Higher Lessons in English Part 31

a.n.a.lysis.

The +adverb clause+ may express +manner+.

1. He died as he lived.

+Explanation+.--He died _in the manner in which_ he lived. For diagram, see (1), Lesson 63.

2. The upright man speaks as he thinks.

3. As the upright man thinks so he speaks.

(For diagram of _as_ ... _so_, see _when_ ... _then_ (3), Lesson 63.)

4. As is the boy so will be the man.

5. The waves of conversation roll and shape our thoughts as the surf rolls and shapes the pebbles on the sh.o.r.e.

The +adverb clause+ may express +real cause+.

6. The ground is wet because it has rained.

ground | is wet ==========|============= The | ` ` ` because ` it | ` has rained ----|---------------

+Explanation+.--_Because_, being a mere conjunction, stands on a line wholly dotted.

7. Slang is always vulgar, as it is an affected way of talking.

8. We keep the pores of the skin open, for through them the blood throws off its impurities.

9. Since the breath contains poisonous carbonic acid, wise people ventilate their sleeping rooms.

10. Sea-bathing is the most healthful kind of washing, as it combines fresh air and vigorous exercise with its other benefits.

11. Wheat is the most valuable of grains because bread is made from its flour.

The +adverb clause+ may express +evidence+.

12. G.o.d was angry with the children of Israel, for he overthrew them in the wilderness.

13. Tobacco and the potato are American products, since Raleigh found them here.

14. It rained last night, because the ground is wet this morning.

15. We Americans must all be cuckoos, for we build our homes in the nests of other birds.

LESSON 65.

ADVERB CLAUSE-CONTINUED.

+Introductory Hints+.--_If it rains, the ground will be wet_. The adverb clause, introduced by _if_, a.s.signs what, if it occurs, will be the cause of the ground's being wet, but, as here expressed, is only a +Condition+ ready to become a cause.

_He takes exercise that he may get well_. The adverb clause, introduced by _that_, a.s.signs the cause or the motive or the +Purpose+ of his exercising.

_The ground is dry, although it has rained_. The adverb clause, introduced by _although_, expresses a +Concession+. It is conceded that a cause for the ground's not being dry exists; but, in spite of this opposing cause, it is a.s.serted that the ground is dry.

All these dependent clauses of real cause, evidence, condition, purpose, and concession come, as you see, under the general head of +Cause+, although only the first kind a.s.signs the cause proper.

a.n.a.lysis.

The +adverb clause+ may express +condition+.

1. If the air is quickly compressed, enough heat is evolved to produce combustion.

2. Unless your thought packs easily and neatly in verse, always use prose.

(_Unless_ = _if not_.) 3. If ever you saw a crow with a king-bird after him, you have an image of a dull speaker and a lively listener.

4. Were it not for the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the harbors and the rivers of Britain would be blocked up with ice for a great part of the year.

+Explanation+.--The relative position of the subject and the verb renders the _if_ unnecessary. This omission of _if_ is a common idiom.

5. Should the calls of hunger be neglected, the fat of the body is thrown into the grate to keep the furnace in play.

The +adverb clause+ may express +purpose+.

6. Language was given us that we might say pleasant things to each other.

+Explanation+.--_That_, introducing a clause of purpose, is a mere conjunction.

7. Spiders have many eyes in order that they may see in many directions at one time.

+Explanation+.--The phrases _in order that_, _so that_ = _that_.

8. The ship-ca.n.a.l across the Isthmus of Suez was dug so that European vessels need not sail around the Cape of Good Hope to reach the Orient.

9. The air draws up vapors from the sea and the land, and retains them dissolved in itself or suspended in cisterns of clouds, that it may drop them as rain or dew upon the thirsty earth.

The +adverb clause+ may express +concession+.

10. Although the brain is only one-fortieth of the body, about one-sixth of the blood is sent to it.

11. Though the atmosphere presses on us with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface, still we do not feel its weight.

12. Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

13. If the War of the Roses did not utterly destroy English freedom, it arrested its progress for a hundred years.

+Explanation+.--_If_ here = _even if_ = _though_.

14. Though many rivers flow into the Mediterranean, they are not sufficient to make up the loss caused by evaporation.

LESSON 66.

COMPOSITION-ADVERB CLAUSES.

+COMMA--RULE.--An _Adverb Clause_ is set off by the comma unless it closely follows and restricts the word it modifies+.

+Explanation+.--I met him in Paris, _when I was last abroad_. I will not call him villain, _because it would be unparliamentary_. Paper was invented in China, _if the Chinese tell the truth_. In these sentences the adverb clauses are not restrictive, but are supplementary, and are added almost as afterthoughts.