LESSONS IN ENGLISH. 



59 



Somo verbs are tornn- i . thoy arc such as want some 



arily ascribed to verbs. Beware ia a defective 

 verb, being UHod only in tlm imprmtivo or to (five a 



; : MVO verb, and ia employed i: : imn the 



thinl person hinjjular. Begone may be accounted another 



ire vt-rb liki- /.."are. Begone ia a compound, made np of 



; .jone, that is, get away ; and beware ia composed of be 



nd ti'uir, fuiinil in aware and wary. 



THE PARTICIPLE. 



Participles can scarcely bo considered a separate form of 



speech. A participle (Latin par*, a port, and capio, I take) is 



so railed because it partakes of the qualities of a verb and an 



adj.'-'tivf. It would l.o more correct to say that participles may 



.1 as adjectives, and that sometimes, wholly losing their 



M, they become adjectives. 



\\ '. have seen that the English verb, when reduced to ita 

 simplest form, consists of throe parts ; as, talk, talking, talked. 

 - called a present participle ; it is emphatically 

 prc-i-nt. " I talk" describes a general habit rather than an act 

 now taking place ; I am talking is evidently a continued act, 

 and in regard to time may bo spoken of as a continued present. 



It is the termination ing that makes talking present. 



A transitive participle may bo used intransitively ; as 

 The house is building. 



The present participle has the force of the Latin gerund ; for 

 example, in this sentence : 



In building the house they used stone. 



The present participle may stand as an infinitive ; as 



Buying a house is better than building one ; that is, to buy is better 

 itbau to build. 



The other participle namely, that ending in ed (abbreviated 

 into d and t, as builded, buili) seems to have for its essence 

 the idea of past time. 



A word which denotes what is past, may easily be made to 

 denote the past effect of an action some time present. We may 

 *ee this fact illustrated in the verb to think. The result of 

 thinking is thought, and so thought is at once the past tense, 

 (the past participle, and a noun : for example 



Pres. Past. Past Part. Noun. 



I think I thought thought thought. 



The past participle is sometimes termed "the passive parti- 

 ciple." 



Hence it appears that this participle may signify either 

 simply a past act, or a result, and that as denoting a result, it at 

 least approaches a passive signification. Hence the ambiguity 

 which exist* in what grammarians term " the passive voice pre- 

 sent tense ;" as 



The house is built. The boy is loved. 



When we say " the boy is loved," wo signify a present fact ; 

 tut when we say " the house is built," we mean, that the house 

 stands there complete. 



When a process is meant, it is better to say, " The house is 

 building ;" or to employ the active form, as, " I am reading the 

 volume." Some, however, prefer, " The house is being built." 

 But this form has no sufficient authority. Besides, there is an 

 evident absurdity in speaking of a thing as at the same moment 

 past and present, namely, being built. 



ADVERBS. 



Adverbs qualify the action of verbs, and so stand in the rela- 

 tion to verbs which is borne by the adjective towards the noun. 

 Now an action may bo viewed either as to the place where it 

 was done, the time when it was done, and the manner in which 

 it was done ; as 



Tho theft was adroitly committed here yesterday. 

 In this instance the place is indicated by here, the time is 

 indicated by yesterday, the manner is indicated by adroitly. 



But manner is a quality which admits of variation ; one theft 

 may bo committed more or less adroitly than another ; a theft 

 may be committed most adroitly. 



We thus obtain four classes of adverbs : 



1. Adverbs of place. 2. Adverbs of time. 



3. Adverbs of manner. 4. Adverbs of degree. 



Adverbs may be regarded also in reference to their component 



parts, and may so be divided into (1) the primitive; (2) the deriva- 



t ivc ; (3) the compound. Of primitive adverbs take as instances 



when, then, here, there ; of derivative adverb* take M uutanoe* 

 justly (from jiuit), yearly, lurprMnyly. Of compound adverb* 

 take aa instance* lometimei, nowhere, to-morrow. 



manner in which compound adverb* re formed from 

 simpler forma ia very obvious. Sometimes ia made op of the 

 adjective some and the noun time ; oftentimes conaiaU of tie 

 adverb often and the noun timei. 



