Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/englishgrammarfoOObaskrich AN ^'English Grammar' FOR THE USE OF ^AjZ£y\A.^^^ HIGH SCHOOL, ACADEMY, AND COLLEGE CLASSES BY W. M. BASKERVILL Professor of the English Language and Literature in Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. J. W. SEWELL Supervisor of Grade Work, Public Schools, Nashville, Tenn. o><>?a :• • •:••:» NEW YORK .:. CINCINNATI •:. CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY BASKERI^ILL-SEWELL ENGLISH COURSE LANGUAGE LESSONS FOR LOWER GRAMMAR GRADES SCHOOL GRAMMAR FOR UPPER GRAMMAR GRADES ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES Copyright, 1895, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. fV 1) PREFACE. OF making many English grammars there is no end ; nor should there be till theoretical scholarship and actual practice are more happily wedded. In this field much valuable work has already been accomplished ; but it has been done largely by workers accustomed to take the scholar's point of view, and their writings are addressed rather to trained minds than to immature learners. To find an advanced grammar unencumbered with hard words, abstruse thoughts, and difficult principles, is not alto- gether an easy matter. . These things enhance the difficulty which an ordi- nary youth experiences in grasping and assimilating the facts of grammar, and create a distaste for the study. It is therefore the leading object of this book to be both as scholarly and as practical as possible. In it there is an attempt to present grammatical facts as simply, and to lead the stu- dent to assimilate them as thoroughly, as possible, and at the same time to do away with confusing diflflculties as far as may be. To attain these ends it is necessary to keep ever in the foreground the real basis of grammar -, that is, good literature. Abundant quota- tions from standard authors have been given to show the student that he is dealing with the facts of the language, and not with the theories of grammarians. It is also suggested that in preparing written exer- cises the student use English classics instead of "making up" sentences. But it is not intended that the use of literary masterpieces for gram- matical purposes should supplant or even interfere with their proper use and real value as works of art. It will, however, doubtless be found helpful to alternate the regular reading and aesthetic study of literature with a grammatical study, so that, while the mind is being enriched and the artistic sense quickened, there may also be the useful acquisition of arousing a keen observation of all grammatical forms and usages. Now and then it has been deemed best to omit explanations, and to withhold 3 265824 PREFACE, personal preferences, in order that the student may, by actual contact with the sources of grammatical laws, discover for himself the better way in regarding given data. It is not the grammarian^s business to " correct : " it is simply to record and to arrange the usages of language, and to point the way to the arbiters of usage in all disputed cases. Free expression within the lines of good usage should have widest range. It has been our aim to make a grammar of as wide a scope as is consist- ent with the proper definition of the word. Therefore, in addition to recording and classifying the facts of language, we have endeavored to attain two other objects, — to cultivate mental skill and power, and to induce the student to prosecute further studies in this field. It is not supposable that in so delicate and difficult an undertaking there should be an entire freedom from errors and oversights. We shall gratefully accept any assist- ance in helping to correct mistakes. Though endeavoring to get our material as much as possible at first hand, and to make an independent use of it, we desire to express our obligation to the following books and articles : — Meiklejohn^s "English Language," Longmans' "School Grammar," West's "English Grammar," Bain's "Higher English Grammar" and "Composition Grammar," Sweet's "Primer of Spoken English" and "New English Grammar," etc., Hodgson's "Errors in the Use of Eng- lish," Morris's "Elementary Lessons in Historical English Grammar," Lounsbury's "English Language," Champney's "History of English," Emerson's "History of the English Language," Kellner's "Historical Out- lines of English Syntax," Earle's "English Prose," and Matzner's "Eng- lische Grammatik." Allen's " Subjunctive Mood in English," Sattler's articles on " Prepositions " in the " Anglia," and many other valuable papers, have also been helpful and su?:gestive. We desire to express special thanks to Professor W. D. Mooney of W^all & Mooney 's Battle-Ground Academy, Franklin, Tenn., for a critical examination of the first draft of the manuscript, and to Professor Jno. M. Webb of Webb Bros. School, Bell Buckle, Tenn., and Professor W. R. Garrett of the University of Nashville, for many valuable suggestions and helpful criticism. W. M. BASKERVILL. J. W. SEWELL. Nashville, Tenn., January, 1896. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 9 Part I. THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Nouns . . . . . .17 Pronouns 58 Adjectives . . . . .97 Articles 119 Verbs and Verbals 128 Verbs .128 Verbals 172 How to Parse Verbs and Verbals 179 Adverbs . . 183 Conjunctions 193 Prepositions 202 Words that need watching 222 Interjections c 227 5 CONTENTS. Part II. ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. PAGE Classification according to Form 231 Classification according to Number of Statements . . 232 Simple Sentences 232 Contracted Sentences . . . . » . . -255 Complex Sentences . 256 Compound Sentences 268 Part III. SYNTAX. Introductory e . 275 Nouns 278 Pronouns 279 Adjectives ....•••.... 303 Articles 309 Verbs . 312 Indirect Discourse 320 Verbals 322 Adverbs 325 Conjunctions r . 328 Prepositions 331 Index 339 INTROUUCTION. So many slighting remarks have been made of late on the use of teach- ing grammar as compared with teaching science, that it is plain the fact has been lost sight of that grammar is itself a science. The object we have, or should have, in teaching science, is not to fill a child's mind with a vast number of facts that may or may not prove useful to him hereafter, but to draw out and exercise his powers of observation, and to show him how to make use of what he observes. . . . And here the teacher of grammar has a great advantage over the teacher of other sciences, in that the facts he has to call attention to lie ready at hand for every pupil to observe without the use of apparatus of any kind ; while the use of them also lies within the personal experience of every one. — Dr. Richard Morris. The proper study of a language is an intellectual discipline of the highest order. If I except discussions on the comparative merits of Popery and Protestantism, English grammar was the most important discipline of my boyhood. — John Tyndall. 8 INTRODUCTION. What various opinions writers on English gram* mar have given in answer to the question, What is grammar ? may be shown by the following : — English grammar is a description of the usages of the D'^f^iHow English language by good speakers and writers of the present V S^^^^^^^- day. — Whitney. A description or account of the nature, build, constitution, or make of a language is called its grammar. — Meiklejohn. Grammar teaches the laws of language, and the right method of using it in speaking and writing. — Patterson. Grammar is the science of letters', hence the science of using words correctly. —Abbott. The English word gra^nmar relates only to the laws which govern the significant forms of words, and the construction of the sentence. — Richard Grant White. These are sufficient to suggest several distinct notions about English grammar : — (i) It makes rules to tell us how to use words. Synopsis oj ^ ' the above. (2) It is a record of usage which we ought to follow. (3) It is concerned with the forms of the lan- guage. (4) English has no grammar in the sense of forms, or inflections, but takes account merely of the nature and the uses of words in sentences. Fierce discussions have raged over these opin- The older T 111. id^^ ^^d its ions, and numerous works have been written to origin, uphold the theories. The first of them remained popular for a very long time. It originated from 9 10 INTROD UCTION, The opposite view. the etymology of the word grammar (Greek gramma, writing, a letter), and from an effort to build up a treatise on English grammar by using classical grammar as a model. Perhaps a combination of (i) and (3) has been still more popular, though there has been vastly more classification than there are forms. During recent years, (2) and (4) have been gain- ing ground, but they have had hard work to dis- place the older and more popular theories. It •is- insisted by many that the student's time should be used in studying general literature, and thus learn- ing the fluent and correct use of his mother tongue. It is also insisted that the study and discussion of forms and inflections is an inexcusable imitation of classical treatises. Which view shall the student of English accept } Before this is answered, we should decide whether some one of the above theories must be taken as the right one, and the rest disregarded. The real reason for the diversity of views is a confusion of two distinct things, — what the defini- tion of grammar should be, and what the purpose of grammar should be. The province of English grammar is, rightly considered, wider than is indicated by any one of the above definitions; and the student ought to have a clear idea of the ground to be covered. It must be admitted that the language has very few inflections at present, as compared with Latin or Greek ; so that a small grammar will hold them all. It is also evident, to those who have studied the The difficuUy. The material of grammar. Few inflections. INTRODUCTION, \\ language historically, that it is very hazardous to Making rutes make rules in grammar: what is at present re- "^^'^'^• garded as correct may not be so twenty years from now, even if our rules are founded on the keenest scrutiny of the " standard " writers of our time. Usage is varied as our way of thinking changes. In Chaucer's time two or three negatives were used to strengthen a negation ; as, " Ther nas no man noivhei' so vertuous " (There never was no man nowhere so virtuous). And Shakespeare used good English when he said more ^/^ [ i- Individual. lAU^- I {a) Class names. \ * (2) Common. [ ii. Collective. OJU^^ \ (J?) Materiai^ /ai^ V r\/y^-''' \ id) Attribute. v^^-vJU^ i [O^'v^ (3) Abstract. \ w j ^ [ {U) Verbal. B. GRAM. — 2 17 i8 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Names for special ob- jects. 4. A proper noun is a name applied to a particular object, whether person, place, or thing. It specializes or limits the thing to which it is applied, reducing it to a narrow application. Thus, city is a word applied to any one of its kind ; but Chicago names one city, and fixes the attention upon that particular city. King may be applied to any ruler of a kingdom, but Alfred the Great is the name of one king only. The word proper is from a Latin word meaning limited,, belonging to one. This does not imply, however, that a proper name can be applied to only one object, but that each time such a name is applied it is fixed or proper to that object. Even if there are several Bostons or Manchesters, the name of each is an individual or proper name. Name for any individ- ual of a class. Name for a group or col- lection of objects. 5. A common noun is a name possessed by any one of a class of persons, animals, or things. Common^ as here used, is from a Latin word which means general, possessed by all. For instance, road is a word that names any highway outside of cities; wagon is a term that names any vehicle of a certain kind used for haul- ing : the words are of the widest' application. We may say, the man here, or the man in front of you, but the word 7nan is here hedged in by other words or word groups : the name itself is of general appli- cation. Besides considering persons, animals, and things separately, we may think of them in groups, and give appropriate names to the groups. NOUNS, 19 Thus, men in groups may be called a crowd, or a mob, a committee, or a council, or a congress, etc. These are called collective nouns. They properly belong under common nouns, because each group is considered as a unit, and the name applied to it belongs to any group of its class. 6. The definition given for common nouns Names for applies more strictly to class nouns. It may, how- thought of in ever, be correctly used for another group of nouns detailed below ; for they are common nouns in the sense that the names apply to every particle of similar substance, instead of to each individual or separate object. They are called material nouns. Such are glass, iron, clay, frost, raifi, snow, wheat, wine, tea^ sugar, etc. They may be placed in groups as follows : — ( 1 ) The metals : iron, gold, platinum, etc. (2) Products spoken of in bulk : tea, sugar, rice^ wheat, etc. (3) Geological bodies : mud, sand, granite, rock, stone, etc. (4) Natural phenomena: rain, dew, cloud, frost, mist, etc. (5) Various manufactures : cloth (and the dif- ferent kinds of cloth), potash, soap, rubber, paint, celluloid, etc. 7. Note. — There are some nouns, such as sun, moon, earth, which seem to be the names of partic- ular individual objects, but which are not called proper names. mass. 20 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Words naturally of limited application not proper. Names of ideas, not things. Attribute abstract nouns. The reason is, that in proper names the intention is to exclude all other individuals of the same class, and fasten a special name to the object considered, as in calling a city Cincinnati ; but in the words sufiy earthy etc., there is no such intention. If several bodies like the center of our solar system are known, they also are called suns by a natural extension of the term : so with the words earthy world, etc. They remain common class names. 8. Abstract nouns are names of qualities, condi- tions, or actions, considered abstractly, or apart from their natural connection. When we speak of a wise man, we recognize in him an attribute or quality. If we wish to think simply of that quality without describing the " person, we speak of the wisdom of the man. The quality is still there as much as before, but it is taken merely as a name. So poverty would ex- press the^condition of a poor person ; proof means the act of proving, or that which shows a thing has been proved ; and so on. Again, we may say, "' Painting is a fine art," ''Learning is hard to acquire," "a man of tinder- standifig.'' 9. There are two chief divisions of abstract nouns : — (i) Attribute nouns, expressing attributes or qualities. (2) Verbal nouns, expressing state, condition, or action. 