2
The Teachers’ Guide
to The Seventh KISS Grammar Book
The study of grammar is a science.
The teaching of grammar is an art.
Unit 5 - Advanced Questions about Clauses 3
Ex. 2 - The Witch in “Which” from My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales [AK] 3
Unit 7 - Vocabulary (1) 5
Abstract and Concrete Words and Phrases 5
Ex. 1 – Abstract and Concrete Words 5
Synonyms and Antonyms 5
Ex. 2 - Synonyms from Voyages in English (#3) [NA] 5
Unit 9 - Studies in Punctuation and Logic 6
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive 6
Ex. 4 – 6
Ex. 5 - Exploring the Punctuation of Gerundives —“Bluebeard” (#1) [AK] 6
The Punctuation and Logic of Main Clauses 7
Ex. 6 – 7
Ex. 7 - Missing Punctuation: Two Sentences from “The Sleeping Beauty” [AK] 7
Unit 10 – An Introduction to Passive Voice 9
Notes for Teachers 9
Ex. 1 - 9
Ex. 4 - Rewriting Passive and Active Verbs from “Snow-White and Rose-Red” [AK] 9
Passive Verb or Predicate Adjective? 11
Ex. 5 - Passive Verb or PA? from “Snow-White and Rose-Red” [AK] 11
Unit 12 -The Logic of Subordinate Clauses 12
Ex. 5 - The Logic of Adverbial Clauses from “Little Snow-White” [AK] 12
Unit 13 - Vocabulary (2) 14
Abstract and Concrete Words and Phrases 14
Ex. 1 – Abstract and Concrete Words 14
Synonyms and Antonyms 14
Ex. 2 – Synonyms 14
Ex. 3 – Antonyms 14
Ex. 4 - Synonyms and Antonyms from Child-Story Readers (# 3) [NA] 14
Unit 5 - Advanced Questions about Clauses
Ex. 2 - The Witch in “Which” from My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales [AK]
1. Nobody ever saw the Beast (DO), [which was {by no means} remarkable (PA)]. |
[“Beauty and the Beast”] The antecedent of “which” is the entire main S/V/C pattern—“That nobody ever saw the Beast was by no means remarkable.”
2. He therefore determined to divert (DO) their minds (DO) {by making promises (DO)} [Adj. to "promises" the fulfillment (DO) {of which} he would always be able (PA) to evade]. | [“The White Cat”]
The antecedent of “which” is “promises.”
“Minds” is the direct object of the infinitive “to divert.” The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of “determined.”
“Promises” is the direct object of the gerund “making.” The gerund phrase functions as the object of the preposition “by.”
“Fulfillment” is the direct object of the infinitive “to evade.” The infinitive phrase functions as an adverb to “able.”
3. Sometimes the Queen, [Adv. to "would reproach" although full (PA) {of kindness}], would reproach her daughter (DO) {for her foolishness}, [which caused the Princess almost to die (DO) {of grief}]. |
[“Tufty Riquet”] The antecedent of “which” is “the Queen would reproached her daughter . . . .”
“Although” is a subordinate conjunction in a semi-reduced clause—“Although *she was* full ....” See KISS Level 3.2.1 - Semi-Reduced and Other Ellipsed Clauses.
“Princess” is the subject of the infinitive “to die.” The infinitive phrase is the direct object of “caused.”
4. The beautiful, snow-white bird arrived {at a cottage}, [Adj. to "cottage" {upon the roof} {of which} it perched]. |
[“Hansel and Grethel”] The antecedent of “which” is “cottage.”
5. Thumbling soon set himself (IO) to work (DO) to get out, [which was not a very easy task (PN)]. | [“Thumbling”]
“Himself” is both the indirect object of “set” and the subject of the infinitive “to work.” The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of “set.”
The infinitive “to get” (or “to get out” = “to escape”) functions as an adverb of purpose to “to work.”
The antecedent of “which” is the infinitive “to get out,” which raises the question of whether or not this clause should be considered adverbial. To my knowledge, no grammar texts address this question.
