GENERAL DEFINITIONS. TO THE TEACHER.-Omit the following definitions until review. I. GRAMMAR is the science of language, and the art of using it correctly. II. LANGUAGE is the expression of thought in spoken or in written words. III. SYNTHESIS, in grammar, is the process of combining letters to form words, and words to form phrases and sentences. IV. In this book are taught ETYMOLOGY, SYNTAX, and PUNCTUATION. V. ETYMOLOGY classifies words into parts of speech, and teaches their inflections. VI. SYNTAX teaches the relation, agreement and arrangement of words, and gives laws for the proper forms of declinable words. 1. A Sentence is the expression of a thought in 2. A sentence is also often employed in asking a 3. A complete sentence contains at least two words, viz., a Subject and a Verb. 4. A Verb is a word that asserts, questions, or commands. (a.)-In the following sentence the act of running is asserted of boys, " Boys run.' In the sentence Sleep they soundly ?" the verb questions in the following it commands, "Soldiers, attend !" 5. The Subject of a Sentence is that concerning which the verb asserts, questions, or commands. (a.)" Dogs bark;" in this sentence a certain act is asserted of dogs: therefore dogs is the subject. (b.)-After the verb. is found, it is usually easy to discover a subject by asking a question. Thus, in the sentence "Peter walks," we first learn that walks is the word that asserts, therefore walks is the verb. Now let us ask the question "Who walks ?" Answer, Peter. Then Peter is the subject, since it is concerning Peter that the verb asserts something. This test is frequently useful in more involved sentences. QUESTIONS, EXAMPLES, AND EXERCISES. For what other purposes are How many words must a senWhat names are given to these What is a sentence? Give examples. sentences employed? Give examples. tence contain? May it contain more? two words? What is a verb? Define the subject of a sentence. What words are verbs in the following examples? What questions should we ask in order to find the subject of sentence No. 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? 10? Complete sentences by supplying verbs with the following wordsSamuel, houses, oxen, fields, cattle, rice, wood, fire, men. Supply a subject with each of the following verbs-droop, run, flourish, bloom, fight, fly, groan, escape, live, hurry, roll, move, play. |