10. The ATTRIBUTE ABSTRACT NOUNS are derived from adjectives and from common nouns. Thus, NOUNS, 21 (i) prudence from pmdefity height from high, red- ness from red, stupidity from stupid, etc. ; (2) peer- age from peer, childhood from child, mastery from master, kingship from >^^>^^, etc. II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in Verbal ab- 1 ^, . • T -T-1- u ^ struct nouns. verbs, as their name imphes. 1 hey may be — (i) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its function, is used as a noun ; as in the expressions, "a long rtm,'' "a bold move,'' "a brisk walk.'' (2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending __ or adding a suffix : motion from move, speech from speak, theft from thieve, action from act, service from serve. (3) Derived from verbs by adding -ing to the Caution. simple verb. It must be remembered that these words are free from any verbal function. They cannot govern a word, and they cannot express action, but are merely names of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be rigidly distinguished from gerunds (Sees. 272, 273). To avoid difficulty, study carefully these exam- ples : — The best thoughts and sayings of the Greeks ; the moon caused fearful forebodings ; in the beginning of his life ; he spread his blessings over the land ; the great Puritan awaken- ing*, our birth is but a sleep and 2i forgetting ; a wedding or a festival ; the rude drawings of the book ; masterpieces of the Socratic reasoning; the teachings of the High Spirit ; those opinions 2in6. feelings ; there is time for such reasonings ; the well-being of her subjects ; her longing for their favor ; feel- ings which their original meaning will by no means justify ; the main bearings of this matter. 22 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Underived abstract nouns. 12. Some abstract nouns were not derived from any other part of speech, but were framed directly for the expression of certain ideas or phenomena. Such are beauty, joy, hope, ease, en^ ergy ; day, night, summer, winter ; shadow, light- ning, thunder, etc. The adjectives or verbs corresponding to these are either themselves derived from the nouns or are totally different words ; as glad — joy, hopeful — hope, etc. Exercises. 1. From your reading bring up sentences containing ten common nouns, five proper, five abstract. Note. — Remember that all sentences are to be selected fi-om standard literature. 2. Under what class of nouns would you place (a) the names of diseases, as pneumonia, pleurisy, cata7'rh, typhus, diphtheria ; {b) branches of knowledge, as phys- ics, algebra, geology, mathematics ? 3. Mention collective nouns that will embrace groups of each of the following individual nouns : — man pupil sailor horse bee child bird soldier sheep fish worshiper ship partridge book ruffian 4. Using a dictionary, tell from what word each of these abstract nouns is derived : — sight speech motion bravery height width nobility relief death occupation justice service pleasure wisdom raid trail patience friendship deceit regularity advice seizure honesty judgment belief feeling choice simplicity NOUNS, 23 SPECIAL USES OF NOUNS. 13. By being used so as to vary their usual Nouns change per names meaning, nouns of one class may be made to ^^^^' approach another class, or to go over to it entirely. Since words alter their meaning so rapidly by a widening or narrowing of their application, we shall find numerous examples of this shifting from class to class ; but most of them are in the fol- lowing groups. For further discussion see the remarks on articles (p. 119). 14. Proper nouns are used as common in either prope. of two ways : — transferred to v^j. LVVV7 vvdjo . common use. (i) The origin of a thirig is used for the thing itself: that is, the name of the inventor may be applied to the thing invented, as a davy, meaning the miner's lamp invented by Sir Humphry Davy ; the guillotine, from the name of Dr. Guillotin, who was its inventor. Or the name of the country or city from which an article is derived is used for the article : as china, from China ; arras, from a town in France; port (wine), from Oporto, in Portugal ; levant and morocco (leather). Some of this class have become worn by use so that at present we can scarcely discover the deriva- tion from the form of the word ; for example, the word port, above. Others of similar character are calico, from Calicut; damask, from Damascus; cur- rants, from Corinth ; etc. (2) The name of a person or place noted for cer- tain qualities is transferred to any person or place possessing those qualities ; thus, — 24 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Hercules and Samson were noted for their strength, and we call a very strong man a Hercules or a Samson. Sodom was famous for wickedness, and a similar place is called a Sodom of sin. A Daniel come to judgment ! — Shakespeare. If it prove a mind of uncommon activity and power, a Locke^ a Lavoisier ^ a Mutton, a Bent ham, a Fourier, it imposes its classification on other men, and lo! a new system. — Emerson. Names for things in bulk altered for separate portions. 15. Material nouns may be used as class names. Instead of considering the whole body of ma- terial of which certain uses are made, one can speak of particular uses or phases of the sub- stance; as — (i) Of individual objects made from metals or other substances capable of being wrought into various shapes. We know a number of objects made of iron. The material iron embraces the metal contained in them all; but we may say, "The cook made the irons hot," referring to flat- irons; or, ''The sailor was put in irons,'' meaning chains of iron. So also we may speak of a glass to drink from or to look into ; a steel to whet a knife on ; a rubber for erasing marks ; and so on. (2) Of classes or kinds of the same substance. These are the same in material, but differ in strength, purity, etc. Hence it shortens speech to make the nouns plural, and say teas, tobaccos, paints, oils, candies, clays, coals. (3) By poetical use, of certain words necessarily singular in idea, which are made plural, or used as class nouns, as in the following : — The lone and level sands stretch far away. - Shellev. NOUNS. 25 From all around — Earth and her waters^ and the depths of air — Comes a still voice. Bryant. Their airy cars The winds have stationed on the mountain peaks. Percival. (4) Of detached portions of matter used as class names ; as stones, slates, papers, tins, clouds, mists, etc. 16. Abstract nouns are frequently used as proper personifica- names by being personified ; that is, the ideas are ^Itract tdeas, spoken of as residing in Hving beings. This is a poetic usage, though not confined to verse. Next Anger rushed ; his eyes, on fire, In lightnings owned his secret stings. — Collins. Freedo7ii*s fame finds wings on every wind. — Byron. Death, his mask melting like a nightmare dream, smiled. — Hayne. Traffic has lain down to rest ; and only Vice and Misery, to prowl or to moan like night birds, are abroad. —Carlyle. 17. Abstract nouns are made half abstract by a halfway being spoken of in the plural. ^i^rds\ They are not then pure abstract nouns, nor are fJ^^s/^^T^ they common class nouns. For example, examine ^^^^^^/» -' ^ ' meamng, this : — The arts differ from the sciences in this, that their power is founded not merely on facts which can be communicated, but on dispositions which require to be created. - Ruskin. When it is said that art differs from science, that the power of art is founded on fact, that disposi- tion is the thing to be created, the words italicized are pure abstract nouns ; but in case an art or a science, or the arts and sciences, be spoken of, the 26 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. abstract idea is partly lost. The words preceded by the article a, or made plural, are still names of abstract ideas, not material things ; but they widen the application to separate kinds of art or different branches of science. They are neither class nouns nor pure abstract nouns : they are more properly called half abstract. Test this in the following sentences : — Let us, if we must have great actions, make our own so. — Emerson. And still, as each repeated pleasure tired, Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired. Goldsmith. But ah ! those pleasures, loves, and/^/j Which I too keenly taste, The Solitary can despise. Burns. All these, however, were mere terrors of the night. — Irving. By ellipsis, ^8. Nouns uscd as descriptive terms. Some- vounsused to timcs a noun is attached to another noun to add to modijy, its meaning, or describe it; for example, ^'2i family quarrel," "a New York bank," "the State Bank Tax bill," " a morning walk." It is evident that these approach very near to the function of adjectives. But it is better to con- sider them as nouns, for these reasons : they do not give up their identity as nouns ; they do not express quality; they cannot be compared, as descriptiye adjectives are. They are more like the possessive noun, which belongs to another word, but is still a noun. They may be regarded as elliptical expressions, meaning a walk i7i the morning, a bank in New York, a bill as to tax on the batiks, etc. NOUNS. 2J Note. — If the descriptive word be a material noun, it may be regarded as changed to an adjective. The term ''gold pen " conveys the same idea as ''golden pen," which contains a pure adjective. /WORDS AND WORD GROUPS USED AS NOUNS. 19. Owing to the scarcity of distinctive forms, The noun and to the consequent flexibility of English speech, JromZ^yfaH words which are usually other parts of speech are %om^anyTx- often used as nouns ; and various word groups P^^^^^on. may take the place of nouns by being used as nouns. (i) Other parts of speech used as nouns : — The great, the wealthy, fear thy blow. — Burns. Adjectives, Every why hath a wherefore. — Shakespeare. Conjunctions. When I was young ? Ah, woeful When I Adverbs, Ah ! for the change 'twixt Now and Then I COLERIDGB'. (2) Certain word groups used like single noun's: — Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. — Shakespeare. Then comes the " Why, sir I " and the " What then, sir f " and the " No, sir ! " and the " Vo?^ donH see your way - through the question, sir I " — Macaulay. , (3) Any part of speech may be considered merely as a word, without reference to its function in the sentence ; also titles of books are treated as simple nouns. The //, at the beginning, is ambiguous, whether it mean the sun or the cold. —Dr. Blair. In this definition, is the word "just,'''' or " legal,'''' finally to stand ? — RusKiN. There was also a book of Defoe's called an " Essay an Projects,^'' and another of Dr. Mather's called " Essays to do Good?'' — ^. Franklin. 28 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Caution, 20. It is to be remembered, however, that the above cases are shiftings of the ttse of words rather than of their meaning. We seldom find instances of complete conversion of one part of speech into another. When, in a sentence above, the terms the greats the wealthy y are used, they are not names only : we have in mind the idea of persons and the quality of being great or wealthy. The words are used in the sentence where nouns are used, but have an adjectival meaning. In the other sentences, zvhy and wherefore, When, Now, and Then, are spoken of as if pure nouns ; but still the reader considers this not a natural application of them as name words, but as a figure of speech. Note. — These remarks do not apply, of course, to such words as become pure nouns by use. There are many of these. The adjective good has no claim on the noun^^^^j) so, too, in speaking of the principal of a school, or a state secret, or a faithful domestic, or a criminal, etc., the words are entirely independent of any adjective force. Exercise. Pick out the nouns in the following sentences, and tell to which class each belongs. Notice if any have shifted from one class to another. 1. Hope springs eternal in the human breast. 2. Heaven from all creatures hides th$; book of Fate. 3. Stone walls do not a prison make. Nor iron bars a cage. 4. Truth- teller was our Englaiici's Alfred named. 5. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. 6. Power laid his rod aside, And Cerenriony doff' d her pride. NOUNS, 3Q 7. ladies. 8. 9- 10. She sweeps it through the court with troops of Learning, that cobweb of the brain. A Httle weeping would ease my heart ; But in their briny bed My tears must stop, for every drop Hinders needle and thread. A fool speaks all his mind, but a wise man reserves something for hereafter. II. 12. 13- 14. Spain. 15- 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. sea. 22. 23- 24. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much ; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. Music hath charms to sooth-^ the savage breast. And see, he cried, the welcome, Fair guests, that waits you here. The fleet, shattered and disabled, returned to One To-day is worth two To-morrows. Vessels carrying coal are constantly moving. Some mjute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some^ Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. And oft we trod a waste of pearly sands. A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays ^ And confident to-morrows. The hours glide by ; the silver moon is gone. Her robes of silk and velvet came from over the My soldier cousin was once only a drummer boy. But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed. All that thou canst call thine own Lies in thy To-day. INFLECTIONS OF NOUNS. ^ GENDER. 21. In Latin, Greek, German, and many other What gender 1 1 1 * • , 1 . means in languages, some general rules are given that names English, it of male beings are usually masculine, and names J^ /^^'^^^^ ^=^ of females are usually feminine. There are excep- tions even to this general statement, but not so in 30 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. English. Male beings are, in English grammar, always masculine ; female, always feminine. When, however, inanimate things are spoken of, these languages are totally unlike our own in deter- mining the gender of words. For instance : in Latin, hortus (garden) is masculine, mensa (table) is feminine, corpus (body) is neuter ; in German, das Messer (knife) is neuter, der Tisch (table) is mas- culine, die Gabel (fork) is feminine. The great difference is, that in English the gender follows the meaning of the word, in other languages gender follows the form; that is, in English, gender depends on sex : if a thing spoken of is of the male sex, the name of it is masculine ; if of the female sex, the itame of it is feminine. Hence Definition. 22. Gendct is th^ modc of distinguishing sex by words, or additions to words. Gender nouns. Neuter nouns. 