business firm or company. Sometimes Dear Sirs is used instead. If the business house is managed by one person, the salutation should be Dear Sir:

Notice the mark of punctuation that is placed after the salutation in this letter. This mark should be used in all business letters. It is called the colon. What mark is used after the salutation in the friendly letter?

Notice the complimentary close. Compare it with that of the friendly letter. It is much more formal. Notice the use of capitals and punctuation marks in the complimentary close. Does it differ from the

usage in the friendly letter?

The phrase Very truly yours is the customary way of closing a business letter.

Read the letter subscribing for The Youth's Companion.

What facts besides the name of the weekly are included in the letter? Why?

Write a letter subscribing for the St. Nicholas. The Century Company, New York City, publishes this magazine.

Before you write the letter, be sure that you can answer the following questions.

1. What punctuation and capitalization do you use in the heading, in the introductory address, in the salutation, and in the complimentary close? 2. What is placed above the salutation?

182

LEARNING PARTS OF SPEECH

VERBS

Read again this stanza about the rats.

Rats!

They fought the dogs and killed the cats,

And bit the babies in the cradles,

And ate the cheeses out of the vats,

And licked the soup from the cook's own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats,

Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats.
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.

Select the words which tell what the rats did.

These words are called verbs. Most verbs show action.

Give four verbs telling things that you do in school. Give four telling things that you do at recess or after school.

Give four telling things that you do at home.

Find the verbs in the following sentences.

that every sentence contains a verb.

Notice

1. The Niger River flows through the west-central part of Africa.

2. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

3. The people along this river use mud barns for storing grain.

4. These barns look like huge mud jars.

5. The natives cover the openings at the top with

mats.

6. They leave a hole in the side for ventilation. 7. All these storehouses rest on supports about one foot from the ground.

183

FINDING MORE VERBS

Make a list of the verbs in the following story. You will again see that every sentence contains a verb.

John Peter was a miller who wished for wind and rain. The wind came first. After the wind had gone, the rain came. The rain fell gently. The rain spirits said,

"We fall on this thatched roof."

"We wet the whole of this cottage."
"We water the leaves of the cabbages."
"We cover these pebbles with water."
"We run along this beam."

"We jump through this hole."

"We wet everything we can."

The rain was a good friend to John Peter. His garden became green. His cabbage and lettuce were soon large enough to be eaten.

Read the words in italics. These words also are verbs. They tell something, but they do not show

action.

The people of Hawaii are the most expert swimmers in the world. They appear to be as much at home in the water as on land. Even the little children seem

happiest in the water.

They often accompany their

The men plunge into the

fathers on fishing trips. surf and spear the fish.

Name the verbs in the story. Ask yourself the question, "Does the word tell or assert something?” Which verbs in the story show action?

Name the verbs which do not show action.

Every verb does not show action, but every verb must make a statement.

A verb is a word used to tell or assert something.
Most verbs show action.

184

STUDYING VERB PHRASES

John Peter was a miller who had wished for wind and rain. The wind came first. After the wind had gone, the rain came. The rain was falling gently. The rain spirits were saying,

"We will fall on this thatched roof."

"We will wet the whole of this cottage.'
"We will water the leaves of the cabbages."
"We must cover these pebbles with water."
"We will run along this beam."

"We will jump through this hole."

"We must wet everything we can."

Read the verbs in the first paragraph.

Notice that the verbs in italics need more than one word to make the statement. Such a group of words is called a verb phrase.

Read the verb phrases in the sentences that tell what the rain spirits said.

A verb phrase is a group of words used as one verb.

185

REVIEWING VERB FORMS

You have already learned to use many word forms

that you will now recognize as verbs and verb phrases.

Notice once more that the past form of the verb never has a helper. The complete form is helped by have, has, or had. It is, therefore, a verb phrase.

Write sentences using the different forms of these verbs. Read your sentences to the class.

Practice saying

I gave
You took

The bell rang

You have taken

I have given

The bell has rung

and so on, until your ear is so accustomed to the sound that your speech responds to it.