PROGRESSIVE STUDIES IN ENGLISH-IV AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR USE IN HIGH AND NORMAL SCHOOLS BY ALMA BLOUNT, Ph. D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE MICHIGAN STATE NORMAL COLLEGE AND CLARK SUTHERLAND NORTHUP, Ph. D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN PREFACE In the opinion of the authors of this book technical grammar should not be taught in the first years of the high school. In the seventh and eighth grades the pupils have already studied the elements of English grammar, as discipline in the analysis of thought, as a preparation for the study of foreign tongues, and as an aid in composition. In the ninth and tenth grades they have not enough linguistic experience and added grasp of mind to make the continuation of English grammar a profitable study. But if, in the eleventh or twelfth grade (preferably in the latter), the student resume the study of the mother tongue, he will bring to it two or three years of scholastic discipline and experience beyond that of the eighth grade, and will be prepared to attack new and more difficult problems. In preparing this treatise on English grammar, the authors have assumed on the part of the students such knowledge of the subject as would be obtained from the study of an elementary text-for example, the Elementary Grammar of this series of language books, PROGRESSIVE STUDIES IN ENGLISH. An attempt is here made to furnish the text needed for two classes of more advanced students: first, those who require a book of medium difficulty; and, secondly, those who require a comprehensive and scientific treatise. For the first class the matter printed in the type of the regular text will probably be sufficient, though among such students questions will doubtless arise that will require reference to other portions of the volume. The second class, the more mature students of normal schools and colleges, should endeavor to master the principles developed in the historical and other material printed in smaller type. In case circumstances require rearrangement and condensation of the text, attention is called to the fact that English furnishes far richer material for the study of syntax than for the study of inflection. The authors desire to acknowledge their indebtedness to the great English grammars of Maetzner and Koch, valuable mines |