125.When you desire to express an action complete at some definite past time, you do not say:
Can you see a difference in the meaning expressed in these sentences:I worked six months when he began; andI had worked six months when he began? This last sentence describes an action completed or perfected before some definite past time.
126.Past perfect time denotes an action perfected or completed at some definite past time. It is formed by usinghadand the past participle of the verb.
Remember always, with irregular verbs, to use thepast participle. Never use thepast time formwithhad.
Correct the following sentences in which the past time form is used instead of the past participle. Look up the word in the list of irregular verbs and use the past participle instead of the past time form.
127.We find also that we need a verb phrase to express timebeforesome other future time, to describe an action that will be finished, perfected, or completed, before some other future action. Thus,
Can you not see a difference in saying,I shall work thirty days when pay-day comes, andI shall have worked thirty days when pay-day comes? The first sentence expresses simple future time, or what you will do when pay-day comes; the second describes an action which will be completed or perfectedbeforepay-day comes. So there is quite a difference in the meaning of the future and the future perfect time.
128.The future perfect time form expresses or describes an action that will be perfected or completed before some other future time. It is formed by usingshall haveorwill havewith the past participle.
Be careful to use the past participle. Never use the past time form withshall haveorwill have.
129.We have three time forms,present,past,future.
Each of these three time forms has aperfectform; that is, a time form which expresses an action as completed or perfected at the present time, or before some definite past or future time.
130.It is wonderful how a knowledge of words and their uses enables us to express so many shades of meaning. It is like our development in observing colors. You know the savage always admires vivid reds and greens and blues. He does not yet see the beautiful shades and gradations of color. We enjoy the delicate pinks andblues and all the varying shades between the primal seven colors of the spectrum. And as we develop our artistic ability we see and enjoy all the beauties of color.
In music too, we observe the same development. The barbarian enjoys loud, crashing, discordant sounds which he calls music, but which to the educated ear are only harsh noises. The trained musician catches the delicate overtones and undertones and finds deepest ecstasy in sounds which the uneducated ear does not even catch. So as we study words and their uses, we find ourselves able to express shades of meaning, to paint our word pictures, not in gaudy, glaring chromo-tints, but in the wondrous blending of color that reveals the true artist.
Now get these modes of expressing time firmly fixed in your mind.
131.Let us get all we have learned about verbs into a summary and have it clearly in mind.
Read carefully the following quotation. All of the verbs and verb phrases are written initalics. Study these carefully and decide whether they indicate present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect or future perfect time. The verb phrases—is seizing,is put,is praised,is defended,can see,must have,are owned, andare conducted, do not belong to any of these six forms. They are verb phrases used in ways which we shall study later. All of the other verbs or verb phrases belong to one of the six time forms which we have studied. Classify them.
The Working Class Must Strike the BlowYourememberVictor Hugo's story of the devil-fish; how the monsterputforth one tentacle after another andcoiledit around his victim; how the herorecalledthat therewasbut one vulnerable spot in his brute enemy; how at the strategic moment hestrucka blow at that spot, and the terrible demon of the deepshuddered,releasedhis grasp andfelldead.Capitalismisa monster whichis seizingthe body politic. One tentacleis putforth to grasp the major part of the earnings of the working class; anotherhas seizedthe working-woman; anotherreachesforth to the child; anotherhas fastenedupon government andhas madethat the instrument of the powerful classes; still anotherhas turnedthe pen of the journalist into a weapon by which the injustice of Capitalismis praisedandis defended; and still anotherhas seizedthe pulpit,has silencedthose whoprofessto speak for God and man, orhas turnedtheir phrases into open apology and defense for the crimes of Capitalism!But thereisone vulnerable spot in Capitalism. If the working class of the worldcan seethat spot andwill strike, theyshall befree.The fundamental wrong, the basic injustice of the Capitalist System,isthat the resources of land and machinery, to which all the peoplemust haveaccess, in order to live and labor,are ownedby the few andare conductedby the few for their private profit.Thisisthe social tragedy, the monstrous wrong of our time.—J. Stitt Wilson.
The Working Class Must Strike the Blow
YourememberVictor Hugo's story of the devil-fish; how the monsterputforth one tentacle after another andcoiledit around his victim; how the herorecalledthat therewasbut one vulnerable spot in his brute enemy; how at the strategic moment hestrucka blow at that spot, and the terrible demon of the deepshuddered,releasedhis grasp andfelldead.
