If adverbial clauses are not needed to make clear the rest of the sentence, or if they are out of their natural position, coming, for example, at the beginning of the sentence, they are set off by the comma. In other cases, the comma is not used.

Exercise 155

Describe the adverbial clauses and decide which ones should be set off by the comma.

1. For years England had suppressed the slave trade wherever her fleet could reach it.

2. When the four yeomen had traveled for a long time toward Sherwood they began to wax hungry.

3. By this time the young miller had come so near that they could see him clearly.

4. We will hold a merry feast in honor of our new friends though they have proved themselves stronger men than we.

5. All listened in silence for young Allan's singing was one of the greatest joys in the world to them.

6. So deep was the silence that you could hear every arrow rap against the target when it struck it.

7. His face turned as red as a cherry.

8. I should have spoken if I had seen her.

9. As the Alabama was the most famous of the cruisers these claims for damages were called the "Alabama Claims."

10. When George III refused to acknowledge those rights when no petition and no protest could move him the American people deliberately took the final step.

11. He talked so much about his military experiences that the people took him for a great general.

12. Father Wolf waited till his cubs could run a little.

13. Children are now playing where a great battle once waged.

14. If you will forgive me for the blows I struck I will join thee right merrily.

15. A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a half-pound note.

Exercise 156

Make a complex sentence of each pair of sentences by changing one of the pair to an adverbial clause. Let this clause come first. You will often want to change a noun to a pronoun.

1. Sir Guy heard strange stories of the destruction caused by a wild beast. Sir Guy came home.

2. Henry made friends with the prison guard. He was allowed to walk in the courtyard every day.

3. I was astonished when the news came. I had long expected the news.

4. I was astonished at the news. I had looked for different news.

5. Sir Guy turned to go. The lion followed him.

6. The strange woman was kind to me. I did not trust her.

7. The strange woman was kind to me. I trusted her.

Exercise 157

I. Combine each of the following groups of sentences into one longer one. Make it of the kind shown in parentheses. Remember that a compound sentence may contain clauses. Point out the independent statements in the sentences that you write and describe each adjective and adverbial clause.

Bring the new sentences to class. Be able to explain your punctuation of them.

1. Jason walked through the streets. The people gazed at him. He was tall and fair. (Complex).

2. Sir Kay hastened home to save his castle. It was on the frontier. The enemy had already captured it. (Compound or Complex).

3. Elizabeth became queen. She was jealous of Lady Catherine. Lady Catherine had inherited a claim to the throne. (Complex).

4. It was the middle of May. The Archbishop came. The weather was very warm. We wore white dresses for the occasion. (Compound).

5. Mrs. Brown invited me to a picnic. I was unable to go. (Compound).

6. Mrs. Brown invited me to a picnic. I had a good time. (Compound).

II. Rewrite the description of the Kinglet (last fifteen sentences, page 28), combining some of the short sentences into longer ones.

Exercise 158

Write sentences to illustrate the two kinds of adjective clauses. Write sentences illustrating at least five kinds of adverbial clauses.

Exercise 159. Class Discussion

Many persons have some favorite subject of thought and conversation. They talk about it on all possible occasions. With some it is the need of a particular reform. With others it is a favorite study or sport or some special kind of work. These persons are said to have hobbies.

One man, whose regular work was somewhat monotonous, kept life interesting by frequently taking up a new hobby. At different times he was deeply interested in photography, microscopic animal and vegetable life, raising dahlias, an obscure author, and the study of the Welsh language.

Have a class conversation in which you give illustrations of hobbies and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having a hobby.

Topics For Composition

Do not use the same kind of sentence constantly. Let some sentences be short and others longer. Let some be in the natural order with the subject and its adjuncts followed by the predicate and all its adjuncts. Let others be more irregular. But, above all, let each be clear and well constructed.

1. My hobby.

2. Some one else's hobby.

3. Write a letter to some one of your own age whose home is among entirely different surroundings from yours. Tell him about some interesting thing that you are familiar with but that he has never seen. Try to interest him. The following topics may help you to decide on a subject:

The ocean, a big prairie, mountains, a mine, a lake, a cattle ranch, a big department store, a lumber camp, a mill or factory, a dairy farm, an art museum, a nursery, a city park, a tenement house district, a vineyard, a fruit farm or ranch, a big forest.

4. Write a letter to some one of your own age whom you have never seen. Tell him about yourself and your home, so that he will feel acquainted with you.

5. The evils of war.

6. A report of some recent article in a newspaper or magazine.

7. Read Burns's poem, For a that and a that. Write a story to illustrate the truth of the line, "A man's a man for a' that."