Exercise 133. Development

I. The box on the table contains flowers.

How are the box and the table related? What word shows this? What other words might be used to show different relations between the box and the table?

He went to Chicago.

How was Chicago related to the going? What word shows that Chicago was the place where the going stopped?

He went from Chicago.

How was Chicago related to the going? What word shows that it was the place where the going began? What words might be used to show other relations between Chicago and the going?

The letter was written by me.

What did I have to do with the writing? What word shows that I did the writing? In what other way might I have been related to the writing? What word would show this relation?

The man injured by the wreck was carried by train to the nearest town for treatment.

How was the wreck related to the injury? The train to the carrying? The town to the carrying? The treatment to the carrying? What words show the relations? You see that the words on, to, from, by, and for, in the sentences just considered, are relation words. Notice that they have little meaning when standing alone.

II. What part of speech is each of these words: table, Chicago, me, wreck, train, town, treatment?

You see that each relation word that we have studied is followed by a noun or pronoun.

III. Analyze the sentences we are studying. How are the expressions on the table, to Chicago, from Chicago, by me, by the wreck, by train, to the nearest town, and for help used? What form has each of these adjuncts?

You see that the words on, to, from, by, etc., are parts of phrase adjuncts.

These words are called prepositions. Putting together the three facts we have learned about them, we have the following definition: