Compound and Derivative Verbs COMPOUND VERBS 604. The principal class of compound verbs is the following: A verb preceded by an adverb or a preposition; as, overdo, understand, uplift, withstand, outgrow. 605. A few verbs are preceded by their objects; as, backbite, partake (i.e. take part), browbeat. DERIVATIVE VERBS 606. The principal classes of derivative verbs are the following: 1. Verbs derived by the use of prefixes (1) from verbs; as, arise, abide, bespeak, forgive, undo, dislike; (2) from nouns and adjectives, as becloud, enthrone, renew. Principal prefixes: a (formerly meaning away, off; now merely intensive), be (= by) (denoting the application of an action to an object, hence it is used (1) to make intransitive verbs transitive; as, bespeak, (2) to emphasize the meaning of transitive verbs; as, bestow, (3) to form transitive verbs from nouns; as, becloud); for (implying negation); mis (implying error); un (= reversal of action expressed by the simple word). 2. Verbs derived by the use of suffixes from adjectives and nouns; as, cleanse, lengthen, soften, solemnize. Principal suffixes: en (forming factitive verbs from adjectives and occasionally from nouns); se (forming verbs from adjectives). 3. Verbs derived by changing the vowel sound (1) from verbs; as, lay from lie; (2) from nouns; as, sing from song. 4. Verbs derived from nouns by a change of accent; as, accènt from àccent, compoùnd from còmpound. SANTA CLARA COUNTY TEACHERS' LIBR EXERCISE 607. Form verbs from the following words: I. Verbs: wake, lie, moan, take, pay, tie, capture, get, fall, bind, sit, rise, bid, fasten. 2. Nouns and adjectives: danger, little, sweet, fright, knee, nest, spark, throat, scribe, bond, shelf, convert, extract, insult, object, produce, present, rebel, black, human, body, material, food, breath, advice. PROPERTIES OF VERBS 608. The properties of verbs are voice, mood, tense, person, and number. All these properties belong to finite verbs. Non-finite verbs have voice, mood, and tense. 609. May, can, must, might, could, would, should, ought, be (with its variations 1), do, did, have, had, shall, and will help other verbs to express their grammatical properties, hence they are called auxiliary verbs. EXAMPLES.—“I can go."2 "Thou canst go."2 "He has gone." "They have gone." "She might have gone." (312, 3; p. 184.) 1. The variations of be are am, art, are, is, was, wast, were, wert, being, and been. 2. In the verbs can go and canst go the auxiliaries are finite, as they change their form to agree with the person and number of the subject. Go is an infinitive, as it undergoes no change of form to agree with the person and number of the subject. The two words combined form a finite verb. (312, 3.) Voice 610. Read the following sentences: 1. John strikes James. 2. James is struck. 3. His father wishes you to punish him. 4. His father wishes him to be punished. 5. The birds sing sweetly. 6. Close his eyes. 7. His work is done. Who is the actor in the first sentence? Who receives the act? In the second sentence, who receives the act? How is the noun "James" used, in the first sentence? In the second? What change in the form of the verb? What is the subject of the verb "to punish"? The direct object? Is the direct object of "to punish," in the third sentence, made the subject of "to be punished,” in the fourth? How has the verb changed its form? Can you make such a change with the fifth sentence? Why not? With the sixth? Why? In the seventh sentence, `what is the subject of the verb "is done"? Does "work" denote the actor, or the receiver of the act? Can you change the sentence so as to make the noun "work" the direct object of the verb? 611. Voice is a variation in the use and form of a transitive verb to show whether its subject represents the actor or the receiver of the act. 612. There are two voices: the active and the passive. 613. A transitive verb used to show that its subject represents the actor, is in the active voice; as, “James returned the book." "Spain declared war against England.” 614. A transitive verb used to show that its subject represents the receiver of the act, is in the passive voice; as, "The book was returned." 'War was declared." Some grammarians hold that intransitive verbs may be in the active voice. It is, of course, true that the subjects of many intransitive verbs represent the persons or things performing the actions expressed by the verbs; but as intransitive verbs cannot be used so that their subjects represent the persons or things receiving the actions expressed by the verbs, it is thought best to restrict the property of voice to transitive verbs. 615. The direct object of a transitive verb in the active voice becomes the subject of the verb in the passive voice. EXAMPLES. "James returned the book" (tr., act.). "Spain declared war" (tr., act.). "The book was returned" (tr., pass.). "War was declared by Spain" (tr., pass.). 616. The passive voice form of a verb consists of the auxiliary verb be (in any one of its forms) combined with the perfect participle of the verb; as, "Our friends are not forgotten." "When was it bought?" (609, note 1.) Tests for the passive voice: Is the verb in the form shown in 616? Can its subject be made the object of the verb in the active voice? Can it be followed by by and the name of the actor? 617. Transitive verbs that do not express action are in the active voice when followed by a direct object, and in the passive voice when the direct object is made the subject; as, "He resembles his sister" (act.). "I have the hat" (act.). "The company owned the building" (act.). "The building was owned by the company" (pass.). 618. The passive voice is chiefly used I. To state the act, and the receiver of the act, without mentioning the actor; as, "James was struck." (The act and the person who received the act are known; but the person who struck James is not mentioned.) 2. To give variety of expression; as, "Heat expands metals." "Metals are expanded by heat." 619. A few intransitive verbs are sometimes used in the passive form, though they are not in the passive voice; as, "The melancholy days are come." "He is fallen." (666, note.) 620. If a verb in the active voice has a direct and an indirect object, the direct object generally becomes the subject of the verb in the passive voice, and the indirect object generally becomes the object of a preposition; as, "We offered him (ind. obj.) the money" (dir. obj.). "The money was offered to him." Sometimes the indirect object of a verb in the active voice remains the indirect object of the verb when it is changed to the passive voice; as, "We offered him the money." "The money was offered him" (ind. obj.). Generally, it is better to supply a preposition. 621. Sometimes, though rarely, the indirect object of a verb in the active voice is made the subject of the verb in the passive voice, and the direct object remains the direct object; as, "We offered him the money." "He was offered the money." These forms should be used with caution. 622. The object of a preposition is sometimes made the subject of a verb in the passive voice, and the preposition is combined with the verb; as, "They laughed at him" (intrans.). "He was laughed at" (trans., pass.). "Have they sent for him" (intrans.)? "Has he been sent for" (trans., pass.)? "He was taken care of.” EXERCISES 623. In the following sentences point out seven transitive verbs in the active voice, five in the passive voice, and two intransitive verbs. Change the voice of the transitive verbs. I. Iron and platinum possess the property of cohesion. 2. Whom did the Queen of Sheba visit? 3. The principle of the lever was discovered by Archimedes. 4. When did Napoleon fight the battle of the Pyramids? 5. No one can be happy without virtue. Cicero. 6. Twenty-nine were ordered to be tied up. - Macaulay. 7. At the battle of the Nile only a few of the French vessels escaped, the LYTE'S ADV. GR. AND COMP.- -13 |