If we wish to tell a quality or condition of the subject, we should use an adjective; as, "The oak leaves turned brown." If we wish to tell the manner of an action, we should use an adverb; as, "The leaves turned quickly this fall."

Exercise 1. Tell the part of speech of each italicized word in these sentences, and justify its use.

1. Mary dresses neatly and always looks charming.
2. The children must keep quiet to-night.
3. Stand straight and breathe deeply.
4. Look at them kindly and speak gently.
5. The old bishop looks kind and gentle.

6. This pie tastes very queer.

7. Mother feels uneasy if we are out late.

8. The boy seemed nervous and felt uneasily of his watch chain. 9. Poor oil made the lamp smell very disagreeable.

10. All the doors stood open.

11. The air grew cold steadily.

12. Keep the box carefully till I return.

Exercise 2.

Select the right word for each of the follow

ing sentences, and give your reason in each case:

1. The light is so poor that I cannot see the picture (plain or plainly).

2. I am frightened when she speaks (cross or crossly) to me.

3. Sit with me so that you can hear (good or well).

4. Does he always deal (honest or honestly) with you?

5. The miser died (miserable or miserably).

6. You came so (sudden or suddenly) that I was taken by sur

prise.

7. No wonder you fell, you move too (quick or quickly).

8. How (stylish or stylishly) she dresses.

9. I (sure or surely) mailed the letter.

10. Next time I shall act more (sensible or sensibly).

11. Money comes (easy or easily) to him, and is soon gone.

12. I felt so (bad or badly) that I cried.

13. I was ill yesterday, but I feel pretty (good or well) this morning. 14. All my rose bushes look (fine or finely).

93. A verb is an asserting word.

A transitive verb is one that asserts action performed upon some person or thing.

A transitive verb is completed by a direct object.

The direct object of a transitive verb is a word or a group of words that completes the meaning of the verb and names the receiver of the action.

The base word of a direct object is usually a noun.

An intransitive verb is one that asserts, (1) being, or (2) action not performed upon any person or thing.

An intransitive verb of action needs no complement.

An intransitive verb of being is usually completed by a subjective complement.

A subjective complement is a word or a group of words that completes a verb and refers to the same person or thing as the subject.

A subjective complement denotes identity with the subject, or tells the class to which the subject belongs, or some quality of the subject.

The base word of a subjective complement may be a noun or an adjective.

Exercise. Select and classify all the verbs in the following sentences. Tell the subject of each verb, and tell how each verb is completed or modified.

1. As soon as he saw the cat in the soap barrel, he set the lamp down on the cellar bottom, and laughed so that he could hardly

move.

2. When night came, I felt still more lonesome. 3. Little Toomai shall become a great tracker.

4. The wind whistled around the low, un plastered chamber, but the beds were soft and warm, and the guests were ready for sleep. 5. The youngest daughter was the gentlest and most beautiful creature ever seen, and the pride of all the people in the land.

6. I am too stiff and sore from a terrible fall I have had, to write more than one line.

7. Next month, when the city had returned to its sunbaked quiet, the Hindu did a thing that no Englishman would have dreamed of doing; for, so far as the world's affairs went, he died.

8. The knoll in the tamarack swamp was a haven of peace amid the fierce but furtive warfare of the wilderness.

9. Beauty rose by four o'clock every morning, lighted the fires, cleaned the house, and prepared the breakfast for the whole family. 10. More years sped swiftly and tranquilly away.

11. What a place the old market must have been in the days of Herod the Builder!

12. The lizard belonging to my mistress was a very beautiful

creature.

13. The rocky walls are red with the scarlet of the geranium, aglow with the orange of the lantana, or they are hidden by the purple veil of the wild convolvulus. The dainty sweet alyssum clings to the rock in great patches, and the little rice plant lays its pink cheek against it lovingly.

14. The spring had been a trying season for the lank she-bear. 15. Right proud the baron was of his gallant steed.

16. There is the house with the gate red-barred.

17. The big male cuffed the cubs aside without ceremony, mounted the carcass with an air of lordship, glared about him, and suddenly with a snarl of wrath, fixed his eyes upon the green branches wherein the boy was concealed.

18. Rip Van Winkle was a kind neighbor and an obedient, henpecked husband.

19. The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor.

20. The same sweet clover smell is in the breeze.

21. David stooped down and piled the fagots in the hollow of

his arm.

22. Gentle are the days when the year is young.

23. The winter sunshine on the fields seems full of rest.

24. I feel out of place under this roof.

25. Strips of snow still whitened the fields, but on the stumps were bluebirds, and they warbled of spring.

26. The great limb of the cedar snapped off, rolled over in the air, and lay on the ground like a huge animal.

XXVIII. NOUNS: NUMBER

94. When we wish a noun to denote more than one object, we often change its form slightly. Man becomes men, child becomes children, river becomes rivers.

This change in the form of a noun by which it denotes one object or more than one is called number.

Number is said to be one of the properties of a noun.

95. When a noun denotes one object, it is said to be in the singular number; as, lion, mouse, knife.

When a noun denotes more than one object, it is said to be in the plural number; as, lions, mice, knives.

96. Most nouns form their plural by adding s or es to the singular; as, key, keys; hand, hands; rope, ropes; mass, masses; fox, foxes; church, churches; bush, bushes.

This is said to be the regular way of forming the plural.
Why is it that some words add es instead of s?

97. Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding s; as, folio, folios; cameo, cameos.

Some nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant add es, and others s; as, potato, potatoes; mosquito, mosquitoes; solo, solos; piano, pianos.

98. Some nouns form their plural irregularly.

(1) A few nouns change the vowel; as, man, men; goose, geese; mouse, mice; foot, feet; tooth, teeth.

(2) A few nouns add en; as, ox, oxen; child, children. (3) Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant sound, change y to i and add es; as, fly, flies; fairy, fairies.

(4) Some nouns ending in ƒ or fe change ƒ or fe to v and add es; as, wolf, wolves; knife, knives.

99. Some nouns have the same form in both the singular and the plural; as, deer, grouse, salmon.

100. Some nouns ending in s look like plural nouns, are regarded as singular; as, news, athletics, gymnastics.

but

101. Some nouns are used only in the plural; as, scissors, pincers, thanks.

102. Compound nouns form their plural in three different

(1) By adding s to the last word; as, forget-me-not, forgetme-nots.

(2) By adding s to the principal word; as, son-in-law, sons-in-law.

(3) By pluralizing both words; as, manservant, menservants.

103. When a title is used with one name, we may pluralize either the name or the title. We may say the Misses Gray or the Miss Grays, the Messrs. Greenwood or the Mr. Greenwoods.

When a title is used with more than one name, we pluralize the title. We say the Misses Morgan and Adams. The title Mrs. has no plural, so we must say Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Adams.

104. Letters, signs, or figures form their plurals by adding an apostrophe and s; as, 6's, i's, t's.

105. A few foreign nouns have kept their foreign plurals. Some of these in common use are stratum, strata; alumnus, alumni; axis, axes.

106. Some nouns have two plurals used with slightly different meanings; as, penny has pennies and pence; brother has brothers and brethren; die has dies and dice. Find out from the dictionary the meanings of these plurals.

The correct plural of a noun cannot always be reasoned out. It should never be guessed. It can always be learned from a dictionary.