(2)

Subject of the Infinitive -Predicate Complement

In "Let me go," what is the case of me? Me is said to be the subject of the infinitive go.

The subject of an infinitive is in the objective case.

Name all the subjects of the infinitives that have subjects in the selection, section (1).

Every boy longs to be a man.

A man is the predicate complement of to be. The subject is not expressed. If expressed, it would be himself.

In what case would it be?

How would you like to be me?

In what case is me?

The predicate complement is in the same case as the subject.

It is correct to say "I wish I were he" or "I would like to be him," but not "I wish I were him" or "How would you like to be I?" Why?

SECTION THREE

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES

LIII

THE SENTENCE

(1)

Ideas

Is any of the following words or groups of words a sentence?

1. Edgar Allan Poe. 2. Great. 3. Poet. 4. A great poet. 5. Wrote. 6. "The Raven."

Each of the above words and groups of words suggests something to your mind, but no one of them either asks or answers a question. No one of them makes sense alone. No one gives a complete thought. Edgar Allan Poe suggests to your mind the name of a man. Great suggests a quality. Poet suggests a mental picture of a certain kind of man, a man who writes poems. Wrote suggests a mental picture or idea of an action. "The Raven" gives you the name of a poem; it makes it possible for you to think of the poem.

The mental pictures of single objects or qualities or actions are called ideas. Words or groups of words not making complete sense are the names of ideas.

(2)

A Complete Thought— Attributes

Is the group of words "Edgar Allan Poe was a great poet" a sentence?

What has it that the other groups given above have not?

In the sentence two ideas are united so as to express a complete thought.

The subject and the predicate of a sentence are the names given to the two ideas.

The idea named by the subject is called the subject idea. The idea of the predicate, the predicate idea, is always expressed as belonging to the subject. It is attributed to the subject. (Consult the dictionary.) Hence the predicate idea is called an attribute.

A great poet expresses a quality or characteristic of the subject Poe and is called an attribute of quality. Wrote expresses an action by the subject and is

called an attribute of action.

Make sentences by combining the words and groups of words 1-6 (p. 257), and supplying the necessary words.

Name the subject ideas and the predicate ideas in your

sentences.

Tell which predicate ideas are quality attributes and which are action attributes.

(3)
The Copula

In the sentence, "Poe was a great poet," it is necessary to supply the copula "was," to join the attribute to the subject. (See p. 235.)

In the sentence, "Poe wrote "The Raven,'" the union of the two ideas is expressed by the attribute word itself, wrote.

Quality attributes are usually joined to the subjects of sentences by copulas.

Action attributes are usually expressed by active verbs and need no copulas.

(4)

The Passive Voice

In the sentence, "The Raven' was written by Poe," does the attribute express a quality or an action?

With the passive voice the predicate always takes the form of a quality attribute. The auxiliary is really a copula, joining to the subject the past participle, which is a verbal adjective expressing a quality attribute.

(5)

The Sentence

A sentence consists of the union of two ideas, a subject idea and an attribute idea, into a complete thought.

The form of a sentence may be a statement, a question, or a command. The exclamatory sentence has no special form of its own.

In the command the subject idea usually is not stated; but it is implied in the verb and must be present in the thought. Otherwise the command would be meaningless. If I say, "Write me a letter," I must have in mind as a part of the thought some second person who is to write.

In each of the following sentences, name the two ideas that are joined:

Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, pompous in the

1. His schoolhouse was a long, low building, of one large room, rudely constructed of logs, the windows partly glazed and partly patched with leaves of old copy books.

2. The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood.

3. A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond, convoying whole fleets of ducks.

4. It was one of those spacious farmhouses with highridged but lowly sloping roofs, built in the style handed down by the first Dutch settlers. - WASHINGTON IRVING.

In the first of the above sentences point out the adjectives. Which ones describe building? What do the words of one large room do in the sentence? Do they not describe building? What do the words rudely constructed of logs describe?

In the second sentence what word does the group of words of some importance describe?

What adjective describes circle?

What group of words also describes circle?

Do any of these groups of words make sense if used alone? Do any of them have predicates?

Such groups of words are called phrases.