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VERB.

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A verb is a word by which something is affirmed; as, "John runs ;"." Cæsar was killed;" "James will study."

That of which something is affirmed is called the subject of the verb. In the preceding examples, Johr., Caesar, and James are the subjects.

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The affirmation may be absolute; as, "I walk;" or it may be expressed in the form of a condition; as, "If I should walk;" or of a question; as, "Does he walk?" or of a command; as, "John, sit down; or of a wish; as, "May you prosper."

The infinitive mood is the noun form of the verb, as the participle is the adjective form. An affirmation cannot be made by means of either.

EXERCISES.

1. Tell the verbs and subjects in the following sentences.

James will

John walks. William reads. The horse gallops. The sun shines. Peter hopped. Pompey was defeated. learn. The horse will gallop.

Brutus killed Cæsar. Cæsar defeated Pompey. James will learn his lesson. John walks every day. William reads amusing books. The horse gallops through the wood. The sun shines brightly. You should study. You should study diligently. James should study his lesson diligently. Joseph has come. Joseph has not come. Joseph has not come home. Hence arise wars and convulsions. Does wealth make men

happy?

2. Put verbs instead of the following dashes.

John-his work. George a letter. The horse

traveler a treasure. This story

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an apostle. A bad boy

beautiful. We-happy.

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What is a verb?

What is the subject of a verb?

Mention some of the ways in which the affirmation may be expressed.

rabbit. Ann-stockings. Joseph houses. A good man

in that house. God

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just. The horse

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CLASSES OF VERBS.

Verbs are either transitive or intransitive.

A transitive verb requires the addition of an object to complete the sense; as, "John strikes George;" "He excels me."

An intransitive verb does not require the addition of an object to complete the sense; as, "The horse runs;" "Peter sleeps ;" "Mary is good."

Remarks.-1. The word transitive means passing over; and verbs of this class are so called, because the action is represented as passing over from the subject to the object.

2. As the object of a transitive verb is in the objective case, any verb which makes sense with me, thee, him, her, us, or them, is a transitive verb.

Thus, we may know that strikes is a transitive verb by its making sense with him after it; as, "John strikes him;" but "John sleeps him," would not make sense.

3. The same verb may be transitive in one sense, and intransitive in another; thus, in the sentence, "He believes my story," believes is transitive; but in this phrase, "He believes in God," it is intransitive.

4. Observe that when a preposition immediately follows the verb, the verb is not transitive. In the sentence "He believes in God," the verb believes is followed by the preposition in, and the noun God is the object of that preposition and not of the verb.

EXERCISES.

1. Tell which verbs are transitive, and which intransitive, in the following sentences, and name the object of each of the transitive verbs.

cow.

Benjamin jumped over the fence. The horse kicked the Brutus killed Cæsar. Romulus slew Remus. Scipio conquered Hannibal. Mummius destroyed Corinth. Washington commanded the army. Birds fly in the air. Susan smiled.

Into how many classes are verbs divided? | Why are transitive verbs so called?
What is a transitive verb ?
How may a transitive verb be known?

What is an intransitive verb?

I saw him. God is just. The good man loves his fellowmen. I have a book. William runs fast. Augustus heard Lucinda.

2. Form three sentences containing transitive verbs-three containing intransitive verbs.

With respect to form, verbs are regular or irregular.

A verb is regular when the past tense and the auxiliary perfect participle are formed by adding ed to the imperfect (or present) infinitive; as,

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Note.-When ed is annexed to hope, e is dropped from hope; when ed is annexed to drop, p is doubled; when ed is annexed to dry, y is changed to i. See General Rules for Spelling, iii, v, and vii.

A verb is irregular when the past tense or perfect participle is formed some other way.

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A defective verb is one which wants some of its

parts.

An auxiliary verb is one which is used in conjugating other verbs.

VOICES.

Transitive verbs have two forms, usually called the active and passive voices.

When is a verb regular?
When is a verb irregular?
What is a defective verb?

What is an auxiliary verb?

How many voices have transitive verbs?

When the active voice is used, the subject is represented as acting; as, "Brutus killed Cæsar." When the passive voice is used, the subject is represented as being acted upon; as, "Cæsar was killed by Brutus."

Remarks.—1. The two expressions, "Brutus killed Cæsar," and "Cæsar was killed by Brutus," convey the same idea; but in the former the attention is directed to Brutus as performing the action, in the latter, to Cæsar as affected by the action. In the former, the subject, Brutus, is active, in the latter, the subject, Caesar, is passive.

2. The word passive is derived from a Latin word which means to suffer; and the name is given to this form, because the subject is represented as suffering or undergoing the action.

Any sentence containing a transitive verb in the active form may be so altered as to convey the same sense with the verb in the passive form.

That which is the object in the active becomes the subject in the passive; and the subject of the active is put in the objective case, after the preposition by. Thus, "The dog bit the cat," may be changed into "The cat was bitten by the dog."

EXERCISES.

Change the following sentences so as to convey the same meaning with the verb in the passive.

The boy reads the book. We praise virtue. He cuts the wood. The wind shakes the tree. She sees a house. We hear a noise. Anthony loved Cleopatra. Washington defeated Cornwallis. Virtue produces happiness. Nero burned Rome. Men should read the Bible.

Remarks.-1. When the active voice is used, the object may be omitted; thus, we may say, "Peter reads," without affirming whether he reads a book, a newspaper, or a letter. When the passive is used, the name of the agent may be omitted; thus, we may say, "The book is read," without declaring by whom.

Define the active voice.
Define the passive voice.

How may a sentence containing a transi-
tive verb be altered?

When the active voice is changed into the

passive, what is done with the subject and the object of the active verb? What may be omitted when the active voice is used?

What may be omitted when the passive voice is used?

2. It is convenient to use this form when we do not know, or when we know and do not wish to name, the agent; as, "My pen has been spoiled." The same idea, however, may be represented, though not so well, by the active; as, "Somebody has spoiled my pen."

8. The passive is sometimes used merely to give variety, when the active would express the meaning as well.

4. An intransitive verb cannot be used in the passive form, since it has no object in the active to become the subject of the passive. But intransitive verbs, followed by prepositions, are sometimes used in the passive, the object of the preposition becoming the subject of the passive.

Thus, to smile is intransitive, and we cannot say, "He was smiled by her;" but we may say, "She smiled on him;" "He was smiled on by her."

5. Some would call on an adverb in the passive form, but not correctly; was smiled on should be considered a compound verb, for the passive is used only because smiled on in the active is treated as a transitive verb. In parsing the active, however, we should parse the words as they are-smiled as an intransitive verb, and on as a preposition.

6. Sometimes even a verb, a noun, and a preposition, are treated as a compound verb, and used in the passive voice; as, "His character was lost sight of in that transaction."

7. Intransitive verbs are sometimes followed by the objective case of a noun of kindred signification to their own, and this objective may be the subject of the passive: as, "John ran a race;" "A race was run by John."

To verbs, besides voices, belong moods, tenses, numbers, and persons.

MOODS.

Moods are different manners of expressing the action or state.

There are commonly reckoned five moods; the indicative, the subjunctive, the potential, the imperative, and the infinitive.

The Indicative mood simply declares a thing; as, "I run;""John wrote a letter."

The Subjunctive mood represents the action or

Why may not intransitive verbs be used

in the passive?

When do intransitive verbs have an objective case?

What belong to verbs?
What are moods?

How many moods?

Define the indicative-the subjunctive.

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