23. It is evident from this that English can have but two genders, — masculine and feminine. All nouns, then, must be divided into two princi- pal classes, — gender nouns, those distinguishing the sex of the object; and neuter nouns, those which do not distinguish sex, or names of things without life, and consequently without sex. Gender nouns include names of persons and some names of animals ; neuter nouns include some animals and all inanimate objects. 24. Some words may be either gender nouns or neuter nouns, according to their use. Thus, the word cJiild is neuter in the sentence, "A little child NOUNS. 51 shall lead them," but is masculine in the sentence Some words either gender from Wordsworth, or neuter I have seen nouns , ., , , . 7 . according to A curious child . . . applying to /its ear use. The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell. Of animals, those with which man comes in con- tact often, or which arouse his interest most, are named by gender nouns, as in these sentences : — Before the barn door strutted the gallant cock, that pattern of a husband, . . . clapping Az's burnished wings. — Irving. Gunpowder . . . came to a stand just by the bridge, with a suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. — id. Other animals are not distinguished as to sex, but are spoken of as neuter, the sex being of no consequence. Not a turkey but he [Ichabod] beheld daintily trussed up, with its gizzard under its wing. — Irving. He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in //. — Lamb. 25. According to the definition, there can be no 11* 1 >» 1*1 No '^common such thing as '' common gender : words either gender:' distinguish sex (or the sex is distinguished by the context) or else they do not distinguish sex. If such words as parent, servant, teacher, ruler, relative, coitsin, domestic, etc., do not show the sex to which the persons belong, they are neuter words. 26. Put in convenient form, the division of words according to sex, or the lack of it, is, — ^ ^ [ Masculine : Male beinsrs. Gender nouns \ ^ ' _ 11. t Feminine : Female beings. Neuter nouns : Names of inanimate things, or of living beings whose sex cannot be determined. 32 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 27. The inflections for gender belong, of course, only to masculine and feminine nouns. Forms would be a more accurate v/ord than in* flections, since inflection applies only to the case of nouns. There are three ways to distinguish the gen* ders : — (i) By prefixing a gender word to another word. (2) By adding a suffix, generally to a masculine word. (3) By using a different word for each gender. Very few of Class I. Native suf- fixes. I. Gender shown by Prefixes. 28. Usually the gender words he and she are prefixed to neuter words; as he-goat — she-goat ^ cock sparrow — hen sparrow, he-bear — she-bear. One feminine, woman, puts a prefix before the masculine man. Woman is a short way of writing wifeman. II. Gender shown by Suffixes. 29. By far the largest number of gender words are those marked by suffixes. In this particular the native endings have been largely supplanted by foreign suffixes. The native suffixes to indicate the feminine were -en and -ster. These remain in vixen and spinster, though both words have lost their origi- nal meanings. The word vixen was once used as the femi- nine of fox by the Southern-English. For fox NOUNS. 33 they said 7'ox ; iox from they said vrani ; and for the older word fat they said vat, as in wme vat. Hence vixen is for fyxen, from the masculine fox. Spinster is a relic of a large class of words that existed in Old and Middle English,^ but have now lost their original force as feminines. The old masculine answering to spinster was spinner ; but spinster has now no connection with it. The foreign suffixes are of two kinds : — (i) Those belonging to borrowed words, as Foreign suf- czarina^ sehorita^ executrix^ donna. These are unaltered attached to foreign words, and are never used ^^f/^^^^^ for words recognized as English. (2) That regarded as the standard or regular f^f^^f^^nd termination of the feminine, -ess (French esse, widely used. Low Latin issa\ the one rnost used. The corre- sponding masculine may have the ending -er (-or\ but in most cases it has not. Whenever we adopt a new masculine word, the feminine is formed by adding this termination -ess. Sometimes the -ess has been added to a word already feminine by the ending -ster; as seam-str- ess, song-str-ess. The ending -ster had then lost its force as a feminine suffix ; it has none now in the words huckster, gamester, trickster^ punster. ^ More for convenience than for absolute accuracy, the stages of our language have been roughly divided into three : — (i) Old English (with Anglo-Saxon) down to the twelfth century. (2) Middle English, from about the twelfth century to the six- teenth century. (3) Modern English, from about 1 500 to the present time. B. GRAM. — \ 34 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, linding of masculine not changed. Masculine ending dropped. Vowel dropped be- fore adding »ess. 30. The ending -ess is added to many words without changing the ending of the masculine ; as, — baron — baroness count — countess lion — lioness Jew — Jewess heir — heiress host — hostess priest — priestess giant — giantess The masculine ending may be dropped before the feminine -ess is added ; as, — abbot — abbess murderer — murderess negro — negress sorcerer — sorceress The feminine may discard a vowel which appears in the masculine ; as in - — actor — actress master — mistress benefactor — benefactress emperor — empress tiger — tigress enchanter — enchantress Empress has been cut down from ^^/^/m^:^ (twelfth century) and emperesse (thirteenth century), from Latin imperatricem. Master and mistress were in Middle English maister — maistresse^ from the Old French maistre* — maistresse. Ending -ess less used now than former- 31. When the older -en and -ster went out of use as the distinctive mark of the feminine, the ending -ess, from the French -esse, sprang into a popularity much greater than at present. Instead of S2iymg doctress, fosteress, wagoness, as was said in the sixteenth century, or servaimtesse^ teacheressey neighboresse, frendesse, as in the four- teenth century, we have dispensed with the ending NOUNS. in many cases, and either use a prefix word or leave the masculine to do work for the feminine also. Thus, we say doctor (masculine and feminine) or woman doctor^ teacher or lady teacher, neighbor (masculine and feminine), etc. We frequently use such words as author, editor, chau'man, to repre^ sent persons of either sex. Note. — There is perhaps this distinction observed : when we speak of a female as an active agent merely, we use the masculine termination, as, " George Eliot is the author of ^ Adam Bede ; ' " but when we speak purposely to denote a distmction from a mate, we use the feminine, as, " George Eliot is an eminent authoress.'''^ in. Gender shown by Different Words. 32. In some of these pairs, the feminine and the masculine are entirely different words ; others have in their origin the same root. Some of them have an interesting history, and will be noted be- Ipw : — bachelor — maid boy — girl brother — sister drake — duck earl — countess father — mother gander — goose hart — roe horse — mare husband — wife king — queen lord — lady wizard — witch nephew — niece ram — ewe sir — madam son — daughter uncle — aunt ' bull — cow boar — sow y Girl originally meant a child of either sex, and was used for male or female until about the fifteenth century. Drake is peculiar in that it is formed from a cor- responding feminine which is no longer used. It is not connected historically with our word diick^ 36 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, but is derived from ened (duck) and an obsolete suffix rake (king). Three letters of ened have fallen away, leaving our word drake. Gander and goose were originally from the same root word. Goose has various cognate forms in the languages akin to English (German Gans, Icelandic gds^ Danish gaas^ etc.). The masculine was formed by adding -a^ the old sign of the mas- culine. This gansa was modified into gan-ra^ gaud- ra, finally gander; the d being inserted to make pronunciation easy, as in many other words. Mare, in Old English mere, had the masculine mearh (horse), but this has long been obsolete. Husband and wife are not connected in origin. Husband is a Scandinavian word (Anglo-Saxon husbonda from Icelandic hus-bondiy probably mean- ing house dweller); wife was used in Old and Middle English to mean woman in general. King and queen are said by some (Skeat, among others) to be from the same root word, but the German etymologist Kluge says they are not. Lord is said to be a worn-down form of the Old English Jddf-weard (loaf keeper), written loverd, Ihaicerd, or lauerd in Middle English. Lady is from hl^fdige (Jil'^f meaning loaf, and dige being of uncertain origin and meaning). Witch is the Old English wicce, but wizard is from the Old French guiscart (prudent), not im- mediately connected with witch, though both are ultimately from the same root. Sir is worn down from the Old French sire (Latin senior). Madam is the French ma dame^ from Latin mea doniina. NOUNS, 37 %\. Besides zci^nder and drake, there are two Twomascu- ^^ <> lines from other masculine words that were formed from the feminities. feminine : — Bridegroom, from Old English bryd-giima (bride's man). The r in groom has crept in from confusion with the word groom. Widower, from the weakening of the ending -a in Old English to -e in Middle English. The older forms, widicwa — widitwe, became identical, and a new masculine ending was therefore added to distinguish the masculine from the feminine (compare Middle English zvidiier — widewe). Personification. 34. Just as abstract ideas are personified (Sec. 16), material objects may be spoken of like gender nouns ; for example, — " Now, where the swift Rhone cleaves his way." — Byron. The Sun now rose upon the right : Out of the sea came he. — Coleridge. And haply the Queen Moon is on her throne, Clustered around by all her starry Fays. —Keats. Britannia needs no bulwarks, ^ No towers along the steep ; Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep. — Campbell. This is not exclusively a poetic use. In ordi- nary speech personification is very frequent : the pilot speaks of his boat as feminine ; the engineer speaks so of his engine ; etc. In such cases the gender is marked by the pro- Effect of per- noun, and not by the form of the noun. But the "^^'^^-^^^ '^'^' fact that in English the distinction of gender is 38 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. confined to difference of sex makes these depar- tures more effective. wxny^ER. ^ - .,. 35. In nouns, number means the mode of indi- eating whether w^ are speaking of one thing or of more than one. 36. Our language has two numbers, — singular and plural. The singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of ; the plural, more than one. 37. There are three ways of changing the singu- lar form to the plural : — (i) By adding -en. (2) By changing the root vowel. (3) By adding -s (or -es). The first two methods prevailed, together with the third, in Old English, but in modern English -s or -es has come to be the "standard" ending; that is, whenever we adopt a new word, we make its plural by adding -s or -es, I. Plurals formed by the Suffix -e/?. 38. This inflection remains only in the word The «n oxen, though it was quite common in Old and ivjieition. n/r.ii-i-r-Ti Middle English ; for instance, eyeji (eyes), treen (trees), shoon (shoes), which last is still used in Lowland Scotch. Hosen is found in the King James version of the Bible, and hoiisen is still com- mon in the provincial speech in England. 39. But other w^ords were inflected afterwards, in imitation of the old words in -en^ by making a double plural. NOUNS. 39 Brethren has passed through three stages. The -En wjiection J imitated by Old plural was orothrUy then brotlire or oi^etkre, other word^. finally brethren. The weakening of inflections led to this addition. Children has passed through the same history, though the intermediate form childer lasted till the seventeenth century in literary English, and is still found in dialects ; as, — " God bless me ! so then, after all, you'll have a chance to see your childer get up like, and get settled." — Quoted by De QUINCEY. Kine is another double plural, but has now no singular. In spite of wandering kine and other adverse circum- stance. — Thoreau. n. Plurals formed by Vowel Change. 40. Examples of this inflection are, — man — men \y^ ' louse — lice foot — feet mouse — mice goose — geese y tooth — teeth • Some other words — as book^ turf^ wight^ bor* 07igh — formerly had the same inflection, but they now add the ending -s. • 41. Akin to this class are some words, originally neuter, that have the singular and plural alike; such as deery sheep^ swiney etc. Other words following the same usage are, paivy brace, dozejiy after numerals (if not after numerals, or if preceded by the prepositions iuy by, etc., they add -.$•): also trout y salmon; heady sail; cannon^ heathen^ folk^ people. 40 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, The words hor^se and foot^ when they mean sol- diery, retain the same form for plural meaning; as, — The foot are fourscore thousand, The horse are thousands ten. Macaulay. Lee marched over the mountain wall, — Over the mountains winding down, Horse 2ind. foot, into Frederick town. Whittier. • in. Plurals formed by Adding -s or -es. 42. Instead of -s, the ending -es is added — (i) If a word ends in a letter which cannot add -s and be pronounced. Such are box, cross, ditch, glass, lens, quartz, etc. -Y.S added in If the word cnds in a sotmd which cannot add -s, a new syllable is made; as, mc/ie — niches, race — races, house — houses ^ prize — prizes, chaise — chaises, etc. 'Es is also added to a few words ending in -0, thougfi this sound combines readily with -s, and does not make an extra syllable : ca7'go — cargoes, . negro — negroes, hero — heroes, volcano — volcanoes, etc. ^ Usage differs somewhat in other words of this class, some adding -s, and some -es. (2) If a word ends in -y preceded by a consonant Vthe y being then changed to ^); e.g., fancies, allies, daisies, fairies, vvordsin Formerly, however, these words ended in -ie, and the real ending is therefore -s. Notice these from Chaucer (fourteenth century) : — certain cases. »ies. NOUNS. ' 41 The lilie on hir stalke grene. Their old Of maladie the which he hadde endured. jorm. And these from Spenser (sixteenth century) : — ^ Be well aware, quoth then that ladie milde. At last fair Hesperus in highest skie Had spent his lampe. (3) In the case of some words ending in -/ or -/e, which have the plural in -ves : calf — calves^ half — halves^ knife — knives^ shelf — shelves ^ etc. Special Lists. 43. Material nouns and abstract nouns are always singular. When such words take a plural ending, they lose their identity, and go over to other classes (Sees. 15 and 17). 