PRONOUNS

Certain words in our language are used instead of names. They form a separate class or part of speech. By their use we avoid the frequent repetition of nouns.

Examine the following sentences:

The bird has flown to her nest.

The storm vented its fury upon the unfortunate ship.
The children filled the air with their shouts of laughter.
“Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
"Come to the meadows with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold.
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold."
Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies.

Instead of which noun in the first sentence is her used? Which words in the remaining sentences are used instead of nouns?

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.

Classify the following sentences. Point out all the pronouns, and tell which are used as subjects:

I am monarch of all I survey.
We left him alone in his glory.

I can hardly think you my master.

She is ten times more gentle than her father is crabbed.
No party names we own.

MODIFIERS ADJECTIVES

As we have already learned, ideas of things come into the mind chiefly through the senses. These things possess different qualities, which we may express by the use of modifying words.

The word used as a subject is called the simple subject. The simple subject with its modifiers is called the modified subject. The word or words used as a predicate is called the simple predicate. The simple predicate with the modifying words is called the modified predicate.

Examine the following sentences and point out the simple subject and the simple predicate of each:

Ready archers grasped their bows.
The good ship flies to milder skies.
This jest shall cost me some expense.

The tall maize rolls up its long green leaves.

Point out all nouns. Which word is used to modify the noun archers? Name the words that are used to modify the following nouns: ship, skies, expense, maize, leaves.

An adjective is a word used to modify the meaning of a noun or a pronoun.

A word that modifies a noun or a pronoun is called an adjective.

Write five sentences in which adjectives are used.
Point out all adjectives in the following sentences:-

The humble boon was soon obtained.

No rich perfumes refresh the fruitful field,
Nor fragrant herbs their native incense yield.
There gentle music melts on every spray.

ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS

Examine the following sentences, and point out the simple subject and the simple predicate:

The flood of time is rolling on.

He knew the haunt of every bird.

The kings of modern thought are dumb.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

In the first sentence the noun flood is modified by the group of words of time, an adjective modifier. Point out the adjective modifiers in the other sentences.

A phrase is a group of related words, having neither subject nor predicate.

Write three sentences, each containing an adjective phrase.

Examine the following sentences:

Happy is the man who can call to-day his own.
The stone that is rolling can gather no moss.

There is always hope in him who earnestly works. The hut on the hillside sheltered the traveler who sought its protection.

Thoughts of home should ever cheer him who labors to maintain it.

In the first sentence the noun man is modified by the adjective clause who can call to-day his own.

Point out all phrases and clauses in the other sentences. Write three sentences, each containing a clause modifying a noun or a pronoun. Underline the clauses.

VERBS

We have learned the uses of three classes of words. We shall now consider another class of words that are used to declare or to assert.

Examine the following sentences, and point out each subject and each predicate:—

The stranger came with heavy stride.

The seed is in its winter bed.

'Neath the autumn leaves the flowers sleep.

A dewy freshness fills the silent air.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Point out the word in each sentence used to assert. Which of these words is used to assert action? being? state of being?

A verb is a word that expresses action, being, or state of being.

Nearly all verbs express the idea of action; hence verbs are sometimes called action words.

The verb be, with its various forms, expresses simply the idea of being.

A few verbs, as become, seem, etc., express both action and being.

Such verbs as stand, lie, sit, sleep, etc., are usually said to express the idea of state of being.

Write eight sentences and use two verbs that express action, two that express being, two that express both action and being, and two that express a state of being.

Point out the subject and the predicate in each of the following sentences:

The snowbird twittered on the beechen bough.

The shades of eve come slowly down.

The years rush by in sounding flight.

Our little isle is green and breezy.

My duty lies before me.

Some words may be used either as nouns or as verbs.
Ex. We pity them; they deserve our pity.

What part of speech is pity in each clause?

The class or part of speech to which a word belongs is determined by its use in a sentence.

Write sentences and use each of the following words first as a noun and then as a verb: thought, light, ride, skate, sound, face, walk, branches.

Point out all verbs and their subjects in the following sentences:

No fairies in the Mayflower came.
The linnet from the budding grove
Chirps her vernal song of love.

The bittern screamed from rush and flag.

Slow rolls the coach along the dusty road.

The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green.

The golden rod grows wild in all parts of the country; it is in bloom from July to October; its golden color is an emblem of our national wealth.