STEP 17

Vocabulary

Read and memorize these nouns and adjectives.

Nouns


Ball
Bottle
Jewel
Judge
Money
Discussion

Adjectives

Broken

Wise - Foolish

Structure words

Well

Than

Structure

1 . Names of Substances

“Money” like “fruit” and “grass”, is a collective noun and behaves like the name of a substance.

There is some money on the table. She does the work for money.

2. Adjectives

The adjective “like” expresses a comparison, and so, like opposite, is frequently used like a preposition, pointing to the object with which the comparison is made.

The pain was like a fire in his head.
The letter 'S' is like a snake.
The light makes the drop of water seem like a bright jewel.
The plant has a flower like a bell.
We went into a building like a church.

“Like” may also be used like a simple quality word before a noun.

The two friends have like ideas and interests.
He will make another table but not for a like price.

It is used further, in the sense 'in the manner of'.

The steam makes a sound like a snake.
Like all young men, he has some foolish ideas.

3. Operators

There is only one more form-change to learn in connection with operators. You are already familiar with the adjectives formed from operators by the addition of “-ing”, which are applied to the doer of the act. There is another adjectival formation that is applied to the person or thing to which the act is done. With “come”, “let”, and “put”, this is the same as the root form, and with “get”, “have”, “keep”, “make”, “say”, “seem”, and “send” it is the same as the Past; “may” and “will” have no such forms. So the only new forms to get into your head are:

Be	Been
Do	Done
Get	Gotten1
Give	Given
Go	Gone
Take	Taken
See	Seen

These forms are practically never used before a noun. Their uses are as follows:
(a) They are used after ”be”, when the subject names that which undergoes the operation (The Passive construction). “That” which does the operation may be indicated by putting its name after “by”.

The housework is done by the servants in the morning.
The bottle of wine was got for his friends for his friends.
The bottle of wine was gotten for his friends for his friends.
Why were the socks given to the cook?
Where is the money kept?
The birds will be let out of the window.
These stockings were not made for my sister.
Her teeth are put in a glass every night.
What was said to him?
A fish was seen in the water.
The letter was not sent by me.
The flags will be taken from the building tonight.

The forms “made” and “done” may also be used to indicate the condition of having undergone an operation. In this case, there is no thought of the doer, and so by followed by the name of the doer is not used.

My coat is made. (The making of it is complete.)
The housework is done. (Competed.)

1 Gotten is an alternative; the learner must be prepared to see this, but you do not need to use it.

(b) They are used after “get”, qualifying its object. In this use, get may mean either 'cause to be' done, etc. (by some other person) or 'bring into the condition of having been' done, etc.

I will get some stocking made by my sister. (Cause her to make some)
He gets food sent from the country.
He got he work done tonight. (Succeeded in finishing it.)

“Get” is never used with got, or with let or made followed by an operator. It will be obvious that been, come, gone, and seemed cannot be used after either get or be, as the operators from which they are formed do not sand for operations that can be 'done to' anything.

(c) All these forms (not including been, come, gone, and seemed) have an important use with the auxiliary “have” to form tenses representing an act or condition as preceding the point of time indicated (the Perfect Tenses). When this point of time is the present, the Past Tense of have is used.

I have put all the broken glasses on that shelf. (At the present time the act is completed.)
She has done everything for her family.
He has been wise.
They have had a good discussion. 2
We have not seen the manager today.
I have frequently said this.
He will give us an account of what he has seen.
Has someone taken the money from the bag?
Who has made this foolish suggestion? 2
It has seemed a long time.
The boy has sent his ball onto the roof.
The leaves have gone from the trees.
When the boy had got the ball from the other garden, he came back. (The act was completed before he came.)
Someone had let the wine go on the table.
She was angry because he had given his money to his cook.
She had put the jewels into a box before she went.

These tenses are also used to indicate that a condition or act started before a certain point is or were still continuing at that point.

I have kept the money. (And am still keeping it.)
He has had these socks on for a week.
When I got to the station, he had been waiting for the train for an hour.
No ships have come to the island.

The following examples illustrate how the Passive is formed with these tenses.

The socks have been put in a drawer.
One tooth had been taken out when he was young.
The snake has not been seen again.
Have the wine-bottles been sent back?
A meal has been given to the boy.

2Note that the operator have is used with discussion and the operator make with suggestion.

4 . Forms of Degree

“Much” has two forms for expressing degree, more (the comparative), which indicates a greater amount, and most (the superlative), which indicates the greatest amount. “Little” forms less and least going down the scale. Unlike “much” and “little” themselves, these forms may be used before plural nouns naming countables to indicate number, as well as before singular nouns naming substances, etc. to indicate amount.
“Most” and “least” are generally preceded by the, because in any particular situation there is only one group or amount which can be so qualified.