44. Proper nouns are regularly singular, but may be made plural when we wish to speak of several persons or things bearing the same name; e.g., the Washifigtons^ the Americas. 45. Some words are usually singular, though they are plural in form. Examples of these are, optics, economics, physics, mathematics, politics, and many branches of learning; also news, pains (care), molasses, summons, means: as, — Politics, in its widest extent, is both the science and the art of government. — Century Dictionary. So live, that when thy stimmons comes, etc. — Bryant. It served simply as a means of sight. —Prof. Dana. Two words, means and politics, may be plural in their construction with verbs and adjectives : — Words, by strongly conveying the passions, by those means Means plu- which we have already mentioned, fully compensate for their ^^^' weakness in other respects. — Burke. 42 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. With great dexterity these means were now applied.— Motley. By these means, I say, riches will accumulate. — Goldsmith. Cultivating a feeling that politics are tiresome.— G. w. Curtis. The politics in which he took the keenest interest were pot iiics scarcely desening of the name. — Macaulay. Now I read all \h^ politics that cofne out.— Gouwmith. Politics //«- ral. 46. Some words have no corresponding singular. aborigines amends annals assets antipodes bellows billiards dregs gallows tongs matms nuptials oats obsequies premises scissors thanks spectacles vespers victuals Occasionally suigular words. Sometimes, however, a few of these words have the construction of singular nouns. Notice the following : — They cannot get on without each other any more than one blade of ^z scissors can cut without the other. —J. L. Laughun. A relic which, if I recollect right, he pronounced to have been a tongs. — IR^^NG. Besides this, it is furnished with a forceps. — Goldsmith, The air, — was it subdued when . . . the wind was trained only to turn a windmill, carr}* off chaff, or work in a beU lows f — Prof. Dana. In Early Modem English tliank is found. What thank have ye ? — Bible. 47. Three words were originally singular, the present ending -s not being really a plural inflec- tion, but they are regularly construed as plural: alms, eaves, riches. Two plurals. 48. A fcw nouns havc two plurals differing in meaning. brother — brothers (by blood), brethren (of a society or church) . NOUNS. 43 cloth — cloths (kinds of cloth), clothes (garments). die — dies (stamps for coins, etc.), dice (for gaming). fish — fish (collectively), fishes (individuals or kinds). , genius — geniuses (men of genius), genii (spirits). index — indexes (to books), indices (signs in alge- bra) . pea — peas (separately) , pease (collectively) . penny — pennies (separately), pence (collectively). shot — shot (collective balls), shots (number of times fired). In speaking of coins, twopence^ sixpence, etc., may add -s, making a double plural, as two six- pences, 49. Other v^ords have one plural form with two Ompiurai, meanings, — one corresponding to the singular, the i^i^sT^^"' other unlike it. custom — customs : (i) habits, ways ; (2) revenue duties. letter — letters : (i) the alphabet, or epistles; (2) literature. number — numbers : (i) figures ; (2) poetry, as in the lines, — I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. —Pope. Tell me not, in mournful numbers. —Longfellow. Numbers also means issues, or copies, of a periodical. pain — pains: (i) suffering; (2) care, trouble, part — parts: (i) divisions; (2) abilities, faculties. 50. Compound words may be divided into two Two classes classes:- . t'r'T""' (i) Those whose parts are so closely joined as to constitute one word. These make the last part plural. 44 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. courtyard fisherman handful pianoforte dormouse Frenchman mouthful stepson Englishman forget-me-not cupful spoonful fellow-servant goosequill maidservant titmouse titles. (2) Those groups m which the first part is the principal one ^ followed by a word or phrase making a modifier. The chief member adds -s in the plural, aid-de-camp commander in chief father-in-law attorney at law court-martial / knight- errant billet-doux cousin-german hanger-on Note. — Some words ending in -man are not compounds of the English word 7iian^ but add -s: such as talisman, fir- man^ Brahfnan, German, Norman, Mussulman, Ottoman. 51. Some groups pluralize both parts of the group ; as man singer, manservant, woman ser- vant, woman singer. Two methods 52. As to plurals of namcs with titles, there is ^nc^tswith some disagreement among English writers. The title may be plural, as the Messrs. Allen, the Drs. Brown, the Misses Rich; or the name may be pluralized. The former is perhaps more common in present- day use, though the latter is often found; for example, — Then came Mr. and Mrs. Briggs, and then the three Miss Spinneys, then Silas Peckham. — Dr. Holmes. Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch of the Earls of Denbigh, who drew their origin from the Counts of Hapsburgh. — Gibbon. The Miss Fla7nboroughs were reckoned the best dancers in the parish. —Goldsmith. The Misses NettengalVs young ladies come to the Cathedral too. — Dickens. The Messrs. Harper have done the more than generous thing by Mr. Du Maurier. — The Critic. NOUNS. 45 53. A number of foreign words have been adopted into English without change of form. These are said to be domesticatedy and retain their foreign plurals. Others have been adopted, and by long use have altered their power so as to conform to English words. They are then said to be naturalized^ or Anglicized, or Englished. The domesticated words may retain the original Domesticated plural. Some of them have a secondary English ^^^^■^* plural in -s or -es. Exercise. ind in the dictionary the plurals of these words : — I. FROM THE LATIN. apparatus formula radius appendix genus series axis larva specie? datum medium stratum erratum memorandum terminus focus nebula vertex II. FROM THE GREEK. analysis ellipsis antithesis hypothesis automaton parenthesis basis phenomenon crisis thesis When the foreign words are fully naturalized, Anglicized :hey form their plurals in the regular way ; as, — bandits enigmas herbariums cherubs focuses indexes dogmas formulas seraphs encomiums geniuses apexes 46 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Usage varies in plurals of letters, fig- ures, etc. 54. Letters, figures, etc., form their plurals by adding -s or 's. Words quoted merely as words, without reference to their meaning, also add -s Or 's; as, "His 9'^" (or 95-) look like fs (or 7^),*' "Avoid using too many and's (or ands),'' "Change the 4-'^ (or +^) to -sior -s)." CASE. Definition. 55. Case IS an inflection or use of a noun (or pronoun) to show its relation to other words in the sentence. In the sentence, "He sleeps in a. felon's cell," the word felon s modifies cell, and expresses a re- lation akin to possession ; cell has another rela- tion, helping to express the idea of place with the word in. Only two case forms. Reasotis for speaking of three cases of nouns. 56. In the general wearing-away of inflec- tions, the number of case forms has been greatly reduced. There are now only two case forms of English nouns, — one for the 7io7ninative and objective, one for the possessive : consequently the matter of in- flection is a very easy thing to handle in learning about cases. But there are reasons why grammars treat of tJiree cases of nouns when there are only two forms : — (i) Because the relations of all words, whether inflected or not, must be understood for purposes of analysis. -» (2) Because pronouns still have three case forms as well as three case relations. NOUNS. 47 57, Nouns, then, may be said to have three Cases, — the nominative, the objective, and the pos- lessive. v< I. Uses of the Nominative. 58. The nominative case is used as follows : — (i) As the S7ibject of a verb : " Water seeks its level." (2) As Ot predicate notm, completing a verb, and referring to or explaining the subject : " A bent twig makes a crooked tree'' (3) In apposition with some other nominative word, adding to the meaning of that word: ''The reaper Death with his sickle keen." (4) In direct address: ^^ Lord Angus, thou hast lied ! " (5) With a participle in an absolute or inde- pendent phrase (there is some discussion whether this is a true nominative) : ''The work done, they • returned to their homes." (6) With an infinitive in exclamations : ^^ David to die ! " Exercise. Pick out the nouns in the nominative case, and tell which use of the nominative each one has. 1 . Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead ; excessive grief, the enemy of the living. 2. Excuses are clothes which, when asked unawares, Good Breeding to naked Necessity spares. 3. Human experience is the great test of truth. 4. Cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers. 5. Three properties belong to wisdom, — nature, learn- ing, and experience ; three things characterize man, — person, fate, and merit. 6. But of all plagues, good Heaven, thy wrath can send, Save, save, oh save me from the candid friend ! 48 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 7. Conscience, her first law broken, wounded lies. 8. They charged, sword in hand and visor down. 9. O sleep ! O gentle sleep ! Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee ? n. Uses of the Objective. 59. The objective case is used as follows : — (i) As the direct object of a verb, naming the person or thing directly receiving the action of the verb : "Woodman, spare that tree!'' (2) As the ijzdirect object of a verb, naming the person or thing indirectly affected by the action of the verb : " Give the devil his due.'* (3) Adverbially, defining the action of a verb by denoting time, measure, distance, etc. (in the older stages of the language, this took the regu- lar accusative inflection) : " Full fathom five thy father lies ; '* '* Cowards die many times before their deaths." (4) As the second object, completing the verb, and thus becoming part of the predicate in acting upon an object: '*Time makes the worst enemies friends;'' "Thou makest the storm 2l cahn." In these sentences the real predicates are makes friends, taking the object enemies, and being equivalent to one verb, reconciles ; and makesi a calm, taking the object stonn, and meaning calm- est. This is also called the predicate objective or the factitive object. (5) As the object of a preposition, the word toward which the preposition points, and which it joins to another word : " He must have a long spoon that would eat with the devil." NOUNS. 49 . The preposition sometimes takes the possessive case of a noun, as will be seen in Sec. 6^. (6) In apposition with another objective : " The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, 2i patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn," Exercise. Point out the nouns in the objective case in these sen- tences, and tell which use each has : — 1. Tender men sometimes have strong wills. 2. Necessity is the certain connection between cause and effect. 3. Set a high price on your leisure moments ; they are sands of precious gold. 4. But the flood came howling one day. 5. I found the urchin Cupid sleeping. 6. P'ive times every year he was to be exposed in the pillory. 7. The noblest mind the best contentment has. 8. Multitudes came every summer to visit that famous natural curiosity, the Great Stone Face. 9. And whirling plate, and forfeits paid, His winter task a pastime made. 10. He broke the ice on the streamlet's brink. And gave the leper to eat and drink. in. Uses of the Possessive. 60. The possessive case always modifies another . word, expressed or understood. There are three forms of possessive showing how a word is related in sense to the modified word : — (i) Appositional possessive y as in these expres sions, — The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle. — Byron. Beside a pumice isle in Baice's bay — Shelley. B. GRAM. — d. 50 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, In these sentences the phrases are equivalent to of the rocky isle \of^ Scio, and in the bay \of^^ BaicB, the possessive being really equivalent here to an appositional objective. It is a poetic expression, the equivalent phrase being used in prose. (2) Objective possessive^ as shown in the sen- tences, — ' Ann Turner had taught her the secret before this last good lady had been hanged for Sir Thomas Overburys murder. — Hawthorne. He passes to-day in building an air castle for to-morrow, or in writing yesterday'' s elegy. — Thackeray. In these the possessives are equivalent to an objective after a verbal expression : as, for murder- ing Sir Thomas Overbiiry ; an elegy to commem- orate yesterday. For this reason the use of the possessive here is called objective. (3) Subjective possessive, the most common of all ; as, — The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display. Addison. If this were expanded into the power which his Creator possesses, the word Creator would be the subject of the verb : hence it is called a subjec- tive possessive. 61. This last-named possessive expresses a variety of relations. Possession in some sense is the most common. The kind of relation may usually be found by expanding the possessive into an equivalent phrase : for example, " Winter's rude tempests are gathering now" (i.e., tempests that winter is likely to have); " His beard was of NOUNS. 51 several days' growth " (i.e., growth which several days had developed) ; " The forest's leaping pan- ther shall yield his spotted hide " (i.e., the panther which the forest hides); "Whoso sheddeth man's blood" (blood that man possesses). 62. As said before (Sec. 56), there are only two Howthe pos- case forms. One is the simple form of a word, /orlneJf expressing the relations of nominative and objec- t tive ; the other is formed by adding 's to the simple form, making the possessive singular. To form the possessive plural, only the apostrophe is added if the plural nominative ends in -s ; the 's is added if the plural nominative does not end in -s. Case Inflection. 