ΤΟ ENGLISH GRAMMAR INCLUDING THE ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES: WITH EXERCISES. FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS. BY ADAM SPEERS, B.SC., LOND., HEAD-MASTER, THE SULLIVAN SCHOOLS, HOLYWOOD, BELFAST. SECOND EDITION: DUBLIN: SULLIVAN, BROTHERS, LONDON: LONGMANS & CO.; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. 1880 [All rights reserved.] 30276. f.26 # 120СТ85 OXFORD PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. THE favour with which this little work on English Grammar has been received by Educationists and the Press, encourages the Publishers to spare no pains to make the work a really valuable school-book. At the request of some eminent Teachers of English, a chapter on Punctuation has been added to this edition. Any further improvements recommended by Teachers will be respectfully considered. DUBLIN, 1st March, 1880. PREFACE. IN drawing up this little treatise, the Author has tried to present the principles of English Grammar in an intelligible and interesting form. The work embraces what he considers the essentials of the subject, and at the same time exhibits his views as to the manner in which the facts of Grammar should be brought before the minds of the young. The language used throughout being of the simplest possible kind, and the explanations and illustrations so full, it is hoped that, to pupils of ordinary capacity, the book will explain itself. As its title indicates, it is designed as an Introduction to the study of English. Prosody, Derivation, and Punctuation, are not dealt with at all; but the space thus saved has afforded the Author an opportunity of treating with greater fulness many important points which are either altogether omitted, or imperfectly explained, in most elementary Grammars. Page 5 to page 39 is intended as a first course of English Grammar, which, it is believed, will be intelligible to any child capable of commencing the study of the subject; page 40 to page 93 may be made to form a second course; page 94 to the end will be found to furnish an amount of information on Syntax, Analysis, &c., quite sufficient for the requirements of the highest classes taught in ordinary schools. The book contains a series of Exercises, which are neither too hard nor too numerous. These, it is hoped, will encourage the pupil to make a practical application of his knowledge of the text. THE SULLIVAN SCHOOLS, HOLYWOOD, 1st February, 1879. ENGLISH GRAMMAR. INTRODUCTION. 1. LANGUAGE consists mainly of Words, and is the means which people employ to convey their thoughts to one another. 2. Words are spoken sounds, each of which denotes some idea. The sound of a word may be expressed by written characters, and so language may be either spoken or written. 3. Different nations make use of different sets of words. The collection of words used by any particular nation is the Language of that nation. 4. The English Language consists of the words in use among the British people. There are a great many thousands of them, as you may see by looking through a good English Dictionary. 5. Although words separately denote ideas, it is only when they are joined together in groups that they can express our thoughts. A group of words conveying a complete sense or meaning is called a SENTENCE. În conversation you are constantly using such groups, and your reading-books are full of them, every full stop bringing you to the end of one. 6. SENTENCES are of three kinds : (a) Statements; as, "The fox is an animal of the dog kind." "No animals are commoner than spiders." "Birds fly and fishes swim." |