There is (more | less) wine in this bottle.
She has (the) (most | least ) jewels.
Those socks have holes in them. There are (more | less ) in these. Which socks have (the) (most | least)?

The comparative and superlative degrees of other adjectives are expressed by putting more and most respectively (or less and least) before such words.

(The) Least foolish = Less foolish = Foolish   = More foolish   = (The) Most foolish
(The) Least sudden = Less sudden = Sudden = More sudden = (The) Most sudden
    In certain cases, the degree of an adjective is expressed by an ending instead of by more and most, “-er” forming the comparative and “-est” the superlative. And “-est” form, like an adjective qualified by most, is usually preceded by the. There are no endings corresponding to less and least.
    The endings give exactly the same sense as more and most, and with some adjectives degree may be expressed in either way. In many cases, however, the usage has become fixed. Certain adjective never take the endings and other are never used with more and most. There is also, of course, a small number of adjectives (married and first are examples) whose sense is such that they cannot have degrees, but these may be left to common sense.

Here are a few examples of adjectives that are not used with more and most:

Small - Smaller - Smallest
Young -Younger3 - Youngest
Long - Longer3 - Longest

There are three points to notice in connection with spelling:

(a) Adjectives ending in e drop the e before the ending.

wise - wiser - wisest

(b) Adjectives ending in y preceded by a consonant change the y into I.

early - earlier -earliest

red -redder -reddest

There are two adjectives that have irregular forms expressing degree:

bad - worse - worst
good -better - best

    The comparative and superlative degrees of adverbs ending in “-ly” are expressed with more and most or less and least.
(The) Least slowly   = Less slowly   =   Slowly   = More slowly =   (The) Most slowly
(The) Least cheaply = Less cheaply =    Cheaply    = More cheaply = (The) Most cheaply

The adjectives used as adverbs without change of form (such as (high, see Step 12) retain their adjectival forms of comparison. Apart from these, the only adverbs which indicate degree by endings are near and far. 4

near -nearer -nearest
far - farther- farthest

Note that the adverb very cannot qualify a comparative or superlative.

3 In -er and -est forms of adjectives sending in ng, the ng, is pronounced as in finger.

4 For two adverbs whose forms of degree are exceptional, see Section 6.

5 . Comparison

Comparative statements are of two kinds:

(a) Statements asserting that something is or is not equal to something else in some quality or condition. These are made by means of the construction “as . . as”, giving the sense 'to the degree . . . to which.' The first as is followed by an adjective, adverb, or phrase indicating the quality, etc., or by a noun qualified by an adjective, and the second by a dependent statement introducing the second member of the comparison. This dependent statement, however, is given in full only when it differs sufficiently from the main statement to make this necessary for sense or clarity.

Her eyes are as bright as jewels. (To the degree to which jewels are bright)

In the following examples, the words in brackets are only given to show the complete construction. They would not normally be put in.

He is almost as wise as his father (Is wise).
The young man did not seem as foolish as his friends (Seemed foolish).
Do the ships go as frequently as the trains (Go frequently) ?
These flowers are not as early as the yellow ones (Are early).

In the following examples, the words in brackets are not necessary but they are sometimes put in.
1. Things are as dear in that store as (they are) in this.
2. He is as near to the door as (he is) to the window.
3. The young woman is as good as she is beautiful.
4. The parcels came as quickly as the letters (came).
5. I did not see him as clearly as (I saw or I did) you.
6. I saw him as clearly as you (saw him or did).
7. He will get here as early as you (did).
8. The white ball will not go as far as the red one (will).
9. Has Tom done as little as I (have)?
10. Take as much as he men will give you.
11. They are not as good judges as we (are).
12. He is not as old a man as my father (is).

Note the position of “a” in Example 12. When the first as is followed by a qualified noun which is a singular countable, a(n) must follow, not precede, the adjective.

There are various other points to note in connection with the above examples. When you are in doubt, you may refer to these notes, but do not worry too much about the details at this stage. If you give attention to the examples themselves and to the use of as . . . as construction in the reading material, you will probably not go far wrong.

When a preposition applies both to the main statement and to the as- statement, it must be repeated (see Examples 1 and 2).
When the comparison is between two different adjectives, the subject (which may, of course, be changed to the appropriate pronoun) and the operator are repeated (see Example 3).

In sentences such as Examples 5 and 6, it is clearly necessary to give the words in brackets unless the situation makes it quite clear which of the two possible senses is intended. Note that “do” is frequently used as a substitute for an operator in a simple tense in the dependent statement.

When the operator to be repeated in the as- statement is in a complex tense, it is generally represented by the auxiliary alone, if at all (see Examples 8 and 9).