63. The full declension of nouns is as follows : — Declension or infiection of nouns, SINGULAR. PLURAL. '' 1 . Norn, and Obj. lady ladies Poss. lady's ladies' 2. Norn, and Obj. child children Poss. child's children's Note. — The difficulty that some students have in writing A suggestion, the possessive plural would be lessened if they would remem- ber there are two steps to be taken : — (i) Form the nominative plural according to Sees. 39-53 (2) Follow the rule given in Sec. 62. , Special Remarks on the Possessive Case. 64. In Old English a large number of words Origin of the had in the genitive case singular the ending -es ; wltkits*' in Middle English still more words took this end- ^P''*^'P^'' ing : for example, in Chaucer, " From every schires 52 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. ende," " Full worthi was he in his lordes werre [war]," "at his beddes syde," '' mannes herte [heart]," etc. By the end of the seventeenth century the present way of indicating the possessive had become general. The use of the apostrophe, how- ever, was not then regarded as standing for the omitted vowel of the genitive (as lord's for lordes) : by a false theory the ending was thought to be a contraction of his, as schoolboys sometimes write, *' George Jones his book." Though this opinion was untrue, the apostrophe has proved a great convenience, since otherwise words with a plural in -s would have three forms alike. To the eye all the forms are now distinct, but to the ear ail may be alike, and the connection must tell us what form is intended. The use of the apostrophe in the plural also began in the seventeenth century, from thinking that s was not a possessive sign, and from a desire to have distinct forms. A false theory^ Use of the apostrophe. uleft^Tutin ^5* Occasionally the s is dropped in the posses* the possessive sivc sinsfular if the word ends in a hissine: sound singular, , . ^ . and another hissmg sound follows, but the apos- trophe remains to mark the possessive ; as, for goodness sake, Cervantes^ satirical work. In other cases the s is seldom omitted. Notice these three examples from Thackeray's writings : " Harry ran upstairs to his inistress's apartment ; " "A postscript is added, as by the countess's com- mand ; " "I saw what the governess's views were of the matter," NOUNS, S3 66. In compound expressions, containing words Possessive T ., , 1 - with com- m apposition, a word with a phrase, etc., the pound expres- possessive sign is usually last, though instances ^^^'^^' are found with both appositional words marked. Compare the following examples of literary- usage : — Do not the Miss Prys, my neighbors, know the amount of my income, the items of my soft's^ Captain Scrapegrace^s, tailor's bill ? — Thackeray. The world's pomp and power sits there on this hand : on that, stands up for God's truth one man, the poor miner Hans Luther^ s son. — Carlyle. They invited me in the emperor their master'' s name. — Swift. I had naturally possessed myself of Richardson the painter^ s thick octavo volumes of notes on the "Paradise Lost." — De Quincey. They will go to Sunday schools to teach classes of little children the age of Methuselah or the dimensions of Og the king of Bashan^s bedstead. — Holmes. More common still is the practice of turning the possessive into an equivalent phrase ; as, in the na7ne of the emperor their master^ instead of the emperor their master s name. 67. The possessive is sometimes used without Possessive , , . . , - and no noun belonging to any noun m the sentence ; some such limited. word as house, store, churchy dwellings etc., being understood with it : for example, — Here at the fruiterer^s the Madonna has a tabernacle of fresh laurel leaves. — Ruskin. It is very common for people to say that they are dis- appointed in the first sight of St. Peter'' s. — Lowell. I remember him in his cradle at St. James'' s. — Thackeray. Kate saw that; and she walked off from the don's. — v>^ Quincey. 54 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 'J !u Uouu^e possessive. Its advan- tages : Euphony, Emphasis, Clearness, 63. A peculiar form, a double possessive, has grown up and become a fixed idiom in modern English. In most cases, a possessive relation was ex- pressed in Old English by the inflection -es, corre- sponding to 's. The same relation was expressed in French by a phrase corresponding to ^and its object. Both of these are now used side by side; sometimes they are used together, as one modifier, making a double possessive. For this there are several reasons : — (i) When a word is modified by a, the, this, that, every, no, any, each, etc., and at the same time by a possessive noun, it is distasteful to place the possessive before the modified noun, and it would also alter the meaning : we place it after the modified noun with of. (2) It is more emphatic than the simple pos- sessive, especially when used with this or that, for it brings out the modified word in strong relief. (3) It prevents ambiguity. For example, in such a sentence as, '' This introduction of Atter- bury's has all these advantages " (Dr. Blair), the statement clearly means only one thing, — the. introduction which Atterbury made. If, however, we use the phrase of Atterbury, the sentence might be understood as just explained, or it might mean this act of introducing Atterbury. (See also Sec. ^j.^ The following are some instances of double possessives : — This Hall of Tinville's is dark, ill-lighted except where she stands. — Carlyle. NOUNS 55 Those lectures of LowelVs had a great influence with me, and I used to like whatever they bade me like. — Howells. Niebuhr remarks that no pointed sentences of Ccesar^s can have come down to us. — Froude. Besides these famous books of Scot fs and Johnson's^ there is a copious ^^ Life " by Thomas Sheridan. —Thackeray. Always afterwards on occasions of ceremony, he wore that quaint old French sword of the Commodore's. — E. E. Hale. Exercises. (^) Pick out the possessive nouns, and tell whether each is appositional, objective, or subjective. (b^ Rewrite the sentence, turning the possessives into equivalent phrases. 1. I don't choose a hornet's nest about my ears. 2. Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? 3. I must not see thee Osman's bride. 4. At lovers' perjuries, They say, Jove laughs. 5. The world has all its eyes on Cato's son. 6. My quarrel and the English queen's are one. 7. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East. 8. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds \ therefore, let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other. 9. 'Tis all men's office to speak patience To those that wring under the load of sorrow. 10. A jest's prosperity Hes in the ear Of him that hears it, never in the tongue Of him that makes it. 11. No more the juice of Egypt's grape shall moist his hp. 12. There Shakespeare's self, with every garland crowned, Flew to those fairy climes his fancy sheen. 13. What supports me? dost thou ask? The conscience. Friend, to have lost them [his eyes] overplied In liberty's defence. 56 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 14. Or where Campania's plain forsaken lies, A weary waste expanding to the skies. 15. Nature herself, it seemed, would raise A minster to her Maker's praise ! HOW TO PARSE NOUNS. 69. Parsing a word is putting together all the facts about its form and its relations to other words in the sentence. In parsing, some idioms — the double possessive, for example — do not come under regular gram- matical rules, and are to be spoken of merely as idioms. 70, Hence, in parsing a noun, we state, — (i) The class to which it belongs, — common, proper, etc. (2) Whether a neuter or a gender noun ; if the latter, which gender. (3) Whether singular or plural number. (4) Its office in the sentence, determining its case. The correct 71. In parsing any word, the following method should always be followed : tell the facts about what the word does^ then make the grammatical statements as to its class, inflections, and relations. MODEL FOR PARSING. " What is bolder than a miller's neckcloth, which takes a thief by the throat every morning ? " Miller's is a name applied to every individual of its class, hence it is a common noun ; it is the name of a male being, hence it is a gender noun, mascu- line ; it denotes only one person, therefore singu- NOUNS. 57 lar number ; it expresses possession or ownership, ^and limits neckcloth^ therefore possessive case. Neckcloth, like miller' s, is a common class noun; it has no sex, therefore neuter ; names one thing, therefore singular number; subject of the verb is understood, and therefore nominative case. Thief is a common class noun ; the connection shows a male is meant, therefore masculine gen- der; singular number; object of the verb takes^ hence objective case. Throat is neuter, of the same class and number as the word neckcloth ; it is the object of the prep- osition by, hence it is objective case. Note. — The preposition sometimes takes the possessive case (see Sec. 68). Morning is like throat and neckcloth as to class, gender, and number; as to case, it expresses time, has no governing word, but is the adverbial ob- jective. Exercise. Follow the model above in parsing all the nouns in the following sentences : — 1. To raise a monument to departed worth is to per- petuate virtue. 2. The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident. 3. An old cloak makes a new jerkin ; a withered serv- ing man, a fresh tapster. 4. That in the captain's but a choleric word, Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy. 5. Now, blessings light on him that first invented . . . sleep ! 6. Necker, financial minister to Louis XVL, and his daughter, Madame de Stael, were natives of Geneva. 7. He giveth his beloved sleep. 58 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 8. Time makes the worst enemies friends. 9. A few miles from this point, where the Rhone enters the lake, stands the famous Castle of Chillon, con- nected with the shore by a drawbridge, — palace, castle, and prison, all in one. 10. Wretches ! ye loved her for her wealth, And hated her for her pride. 11. Mrs. Jarley's back being towards him, the military gentleman shook his forefinger. The need of pronouns. Definition. PRONOUNS. 72. When we wish to speak of a name several times in succession, it is clumsy and tiresome to repeat the noun. For instance, instead of saying, " The pitpil will succeed in the pupil's efforts if the pupil is ambitious," we improve the sentence by shortening it thus, " The pupil will succeed in his efforts if he is ambitious." Again, if we wish to know about the ownership of a house, we evidently cannot state the owner's name ; but by a question we say,' " Whose house is that } " thus placing a word instead of the name till we learn the name. This is not to be understood as implying that pronouns were invented because nouns were tire- some, since history shows that pronouns are as old as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have sprung up naturally, from a necessity for short, definite, and representative words. A pronoun is a reference word, standing for a name, or for a person or thing, or for a group of persons or things. PRONOUNS, 59 73. Pronouns may be grouped in five classes : — cia&ses of pronouns, (i) Personal pronouns, which distinguish person by their form (Sec. ^6^ (2) Interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask questions about persons or things. (3) Relative pronouns, which relate or refer to a noun, pronoun, or other word or expression, and at the same time connect two statements. They are also called conjunctive. (4) Adjective pronouns, words, primarily adjec- tives, which are classed as adjectives when they modify nouns, but as pronouns when they stand for nouns. (5) Indefinite pronouns, which cannot be used as adjectives, but stand for an indefinite number of* persons or things. Numerous examples of all these will be given under the separate classes hereafter treated. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 74. Since pronouns stand for persons as well Person in as names, they must represent the person talking, ^^^^^^^' the person or thing spoken to, and the person or thing talked about. This gives rise to a new term, "the distinction oi person,'' 75. This distinction was not needed in discuss- Person c»/ » 1.1 /- 1 1 nouns. mg nouns, as nouns have the same form, whether representing persons and things spoken to or spoken of. It is evident that a noun could not represent the person speaking, even if it had a special form. 6o THE PARTS OF SPEECH, From analogy to pronouns, which have forms for person, nouns are sometimes spoken of as first or second person by their use ; that is, if they are in apposition with a pronoun of the first or second person, they are said to have person by agreement. But usually nouns represent something spoken ol Three per- rj(^^ Pronouns naturally are of three persons:— ^ons of pro- ' j r nouns. ^j^ First pcrsoH, representing the person speak- ing. (2) Second person, representing a person or thing spoken to. (3) Third person, standing for a person or thing spoken of. , FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 77. Personal pronouns are inflected thus : — FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON. THIRD PERSON. Singular. Old Form. Common Form. Masc. Fern. Neut* Nom. I thou you he she it Poss. mine, my thine, thy your, yours his her, hers its Obj. me thee you him her it Plural Plural. Plur. of all Three, Nom, we ye you they Poss. our, ours your, yours your, yours their, theirs Obj, us you you them Remarks on These Forms. ^ First and sec- 78. It will be uoticcd that the pronouns of the ond persons r ^ ^ i 1 r t • without gen- tirst and second persons have no forms to distm guish gender. The speaker may be either male or female, or, by personification, neuter ; so also with the person or thing spoken to. Third person But the third person has, in the singular, a sepa- scnd€r, rate form for each gender, and also for the neuter. PRONOUNS, 6 1 In Old English these three were formed from the old forms. same root; namely, masculine he, feminine heo^ neuter hit. The form hit (for it^ is still heard in vulgar English, and hoo (for heo) in some dialects of Eng- land. The plurals were hi, heora, heoin, in Old English ; the forms they, their, them, perhaps being from the English demonstrative, though influenced by the cognate Norse forms. 79. Thotc, thee, etc., are old forms which are Secondper- now out of use in ordinary speech. The conse- ^plurafinor- quence is, that we have no singular pronoun of the fil)^^'^ ^"^' second person in ordinary speech or prose, but make the plural yoic do duty for the singular. We use it with a plural verb always, even when re- ferring to a single object. 80. There are, however, two modern uses of Twomesdf thou, thy, QtC.:— the^oldsu^gu. (i) In elevated style, especially in poetry; as, — With thy clear keen joyance Languor cannot be ; Shadow of annoyance Never came near thee ; Thoti lovest; but ne'er knew lovers sad satiety. — Shelley. (2) In addressing the Deity, as in prayers, etc. ; for example, — Oh, thou Shepherd of Israel, that di(ist comfort thy people of old, to thy care we commit the helpless. — Beecher. 81. It is worth while to consider the possessive The form Hs, its. This is of comparatively recent growth. The old form was his (from the nominative hit), and 62 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. this continued in use till the sixteenth century. The transition from the old his to the modern its is shown in these sentences : — 1 . He anointed the altar and all his vessels. — Bible, Here his refers to altar, which is a neuter noun. The quotation represents the usage of the early sixteenth century. 