Part I. ACCIDENCE
THE NOUN
Exercise 1. State the morphological composition of the following nouns.
Snow, sandstone, impossibility, widower, opinion, exclamation, passer-by, misunderstanding, inactivity, snowball, kingdom, anticyclone, mother-of-pearl, immobility, might, warmth, succession, ex-president, nurse, misdeed, wisdom, blackbird, attention, policeman, merry-go-round, girlhood, usefulness, fortune, friendship, statesman, brother-in-law, population, fellow-boarder, smelling-salt.
Exercise 2. Point out the nouns and define the class each belongs to.
1. Don't forget, Pettinger, Europe is still the heart of the world, and Germany the heart of Europe. (Heym) 2. Pursuing his inquiries, Clennam found that the Gowan family were a very distant ramification of the Barnacles... (Dickens) 3. His face was sick with pain and rage. (Maltz) 4. He drank coffee, letting the warmth go through his cold, tired body. (This is America) 5. But there is only one place I met with the brotherhood of man, and it was in the Communist Party. (This is America) 6. The mysteries of storm and the rain and tide were revealed. (Galsworthy) 7. Having set the tea, she stood by the table and said slowly: "Tea's ready, Father. I'm going to London." (Galsworthy) 8. By this time, quite a small crowd had collected, and people were asking each other what was the matter. (Jerome i(. Jerome) 9. There were several small losses: a spoon used for the baby's feeding, a pair of scissors. (Lessing) 10. He was professor of physics. (London) 11. A band of dark clouds lay across the sky, and underneath it was the last pale brilliance of the evening. (Murdoch) 12. "I have some luggage," he said, "at the Brumblehurst Station," and he asked her how he could have it. (Wells) 13. In the kitchen Bowen read the telegram aloud. (Amis) 14. The crowd laughed and moved, pushing every way and everybody. (This is America) 15. De Witt fished through his pockets, found his eyeglasses, carefully slipped them out of their case... (Heylri) 16. A stone caught her heel. (Maltz) 17. George suggested meat and fruit pies, cold meat, tomatoes, fruit and green stuff. (Jerome K. Jerome) 18. The silvercoloured carpet felt wonderfully soft beneath his feet, the furniture was of a golden wood. (Galsworthy) 19. The major seemed to be looking out at the sky... (Heytn) 20. Winslow spoke with his usual caustic courtesy. (Snow) 21. The bourgeoisie is cowardly. (London) 22. The moon was shining through the tree stems when they sax again side by side on the log seat. (Galsworthy) 23. "It's not Sunday, tomorrow," said Karg. (Heytn) 24. He looked down at his audience. (Heyrri) 25. His hair was grey and he was short and fat. (Hemingway)
Exercise 3. Give the plural oi the following nouns.
Face, portfolio, swine, house, tomato, hearth, mother-in-law, basis, clergyman, ox, cry, key, fox, downfall, looker-on, rock, bush, enemy, leaf, roof, genius, hero, bunch, sheep, ship, criterion, youth, journey, penknife, man-of-war, loss, datum, goose, deer, pie, Englishwoman, wolf, mouse, formula, bath, volcano, possibility, forget-me-not, foot, handkerchief, thief, crisis, stepdaughter, birth, echo, finger-tip, court martial, joy, mischief-maker, extremity, spy, lie.
Exercise 4. Use the appropriate form of the verb.
1. "There — money in my pocket," 1 said to the porter, (is, are) (Hemingway) 2. I know my hair __ beautiful, everybody says so. (is, are) (Hardy) 3. The works __ his country, his home, his reason for being, (was, were) (Heym) 4. These white swine — not live, (does, do) (Sabatini) 5. Means __ easily found, (was, were) (Thackeray) 6....this watch __ a special favourite with Mr. Pickwick, having been carried about... for a greater number of years than we feel called upon to state, at present, (was, were) (Dickens) 7. "Good," I said. "No one shall tell me again that fish — no sense with them." (has, have) (Llewellyn) 8. The deer __ ravaging the man's fields, (was, were) (Twain) 9. Money __ so scarce that it could fairly be said not to exist at all. (was, were) (Dreiser) 10. I was here before the gates __ opened, but I was afraid to come straight to you. (was, were) (Dickens) 11. The papers __ dull, the news _ local and stale, and the war news __ all old. (was, were) (Hemingway) 12. At Capracotta, he had told me, there __ trout in the stream below the town, (was, were) (Hemingway) 13. The sugartongs __ too wide for one of her hands, and she had to use both in wielding them, (was, were) (Ch. Bronte) 14. Her hair __ loose and half-falling, and she wore a nurse's dress, (was, were) (Hemingway) 15. And the baggage __ apparatus and appliances, (contain, contains) (Wells) 16. The china __ good, of a delicate pattern, (was, were) (Dreiser) 17. The nurse's wages.: __ good... (was, were) (Collins)
