Exercise 46. Development

1. John bent the wire.

2. Anna is sweeping the floor.

3. The club elected Henry.

What is the predicate attribute in each of these sentences? What does it express? What kind of action? Why? What is the object? Just how are the wire, the floor, and Henry connected with the acts?

When you know that a thing is affected, or changed, by something else, what more do you want to know? Add the word straight to the first sentence. What does it show you that you didn't know before? (It shows the effect of the bending on the wire. The wire was crooked before the bending; after the bending it was straight). What was probably the effect of the sweeping on the floor? Add the word clean to show this. The effect of the electing on Henry was to give him new duties to perform. In order to know the exact effect, you need to know the office to which he was elected. Add the word secretary to the sentence to show this.

4. The storm made the air pure.

What act is asserted of the storm? (The act of making pure or purifying). What words are used in the sentence to represent this act? What, then, is the predicate attribute? What kind of act is the act of making pure? What is the object in the sentence? Is there any word in the sentence that shows the effect of the act on the air?

Words which are used as straight, clean, secretary, and pure are used in these sentences are called Predicate Attributes of the Object.