Practical Exercises in English · Part 5

PLENTY, ABUNDANCE. 122. If you do not waste your money, you will have ---- for your expenses. 123. They did cast in of their ----; but she of her want. 124. The expedition has ---- of provisions, but none to spare. 125. Last year there was ---- of corn; it was estimated that we had enough to feed the whole nation for two years.

PRODUCE, PRODUCT, PRODUCTION. 126. The manufacturers brought their ----s to market. 127. The farmers bring their ---- to town or haul it to the nearest railway station. 128. The apple is especially an American ----. 129. Lowell's "Commemoration Ode" is a noble ----. 130. Great Britain exports chiefly manufactured ----. 131. The component elements of ---- are labor and capital.

PROMINENCE, PREDOMINANCE. 132. The Indian race is marked by a ---- of the cheek-bones. 133. The English settlers were prominent (predominant) in the New World. 134. "Childe Harold" brought Byron into ---- as a poet. 135. As a man Byron had many prominent (predominant) faults; it is not easy to say which one was prominent (predominant).

RECIPE, RECEIPT. 136. Please send me your ---- for making chocolate ice-cream. 137. Paracelsus furnished a ---- for making a fairy, but had the delicacy to refrain from using it. 138. He gave me a ---- for a liniment, which he said was excellent for sprains.

RELATIVE, RELATION. 139. He has no ---- in this part of the country. 140. I am the nearest ---- he has in the world.

REQUIREMENT, REQUISITION, REQUISITE. 141. One of the ----s in a great commander is coolness. 142. The ----s for admission to college vary. 143. One of the ----s in a United States minister to France is that he be wealthy, for the salary paid is insufficient to defray the expenses of the minister's social obligations. 144. That locomotive engineers be not color-blind is a just ----. 145. The wars of Napoleon were marked by the enormous ----s which were made on invaded countries.

RESORT, RESOURCE, RECOURSE. 146. The woods were her favorite--. 147. The United States has unlimited--s. 148. Asheville has long been a--of wealthy society people. 149. When women engage in any art or trade, it is usually as a last ----. 150. General Lee had--to stratagem.

SECRETION, SECRETING. 151. Jailers are watchful to prevent the ---- of poison in letters sent to condemned prisoners. 153. Saliva is a ----.

SEWAGE, SEWERAGE. 153. The water of rivers that have received ---- is not good to drink. 154. The vast and intricate ---- of Paris is described by Victor Hugo in "Les Miserables."

SITUATION, SITE. 155. The ---- of Samaria is far more beautiful than the ---- of Jerusalem, though not so grand and wild. 156. Dr. Schliemann made excavations to discover the ---- of Troy. 157. Our school buildings have a fine ----. 158. Has the ---- of Professor Richard's house been fixed? 159. One of Nebuchadnezzar's temples is thought to have stood on the ---- of the Tower of Babel.

SPECIALTY, SPECIALITY. 160. It is the ---- of vice that it is selfishly indifferent to the injurious consequences of actions. 161. Diseases of the throat are Dr. Hall's ----. 162. Fountain-pens a ----. 163. "Toughness" is the ---- of Salisbury iron; therefore Salisbury iron is much in demand for car-wheels.

UNION, UNITY. 164. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in ----. 165. The ---- of soul and body is ended by death. 166. In the temper of Lord Bacon there was a singular ---- of audacity and sobriety. 167. This composition lacks ----; the writer treats of several distinct subjects.

EXERCISE XXIV.

Tell why the italicized words in the following sentences are misused, and substitute for them better expressions:--

1. The West End Railway Company is the factor[42] which can remedy all this. 2. Addison's "Cato" was a success. 3. Decoration Day is a fitting observance of those who gave their lives for their country. 4. At the end of each day the teams[43] are so broken up that they have to go into the repair-shop, where the carpenter and blacksmith are able to fix any part of them. 5. The majority of the news is unfavorable. 6. Search-lights would be an indispensable factor in a night attack. 7. Bishop Hatto lived in a country where all the productions were spoiled by the weather. 8. The whole of the stupid boys in Germany struggle to pass this test. 9. The police are looking for the guilty parties. 10. A lot of men from the country came to town to see the circus. 11. In the shed is a mixture[44] of oars, seats, sails, rudders, booms, and gaffs. 12. They had to take the balance of his arm off. 13. Addison's essays were a great factor in improving the morals of his age. 14. General Manager Payson Tucker at once sent detectives to the scene, and every effort will be made to secure the guilty parties. 15. For a few days Coxey's army was a success as a show. 16. If it were not for him and a few others of his ilk the matter would have been settled long ago.

[42] "Foundations," p. 51. [43] Ibid., p. 52. [44] Consult a good dictionary.

