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1. We heard the dinner bell.

2. It is almost time for dinner.

3. The race is not always to the swift.
4. He is a swift runner.

5. We have taken a long walk.

6. We usually walk to school.

EXERCISES

195. Use the following words orally as (1) nouns and (2) verbs: breakfast, work, hope, fear.

196. Use in written sentences the words run, pull, flock, in, up, down, and any others you please, to show that we cannot tell what part of speech a word is unless we know its relation to other words in the sentence.

197. What part of speech is each italicized word in the following sentences?

1. "That" may be used as a pronoun, a conjunction, or an adjective.

2. That book is mine.

3. I told him that we would go.

4. That is not the question.

5. School books should be treated as friends rather than as acquaintances.

6. He left his books at school.

7. School yourself to do unpleasant tasks.

8. He is going home.

9. His home is in the city.

10. Reading is a profitable exercise that is too much neglected.

II. He is reading the book.

12. I do not like his reading. (See sect. 88.)

13. An old-fashioned reading book lay on the table.

14. I enjoy good oral reading.

15. We intend to paper the dining room.

16. Wall paper should be chosen by those who have artistic taste.

17. The books came in a paper box.

198. Use these words as (1) nouns and (2) verbs:

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199. Use these words orally as (1) nouns and (2) adjectives: all, cunning, best, forest, last, cold, eleven.

200. Use these words orally as (1) adverbs and (2) prepositions: over, aboard, since, on, along, behind.

201. Use these words orally as (1) nouns, (2) adjectives, and (3) verbs: paper, spring, iron, light, silver.

NOUNS

67. Kinds of Nouns. A noun is either proper (one's own name, Fred) or common (a name common to a class of objects, table). Three varieties of common nouns deserve special mention:

collective nouns, names of groups (school, class, family, nation, company);

abstract nouns, names of qualities, or attributes, separated from the objects that possess them (kindness, honesty, distance, truth); and

verbal nouns,

names of actions. They are formed from

verbs (walking, to walk, seeing, to see).

68. Declension of Nouns. Nouns are inflected to show differences in number and case. Such an inflection of a noun is called a declension. For example:

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69. Number. Nouns change their form in order to show whether they indicate one person or thing (singular number), or more than one (plural number). To this rule a few nouns are exceptions, and in deciding whether to use one of these as singular or as plural, we must go by the meaning.

NOTE. The singular form of collective nouns is sometimes to be regarded as singular and sometimes as plural. See page 154.

Athletics, used to include several sports or exercises, is frequently plural. Politics, as the name of a profession, is singular. Mathematics, as the name of a science, is singular. News is singular.

Some nouns, however, are always plural; for example, assets, bellows, dregs, eaves, pincers, scissors, tidings.

In forming the plurals of proper names, we say the Messrs. Johnson, the Misses Walker.

The fundamental part of a compound word takes the plural ending; for example, mothers-in-law, men-of-war. Two spoons full calls attention to the spoons; two spoonfuls, to the measure.

Plurals of Foreign Nouns. We have in our language many Latin and Greek nouns, which we pronounce like English words but spell like the originals. There is a tendency to form the plurals of such foreign nouns as if they were English. The following, which are confusing to persons who have not studied these languages, are worth remembering. Some of them have two plurals.

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202. Write sentences in which these words are used as the subjects of verbs in the singular number: athletics, politics, mathematics, news.

203. Write sentences in which these words are used as the subjects of verbs in the plural number: assets, bellows, dregs, eaves, pincers, scissors, tidings.

70. Case. Case is the form of a noun (or pronoun) which shows its relation to other words in the sentence, -its construction. Nouns have the same form in both the nominative and the objective case, but a different form in the possessive.

71. The Nominative Case. Nouns in the nominative case have several constructions:

1. The subject of a verb. (The boat moves.)

2. Subjective complement, or predicate nominative. (It is a box.)

NOTE. Some verbs, like be, become, seem, or appear, need a complement to form the simple predicate. They are called copulative (“ link ”)

verbs.

The "completing" word is called the complement; and as it refers to the subject, it is known as the subjective complement. If a noun, it is in the nominative case, and is sometimes called the predicate nominative. If an adjective, it modifies the subject, and is sometimes called a predicate adjective. Examine these illustrations, and compare the objective complement.

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3. In apposition with another noun in the nominative case. (Bob, my dog, is coming.)

4. In direct address. (Mary, where are you?)

5. Nominative absolute. (Dinner being ready, we sat down.)

EXERCISES

204. In the following sentences, point out instances of (1) the appositive and (2) the nominative absolute:

1. School having been dismissed, we went home.

2. The sun having risen, we started on our journey.

3. One of our best men, the catcher, was hurt.

4. The enemy having ceased firing, we withdrew to the trenches. 5. The author having suddenly died, his work remained unfinished.

205. Point out the difference between the subjective complement after an intransitive or passive verb and the direct object (see sect. 72) in the following sentences:

1. He is the right man.

2. He called the right man.

3. He is called John.

4. Edward was proclaimed Prince of Wales.

5. Young Edward was the first Prince of Wales.

6. King Edward proclaimed his son Prince of Wales.

7. Ohio was made a state in 1803.

8. Williams was chosen captain of the football team.

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