III. Use those or them in the sentences below and

give a reason for your choice.

adjective.

Never use them as an

4. Arrange your papers and put in your desk.

IV. Use this and these of things near the speaker; use that and those of things farther away.

9. I could not work examples we had yesterday, but I

Make a mental picture of the following:

A cornfield in July is a sultry place. The soil is hot and dry; the wind comes across the lazily murmuring leaves laden with a warm, sickening smell drawn from the rapidly growing, broad-flowing banners of the corn. The sun, nearly vertical, drops a flood of dazzling light upon the field over which

the cool shadows run, only to make the heat seem more in tense. HAMLIN GARLAND.

I. Notice that the words cornfield and broad-flowing are each formed by joining two words together. Words formed in this way are called compound words.

Notice also that the hyphen (-) is used to join the two parts of the word broad-flowing, but is omitted in the word cornfield.

As a rule, familiar compound words, like cornfield, are written. without the hyphen, while unusual compounds, like broadflowing, are written with the hyphen.

Numbers composed of two parts, like twenty-one, fortysecond, are usually written with the hyphen.

II. Find on this or some other page a word that is divided at the end of the line. Why is it divided? What mark shows that

a part of the word is on the next line? What two uses of the hyphen have you learned in this lesson ?

Remember. The hyphen is sometimes used to join the parts of a compound word.

The hyphen is used at the end of a line to show that a part of a word is carried over to the next line.

The division of a word at the end of a line must be made between two syllables. A word of one syllable cannot be divided.

Exercises. I. Find ten compound words without a hyphen and five with a hyphen.

II. Find ten words divided at the end of a line. III. Write the numbers from forty to fifty; eighty to ninety.

IV. Divide the following words into syllables:

V. Find five adjectives in the selection, and tell what noun each adjective modifies.

178

WORD BUILDING

The thousands of words in the English language are not all separate and distinct in their origin and meaning, but a large majority of them are formed. from other words. For example, we can begin with the word true and build up the words untrue, truly, truth, truthful, untruthful, and untruthfulness.

If we know how to form several words from one word in this way, we have a means of rapidly increasing our store.

A letter, syllable, or word joined to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning is called a prefix.

A letter, syllable, or word joined to the end of a word to modify its meaning is called a suffix.

In the word untruthful, the syllable un is a prefix, and ful is a suffix.

179

A STUDY OF SOME PREFIXES

1. Un before an adjective means not. Join the prefix un to these adjectives, and notice the change in

Use each of the new adjectives in a short sentence; as, "The story is untrue." Find in your reader ten adjectives beginning with un.

TO THE TEACHER. Pupils should be given practice on each prefix and suffix (1) by means of the words that follow; (2) by using each new word in a sentence; (3) by finding similar uses of the given prefix or suffix in their reading lessons.

2. Un before verbs means back or in the opposite way; as, furl to fold or roll up; unfurl = to open or roll out.

=

A STUDY OF SOME PREFIXES

197

3. Over above or too much; as, oversleep = to

=

in doing it; as, misbehave = behave wrongly.

5. Dis not or the opposite of; as, disagree to agree, to quarrel.

6. In, im, il, ir, = not. Any one of these prefixes placed before an adjective makes a new adjective having an opposite meaning; as, inactive = not active. All these prefixes are different forms of the one prefix in.

capable perfect visible

regular

patient distinct

Exercise. Find the prefixes in the following sentences, and tell how each is used:

1. Edward was a clumsy, overgrown boy. 2. You have been misinformed. 3. When Jackson had once made up his mind, he was immovable. 4. George, please unharness the horse. 5. Do not drink impure water. 6. Why do you dislike Henry? 7. The sewing class has been discontinued. 8. The speaker was very uninteresting.