Capitalismisa monster whichis seizingthe body politic. One tentacleis putforth to grasp the major part of the earnings of the working class; anotherhas seizedthe working-woman; anotherreachesforth to the child; anotherhas fastenedupon government andhas madethat the instrument of the powerful classes; still anotherhas turnedthe pen of the journalist into a weapon by which the injustice of Capitalismis praisedandis defended; and still anotherhas seizedthe pulpit,has silencedthose whoprofessto speak for God and man, orhas turnedtheir phrases into open apology and defense for the crimes of Capitalism!
But thereisone vulnerable spot in Capitalism. If the working class of the worldcan seethat spot andwill strike, theyshall befree.
The fundamental wrong, the basic injustice of the Capitalist System,isthat the resources of land and machinery, to which all the peoplemust haveaccess, in order to live and labor,are ownedby the few andare conductedby the few for their private profit.
Thisisthe social tragedy, the monstrous wrong of our time.—J. Stitt Wilson.
Select two verbs out of the following poem and write their six time forms, in the same manner as the time forms of the verbseeare given in section 131.
A MAGIC WORDThere's a little word below, with letters three,Which, if you only grasp its potency,Will send you higherToward the goal where you aspire,Which, without its precious aid, you'll never see—NOW!Success attends the man who views it right.Its back and forward meanings differ quite;For this is how it readsTo the man of ready deeds,Who spells it backwards from achievement's height—WON!
A MAGIC WORD
There's a little word below, with letters three,Which, if you only grasp its potency,Will send you higherToward the goal where you aspire,Which, without its precious aid, you'll never see—NOW!
There's a little word below, with letters three,
Which, if you only grasp its potency,
Will send you higher
Toward the goal where you aspire,
Which, without its precious aid, you'll never see—
NOW!
Success attends the man who views it right.Its back and forward meanings differ quite;For this is how it readsTo the man of ready deeds,Who spells it backwards from achievement's height—WON!
Success attends the man who views it right.
Its back and forward meanings differ quite;
For this is how it reads
To the man of ready deeds,
Who spells it backwards from achievement's height—
WON!
The grammatical term for the time form of the verb isTENSE, which is derived from a Latin word meaningtime. The present time-form of the verb is called thepresent tense; the past time-form, thepast tense; the future time-form, thefuture tense; the present perfect time-form, thepresent perfect tense, etc.
Write each of the following four sentences in the six time-forms, or tenses,—present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect, as follows:
The division of words into syllables is quite important as an aid to pronunciation. It is also a very important matter to understand in our written speech for it is often necessary to divide a word at the end of a line. If the word is not properly divided, it is much more difficult to read and understand. The hyphen is used to divide words into syllables when carrying a portion to the next line.
When you must divide a word at the end of a line divide it only between syllables. Never divide a word of one syllable, no matter how long it may be. If you cannot get all of it on the line, write it all on the next line. Do not divide a short word of two syllables if you can avoid it and never divide such a word when it leaves only one letter on the line or only one letter to be carried over to the next line, as for example:luck-y,a-loud, etc.
When two or more vowels are used together to make one sound they should never be separated by the hyphen, as for example, joy-ous, anx-ious, trail, dis-course, de-feat, boor-ish.
When two or more vowels placed together are not used to form one sound then these vowels may be divided, as for example,tri-al,co-or-di-nate,he-ro-ic.
Look up the words in this week's lesson in the dictionary carefully and divide into syllables. Notice specially the division of words into syllables where the word contains a diphthong and where it contains two vowels written together which are not diphthongs. Notice also the words which have a single vowel as the first or last syllable.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
You have often read the wordsorganicandinorganicbut did you ever stop to think of the meaning of these words? We say a body is organic—a rock is inorganic; one grows from within, the other is built from without. A tree is organic; it grows. A house is inorganic; it is built. The house was never a baby house, growing from a tiny house to a large one. But the tree was once a baby tree, a sapling, and grew branch by branch to its present height. So we have two classes of things—those which grow and those which are made.
Language belongs to the class of things which grows. It is organic. We have even used the same terms in speaking about language that we use in talking of a tree. We use the words ROOT, STEM and BRANCH to describe its growth.