Unit 7 - Vocabulary (1)
Abstract and Concrete Words and Phrases
Ex. 1 – Abstract and Concrete Words
Synonyms and Antonyms
Ex. 2 - Synonyms from Voyages in English (#3) [NA]
Unit 9 - Studies in Punctuation and Logic
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive
Ex. 4 –
Ex. 5 - Exploring the Punctuation of Gerundives —“Bluebeard” (#1) [AK]
The punctuation of gerundives is related to the restrictive/non-restrictive punctuation of subordinate clauses. (See Exercises 6 and 7 under Adjectival Clauses in KISS Level 3.1.2 - Subordinate Clauses.) When the restrictive relationship become very strong, some people will see the gerundive plus the noun it modifies as the core of a noun absolute that functions in the same way that traditional grammars would explain the function of the noun being modified. For more on this, see KISS Level 5.8 - Noun Absolutes.
1. {In the long ago times}, {in a splendid house}, surrounded {by fine gardens and a park}, there lived a man (PN) [Adj. to "man" who had riches (DO) {in abundance}]. |
The “surrounded” phrase is non-restrictive—it is not needed to identify either the “house” or the “man.” The comma that precedes it cuts it off from house, making it modify “man” as much as the house.
KISS explains “there lived a man” as a palimpsest pattern with “lived” written over “was.” See KISS Level 2.1.4 - Palimpsest Patterns. For alternative explanations within KISS, see KISS Level 2.1.3 - Expletives (Optional).
2. They could not enough admire the magnificent apartments (DO), and ran {from one} {to another} praising everything (DO) [Adj. to "everything" they beheld]. |
“Praising” does not restrict the meaning of either “They” or “ran.” A comma before “praising” would be optional. The lack of one suggests that the running and the “praising” are closely connected.
3. Most sumptuous (PA) was the entertainment provided {for them}. |
In context, the “provided for them” phrase is probably superfluous, so it really does not add additional information (as a non-restrictive construction usually does). In addition, I cannot imagine a writer who would set the “provided” phrase off with a comma. At KISS Level 5.8, some people will prefer to see “entertainment provided” as a noun absolute that functions as the subject.
4. That same evening [NuA] Bluebeard returned saying [DO he had met the man (DO) [Adj. to "man" whom he was wanting to see (DO)]]. |
Does the lack of a comma before "saying" emphasize that the two actions ("returned" and "saying") occurred simultaneously? (A comma would surely be acceptable here.)
“Whom” is simultaneously a subordinating conjunction and the direct object of the infinitive “to see.” The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of “was waiting.”
5. Not pausing an instant [NuA], she thrust the key (DO) {into the lock}, and the door sprang open (PA). |
A comma tends to be the norm after gerundive phrases that open a sentence, but they are not always used.
“Door sprang open” is a palimpsest pattern with “sprang” written over “became.”
The Punctuation and Logic of Main Clauses
Ex. 6 –
Ex. 7 - Missing Punctuation: Two Sentences from “The Sleeping Beauty” [AK]
The Original Text
You might want to change this exercises by giving the students the original text and have it analyze it.
1. And the horses got up and shook themselves, and the dogs jumped about and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked around and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed; the fire in the kitchen blazed up and cooked the dinner, and the roast meat turned round again; the cook gave the boy the box on his ear so that he cried out, and the maid went to milk the cows.
2. Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; and the meat that was roasting stood still; and the cook, who was at that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; and so everything stood still, and slept soundly.
Analysis Key
The main rewards from this exercise will come from the students’ discussion of how the passage is punctuated. In addition to the compound main clauses, note the number of compound finite verbs in these sentences. Compounding is an important aspect of style.
1. And the horses got up and shook themselves (DO), | and the dogs jumped about and barked; | the pigeons took their heads (DO) {from under their wings}, and looked around and flew {into the fields}; | the flies {on the walls} buzzed; | the fire {in the kitchen} blazed up and cooked the dinner (DO), | and the roast meat turned round again; | the cook gave the boy (IO) the box (DO) {on his ear} [Adv. (result) to "gave" so that he cried out], | and the maid went to milk the cows (DO) [#1]. |
The semicolon after “barked” separates the two main clauses about domestic animals from the following main clause about the pigeons. The one after “fields” separates the pigeons (who are outside) from the flies (who are probably inside). The next two main clauses are joined by a comma plus “and,” perhaps because they are both about the kitchen and food. The semicolon after “again” separates the two clauses about food from the following two main clauses that are about the people in the kitchen.