2. It's had // head bit off by // young. — Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses hisy it, and sometimes its, as possessive of it. In Milton's poetry (seventeenth century) its oc- curs only three times. 3. See heaven its sparkling portals wide display. — Pope. A relic of the olden time. Use of the projiouus in personifi- cation. 82. We have an interesting relic in such sen- tences as this from Thackeray : ** One of the ways to know 'em is to watch the scared looks of the ogres' wives and children." As shown above, the Old English objective was hem (or heom), which was often sounded with the h silent, just as we now say, *' I saw 'im yesterday " when the word hi^n is not emphatic. In spoken English, this form 'em has survived side by side with the literary them, 83. The pronouns he and she are often used in poetry, and sometimes in ordinary speech, to personify objects (Sec. 34). Nominative forms. CASES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS. I. The Nominative. 84. The nominative forms of personal pronoyns have the same uses as the nominative of nouns PRONOUNS. 63 (see Sec. 58). The case of most of these pro- nouns can be determined more easily than the case of nouns ; for, besides a nominative use^ they have a nominative form. The words /, thou, he, she, we, ye, they, are very rarely anything but nomi- native in literary English, though ye is occasionally used as objective. 85. In spoken English, however, there are some Additional others that are added to the list of nominatives : *^i^rspoken^^ they are, me, hint, her, us, them, when they occur ^^s^^^^- in the predicate position. That is, in such a sen- tence as, " I am sure it was him,'' the literary language would require he after was ; but collo- quial English regularly uses as predicate nomina- tives the forrns me, him, her, us, them, though those named in Sec. 84 are always 'subjects. Yet care- ful speakers avoid this, and follow the usage of literary English. II. The Possessive. 86. The forms my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, Notasepa- their, are sometimes grouped separately as pos- sessive PRONOUNS, but it is better to speak of them as the possessive case of personal pronouns, just as we speak of the possessive case of nouns, and not make more classes. The forms mine, thine, yours, hers, theirs, some- Absolute j2>^'. ,. , . 1-1 .1. T sonal pro- times hts and tts, have a peculiar use, standing nouns. apart from the words they modify instead of imme- diately before them. From this use they are called ABSOLUTE PERSONAL PRONOUNS, or, somc say, ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVES. 64 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Old use Oj mine am thine. As instances of the use of absolute pronouns, note the following : — 'Twas 7mne, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. Shakespeare. And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine. Cow PER. My arm better than theirs can ward it off. — Landor. Thine are the city and the people of Granada. — Bulwer. of Formerly mine and thine stood before their nouns, if the nouns began with a vowel or h silent; thus, — Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn ? — Shakespeare. Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice, —id. \i thine eye offend thee, pluck it ovX. — Bible. My greatest apprehension was for mine eyes. -Swift. This usage is still preserved in poetry. Double and triple pos- scssives. Their uses. 87. The forms hers, ours, yours, theirs, are really double possessives, since they add the possessive s to what is already a regular possessive inflection. Besides this, we have, as in nouns, a possessive phrase made up of the preposition of with these double possessives, hers, onrs, yours, theirs, and with mine, thine, his, sometimes its. Like the noun possessives, they have several uses : — (i) To prevent ambiguity, as in the follow- ing:— I have often contrasted the habitual qualities of that gloomy fiiend of theirs with the astounding spirits of Thackeray and Dickens. — J. T. Fields. No words of ours can describe the fury of the conflict. J. F. Cooper. (2) To bring emphasis, as in these sentences : — ^ PRONOUNS. " 65 This thing of yours that you call a Pardon of Sins, it is a bit of rag-paper with ink. — Carlyle. This ancient silver bowl of jnine, it tells of good old times. — Holmes. (3) To express contempt , anger ^ or satire ; for example, — "Do you know the charges that unhappy sister of mine and her family have put me to already ? " says the Master. — Thackeray. He [John Knox] had his pipe of Bordeaux too, we find, in that old Edinburgh house of his. — Carlyle. " Hold thy peace. Long Allen," said Henry Woodstall, " I tell thee that tongue of thine is not the shortest limb about thee." — Scott. (4) To make a noun less limited in application ; thus, — A favorite liar and servant of mine was a man I once had to drive a brougham. — Thackeray. In New York I read a newspaper criticism one day, com- menting upon a letter of 7nine. — Id. What would the last two sentences mean if the word my were written instead of of mincy and pre- ceded the nouns } 88. In their function, or use in a sentence, the About the absolute possessive forms of the personal pronouns To7utepro- are very much like adjectives used as nouns. ^^^^^' In such sentences as, " The goodalont are great," ** None but tke brave deserves the fair^' the words italicized have an adjective force and also a noun force, as shown in Sec. 20. So in the sentences illustrating absolute pro- nouns in Sec. %6 : mine stands for my property^ his for his property ^ in the first sentence; mine 56 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Stands* for my praise in the second. But the first two have a nominative use, and mine in the second has an objective use. They may be spoken of as possessive in form, but nominative or objective in use, according as the modified word is in the nominative or the objective. m. The Objective. The old da- 89. In Old English there was one case which survives in use, but not in form. In such a sen- tence as this one from Thackeray, " Pick me out a whip-cord thong with some dainty knots in it," the word me is evidently not the direct object of the verb, but expresses for whom, for whose benefit, the thing is done. In pronouns, . this dative use, as it is called, was marked by a separate case. In Modern English the same use is frequently seen, but the form is the same as the objective. For this reason a word thus used is called a dative-objective. The following are examples of the dative-objec- tive : — Give 7ne neither poverty nor riches.— ^z3/i?. Curse me this people. — /^. Both joined in making hiin a present. — Macaulay. Is it not enough that you have burnt me down three houses with your dog's tricks, and be hanged to you ! — Lamb. I give thee this to wear at the collar. — Scott. 90. Besides this use of the objective, there are others : — {\) As the direct object of a verb. They all handled //. — Lamb. PRONOUNS, 67 {2) As the object of a preposition. Time is behind the7n and before them, — Carlyle. (3) In apposition. She sate all last summer by the bedside of the blind beggar, him that so often and so gladly I talked with. — De Quincey. SPECIAL USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS. ■ 91. The word j/^//, and its possessive case j^ r* > 210 V. ^ T '• •* ADJECTIVES OF QUANTITY. 145. Adjectives of quantity tell how much or how many. They have these three subdivisions : — (i) Quantity in bulk: such words as little, ^owmuch. much, some, no, any, considerable, sometimes small, joined usually to singular nouns to express an in- definite measure of the thing spoken of. The following examples are from Kingsley : — So he parted with much weeping of the lady. Which we began to do vi\\)i\ great labor and little profit. Because I had so7ne knowledge of surgery and blood-letting. But ever she looked on Mr. Oxenham, and seemed to take no care as long as he was by. Examples of small diS> an adjective of quantity: — " The deil's in it but I bude to anger him ! " said the woman, and walked away with a laugh of small satisfaction. — Macdonald. 'Tis midnight, but small thoughts have I of sleep. — Coleridge. It gives small idea of Coleridge's way of talking. — Carlyle. When some, any, no, are used with plaral nouns, they come under the next division of adjectives. (2) Quantity in number, which may be ex- Howmany^ pressed exactly by numbers or remotely designated by words expressing indefinite amounts. Hence the natural division into — {a) Definite numerals; as, '^ one blaze of mus- ketry ; " " He found in the Y>^\h'N2iy fourteen Span- iards ; " '* I have lost one brother, but I have gdiinQA fourscore ;'' ''a dozen volunteers." {b) Indefinite numerals, as the following from Kingsley : " We gave several thousand pounds for it ; " " In came some five and twenty more, and 102 THE FARTS OF SPEECH, Single ones of any number of things. with them a few negroes ; " " Then we wandered for many days ; " ** Amyas had evidently more schemes in his head; " " He had Hved by hunting for some months ; " '' That Ught is far too red to be the reflection of any beams of hers." (3) Distributive numerals, which occupy a place midway between the last two subdivisions of numeral adjectives; for they are indefinite in tell- ing how many objects, are spoken of, but definite in referring to the objects one at a time. Thus, — Every town had its fair ; every village, its wake. — Thackeray. An arrow was quivering in each body. — Kingsley. Few on either side but had their shrewd scratch to show. Before I taught my tongue to wound My conscience with a sinful sound, Or had the black art to dispense A several sin to every sense. V A UGH AN. Exercise, quantity. -Bring up sentences with ten adjectives of. Not prima- rily pronouns. The list DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES. 146. The words of. this list are placed here instead of among pronominal adjectives, for the reason that they are felt to be primarily adjectives ; their pronominal use being evidently a shortening, by which the words point out but stand for words omitted, instead of modifying them. Their natural and original use is to be joined to a noun following or in close connection. The demonstrative adjectives are this, that, (plural these y those\ yonder (or yon), former, latter; ADJECTIVES. 103 also the pairs one (or the one) — the other^ the former — the latter, used to refer to two things which have been already named in a sentence. The following sentences present some ex- Examples, amples: — The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love, The matron's glance that would those looks reprove. Goldsmith. These were thy charms . . . but all these charms are fled. —Id. About this time I met with an odd volume of the " Spec- tator."— B. Franklin. Yonder proud ships are not means of annoyance to you. • — D. Webster. Yoll cloud with that long purple cleft. —Wordsworth. I chose for the students of Kensington two characteristic examples of early art, of equal skill ; but in the one case, skill which was progressive — in the other ^ skill which was at pause. — RusKiN. Exercise. — Find sentences with five demonstrative adjectives. 147. The class of numerals known as ordinals Ordinal numerals must be placed here, as having the same function classed vndn as demonstrative adjectives. They point out which tives thing is meant among a series of things mentioned. The following are examples : — The first regular provincial newspapers appear to have been created in the last decade of the seventeenth century, and by the middle of the eighteenth century almost every important provincial town had its local organ. —Bancroft. These do not, like the other numerals, tell hou many things are meant. When we speak of the seventeenth century, we imply nothing as to how many centuries there may be. 104 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Definition, Modify names of per- sons or things. PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES. 148. As has been said, pronominal adjectives are primarily pronouns; but, when they modify words instead of referring to them as antecedents, they are changed to adjectives. They are of two kinds, — RELATIVE and interrogative, — and are used to join sentences or to ask questions, just as the corresponding pronouns do. 149. The RELATIVE ADJECTIVES are which and IV hat ; for example, — It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garni- tures.— Carlyle. The silver and laughing Xenil, careless what lord should possess the banks that bloomed by its everlasting course. — BULWER. The taking of which bark, I verily believe, was the ruin of every mother's son of us.— Kingsley. In which evil strait Mr. Oxenham fought desperately, —id. Indefinite 150. The INDEFINITE RELATIVE adjCCtivCS are relative ad- jectives, zvhaty whatever, whatsoever, whichever, whichsoever. Examples of their use are, — He in his turn tasted some of its flavor, which, make what sour mouths he would for pretense, proved not altogether dis- pleasing to him. — Lamb. Whatever correction of our popular views from insight, nature will be sure to bear us out in. —Emerson. Whatsoever kind of man he is, you at least give him full authority over your son. — Ruskin. Was there, as it rather seemed, a circle of ominous shadow moving along with his deformity, whichever way he turned himself? — Hawthorne. ADJECTIVES. 105 New torments I behold, and new tormented Around me, whichsoever way I move. And whichsoever way I turn, and gaze. Longfellow (from Dante). 151. The INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES are which and what. They may be used in direct and indirect questions. As in the pronouns, which is selective among what is known ; zvhat inquires about things or persons not known. Sentences with which and ivhat in direct ques- J^ direct questions, tions : — Which debt must I pay first, the debt to the rich, or the debt to the poor?— Emerson. But when the Trojan war comes, which side will you take? — Thackeray. But what books in the circulating library circulate? — Lowell. What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shade Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade? Pope. Sentences with which and what in indirect ques- ^J^^^Xs!^ tions : — His head . . . looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. - Irving. A lady once remarked, he [Coleridge] could never fix which side of the garden walk would suit him best. — Carlyle. He was turned before long into all the universe, where it was uncertain what game you would catch, or whether any. — /d. At what rate these materials would be distributed and precipitated in regular strata, it is impossible to determine. — Agassiz. 