Language, too, has its different terms of life like a tree, its youth, its maturity, its old age, its death.
So we have dead languages like Latin and Greek—languages which are no longer living,—no longer serving mankind. But these dead languages have left living children, languages that have descended from them.
The Italian language for example is the child, the descendant of the classical Latin. We have many words in our English language from these dead languages. About five-sevenths of the words in our English are from these classical languages. The remaining two-sevenths are from the Anglo-Saxon. We use the Anglo-Saxon words more frequently, however, in our every day speech.
And it is interesting to note that our best poetry—that which stirs our blood and touches our hearts—is written in the strong forceful Anglo-Saxon words.
These words we are studying have been through some interesting experiences as they have passed from race to race down to us and the history of life is mirrored in their changes. How much more interesting they seem when we know something of their sources, just as we are more interested in a man when we know something of his boyhood and youth and the experiences through which he has passed.
You may think that the study of verbs is rather difficult and involved, but it is more simple in English than in any other language. There are fewer changes in the verb form in order to express time and person. Do not rely on the memorizing of the rules. Rules never made one a fluent speaker. Write sentences in which the correct form is used. Read aloud from the best authors until the sound of the words is familiar and they come readily to the tongue. We have used for the exercises in these lessons excerpts from the best authors.
Study these exercises carefully and note the use of the different verbs especially, this week. Verbs, like all else, are yours to command. Command them.
Yours for Education,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
132.We have learned how to form the three principal time forms,present,pastandfutureand the perfect or completed form of each of the three,present perfect,past perfectandfuture perfect. And still we have such a wonderful language that we can express other shades of meaning intime.
133.There is still another phase of action which we must have a verb phrase to express. Suppose you want to describe something you are now doing and are continuing to do, something not yet completed. To say,I do it now, is not satisfactory. Instead we say,I am doing it now.
You have by the verb phrase,am doing, described a progressive action, an actiongoing onin the present. You may also want to describe what you were doing yesterday, an action that continued orprogressedin the past. You would not say,I built the house yesterdaybut,I was building the house yesterday. Again you may want to describe an action which will beprogressingor going on in the future. You do not say,I shall build the house next weekbut,I shall be building the house next week.
So we have progressive verb phrases.
134.The present progressive describes an action as continuing or progressing in the present.
It is formed by using the present time form of the verbbeand the present participle.
You remember that the present participle is formed by addingingto the simple form of the verb.
135.The past progressive time form describes an action which was continuing or progressing in the past. It is formed by using the past time form of the verbbeand the present participle.
136.The future progressive describes an action which will be progressing or going on in the future. It is formed by using the future time form of the verbbeand the present participle.
137.The perfect time forms also have a progressive form. There is a difference of meaning in thepresent perfectand its progressive form. You say for instance,I have tried all my life to be free. You mean you have tried until the present time and the inference is that now you have ceased to try. But, if you say,I have been trying all my life to be free, we understand that you have tried and arestilltrying.
138.So we have the present perfect progressive which describes an action which progressed in the past and continued up to the present time. It is formed by using the present perfect form of the verbbeand the present participle.
139.The past perfect progressive describes an action which was continuing or progressing at some past time. It is formed by using the past perfect time form of the verbbeand the present participle.
140.The future perfect progressive describes an action which will be progressing at some future time. It is formed by using the future perfect time form of the verbbeand the present participle.
In the following sentences mark all the progressive forms, and note whether they are present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect or future perfect.
141.Notice carefully the following sentences; select the subjects in these sentences which showwhoorwhatperformed the action; select the subjects that showwhoorwhatreceives the action. Do you notice any difference in the meaning of these sentences? Do you notice any difference in their form?
Let us look carefully at the first two sentences. You remember when we studied transitive verbs we found that every transitive verb had anobjectwhich was the receiver of the action expressed in the verb. Now you notice in this first sentence,The engine struck the man, we have the transitive verbstruck.Engineis the subject of the verb andmanis the object of the verb, the receiver of the action expressed by the verbstruck.