Adverbs are ordinarily formed by the addition of the ending 

 ly to a noun, an adjective, or a participle ; as man, m&n/y, wise, 

 wisely, loving, lovingly. The termination ly is an adjective aa 

 well as an adverbial termination, being from the German lieh, 

 as in mannHc/t (Anglo-Saxon lice), manly ; but in early, dearly, 

 etc., it has an adverbial force. 



When an adjective terminates in ly, the adverbial suffix ly ia 

 not added ; the second ly being omitted for the sake of sound, 

 since such forms as godlily, heavenlily, friendlily would be very 

 unpleasant ; accordingly we say, " he was received" not friendlily 

 but amicably, or " in a friendly manner." 



If the adjective ends in le, the termination is changed into 

 ly ; as noble, nobly, for noblely ; BO idle, idly. In whole, the I 

 is doubled, as whole, whoHy. 



Adjectives of more than one syllable ending in y change the y 

 into i before ly; as easy, easily ; angry, angriZy, hearty, hearttiy. 



Monosyllables ending in y either retain the y, or change it 

 into i; as dry, dryly, day, daily. 



If the adjective ends in a double I, y simply is added ; as fall, 

 fully ; but manful, manfully ; cheerful, cheerfully. 



The degree is marked in adverbs of degree by more and 

 most, less and least ; as wisely, more wisely, most wisely ; 

 actively, less actively, least actively. 



But inflection properly so called belongs to some few adverbs ; 

 as late, later, latest; near, nearer, nearest; often, oftener, 

 oftenest ; soon, sooner, soonest. Hence we find in adverbs the 

 forms er and est used in forming the degrees of comparison in 

 adjectives. 



There also occur adverbs which are irregularly formed ; aa 

 ill, worse, worst; well, better, best; much, more, most; lately, 

 latterly, lastly. Worse and worst are, however, from a root 

 different to that from which ill comes ; so is it with well, better, 

 best. 



Adverbs of place may be subdivided into those which answer 

 to the question where ? those which answer to the question 

 whitJier ? those which answer to the question whence ? and those 

 which denote order. 



1. Adverbs of place (at or in), viz. : where, here, there, yonder, 

 above, below, abou t, around, somewhere, anyichere, elsewhere, every- 

 where, nowhere, wherever, wheresoever, within, without, where- 

 about, hereabout, thereabout. The preference for a long-drnwn 

 sound at the end of a word has added an s to these three words, 

 making them hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts; the same 

 regard to sound has converted the preposition tmvard into 

 towards. The retention of the s is a matter of doubtful pro- 

 priety. 



2. Adverbs which denote motion to a certain place are 

 whither, hither, thither, up, down, back, forth, aside, ashore, 

 abroad, aloft, home, liomeward, inward, upicard, downward, 

 backward, forward. Some of the adverbs ending in ward arc 

 also used as adjectives ; as, a forward (froward) child, a back- 

 ward scholar ; when used with an adverbial force they are often 

 found terminating in s, as backwards, outwards. Up and down* 

 may have the construction of prepositions ; as 



"l> the sido of the house ran the flames. 

 The bucket went domv the side of the well. 



In order to know whether these and other words are adverbs 

 or prepositions, yon must study their construction. If, as here, 

 nouns are dependent on them, they are prepositions ; but if they 

 go in immediate union with verbs, they are adverbs. 



3. The third subdivision embraces adverbs which denote 

 motion from or to a place ; as, thence, whence, hence ; sometimes 

 pleonastically given, as, from lienr.r, etc. ; the word pleonasti- 

 cally (from the Greek) is employed to signify that more is said 

 than is necessary to convey the sense according to the laws of 

 grammar. 



4. Besides, there are adverbs which indicate the order of 

 place; as, first, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, etc. ; thus secondly 

 means in the second place in a series of heads or topics consti- 

 tuting a discourse, a speech, a chapter in a book. 



Adverbs of time may be arranged in the following classes : 