152. In exclamatory expressions, what (or ;^^{f^^;^. what a) has a force somewhat like a descrip- ciamatiom, tive adjective. It is neither relative nor interrog- io6 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. ative, but might be called an exclamatory ad- jective; as, — Oh, what a revolution ! and what a heart must I have, to contemplate without emotion that elevation and that fall! — Burke. What a piece of work is man! —Shakespeare. And yet, alas, the making of it right, what a business for long time to come ! — Carlyle. Through what hardships it may attain to bear a sweet fruit ! — Thoreau. Exercise. — Find ten sentences containing pronominal adjectives. History of this — these and that — those. Those bor- rowed from this. INFLECTIONS OF ADJECTIVES. 153. Adjectives have two inflections, — number and comparison. NUMBER. — r/j/s, That. 154. The only adjectives having a plural form are this and that (plural these ^ those). This is the old demonstrative; that being bor- rowed from the forms of the definite article, which was fully inflected in Old English. The article that was used with neuter nouns. In Middle English the plural of this was this or thise, which changed its spelling to the modern form these. But this had also another plural, thds (modern those\ The old plural of that was tha (Middle English tho or thovu) : consequently tho (plural of that) and those (plural of this) became confused, and it was forgotten that those was really the plu- ral of this ; and in Modern English we speak of ADJECTIVES, 107 these as the plural of this^ and those as the plural of that. COMPARISON. 155. Comparison is an inflection not possessed by nouns and pronouns : it belongs to adjectives and adverbs. When we place two objects side by side, we Meaning of ..„ . , . comparison. notice some diiierences between them as to size, weight, color, etc. Thus, it is said that a cow is larger than a sheep, gold is heavier than iron, a sapphire is bluer than the sky. All these have certain qualities; and when we compare the ob- jects, we do so by means of their qualities, — cow and sheep by the quality of largeness, or size ; gold and iron by the quality of heaviness, or weight, etc., — but not the same degree, or amount, of the quality. The degrees belong to any beings or ideas that may be known or conceived of as possessing qual- ity ; as, ^' untamed thought, great, giant-like, enor- mous;" "the commonest speech;" "It is a nobler valor ; " " the largest soul." Also words of quantity may be compared : for example, "more matter, with less wit;" "no fewer than a hundred." 156. There are some descriptive words whose Words that ^ ^ ^ . cannot be meaning is such as not to admit of comparison; compared. for example, — His company became very agreeable to the brave old pro- fessor of arms, whose favorite pupil he was. —Thackeray. A main difference betwixt men is, whether they attend their own affair or not. — Emerson. io8 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 1 It was his business to administer the law in its final and closest application to the offender. —Hawthorne. Freedom is a perpetual^ organic^ universal institution, in harmony with the Constitution of the United States. —Seward. So with the words sole, sufficient, infinite, imme- morial, indefatigable, indomitable, supreme, and many others. It is true that words of comparison are some- times prefixed to them, but, strictly considered, they are not compared. Definition, The two forms. Substitute for inflection in comparison. 157. Comparison means the changes that words undergo to express degrees in quality, or amounts in quantity. 158. There are two forms for this inflection ; the comparative, expressing a greater degree of quality ; and the superlative, expressing the great- est degree of quality. These are called degrees of comparison. These are properly the only degrees, though the simple, uninflected form is usually called the positive degree. 159. The comparative is formed by adding -er, and the superlative by adding -est, to the simple form ; as, red, redder, reddest ; blue, bluer, bluest ; easy, easier, easiest. 160. Side by side with these inflected forms are found comparative and superlative expressions making use of the adverbs more and most. These are often useful as alternative with the inflected forms, but in most cases are used before adjectives that are never inflected. ADJECTIVES, 109 They came into use about the thirteenth cen- tury, but were not common until a century later. 161. The English is somewhat capricious in WhichruU,-' choosing between the inflected forms and those ormox^atid with more and most^ so that no inflexible rule can be given as to the formation of the comparative and the superlative. The general rule is, that monosyllables and easily pronounced words of two syllables add -er and -est ; and other words are preceded by more and most. But room must be left in such a rule for pleas- antness of sound and for variety of expression. To see how literary English overrides any rule that could be given, examine the following taken at random : — From Thackeray : " The handsomest wives ; '* " the immensest quantity of thrashing ; " '' the won- derfiilest little shoes ; " " more odd, strange^ and yet familiar ; " " more austere and holy.'" From Ruskin : " The sharpest, finest chisel- ing, and patientest fusing ; " " distantest relation- ships ; " ** sorrowfulest spectacles." Carlyle uses beaiitifiilest, mojirnfulest, honest- est, admirablest, indisputable st, peaceablest, most small, etc. These long, harsh forms are usually avoided, but more and most are frequently used with mono- syllables. 162. Expressions are often met with in which a superlative form does not carry the superlative most? no tHE PARTS OF SPEECH, meaning. These are equivalent usually to very with the positive degree ; as, — To this the Count offers a most wordy declaration of the benefits conferred by Spain. — The Nation, No. 1507. In all formulas that Johnson could stand by, there needed to be a most genuine substance. — Carlyle. A gentleman, who, though born in no very high degree, was most Jinished, polished, witty, easy, $r///>/. — Thackeray. He had actually nothing else save a rope around his neck, which hung behind in the queerest vj2.y.— Id. " So help me God, madam, I will," said Henry Esmond, falling on his knees, and kissing the hand of his dearest mistress.—/^. "irff^uh^ri ^^^* ^"^^^^ the variously derived adjectives compared. now in our language there are some which may always be recognized as native English. These are adjectives irregularly compared. Most of them have worn down or become con- fused with similar words, but they are essentially the same forms that have lived for so many centuries. The following lists include the majority of them : — List I. I. Good or well Better Best 2. Evil, bad I, ill Worse Worst 3- Little Less, lesser Least 4. Much or many More Most 5- Old Elder, older Eldest, oldest 6. Nigh Nigher Nighest, next 7. Near Nearer Nearest 8. Far Farther, further Farthest, furthest 9- Late Later, latter Latest, last [0. Hind Hinder Hindmost, hindermost ADJECTIVES, 1 1 1 List II. These have no adjective positive : — 1. [In] Inner Inmost, innermost r^ ^-, r\ ^ ^». \ Outmost, outermost 2. [Out] Outer, utter \,. ^ ' _ •- -^ ' i Utmost, uttermost 3. [Up] Upper Upmost, uppermost List III. A few of comparative form but not comparative mean- ing : — After Over Under Nether Remarks on Irregular Adjectives. 164. (i) The word good has no comparative or ListL superlative, but takes the place of a positive to better and best. There was an old comparative bet, which has gone out of use; as in the sentence (14th century), " Ich singe bet than thu dest" (I sing better than thou dost). The superlative form was betst, which has softened to the mod- ern best. (2) In Old English, evil was the positive to worse, worst ; but later bad and /// were borrowed from the Norse, and used as positives to the same comparative and superlative. Worser was once used, a double comparative; as in Shake- speare, — O, throw away the worser part of it. — Hamlet. (3) Little is used as positive to less, least, though . from a different root. A double comparative, / lesser, is often used ; as, — We have it in a much lesser degree. —Matthew Arnold. Thrust the lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti. — Lamb. J 12 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. (4) The words much and many now express quantity ; but in former times 7nuch was used in the sense of large, great, and was the same word that is found in the proverb, '' Many a little makes a mickley Its spelling has been micel, muchely moche, much, the parallel form mickle being rarely used. The meanings greater^ greatest, are shown in such phrases as, — The more part being of one mind, to England we sailed. — KiNGSLEY. The most part kept a stolid indifference.—/^. The latter, meaning the largest part, is quite common. ^ (5) The forms elder, eldest, are earlier than older^ oldest. A few other words with the vowel o had similar change in the comparative and superlative, as lo7ig, strong, etc. ; but these have followed old by keeping the same vowel in all the forms, instead of lenger, strenger, etc., the old forms. (6) and (7) Both nigh and near seem regular in Modern English, except the form next ; but origi- nally the comparison was nigh, near, next. In the same way the word high had in Middle English the superlative hexte. By and by the comparative near was regarded as a positive form, and on it were built a double comparative nearer, and the superlative nearest, which adds -est to what is really a comparative instead of a simple adjective. (8) These words also show confusion and con- sequent modification, coming about as follows : further really belongs to another series, — forth^ ADJECTIVES. 113 further, first. First became entirely detached from the series, and furthest began to be used to follow the comparative further ; then these were used as comparative and superlative of far. The word far had formerly the comparative and superlative farrer, fm-rest. In imitation of ftir- ther, furthest, th came into the others, making the modern farther, farthest. Between the two sets as they now stand, there is scarcely any distinction, except perhaps further is more used than farther in the sense of additional ; as, for example, — When that evil principle was left with no further material to support it. — Hawthorne. (9) Latter and last are the older forms. Since later, latest^ came into use, a distinction has grown up between the two series. Later and latest have the true comparative and superlative force, and refer to time ; latter and last are used in speaking of succession, or series, and are hardly thought of as connected in meaning with the word late, (10) Hinder is comparative in form, but not in meaning. The form hindmost is really a double superlative, since the m is iox -ma, an old super- lative ending, to which is added -ost, doubling the inflection. Hind-er-m-ost presents the combination comparative + superlative + superlative. 165. In List II. (Sec. 163) the comparatives Listn and superlatives are adjectives, but they have no adjective positives. The comparatives are so in form, but not in their meaning. The superlatives show examples again of double THE PARTS OF SPEECH. inflection, and of comparative added to double- superlative inflection. Examples (from Carlyle) of the use of these adjectives : " revealing the inner splendor to him ; " "a mind that has penetrated into the inmost heart of a thing;" "This of painting is one of the outermost developments of a man ; " " The outer is of the day ; " *' far-seeing as the sun, the 2ipper\\ght of the world; " '' the innermost moral soul ; " " their utmost exertion." -Most added i66. The ending -most is added to some words io other n t • i words. that are not usually adjectives, or have no com- parative forms. There, on the very topmost twig, sits that ridiculous but sweet-singing bobolink.— H. w. Beecher. Decidedly handsome, having such a skin as became a young woman of family in northernmost Spain. -De Quincky. Highest and midmost^ was descried The royal banner floating wide. Scott. List III. 167. The adjectives in List III. are like the com- parative forms in List IL in having no adjective positives. They have no superlatives, and have no comparative force, being merely descriptive. Her bows were deep in the water, but -her after deck was still dry. — Kingsley. Her, by the by, in after years I vainly endeavored to trace. -De Quincey. The upper and the under side of the medal of Jove. — Emerson. Have you ever considered what a deep under meaning there lies in our custom of strewing flowers ? — Ruskin. Perhaps he rose out of some nether region. —Hawthorne. Overxs rarely used separately as an adjective. ADJECTIVES, 115 CAUTION FOR ANALYZING OR PARSING. 168. Some care must be taken to decide what Think what word is modified by an adjective. In a series of yjctiv/bes adjectives in the same sentence, all may belong to ^^"^^'^* the same noun, or each may modify a different word or group of words. For example, in this sentence, " The young pas- tor's voice was tremulously sweet, rich, deep, and broken," it is clear that all four adjectives after zvas modify the noun voice. But in this sentence, " She showed her usual prudence and her usual incom- parable decision," decision is modified by the ad- jective incomparable ; iisiial modifies incomparable decision^ not decision alone ; and the pronoun her limits usual incompai^able decision. Adjectives modifying the same noun are said to be of the same rank ; those modifying different words or word groups are said to be adjectives of different rank. This distinction is valuable in a study of punctuation. Exercise. In the following quotations, tell what each adjective modifies ; — 1. Whenever that look appeared in her wild, bright, deeply black eyes, it invested them with a strange re- moteness and intangibility. —Hawthorne. 2. It may still be argued, that in the present divided state of Christendom a college which is positively Chris- tian must be controlled by some religious denomination. — Noah Porter. 3. Every quaking leaf and fluttering shadow sent the blood backward to her heart. — Mrs, Stowe. Il6 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 4. This, our new government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth, —a. H. Stephens. 5. May we not, therefore, look with confidence to the ultimate universal acknowledgment of the truths upon which our system rests? — /^. 6. A few improper jests and a volley of good, round, solid, satisfactory, and heaven-defying oaths. —Hawthorne. 7. It is well known that the announcement at any private rural entertainment that there is to be ice cream produces an immediate and profound impression.— Holmes. ADVERBS USED AS ADJECTIVES. 