Plain English

429.The participle may also be used as the object of a verb, thus:

We heard the thundering of the cannon.

We enjoyed the dancing.

Do you hear the singing of the birds?

In these sentences, the participles thundering, dancing, and singing are the objects of the verbs heard, enjoyed and do hear.

430.An adjective used as a noun may also be used as the object of a verb, thus:

I saw the rich and the poor struggling together.

The struggle for existence crushes the weak.

Seek the good and the true.

In these sentences the adjectives rich, poor, weak, good and true, are used as nouns and are the objects of the verbs saw, crushes and seek.

VERBS OF STATE OR CONDITION

We have found that with the incomplete verbs of state or condition, or copulative verbs, the predicate complement may be either a noun, as, The man is a hero; or an adjective, as, The man is class-conscious; or a phrase, as, The man is in earnest.

The predicate complement may also be:

431.A pronoun; as,

Who is she?

That was he.

This is I.

In these sentences the subjects of the verbs are she, that and this, and the pronouns who, he and I are used as predicate complements.

432.Infinitives may also be used as the predicate complement, thus:

To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.

To remain ignorant, is the subject of the copulative verb is, and the infinitive, to remain, with its complement, a slave, is the predicate complement.

433.A participle used as a noun may also be used as the predicate complement, thus:

Society is the mingling of many elements.

Mingling, in this sentence is a participle of the verb mingle, but is used as a noun, the predicate complement of the verb is. Society is the subject of the verb.

Where the present participle is used to form a verb phrase, the participle is part of the verb phrase, thus:

We are mingling in society.

Here, are mingling, is the present progressive verb phrase, and the participle mingling is not used as a noun or adjective, but is part of the verb phrase are mingling.

If you will observe the different parts of speech carefully, you will not be easily confused as to whether the participle is a noun or a part of the verb phrase.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences the incomplete verbs, including infinitives and participles, are in italics. Mark the words, phrases or clauses which are used as objects or complements, to complete the meaning of these verbs.

There is no such thing in America as an independent press, unless it is in the country towns.

You have it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write his honest opinions. If you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print.

I am paid $150.00 a week for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper with which I am connected. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things. Any one of you who would be so foolish as to write his honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job.

The business of the New York journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to villify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his race and his country for his daily bread.

You know this and I know it. So what folly is this to be toasting an "Independent Press."

We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping-jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.—John Swinton.

MODIFIERS OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

434. Remember that a simple sentence is one that contains a single statement, question or command. It is a clause, for it contains a subject and a predicate; but it contains only the one subject and the one predicate. A sentence containing two principal clauses, or a principal clause and a subordinate clause, would contain two complete statements, questions or commands, therefore it would not be a simple sentence, but compound or complex.

Remember, however, that the simple sentences may contain two or more subjects with the same predicate, or two or more predicates with the same subject, or both a compound subject and a compound predicate.

435. The modifiers in a simple sentence are always words or phrases. The modifiers of the subject are either adjectives or adjective phrases. The modifiers of the predicate are either adverbs or adverb phrases. If an adjective or an adverb clause is used as a modifier, then the sentence is no longer a simple sentence, but becomes a complex sentence, for it now contains a dependent clause.

ORDER OF ELEMENTS

436. The usual order of the principal elements in the sentence is the subject, the predicate and the object or complement, thus:

This is called the natural or logical order. Logical means according to sense or reason.

Adjectives usually stand before the nouns they modify, thus:

Good books are helpful.

Adverbs may be placed either before or after the verbs they modify, thus:

The men then came quickly to the rescue.

The adverb then precedes the verb came, which it modifies; and the adverb quickly is placed after the verb.

Adverbs which modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed before the words which they modify, thus:

The more industrious students learn quite rapidly.