BRIGHTER

GRAMMAR
An English Grammar
with Exercises

B o o k O ne

. E. ECKER SLEY
AND

RGA R E T M A C A U L A Y
 n
r.

Br ig h t e r G r a m m a r
A N ENGLISH GRAM M AR
witli Exercises

By
C . E. E C K ER SLEY, M.A.
and
M A R G A R E T M A C A U L A Y , M.A.

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 PREFACE
T h o u g h most Education Authorities and tcachcrs realize the
value, in fact the necessity, o f Grammar in the learning of a
language, many pupils tend to regard it as dull, uninteresting
and difficult. We believe, and in B r i g h t e r G r.\m m a r have
tried to show, that the grammar lesson can be as enjoj-able as
any in the curriculum.
We have aimed, first, at ensuring that the subject is made
completely understandable to even the least linguistically-minded
pupil, by presenting it as simply and as clearly as possible. In
this course, only the essentials of grammar have been chosen, and
these have been explained with a minimum of technical terms.
Only those terms are taught that are ncccssary to understand
the structure of the language and to aid the pupil’s progress in
composition.
Secondly, we have tried, without being any the less scholarly,
to make the books as interesting as possible. So, amusing
anecdotes have been used as material for e.\ercises and for
“ reproduction ’ ’ work in the composition lesson; the sentences
in the exercises have been made as " real ” as possible, and all
the books have been brightened by lively drawings.
Lastly, special attention has been paid to exercbes. The
cxercises arc graded, and nothing is asked of the pupil that he
could not gather from the lesson on which the e.\ercise is based.
T h e course is planned on the “ concentric ” system, and
so, where necessary, the lessons in Book II, Book III and
Book IV are preceded by a Revision o f the work covered in
the earlier book or books.
W e hope that teachers, already overburdened with work, will
find that B r i g h t e r G r a m m a r will spare them the trouble of seek­
ing further material for their grammar lessons, and that pupils
will find that they are spared the need (and the expense) of
further books of “ supplementary exercises
C . E. E.
M. M.
 CONTENTS
(Each Lesson is followed by Excrcises)
PACB
LESSON
1. Parts of S p e e c h : Nouns 5
2. Nouns. N um ber . . . . 10

3. Nouns. N um ber {continued) . 14

4. Proper Nouns . . . . 18

5. Nouns. Possessive Case 25

6. Adjectives of Quality 30
7. Adjcctives of Quantity . 34
8. Demonstrative and Interrogative Adjectives 36
9. V e r b s ....................................................... 40

10. Sentences and Phrases . 46

11. Parts of a Sentence 51

12. T h e Object of a Sentence 55
13. Pronouns . . . . . 61

14. Gender of N oim s and Pronouns 67

15. Pronouns. Number, Person . 71

16. Pronouns. Case . . . . 75
17. A d verbs...................................................... 79
18. Prepositions. A dverb Phrases. Adjective Phrases 85
19. Conjunctions. . . . . . . 92

20. Interjections . ....................................................... 94

4
 LESSO N ONE

PARTS OF SPE ECH : NOUNS

“ G rtUIMAR,” so someone has said, “ is the art of

putting the right words in the right places.” Let
us see then if we can discover what arc the right
places and the right words that go into them.
A ll the words in English can be put, according to
the work they do, into eight, and only eight “ boxes
These “ boxes ” are the p a r t s o f s p e e c h .

When you put words from these boxes in the right

order, you get s e n te n c e s . But before we talk about
sentences, let us open these boxes one by one, and
see what comes out.
S
6 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

L et’s open first the box marked N o u n s .

N o u n s are the names of people, e.g. man, wotnan,

Ali, Caesar, or animals, e.g. horse, dog, etc.; or things,
e.g. house, motor-car, tree, blackboard, etc.

A noun is th e n a m e o f a n y th in g .

E X E R C IS E S
I. Write down the name o f six people, si.x animals
and six things. What is the Jiame given to
all these?
II. Pick out the names of persons in the follozcing :
(1) T he boy saw his brother.
(2) T he teacher speaks to his pupils.
(3) M y sister is a clever girl.
(4) That boy is my friend.
(5) There is a man and a woman in the picture.
(6) T h e lady has three servants.
(7) T h e children are staying with their uncle and
aunt.
(8) T h e gentleman opened the door for his wife.
 LESSON I 7

(9) M y father and mother have asked my cousin

to come and stay at our house.
(10) T h e soldiers marched through the town.
(11) T h at little girl is my daughter.
(12) T h e sailors were led by an officer.
(13) A grocer sells tea and sugar.
(14) T h e chemist has a shop in that street.
W hat arc the names o f people callcd in grammar ?
III. Pick out the names o f things in the follmving :
(1) T here is a pen on the desk.
(2) T h e boy kicked the football
through the goal.
(3) Put the chalk on the table.
(4) O n the plate there were
some apples and oranges.
(5) T h e car went quickly along
the road.
(6) T here were some cigarettes in the box.
(7) Y ou can buy tea and sugar at the shop.
(8) T here are three windows in this room.
(9) T h e train is at the platform o f the station.
(10) Smoke is coming out o f the funnel o f the
engine.
(11) Porters are putting luggage into the carriage
and the van.
(12) T h e guard blows his whistle and ^\•aves his
flag. T h e wheels begin to move and the
train starts.
8 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(13) Open your books and read the words on

page one.
(14) There are many nuts on that tree.
(15) T he boy had toothache from eating too many
sweets.
What are the names of things called in grammar ?

IV . Pick out the names of animals in the follozving :

(1^ T h e dog is running in the field.
(2) Look ! the cat has caught a mouse.
(3) I saw lions and tigers in the Zoo.
(4) T h e bird is singing in the tree.
(5) Camels can carry heavy loads.
(6) Here is a hen with twelve chickens.
(7) W e get milk from cows.
(8) There are horses and donkeys in the field.
(9) T h e eagle is a very big bird.
(10) T h e kittens and the puppies were playing
together.
(11) Elephants are found in India and Africa.
(12) I am going now to feed the ducks and geese.
What are the names of animals called in grammar ?

V . Put a ttoun in each of the follmving spaces :

(1) T h e ------ drove t h e ------ .
(2) T h e ------ played with a ------ .
(3) Tom kicked t h e ------through t h e ------- .
(4) Put a ------ in the ------- .
(5) Write a — - on the ------.
(6) He cut t h e ------ with his
(7) Ali opened the ------ of the ------ .
(8) T h e ------ climbed the ------ and picked a
 LESSON I

(9) M arj' went to the

and bought a —
(10) T h e ------ sang a
at my ------.

V I. Underline {or write dotcn) all the tiouns in i/iis

story. There are 16 different nouns in it.
A C ure for a H eadache
One day a man went into a chemist’s shop and
said, “ Have you anything to cure a headache ? ”
T h e chemist took a bottle from a shelf, held it
under the gentleman’s nose and took out the cork.
T h e smell was so strong that tears came into the
man’s eyes and ran down his cheeks.

“ W hat did you do that for ? ” he said angrily, as

soon as he could get back his breath.
“ But that medicine has cured your headache,
hasn’t it ? ” said the chemist.
“ Y ou fool,” said the man, “ I t’s m y wife that
has the headache, not m e ! ”
 LESSO N TW O
N O U N S. NUM BER

L ook at these pictures.

Here there is only

one boy, one girl, one //nsv i
dog- /

Here there is more than one boy, one girl or one

dog.

As you know, the words boy, girl, dog arc nouns.

Notice the little change in a noun when we want
to show “ more than one
A D
boy boys
girl girk
dog dogs
What is the difference ? In grammar we call this
a difference of n u m b e r . In English grammar there
10
 LESSON 2 II

arc two numbers, s in g u la r number and p lu r a l

number. Nouns that mean “ only one ” are singular
number ; nouns that mean “ more than one are
plural number. A ll the words in column A are
singular number. A ll the words in column B are
plural number.
W ith m o s t o f th e n o u n s in E n g lis h w e m a k e
th e p lu r a l n u m b e r b y a d d in g “ s ” to th e
s in g u la r .

E X E R C IS E S
I. Make all these nouns plural :
horse, dog, car, tree, day, shop, chemist, bottle,
eye, nose.
II. Make all these nouns singular :
houses, cheeks, smells, corks, fools, nouns,
spaces, animals, names, things.
III. H ow many “ numbers ” are there in English
grammar ?
12 BRIGHTER GRiVMMAR

IV . What number is used for nouns that mean “ only

one ” ?
V . What number is used for nouns that mean “ more
than one ” ?
V I. How do we generally make English singular
nouns into plural ones ?
V II. Make hoo colutmis like this :

Singular Plural

Now put all the noims in these sentences that mean

“ only one ” in the first column, and those that
mean “ more than one ” in the second column.
(1) T h e hen has twelve chickens.
(2) T h e chemist had many bottles in his shop.
(3) T h e boys are playing in the field.
(4) M y books are in my bag.
(5) I have four fingers and one thumb on each
hand.
(6) T here are pictures on the walls o f this room.
(7) T h e birds are singing in the trees.
(8) T h e teacher gave us some les­
sons in grammar.
(9) There is an apple on this
plate.
(10) How many windows are there in this room ?
(11) T h e guard blows his whistle and waves his
flag .
(12) Open your books and read the sentences on
page ten.
 LESSON 2 13
(13) T here are many nuts on that tree.
(14) T h e sparrow is a small bird.
(15) T h e kittens and the puppies are playing to­
gether.
(16) T h e elephant is a vei^' big animal.
(17) T h e man said his wife had a headache.
(18) Tears came into the man’s eyes and ran down
his cheeks.

V II I. Complete the foUmcing sentences using nouns

in the singular number :
(1) T h e ------- kicked the ------.
(2) G ive me your ------.
(3) I like this ------.
(4) IVIy------ is on the ------ .
(5) T h e ------ writes on the ------ .
(6) T here is a ------ on the ------ .
(7) T h e ------ is playing with the
(8) I have a ------ in m y ------ .
(9) H e goes to the ------ every —
(10) T h e ------- is a very b i g --------.

IX . Complete the folloicing sentences by using nouns

in the plural number :
(1) T h e ------ are playing with the ------.
(2) H ow many ------ have you ?
(3) T here are t h r e e ------ on the ------ .
(4) ------ arc p u ttin g ------ in the van.
(5) T h e engine has s i x ------ .
(6) T here a r c ------ a n d ------ on the plate.
(7) T h e hen has t w e lv e ------ .
(8) Open y o u r ------ and read t h e ------- on page
ten.
(9^ In the zoo I s a w ------ and -
(10) T h e ------- are singing in the
 LESSO N TH REE
N O U N S . N U M B E R (contimted)
W e saw that most nouns make their plural by adding
“ s ” to the singular. But there are some that make
their plural differently.