Now in the sentence,The man was struck by the engine, we have the same thought expressed but in a different manner. The wordman, which was the object of the verbstruckin the first sentence, has now become the subject of the sentence, and we have changed our verb form fromstrucktowas struck. In the first sentence of the subject,enginewas theactor. In the second sentence,The man was struck by the engine, the subject of the sentence,man, is thereceiverof the action expressed in the verb.
142.So we have thus changed the verb form fromstrucktowas struckto indicate that the subject of the verb is the receiver of the action.Struckis called the active form of the verb because the subject of the verb is the actor.Was struckis called the passive form of the verb because the subject receives the action. Passive meansreceiving. In the passive form the subject is the receiver of the action expressed in the verb.
143.You remember that complete verbs have no object or complement, therefore it would follow that they cannot be put in the passive form for there is no object to become the receiver of the action. Take the complete verb,sleep, for example. We do notsleepanything, hencesleephas no passive form for there is no object which can be used as the subject, the receiver of the action.
Only transitive verbs can be put into the passive form.Remember that a transitive verb in the passive form is one that represents its subject as receiving the action.
The present, past, future and all the perfect time forms of transitive verbs can be changed from active to passive. The progressive time forms can be changed into the passive, but it makes an awkward construction and should be avoided as much as possible. Occasionally, however, we find it worth our while to use these forms, as for example:
This is the passive form of the present progressive,The man is writing a book.
This is the passive form of the past progressive,The man was writing the book.
144.The future progressive passive is awkward, and the present and past progressive forms are the only forms we find used in the passive. The best writers use them sparingly for we can usually say the same thing by using the active form of the verb and have a sentence which sounds much better.
All the verbs in the following sentences aretransitiveverbs in theactiveform. Rewrite each sentence, putting the verb into thepassiveform and making theobjectof theactiveverb thesubjectof thepassiveverb; as, for example, the first sentence should be rewritten as follows:
War on Russia was declared by Germany on August 1, 1914.
145.Now let us take the verbseeand name all the time forms which we can describe with the changes in the verb forms which we have learned to make and also with the verb phrases which we can construct with the help of the verbs,be,have,shallandwill.
First, we want to express the present, what is happening now, and we want to put it in both the active and passive forms, so we say:
Note that the only change in the verb form in the present ACTIVE is thes-formfor the third person singular. In the present passive the only change is the special form of the verbbefor the first and third persons, singular.
When we want to tell what occurred yesterday or some time in the past, stated in the active and passive form, we say:
We have one other division of time which we must express—the future. Primitive man doubtless lived principally in the present, but with the development of memory and the means of recording events by a written language, he was able to make the deeds and achievements of the past a vital part of his life. But not until the faculty of thinking developed was the mind able to project itself into the future and make tomorrow the hope of today. Future time expresses hope, desire, growth.
Then you remember we had to devise a way of describing an action perfected or completed at the present or at some time in the past or at some time in the future—so we have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect.
146.But these are not all the phases of time which we can express. We have progressive, continuous action. So each of these six time forms has a progressive form.
Only the Present and Past Progressive forms have a passive form. The rest of the Progressive forms are expressed in the active forms only.
Write the four following sentences in their active and passive forms, as the sentence,War sweeps the earth, is written.
Underscore all the verbs and verb phrases in the following quotation. Write all the time forms of the transitive verb,lose, as the time forms of the verbseeare written in the foregoing table.
When we study the animal world and try to explain to ourselves that struggle for existence which is maintained by each living being against adverse circumstances and against its enemies, we realize that the more the principles of solidarity and equality are developed in an animal society, and have become habitual to it, the more chance it has of surviving and coming triumphantly out of the struggle against hardships and foes. The more thoroughly each member of the society feels his solidarity with each other member of the society, the more completely are developed in all of them those two qualities which are the main factors of all progress; courage, on the one hand, and, on the other, free individual initiative. And, on the contrary, the more any animal society, or little group of animals, loses this feeling of solidarity—which may chance as the result of exceptional scarcity or else of exceptional plenty—the more the two other factors of progress, courage and individual initiative, diminish; in the end they disappear, and the society falls into decay and sinks before its foes. Without mutual confidence no struggle is possible; there is no courage, no initiative, no solidarity—and no victory!—Kropotkin.
