COMMAS TO SET OFF NAMES

77

Notice that the commas are used on both sides of the name of the person addressed. The name of a person addressed is always set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma or by commas.

EXERCISE

Punctuate the following sentences:

1. Mother may I go over to the store Henry begged No Henry I want you to help me said his mother Please mother I will be right back

2. Come on Frank run in the mile dash and try for honors Russell said

But Russell there isn't a chance in the world for me Frank re

plied

3.

A chieftain to the Highlands bound

Cries Boatman do not tarry

And I'll give thee a silver pound

To row us o'er the ferry

4. The good woman answered All travelers are welcome here for the

5.

sake of one

And who is that one said the King

It is Robert the Bruce, the lawful lord of this country she said
Lord Percy to the quarry went

To view the tender deer;

Quoth he Earl Douglas promised once

This day to meet me here

6. Look Frank there comes a motor boat cried Don It surely does sound like one Frank replied

7. Where did you come from Mrs Thompson asked

I saw you from my window and came over was Arthur's answer

Caution. After punctuating the sentences above, look over them carefully to see if you have used the rules for punctuation you have already learned. Be sure that your quotation marks inclose the exact words of the speaker.

Contractions. In conversation we frequently contract, or shorten, our words by leaving out some of the letters. For example, we more often say I'll than I will, don't than do not, doesn't than does not, won't than will not, we're than we are. These contractions are all in good use, and are just as correct as the longer forms in conversation. In ordinary writing they are not used, but when we are writing out a conversation, and sometimes in our letters, the contracted form seems more natural than the longer form. We indicate the omitted letters by the use of the apostrophe. Do not becomes don't, with the apostrophe to take the place of the o in not; I will becomes I'll with the apostrophe substituted for wi in will. The following contractions are in

Always use doesn't, not don't, when the subject means

one; "He doesn't," not "He don't."

PICTURE STUDY

THE FOG WARNING

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

Winslow Homer was a Boston boy who wished very much to become an artist. When he was young not many people in America were interested in art; but Homer was determined to learn to draw. He entered a lithographer's shop, where he drew on stone, and afterwards he learned wood engraving. He moved to New York when he was in his early twenties and began making illustrations for Harper's Weekly. Homer made some popular pictures of Civil War scenes. One of these, called Prisoners from the Front, was exhibited in Paris, where it attracted attention. It was a proud day for the young man when he heard the complimentary things the French artists said about his picture.

Homer cared less, however, about painting people than he did about painting the sea. Always he had loved the sea. From the Maine coast to the Gulf of Mexico the sea with its tremendous power, its ever-changing color, its dangers and its magic, had fascinated the artist. Homer was a pioneer in painting seascapes; not many before him had entered this field. He is known and recognized to-day as one of the greatest painters of marine pictures. His seascapes are remarkable both for their color and their movement. One can feel the sweep of the waves, the dash of the surf in his pictures. The Fog Warning, one of his finest pictures, belongs to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Another of his pictures reproduced in Part Two is A Northeaster. Together with many other fine canvases painted by the same artist, it hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

XV. NUMBER

Singular and Plural of Nouns and Pronouns.

Each of the nouns and pronouns in the first and third columns below stands for how many? in the second and fourth columns?

A noun or a pronoun that stands for one object is singular; a noun or a pronoun that stands for two or more objects is plural. You will notice that the form of the nouns and pronouns changes to indicate the plural number. The usual way to form the plural number of a noun is to add s or es to the singular form; but some irregular nouns, such as man, woman, child, ox, and others, change the form entirely.

Pronouns change their form to indicate the plural number. We is the plural of I; they is the plural of he, she, and it.

Singular and Plural of Verbs. Verbs also have number. For example, we say "he comes" (singular), "they come (plural); "she gives" (singular), "they give" (plural); "it grows" (singular), "they grow" (plural).

Agreement of Verb and Subject. We say "The boy goes" and "The boys go"; "The girl is pretty" and "The girls are pretty." If the subject is singular, a singular verb must be used; if the subject is plural, a plural verb must be used. A verb must agree with its subject in number.