RULES RELATING TO ADVERBS.

(a) Adverbs should be placed so as to modify the word intended; as, He struck me only once; I only looked at him.

(b) Adjectives are sometimes used as adverbs; compare, He came late to dinner, with, He came here only lately.

(c) Two negatives in English make an affirmative; as, I never received nothing from him.

By the introduction of the word only we can preserve the negation; e. g., He is not only not liked, but is positively hated. Mistakes frequently occur in the use of affirmative and negative particles in answering questions. We are apt to reply to the matter without thinking of the form; e. g., Do you not like sea-bathing? No, I don't, should be, Yes, I don't. No is the opposite to yes; whether or no, should be, whether or not, except before a suppressed noun.

RULES RELATING TO PREPOSITIONS.

(a) Prepositions govern nouns and pronouns in the objective case, as indirect objects; as, Come home with me.

(b) Prepositions added to intransitive verbs, often make them transitive; e. g., to laugh at ; run through, &c. (c) Particular prepositions must be used after certain verbs; as, to despair of, cope with, differ from, astonished at, &c.

RULE RELATING TO CONJUNCTIONS.

Conjunctions join the same moods and tenses of verbs, and the same cases of nouns and pronouns; as, I told both him and them; I shall go and (shall) see for myself.

Note that, besides conjunctions, prepositions, relative pronouns some adverbs, and copulative verbs connect.

ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES.

A sentence is a number of words in which some statement or assertion is made.

Every sentence consists of at least two parts, a subject and a predicate.*

The subject of a sentence is the person or thing spoken about. The predicate is the statement made about the subject, e. g.,

A phrase is a number of words which has a meaning, but in which no statement is made.

All phrases are equivalent to either nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, and are therefore called noun phrases, adjective phrases, or adverbial phrases, e. g.—

To get up early in the morning. Noun phrases.
Eating with moderation.

A girl of a sweet disposition.
A people loathing its oppressors.
At half-past ten to night.
On the table in the parlour.

}Adjective phrases.

Adverbial phrases.

Every simple sentence must contain one finite verb; a phrase does not. By a finite verb is meant any part of a verb that can be limited by having a nominative; in other words, every form of the verb except the infinitive and the participles.

* It will easily be seen that subject and predicate are merely new names for nominative and verb, with this difference, that the latter are single words, while the former consist of the individual words together with all their adjuncts.

D

Besides the subject and predicate a sentence may have an

object, e. g.—

Every sentence, then, must have a subject and a predicate; and if the predicate is a transitive verb, it will have an object as well.

THE SUBJECT.

The Subject of a sentence is the person or thing spoken of. It is therefore always a noun, or something equivalent to a noun: hence the subject of a sentence may be

(1) A noun; as, Tom ran off.

(2) A pronoun; as, He went home.

(3) An adjective used as a noun; as, The wicked will be punished.

(4) A noun phrase; as, To be in pleasant company is delightful.

(5) A noun sentence; as, That I should do my duty is

imperative.

Since the subject of a sentence is a noun, it can only be qualified by an adjective, or something equivalent to an adjective. The subject may therefore be enlarged by(1) Adjectives; as, Good, old, crusted port is very expensive.

(2) Nouns in apposition; as, Milton the poet was blind. (3) Nouns or pronouns in the Possessive Case; as, My aunt's favourite cat died yesterday.

(4) Adjective phrases; as, A house containing fourteen rooms is to let.

(5) Adjective sentences; as, A boy who has no perseverance will never get on.

THE PREDICATE.

The Predicate is the statement made about the subject. It may consist of—

(1) One finite verb; as, She went home. They broke the treaty.

(2) A copulative verb joined to any other notional words; as, He is a great fool; she grows tall.

In the latter case the second notions fool and tall are the real predicates, the statements made about he and she ; but they cannot be affirmed or predicated of the subjects without a verb being used. A verb used in this way is called the copula.

As the predicate of a sentence is always a verb, it can only be qualified or enlarged by an adverb, or something equivalent to an adverb. The predicate may therefore be enlarged by

(1) Adverbs; as, She looks well and grows fast.

(2) Adverbial phrases; as, I'll meet you, in ten minutes, at the end of the lane.

(3) An adverbial sentence; as, He told me as we were coming home.

In analysing, it should be stated whether the extensions of the predicate are of time, place, manner, cause, &c.

THE OBJECT.

The Object of a sentence is the person or thing to whom the action is done.

In the passive voice the object of the action is the nominative to the verb.

The object is always a noun, or something equivalent to a noun, and therefore it consists of the same kind of words and phrases, and is enlarged in the same ways as the subject; hence it may be

(1) A noun in the objective case; as, She broke the

tumbler.

(2) A pronuon; as, We reminded him of his promise. (3) An adjective used as a noun; as, Honour the brave. (4) A noun phrase; as, We expected to see you here before.

(5) A noun sentence; as, I know where you live.

The object may be enlarged, too, by

(1) Adjectives; as, We all like a jolly, good, Christmas

dinner.

(2) Nouns in apposition, or possessive cases; as, The wind blew Tom the gardener's hat off.

(3) Adjective phrases, or sentences; as, She wore a bonnet decked with ribbons and flowers in profusion.

In analysing, the distinctions between direct, indirect, and factitive objects should be noted.

COMPOUND SENTENCES.

A Compound Sentence contains two or more simple sentences combined.

When these sentences are of equal importance, and do not depend upon each other, they are said to be co-ordinate. When they are not of equal importance, but one is a mere modification or completion of the other, the main statement is called the principal sentence, the other subordinate to it, e. g.

Tom took hold of it, but I had more sense. I felt very much annoyed, and yet it was impossible to be angry with him.

Co-ordinate.