When we study the animal world and try to explain to ourselves that struggle for existence which is maintained by each living being against adverse circumstances and against its enemies, we realize that the more the principles of solidarity and equality are developed in an animal society, and have become habitual to it, the more chance it has of surviving and coming triumphantly out of the struggle against hardships and foes. The more thoroughly each member of the society feels his solidarity with each other member of the society, the more completely are developed in all of them those two qualities which are the main factors of all progress; courage, on the one hand, and, on the other, free individual initiative. And, on the contrary, the more any animal society, or little group of animals, loses this feeling of solidarity—which may chance as the result of exceptional scarcity or else of exceptional plenty—the more the two other factors of progress, courage and individual initiative, diminish; in the end they disappear, and the society falls into decay and sinks before its foes. Without mutual confidence no struggle is possible; there is no courage, no initiative, no solidarity—and no victory!—Kropotkin.
In pronouncing words of more than one syllable we always lay a little greater stress upon one syllable of the word; that is, that syllable receives the emphasis of the voice so as to make it more prominent than the other syllables. This is called accent, and the syllable which receives the special stress is called the accented syllable.
Accent is the stress of the voice upon one syllable of the word.
You will notice when you look up the pronunciation of words in your dictionary that a little mark called the accent mark is placed after the accented syllable, as for example: di-vide'.
Many words differ in meaning according to which syllable receives the accent. Our spelling lesson for this week contains a number of these words.
These words, when accented on the first syllable, are nouns; when accented on the second syllable, they are verbs.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
You have been studying several weeks now in this Plain English Course and we trust you are enjoying the unfolding of the powers of expression. We have been necessarily studying rules to some extent but you have seen how these grew out of the need for expression. We have been breaking the sentence up into its different parts. First we had the names of things and now we are studying the words used to tell what these thingsdoandare—namely verbs. And as our life has grown complex and our powers of thinking diversified covering the whole range of time, past, present and future, we have had to invent many forms of the verb to express it all.
Now do not try to commit these facts concerning the verb to memory. You are not studying English in order to know rules. You are studying English that you may be able to say and write the things youthink. So first of all,think,think! That is your inalienable right! Do not accept anything just by blind belief. Think it out for yourself. Study until you see the 'why' of it all. "Independent thinking has given us the present, and we will forever continue to make tomorrow better than today. The right to think is inalienable, or a man is a machine. Thought is life or a human soul is a thing."
And do not lack the courage of your own thoughts.Youdo not need to cringe or apologize to any man. "Our life is not an apology but a life." Dare to think and dare to express and live your thought.
Did you ever read Emerson's definition of genius? "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,—that is genius." Then he says, "We dismiss without notice our own thoughts, because they are ours. Tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense, precisely what we have thought and felt all along and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another."
Have you not experienced this? How often we hear some one express a truth and we say to ourselves, "That is just what I have long believed but I have never dared say so." We have been so taught all our lives to depend on some outside power and discredit the power within ourselves, that we pay no attention to the thoughts that are ours for who are we that we should dare to think and perchance disagree with those who have assumed authority over us! But that is precisely what we should dare to do—to think and to do our own thinking always. Who dares place anything before a man!
Sothinkas you study these lessons and use these rules and formulas simply as means to an end, as tools to aid you in expressing these thoughts.
Yours for Education,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
147.We have found that the verb has five forms, made by internal changes in the verb itself,—the present time form, the s-form, the past time form, the present participle and the past participle.
We have also found that we can express various time forms by verb phrases formed by using the helping verbs,shall,will,haveandbewith one of the verb forms. All of these forms are used as the asserting word in the sentence. So long as the verb or verb phrase forms the predicate—the word or words that assert something of the subject—it still remains a verb. But we have found that the participle forms of the verb may be used as other parts of speech while still retaining some of the qualities of the verb.
148.You remember a sentence which we used when we studied participles,Making shoes is his work. Here we have the present participlemaking, with its objectshoes, used as the subject of the verbis. Now a noun never takes an object, somakingin this sentence is partly a verb, partly a noun, and is called a participle, which meanspartaker.
We have studied and used two forms of participles, the present and the past participle. The present participle always ends iningand expresses action or existence in the present, or at the time mentioned in the sentence. For example,being,bringing,working,seeing,loving,hating, etc.