(0
N o u n s th a t end in a “ h is s in g ” so u n d m a k e
th e ir p lu r a ls b y a d d in g “ e s For example :
Singular Plural Singular Plural
brush brushes inch inches
box boxes fox foxes
church churches

(2)
S o m e n o u n s th a t end in fo r m th e ir
p lu r a ls b y a d d in g es For example :
Singular Plural Singular Plural
potato potatoes cargo cargoes
hero heroes mosquito mosquitoes

(3)
N o u n s th a t en d in “ f ” o r “ fe ” g e n e r a lly
m a k e th e p lu r a l b y c h a n g in g th e “ f ” o r
‘ fe ” to “ v e s like this-
Singular Plural Singular Plural
leaf leaves wife wives
half halves knife knives
wolf wolves thief thieves
14
 LESSON 3 15

(4)
T h e r e a r e s o m e n o u n s th a t en d in “ y ” th a t
m a k e th e p lu r a l b y c h a n g in g th e “ y ” in to
“ ie s ” , like this—
Singular Plural Singular Plural
baby babies army armies
lady ladies cit}' cities
fly flies body bodies

(5)
T here are one or two nouns that don’t follow
any of these rules, and they are w'ords that you will
meet quite often. Here are the most common o f
them :
Singular Plural Singular Plural
man men tooth teeth
woman women goose geese
child children mouse mice
foot feet sheep sheep
ox oxen deer deer

E X E R C IS E S
I. Give the plural o f each o f the follotdng :
(1) box, hero, potato, church, brush, fox, inch.
(2) half, knife, leaf, baby, loaf, lady, donkey, fly,
wolf, day, thief, army.
(3) woman, child, tooth, man, deer, goose, sheep,
foot.
• All nouns that end in “ y ” don’t make their plural like this.
T hey do so when a consonant (b, d, I, m, etc.) comes before the y .
l6 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

II. Give the singular o f each o f the folloiving :

(1) brushes, heroes, boxes, potatoes, churches,
foxes, inches.
(2) halves, wolves, leaves, armies, babies, flies,
loaves, wives, ladies, thieves, knives, days.
(3) sheep, feet, teeth, mice, men, deer, geese,
children, women.
III. How do nouns that end in a “ hissing ” sound
make the plural ? Give an example.
IV . How do some nouns that end in “ o ” make the
plural ? Give an example.
V . How is it that the plural of
story is stories but the
plural of donkey is
donkeys ?
V I. I f nouns end in “ f ” or “ fe ” , how do they
generally make the plural ?
V II. Give four rules for changing English nouns
from singular to plural,
V III. Mention five words that don’t follow any of
these rules.
IX . Change the folloiving sentences from singular to
plural. T h e first one is done for you.
(1) T h e boy had a knife. Plural. T h e boys
had knives.*
(2) T h e child came into the room.
(3) T h e man looked on the shelf.
(4) T h e lady gave the girl the key.
(5) T h e cat caught the mouse.
• Note that as a (e.g. a knife) means one, there is no a in the
pluraL
 LESSON 3 17
(6) T h e leaf fell from the tree.
(7) T h e man and woman went to the cinema.
(8) T h e child saw a sheep in the field.
(9) T h e gentleman filled the
glass.
(10) T h e nurse carried a baby.
(11) T h e ox pulled the cart.
(12) T h e army went into
battle.
(13) T h e donkey ran down the street.
(14) A bird sang on the branch o f a tree.
(15) T h e foot of the deer crushed the flower.

X . Change the follozcing sentences from phiral to

singular :
(1) T h e nurses carried babies.
(2) T h e cats caught the mice.
(3) T h e boys had knives.
(4) The armies went into
battle.
(5) T h e leaves fell from the trees.
(6) T h e children rode on donkey?.
(7) T h e gentlemen filled the glasses.
(8) T h e boys had watches.
(9) T h e policemen found the thieves.
(10) W e saw geese'and foxes.
(11) T h e oxen ate the grass.
12^ T h e women told the children stories.
13) T h e thieves stole w-atches and boxes of jewels.
(14) T h e babies laughed at the children.
(15) W olves killed the sheep.

X I. Look again at the short story on page 9 and

put all the singular 7iomis in one column and
all the plural nouns in another column.
1— 2*
 LESSO N FOUR
PROPER NOUNS
In Lesson One we had the words boy, girl, dog>
cat, and we said these were nouns because they
were the names of people or animals. T h at is quite
tru e; but most people, (and some animals) have
more than one name.

Here for example are two men. I can call each

of them man. T hat is a name I can give to any
man. But the first one has another name, M r.
Brown (in fact he has two names ; he is Henry
Brown). T h e other man has three names. H e is
John William Green. Henry Brown’s wife is Alice
Brozvn. T hey have three boys (or three sons).
T h ey are all boys, all sotu. But all the boys have
another name beside boy or son. T h e first one is
called George, the second Richard and the third Fred.
Henry Brown— Alice Brown
Jock

George Richard Fred

i8
 LESSON 4 19

And they have a dog, called Jock.

M r. and M rs. Green have four girls (or daughters).

And o f coursc all the girls have other names besides
girl or daughter. Here they are

John William G reen— Elizabeth Green

M ary Ellen Margaret Lilian

I f M r. Brown says to his sons, “ Boys, come and

have a game of football,” they all come, because
boy is the name they all have in common.
And if M rs. Green says, “ Girls, it’s dinner tim e,”
they all come in to dinner, because ®/r/ is the common
name for all of them.
But if M r. Brown says, “ Fred, it’s your bed­
tim e,” only Fred goes off to bed just then. M r.
Brown hadn’t spoken to all the boys, only to one
particular boy, and so he used his particular name.
Yesterday, M rs. Green said to her daughters,
“ Girls, I want you to help me with the work in
the house today.” So all the girls came to the
kitchen where she was (you see, she had used the
name girls which is the name they all have in com ­
mon . T h en she said, “ M ary, I want you to make
the b e d s ; Ellen, you can dust the sittin g-room ;
Margaret, I want you to mend daddy’s socks ; and
Lilian, w ill you go into the garden and pick some
fresh flowers for the dining-room.” Y o u see, now,
she used a particular name for each girl.
20 BRIGHTER GR^XMMAR

Look at this map of England. On it there are

seven towns (or cities), four rivers, two ranges of
hills, four capes, and three islands. T h e word t07vn
is common to all towns (that is, it can be used of
all of them). T h e wora river is common to all
rivers, the word cape is common to all capes, the
word island is common to all islands.
Now, on p. 21 is the same map with allthe particular
names of these towns or cities, islands, rivers, capes,
etc.
N o u n s th a t a r e th e n a m e s g iv e n to a ll
p eo p le o r th in g s o r p la c e s o f th e s a m e k in d
a r e c a lle d c o m m o n n o u n s.
N o u n s th a t a r e th e p a r t ic u la r n a m e s o f
p eo p le o r p la c e s o r t h in g s a r e c a lle d p r o p e r
n o u n s.
 LESSON 4 21

Y o u w ill n o tic e th a t a ll p r o p e r n o u n s b e g in
w ith a c a p it a l le t te r . Days of the week {e.g.
M onday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.) and months
of the year January, February, etc.) are all
names of particular days or months and so should
begin with capital letters.
E X E R C IS E S
I. Write dozen :
(1) ten common nouns that are the names of things
that you can see in your classroom.
(2^ ten for things used in games.
(3) ten for things you can see in the town.
(4) ten for things you can see in the country.
(5) ten for things you can see in your home.
II. Write dozen ;
(i^ ten proper nouns that are the names of persons.
(2) ten that are the names of places or things.
22 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

III. Pick out the proper iioiins in the follozving :

(1) John came to our house on Friday.
(2) Marj' has a birthday in October.
(3) T h e Nile is a big river.
(4) Margaret has gone to Turkey,
(5) London is the capital of England.
(6) T h e Queen Elizabeth sails from Southampton
to N ew York.
(7) Athens is in Greecc.
(8) King George was the ruler of Great Britain.
(9) T h e Red Sea is to the east of Egypt.
(10) Singapore is a big city in Malaya.

IV . Write out the Jollozdng sentences putting in the

right capital letters :
(1) henry lives in london.
(2) lima is a very fine city.
(3) my brother’s name is george.
(4) we sailed to america on the queen vuiry.
(5) the Sudan lies to the south of egypt.
(6) william shakespeare was one of england’s
greatest poets.
(7) the nile is a longer river than the thames.
(8) paris is the capital of france.
(9) my birthday is on thursday, the 15th of
may.
(10) the sphinx is not far from cairo.

V. Here is a short story containing common nouns

and proper nouns, but the proper nouns
have been written with a sma 1 letter.
^i) Put in one column the common yiouns.
(2) In another column the proper nouns.
Write each proper noxai with a capital letter.
 LESSON 4 23
A V isit to L ondon
Last tucsday henry brown took his sons george,
richard and frcd to see london. T h e y live about fifty
miles from london in a small town called greenfields.
T h e y went by train. It was a steam-train drawn
by an engine called king arthur. M r. brown
opened the door of an emptj- carriage and the boys
jumped in. 'Fhe guard blew his whistle and waved
his flag and the train started. T h e train was a
fast one. It passed through knightstown, sandfield,
pursley and didcombe before stopping. But it
stopped at crawly junction where some people got off
and where a porter put some bags of letters and
parcels into the van. A n old lady got into the
carriage. She had a bag with her name and address
on it, mrs. m. smith, northwood road, woking, surrey.
She had a little dog with her called micky. T en
minutes later they came into Waterloo station and
very soon they w^erc out in the busy streets.
“ Come on, boys, we’ll take a bus now.” A big,
24 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

red bus came along marked london bridge. “ T h a t’s

the bus we w ant,” said m r. brown and the boys
hurried up the stairs and on to the top of the bus.
As they went along, m r. brown pointed out places
and things for them to see, “ T h ere’s Westminster
bridge and there are the houses of parliament. W e
are crossing london’s river now, the thames, and
just over there is Westminster abbey.”
“ W hat’s that monument on the bank o f the
river ? ” said richard.
“ T h at’s Cleopatra’s needle. It came from cgj'pt.”
“ T h at’s a fine ship in the river,” said george.
“ It’s the discovery, the ship in which captain
scott sailed for the south pole.”
“ And what’s that building in the distance with
the golden cross on top ? ”
“ T hat is S t . paul’s cathedral,” said mr. brown. “ It
was built by the great architect sir Christopher wren.”
“ I want to see the tower of london,” said george.
“ W e’ll see that after lunch,” said his father.
“ Where are we going for lunch ? ” said fred.
“ I didn’t eat much breakfast, I was too excited.”
“ W e’ll have lunch at an hotel that I knov/ in
Johnson square near fleet street. Here it is, the
crown hotel. Come on, boys, lunch is ready.”
 L E S S O N FI\-E
N O U N S. P O S S E S S IV E CASE
I t is possible to say, “ T h is is the book of the boy ” ,
or “ T h e dog of Mrs. Smith was called M icky ” , or
“ John is doing the work o f a man But English
people don’t usually say this. T h ey say instead;—
T h is is the boy's book.
Mrs. Smith's dog was called M icky.
John is doing a man's work.
T h is form is called the p o s s e s s iv e case, because
it is used to show possession. It shows that some­
thing belongs to the person for whom the noun
stands, e.g. that the boy possesses a book, that Mrs.
Smith possesses a dog, that the work that John was
doing was the sort that belongs to a man’s job.
T h e p o s s e s s iv e fo r m o f sin g u la r n o u n s is
m a d e b y p u ttin g a n a p o s tr o p h e s ( ’s ) a fte r
th e n o u n th a t s ta n d s fo r th e p o s s e s s o r .
So for
“ T h e cat of Mar}' ” we wTite “ M ary’s cat ”
“ the house of Jack ” we wTite “ Jack’s house ”
“ the foot of the girl ” w'e write “ the girl’s foot ”
T o make the possessive form of plural nouns
there are two easy rules to remember.

