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"The Euphrates and the Tigris are rivers of Asia : of these, the Euphrates is the larger, and the Tigris the more rapid."

It would be wrong to say, the Euphrates is the largest, the Tigris the most rapid.

Why is this sentence incorrect-"This is the best house of the two?"

(3.) Position of Adjectives.

3. An Adjective generally precedes its Noun; as, a wise man; a great and wise man. But it may follow it for emphasis or in poetic construction; as, "a man wise and good," a man he was to all the country dear."

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(4.) Adjectives for Adverbs.

4. A few Verbs containing the meaning of the Verb be can take a Predicate Adjective instead of an Adverb.

1. The rose smells sweet.

2. The velvet feels smooth.

5. It would be incorrect to say, the rose smells sweetly; the velvet feels smoothly. The Verb be is in the Verbs smells and feels. The rose does not really smell, and the velvet does not really feel. It is only living beings that can do these things. What these sentences mean is, that the rose is sweet to the scent, and that the velvet is smooth to the feel.

NOTE.-In parsing, notice that there are a few Verbs like

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That these Verbs all have the Verb be in them, and that these Verbs take a Predicate Adjective, whereas all ordinary Verbs take Adverbs.

Would you say, "Miss Smith looks beautifully?" [Adverb.] Why not? Would you say, "The lemon tastes sourly?" Why not?

(5.) Parsing of Adjectives.

6. An Adjective is parsed by saying that it describes or limits the Noun [naming it].

7. A Predicate Adjective is parsed by saying that it is the Predicate Adjective, and describes the subject of the Verb.

MODEL.-"What an excellent thing is knowledge." EXCELLENT is an Adjective, and describes the Noun thing.

"The way was long."

LONG is a Predicate Adjective after the Verb was, and describes the subject, way.

Exercise 41.
A.

Parse the ADJECTIVES in the following sentences:

1. The long grass of the American prairies sometimes catches fire. 2. There are high mountains and deep valleys in Switzerland. 3. The best fruits grow in warm countries.

4. The way was long, the wind was cold,

The minstrel was infirm and old.

5. Water is transparent.

6. The fields look brown.

7. Silk-worms are curious and industrious little creatures. 8. I heard this wonderful story when I was a little girl. 9. This house is colder than yours.

10. The ostrich is the largest [bird] of birds.

B.

Correct the errors in ADJECTIVES.

1. Which is the oldest of these two boys?

2. The fields look greenly.

3. The dog smells disagreeably.

4. Emilie is the brightest of my two daughters. 5. This cake tastes sweetly.

6. Mary sings sweet.

XLV. MISUSED ADJECTIVES.

(1.) These for This.

1. The Adjective this must be used only with Singular Nouns; these with Plural Nouns. This rule is violated in such expressions as "these sort of people," "those kind of We must say, "this sort of people,” "" that kind

horses."
of horses."

(2.) Them for These.

2. The Personal Pronoun them is frequently used for the Adjective those; as, "them things," meaning "those things." The word them is the Object-form of the Pronoun they; hence it can not be used as an Adjective. We might as well say "him carriage," "him nose,” for "his carriage," "his nose."

(3.) This Here.

3. The use of this here, and of that there, instead of this and that, is incorrect. Alone, this expresses all that can be denoted by this here, and that expresses all that can be denoted by that there. (This way of speaking is a sure sign of a want of education in the person using it.)

(4.) High-sounding Adjectives.

4. The pupils may write on slates or on paper, the following Adjectives:

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5. These are all good English Adjectives. It is perfectly proper to use them when we use them rightly. But

these words, and some others like them,
are very
abused by careless children and grown people.

often

6. Awful means, inspiring awe. We may say of a thunder-storm that it was awful, and this would be perfectly proper, because a thunder-storm is awe-inspiring.

7. Would it be proper to speak of an "awful lot of fun?" or of an "awfully hard lesson ?" Certainly not. There is nothing awe-inspiring in either of these things. The person who uses such expressions means merely that there was a great deal of fun, and that the lesson was very hard.

8. RULE.-Never use an Adjective larger in meaning than the idea that you wish to express.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. "The heat was perfectly frightful.”

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In most cases, all that is meant is that the heat was very great," or "very oppressive," or simply, that it “ was very hot."

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2. When we got to the hotel we had a horrible dinner."

"Horrible" signifies something that strikes us with horror; and a dinner would need to be a repast like a cannibal's, to deserve the name of horrible. Probably the expression, “We had a very bad dinner," would fully describe its degree of badness.

Exercise 42.

Correct the errors in the following sentences:

1. Them apples are sour.

2. That 'ere horse is blind of one eye.

3. Those sort of people are always complaining.

4. Writing letters is an abominable nuisance.

5. Grandmother was some better last night.

6. Them boys are making an awful racket.
7. We saw a tremendously big spider.
8. The music was awfully gorgeous.

9. Hand me them slates.

10. He finds it more simpler to take your plan.

XLVI. LESSON ON THE AGREEMENT OF
VERBS.

1. RULE.-The chief rule for Verbs is, that they must agree with their Subjects in number.

2. In practice this rule means, that when we use the Present Tense of a Verb with a Singular Noun, or with he, she, or it, the Verb must take an s; whereas with I, and also in the Plural, it has no s.

3. It also means that we must be very careful with a few very irregular forms, remembering that—

Has is Singular; Have, Plural.

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The reason why we must be particular with these irregular Verbs is because they are used very much in helping to form the various tenses of all Verbs.

4. The scholar knows by this time that such expressions as the horses runs, the boys has gone to school, the dog walk, are wrong, and why they are wrong. Probably all attentive scholars have learned to avoid such mistakes. But there are other forms of expression that are not so simple as these.

5. The first difficulty in making Verbs agree in Number with their Subjects occurs when the Subjects have qualifying Phrases.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. The union of two great rivers produces the La Plata.

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