(b) Statements asserting that one thing is or is not unequal to another in some quality or condition. These are made by using an adjective or adverb in the comparative followed by a dependent statement, expressed or understood, which is introduced by the joining-word “than”. The dependent statement is framed in the same way as after as and is subject to the same rules.

The words give in brackets in the first three examples are only given to show the complete construction and would not normally be put in.

There are more snakes in that place than (there are snakes) in this (place).
I will put less wine than (I will put) water in her glass.
The girls went out of the room more quietly than the boys (went out of the room).
Some persons have more money than others.
He has made less suggestions than I have.
Is he in a worse hospital than this?
Ellen makes socks more quickly than her sister (does).
The boys went to sleep earlier than the girls.
The snake was quicker than we were.
The discussions are not less frequent than they were.
The judge said more to me than (he did) to the others.
Your friend has a better voice than his brother.
He seemed more tired than angry.
Do not make the wall higher than the smallest tree.

6 . Adverbs

“Well” takes the place of an -ly form of good. Like good, it has the forms of comparison “better” and “best”. The opposite of well is “badly”, which takes the forms “worse” and “worst”. These adverbs do not have an alternative position at the beginning of the sentence.

The woman made the socks well.
I do not see well in this room at night.
The woman made the socks badly.
Our eyes see better at night than in the day.
He does the work best.
He does the work worst.

7 . Conjunctions

“That” is used as a joining word between the operator “say” and a statement of what is said in cases where the exact words used by the speaker are not given in quotation marks. When that follows a Past Tense, the statement that it introduces, if not already in the Past Tense, must be put into one. The tense of the original statement is kept unchanged after a Present or Future Tense. (Note that the tense formed with the Present of have is regarded as a Present Tense.)

I say that he will come again.
He said that he kept the money in a drawer.
She will not say that her daughter was foolish.
They say that they have had some wine.
Who said that he had seen the snake before?

NOTE. How this use has developed from the use of that as a pointing word may be seen if we put the first example in the form I say that: (namely) He will come again.

That is similarly used after “see” to introduce a statement of what is seen.

Your daughter saw that one bottle was broken.
She will see that there are no clouds in the sky.
I see that the work has been done well.

“That” is also used with nouns such as answer, news, opinion, idea (to take examples from the vocabulary already learned) to introduce a statement giving the answer, news, etc., in question. In this use, the that-statement may come immediately after the noun it amplifies (whatever part this plays in the sentence), or it may come after be or some other operator of which he noun it amplifies is the subject.

The opinion that men are wiser than women makes me angry.
We had an idea that what he was saying was foolish.
I was waiting for the news that the ship had come in.
My opinion is that he is not a good judge of women.
His answer was that he did not take the spade.
The idea came to him that there was a snake under the table.

Finally, a statement introduced by that may be used as the subject of be or seem to state a fact about which something is being asserted.

That he has no money seems clear.
That you are still here is a surprise to me.
That he is foolish is not my opinion.

Exercise

Step17

1. Make comparative statements about the objects in the above pictures, writing two sentences for each picture, in one of which you put the thing labeled 'A' first in your comparison, and in the other, the thing labeled 'B'.

(a).-
(b).-
(c).-
(d).-
(e).-
(f).-

2. Put the Past Tense in black print into a tense formed with have.

(a) He is angry because some wine was taken from the bottle.

(b) I saw the jewels today.

(d) Who took the paper off the table before I came?

(e) She sent no letters till she got news of him.

(f) They said that they kept the money.

(g) The ship went out of the harbor tonight.

3. Make these statements in another form, changing the object of the operator into the subject.

(a) Someone took the jewels from the house.

(b) The porter saw the boys getting on a train.

(d) My mother puts the pot on the fire before we get up.

(e) A workman made the suggestion to the manager.

(f) We send parcels of food to the prison.

4. Write a sentence using the conjunction that:

(a) After some form of see.

(b) Immediately after a noun.

(d) Introducing the subject of “be”, with opinion coming after the operator.

5. Make these statements in another form using the joining-word that.

(a) My friend said to me, “You did a wise thing.”

(b) When he comes late I say, “The manager will be angry with you.”

(d) They said, “We have no desire for more money.”

(e) If she sees him today she will say, “I was angry with you last night.”

(f) He says, “I will put some questions to the committee.

6. Put these statements into the normal forms by omitting words and changing them where necessary:

(a) You will see the snake as clearly as I see he snake.

(b) She gave the man more money than her sister gave the man money.

(d) Are you as old as my brother is old?

(e) If she sees him today she will say, “I was angry with you last night.”

(f) He says, I will put some questions to the committee."