( i) I f th e p lu r a l e n d s in s w e ju s t a d d a n
a p o s tr o p h e , e.g.
T h e house of the boys = the boys’ house
T h e hats of the girls = the girls’ hats.
25
26 BRIGHTER GR^VMMAR

(2) If th e p lu r a l d o e s n o t en d in s w e a d d 's .
There are not many nouns whose plurals
don’t end in s. But there are one or two
that are often used, e.g. man, tcotnaii, child.

T h e possessive plurals of these are

men's women’s children's.

Examples :
M en’s work is done in die fields.
Women’s work is done in the home.
Children’s work is done in the school.

T h e possessive form is used for people and for

most animals. It is not generally used for things.
So we say;—
T h e teacher’s lesson ; the mother’s dress.
T h e dog’s fo o t; the lion’s tail.
but we say “ the colour o f the book ” (not “ the
 LESSON 5 27
book’s colour ” ), the top o f the house (not “ tlie
house’s top ” ).

E X E R C IS E S
I. Write down the possessive form for the foUoioing :
fi) the hat o f the man,
(2) the leg of the boy,
(3) the home o f the girl,
(4) the stick of John,
(5) the wing of the bird,
(6) the voice of the child,
(7) the face of the baby,
(8) the laughter of the man,
(9) the shop of the chemist,
(10) the friend of my brother,
(11) the dog of Mrs. Smith,
(12) the dinner of the cat.

II. Write dotvn the possessive form o f the foUoidng :

(1) the homos o f the boys,
(2) the legs of the horses,
(3) the laughter of the girls,
(4) the wings of the birds,
(5) the voices of the pupils,
(6) the shouts of the men,
(7) the cries of the children,
(8) the shouts of the boys,
(9^ the songs of the women,
(10) the servants of the ladies,
(11) the barks of the dogs,
(12) the friend of my brothers.
28 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

III. Make the following p lu r a l:

(1) the boy’s house, (6) the woman’s song,
(2) the girl’s friend, (7) the child’s game,
(3) the dog’s bark, (8^ the baby’s smile.
(4) the man’s shout, (9) the bird’s wing,
(5) the lady’s song, (10) the donkey’s tail.

IV . Make the following singular :

(1) the birds’ wings, (6) the dogs’ barks,
(2) the children’s game, (7) the girls’ friend,
(3) the babies’ smiles, (8) the ladies’ songs,
(4) the men’s shouts, (9) the donkeys’ tails,
(5) the boys’ house, (10) the women’s songs.

V . Write out the follozving, putting in the Possessive

Case :
(1) T h e man went to the (chemist) shop.
(2) T h e name of Mrs. (Smith) dog was M icky.
(3) Have you seen (Henry) new bicycle.
(4) W e heard the (men) shouts in the distance.
(5) M y (sister) friend is coming to tea.
(6) L et us join in the (children) games.
(7) T hat is a (woman) bicycle.
(8) T hat building is the (women) Institute.
(9) Ellen is a (lady) servant.
(10) M ary sings in the (ladies) choir.

V I. As you saw, instead of “ the house of the boy ” ,

we can use the shorter possessive form “ the
boy’s house ” . Make the following shorter
in the same way :
(i^ the dog belonging to Henry,
(2) the book possessed by William,
 LESSON 5 29
the words used by the man,
the words used by the men,
the house belonging to the lady,
the house belonging to the ladies,
the names of the girls,
the names of the children,
the name o f the child,
the name of Henr>%
the w'ing that the bird has,
the wings that the birds have.

V II. Write down the possessive case o f all the words

in the picture on p. 26 (i.e. “ dog ” , “ babies ” ,
“ men ” , etc.). Put each word in a sentence.
 L E S S O N S IX

A D J E C T IV E S OF Q U A L IT Y
T here are some words that go with nouns and tell
us something about them. These words are callcd
a d je c tiv e s . Here are some exam ples:

a fa t man a thin man

an old book a new book
a heavy box a light box
a good egg a bad egg

a live rabbit a dead rabbit

T h e words man, book, box, egg, rabbit are nouns.

T h e words, fa t, thin, old, new, heavy, light, good,
bad, live, dead all tell us something about these
nouns. T h ey tell us what sort of man, what sort
of book, what sort of egg, etc. T h ey are a d je c t iv e s .
30
 Y ou will notice that in English the adjective almost
always goes before the noun, e.g.

a red flower
a big dog
a long journey

In a later lesson you w ill see some that don’t.

Adjectives that describe a noun {i.e. that tell us
“ what sort ” ) are called adjectives o f Q u a lit y .

EXERCISES
I. Put suitable adjectives in front o f each o f the foUoto-
ing nouns :

house, day, dinner, book, boy, tree, lion, train,

river, headache.
32 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

II. Pick out the adjectives in the follozdng sentences :

(1) T h ey live in a big, red house.
(2) John is a clever boy.
(3) T h is plant has small, yellow flowers.
(4^ M r. Green is a kind man.
(5) T h e camel is a very useful animal.
(6) In England we have warm weather in summer
and cold weather in winter.
(7) M ary has a new, green frock.
(8) Lions are strong, fierce animals.
(9) Cairo is a large, busy city.
(10) These small apples have a sweet taste.
III. Put adjectives in the following blank spaces :
(1) T h e man bought a ------ car.
(2) T h e teacher gave us a ------ lesson.
(3) Henry has broken his ------ knife.
(4) An elephant is a ------animal, a mouse is a
------ one.
(5) D o you l i k e ------ apples ?
(6) In my country we have ------ weather in
summer and ------ weather in winter.
(7) Have you seen a ------cat ? W e have lost it.
(8) Mn*.Brown is not a ------man.
(9) T h e chemist had a lot o f ------- bottles on
his shelves.
(10) Waterloo is a ------- station.

IV . Underline {or write dozvn) the adjectives in the

follm iiig short story, giving the noun with
which each adjective goes.

T he W oodman and th e F airy

One day a poor woodman was cutting a big piece
of wood near a wide river. Suddenly his old axe
 LESSON 6 33
slipped from his hand and fell into the deep water.
H e sat on the bank and was feeling a ver\- sad man
because he had lost his only axe, when all at once
a lovely, bright fair)' appeared and asked the wood­
man what was the matter.

** I have lost my axe,” he said. “ It fell into the

deep water.”
T h e fairy showed him a gold axe and said, “ Is
this yours ? ”
“ N o,” said the woodcutter.
T h e fairy then showed him a silver axe and said
(
.again in her clear voice, “ Is this yours ? ”
“ N o,” again answered the woodcutter.
T h e n she showed him a common, iron axe with
an old, wooden handle.
“ Yes, that’s mine,” said the happy woodcutter.
“ I know it well enough,” said tlie fairj'. “ I
only wanted to see if you would tell me the tru th ;
and now I will give you the gold axe and the silver
axe because you are an honest man.”

1— 3 *
 L E SSO N SEVEN

A D J E C T IV E S OF Q U A N T IT Y

T here are several other kinds of adjectives besides

adjectives of quality. There are, for example, adjec­
tives that tell you “ how many ” , e.g.
I have tico eyes.
There are twenty books on the desk.

These are called adjectives of q u a n tity .

Here is a little song that illustrates adjectives of
quantity.
T en G reen B ottles
There were ten green bottles standing on the wall,
T en green bottles standing on the w^'ill.
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
T here’d be nine green bottles standing on the wall.

A fter this first verse you continue:

T here were nine green bottles standing on the wall.

Nine green bottles standing on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
T here’d be eight green bottles standing on the wall.
34
 LESSON 7 35
T hen, “ T here were eight . . and so on, until
you come to :— “ T here was one green bottle ” . . .
and the last line will be “ T h ere’d be no green
bottles standing on the wall.” And the word wo here
is also an adjective of quantity.
Much and tnany are also adjectives o f quantity.
T h e y tell us the quantity but not so definitely as
do the numbers one, ttco, three etc.
Much is used witli singular n o u n s; many with
plural nouns and we almost always use them with
not, e.g.
I have not many friends in Cairo.
W e hadn’t much rain this morning.
T here are not many apples on that tree.
I didn’t eat much breakfast this morning.
A d je c t iv e s o f q u a n tity s h o w “ h o w m u c h ”
or “ how m any ”

E X E R C IS E
Put an adjective o f quantity in each o f the blank
spaces :
(1) T here w e r e ------bottles on the wall.
(2) In the last verse of the song there w e r e ------
bottles on the wall.
(3) T here are n o t ------pictures in that book.
(4) I h a v e ------ eyes a n d ------ nose.
(5) W e hadn’t ------ time to do our work.
(6) Fred didn’t spend ------ money on his
holiday.
(7) T here a r e ------shillings i n ------- pound.
(8) Y ou haven’t done very ------ work.
(9) T here are n o t ------watches that keep perfect
time.
 L E S S O N E IG H T
D E M O N S T R A T IV E A N D IN T E R R O G A ­
T IV E A D J E C T IV E S
T here are also adjectives that “ point out ” nouns,
e.g.

I like this car.

1

I don’t like that car.

This and these are generally used for things that are
near.
That and those are generally used for things that are
further away.
This and that go with singular nouns.
These and those go with plural nouns, e.g.
T h is car is old {singular)
T h at car is old {singular)
These cars are new (plural)
Those cars are new {plural)
This, that, these, those are called D e m o n s tr a tiv e
adjectives.
T here is one other kind o f adjective that we must
mention before we finish this lesson.
These are the I n t e r r o g a t iv e adjectives. T h e y
are used with nouns to ask questions, e.g.
36
 LESSON S 37
What book are you reading now ?
What price are eggs today"?
Which boy can answer this question ?

Which house do you live in ?

Whose house is that ?
Whose cat is this ?

\ QUANT 1 ^

ADJ E C T I V E S
38 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

E X E R C IS E S
I. Put a demonstrative adjective vi each o f the blank
spaces:
(i) I like ------ flower. •
(2) I like ------ flowers. r -5^
(3) ------stars are T h e Plough. ""
(4) ------star is called the North star.
(5) Have you read ------- book which I am reading.
(6) Do you li k e ------shoes that I am wearing.
(7) W ill you give m e ------pen f o r ------- silver
pencil ?
(8) ------boys on the back seat are not working
as hard a s ------ boys on the front seat.
(9) I b o u g h t------apples fro m ------- shop in the
High Street.
(10) exercises that we are doing on ------
page are more diflfiicult th a n ------exercises
that w'e did on page two.