EXERCISE XXV.[45]

Illustrate by original sentences the correct use of these words:--

Home, party, series, statement, verdict, acceptation, actions, advance, advancement, avocation, completion, allusion, illusion, observation, observance, proposal, proposition, solicitude, solicitation, stimulus, stimulant, capacity, adherence, adhesion, amount, quantity, number, centre, middle, character, complement, compliment, conscience, consciousness, council, counsel, custom, habit, deception, deceit, egoist, emigration, immigration, enormity, enormousness, esteem, estimate, falsity, falseness, import, invention, discovery, limitation, majority, plurality, negligence, neglect, novitiate, organization, organism, produce, product, production, prominence, predominance, recipe, requirement, requisition, requisite, resort, resource, secretion, sewage, sewerage, situation, site, speciality, specialty, union, unity.

[45] TO THE TEACHER.--It is easy to underestimate the difficulty which this exercise presents to pupils. In assigning the lesson care must be taken not to call for more of this kind of work than can be done well. Constructing a sentence to illustrate the correct use of a word is a valuable exercise, but it is a difficult one; and persons who know the correct use of a word may be put to their wit's end to illustrate that use. It will be well to assign this exercise little by little, while the class works through the definitions and exercises on pages 23-41; or else to select from the list the words on which the class needs most drill. With some pupils it may be wise to omit the exercise entirely.

CHAPTER IV

OF PRONOUNS

POSSESSIVE FORMS.[46]--No apostrophe is used in forming the possessive case of personal pronouns. We write "ours," "yours," "hers," "its," "theirs." "It's" is a contraction for "it is."

[46] "Foundations," p. 60.

EXERCISE XXVI.

Write from dictation-- 1. John's hat is old, yours is new. 2. The bear was lying on its side, dead. 3. The Browns' house is larger than ours, but ours is more convenient than theirs. 4. Yours very respectfully, John Smith. 5. See the yacht! it's coining into the harbor under full sail. 6. Show Mary your doll; it should not grieve you that yours is not so pretty as hers. 7. That fault was not yours. 8. Helen's eyes followed the direction of hers.

NOMINATIVE OR OBJECTIVE CASE.[47]--There are only seven words in the English language that now have different forms for the nominative and objective cases; therefore it is only in the use of these words that we need to observe any rules about "nominative" or "objective." Since, however, these seven words are more frequently used than any other words, the possibilities of error in choosing between the nominative and the objective are many. Mistakes of this kind are common, and produce a very unpleasant effect on cultivated people. The seven words that have different forms for the nominative and objective cases are the following pronouns[48]:--

Nominative. Objective. I me we us thou thee he him she her they them who whom

It is taken for granted that the student has already learned the following principles of syntax:--

1. Words used absolutely and the subjects of finite verbs should in English be put in the NOMINATIVE form. 2. The subjects of infinitives and the objects of verbs and prepositions should be in the OBJECTIVE form. 3. Words in apposition should be in the same case. 4. The verb "to be," or any of its forms (am, is, are, were, etc.), does not take an object, but, being equivalent in meaning to the symbol "," takes the same case after it as before it: the nominative, if the form is "finite"; the objective, if the form is "infinitive" and has a subject of its own. "I know it is he," "I know it to be him," and "The stranger is thought to be he" are grammatically correct.

Sentences like "She invited Mrs. R. and I to go driving" are common, even among people generally well-informed. Such mistakes will be avoided if the speaker stops to think what the form would be if the pronoun were not coupled with a noun. No one would think of saying, "She invited I to go driving."

Persons who are in doubt as to which form of the pronoun to use often try to avoid the difficulty by using one of the pronouns ending in "-self"--pronouns which have the same form for both the nominative and the objective case. Thus many persons, uncertain whether to use "I" or "me" in the sentence quoted above, would say instead, "She invited Mrs. R. and myself to go driving." This is no better than "Mrs. R. and I," or "her and I." The pronouns in "-self" are properly used only for emphasis or in a reflexive sense.[49] It is right to say: "I will go myself"; "Carrie herself went to the door"; "God helps those who help themselves." It would be wrong to say, "Harry and myself have bought a horse together."

When a pronoun in "-self" is used reflexively, it refers to the subject of the clause in which it stands.

In sentences like "This advice is free to whoever will take it," the word ending in "-ever" is the subject of the verb "will take," not the object of the preposition "to." The right form, therefore, is "whoever," not "whomever." The object or, better, the "base" of the preposition "to" is the whole clause, "whoever will take it."

[47] Ibid., pp. 61-62. [48] I omit ye, you, because they are used interchangeably. I omit also compounds of who, whom. [49] "Foundations," p. 64.

EXERCISE XXVII.

