b. In the first sentence the word "and" joins "keeps" and "will suffer," between which come several other words. You observe that there is a punctuation mark before the "and," in this case a comma. Do you find any other cases in the passage where there is a comma, or perhaps a semicolon, before and or or when one of these words joins two words or groups of words that are rather far apart? c. In the first sentence there occurs the word 'con gregation," which conveys the idea of a group of people. Afterwards, in the same sentence, the author refers to "congregation" by the word "they," which means many persons, and later by "it," which means only one thing. Can you explain this? Perhaps it will be necessary for you to refer to section 63. MISTAKES IN THE USE OF OBJECTS AND SUBSTANTIVES WITH CONNECTIVES III. Some people have the inclination, to speak correctly, but have not enough knowledge of the language to do so. The result is that they make very absurd errors. One case occurs in the following sentence: He gave the book to him and I. A person who uses such a sentence would not say He gave the book to I, for that would be instantly recognized as absurd; it is only when two words joined by and are used after to that the error occurs. You may be sure that persons who make these mistakes have been warned against using such sentences as Him and me are good friends, and that they think it is never correct to use him and me. Now him and me and her and me are both correct when they occur after the kind of connective words we have been studying about, and when they occur as objects of verbs. The following sentences contain correct illustrations: 1. They gave the book to him and me. 2. They gave the book to her and me. 4. The gift pleased her and me. An incorrect use of a connective word appears in the sentence, Where was I at? It is incorrect because "at" connects nothing. The following sen tences are correct: Where was I? I was at home. You will observe that at is not used in the first of these sentences, and that in the second sentence it is followed by a substantive. Between should be used when it is followed by a word or words meaning two persons or things, as in between us (two persons), and as in between you and me; and among should be used when it is followed by a word or words meaning more than two persons, as in among us (more than two persons) and among them (more than two persons). It is often difficult to know what connective word to use after differ. To differ with is to express disagreement with a person; to differ from is to be unlike. Never say different than; always say different from, as in This rose is different from that one. It is correct to say back of and in front of, but not to say in back of. Study the use of these connective words in the following sentences: 1. Between you and me, something surprising is going to happen to-morrow. 2. It is just among us, of course, but something surprising will happen to-morrow. 3. In what respects are the Rockies different from the Alleghenies? 4. My chum and I differ with each other constantly, but we never quarrel. 5. The weather to-day differed from that of yesterday. 6. To differ with that fellow is to make an enemy of him. 7. The orchard is just back of the barn. The word to, a connective, and two and too differ from one another in spelling but are alike in sound. This makes them difficult to spell. But as you have already learned that to is a connective, you should no longer misspell it. Two is a word expressing number, as when you speak of two crows, or two cows. Too either expresses degree, as in too much and too far, or it has the sense of also, as in My brother reads a great deal; my sister, too, is a great reader. Study the meaning and the spelling of these words in the following sentences: 1. You are walking too slow to get to school on time. 2. "There were two crows sat on a tree." 3. We are going to the woods on Saturday. Are you going too? 4. Being ill on Saturday is too great a misfortune. 5. We saw two crows on a tree; two hawks were there too. 6. The Mississippi is a great river; the Amazon, too, is one of the largest in the world. Like is another troublesome word. Every day you hear people use such sentences as He does n't do that like I do. The sentence should be He does n't do that as I do. Like should never be followed by a group of words that has a subject and a predicate. Remember this, and watch yourselves carefully. On the other hand, like is properly used before a word or group of words that has not a subject and a predicate; that is, it may be followed by a substantive. In one of his poems Tennyson says, "Like a dog he hunts in dreams." The sentence would be correct also if one said He hunts in dreams, like a dog. In this sentence the man and the dog are compared; but if one should say He hunts as a dog hunts, the hunting of the dog and the hunting of the man would be compared. COMPOSITION: A CHARACTER SKETCH 112. Not long since, you read two paragraphs about Sir Roger de Coverley, a character in a book called the Spectator. Perhaps you know more about him than appears in those two paragraphs. If so, you know that he was a very admirable old man one who was loved by all about him for his kindness of heart, his unfailing courtesy, and his generosity. Yet his childlike simplicity sometimes made him laughable. It certainly must have been funny to see him wake out of a sound nap at church and suddenly rise and awaken some other sleeper. His good qualities and his laughable ones made him a very interesting person to read about. Now if he is an interesting kind of person to read about, he is also a very interesting kind of person to write about. Do you know any people who are very lovable and yet who are so funny in their ways and their speech that their friends smile at them secretly? It is probable that you do, and that you can write very interesting compositions about them. Some cautions are necessary: 2. Try to choose some one who is not known to the other pupils in the room, for otherwise you will be too personal. b. Choose a fictitious name for the person, for not to do so would also be to make your composition too personal. c. Be sure to tell the qualities that make the person lovable and the qualities or the habits that make him laughable. d. If you can, tell some little story about the person, some incident that will show his qualities, especially the laughable ones. e. Try to do just what you are asked to do, and not something else. Compositions about supremely perfect persons are likely to be tiresome. f. Above all, do not so far fail to obey instructions as to write about some person whom you dislike. g. Be careful about paragraphing, spelling, complete ́ness of sentences, and punctuation so far as you have learned it, and do not make any mistakes in grammar. |