INTERJECTIONS. An Interjection, strictly speaking, is not a part of speech. It is a word used to express some feeling or sudden emotion; as, Hurrah! the holidays commence to-morrow, SYNTAX. The principal rules of Syntax may be grouped into two classes, viz., those of Concord and Government. RULE I. The verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person; as, He sings; They sing. RULE II. Pronouns must agree with the nouns for which they stand in number, gender, and person, as, The men whom you saw were in town last week, but they have now left. RULE III. Transitive verbs and prepositions govern the objective case; as, I saw him give the book to her. RULE IV. When two nouns so come together that the latter may be considered to belong to the former, the former is put in the possessive case; as, This is Charles's book; The boys' playground is larger than that of the girls. RULE V. One verb governs another in the Infinitive Mood; as, Boys love to play. NOTE.-Except when passive, the verbs behold, bid, done (neuter), feel, find, hear, know, let, make, see, and a few others, are usually followed by the Infinitive without the to; as, I heard the birds sing. The first and second of these rules are Rules of Concord, the others Rules of Government. Besides these, however, there are other rules which will readily suggest themselves to the intelligent Teacher (e.g. rules of order, rules relating to the moods and tenses of verbs, &c.), but for which there is not sufficient space in a work of this character. METHOD OF PARSING. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The curfew tolls the knell of parting day The lowing herds wind slowly o'er lea Def. art.* pointing out the noun 'curfew.' A reg. trans. verb, indic. mood, pres. tense, Def. art., pointing out the noun 'knell.' A preposition. An adjective, qualifying the noun 'day.' Def. art, pointing out the noun 'herds.' A com. noun, common gend., plur. num., An irreg. intrans. verb, indic. mood, pres. tense, 3rd pers. plur., agreeing with its nom. case herds." An adverb, modifying the verb 'wind.' Def. art., pointing out the noun 'lea.' A com. noun, neu. gend., sing. num., objec. case, gov. by the preposition 'o'er,' over. Parsing Exercises. I. Chiefly on Nouns, Adjectives, and Transitive Verbs. or 1. William defeated Harold in the famous battle of Hastings. 2. Cæsar landed his troops at Deal, after a brave opposition from the natives. 3. The Barons compelled John to sign Magna Charta at Runnymede, a small place on the Thames. 4. Wild bees had established their hives in the decayed trunks of the trees. 5. The ploughman homeward plods his weary way. 6. The flax plant, which affords the raw material of the linen manufacture, is a graceful annual. *See note on page 2, 7. The beaver has acquired a very extensive fame among mankind. 8. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place. 9. The men had a toilsome and harassing march over ridges of hills. 10. Excessive heat enfeebles man, and invites him to repose and inaction. 11. The distant barking of the dogs announced the approach of the deer. 12. The ingenious boy next trained some young partridges. 13. If we wish to find spiders we must peep into dusty corners. 14. When an ant discovers a store of food it at once spreads the good news. 15. I bring fresh showers for the thirsty flowers. 16. After a brief interval, the sovereigns requested of Columbus a recital of his adventures. 17. The senior traveller descended the crazy steps of the coach at the inn. 18. A physician in Ireland had a well-filled purse, of which some person robbed him. 19. The curling waves with awful roar A gallant bark assailed. 20. Traversing the long and matted gallery, I descended the slippery steps of oak. 21. Evangeline governed his household. 22. Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame. 23. The poetry of Southey, though not of the very highest order, displays undoubted genius. II. Chiefly on Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, and Intransitive Verbs. 1. The tapers gleamed from the altar. 2. I loved the brimming wave that swam 3. There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin. 4. They went into the city, crowded with people and vehicles. 5. The cold, feeble dawn of a January morning was stealing in at the window. 6. The chimneys appear to have grown dismal and melancholy. 7. There is a handsome parish church in the town of Woodstock. 8. Here stands the oak, the monarch of the wood. 9. The only hope of our family now was that the report of our misfortune might be malicious or premature. 10. Wonderful are often the effects of distance in lending magnitude, and not only magnitude, but also minuteness and precision to the view. 11. Prince of the artificial school of English poetry stands Alexander Pope. 12. The beautiful woodland scenery amid which the boy grew to early manhood made a deep impression on his soul. 13. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous* cold. 14. The ice of glaciers differs from pond or river ice, being less transparent and more porous. 15. 16. The dogs did bark, the children screamed, In silent horror o'er the boundless waste The driver Hassan, with his camels, passed. 17. Now had the seasons returned when the nights grow colder and longer. 18. In the lodge that glimmers yonder, 19. In the little star that twinkles, Through the vapours, on the left hand, Under a spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands. 20. He goes on Sunday to the church, And sits among his boys. 21. High o'er the heads of the others rose, with his arms uplifted, the figure of Basil, the blacksmith. 22. Scattered in the furrows lie The weapons of his rest. 23. With fearless good humour did Mary comply, And her way to the Abbey she bent. 24. Although the Highlanders marched on very fast, the sun was declining when they arrived upon the brow of the high grounds. * An Adjective used adverbially. III. On Nouns, Pronouns, &c.; also on Passive Verbs and Participles. 1. It was evening when Morton perceived an old woman, wrapped in her tartan plaid, supported by a stout, stupidlooking fellow in hoddin-grey, approach the house. 2. In the meantime, the insurgent cavalry returned from the pursuit, jaded and worn out with their unwonted efforts, and the infantry assembled on the ground which they had won, fatigued with toil and hunger. 3. 4. 5. 6. Then shook the hills with thunder riven, My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs. Look in at the open door. Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing, Onward through life he goes. 7. At a small distance from the house, my predecessor had made a seat overshadowed by a hedge of hawthorn and honeysuckle. 8. They now seemed all repentance; and, melting into tears, came, one after the other, to bid me farewell. 9. In our last number was contained an account of the laying the corner-stone of the new Cathedral. 10. The song of mountain-streams, unheard by day, Now hardly heard, beguiles my homeward way. Never man rejoiced 11. 12. More than Geraint to see her thus attired. The love of Nature's works Is an ingredient in the compound man 13. The lost friend, dying at Vienna, was borne to England, and buried in the chancel of Clevedon Church. 14. On a rocky point, overhanging the Tees, in Yorkshire, a manor house stood, in which once lived the Wycliffes of Wycliffe. 15. The life of Crabbe, before settling down into the quietude of a rural parish, presents pleasant and painful scenes. 16. Not unseen Reared they the stake, and piled around the wood. |