Spelling and Grammar · Harvey's Elementary Grammar

Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition

Thomas W. Harvey's grammar for children about 9 to 12: sentences, the parts of speech, analysis and parsing, plus picture lessons, descriptions, letters and punctuation. 96 guides cover every lesson in the book, with the right page beside each one.

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How to use it

  • A little, often. About 20 to 30 minutes a day, four or five days a week. Several short lessons share one guide, and a few long ones are split in two.
  • Say it, then write it. The book asks for many exercises to be given orally first, then written. Have your child answer in full sentences, worded like the book's models.
  • Use the models. Many lessons give a model ("Iron is the subject; it is that of which..."). Say it the same way each time; the pattern is what builds careful thinking.
  • Grammar meets reading. Nearly every lesson ends by asking your child to spot the new idea in their own reading. Keep a storybook or reader nearby.
  • Old rules, gentle hands. A few rules (shall and will, who for animals) were stricter in 1880 than today. The guides point these out so you can teach the book's rule without fussing.
  • Compositions take time. The composition lessons (pictures, animals, plants, metals, letters) can stretch over two days: plan and draft one day, revise and read aloud the next.

Part 1 Part I: The elementary course

Sentences, the parts of speech one by one, analysis, cautions about common mistakes, and picture compositions (Lessons 1 to 48). Lessons 1–49.

  1. 1The senses, objects and wordsLesson 1–2✓
  2. 2The sentence and the declarative sentenceLesson 3–4✓
  3. 3Commands, exclamations and the four kinds of sentencesLesson 4✓
  4. 4Quotation marksLesson 5✓
  5. 5Parts of speech and the nounLesson 6–7✓
  6. 6Singular and pluralLesson 8✓
  7. 7AbbreviationsLesson 9✓
  8. 8Contractions and the apostropheLesson 10✓
  9. 9Subject, predicate and copulaLesson 11✓
  10. 10Quality-words and nouns as predicatesLesson 12✓
  11. 11Elements and analysisLesson 13✓
  12. 12Composition: telling about picturesLesson 14✓
  13. 13The verbLesson 15✓
  14. 14Transitive, intransitive and copulative verbsLesson 16✓
  15. 15Analyzing sentences with objectsLesson 16✓
  16. 16Saw and seen, did and done, was and wereLesson 17✓
  17. 17Commas in a seriesLesson 18✓
  18. 18Composition: stories from a pictureLesson 19✓
  19. 19The adjectiveLesson 20✓
  20. 20A, an and theLesson 21✓
  21. 21Sentence-making with articles and adjectivesLesson 22✓
  22. 22Mistakes with a, an, these, those and themLesson 23✓
  23. 23Composition: describing what you seeLesson 24✓
  24. 24The participleLesson 25✓
  25. 25The participial nounLesson 26✓
  26. 26Composition: a day outLesson 27✓
  27. 27The pronoun and the adjective elementLesson 28–29✓
  28. 28PossessivesLesson 29 (II–III)✓
  29. 29Appositives, and a reviewLesson 29 (IV)✓
  30. 30Personal pronouns and personLesson 30✓
  31. 31Possessive pronounsLesson 31✓
  32. 32Relative pronounsLesson 32✓
  33. 33The relative clauseLesson 33✓
  34. 34Interrogative pronounsLesson 34✓
  35. 35Mistakes with pronounsLesson 35✓
  36. 36The adverb and the adverbial elementLesson 36–37✓
  37. 37The adverbial clauseLesson 38✓
  38. 38Double negatives, and adjectives or adverbs?Lesson 39✓
  39. 39Composition: The LionLesson 40✓
  40. 40The prepositionLesson 41✓
  41. 41The phraseLesson 42 (I)✓
  42. 42The infinitiveLesson 42 (II)✓
  43. 43Putting modifiers in the right placeLesson 42 (III)✓
  44. 44The conjunctionLesson 43✓
  45. 45Compound elementsLesson 44✓
  46. 46Simple and compound sentencesLesson 45–46✓
  47. 47Complex sentencesLesson 47✓
  48. 48Shortening and enlarging sentencesLesson 47 (cont.)✓
  49. 49The interjectionLesson 48✓

Part 2 Part II: The parts of speech in full

Gender, person, number and case; parsing every part of speech; mode, tense and conjugation; syntax, letters and compositions from plans (Lessons 49 to 123). Lessons 50–90.

  1. 50Properties of the noun: genderLesson 49–50✓
  2. 51Person of nouns and pronounsLesson 51✓
  3. 52Number and the plural rulesLesson 52–53✓
  4. 53Case and declensionLesson 54–55✓
  5. 54Parsing nounsLesson 56–58✓
  6. 55Composition: describing an animalLesson 59✓
  7. 56Personal pronouns in fullLesson 60–62✓
  8. 57Parsing personal pronounsLesson 63–64✓
  9. 58Parsing possessive pronounsLesson 65–67✓
  10. 59Relative pronouns in fullLesson 68–71✓
  11. 60Interrogative pronouns in fullLesson 72–74✓
  12. 61False syntax: pronoun cautionsLesson 75–76✓
  13. 62Descriptive adjectives and comparisonLesson 77✓
  14. 63Definitive adjectives and parsing adjectivesLesson 78–80✓
  15. 64Adjective cautionsLesson 81✓
  16. 65Composition: describing a plantLesson 82✓
  17. 66Properties of the verb: voiceLesson 83–84✓
  18. 67ModeLesson 85✓
  19. 68Tense and the signs of the tensesLesson 86–87✓
  20. 69Person, number, auxiliaries and the verb to beLesson 88–91✓
  21. 70Conjugating to love, active and passiveLesson 92–93✓
  22. 71Progressive, emphatic and question formsLesson 94✓
  23. 72Regular, irregular, defective and redundant verbsLesson 95–96✓
  24. 73Parsing verbsLesson 97–98✓
  25. 74Composition: SugarLesson 99✓
  26. 75False syntax: verb cautionsLesson 100✓
  27. 76Classes of adverbs and comparing adverbsLesson 101–102✓
  28. 77Parsing adverbsLesson 103–104✓
  29. 78Composition: vegetable productsLesson 105✓
  30. 79Prepositions in fullLesson 106–108✓
  31. 80Conjunctions in fullLesson 109–111✓
  32. 81Composition: IronLesson 112✓
  33. 82Interjections in fullLesson 113–115✓
  34. 83Composition: the metalsLesson 116✓
  35. 84EllipsisLesson 117✓
  36. 85AbridgmentLesson 118✓
  37. 86Grammatical and logical subject and predicateLesson 119✓
  38. 87Composition: a hurricaneLesson 120✓
  39. 88The rules of syntaxLesson 121✓
  40. 89Letter-writingLesson 122✓
  41. 90Miscellaneous exercisesLesson 123✓

Part 3 Part III: Punctuation, and the Appendix

The comma and the other marks, then the list of irregular verbs and the rules for capital letters. Lessons 91–96.

  1. 91Punctuation and the commaLesson 124–125✓
  2. 92Semicolon, colon and periodLesson 126–128✓
  3. 93Question mark, exclamation point, dash, curves and bracketsLesson 129–133✓
  4. 94Other marks used in writingLesson 134✓
  5. 95Irregular and unipersonal verbsLesson Appendix✓
  6. 96Capital letters and italicsLesson Appendix✓

The book itself

Guides follow the book's numbered lessons in order. The book's lesson number is shown beside each title; several short lessons share one guide and a few long ones are split. The guides are written for this site; the book is in the public domain.

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