The past participle we found to be one of the principal parts of the verb. It expresses action or existence which is past or completed, at the time mentioned in the sentence. It is formed by addingdoredto the regular verbs and by a change in the form in irregular verbs. For example, regular verbs:learnedfromlearn,defeatedfromdefeat,watchedfromwatch. Irregular verbs:taughtfromteach,seenfromsee,wonfromwin.
We have found that these participles may be used either as nouns or as adjectives.As for example:
149.The present and the past participles are each single words; but we may also have participle phrases; that is, two or more words used as a participle, as for example:
In these sentences we have the participle phrases,having joinedandhaving been discharged.Having joinedis a participle phrase used as a noun, the subject of the verbcaused.Having been dischargedis aparticiple phrase used as an adjective to modify the nounman. Notice thathaving joinedis an active participle describing the action performed by the man who is referred to by the pronounhis.Having been dischargedis a passive participle expressing an action of which the subject of the sentence,man, is the receiver.
These are both perfect participles, expressing actions which are complete at the present time.
150.We have also progressive participles expressing action which is continuing or progressing. These progressive participles are also used in both the active and the passive forms. The progressive active participle is formed by usinghaving beenwith the present participle, ashaving been working. The progressive passive participle is formed by usingbeingwith the past participle, as for example,being watched,being driven,being gone, etc. So we have six participles, three active and three passive.
Note the following table:
These participle phrases may be used either as nouns or as adjectives.
In the following sentences mark the participles and the participle phrases. Underscore those used asnounswith a single line; those used asadjectiveswith two lines.
"Rest is not quitting this busy career;Rest is the fitting of self to its sphere.It's loving and serving the highest and best;It's onward, not swerving; and that is true rest."
"Rest is not quitting this busy career;
Rest is the fitting of self to its sphere.
It's loving and serving the highest and best;
It's onward, not swerving; and that is true rest."
Write the six participle forms of the verbsseeandteach, and use in sentences of your own construction.
151.We have found that the various forms of the participles may be used as other parts of speech. They partake of the nature of a verb and either of a noun or an adjective. Notice the following sentences:
Can you think of any other way in which you could express the same thought? Do you not sometimes say,
We have expressed practically the same thought in these two sentences, which is expressed in the sentences above, where we used the participle.To travelandto eatare used as nouns, subjects of the verbisjust astravelingandeatingare used as nouns, the subjects of the verbis.
Here we have another form of the verb used as a noun. When we use the verb in this way, we are not speaking of thetravelingoreatingas belonging to or being done by any particular person, nor do we indicate whether one person or more than one is concerned in the action. It might be anyone doing the traveling or eating, and it might be one person or a thousand. We are making a general statement of everybody in the world, so we call this form theinfinitive.
152.Infinite meansunlimited, without limit as to persons or number. Almost every verb in the language may be used in this way, and sincetois generally used before the infinitive,tois often called the sign of the infinitive. For example:
You note in all of these infinitivestois used with the simple form of the verb.
153.Tois generally omitted after verbs likehelp,hear,bid,feel,let,make,seeandhave, or words of similar meaning. For example:
154.Tois also omitted afterneedanddarewhennotis used.
155.Tois sometimes omitted after prepositions:
156.We have a number of different forms of the infinitive, both active and passive. Note the following table:
157.Notice that only thepresentandperfectinfinitives have thepassiveform. The progressive infinitives cannot be used in the passive. Remember also that onlyincompleteverbs, those which require an object to receive the action, can have a passive form.
The verbloved, which we have used in the above table, has a passive form because it is an incomplete verb, for there must be that which is the object of our love.
158.The complete verbs,—verbs which require no object,—cannot have a passive form for there is no object to become the receiver of the action. Take for example the verbdwell. This is a complete verb which can have no passive form. You cannot dwell anything, therefore you cannot sayto be dweltorto have been dwelt.
So complete verbs have only the four active forms, as follows:
159.Infinitives, like participles, may be used either as nouns or adjectives. When used as nouns, they are used in the various ways in which nouns are used. The infinitive may be thesubjectof a sentence, thus:
160.The infinitive may be theobjectorcomplementof the verb. For example:
161.The infinitive may be used as the object of apreposition; as,
162.The infinitive may be used as an adjective to modify a noun. For example:
163.The infinitive may also be used as an adverb to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective or adverb, thus:
Note that the infinitives in these sentences may all be changed into adverb phrases. As for example in the first sentence, He was forcedto go, the infinitiveto go, which modifies the verbforced, may be changed to the adverb phrase,into going, thus,He was forced into going. In the second sentence,They are slow to learn, the infinitiveto learnmay be changed into the adverb phrasein learning, thus,They are slow in learning. In the last sentence,The fruit is not ripe enough to eat, the infinitiveto eat, which modifies the adverbenough, may be changed into the adverb phrase,for eating, as for example,The fruit was not ripe enough for eating.
