Child, do you write well? Sentences exercising the auxiliary verbs. Mother. The dog is Of what do I say something? What do I say of it? Very right; I have said nothing of it as yet, but it is to come. The dog is faithful. Children repeat. Mother. The dog was faithful. The dog has been faithful. The dog had been faithful. Children repeat. Mother. In what do the three last sentences differ from the first? In speaking thus, do I say that the dog is still faithful? Of what time do I speak then? Children. Of time past. Mother. The dog will be faithful. Children. The future time. Mother makes the children pronounce the following sentences: Is, was the dog faithful? Has the dog been faithful? Will the dog be faithful? The dogs are, were, have been, had been, will be faithful. Are, were the dogs faithful? Have, had the dogs been faithful. Will the dogs be faithful? Forming various sentences, according to the well-known forms, is the more necessary in this verb, as it is so irregular throughout its changes. Mother. The son is the support of his fa ́ther, Change this sentence through the various Change it in the interrogative also? Children. Son, be the support of thy father! Mother. Carry it through all the various times, in an address joined to a question. At the conclusion of the exercises on this auxiliary verb, the mother may give sentences, of which the beginning only is expressed, and then desire the more advanced children to complete them. For instance: Mother. The dog is Children. The dog is a four-footed animal; (quadruped;) or, the dog is a sagacious animal, or watchful. Mother. The town is Children. The town is clean, dirty, ancient, populous, &c. Mother. The water is Children. Clear, transparent, tasteless, stagnant, &c. Sentences on the auxiliary verb, to have, and on other verbs, requiring, besides the chief word, or the subject, another substantive in the accusative case, to complete the sentence. Mother. The elephant has Of what do I say something? What do I say of him? Do you know by what I have pronounced any thing about him? Well, this I have to add : The elephant has a trunk, or proboscis. Children repeat. Mother. The horse has What is wanting here to make it a com plete sentence? Children. That which it has. Mother. The horse has a mane. Children repeat. Mother. The house has Children. There is yet wanting what it has. Mother. The house has a roof. Repeat our three sentences. Pronounce our sentences now interrogagatively. Children. Has the elephant a trunk, or a proboscis, &c. Mother. The righteous man has a cheerful mind and a pure conscience. Of whom do I say something?" What do I say of him? The righteous man had a cheerful mind, &c. Children repeat. Mother. What difference is there between this and the former sentence? Children. This sentence expressed the past, and the former the present time. The righteous man will have a cheerful mind, &c. The children may repeat these sentences, and carry them through the other forms. Mother. The mason employs Of whom do I say something? Have I expressed any thing complete? The mother leads them to proceed through the different times and changes. Mother. The bird has Add now yourself a word expressing what he has, Children. Feathers. The children of the first division repeat. Mother. Children. Claws. Mother. The sheep has Children. Wool. Mother. The coat has Children. Buttons, sleeves, pockets, &c. Mother. The tree has Children. Roots, stem, leaves, boughs, flowers, and fruit. Mother. The coachman wants Children, A coach, and horses, and harness, |