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INTRANSITIVE VERBS

160. Verbs which are not Transitive Intransitive.

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Read Exercise 20. All the Verbs in it are Intransitive. Exercise 112. — Pick out the Intransitive Verbs.

1. The leaves fluttered to the ground. 2. The wind is roaring loudly. 3. The swallows twitter underneath the eaves. 4. The boy is bathing in the river. 5. My father came home yesterday. 6. The waves were dashing on the rocks. 7. The baby is sleeping soundly. 8. The dog ran after a rabbit.

Exercise 113. - Say of each Verb whether it is Transitive or Intransitive, and give the Voice of each Transitive Verb.

1. My father arrived yesterday. 2. The map was drawn by Arthur. 3. The boy is drawing a picture. 4. This dinner was badly cooked. 5. The butcher killed three bullocks. 6. The fire is blazing brightly. 7. The boat was moving swiftly. 8. The grass was cut yesterday. 9. The cat is sleeping in the sun. 10. Josie darned six pairs of stockings. 11. The roof has been repaired. 12. The little girl runs quickly. 13. Jack drowned three kittens. 14. Three kittens were drowned by Jack. 15. The ship will sail to-morrow.

161. A Verb may be Transitive in one sentence, and Intransitive in another; as:

Transitive. George is flying a kite.
Intransitive. The crow is flying.

Exercise 114. (a) Say whether the Verbs are Transitive or Intransitive.

1. The sun is melting the snow. 2. Who will answer for his behavior? 3. She answered the question. 4. The girl is singing. 5. She is singing an old ballad. 6. Baby woke. 7. Baby woke its nurse. 8. The man is beating carpets. 9. The rain is beating against the window. 10. The gardener

is burning weeds. 11. King Cole called for his fiddlers. 12. Mary called the cattle home. 13. The bell is ringing. 14. The sexton is ringing the bell. 15. The snow is melting.

Additional sentences: Exercise 48.

(b) Put each Verb into two sentences, using it transitively in the first, and intransitively in the second.

1. Is drawing. 2. Will return. 3. Are fighting. 4. Grows. 5. Can hear. 6. Can see. 7. Is cooking. 8. Is preaching. 9. Has finished. 10. Are beating.

COPULATIVE VERBS

Read again the explanations of the word Predicate, given in paragraphs 4 and 47.

162. In the sentence "The dog is barking," the Intransitive Verb by itself is the Predicate. In the sentence "The food has been eaten," the Transitive Verb has been eaten is by itself the Predicate. But a Transitive Verb in the Active Voice cannot by itself be the Predicate. We must have the Object also, to make a complete predication. Thus, the Predicate in the sentence, "I am using ink," is not am using alone, but am using ink.

163. Read again paragraph 23 and Note. The Verb be usually cannot by itself be the Predicate. Thus in the sentence "We were afraid," the Predicate is were afraid. The Verb were serves to link or join the Attribute1 afraid

1 See paragraph 25. Instead of Attribute some grammarians prefer the term Complement or Predicate Complement or Attribute Complement, just as some call the Object the Object Complement. The term Predicate Complement is inaccurate, because both the Object and the Attribute are Predicate Complements.

to the Subject we. In such a sentence were is called a Copulative1 Verb.

164. Copulative Verbs express no action, but merely link an Attribute to the Subject. There are other Copulative Verbs, besides the Verb be.

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165. In the sentence "Boston is a city," city is a Noun Attribute. In the sentence "Sugar tastes sweet," sweet is an Adjective Attribute.

Exercise 115. Pick out the Copulative Verbs and say in each case what is the Attribute.

(a) 1. George is our errand boy. 2. That boy is he. 3. These buds will be pretty flowers. 4. Old King Cole was a merry old soul. 5. I am much in earnest. 6. Are you of the same opinion still? 7. I shall be glad of that.

Additional sentences: Exercise 25, a.

(b) 8. Henry became king. 9. The flowers appear dead. 10. The paint looks fresh. 11. The flowers smell sweet. 12. The water tastes warm. 13. The very houses seem asleep. 14. Man became a living soul. 15. The temptation proved irresistible. 16. He remained a poor man all his life. 17. You keep quiet. 18. The child seems no fool.

1 Sweet uses the term " a link verb."

166. Sometimes a Verb is followed by an Adjective Attribute, and sometimes by an Adverb, according to the meaning of the Verb.

Thus:

The child smiles sweetly.

The child looks strong.

In the first sentence sweetly is an Adverb, because it shows how the child smiles; in the second sentence strong does not tell the way in which the child does anything, but describes the Subject (child), and is therefore an Attribute. So, in the sentences, "He looks bad," "He feels sick," the words bad and sick are Adjective Attributes. the sentences,

He is looking for the ball very stupidly,

But in

The blind man feels cautiously along the pavement,

we have Adverbs of Manner, and the Verbs is looking and feels are not Copulative Verbs, but Intransitive Verbs showing action.

Exercise 116. Say which Verbs are followed by Attributes.

1. Henry is sickly. 2. That dress becomes you well. 3. You are becoming more severe toward him. 4. He became an artist. 5. That boy will make a fine man some day. 6. I felt carefully along the wall. 7. I felt very ill. 8. You are looking fresh and rosy. 9. Did you look for it long? 10. The dog went mad, and ran wildly down the street.

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The man was wearing a black hat,

was wearing is, as we know, a Verb. But in the sentence A man wearing a black hat passed by,

the Verb is passed. Wearing belongs to man like an Adjective, but it also does something of the work of a Verb because it shows us what the man is doing to the hat. Similarly, in the sentence

The hat worn by the man was black,

hat is the Subject and was the Verb, while worn belongs to hat like an Adjective and also does something of the work of a Verb.

168. As the words wearing and worn thus partake of the nature of an Adjective and of a Verb, they are called Participles.1

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Exercise 117. Pick out the Participles in the following sentences, and tell from what Verb each Participle is derived.

1. I saw a boy looking for you. 2. I found an old man working in his garden. 3. The waves dashing on the shore

1 Participles come from Verbs, but they belong to Nouns or Pronouns, like Adjectives.

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