II. Make the follozcing phrases p b ira l:

(1) this door, (6) that open window,
(2) that house, (7) that c ever boy,
(3) that big boy, (8) that large, fierce animal,
(4) this red apple, (9) this new, clean book,
(5) this new bicycle, (10) that small, yellow
orange.
III. Make the follozving phrases singular :
(1) those boys,
(2) these boys,
(3) those blue flowers,
(4) those black hens,
(5) these big dogs,
(6) these stupid boys,
 LESSON 8 39
(7) those large, fierce animals,
(8) those old, dirty books,
(9) these fine, new bicycles,
(10) these bright, red flowers.
IV . Put an interrogative adjective in each o f the blank
spaces :
(1) ------ bicycle is that?
(2) ------ questions have you answered?
(3) ------ time is it now ?
(4) ------ lesson do you like best?
(5) ------ colour were the bottles on the wall ?
V . Pick out the adjectives in the folloicing and say
tchat kind o f adjective each one is :
(1) T here were four apples and two oranges on
the plate.
(2) T h is book is a good one.
(3) A clever boy can soon do these exercises.
(4) T here are not many students in the class
today.
(5) I saw four birds in the tall tree.
(6) W e haven’t much time to do this long
exercise.
(7) I wish my father would buy me that big,
new bicycle.
(8) W hich bicycle do you want ?
(9) W hat price is that bicycle ?
(10) Those four boys are brothers.
(11) Nine green bottles were standing on this old
wall.
(12) W hen that song finished, there were no green
bottles on the wall.
(13) W hose pencil is on the desk ?
(14) W hat time are you going to the football match ?
(15) I think this new watch is a good one.
 L E S S O N N IN E

VERBS

tV V erbs are the m ost im-

jortant words in the
anguagc ; in fact you
can’t make a sentence without
one.
V e rb s a re u sed to s a y w h a t p eo p le
d o ; th e y e x p r e s s a n a c tio n ,
e.g.
T h e woodcutter sat on the bank,
(What did he do ?)
She sliozved him a gold axe. (What
did she do ?)
“ T h a t’s mine,” said the happy wood­
cutter. (What did he do ?)
T h e girls go to school every day.
(What do they do ?)

T h e man opens the box.

T h e bird sings.
T h e boys fight.
 LESSON 9 41
Sometimes the verb is in two parts, e.g.
T h e poor woodman was cutting a piece o f wood.
(W hat teas he doiug ?)
I have lost my axe. (W hat had he done ?)
I will give you the gold axe and the silver axe.
(What will she do?)
O n e o r tw o v e r b s d o n ’ t e x p r e s s a n a c tio n .
T h e y ju s t s a y p e o p le o r th in g s are s o m e th in g .
T h e chief of these is the verb to be {am, is, are,
7cas, zccre). T hese verbs usually have an adjective
after them.
T h e woodman was {verb) very sad {adjective).
T h e fairy asked the woodman why he was {verb)
unhappy {adjective).
T h e fairy said, “ Y ou are {verb) honest {adjective)'^

E X E R C IS E S
I. Pick out the verbs e.xpressitig an action in the foUotc-
ing sentences : ^

(I) T h e boy runs.

(2 T h e girls dance. _
(3 T h e teacher gives us a lesson.
(4) Birds sing.
(5) T h e man smokes a pipe.
(6) Fish swim in the sea.
T h e camel carries a load.
(8) T h e train goes quickly.
(9) A car came to our door.
(1 0 ) T h e sun shines.
( ” ) I write a letter.
( 1 2 ) W e learn grammar.
42 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(13) T h ey speak English.

(14) I received a letter this morning.
(15) Henry wrote the letter.
(16) T h e bell rings.
(17) Richard climbs a tree.
(18) George shuts the door.
?i9) I see the teacher.
(20) T h e pupils open their books.

II. Pick out the verbs in ttco parts in the folloidng

sentences :
(1) T h e boy is running.
(2) T h e girls are dancing.
(3) T h e teacher is giving us /.
a lesson.
(4) T h e teacher will give usalesson.
(5) T h e teacher has given usalesson.
(6) T h e boy will run a race tomorrow.
(7) T h e camel can carry a big load.
(8) T h e train has gone.
(9) T h e sun is shining.
(10) I will write a letter.
(11) I can w'rite English.
(12) I have written the letter.
(13) T h ey are speaking English.
(14) T h e y will speak English.
(15) T h ey have &poken English.
(16) Richard is climbing a tree.
(17) George has shut the door.
(18) I have seen the teacher.
(19) I will see the teachcr.
(20) T h e pupils have opened their books.
(21) W hat is he doing ?
(22) W hat time will they arrive ?
 LESSON 9

III. Pick out the verbs that say u-hat people or

are in the following
sentences :
(i^ George is tired.
(2) Mar}" is very happy.
(3) Those men are cold.
(4) M y cat is ver}’ pretty.
(5) Those flowers are red.
(6) I am tired.
(7) M ary was unhappy.
(8) T h e boys were hungr)'.
(9) T h e teacher is kind.
(10) T h e woodman was hon-
est. '■

IV . Put parts o f the verb to be into the blank spaces :

(1) T h e woodman ------very unhappy.
(2) T h e fairy said, “ Y ou ------ honest.”
(3) I ------glad that you are here.
(4) M y dog verj' clever.
(5) T h e girls - prett)%

V . Put verbs expressing an action into the blank spaces :

(1) T h e boy ------ the door.
(2) T h e d o g ------ over the gate.
(3) T o m ’s mother ------ a good dinner.
(4) T h e woman the dirty clothes,
(5) T h e aeroplane - from Athens to London.
(6) I ------ these apples at the shop.
(7) W e ------ to school every day.
(8) T h e chemist ------ the man a bottle of
medicine.
(9) T h e teacher — the words on the black-
board.
(10) I ------- a picture on the paper.
 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
44
V I. Make questions and give the anszcers for the
pictures below :
For exam ple:
Question. W hat is the boy doing ?
Anszcer. He is chopping wood.
Underline all the verbs in your answer.

V II. Put verbs, in two parts, into the blank spaces using
was, am, are, has, were, have, had, will.
(1) T h e w o o d m a n ------------- a piece of wood.
(2) I --------------my work.
(3) T h e w o o d cu tte r--------------his axe.
(4) T h e dog — over the gate.
(5) T o m ’s mother --------- a good dinner.
 LESSON 9 45
(6) T h e woman the dirty clothes.
(7) I my work.
(8) T h e fairj' said, “ I you the gold
axe and the silver axe.’
(9) ^^'e--------------pictures on the paper.
(10) T h e b o y s --------------- in the playground.

V III. Pick out (a) the nouns, (b) the adjectives, (c) the
verbs in the folloicing story.

P oor O ld G entleman !
An old gentleman was walking slowly along a
street one day when he saw a little boy who was
trying to reach a door-bell which was too high for
him. He was a kind-hearted old man, so he stopped
and said, “ I will ring the bell for you,” and t len
he pulled the bell so hard that it could be heard all
over the house.
T h e little boy looked up at him and said, “ Now
we will run away. Come on,” and before the old
gentleman knew what was happening, the naughty
boy had run round the corner of the street, leaving
the man to explain to the angr}- owner of the house
why he had rung the bell.
 LESSO N T E N
SEN TEN CES AND PH RASES

SENTENCES
W hen we want to express our thoughts we use a
group of words. A g r o u p of w o r d s t h a t m a k e s
c o m p le te s e n s e is a s e n te n c e , e.g.
(1) Tom m y has a dog. -w s t a t e m e n t
(2) Where are y o u g o in g ? -m q u e s tio n
(3) Open the d oor. COMMAND
T h e first sentence tells us som ething; it tells us
that Tom m y has a dog. It makes a s ta te m e n t.
T h e second sentence doesn’t tell us an yth in g;
it asks something ; it asks where someone is going.
It is a q u e s tio n . T h e answer to this question
will be a statement.
T h e third sentence is neither a statement nor a
question. It doesn’t give us some information (as
a statement does), nor does it ask for information
(as a question does). It orders someone to do some­
thing. It is a c o m m a n d .
So, you see, a sentence can do one of three things.
(1) Make a statement to tell us something.
(2) Ask a question.
(3) Give a command.
Statements can be turned into questions, or ques­
tions can be turned into statements, by changing
the order o f the words.* L et us see one or two
exam ples:
• There are other ways but they will be explained later.
46
 LESSON 1 0 47

Statement Question
T h at is M ary’s lamb. Is that M ary’s lamb ?
John can speak French. Can John speak French ?
Y ou have had your lesson. Have you had your lesson?
T h e boy will do the work. W ill the boy do the work ?

PHRASES
Y ou may have a group o f words that makes sense
but not complete sense, for exam ple:

into the h ou se; at nine o’c lo c k ; for two

shillings.
Groups o f words like these are called p h r a s e s .
A sentence has a verb in i t ; a phrase hasn’t. Y ou
can turn phrases into sentences by adding other
words to it, but one o f the zvords that you add must
be a verb. L et us make those phrases that you have
just had into sentences by adding something (includ­
ing a verb) to them.

John zvent into the house.

I left home at nine o’clock.
George bought the book for two shillings.

E X E R C IS E S
I. Which o f the folloiving are sentences and which are
phrases ?
(1) I saw the boy.
(2) at the chemist’s.
{3) in the garden.
(4) open the door.
(5) across the garden.
(6) at our school.
(7) an honest man.
48 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(8) near the school.

(9) on my desk.
(10) come here.
(11) from my father.
(12) sit down.
(13) through the window.
fi4 ) where are my books ?
(15) did you see Margaret ?

II. Turn the following phrases into sentences:

(1) a few years ago
(2) every summer
(3) in the garden
(4) after six o’clock
(5) on page sixteen
{6 ) by Friday night
(7) with a hammer
(8) into the sea
(9) near the railway station
(10) through the window
(11) in his pocket
(12) along the High Street
(13) with you and me
(14) with George and Richard
(15) on the blackboard

III. Here is a little story. Pick out {?!) the statements,

(b) the questions, (c) the commands in it.

T he D uke and th e F armer

T h e Duke of Wellington owned a large estate in
Berkshire. Berkshire is a very beautiful part of
England. N ext to his estate was a farm surrounded
by fields. T h e Duke wanted to buy this farm and
add it to his estate. He said to his agent, “ G o and
 LESSON 10 49

see Farmer Jackson. Trj- to buy his farm for m e.”

Some weeks later the agent came to see the Duke.
“ I have bought the farm for you,” he said.
“ How much did you pay ? ” asked the Duke.
“ I got it for £3,000,” said the agent, “ and it
was a great bargain. T h e farm is worth ^^4,000.”
“ T hen why could you get it for ^{^3,000 ? ” asked
the Duke.
“ Because Farmer Jackson is in difficulties and
needed money immediately,” said the agent.
“ G o at once to Farmer Jackson,” said the Duke,
“ and give him the other jCi,ooo. I don’t want
any bargain that was gained because a man is in
difficulties.”

IV . Turn the folloiving questions into statements.

No. I is done to show you how to do it.
(1) Question! Is Farmer Jackson the owner o f
the land ?
Statement. Farmer Jackson is the owner of
the land.
(2) Was the price o f the farm ;^3,ooo ?
(3) W ill Farmer Jackson sell the farm ?
(4) Were there fields round the farm ?
(5) Had the Duke a large estate in Berkshire ?
(6) Is Berkshire a beautiful county ?
(7) Is Berkshire in England ?
(8) Was the Duke an honest man ?
(9^ W as the value of the farm ^^4,000 ?
(10) W as Farmer Jackson in difficuhies ?

V . Turn the follomtig statements into questions. No. i

is done for you.
(i) Statement. T h e farm is worth ;(^4,ooo.
Question. Is the farm worth £4,000 ?
JO BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(2) T h e Duke had a large estate in Berkshire.

(3) Berkshire is a beautiful county.
(4) Berkshire is in England.
(5) T h e value of the farm was £4,000.
(6) Farmer Jackson was in difficulties.
(7) T h e Duke was an honest man.
(8) Farmer Jackson will sell the farm.
(9) There were fields round the farm.
(10) T h e farmer was paid ^^3,000.

