directly; but, in the above form, the accusative of the person must be regarded as the direct complement. In sentences like those of which we are now treating, the desire to be laconic frequently leads us to form verbs analogically from the direct complement. Thus, instead of saying "The patient hands the physician a fee," we say, The patient fees the physician;" for "The master furnishes the scholars a dinner," "The master dines the boys;" and so of others, thus changing the indirect complement of the original verb into a direct complement of the newlyformed one. EXERCISE. LESSON 55.-Write sentences with the following verbs, giving to each two complements, and placing that of the person first. Give, bring, present, throw, carry, make, lend, teach, write, buy, ask, let, play, show, order, promise, deny, refuse, provide. Ex.: The master will give the scholars a holyday. LESSON 56.-Write twenty sentences, reversing the order of the complements, so that that of the person will require to be preceded by an appropriate preposition. Ex.: The surgeon ordered a bath for the patient. In familiar style, where the direct complement, or the accusative of the thing, is expressed by the pronoun "it," we sometimes find the indirect complement, without a preposition, occupying the second place: as, he gave it me; the keeper showed it us; John told it his brother. This form of expression is not to be recommended: the preposition should always be supplied. OBSERVE.-There are in English some few verbs that really govern two direct accusatives, and such verbs must necessarily have the same government in every language; but then these accusatives will both indicate the same object, though the latter one will exhibit it in some peculiar character. Ex.: The queen created her favourite a peer. The senate appointed Camillus dictator. He calls you a dunce. The committee have elected the colonel chairman. The parents will name the child George. The master has made me monitor. SECTION VIII. COMPLEMENT OF ADJECTIVES. Certain qualities can only exist in one object referentially to other objects. Inclination, aversion, proximity, distance, likeness, dissimilarity, &c., are qualities of this description; and when such are predicated of a subject, the adjectives by which they are expressed require to be followed by a phrase indicating some object to which they relate, before we obtain a clear comprehension of their value. Er. Exercise is conducive to health. Sleep is similar to death. The bridge is close to the prison. Man is liable to error. A fool is prone to mischief. Youth is averse to study. The governor is aware of the plot. An astronomer is conversant with the stars. Air is essential to life. In those languages whose substantives assume various forms or cases, the adjectives which thus express an incomplete idea require that the substantive serving to complete their sense should stand in some particular case, and thus show its relation to the adjective. But as the various relations of our substantives, with the exception of the genitive case, are shown by prepositions, instead of by inflection of the substantive itself, adjectives which thus express an incomplete sense require the substantive that forms their complement to be preceded by some particular preposition, the equivalent of the termination of case in other languages; and from the influence thus exercised they are called GOVERNING ADJECTIVES; the substantive that, with the preposition, serves to complete the sense forming the COMPLEMENT of such an adjective. Like, unlike, near, nigh, which take after them a substantive with the preposition "to," are frequently found followed by a substantive without the preposition, which may, however, always be supplied. When near, nigh, are found without a preposition, they may be themselves regarded as prepositions, as in Latin. EXERCISE. LESSON 57.-Form sentences, employing in the predicate of each successively one of the following adjec tives, completed by a substantive with the appropriate preposition. Rid, desirous, close, similar, dissimilar, provocative, like, Many qualities may be predicated absolutely of a subject, as, "the man is ignorant;" but as the judgments which we form are more frequently qualified than general, in order to express them accurately it is often necessary to limit the range of the adjective, and this is accomplished, as with those adjectives that always require a complement, by adding a substantive preceded by an appropriate preposition. Ex.: The idiot is destitute of reason. The labourer is worthy of his hire. Peace is favourable to the arts. The selfish are incapable of gratitude. EXERCISE. LESSON 58.-Write sentences, containing in the predicates each of the following adjectives, with an appropriate complement. Hurtful, congenial, destitute, pleasant, agreeable, reckless, careless, heedful, unworthy, advantageous, remarkable, productive, adverse, dangerous, apt, innocent, guilty, injurious, fatal, descriptive, full, Ex.: Frost is hurtful to many plants. 66 When we would define a substantive by an adjective with its complement, the entire definitive phrase should follow the word determined. Thus we say, an action worthy of praise," "a soil incapable of cultivation," and not a worthy action of praise,' &c. Expressions may be found in which this rule is disregarded: as, "a fit man for the purpose, "a proper place for a camp;" but we must be careful not to hide the relation by separating words so intimately connected in sense. We should place the substantive first, and say, a man fit for the purpose; a place proper for a camp. We have some few compound adjectives formed by prefixing to a governing adjective, a substantive that forms its complement. Thus a thing proof against fire is called 60 ATTRIBUTE EXPRESSED BY A SUBSTANTIVE. fire-proof; goods free from toll are toll-free; a vessel impervious to air is air-tight, &c. Such compound adjectives should always be connected by a hyphen, to avoid the grammatical anomaly of substantives isolated and without case. SECTION IX. THE ATTRIBUTE EXPRESSED BY A SUBSTANTIVE. We have seen that those words which, of themselves, describe how a thing is, are adjectives. It is not at all uncommon however to find, in sentences predicating simply how the subject is, the state or attribute expressed by a substantive with a preposition. Such a phrase is so exactly equivalent to an adjective, that it is often quite indifferent which form of expression is used. Ex.: You are in fault=culpable. The stranger is without a penny-penniless. The captain is in difficulties-embarrassed. A liar is beneath contempt. The spirits are above proof. The oxen were in excellent condition = fat. The governor is on his guard-vigilant. The town is in great danger. The patient is at the point of death. EXERCISE. LESSON 59.-Write twenty sentences, expressing in each by a substantive with a preposition how the subject is; and determine the substantive in the predicate by some addition, as in the last four of the above examples. Ex.: My aunt is in GOOD health. SECTION X. THE PASSIVE VOICE OF VERBS. Transitive verbs, as we have seen, govern an accusative case; that is, they are followed by a substantive or a pronoun indicating the object on which the action expressed by the verbs falls. Thus, in "Cæsar conquered Gaul," the action expressed by the verb "conquered" is not fully understood till the object affected by the conquering is mentioned. "Gaul" is the object that experiences or suffers the action of the verb "conquered," and forms therefore its complement or regimen. But it often happens that we would speak of the thing affected by the action, rather than of the actor; and in this case the substantive or pronoun forming the complement of a transitive verb, becomes the subject of the proposition: thus, "Gaul was conquered by Cæsar." When the thing that suffers the action is thus presented as the subject of the sentence, the predicate is expressed by what grammarians call the PASSIVE VOICE of the verb. The PASSIVE VOICE, then, is that form of the verb in which the SUBJECT or NOMINATIVE is represented as suffering the action of the verb. In the Greek and Latin this relation is indicated by a series of peculiar inflections in the verb, a form of expression unknown in modern languages, which convey by a different method the idea of an object thus conceived as acted upon. This consists in employing, as the medium of assertion, the substantive verb to be through all its moods and tenses, and expressing the attribute of the action suffered by a peculiar form, called the (PASSIVE or) PERFECT PARTICIPLE of the adjective verb. ordinary form of the verb, in which the subject is represented as the acting thing, is called the ACTIVE VOICE. The Almost every verb, which in the active voice takes a direct complement, can be thus expressed in the passive voice; the complement or accusative of the active becoming the subject or nominative of the passive voice; and the words pointing out the actor, when we wish to show from what object the action proceeds, being governed in the accusative case by the preposition "by." |