Sometimes the subject of a sentence is not expressed. This is usually the case in sentences that express commands or requests. In such sentences the word you, meaning the person or the persons spoken to, is usually the subject understood. Thus :

Be brave! means (You) be brave !

Do it now! means (You) do it now!

Pass me the bread! means (You) pass me the bread!

Frequently sentences begin with the words There is or There are. Thus:

There is a bear in the next tent.

There are several lions in the next tent.

Of course the subject of each of these sentences is not the word There. Neither sentence is about There. On the contrary, the first sentence is about bear, and the second about several lions. There is a word used merely to begin each sentence.

6. Sentence Study

Exercise. Separate each of the following sentences into its subject and its predicate. Then point out the principal word of the subject and the principal word of the predicate — that is, the verb.22

1. The poor old man walked slowly down the road.

2. The veteran soldier returned immediately to the fort. 3. The Indian guide stole noiselessly through the woods.

4. Many pleasant days passed quietly and uneventfully.

5. Here for many years the thirsty drank from the miraculous pitcher.

6. A dusty traveler paused one day under this tree.

7. Thus the old people lived in their palace a long while.

8. The aged traveler looked grave and stern.

9. A delightful smell floated most pleasantly about the kitchen.

10. The man returned from the long journey.

11. Behind them came the fierce dogs.

12. In a long ramble Rip had scrambled to one of the highest parts of the mountains.

13. A deep mountain glen, wild and lonely, could be seen by Rip.

NOTE. The verb is could be seen.

14. A strange figure was toiling slowly up the rocks.

15. The barrel of his gun was covered with rust.

NOTE. The verb is was covered.

A simple sentence is a sentence that consists of one subject and predicate.23 Thus:

1. John laughed. (Simple sentence)

2. John laughed and Mary cried. (Not a simple sentence)

3. The storm beat upon that house. (Simple sentence)

4. The storm beat upon that house, but it did not fall. (This sentence has more than one subject and predicate. Hence it is not a simple sentence.)

Exercise. Examine again some of the sentences on page 31. Tell whether each is a simple sentence or not.

Exercise. Which of the following groups of words are sentences? Each group that is a sentence must have a subject and predicate. What is the subject of each? What is the predicate?

1. The grizzly bear is named from the grayish-brown color of his fur. 2. The old grizzly bear in the cave in the mountains.

3. Bears sleep most of the winter.

4. The snow-white fur of the polar bear.

5. He lives in the snow fields of the North.

6. Polar bears swim and dive in the cold water.

7. The hunters in those regions.

8. The damage done by bears in the West.

9. The angry settlers in that Western valley. ·

10. The two old bears lived alone on that mountain side.

COMPOSITION-II

1. Speaking and Writing from Outlines

Oral Exercise. Would it not be a good plan for your class to have a picnic some fine Saturday? Where could you go? There must be many suitable places that are not too far away. Make a delightful plan for a picnic. Tell the class your plan.

You could arrange your thoughts in the following order:

1. Where to go. (Tell of different good places, and why you think that the one you have chosen is the best.)

2. When to go. (The time for leaving and for returning. The expense.)

3. What to do. (Perhaps you have been on picnics before and know what makes them specially enjoyable. Tell this. Perhaps, too, you have thought of something that has never before been done on a picnic.)

After all the plans have been proposed, the class may decide by vote where to go, when to go, and what to do to make the picnic successful.

Written Exercise. If you would like another class to go on the picnic with you, write a letter inviting it. Explain the picnic plans, without making the letter long or tiresome. Probably that class will write you a reply.

Group Exercise. Several of the letters of invitation should be copied on the board - perhaps before school-so that the entire class may criticize them and select the one for mailing. The questions on pages 17 and 18, each question considered separately, should be answered about each letter.

2. The "and" Habit

A common fault in the speaking of pupils is due to the fact that when they reach the ends of sentences they often do not drop their voices and pause a moment before beginning the next ones. Instead, they say and and go right on speaking. As a consequence the hearer finds it hard to tell where one sentence stops and another begins. In place of this troublesome word and it is often better to use such words as when, after that, for, while, as soon as, since, and because.

Oral Exercise. Read the first paragraph which follows. How can you improve it? Compare it with the second paragraph below. Tell what has become of each and, and so, and and then. Now cover the second paragraph with a sheet of paper and reread the first aloud, improving it as you read. Improve and read aloud in their improved form the other paragraphs that are faulty.

One day some boys and I went into the woods and we looked everywhere for nut trees and we hoped to take home a bagful of walnuts. We could find no walnuts and so we made up our minds to go to another woods and gather hickory nuts and soon we had enough and then we decided to go home and our parents were much pleased when they saw what we had.

One day some boys and I went into the woods. We looked everywhere for nut trees, for we hoped to take home a bagful of walnuts. When we could find no walnuts we made up our minds to go to another woods to gather hickory nuts. As soon as we had enough, we decided to go home. When our parents saw what we had they were much pleased.

Mary had been given permission to have a party and she invited many of her schoolmates and when the day arrived they all came and some of them brought her presents and of course Mary was very much pleased and they all had a most pleasant time and they were very glad that they had been invited.

Some little children were playing on the shore of a lake and suddenly one of them fell into the water and the others screamed for help and a man was working in a field near by and when he heard the cries he ran to where the children stood and then he waded into the water and pulled the little girl out and she was crying and the man talked with her and in a little while she stopped crying and began to laugh and soon she was back at her play.

The first day of school arrived and we knew that the long vacation was over. We strapped our books together and at half past eight George and I started off and on the street we met many other children and some were glad and some were sorry that school was beginning again. We reached the school grounds and there we saw that a flagpole had been put up during the summer and a beautiful new flag was flying in the breeze and I began to feel very glad that I was there with so many other children all looking up and admiring the flag and when our teacher arrived we gave three cheers for the flag.