V I. Make commands using these zcords (use them in

any order you like and add as many more
w'ords as you wish).
(1) Door, John, open.
(2) Mary, book, to me, quickly bring.
(3) A t home, exercise, do, carefully.
(4) Tomorrow, home-work, here, bring.
(5) Talking, stop, now, and, work, begin.
(6) On page 25, ail the questions, do.
(7) Your name, top of paper, write.
(8) For me, at post-office, post, letters.
(9) Your exercise book, to school, bring, to­
morrow.
(10) Richard, ball, kick, into the goal.

V II. Write out three statements, three questions and

three commands o f your oav/, not taken from
this lesson.
 LESSO N ELEVEN
PARTS OF A SEN TEN CE

H ere are six se n ten ces:

B
T h e Duke of Wellington , owned a large estate.
I can do these exercises.
T h e poor woodman ' lost his axe.
T h is book belongs to me.
T h e boy laughed.
T h e little boy, with a smile i
on his face ran down the street.
T h e workman is unhappy.

Y ou will notice that each sentence is divided into two

parts by a line and the parts are marked A and B.

THE SUBJECT
Part A (The Duke of Wellington, I, T h e poor
w'oodman, T h is book, T h e boy, T h e little boy with
a smile on his face, T h e workman) contains the
person or thing we are talking about in the sentence.
W e call this the s u b je c t of the sentence.
T h e w o r d o r g r o u p o f w o r d s th a t w e s p e a k
a b o u t in a se n te n c e is c a lle d th e s u b je c t.

THE PREDICATE
Part B (. . . owned a large estate, . . . can do
these exercises, . . . lost his axe, . . . belongs to
me, . . . laughed, . . . ran down the street . . . is
unhappy) is what we say about the subject. W e
SI
52 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

call that part of the sentence the p r e d ic a te . T h e

subject “ is ” or “ does ” something. T h e pre­
dicate tells us what the subject “ is ” or “ docs
T h e predicate can be one word, or it can be several
words.
T h e P r e d ic a te o f a se n te n c e is th e w o r d o r
g r o u p o f w o r d s th a t te lls u s s o m e th in g a b o u t
th e s u b je c t.
Y ou will notice perhaps that there is generally
a noun or a pronoun • in the subject {the Duke of
Wellington, I, zcoodnian, book, boy). T here is alw ays
a verb in the predicate {owned, can do, lost, has, ran).
In fact, an easy way to find the subject of a sentence
is, first of all to pick out the verb and ask it, “ W ho ? ”
or, “ w-hat ? ” . For example :—
The little boy ran dozen the street.
T h e verb is ran. “ W ho ran ? ” Ansicer : “ T h e
little boy.” Then “ the little boy ” is the subject
of the sentence.

Or take the sentence :

This book belongs to me.
belongs. “ What belongs ? ” Anszcer :
T h e book. ’ T hen “ T h e book ” is the subject
of the sentence.

E X E R C IS E S
I. Pick out the subject o f each o f the follozving
sentences :
(i) Birds fly. (2) Fish swim.
• A pronoun is a word like I, lie, she, they, that stands instead
of a noun. See Lesson 13.
 LESSON 11 53

(3) T h e pupil reads a book.

(4) T h e cat caught a mouse.
(5) Henry opened the door.
(6) Margaret goes to school.
(7^ T h e man went into the chemist’s shop.
(8) T h e chemist took the cork out o f a bottle.
(9) T h e cork was in the bottle.
(10) A poor workman was cutting wood.
(11) His axe fell into the water.
(12) T h e fairy showed him a silver axe.
(13) I will give you the gold axe and the silver
one.
(14) An old gentleman was walking along the
street.
(15) A boy had left some dry wood near the fire.
(16) T h e wood caught fire.
(17) On the table was a pile o f books.
(18) A fter a little practice I can do this exercise.
(19) Owing to the care o f the doctor the man got
better.
(20) In my pocket arc two shillings and three
pennies.

II. Pick out the predicates o f each o f the sentences

in Exercise I.

III. Put predicates to these subjects:

(1) T h e fairy . . .
(2) T h e woodcutter . . .
(3 ) He . . .
(4) M y dog . . .
(5) T h e horses . . .
(6) T h e rain . . .
(7) T h e chemist . . .
54 BRIGHTER GRA^^^IAR

(8) Flowers . . .
(9) A big red-faced man . . .
(10) T h e blackboard . . .

IV . Put subjects to these predicates.

(1) is in the garden,

(2) has lost his knife,
(3) sing.
(4) opened the door,
(5) wanted to buy a farm,
w'ent into the shop,
(7. sat at the back of the class,
(8 ) is making the flowers grow,
(9) will feed the hens,
(10) went slowly out of the station,
(” ) answered all the questions,
(12) sells butter, sugar and tea.
(13) )aid a visit to Beirut,
(14) aid an egg.
(15) have lost all their leaves.
 LESSO N TW E LV E

THE O B JECT OF A SEN TEN CE

I f I said to you,
“ T h e dog killed.
He killed yesterday,” or “ T h is shopkeeper sells” ,

you would look at me, rather puzzled, and say, “ G o

on. Finish the sentence. T ell us what the shop­
keeper sells and what the dog killed. Those verbs
sell and kill don’t make sense by themselves. You
must put something after them to make sense.”
So I do what you tell me, and say,
“ T h is shopkeeper “ T h e dog killed a rat.
sells bicycles.” H e killed it yesterday.”

“ Oh yes,” you say at once, “ that makes sense.”

T h e word bicycles is the o b je c t o f the verb sells\
55
 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

the words the rat and it are the o b je c ts of the

verb killed. Verbs that have an object (some verbs
don’t) are called T r a n s it iv e verbs. Transitive ”
comes from a Latin word that means “ going over >
T h e action of killing “ goes over ” from the dog to
the rat. T h e action of selling “ goes over ” from
the shopkeeper to the bicycles. So we can s a y :—
T h e o b je c t o f a se n te n c e is a n o u n (o r
p ro n o u n ) w h ic h te lls u s th e p e r s o n o r th in g
to w h o m th e a c tio n o f th e v e r b h a p p e n e d .
Y ou will remember that we found the subject of
the verb by putting the question word zcho? (or
what ?) before it. W e can find the object by putting
the question word what ? (or whom ?) after the verb.
For example, “ T h e shopkeeper sells bicycles.”
T h e verb is sells. Put the question word “ what ? ”
after it . . . “ sells w h a t ? ” Answer: “ b icy cles” .
Then “ bicycles ” is the object.
Here are two more sentences:
(i) T h e rat bit the dog. (2) T h e dog killed the rat.
In sentence (i) the action of biting goes from the
rat to the dog. In sentence (2) the action of killing
goes from the dog to the rat. Both sentences have
objects; the verbs bit and killed are T r a n s it iv e
verbs.
V e rb s th a t ta k e o b je c ts a r e c a lle d T r a n s i ­
tiv e v e r b s .
But there are some verbs that don’t have objects,
because sometimes the action doesn’t “ pass over ”
from one person to another person or thing.
Consider these sentences for example :
T h e dog growled.
T h e rat died.
 LESSON 12 57
T h e action o f growling starts and ends with the
dog. It doesn’t “ go over ” to anything else. T h e
action of dying begins and ends with the rat.
If you say, “ growled what ? ” , “ died what ? ” ,
you can’t get a sensible answer. T hese verbs haven’t
any object. T h ey are I n t r a n s it iv e verbs.
V e r b s th a t d o n ’ t ta k e o b je c ts a r e c a lle d
I n tr a n s itiv e v e r b s .

E X E R C IS E S
I. Pick out the objects in the foUoidng sentences :

(1) Cows eat grass.

(2) Richard cut his finger.
(3) T h e teacher taught his class.
(4) John read a book.
(5) Margaret sang a song.
(6) T h e pupils read their books.
(7) T h e policeman caught the thief.
(8) M r. Brown bought a motor-car.
jg BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(9) T h e train left the station.

(10) T h e grocer sells tea.
(11) W e play football.
(12) George ate an apple.
(13) M y mother cooked the dinner.
(14) T h e servant opened the door.
(15) T h e men have finished their work.
(16) Richard has kicked a goal.
(17) Henry is writing a letter.
(18) W ho rang the bell ?
(19) Have you seen my new bicycle ?
(20) Can you open this box ?

II. Pick out the subjects and the objects o f the verbs in
thefollowing sentences. Remember the plan :
W ho ? W h a t.?------d VERB I------^What ?
i ^ I
Answer = subject Answer = object

(1) T h e medicine cured my headache.

(2) T h e woodman lost his old axe.
(3) T h e old gentleman saw a little boy.
(4) T h e boy couldn’t read his book.
(5) Henry wrote a letter.
(6) T hat man has written a book.
(7) T h e girls sang songs.
, (8) Henry has bought a football.
(9) T h e woodman was cutting a piece of wood.
(10) T h e Duke of Wellington bought a farm.
(11) T h e agent paid ;£3,ooo.
(12) T h e Duke sent another f^i,ooo.
(13) T h e Duke had a beautiful estate.
(14) T h e farmer grows wheat and oats.
(15) H enry ate an apple and an orange.
(16) T h e teacher marked all our exercises.
 LESSON 12 59

(17) A t the farm I saw some cows, sheep and

horses.
(18) In the next house lived an old manand hiswife.
(19) T h e poor woodcutter saw a beautiful fair}'.
(20) In her hand she held a gold axe.

III. Pick out the verbs in the follmdng sentences. Put

the Transitive verbs in one cohmtn and the
Intransitive verbs in another cohann.
(1) T h e little girl hurt her foot.
(2) She cried bitterly.
(3) T h e sun is shining.
(4) T h e boys saw the football match.
(5) Richard slept until nine o’clock.
(6) Cotton grows in Egj-pt.
(7) T h e children fed the animals.
(8) T h e train started.
(9) Birds fly.
(10) George is working hard.
(11) W e live in London.
(12) T h e water is boiling.
(13) Clouds are passing across the sky.
(14) T h e boys like their lessons.
(15) T h e butcher sells meat.
(16) T h e farmer’s wife went to the dairy.
(17) Coal burns easily.
(18) T h e children are sitting still in their desks.
(19) T h e flowers are red.
(20) I will go to Istanbul next week.

IV . Here is a short story ca lle d :

T he J oke
Sir W illiam Thom pson icas very deaf but he did
not like people to know this. One evening he had
6o BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

invited several friends to dinner, and while they

■were sitting at the table, one of the friends told a
funny stor\'. Everyone laughed, and Sir William,
who had laughed as loud as anyone, said, “ T h at
was a very funny joke, but I know a funnier one.
Would you like to hear it ? ” T h ey all said they
would, so Sir William began his story. W hen it
ended, everyone laughed louder than ever and Sir
William smiled happily. But he didn't know the
reason for their laughter. H e had told the very
same story that his friend had just told.

T en of the verbs in that story are printed in italics.

Draw four columns like this in your exercise book.

