grows," we predicate the action of growing of the subject corn, as terminating in the corn. The act of growing is not such as affects directly any other object beyond the subject of which it is asserted.

(4) Hence, this class of verbs has been appropriately called, by some modern grammarians, subjective verbs, as the action which they express terminates in the subject.

(5) On the contrary, the active verbs express an action which does not terminate in the subject, but passes over on some other object either expressed or implied in the proposition. (6) Thus in the example used above, "the man makes a table," the action of making passes over upon the object made—" a table,” which undergoes or suffers the action. (7) The object which undergoes the action expressed by the verb is called, to distinguish it from other objects of the verb's action, the suffering or passive object.

(8) From the fact that the action of these verbs passes over, they have been called by some transitive verbs. Transitive means that passes over.(a) (9) These verbs have also been appropriately named objective verbs, because the action which they express has always reference to some object external to the subject, and a word expressive of this object is necessary to complete them-that is to enable them to form a rational predicate. (10) We retain the old names neuter and active.

(11) Every verb that always expresses a complete predicate belongs of course to the class of neuter verbs. (12) But many verbs which cannot make complete sense without modifying words belong also to the class of neuter verbs—that is, of verbs expressing an action terminating in the subject of which it is asserted. (13) Thus the verb behaves will not form

(a) The neuter verbs are also called intransitive. These names are used in some modern dictionaries.

[(4) By what name have these neuter verbs been appropriately called by some modern graminarians?]

(5) Describe the active verbs. (6) Illustrate by example. (7) What name is given to the object which undergoes the action of the verb?

[(8) What does the term transitive mean, and why is it applied to this class of verbs? (9) What other name has been given to them? And why? (10) What names do wo adopt?

(11) To which of these classes do the complete verbs belong? (12) Are any of the incomplete verbs also neuter? (18) Illustrate by an example.

a complete assertion without the help of another word. The boy behaves is not a complete assertion. To express complete sense, we must say, the boy behaves well or behaves ill, or use some other words expressive of the manner of his behavior. (14) Still this verb requires no passive object. The action of behaving passes over upon no other object; it terminates in the subject. If we place after it a word in the form of an objective complement, it must be a word expressive of the same person with the subject noun; as in the example, the boy behaves HIMSELF well. Here himself refers to the same individual expressed by the subject noun-boy. We cannot say that, the boy behaves any other person or any other thing, well or ill, &c. That is, the verb behaves can take after it no suffering or passive object distinct from the subject of which it is asserted. In other words, the action terminates in the subject.

(15) It has been already noticed that all the verbs of the class which we have ventured to name complete verbs, admit of modifying or completing words, but none of them admit of the modification of a passive object; they do not express an action which can pass over on an object distinct from the subject of which they are employed to make an assertion. The importance of this distinction among verbs will be better understood, when we come to treat of the various forms of modifications or complements which we attach to them in order to form complete predicates, and when we come to consider the passive form. Compare § 57:21.

(16) The nature of the distinction between active and neuter verbs may perhaps be rendered more intelligible by the exhibition of examples of neuter verbs which are manifestly equivalent to certain other active verbs, together with a noun expressing a particular passive object. Participate, for instance, is equivalent to the verb take with the noun part employed as its passive object. Participate, to take part. Here take— the active verb-is obviously the less complete of the two, since it requires the complementary word part in order to render it equivalent to Participate.

(17) We must not omit to notice that frequently the same word is used both as an active and as a neuter verb—but let it be remembered with very different meanings. (18) Thus, The ship sinks, and The pirate sinks the ship. In the first case the word sinks expresses an action which termi

(14) Repeat what is said in further illustration of the example.

(15) Do the verbs which we have called complete verbs admit of completing words? Can they be completed by a noun expressive of a passive object?

(16) Illustrate the distinction between uctive and neuter verbs by the example of the verb participate.

(17) What is said of the same word being employed both in a neuter and in an active sense? (18) Illustrate by an example. (19) Give other examples. (20) What is said of the

nates in the subject, in the latter case an action which necessarily passes over upon a suffering or passive object; that is, an object which suffers, or receives, or is affected directly by the action. (19) We have similar examples in Glass breaks and John breaks the glass; The wood burns and The man burns the wood, William feels warm, and the physician feels the patient's pulse, &c. (20) Here the verbs "breaks," "burns," "feels," are used both in an active and in a neuter sense, but the actions asserted in the two cases are altogether unlike. (21) The action of burning asserted of the wood in the one case, and the action of burning asserted of the man who uses wood as fuel in the other case, are as unlike as almost any other two actions. Both agree in being attended by the same phenomenon-the combustion of wood-and from this come to be expressed by the same word, the same sign. The verb burns has a third meaning distinct from the two already mentioned; as, for example, when we say, The fire burns any substance placed near it, The fire burns the boy's clothes. (22) In regard to most of these verbs, doubly employed, in an active and in a neuter sense, the neuter seems to be the primitive or original sense, and the active a secondary sense usurped in the progress of the language. (23) Many of these verbs, in their usurped active sense, belong to the class which the grammarians have called causatives. In the active use they signify to cause to do that which the neuter verb expresses. For example, The pirate sinks the ship; that is, The pirate CAUSES the ship to sink. The farmer burns wood; that is, causes wood to burn for fuel.

