do_, or used to _express_ their _existence_.

When I say, _Plants grow_, is _grow_ the name of anything? +P+.--No.

+T+.--What does it do? +P+.--It tells what plants _do_. It _expresses action_.

+T+.--When I say, _G.o.d is_, what does _is_ express? +P+.--It expresses _existence_, or _being_.

+T+.--When I say, _George sleeps_, _sleeps_ expresses _being_ and something more; it tells the condition, or _state_ in which George is, or exists, that is, it expresses _state of being_.

All the words that a.s.sert _action, being_, or _state of being_, we call +Verbs+.

Let the teacher write nouns on the board, and require the pupils to give all the words of which they can think, telling what the things named can do. They may be arranged thus:--

_Noun_. _Verbs_.

| grow, | droop, Plants + decay, | flourish, | revive.

Each pupil may give a verb that expresses an action of the body; as _weep, sing_; an action of the mind; as, _study, love_; one that expresses being or state of being.

+DEFINITION.--A _Verb_ is a word that a.s.serts action, being, or state of being+.

The office of the verb in all its forms, except two (the participle and the infinitive, see Lessons 48 and 49), is to +_a.s.sert_+. This it does whether the sentence affirms, denies, or asks a question.

+To the Teacher+.--In the exercises of this and the next two Lessons, let the pupils note the agreement of the verb with its subject. See Notes, pp.

163-165.

Supply, to each of the following _nouns_, as many appropriate _verbs_ as you can think of.

Let some express _being_ or _state of being_.

Water ----.

Wind ----.

Pens ----.

Parrots ----.

Vines ----.

Farmers ----.

Trees ----.

Ministers ----.

One verb may consist of _two, three_, or _four_ words; as, _is singing, will be sung, might have been sung_.

Form _verbs_ by combining the words in columns 2 and 3, and add these verbs to all the _nouns_ in column 1 with which they appropriately combine.

1 | 2 | 3 -------|------------------|------------ Laws | has been | published.

Clouds | have been | paid.

Food | will be | restored.

Health | should have been | preserved.

Taxes | may be | collected.

Books | are | obeyed.

The examples you have written are sentences; the _nouns_ are _subjects_, and the _verbs_ are _predicates_.

As verbs are the only words that a.s.sert, _+every predicate+ must be a +verb+, or must contain a verb_.

Be prepared to _a.n.a.lyze and pa.r.s.e five of the sentences_ that you have written.

+Model+.--_Laws are obeyed_. Diagram and a.n.a.lyze as in Lesson 11.

+Parsing+.--_Laws_ is a noun, because----; _are obeyed_ is a _verb_, because it a.s.serts action.