Insert the proper form of pronoun in each blank, and give the reason for your choice:--

I

I, ME, MYSELF. 1. Taking a carriage, my brother and--drove to the east end of Cape Elizabeth. 2. Mr. C. and--walked around the lake by moonlight. 3. The walk gave pleasure to both Mr. C. and--. 4. Between you and--, affairs look dark. 5. The Star contains a paper on "Our Streets," which was written by--. > 6. He is taller than--.[50] 7. There is, you remember, an old agreement between you and-- 8. May John and--go to the ball-game? 9. Please let John and--go to the ball-game. 10. They met Robert and--in the village. 11. Who is there? Only--. 12. To send--away, and for a whole year, too,--, who had never been away from home, was not easy for mother. 13. Will you let Brown and--have your boat? 14. Dr. Holmes shook hands with the girls,--among the rest. 15. Next month my brother and--are going to Bar Harbor. 16. It was--who called to you. 17. I was beside--. 18. Would you go, if you were--? 19. Father bought brother and--tickets for the concert. 20. He said he would bring some flowers to Frances and--. 21. You suffer from headache more than--. 22. We shall soon see which is the better boxer, you or--. 23. Who rang the bell?--. 24. The taller man was supposed to be--. 25. Every one has gone except you and--. 26. The world will rest content with such poor things as you and--. 27. He was a sublimer poet than--. 28. Was it--that you saw? 29. How can you thus address me,--, who am your friend? 30. Let you and--go for berries alone, if he will not go with us. 31. There is no one here but you and--. 32. Is it--you wish to see? 33. He said that you and--might ao. 34. Oh, no; it couldn't have been--. 35. Harry left word for you and--to come to his room. 36. Other girls have books as well as--. 37. Its being--should make no difference. 38. Young Macdonald and--went to New York last Thursday. 39. She knew it to be--by my gait.

[50] In sentences like this the correct form will become evident if the speaker mentally completes the sentence thus: He is taller than--am. The greater part of the clause after "than" or "as" is generally omitted.

II.

We, us, ourselves. 1. Our friends and--are going out to-night. 2. He has come to take our friends and--driving. 3. They are wiser than--, since they are older. 4. They will lose more than--by the failure of the bank. 5. The Germans are better plodders than--. 6. It may have been--who (whom) you saw. 7.--boys are having a fine time. 8. Have you seen the picture of--three girls in a boat, taken by Mr. B.? 9. There are five hundred miles between father and--. 10. They know that as well as--. 11. They don't succeed any better than--. 12. They as well as--were disappointed. 13. --ought not to get angry when others criticise--for faults which--freely acknowledge. 14. "It is not fit for such as -- To sit with rulers of the land."

III.

Thou, thee, thyself. 1. I will not learn my duty from such as ----. 2. If they rob only such as ----, I hold them right honest folk. 3. Love ---- last. 4. "The nations not so blest as ---- Must in their turn to tyrants fall." 5. "Wife, dost ---- know that all the world seems queer except ---- and me; and sometimes I think even ---- art a little queer?" 6. "Hail to ----, blithe spirit; Bird ---- never wert."

IV.

He, him, himself. 1. There is a difference between an employer and--who (whom) he employs. 2. John ---- wrote that letter. 3. You are nearly as tall as ----. 4. All wore dress suits except Charles and--. 5. I know that it was ----. 6. I knew it to be ----. 7. ---- being young, they tried to deceive him. 8. It was either ---- or his brother that called. 9. What were you and ---- talking about? 10. I can run as fast as ----. 11. ---- who had always protected her, she now saw dead at her feet. 12. ---- and his father are in business together. 13. She is as good as ----. 14. I should never have imagined it to be ----. 15. Boys like you and ---- are expected to do what is right without being told. 16. Yes, I told them what you said, ---- among the rest. 17. I did as well as ----. 18. It was Joseph, ---- whom Pharaoh made prime-minister. 19. Let ---- who made thee answer that. 20. Whom can I trust, if not ----?

V.

SHE, HER, HERSELF. 1. Before leaving Mary we saw ---- and her baggage safe on the train. 2. ---- and her two cousins have been visiting us. 3. I would not go to town alone, if I were ----. 4. It was not ---- but her sister that you met yesterday. 5. You are as old as ----. 6. ---- and I are not in the same class. 7. Was it ---- that did it? 8. I cannot let you and ---- sit together. 9. You play the violin better than ----. 10. Such girls as ---- are not good companions. 11. I am certain that it was ----. 12. Girls like ---- are not good company. 13. If any one is embarrassed, it will not be ----. 14. If any one is late it will be sure to be ----.

VI.

THEY, THEM, THEMSELVES. 1. ---- and their children have left town. 2. We shall soon be as poor as ----. 3. Yes, it was ----. 4. I do not know whether the Macdonalds are Scotch or Irish but I thought the Scotch family alluded to might be ----. 5. The mischievous boys you speak of could not have been ---- for ---- were at home.