Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 100 · Part 2: Part II: The parts of speech in full

75. False syntax: verb cautions

Goal: Your child corrects mistakes with shall and will, tenses, past forms, and words like ain't and might of.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and a pencil (or a slate)

What's in the book

Lesson 100 gives six cautions about verbs with example sentences to correct, then sentences to correct by the rules of agreement.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Ask for the principal parts of fall, see and come.

  2. Cautions I to III

    Read:

    Never use will for shall, nor would for should.

    Tense-forms should express time in harmony with that indicated by other parts of the sentence.

    General truths should be expressed in the present tense.

    Fix:

    They have visited us yesterday.

    I always thought that dew fell.

  3. Caution IV

    Read:

    Do not use the perfect participle to express past time, nor the past tense form instead of the perfect participle.

    Fix:

    He done it: I seen him.

    The tree had fell, and it was broke in two.

  4. Caution VI

    The book says not to use "aint," "haint" or "might of." Fix:

    Samuel might of done his task long ago.

    Jane haint got her lesson.

  5. Agreement

    The book asks your child to correct these by the rules of agreement:

    Henry and Charles was very much disappointed.

    The scissors is dull.

    Time and tide waits for no man.

  6. Use it today

    The book says to correct mistakes with verbs that you notice in your own language. Pick one habit to work on this week.

Tip

Caution I (shall and will) was a firm rule in 1880, and few people follow it today. Teach it as the book's rule, then move on.

Answers to the book's problems

They visited us yesterday. He has been tardy every day this week. I would help you, if you could not get some one else to do so. He was under obligations to assist me. I have heard that each star is a sun. I always thought that meteors are falling stars. What did you say is the capital of Indiana? I always thought that dew falls. He came here last week. He did it: I saw him. The tree had fallen, and it was broken in two. He sat down on a log. I have seen the man. It is not one swallow that makes a summer. Jane has not learned her lesson. Are you not going to the concert? Samuel might have done his task long ago. He should have taken the accommodation train. Is it not beautiful? Henry and Charles were very much disappointed. You were there, I suppose. The yoke of oxen was sold for a hundred dollars. Ellen is not at school to-day. The scissors are dull. The fleet was seen off Hatteras. Time and tide wait for no man.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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