I 2 3 4

Subjcct Verb Object Kind of Verb

Write each o f the verbs in italics in column 2 ; zorite

the subjects of each verb in column on e; the object,
if there is one, in column 3 ; and in column 4 but
T if the verb is Transitive or I if it is Intransitive.
 L E S S O N T H IR T E E N

PRONOUNS

L ook at this s to r y :
John Brown said that John Brown was hungr\'.
M ary Brown said that M ary Brown was hungrj\
When M rs. Brown heard that John and M ary were
hungrj', M rs. Brown gave John and M ary a piece
of cake each, John and M ary thanked M rs. Brown
for the piece of cake and
John and M ary ate the
piece o f cake. T hen John
said, “ John thanks M rs.
Brown, John isn’t hungry
now,” and M ary said,
“ M a r y th a n k s M r s .
Brown, M ary isn’t hungry now.” M rs. Brown said,
“ D id John and M ary enjoy the cake ? ” and John
and M ary said together, “ John and M ary enjoyed
the cake very m uch.”

It sounds funny, doesn’t it ? ; and I ’m sure you

can see why. I t’s because w e keep repeating the
6i '
62 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

nouns “ John ” and “ M ary ” and “ M rs. Brown ”

and “ the piece of cake Now let’s try again, and
this time, instead of ahvays using these nouns, we
will put other words that stand for them. W e’ ll mark
all the words that we put in the place of the nouns.
John Brown said that he was hungry. M ary
Brown said that she was hungry, too. When Mrs.
Brown heard them, she gave thevi a piece of cake
each. They thanked her for it and they ate it.
T hen John said, “ (/) Thank you I'm. not hungry
now,” and Mar}' said, “ (/) Thank you, I'm not
hungry now.” Mrs. Brown said, “ D id you enjoy
it ? ” and they said together, “ We enjoyed it very
much.”
T hat sounds better, doesn’t it ? Those words
that we put in place of the nouns (the words I, you,
he, she, we, they, them, her, him, it,) made all the
difference.
W o rd s th a t sta n d in ste a d of nouns a re
ca lle d p ro n o u n s.

“ I stand instead o f you."

 LESSON 13 63

E X E R C IS E S
I. Find out the pronouns in the foUotcing :
(1) John is a boy. He is in the class.
(2) M ary is a girl. She is at home.
(3) T h e y arc brother and sister.
(4) W e know tiiem very well.
(5) T h e y stayed with us last year.
(6) John is a clever boy. I like him.
(7) M ary is a pretty girl.She is twelve years
old. W e like her.
(8) T h e y have a dog. It is called Jock.
(9) T h ey have asked me tovisit them next year.
(10) T h ey live in Milan. It is a big city.
(11) D o you like these flowers? T h ey are out
o f the garden.
(12) I read that book. It is very interesting.
(13) Show me how to do this exercise.
(14) D on’t you know how to do it ?
(15) I don’t understand how to do it.

II. Write out these sentences again using pronouns

instead o f the words “ in italics ” : (You will
need to change the verb also in 18, 19, and
20.)
(i^ John is a boy.
(2) Margaret is a girl.
(3) and Margaret met the teacher.
(4) T h e teacher gave John a lesson.
(5) Margaret is a nice girl. M y wife and I like
Margaret.
(6) Here is m y dog. M y dog is called K im .
(7) T h e teacher said, “ G ive the teachcr your
book.”
(8) T h e teacher said to John and Margaret,
6^ BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
" Have John and Margaret done this
exercise ? ”
(9) T h e lesson is easy. The teacher explained
the lesson.
(10) T h e teacher spoke to John and Margaret.
The teacher asked John and Margaret to
come and see the teacher.
(11) T om saw Mary. Tom spoke to Mary.
(12) M ary saw Tom . Mary spoke to Tom.
(13) T om and M ary saw M rs. Robinson. Tom
and Mary spoke to M rs. Robinson.
(14) M rs. Robinson saw T om and M ary. Mrs.
Robinson spoke to Tom and Mary.
(15) M r. Smith met Frederick and Lilian. Mr.
Smith shook hands with Frederick and
Lilian.
(16) Lilian and Frederick met M r. Smith. Lilian
and Frederick shook hands with M r. Smith.
(17) Lilian and Frederick said to M r. Smith,
“ Are you pleased to see Lilian and
Frederick ? ”
(18) “ M y name is Henry. What is your name ? ”
“ M y name is George and George is very
pleased to meet Hetiry.”
(19) “ M y name is Alice. What is your name ? ”
“ M y name is Margaret and Margaret is
very pleased to meet Alice."
(20) “ M y name is Lilian. W hat arc your
names ? ” “ Our names are Jane and
Elizabeth and Jane and Elizabeth are ver}"^
pleased to meet Lilian. Is Lilian pleased
to meet Jaiie and Elizabeth ? ”

i n . What pronouns could you use for Henry, Lilian,

George and Elizabeth, the house, London,
 LESSON 13 65

Frederick, the dog, horses, the cat, houses ?

{For some o f them you can use ttco pronouns.
Give both i f you can.)

IV . Here is another storj'. Write it out again and

make it sound better by putting pronouns
instead o f nouns where you think necessary.

S ir I saac N envton’s E gg

One o f the greatest Englishmen who ever lived

was Sir Isaac Newton. N o man o f that time, or
o f almost any other time had a greater or wiser mind
than Newton had, but Newton w-as very absent-
minded about small matters when Newton was
thinking about his work. One morning Newton
got up very early because Newton was working on
a very difficult problem. Newton was thinking
about the problem so deeply that N ewlon w'ould
not leave the problem to go to breakfast. But his
housekeeper thought Newton needed food so the
housekeeper sent M ary, a servant, to his study with
a pan o f water and an egg. T h e housekeeper told
the servant to boil the egg and stay w'ith Newton
until Newton ate the egg. But Newton wanted to
be alone, and Newton said, “ M ary can leave the
egg with Newton, and Newton w ill boil the egg.”
T h e servant put the egg on the table by the side of
N ew ton’s watch and the servant said, “ Sir Isaac
N ewton must boil the egg for four minutes and then
the egg w ill be ready,” then the servant left the
room. T h e servant was afraid, however, that N ew ­
ton might forget to boil the egg, so M ary returned
about an hour later and found N ew ton standing
66 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

by the fireplace. Newton had put the watch in the

saucepan and was boiling the watch. Newton was
holding the egg in his hand, quite unaware of the
mistake that Newton was making.
 LESSON FOURTEEN
GENDER OF N O U N S AND
PRONOUNS

Y o u noticed, I expect, in the two little stories about

Sir Isaac Newton and John and M ary Brown that
when w'e used pronouns instead o f nouns, we some­
times used he, him and at other times she, her. I ’m
sure you know when to use he, him and when to
use she, her. T h e pronouns he and him are used,
o f course, w'hen they stand for nouns like man or
boy ; that is for males. T h e pronouns she, her, are
used when they stand for nouns like ivoman or g ir l;
that is for females.
In grammar we say that the forms he and she
(or him and her) show a difference o f g e n d e r .
W o r d s th a t s ta n d fo r m a le s a r e m a s c u lin e
gen d er.
So the nouns inan, boy, son, kitig, prince, etc., and
the pronouns he, him are masculine gender.
W o r d s t h a t s ta n d fo r fe m a le s a r e fe m in in e
gen d er.
T h e nouns woman, girl, daughter, queen, princess,
etc., and the pronouns she and her are feminine
gender.
W o r d s t h a t s ta n d fo r t h in g s a r e n e u te r
g e n d e r . (Neuter means neither masculine nor
feminine.)
So the nouns book, house, river, tree, city, etc.,
and the pronoun it are neuter gender.
67
68 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

Sometimes the words used for animals are neuter

gender, e.g.
W here is the cat ? It is on the mat.
Where is the dog ? It is in the garden.
But sometimes (especially when they arc our own)
we think of them as masculine or feminine, e.g.
M y cat is called Sally.
She is a very pretty
cat.
T h e lady told her dog
Rover to lie down,
and he lay down
at once.

T h e pronouns 7 , me, you, we, us can be either

masculine or feminine. T h e pronouns they and
them may be masculine, feminine or neuter, e.g.
T h e boys have just come home. Ask them if
they want their dinner, masculine .
 LESSON 1 4 69

T h e girls have been to the cinema. Ask them

if they enjoyed the picture, fe m in i .v e .
T h e apple-trees are covered with blossom.
They ought to have plenty o f apples on them
in the autumn, neuter .

E X E R C IS E S

I. W hat is the gender o f words that stand for

males ?

II. W hat is the gender o f words that stand for

females ?

III. W hat is the gender o f words that stand for

things or animals ?

IV . Write down four tiouns in the masculine gender

and four in the feminine gender.

V. Write down two pronouns in the feminine gender

and two in the mascidine gender.

V I. Write dozen ten words in the neuter gender.

V II. W hich pronouns can be masculine, feminine

and neuter ?

V III. W hich pronoun is only neuter gender ?

IX . Give the feminine o f the foUozving nouns and pro-

7iouns :
he, him, boy. K ing, prince, husband, father,
son, brother, man, policeman, man-servant,
actor, master, lion, gentleman, M r., nephew,
uncle, duke, hero, tiger, cock.
<70 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
X . Give the masculine of the follozving 7iowts ami
pronouns :
her, she, queen, wife, daughter, woman, girl,
sister, heroine, policewoman, actress, mis­
tress, lady, niece, duchess, aunt, lioness,
maid-servant, princess, mother, hen, tigress,
Mrs.

X I. Rewrite the folloicing, changing the nouns in

“ italics ” frotn viasculine to feininine :
(1) T h e father and son w'alked down the road.
(2) I saw a lion and a tiger at the Zoo.
(3) M y uncle and nephew are coming to dinner.
(4) T h e King oi Ruritania and the Crown Prince
are coming to England.
(5) T h e man-servant brought in the master's dinner.
(6) Mr. Jones met the Duke.
(7) Aly brother met that gentleman in Bagdad.
(8) T hat actor played the part of the hero in the
play.
(9) Here is a man who knows your husband.
(10) T his cock is father of the chickens.
 LESSO N F IF T E E N

PRO N O UN S. NUM BER, PERSON

Y ou have just seen how useful the pronouns arc.

Instead o f having to repeat nouns we use pronouns.
All the pronouns you have had (except it) are used
instead o f nouns that mean persons. P r o n o u n s
th a t s ta n d fo r p e r s o n s a r e c a lle d p e r s o n a l
p ro n o u n s.
T h e pronouns I, vie, he, she, him, her are used when
they refer to only one person. So they are s in g u la r
number.
T h e pronouns tee, us, they, them are used when
they refer to more than one person. T h e y are
p lu r a l number.
You is both singular and plural,* e.g.
You are a good boy (one boy, singular).
You are good boys (more than one boy, plural).

• A t one time we used tJwu or thee for the singular of you,

but these forms are used now only in poetry or in prayers.
71
 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
72
It is an im p e r s o n a l pronoun because it is used
for a thing and not for a person. T h e plural o f it
is they or them.

T here is also another use for it, namely as the

“ impersonal subject ” in such sentences as,

It is raining.
It was a fine day yesterday.
It's a long way to Tipperary.

T h e T h ree P erson s

You have met the word “ persons ” , o f course,

meaning “ people But in grammar, person (“ first
person ” , “ second person ” , “ third person ” ) has
another meaning. It simply means this :
T h e 1 s t p e rso n is th e p e rso n s p e a k in g , e.g.

I am the teacher ; listen

to me.

