Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 118 · Part 2: Part II: The parts of speech in full

85. Abridgment

Goal: Your child can shorten a clause into an infinitive, participle or participial phrase.

⏱ About 25 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 118 shows how a subordinate clause can be shortened ("I knew that it was he" becomes "I knew it to be him"), gives three model analyses and sixteen short sentences to analyze.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Ask: What is ellipsis?

  2. Shortening clauses

    Read the book's examples:

    "I knew that it was he" becomes "I knew it to be him."

    "I was not aware that it was he" becomes "I was not aware of its being he."

    "The fair was not held, because the weather was unfavorable" becomes "The weather being unfavorable, the fair was not held."

    Read:

    A subordinate clause thus changed is called an Abridged Proposition.

  3. Oral practice

    Shorten aloud: When the rain stopped, we went out. (The rain having stopped, we went out.) I hope that I will win. (I hope to win.)

  4. Analyze

    Analyze a few of the book's sentences:

    No rain having fallen, the crops were destroyed.

    His being a foreigner is no disgrace.

    Honor being lost, all is lost.

  5. Check together

    Ask what full clause each short form stands for.

  6. Use it today

    Find a sentence in today's reading that begins with an -ing phrase.

Answers to the book's problems

No rain having fallen = Because no rain had fallen. His being a foreigner = That he is a foreigner. The storm continuing = Because the storm continued. Having led an active life = Because he had led an active life. Honor being lost = When honor is lost. I wished him to be a farmer = I wished that he should be a farmer.

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

@teddyrookbook GitHub