XVI. The Comma with Words in the Same Construction XVII. The Comma in Compound Elements . XVIII. The Comma with Adjective Elements XIX. The Comma with Adverbial Elements. XX. The Comma after the Subject. XXI. The Comma with Independent Elements XXII. The Use of the Semicolon LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. TO THE TEACHER. In this Chapter aim at a thorough understanding of the kinds of simple sentences and their punctuation. Obtain from pupils many original illustrations. On completing the Chapter, have pupils combine into short paragraphs groups of sentences about assigned subjects. Assign for these paragraphs subjects that pupils are interested in and can write about easily. The reading and geography lessons will furnish material for sentences and paragraphs. This work should help to correct the fault, so common in pupils' written geography and history exercises, of a rambling page of crude expressions, with no attention paid to separation into sentences, or grouping into paragraphs. What is intended at this stage of the work is shown by the following directions, which the teacher will extend: Write a paragraph about your schoolroom. Write two paragraphs about your schoolhouse. Write two paragraphs about a recent rainy day. Write two paragraphs about the State you live in; two about a mountain or a river you have seen. I. THE SENTENCE. Whenever we tell something, or ask a question, or give a command, we use words in sentences. 1. Boys jump. 2. Did you jump? 3. Jump over the log. Which of these groups of words tells something? Which asks a question? Which is a command ? All of these groups of words are sentences. A sentence is a group of words making a statement, a question, or a command. Making statements, asking questions, and giving commands are ways of expressing our thoughts. A group of words that expresses a complete thought is a sentence. KINDS OF Sentences. 1. Virtue is its own reward. 2. Columbus discovered America in 1492. These sentences are statements. 1. Will you come to-morrow? 2. How far does this lesson extend? These sentences are questions. I. Go to the blackboard. 2. Study your lessons. These sentences are commands or requests. A sentence that is a statement is called a declarative sentence. A sentence that is a question is called an interrogative sentence. A sentence that expresses a command, a wish, or a request, is called an imperative sentence. A declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence that expresses sudden or strong feeling may be called an exclamatory sentence; as: Sad is my fate! Was not that a dreadful accident! See that brilliant meteor! Exercise. What kind of sentence is each of the following? 1. Gibraltar commands the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. 2. Where is Yokohama ? 3. Oh, there is sweetness in the morning air! 4. Interest is an allowance made for the use of money. 5. We take no thought of time but from its loss. 6. Think before you speak. 7. What do you mean? 8. How gladly would we buy time! 9. We lessen our wants by lessening our desires. II. HOW TO PUT THOUGHTS ON PAPER. Before beginning to write, you need to know about margins and paragraphs, and must learn some of the more important rules for the use of capital letters and of marks of punctuation. The space on a page, above, below, or on either side of the writing or printing is called a margin. A paragraph consists of one sentence, or of several sentences closely related to one another in thought. The beginning of a paragraph is indicated by commencing the first sentence on a new line and a little farther to the right than the other lines. Turn to your reading book and find the first para graph of your reading lesson, the second paragraph, other paragraphs. Tell what each paragraph is about. What is the first paragraph in this Section? What is the paragraph about? What is the second paragraph ? How many paragraphs in the Section? CAPITAL LETTERS. 1. The first word of every sentence and of every line of poetry should begin with a capital letter. 2. The name of a person or a place should begin with a capital letter. 3. The words I and O are always capitals. PUNCTUATION AT THE END OF SENTENCES. Some important rules of punctuation are: 1. Every declarative or imperative sentence should be followed by a period. 2. Every interrogative sentence should be followed by an interrogation point. 3. Every exclamatory sentence should be followed by an exclamation point. Exercise I. Give the reasons for the capital letters and the marks of punctuation in the following sentences: 1. How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! SHAKESPEARE. 2. Why does the sea moan evermore? 3. And what is so rare as a day in June? |