SELECTING SUITABLE VERBS

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and "run," would the poem be as pleasing to the ear? Would the picture of the little brook be as clear as he has made it? What other verbs do you know that might be used to tell the action of running water?

Make lists of all the verbs you know that might be used to tell something that the following do:

VIII. SELECTING SUITABLE VERBS

Here is a description of a rainy night. Some verbs have been omitted. Fill in the blanks with verbs that will make the description true, that will make the listener know just what kind of night it was.

A Spring Shower

I awakened in my little attic bed about midnight. Overhead I heard the rain ——. It

window. Through a hole in the roof it

my face. The wind my shutters, and

against my

upon

Now change the title to A Winter Gale and fill in the blanks with verbs that will make a good description of such a storm.

IX. SOME TROUBLESOME VERBS

saw

seen

Tip saw many strange sights in the city that day. When he returned to the Home, the kind doctor asked him what he had seen.

"O Doctor, I have seen such wonderful sights! They can't be real!'

Why, bless me!" cried the doctor. "I believe the lad thinks he has seen fairyland!"

The verb forms "saw" and " "seen" are often used incorrectly. In the above sentences they are used correctly. In the sentences below are other verb forms, often used incorrectly, but here used correctly.

1.

I saw the bird.

We went to see John.
The wind blew fiercely.
The bird flew north.
An oak grew at the gate.
Tom knew the secret.
The boys threw the ball.
You ate the cake.

2.

The boy has seen it also.
John had gone to school.
It had blown all night.
It had flown from the south.
It had grown for years.
He had known it a week.
They have thrown it often.
You have eaten every crumb.

Fill the blanks in the following sentences with the correct verb:

I

she had

to visit my friend, but I did not see her as

to New York.

Write sentences using correctly the other verb forms italicized in the lists (1) and (2) above. In writing your sentences try to make some connected thought, as in the sentences in the last paragraph.

X. VERBS OFTEN MISUSED: LIE, LAY;

SIT, SET

lay

lie

There are two little verbs that often are misused even by educated people. They are "lie" and "lay."

: These words sound much alike and have something of the same meaning. It is hard to tell in a few words just when each should be used. "Lay" often, but not always, means "to cause to lie," as in this sentence,

I lay the book on the table and the book lies there.

You will get a better idea of the correct use of these words by studying the following sentences:

The fairies lie hidden in the grass.

Fairyland lies all around us.

Let me lay this plan before you.

How will you lay out your garden?

The dragon lays waste the whole country.

"Sit" and "set" are two other little words that trouble many people. Sometimes "set" means "to cause to sit," as:

I set the doll in the carriage and the doll sits there.

SHALL OR WILL?

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Here are some sentences in which these words

are used correctly:

The boy was set to work.

The sun sets in the west.

Have you set the supper table?
The doctor set the broken bone.
We set out early in the morning.
Do you set a good example?
The ring was set with jewels.
Sit in this chair.

The bird sits on her eggs.

That coat sits well.

XI. SHALL OR WILL?

Read the following sentences, paying attention to the italicized words:

"We shall freeze before morning," said Tom. "Shall I make a fire?"

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No, no!" cried Jack. Do you want to attract the Indians?"

Tom shivered in silence a few minutes, then he said: "I cannot stand this cold. I will make a fire."

In the first sentence the words "shall freeze" tell what is likely to occur.

Tom does not want to freeze, but he fears that he and his friend may freeze if they have no fire.