CHAPTER XII

KINDS OF WORDS

IV. ADJECTIVES

     156.   We must have seen that most sentences are made up of something more than a noun (or a pronoun) and a verb.
     It is true, of course, that the very shortest ones may give us some information about their subjects. For example: in
Ice breaks and Diamonds glitter,
ice and diamonds are described a little; but nobody wants to say, —
Ice is or Diamonds are.
for these verbs is and are do not tell us anything worth saying.
     We have to add the descriptive words, thus:
Ice is brittle.
Ice is cold.
Ice is transparent.		 Diamonds are brilliant.
Diamonds are scarce.
Diamonds are expensive.
Without these additions the predicate seems incomplete.

EXERCISE 139.

EXERCISE 140.

EXERCISE 141.

     157.   Even when we use a verb that does not require something to be added, as in —
Roses grow,
still we commonly wish to tell what kind of roses is meant, and how, or where, or when they grow As: —
Yellow roses grow by still rivers.

EXERCISE 142.

     158.   Words of this kind are called Adjectives because they describe a person or a thing by adding some quality to the name that is used; that is, they describe or qualify what is mentioned.

EXERCISE 143.

     159.   An adjective, then, may be used in two ways: —
     1. We may make it a part of the predicate so as to assert that the subject has a certain quality; as, —
The meadows are fertile.
     An adjective used in this way is called a predicate adjective.
     2. Without using it as part of the assertion we make it add to what the noun alone would mean; as, —
Happy children have sunny faces.
     An adjective used in this way is called an attributive or appositive adjective.

EXERCISE 144.

     160.   Whichever way used, most adjectives describe what the noun or the pronoun refers to. But there are other words called adjectives, which affect the meaning in a different way; thus, if we say, —
The king lived a year and some months in this city,
we show that we mean only a particular king, only one year, about how many months, and which city. These words, the, a, some, this, are adjectives, because they add something to our meaning that was not expressed by the noun alone: but they do not tell what kind of king, year, month, or city, as if we were to say, —
A good king lived a dreary year and three tiresome months in a hostile city.
     161.   Words that refer to number are of this sort; as here, —
one day
two weeks
sixteen months
tenth hour
first minute
half second
     These show to just how many or to which one of the name applies; and there are only about forty others, including, —
an or a, the,
many, any, all,
each, either,
every, few,
first, last,
much, no,
same, several,
this or these,
that or those.
     162.   Such adjectives, without referring to any quality, always add something to our meaning by showing which ones, or how many, and so on. Without them the meaning of a noun might be very indefinite, and so we say that they determine or limit the application of it.

EXERCISE 145.

     163.   An Adjective is a word that may be added to a noun or a pronoun either to describe or to determine better what it means..
     The word “adjective” means something that is added to a noun or name.
     164.   Descriptive or qualifying adjectives describe what is mentioned.
     Limiting adjectives show which ones, how many, and so on, without describing.

EXERCISE 146.

EXERCISE 147.

     165.   Punctuation. RULE. — Two or more qualifying adjectives that describe the same thing must be separated by commas, unless there are words between that connect them all.
     Thus, we write a large bus without commas, using an adjective of each kind, or the same bus, using two limiting adjectives; but
the same old, broken, forty-seated bus
needs commas between the qualifying adjectives. So in the expression, —
dark, long, and weary hours.
But when the adjectives are all connected, we write, —
The hills are desolate and rugged and wild.

EXERCISE 148.

EXERCISE 149.

V. ADVERBS

EXERCISE 150.

     166.   If we should take away from the examples in Ex. 150 these words, quietly, early, here, less, well, now, outside, more, just the same thing would be asserted in every sentence. but each one of the words that are added to the verb makes a little change in what the verb alone would mean; for they show how, when, where, and so on.

EXERCISE 151.

     167.   Words of this sort are called Adverbs because they are added to verbs to make our meaning more definite, very much as adjectives are added to nouns and pronouns.

EXERCISE 152.

EXERCISE 153.

EXERCISE 154.

     168.   Some of these words have another use.
     Thus, instead of —
The hill is steep;       This book is new, —
we would often wish to say how steep, how nearly new, and so on, as in —
The hill is very steep.
The hill is less steep.
The hill is steep enough.
The hill is steep here.1
This book is almost new.
This book is quite new.
This book is entirely new.
This book is new now.1
But what kind of a word is steep, and what have we done to express our meaning more fully?
     There are modifiers for adjectives, then, just as much as for nouns and verbs.

EXERCISE 155.

     169.   Such words we already know about: they are adverbs. the reason for using the same kind of words with both adjectives and verbs, is that both need to be modified in the same way; that is to say, by telling how, how often, when, where, how much, how little, and so on.

EXERCISE 156.

     170.   Sometimes, in order to show just what we mean, we need to modify an adverb. Thus: —
     He has come often       may be changed to —
     He has come very often, or rather often,       and —
     He spoke truthfully       may become —
     He spoke quite truthfully, or more truthfully, or less truthfully.

EXERCISE 157.

     171.   In such sentences the words that modify adverbs are themselves adverbs, and could be used to modify adjectives or verbs.
     Adverbs, then, can be used in three different ways.
     172.   An Adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.1

EXERCISE 158.

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