T h e 2 nd p e rs o n is th e p e r s o n sp o k e n to , e.g.

You are a pupil.

 LESSON 15 73

T h e 3 rd p e r s o n is th e p e r s o n s p o k e n a b o u t ,
eg-
Richard is looking through the window. T h e
teachcr is pointing at
him. are pupils;
he t e a c h e s them.
Richard’s m o th e r
thinks he is in the
class-room— but she
is w ro n g !

E X E R C IS E S

I. Pick out the pronouns in the follmving sentences and

say zchether each one is singular or plural.
(1) He is playing football.
(2) She is watching him.
(3) T h e y don’t see the teacher.
(4) H e sees them.
(5) Y ou are all working hard.
(6) I think you are the boy I saw playing football.
(7) W e have a lesson every day.
(8) T e ll us what you told her.
(9) It is snowing today.
(10) I f you don’t understand this lesson, ask me
about it.

II. W hat is meant by (a) the “ first person ” , (6) the

“ second person , (c) the “ third person ” ?
III. Pick out the pronouns in the follozving sentences
and say zvhat person each one is :
f i) Y ou must do the work.
(2) He is not working very hard.
74 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(3) W e come to the class every day and the

teacher teaches us.
(4) T h ey can do it, if they try.
(5) I asked him to come and see me.
(6) She told me to bring the book to her.
(7) Y ou can sit next to them.
........................ . - . .
us.
you.

IV . Change the prouomis in the following sentences

from singular to plural (in some cases you
will have to change the verb also);
(1) I come to school every day.
(2) He is hungry.
(3) She can sing very well,
(4) T h e teacher gives me an English lesson.
(5) T h e teacher asked him a question.
(6) I asked her to sing “ T en Green Bottles
(7) He told me a story.
f8) You are working hard.
(9) I am English ; what is he ?
(10) He doesn’t see me.
 L E S S O N S IX T E E N

PRO NO UN S. CASE

Y ou will remember that in Lessons i i and 12

we talked about subjects and objects, for example :
” 1
Subject Verb Object

T h e boy kicked the football

T h e cat caught a mouse

I f a w o r d is in th e s u b je c t , w e s a y it is in
th e n o m in a tiv e c a s e .

I f a w o r d is in th e o b je c t, w e s a y it is in
th e o b je c tiv e * c a s e .

In English (but not in all languages), nouns always

have the same form whether they are in the subject
or the object, e.g.

Subjcct Verb Object

T h e boy hit the dog

T h e dog bit the boy

As you see, the words boy and dog can be subject

or object without any change of form. A s subject

• T his is sometimes called the accusative case.

75
.-5 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

or as object they are b-o-y and d-o-g. But pronouns

are different. W ith most of them there is one form
for the subject (the nominative case) and another
form for the object (the objective case). I in the
subject becomes me when it goes in the object. He
becomcs him, and so on. Here are examples

Subjcct Verb Object

I know the boy

The boy knows me

He knows the teacher

T h e teachcr knows him

She knows the tcacher

The teacher knows her

We know the teacher

The teachcr knows us

They know the teacher

The tcacher knows them

You and it are the same whether they are nomina­

tive or objective, e.g.

Subjcct Verb Object

You hit it
It bit you

You have now learned about the number and the

case of personal and impersonal pronouns and we
 LESSON 16 77
can gather it all together like this. I think this will
help you to remember it.

Singular Plural

Nominative Objective Nominative' Objective

1st person I me we US
2nd person you you you you
3rd person he, she, it him, her, it they them

E X E R C IS E S

I. (i) W hat is the case o f a noun or pronoun that

is the subject o f a verb ?
(2) W hat is the case of a noun or pronoun that
is the object of a verb ?

II. Pick out the pronouns in the foUmcing and say

zvhether each one is in the 7iomina-
tive or in the objective case :
(1) I taught him at school.
(2) H e helped us with this exercise.
(3) She will see them tomorrow.
(4) Y ou broke that w in d o w ; I saw you.
(5) It will cost a lot o f money to mend it.
(6) I asked her to come and see me.
(7) W e couldn’t do the exercise until the teacher
told us how to do it.
(8) T h e y played us at football and we beat them.
(9) H e scored a goal and we all cheered him.
(10) She did the exercise well, and when I had
marked it I praised her.
78 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

III. Divide these sentences into subject, verb, object

like this :

Subjcct Verb Objcct

and then underline each pronoun on your paper.

(1) I taught you. (6) H e thanked them.
(2) H e saw me. (7) She hit the ball.
(3) She knows us. (8) He threw it.
(4) W e know her. (9) It broke a window.
(5) T hey praised him. (10) T hey blamed him.
 LESSO N SEVEN TEEN
ADVERBS

W e saw that adjectivcs went with nouns, Other

words go with verbs.
T h e w o r d s th a t g o w ith v e r b s a r e c a lle d
a d v e r b s . Some tell hmo an action is done, e.g.
T h e old gentleman walked {verb) slowly {adverb)
along a street.
T h e little boy ran {verb) quickly {adverb).
T h e woodcutter sat {verb) sorrowfully {adverb)
by the side o f the river.
These adverbs are called Adverbs o f Manner.
Notice (i). Adverbs are often formed by adding
“ -ly ” to an adjective, e.g.
T h e boy is a quick runner (adjective).
T h e boy runs quickly (adverb).
T h e old gentleman was a slow walker (adjective).
T h e old gentleman walked slowly (adverb).
70
8o BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
T h e little boy’s behaviour was bad (adjective).
T h e little boy behaved badly (adverb).

T h e bird sang a merry song (adjective).

T h e bird sang merrily* (adverb).
But there are some adverbs that are not formed
like this, e.g.
John is a hard worker (adjective).
John works hard (adverb).
T his is a fast train (adjec-
tive).
It goes very fast (adverb).
T h e little girl’s behaviour was good (adjective).
T h e little girl behaved well (adverb).

Notice (2). Adverbs

are generally put after
the verb they go w ith ;
adjectives are generally
put before the noun
they go with.

• Note that when the adjective ends in “ y ” the adverb

changes the y to i.
 LESSON 17 Si
A few adverbs tell us not hmu but tchen an action
was done, e.g.
T h e wood-man lost his axe yesterday. (W hen
did he lose it ?)
W e must come to school tomorrotc. (When
must we come to school ?)
T hese adverbs are called Adverbs of Time.

A few adverbs tell us where an action was done, e.g.

I sat down there. (W here did I sit down ?)
These adverbs are called Adverbs of Place.

A n a d v e r b g o e s w ith a v e r b to te ll h o w ,
w h e n o r w h e re a n a c tio n t a k e s p la c e .

E X E R C IS E S

L Find the adverbs in the following sentences:

(1) T h e birds sang sweetly.
(2) T h e man spoke slowly.
82 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(3) T h e children played happily.

l^) T h e boy wrote his exercise badly.
(5) T h e woodcutter looked sadly at the river.
(6) When he saw his a.\e, he smiled happily.
(7) Every soldier fought bravely.
(8) You must work hard if you want to do this
exercise correctly.
(9) Richard ate his breakfast fast and then ran
quickly to school.
(10) T h e school team played well and won their
game easily. «rv--r.
(11) Come here. © i-j
(12) W hy did you go there ?
(13) I did the work yester-
day.
(14) Y ou didn’t do it w e ll; you must do it care­
fully now.
( 15) T h e boy shouted suddenly, “ T h e car is here 1”
(16) T h e door opened slowly and the K ing walked
in.
(17) George worked hard and did the exercise
well today.
(18) T h e child opened the door of the cage and
the bird flew out.
(19) He didn’t know the bird would fly away.
(20) You came here late to d a y ; you must come
early tomorrow.

II. Make adverbs from the following adjectives :

quick, slow, sorrowful, bright, quiet, clever,
sudden, bad, good, hard, fast.

III. Put adverbs into the blank spaces in the followitig

sentences and say zvhether each adverb shozvs
 LESSON 1 7 S3

how, or wliere or when the action expressed

by the verb was done :
(1) T h e boy wrote ------ .
(2) You are working too ------
(3) I will do the work — — .
(4) Open the d o o r ------.
(5) C o m e ------ , I want to speak to you.
(6) I saw Jane ------ and I shall see her again

(7) John drove the c a r ------ along the wide road

but ------ in the crowded streets.
(8) It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining
------, the birds were s in g in g ------ and the
children were playing in the field.
(9) M ary is a good sin g e r; I didn’t know she
sang so ------ .
(10) Learning English is hard work, but I want to
learn it and so I will work ------.

IV . Here is another story :

F ire ! F ire !
M r. Brown was busy writing letters in his room
when his servant, a very stupid boy, rushed hastily
into his master’s room and shouted loudly in an
cxcitcd voice, “ Fire, fire ! T h e kitchen is on fire 1 ”
M r. Brown got up quickly, and he and the boy
ran as fast as they could to the kitchen.
84 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

“ Look there,” shouted the boy, pointing to the

leaping flames. H e had carelessly left some dry
wood near the fire and this was alight and blazing
hard. M r. Brown saw a big pot of boiling water on
the top o f the stove. “ Y ou silly fellow,” he said.
“ W hy didn’t you throw that on the burning wood ?
T h at w'ould have put it out quickly.”
“ Oh, no,” said the boy, slowly. “ T h at water
would be useless; it’s hot water.”
Draiv four coliinms like this

I 4
Nouns Verbs Adjcctives Adverbs

Into the first column put all the nouns in the story ;
into the second one all the verbs ; into the third one,
the adjectives ; and into the fourth one all the adverbs.
I f the adverb tells how the action was done, put “ M ”
(for “ Manner ” ) after i t ; if it tells when, put “ T ”
(for “ T im e ” ) ; if it tells where, put “ P ” (for
“ Place ” ). ^
 LESSON EIGHTEEN
P R E P O S IT IO N S . A D V E R B P H R A S E S .
A D J E C T IV E P H R A S E S

L e t ’s open the next box and see what comes out.

Here they come, to, by, at, in, some of the shortest

words in the language, but sometimes the most

difficult to use.
Y ou w ill generally find them used with a noun
(or pronoun) to make a phrase.* For example,
at m y h ou se; in your sch o o l; zi'ith you
Here are some more exam ples:
Preposition Noun (or pronoun)
in your pocket
over the wall
through the window
to him
round the house
into the garden
towards the door
• You remember, of course, that a phrase is a group of words
without a verb,
8S
86 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

These phrases often do the work of an adverb,

i.e. they tell how, when or where an action was done.
W e call them A d v e r b P h r a s e s , e.g.
T h e soldiers fought bravely (adverb of manner).
T h e soldiers fought with great bravery (adverb
phrase).
He came yesterday (adverb of time).
He came at four o'clock (adverb phrase).
She sat there (adverb of place).
She sat jVz the corner (adverb phrase).
A t other times they do the work of an adjective,
that is, they tell more about a noun. These phrases
are called A d je c tiv e P h r a s e s . Here are some
exam ples:
A dirty boy opened the door (adjective).
A boy with a dirty face opened the door
(adjective phrase).
 LESSON 18 87

I like a corner seat in the train (adjective).

I like a seat in the corner (adjective phrase).

Here are some further examples of Adjective

phrases:—
T h e children o f the village go to this school.
T h e picture on the zcall shows Westminster
Abbey.
T h e view through the open tcindow is very pretty.
T h e boy with me is Richard.