EXERCISE I.-Let the learner point out the verbs in a given lesson, distinguishing the neuter and active verbs, assigning his reason for calling them verbs, and his reason for classing them among the active or neuter verbs, as the case may be.

MODEL OF ANALYSIS.-EXAMPLE 1.-Commerce and manufactures flourish together. The verb in this proposition is flourish, because this word expresses the assertion. Flourish is a neuter verb, because it expresses an action terminating in the subject, and not passing over upon any object suffering that action, or directly affected by it. We cannot say that commerce or manufactures flourish any person or any thing.

EXAMPLE 2. Perseverance overcomes difficulties. The verb or assertive word here is "overcomes." This verb is active, since it expresses an action which affects a passive object. In this case, the object is expressed by the

difference of meaning in all these examples between the active and neuter verb? (21) Illustrate in the case of burn in a neuter, and burn in an active sense. (22) Which appears to be the primitive use of most of these verbs? (23) What is said of the active sense of many of these verbs?]

word difficulties. The action expressed by "overcomes" does not terminate

in the subject.

EXERCISE II.-Let the learner furnish written list of twenty or more neuter verbs, and give his reasons for assigning them to this class.

EXERCISE III.-A similar list of active verbs, with reasons assigned for the classification.

EXERCISE IV.-A list of verbs used both in an active and in a neuter

sense.

These exercises should be repeated till the learner understands completely how to distinguish neuter and active verbs.

29. THE PASSIVE VOICE.-(1) What is called the passive voice is formed in English, as in many other languages, by the combination of the verb to be, with a class of verbals, expressive of completed action, formed from the other verbs. (a) (2) For example, we say, using the active form, The son loves the father, and using the passive form, The father is loved by the son. loved, made up of the assertive form of the verb to be, with the word loved, a verbal adjective (or, as it is commonly called, participle), expressive of completed action, constitutes, as we see here, the passive form of loves.

Is

(3) The passive voice or passive form is confined to active verbs. (4) The passive form of these verbs affords us another way of expressing the same proposition, that is expressed by the active form. (5) When we employ the passive form, we make the word which, when we use the active form of the verb, represents the passive or suffering object, the subject noun of the proposition. (6) Thus, using the active form, we say, The carpen ter MAKES a table, and using the passive form, A table is MADE by the carpenter.

(a) The verb to be, employed assertively, assumes the forms am, art, is, are, were, &c., according to the person and number of the subject noun. See more in regard to this peculiar verb in the author's large treatise, § 46.

§ 29. (1) How is the passive voice in English formed? (2) Illustrate by an example. (8) To what class of verbs is the passive voice or passive form confined? (4) What does this form enable us to do? (5) What change do we make in the subject noun, when we employ the passive form? (6) Illustrate by an example.

(7) This passive form of the verb is convenient when, as often happens, we wish to express that some person or thing suffers, or undergoes an action performed by an agent unknown to us, and we cannot, therefore, supply a definite subject for the proposition expressed actively. (8) For example, we can say, The man is killed, without knowing who has killed him; The house was set on fire, without knowing the incendiary, whose name would serve as the definite subject of the proposition made with the verb in the active form. (9) We have other means, it is true, of expressing the same fact by an active form. (10) We can assume an indefinite subject, such as is expressed by the indefinite words, somebody, something, and say, Somebody killed the man, Somebody or something set the house on fire. This form of expression is preferred in some languages. (11) But the passive form is not only often the most convenient in such cases as now described, but also sometimes useful for the purpose of securing greater variety and greater smoothness of expression.

REMARK-In the following exercises, the learner may be allowed to modify his subject noun by a determinative such as a, an, the, this, that, one, and these, those, two, three, &c., with plural nouns; or by any descriptive adjective, such as good, bad, faithful, &c. After the verb to be he may use any adjective, and after the active verb any noun necessary to complete its meaning, and after the passive form of the verb, the noun which serves as subject of the active form with the word by before it. The liberty of using these modifications will facilitate his task in forming propositions. These modifications will all be explained afterwards in their proper places. In the mean time, they cannot perplex the pupil who knows English. Use the word is in forming the passive when the subject noun is singular, and are when the subject noun is plural.

EXERCISE I.—Change the following propositions into propositions expressing the same meaning, and having verbs of the passive form.

John writes a letter. Somebody strikes William. James sends a message. The servant kindles a fire. The soldiers plunder the country. The army vanquishes the enemy. He praises good men. He loves good boys. John detests dishonest practices. That man assists worthy persons. That man keeps three horses. Vice produces immense suffering.

EXERCISES II., III., &c.—Write ten propositions, each expressed both actively and passively. Model: John keeps a gardener. A gardener is kept by John. We give the perfect participles of the verbs used above. These participles are to be used in the formation of the passive. Write, written; strike, struck; send, sent; keep, kept. The rest all end in ed.

[(7) When is the use of this form convenient? (S) Illustrate by an example. (9) Can we effect the same purpose by an active form? (10) Describe the way of employing an active forin. (11) For what other purposes is tho passive voice convenient?