2. Even [#2] the fire {on the hearth} left off blazing (DO) [#3], and went {to sleep}; | and the meat [Adj. to "meat" that was roasting] stood still (PA) [#4]; | and the cook, [Adj. to "cook" who was {at that moment} pulling the kitchen-boy (DO) {by the hair} to give [#5] him (IO) a box (DO) {on the ear} {for something} [Adj. to "something" he had done amiss]], let him (IO) go (DO) [#6], | and both fell asleep; | and so everything stood still (PA), and slept soundly. |
The semicolon after “sleep” could have been a comma (as it is in the first sentence), but the writer opted for the stronger break of the semicolon. Perhaps that was because this passage is about everyone falling asleep (as compared to their waking up in the first sentence). The semi-colons slow things down, as they slow down in falling asleep. The semicolon after “still” is comparable to that in the first sentence, separating the food from the people in the kitchen. The comma plus “and” separates two main clauses that are both about the same people (the cook and the boy). The final semicolon separates all the main clauses that are about specific examples from the final one, which is a generalization about “everything.”
Notes
1. “Cows” is the direct object of the verbal (infinitive) “to milk.” The infinitive phrase functions as an adverb (of purpose) to “went.”
2. Grammarians would probably disagree about the function of this “Even.” I’ve considered it an adjective to “fire” because of its position in the sentence, but some grammarians might well consider it an adverb to “left off.”
3. “Left off” means “stopped.” I’ve marked “blazing” (a gerund) as the direct object, but remember that most grammar textbooks are not clear about whether or not verbs such as “started,” “continued,” or “stopped” are helping verbs. Thus I would also accept “left off blazing” as the finite verb phrase.
4. I’ve marked this as a palimpsest pattern with “stood” written over “was,” thereby making “still” a predicate adjective. But alternatively “still” could be described as an adverb.
5. “Him” is the indirect, and “box” is the direct object of the verbal (infinitive) “to give.” The infinitive phrase functions as an adverb (of purpose) to “was pulling.”
6. “Him” is the subject of the verbal (infinitive) “go.” The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of “let.”
Unit 10 – An Introduction to Passive Voice
Notes for Teachers
Students are often told not to use passive voice, but such instruction is currently meaningless because students are not taught how identify the verbs in text in the first place. This book introduces passives, and all the books that follow it will develop them so that students can understand (and thus choose) when and when not to use passives.
Ex. 1 -
Ex. 4 - Rewriting Passive and Active Verbs from “Snow-White and Rose-Red” [AK]
Don't forget to have the students discuss the differences in the two versions.
A. Passive to Active
1. But the bear would not be moved (P) {by his speeches}. |
But his speeches would not move the bear.
2. I am a king's son (PN), [Adj. to "son" who was enchanted (P) {by the wicked dwarf}]. |
I am a king’s son, whom the wicked dwarf enchanted.
3. The two children were always seen (P) hand [NuA] {in hand}. |
Every always saw the two children hand in hand.
4. The bear was caught (P) {by a hook} {in the lintel}. |
A hook in the lintel caught the bear.
5. Soon the bear was hidden (P) {among the trees}. |
Soon the trees hid the bear.
B. Active to Passive
1. Someone heard his small, squeaky, cracked voice (DO) saying, [DO "Couldn't you have held me (DO) more gently?]" |
His small, squeaky, cracked voice was heard saying, “Couldn’t you have held me more gently?”
At KISS Level Four, “saying” is explained as a gerundive that modifies “voice.” KISS Level 5.8 - “Noun Absolutes” explains how “voice saying” can be seen as the core of a noun absolute that functions as the direct object of “heard.”
2. But suddenly they heard a great growl (DO), | and a big bear joined the party (DO). |
But suddenly a great growl was heard by them, and a big bear was joined to the party.
3. A well-known voice stopped the maidens (DO). |