Plain English Part 5

WORDS THAT a.s.sERT

+27.+ After the primitive man had invented names for the things about him, probably his next step was to invent words of action. He very naturally wanted to tell what all of these various things _did_. So the words that tell what things do, the words of action, the words that a.s.sert, came into the language. A child follows much the same development. As you can readily observe, it first names the objects about it, then learns the words that tell what these objects do.

So the words that tell what things _do_, become the second cla.s.s of words. These words we call _verbs_. The word _verb_, like the word _noun_, is taken into our language from the Latin. In Latin, the word _verb.u.m_ means _the word_; and the verb is practically _the_ word in a sentence, for we cannot have a sentence without a verb. You may string a number of words together, but if you do not have an a.s.serting word, you will not have a sentence.

Notice the following sentences:

Men work.

Flowers fade.

Snow flies.

Winds blow.

In these sentences, the words _work_, _fade_, _flies_ and _blow_, are the words used to a.s.sert or say something of the subject, hence they are the verbs in these sentences.

+28.+ Sometimes it takes more than one word to express the action or make the a.s.sertion. Notice the following sentences:

The men are working.

The boy has been studying.

In the first sentence it takes two words, _are working_, to make the a.s.sertion; in the second, three are required, _has been studying_. These groups of words are called _verb phrases_.

+29.+ +A verb is a word that a.s.serts.+

+A verb phrase is a group of words used as a single verb.+

The verb is perhaps the most difficult part of speech to master. It is not hard to find the verb in short sentences, but in longer sentences it is sometimes difficult.

For example:

The sun shines.

The man walks.

The boys strike.

We very easily see that _shine_, _walk_ and _strike_ are the verbs in these sentences. But let us add other words, as for example:

The sun shines brightly.

The man walks for his health.

The boys strike the dog.

Now we are very apt to confuse the verb with the words which state _how_ and _why_ the action is performed, or the _object_ towards which the action is directed. But in these sentences, _shine_ and _walks_ and _strike_ are still the verbs, just as in the first sentences. The verb a.s.serts the action; the other words merely give additional information about _how_ or _why_ or _upon what_ the action is performed.

+30.+ Another thing which makes it difficult for us to distinguish verbs in English is that the same word may be used both as a noun and as a verb; but always remember that words are separated into cla.s.ses according to the work which they do. When a word is used as a _name_ it is a _noun_; when it is used as an _a.s.serting_ word it is a _verb_. Note the following sentences:

The _play_ made the child tired.

The children _play_ in the yard.

In the first sentence _play_ is a noun, the subject of the verb _made_.

In the second sentence _play_ is the verb, telling what the children _do_. Always cla.s.sify words according to the work which they perform in the sentence. This will help you very much in finding your verb.

+31.+ Then we have some verbs which do not a.s.sert action but express rather a connection or relation between the subject and some other word or words. For example:

The dog belongs to the man.

The girl is happy.

In these sentences _belongs_ and _is_ are the verbs. _Belongs_ a.s.serts or shows the relation between _the dog_ and _the man_. _Is_ shows the relation between _the girl_ and _happy_. If we simply say _girl_ and _happy_, we do not show any connection between them or make any statement relating the two, but when we say, _The girl is happy_, we are a.s.serting something, and the word _is_ makes the a.s.sertion.

Or when we say, _The girl was happy_, or _The girl will be_ or _may be happy_, in each of these cases, it is the verb or verb phrase _was_ or _will be_ or _may be_, that a.s.serts or shows the relation between the subject _girl_ and the descriptive word _happy_. You will observe that the verbs _will be_ and _may be_ are composed of more than one word and are _verb phrases_.

We will study the verb in succeeding lessons, but let us remember from this lesson that the word or group of words that makes the a.s.sertion in the sentence is the verb. Remember too that every sentence must contain a verb.

Get this basic principle firmly fixed in mind that what a word _does_ decides what it _is_--to what part of speech it belongs, and that every cla.s.s of words fulfills its own function in sentence building.

+32.+ Remember:--

+Every sentence must have a subject and a predicate.+

+Every sentence must express a complete thought.+

+Every sentence must contain a verb.+

+A noun is the name of something.+

+A verb is a word that a.s.serts.+

+What a word does determines what it is.+

Study carefully the following quotation. The verbs are printed in _italics_.

Slowly, painfully, _proceeds_ the struggle of man against the power of Mammon. The past _is written_ in tears and blood. The future _is_ dim and unknown, but the final outcome of this world-wide struggle _is_ not in doubt. Freedom _will conquer_ slavery, truth _will prevail_ over error, justice _will triumph_ over injustice, the light _will vanquish_ the darkness; and humanity _will rise_ in the glory of universal brotherhood.--_Warren_.

Exercise 3

Underscore all verbs and verb phrases in the following quotation:

+The Dream of Labor+: Ours is not the cause of one cla.s.s, of one s.e.x, of one tribe, of one city, of one state, of one continent.

It is the wish for a better world where Man shall be Man; where the beast shall become subdued; where everything shall lead to complete development; where the good of each shall be bound up in the good of all; where all shall feel the sorrows of each and shall run to his rescue.

A glimpse of this ideal takes us into the Land of Promise, where peace and plenty shall reign supreme; where brothers shall no longer battle among themselves, but for one another; where the atmosphere shall be laden with love, the love that saves; where the hate that kills shall be unknown; where heart and brain shall work together and shall make life better and more complete; where the fullness of life shall be for all and where men and women shall be as happy at their work as little children at their play.

The mere glimpse into that land makes life worth living, makes work worth doing, makes dreams worth dreaming, gives us hope and faith--the faith we need in the labor for our cause, the faith which shall help us win.--_Oscar Leonard_.

Exercise 4

We have found that there are a number of words in English which may be used either as nouns or verbs, depending upon the function they serve in the sentence. In the following sentences underscore the nouns with a single line, the verbs with two lines:

1. They _man_ the boats.