Sometimes the same phrase may be an adverb

phrase or an adjective phrase. It a ll d e p e n d s on
th e w o r k it is d o in g . Look at these p h rases:
T h e view through the open tvindmv is ver>' pretty.
(This is an adjective phrase because it qualifies, i.e.
tells more about the noun “ view ” .)
T h e bird flew through the open window. (This
is an adverb phrase because it qualifies, i.e. tells
more about the verb “ flew It tells where it flew.)
T h e class in this room is learning English. (T his
is an adjective phrase. It qualifies the noun
“ c la s s” .)
W e learn English in this room. (This is in adverb
phrase. It qualifies the verb “ learn ” .)
T h ey ring the bell at eleven o'clock to tell us that
the lesson is finished. (Adverb phrase, qualifies the
verb “ ring ” .)
T h e bell at eleven o'clock tells us that the lesson
is finished. (Adjective phrase, qualifies the noun
“ bell ” .)
T here is just one more thing to n o tic e ; a fte r
a p r e p o s itio n th e p ro n o u n in th e p h r a s e is
a lw a y s in th e o b je c tiv e c a s e , e.g.
88 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR
He came with them (never “ with they ” ).
He will sit between you and me (never “ between
you and / ” )
T h is letter was written by him.
He bought the house from us.

1 AU
lOWECTlVE I
I CASES \
- s 'la a ft er 1.
•\"«mwsmoHS -
** I t**
So we say that the preposition “ governs ” the noun
or pronoun that it goes with.

E X E R C IS E S
I. Use the following prepositions in sentences :
on, to, by, of, in, from, after, for, under, with,
at, behind, through, into, down, near, along,
over, about, between, before.
II. Here is another short story. Pick out all the
prepositions in it and say which noun or pro­
noun each governs.
A L ife for a L ife
T h e English author, Richard Savage, was once
living in London in great poverty. In order to earn
a little money he had written the story of his life,
 LESSON 1 8 89

but not many copies o f the book had been sold in

the shops, and Savage was living from hand to
mouth. A s a result of his lack o f food he became
verj' ill, but after a time, owing to the skill o f the
doctor who had looked after him, he got well again.
After a week or two the doctor sent a bill to Savage
for his visits, but poor Savage hadn’t any money
and couldn’t pay it. T h e doctor waited for another
month and sent the bill again. But still no money
came. After several weeks he sent it to him again
asking for his money. In the end he came to
Savage’s house and asked him for payment, saying
to Savage, “ Y ou know you owe your life to me
and I expected some gratitude from you.”
“ I agree,” said Savage, “ that I owe my life to
you, and to prove to you that I am not ungrateful
for your work I will give my life to you.” W ith
these words he handed to him two volumes entitled,
The Life o f Richard Savage.

III. Put prepositions in the blank spaces :

( I ^ Savage lived ------ L on d o n -------great poverty'.
(2) H e wrote the story ------ his life.
(3) He was short ------ money and lived ------
h a n d ------ mouth.
(4) ------a time, as a r e s u lt ------- his la c k -------
food, he became ill.
(5) He got better, th a n k s ----- the doctor who
lo o k e d ------ him.
(6) T h e doctor sent a b i l l ------ S a v a g e --------- his
visits.
(7) H e w a ite d ------ several weeks and then sent
the bill ------ him again.
(8) ------the end, he c a m e ------- the house and
a s k e d ------his money.
go BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

(9) I expected gratitude --- you, as you owe

your life ------ me.
(10) I am not ungrateful ---- you ------ what
you did, so I will give my l i f e ---------- you.
(11) Tears came ------ the man’s eyes and ran
------ his cheeks.
(12) A woodman was cutting a p ie c e ------ wood
------ his a x e ------ a wide river.
(13) T h e axe flew ------ his hand dnd fell ------
the deep water.
(14) A servant rush ed------the room and shouted
------an excited voice, “ T h e house i s -------
fire ! ”
(15) There was a big pot ------ water ------ the
top ------ the stove.
(16) O n e ------the greatest Englishmen was very
absent-m inded------small matters.
(17) He had put the watch ------ the saucepan
and was holding the egg ------ his hand,
quite unaware ------ his mistake.
(18) An old gentleman was w a lk in g ------a street
when he saw a boy trying to reach a bell
that was too high ------ him.
(19) T h e so u n d ------the bell was heard a l l -------
the house.
(20) T h e old gentleman had to e x p la in ------the
o w n e r------the house why he had pulled
the bell.

IV. (a) Copy out these sentences and underline all the
prepositions.
(b) Put brackets, ( ), round each adjective phrase
and show by an arroiv the noun or pronoun
it qualifies.
{c) Draw tzvo lines under this noun or pronoun.
 LESSON l8 91
(rf) Round each adverb phrase drawa box, \___ ^1,
and shozv by an arrozu the verb itqualifies.
(c) Dratv three lines under this verb. Here is an
exam ple:

T h e teacher (of the class) explained the lesson.

T h e boys stood round the room.

(1) T h e driver of the car went fast.

(2) H e drove down the main road.
(3) M y mother cut the cake with a knife.
(4) T h e cake was made by my sister.
(5) It had been baked in a big oven.
(6) It was a cake with pink icing.
(7) T h e boy in the next desk borrowed my
pencil.
(8) T h e son of the K in g is called the Crown
Prince.
(9) T h e cat jum ped through the window.
(10) T h e lesson finishes at four o’clock.
f i i ) She spoke English with a French accent.
(12) W e p a y e d football after the lesson.
(13) T h e sailor with the wooden leg told us a story.
(14) T h e girl with the long yellow hair is Alice
Brown.
^15) She lives in our street.
(16) Alice sang a song at the concert.
(17) T h e men in that country work very hard.
(18^ T h e cottage in the woods is very pretty.
(19) T h e sound o f the bell was heard all over
the house.
(20) A fter a week or two the doctor sent the bill
for his visits.
 L E S S O N N IN E T E E N

C O N J U N C T IO N S

T here are now only two more boxes, C o n ju n c tio n s

and In te rje c tio n s .

C o n ju n c tio n s a r e w o r d s th a t jo in to g e th e r
w o r d s , p h r a s e s o r se n te n c e s . T h ey are like
the links that join together railway wagons. Here
are some examples.

1
JOHN MARY

' and ” joins two words

92
 LESSON 19 93

A LO N G ROUND
THE STREET THE CORNER

and ” joins two phrases

FRED HE PLAYS
WORKS BADLY GAMES W E L L

“ but ” joins two sentences.

T h e woodman looked at the gold axe but refused
to take it.
W ill you have the gold axe or %vill you have
the silver axe ?
Here is a long “ train ” joined by conjunctions.
It isn’t a very good sentence because it has too many
conjunctions in it, but it will show you what con­
junctions can do.

T h e woodman looked at he looked at the

— and —
the gold axe silver axe

he looked at the
and — but — he chose the
wooden axe wooden axe

he was an the fiury gave him

— so
honest man all the axes
 LESSO N T W E N T Y
IN T E R J E C T IO N S
T here are not many words in this box.

T hey are words (or sometimes phrases) that we

use to express a sudden feeling, for example, surprise,
pleasure, pain, etc.
Here are some :— Hello ! Hurrah ! Oh ! Good
Heavens ! Great Scott I How pretty !
Note that they always have an exclamation mark
(!) after them.

E X E R C IS E S
I. Join the following sentences by tising the conjunctions
and, but, because, until or or. You will some­
timesfind it better to leave out one or two zvords.
(i^ Alice played the piano. M ary sang a song.
(2) George knocked at the door. T h e servant
opened it.
94
 LESSON 20 95
(3) I have a pencil. I have a pen.
(4) T o m has a new bicycle. He can’t ride it.
(5) Y ou must work hard. Y ou won’t learn
grammar.
(6) John walked. M ary came by car.
(7) Richard kicked the ball hard. He didn’t
score.
(8) Finish your exercise. Y ou w on’t be allowed
to play football.
(9) Fred came to see us. He didn’t stay long.
(10) W e can’t play football. W e have lost the
ball.
(11) I lost my book. Richard found it.
(12) T h e fire happened. T h e servant had left
some dry wood near the stove.
(13) T h e doctor sent a bill to Savage. He hadn’t
any money. He couldn’t pay it. (2 con­
junctions.)
(14) Savage had written a book. N ot many
copies had been sold. Savage \vas living
in poverty. (2 conjunctions.)
(15) T h e boy shook his head. H e said, “ T h a t
water would be useless. It is hot water.”
(2 conjunctions.)
(16) Newton was a great man. H e was very
absent-minded.
(17) T h e housekeeper told the ser\’^ant to stay
with Newton. He had eaten the egg.
(18) Newton was busy. H e told the ser\'ant to
leave the. egg. H e told her to go away.
(2 conjunctions.)
(19) She thought he would forget the egg. She
returned an hour later. She found N ew ton
standing by the fireplace. (2 conjunc­
tions,')
q6 b r ig h t e r gram m ar

(20) Newton was very absent-minded. T h e

housekeeper boiled an egg for him. She
sent M ary with it. She thought he needed
food. (3 conjunctions.)

TI. Here are six interjections or exclamations and

six sentences. Put each exclamation in front
of the sentence with which it makes the best
sense. For example (i) goes with (8).

(i) Hurrah 1 (7) I haven’t enough money

to buy a car like that.
(2) O h ! (8) W e’ve won the match.
H e llo ! (9) T h at hurt me.
(4) Ah (10) I didn’t expect to meet
you here.
(5) H ow interest­ (11) T h is is the book I
ing ! wanted.
(6) A la s ! (12) Y ou have been to Italy

^f^lGHTERt

B ook
2
V id y a B h aw an Higher See. School Library
UDAIPUR (Rajasthan)

DATE DUE SLIP

TM e

Author

Acc. No.

Clast No.

This book is due on th e date last stam ped.

 BRIGHTER GRAMMAR

Book Two
In this book spccial attention is paid to the grammar o f the
verb. Other points also dealt with arc: Parts o f Speech— \n fuller
detail; Nouns, abstract, collective “ countable” and “ uncount­
able” , irregular plurals; Adjectives, possessive, com parison o f
adjectives; Definite and Indefinite Article; Verbs, the simpler
and more commonly used tenses, the “ Peculiars” , negative and
interrogative o f verbs, finitcs and non-fmites.

Book Three
In this book special attention is paid to the form ation and uses
o f the various tenses o f the verb. Other points dealt with arc:
Pronouns, possessive, interrogative, demonstrative; Adverbs, o f
degree, o f quantity, interrogative adverbs, com parison o f ad­
verbs, adverbs and prepositions; Verbs, m ood, \oicc\ Sentences,
simple, compound, com plex; Clauses, principal, adjective, ad­
verb, noun; Direct and Indirect Speech.

Book Four
This book completes the groundwork o f English Gram m ar. It
deals with; the Relative Pronoun (objective case, possessive
case), omission o f the relative pronoun; Clauses (the kinds not
previously explained), simple clause-analysis; Direct and In­
direct Speech (questions and commands); Verbs, the infinitive,
participles and gerunds, the subjunctive, the conditional, defec­
tive verbs, auxiliary verbs, the idiosyncrasies o f the “ Peculiars” ;
Punctuation.

LON GM AN S