An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises. George Lyman Kittredge
term (substantive) to include both these parts of speech.
11. The substantive to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent.
Frank introduced the boys to his father. [Frank is the antecedent of the pronoun his.]
Eleanor is visiting her aunt.
The book has lost its cover.
The trappers sat round their camp fire.
Washington and Franklin served their country in different ways. [Their has two antecedents, connected by and.]
III. ADJECTIVES
12. An adjective is a word which describes or limits a substantive.5
This it usually does by indicating some quality.
An adjective is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.
13. An adjective limits a substantive by restricting the range of its meaning.
The noun box, for example, includes a great variety of objects. If we say wooden box, we exclude boxes of metal, of paper, etc. If we use a second adjective (small) and a third (square), we limit the size and the shape of the box.
Most adjectives (like wooden, square, and small) describe as well as limit. Such words are called descriptive adjectives.
We may, however, limit the noun box to a single specimen by means of the adjective this or that or the, which does not describe, but simply points out, or designates. Such words are called definitive adjectives.6
IV. VERBS
14. A verb is a word which can assert something (usually an action) concerning a person, place, or thing.7
The wind blows.
The horses ran.
The fire blazed.
Her jewels sparkled.
Tom climbed a tree.
The dynamite exploded.
Some verbs express state or condition rather than action.
The treaty still exists.
The book lies on the table.
Near the church stood an elm.
My aunt suffers much from headache.
15. A group of words may be needed, instead of a single verb, to make an assertion.
A group of words that is used as a verb is called a verb-phrase.
You will see.
The tree has fallen.
We might have invited her.
Our driver has been discharged.
16. Certain verbs, when used to make verb-phrases, are called auxiliary (that is, “aiding”) verbs, because they help other verbs to express action or state of some particular kind.
Thus, in “You will see,” the auxiliary verb will helps see to express future action; in “We might have invited her,” the auxiliaries might and have help invited to express action that was possible in past time.
The auxiliary verbs are is (are, was, were, etc.), may, can, must, might, shall, will, could, would, should, have, had, do, did. Their forms and uses will be studied in connection with the inflection of verbs.
The auxiliary verb regularly comes first in a verb-phrase, and may be separated from the rest of it by some other word or words.
Where was Washington born?
The boat was slowly but steadily approaching.
17. Is (in its various forms) and several other verbs may be used to frame sentences in which some word or words in the predicate describe or define the subject.
1. Gold is a metal.
2. Charles is my friend’s name.
3. The colors of this butterfly are brilliant.
4. Iron becomes red in the fire.
5. Our condition seemed desperate.
6. Bertram proved a good friend in this emergency.
7. My soul grows sad with troubles.—Shakspere.
In the first sentence, the verb is not only makes an assertion, but it also connects the rest of the predicate (a metal) with the subject (gold) in such a way that a metal serves as a description or definition of gold.
In sentences 4–7, becomes, seemed, proved, and grows are similarly used.
In such sentences is and other verbs that are used for the same purpose are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.
Is in this use is often called the copula, that is, the “joiner” or “link.”
The forms of the verb is are very irregular. Among the commonest are: am, is, are, was, were, and the verb-phrases has been, have been, had been, shall be, will be.8
V. ADVERBS
18. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
To modify a word is to change or affect its meaning in some way. Thus in “The river fell rapidly,” the adverb rapidly modifies the verb fell by showing how the falling took place. In “I am never late,” “This is absolutely true,” “That is too bad,” the italicized words are adverbs modifying adjectives; in “He came very often,” “He spoke almost hopefully,” “The river fell too rapidly,” they are adverbs modifying other adverbs.
Most adverbs answer the question “How?” “When?” “Where?” or “To what degree or extent?”
19. Observe that adverbs modify verbs in much the same way in which adjectives modify nouns.
| Adjectives | Adverbs |
|---|---|
| A bright fire burned. | The fire burned brightly. |
| A fierce wind blew. | The wind blew fiercely. |
A word or group of words that changes or modifies the meaning of another word is called a modifier.
Adjectives and adverbs, then, are both modifiers. Adjectives modify substantives; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
VI. PREPOSITIONS
20. A