164.The infinitive is quite a useful form of the verb, and we will find that we use it very frequently in expressing our ideas. While it is not the asserting word in the sentence, it retains the nature of a verb and may have both an object and an adverb modifier. As for example, in the sentence:
To learnis the infinitive, used as a noun, the object of the verbwish. The infinitive also has an object, to learn—what?My lessonis the object of the infinitiveto learn. We also have an adverb modifier in the adverbquickly, which tellshowI wish to learn my lesson. So the infinitive retains its verb nature, in that it may have an object and it may be modified by an adverb.
Notice carefully the use of the infinitives in the following sentences. Underscore all infinitives.
Write sentences containing the six infinitive forms of the verbobey.
165.Don't split your infinitives.Keep thetoand the infinitive together as much as possible. Don't say,They intended to never come back. Say rather,They intended never to come back. Sometimes, however, the meaning can be more aptly expressed by placing the adverb modifier between thetoand the infinitive, as for example:
In these sentences the adverbsalmostandfarexpress our meaning more closely if they are placed between thetoand the infinitive. Ordinarily, however, do not split your infinitives, but place the adverb modifier either before or after the infinitive.
166.Don't usetoby itself without the rest of the infinitive.Don't say,Do as I tell you to. Say instead,Do as I tell you to do; or,Do as I tell you.Don't say,He deceived us once and he is likely to again. Say rather,He deceived us once and he is likely to deceive us again, orto do so again.
167.Don't useandforto. Don't say,Try and go if you can. Say instead,Try to go if you can.
Correct the following sentences:
Study carefully the infinitives in the following quotation. Notice which are active and which are passive infinitives.
The twenty thousand men prematurely slain on a field of battle, mean, to the women of their race, twenty thousand human creaturesto be bornewithin them for months,to be givenbirth to in anguish,to be fedfrom their breasts andto be rearedwith toil, if the members of the tribe and the strength of the nation areto be maintained. In nations continually at war, incessant and unbroken child-bearing is by war imposed on all women if the state isto survive; and whenever war occurs, if numbers areto be maintained, there must be an increased child-bearing and rearing. This throws upon woman, as woman, a war tax, compared with which all that the male expends in military preparations is comparatively light.It is especially in the domain of war that we, the bearers of men's bodies, who supply its most valuable munition, who, not amid the clamor and ardor of battle, but singly, and alone, with a three-in-the-morning courage, shed our blood and face death that the battle-field might have its food, a food more precious to us than our heart's blood; it is we, especially, who, in the domain of war, have our wordto say, a word no man can say for us. It is our intentionto enterinto the domain of war andto laborthere till in the course of generations we have extinguished it.—Olive Schreiner.
The twenty thousand men prematurely slain on a field of battle, mean, to the women of their race, twenty thousand human creaturesto be bornewithin them for months,to be givenbirth to in anguish,to be fedfrom their breasts andto be rearedwith toil, if the members of the tribe and the strength of the nation areto be maintained. In nations continually at war, incessant and unbroken child-bearing is by war imposed on all women if the state isto survive; and whenever war occurs, if numbers areto be maintained, there must be an increased child-bearing and rearing. This throws upon woman, as woman, a war tax, compared with which all that the male expends in military preparations is comparatively light.
It is especially in the domain of war that we, the bearers of men's bodies, who supply its most valuable munition, who, not amid the clamor and ardor of battle, but singly, and alone, with a three-in-the-morning courage, shed our blood and face death that the battle-field might have its food, a food more precious to us than our heart's blood; it is we, especially, who, in the domain of war, have our wordto say, a word no man can say for us. It is our intentionto enterinto the domain of war andto laborthere till in the course of generations we have extinguished it.—Olive Schreiner.
Mark the participles and infinitives.