169. By a convenient brevity, adverbs are some- times used as adjectives ; as, instead of saying, "the one v^ho was then king," in which then is an adverb, we may say "the then king," making tJicn an adjective. Other instances are, — My then favorite, in prose, Richard Hooker. — Ruskin. Our sometime sister, now our queen. — Shakespeare. Messrs. Bradbury and Evans, the then and still owners. — Trollope, The seldom use. of it. —Trench. For thy stomach's sake, and thine often infirmities. —Bible. HOW TO PARSE ADJECTIVES. Whatto I70« Since adjectives have no gender, person, ^pdrnng. ^"^ ^ase, and very few have number, the method of parsing is simple. In parsing an adjective, tell — (i) The class and subclass to which it belongs.' (2) Its number, if it has number. (3) Its degree of comparison, if it can be com- pared. (4) What word pr words it modifies. ADJECTIVES. 117 MODEL FOR PARSING. These truths are not unfamiliar to your thoughts. These points out what truths, therefore demon- strative ; plural number, having a singular, this ; cannot be compared ; modifies the word truths. Unfamiliar describes truths, therefore descrip- tive ; not inflected for number ; compared by pre- fixing more and most; positive degree; modifies truths. Exercise. Parse in full each adjective in these sentences : — 1. A thousand lives seemed concentrated in that one moment to Eliza. 2. The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked. 3. I ask nothing of you, then, but that you proceed to your end by a direct, frank, manly way. 4. She made no reply, and I waited for none. 5. A herd of thirty or forty tall ungainly figures took their way, with awkward but rapid pace, across the plain. 6. Gallantly did the Hon struggle in the folds of his terrible enemy, whose grasp each moment grew more fierce and secure, and most astounding were those fright- ful yells. 7. This gave the young people entire freedom, and they enjoyed it to the fullest extent. 8. I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromis- ing as justice. 9. To every Roman citizen he gives. To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 10. Each member was permitted to entertain all the rest on his or her birthday, on which occasion the elders of the family were bound to be absent. 11. Instantly the mind inquires whether these fishes under the bridge, yonder oxen in the pasture, those dogs in the yard, are immutably fishes, oxen, and dogs. 12. I know not what course others may take. 13. With every third step, the tomahawk fell. llS THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 14. What a ruthless business this war of extermi- nation is ! 15. I was just emerging from that many-formed crys- tal country. 16. On what shore has not the prow of your ships dashed ? 17. The laws and institutions of his country ought to have been more to him than all the men in his country. 18. Like most gifted men, he won affections with ease. 19. His letters aim to elicit the inmost experience and outward fortunes of those he loves, yet are remark- ably self-forgetful. 20. Their name was the last word upon his lips. 21. The captain said it was the last stick he had seen. 22. Before sunrise the next morning they let us out again. 23. He was curious to know to what sect we belonged. 24. Two hours elapsed, during which time I waited. 25. In music especially, you will soon find what per- sonal benefit there is in being serviceable. 26. To say what good of fashion we can, it rests on reality, and hates nothing so much as pretenders. 27. Here lay two great roads, not so much for travelers that were few, as for armies that were too many by half. 28. On whichever side of the border chance had thrown Joanna, the same love to France would have been nurtured. 29. What advantage was open to him above the Eng- lish boy? 30. Nearer to our own times, and therefore more interesting to us, is the settlement of our own country. 31. Even the topmost branches spread out and drooped in all directions, and many poles supported the lower ones. 32. Most fruits depend entirely on our care. 33. Even the sourest and crabbedest apple, growing in the most unfavorable position, suggests such thoughts as these, it is so noble a fruit. 34. Let him live in what pomps and prosperities he like, he is no literary man. 35. Through what hardships it may bear a sweet fruit ! 36. Whatsoever power exists will have itself organized. 37. A hard-struggling, weary-hearted man was he. ARTICLES, 119 ARTICLES. 171. There is a class of words having always an adjectival use in general, but with such subtle functions and various meanings that they deserve separate treatment. In the sentence, " He passes an ordinary brick house on the road, with an ordi- nary little garden," the words the and an belong to nouns, just as adjectives do; but they cannot be accurately placed under any class of adjectives. They are nearest to demonstrative and numeral adjectives. 172. The article the comes from an old demon- Their ongin, strative adjective (^se, seo, dcet, later the, theo, that^ which was also an article in Old English. In Middle English the became an article, and that remained a demonstrative adjective. An or a came from the old numeral dUy meaning one. Our expressions theone^ the other, were formerly Two relics that one, that other ; the latter is still preserved in the expression, in vulgar English, the tother. Not only this is kept in the Scotch dialect, but the former is used, these occurring as the tane, the tother, or the tane, the tit her ; for example, — We ca' her sometimes the tane, sometimes the tother. — ^zon, 173. Ordinarily an is used before vowel sounds, Ante/ore vowel sounds and a before consonant sounds. Remember that 2i be/ore , , , ., v . consonant a vowel sou7id does not necessarily mean begm- sounds. ning with a vowel, nor does consonant sound mean 120 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. beginning with a consonant, because English spell- ing does not coincide closely with the sound of words. Examples: ''a house," ''an orange," "^ European," ''an honor," "a yelling crowd." An with consonant founds. Definition, Kinds, 174. Many writers use an before //, even when not silent, when the word is not accented on the, first syllable. An historian, such as we have been attempting to describe, would indeed be an intellectual prodigy. — Macaulay. The Persians were an heroic people like the..Greeks. — Brewer. He [Rip] evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to anything else but his business. —Irving. An habitual submission of the understanding to mere events and images. — Coleridge. An hereditary tenure of these offices. — Thomas Jefferson. 175. An article is a limiting word, not descrip- tive, which cannot be used alone, but always joins to a substantive word to denote a particular thing, or a group or class of things, or any individual of a group or class. 176. Articles are either definite or indefinite. The is the definite article, since it points out a particular individual, or group, or class. An or a is the indefinite article, because it refers to any one of a group or class of things. An and a are different forms of the same word, the older an. Reference to a known object. USES OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE. 177. The most common use of the definite arti- cle is to refer to an object that the listener or ARTICLES, 121 reader is already acquainted with; as in the sentence, — Don't you remember how, when the dragon was infesting the neighborhood of Babylon, the citizens used to walk dis- mally out of evenings, and look at the valleys round about strewed with the bones ? - Thackeray. Note. — This use is noticed when, on opening a story, a person is introduced by a^ and afterwards referred to by the: — By and by a giant came out of the dark north, and lay down o%the ice near Audhumla. . . . The giant frowned when he saw the glitter of the golden hair. — Heroes of Asgard. 178. The is often prefixed to the names of With - , 1 1 . . . 1 names of rivers; and when the word river is omitted, as rivers, '' the Mississippi,'* " the Ohio," the article indicates clearly that a river, and not a state or other geo- graphical division, is referred to. No wonder I could face the Mississippi with so much courage supplied to me. —Thackeray. The Dakota tribes, doubtless, then occupied the country southwest of />^^ Missouri. — G. Bancroft. 170. When the is prefixed to a proper name, it To call '^ , ^ , ,. . . attention to alters the force of the noun by directing attention attributes. to certain qualities possessed by the person or thing spoken of ; thus, — The Bacon, the Spinoza, the Hume, Schelling, Kant, or whosoever propounds to you a philosophy of the mind, is only a more or less awkward translator of things in your consciousness . — Emerson. 180. The, when placed before the pluralized ^/l^^traa^ abstract noun, marks it as half abstract or a com- nouns, mon noun. 122 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Common. Half abstract. With ad- jectives used as nouns. Caution. One thing- for its class. For possessive of personal pronouns. His messages to the provincial authorities. — Motley. He was probably skilled in the subtleties of Italian states- manship.— /^. i8i. When the precedes adjectives of the pos- itive degree used substantively, it marks their use as common and plural nouns when they refer to persons, and as singular and abstract when they refer to qualities. 1. The simple rise as by specific levity, not into a partic- ular virtue, but into the region of all the virtues. —Emerson. 2. If the good is there, so is the evil. —id. Note. — This is not to be confused with words that have, shifted from adjectives and become pure nouns ; as, — As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant^ throwing his cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot. —Scott. But De Soto was no longer able to abate the confidence or punish the temerity of the natives. — G. Bancroft. 182. The before class nouns may mark one thing as a representative of the class to which it belongs ; for example, — The faint, silvery warblings heard over the partially bare and moist fields from the bluebird^ the song sparrow, and the redwing, as if the last flakes of winter tinkled as they fell!— Thoreau. In the sands of Africa and Arabia the camel is a sacred and precious gift.— Gibbon. 183. The is frequently used instead of the pos- sessive case of the personal pronouns his, her, etc. More than one hinted that a cord twined around the head, or a match put between the fingers, would speedily extract the required information. — Kingsley. The mouth, and the region of the mouth, were about the strongest features in Wordsworth's face. — De Quincby. ARTICLES. . 123 184. In England and Scotland the is often used The//^^." (2) Several words of verbal nature, making one expression ; as, (a) '' Some day it may be considered reasonable," {b) " Fearing lest he mig/it have been anticipated!' (3) Orie or more verbal words united with other . words to compose 07te verb phrase : as in the sen- tences, (a) "They knew well that this woman ruled over thirty millions of subjects;" (b) "If all the flummery and extravagance of an army were done away with, the money could be made to go much further;" {c) "It is idle cant to pretend anxiety for the better distribution of wealth until we can devise means by which this preying upon ^ people of small incomes can be put a stop toT In {a\ a verb and a preposition are used as one verb ; in (b\ a verb, an adverb, and a preposition unite as a verb ; in {c\ an article, a noun, a prepo- sition, are united with verbs as one verb phrase. 201. A verb is a word used as a predicate, to Definition . . , , . , , . and caution, say somethmg to or about some person or thmg. In giving a definition, we consider a verb as one word. Now, it is indispensable to the nature of a verb that it is "a word used as a predicate." Examine the sentences in Sec. 200: In (i), obeyed is a predicate; in {2,a\ may be considered \^ a unit in doing the work of one predicate ; in (2, b\ might have been anticipated is also one predicate, but fearing is not a predicate, hence is not a verb ; in (3, b), to go is no predicate, and not a verb ; in (3, c\ to pretend and preying have something of B GRAM. — O- I30 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 1 verbal nature in expressing action in a faint and general way, but cannot be predicates. In the sentence, ''Pitt money in thy purse,"//// is the predicate, with some word understood ; as, " Put thou money in thy purse." VERBS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO MEANING AND USE. TRANSITIVE Ain) IKTRANSITnTE VERBS. The nature of 202. Bv examining: a few verbs, it may be seen a transitive j o j verb. that not all verbs are used alike. All do not express action : some denote state or condition. Of those expressing action, all do not express it in the same way; for example, in this sentence from Bulwer, — " The proud lone took care to con- ceal the anguish she endured ; and the pride of woman has an hypocrisy which can deceive the most penetrating, and shame the most astute," — every one of the verbs in Italics has one or more words before or after it, representing something which it influences or controls. In the first, lone took what .'* answer, care ; endured what } anguish; etc. Each influences some object, which may be a person, or a material thing, or an idea. Has takes the object hypocrisy ; can deceive has an object, the most penetrating ; (can) shame also has an object, the most astute. In each case, the word following, or the object, is necessary to the completion of the action expressed in the verb. All these are called transitive verbs, from the" Latin transire^ which means to go over. Hence VERBS, 131 203. A transitive verb is one which must have Definition. an object to complete its meaning, and to receive the action expressed. 204. Examine the verbs in the following: par- The nature oj ° ^ intransitive agraph : — verts. She sprang up at that thought, and, taking the staff which always guided her steps, she hastened to the neighboring shrine of Isis. Till she had been under the guardianship of the kindly Greek, that staff had sufficed to conduct the poor blind girl from corner to corner of Pompeii. — Bulwer. In this there are some verbs unlike those that have been examined. Sprang, or sprang tip, ex- presses action, but it is complete in itself, does not affect an object; hastened is similar in use; had been expresses condition, or state of being, and can have no object; had suffieed m^dins had been sufficient, and from its meaning cannot have an object. Such verbs are called intransitive (not crossing over). Hence 205. An intransitive verb is one which is com- Definition. plete in itself, or which is completed by other words without requiring an object. 206. Manv verbs can be either transitive or study use,noi ■^ . form, of verbs intransitive, according to their use in the sentence, here. It can be said, " The boy walked for two hours," or " The boy walked the horse ; " " The rains swelled the river," or '' The river swelled because of the rain ; " etc. The important thing to observe is, many words must be distinguished as transitive or intransitive by use^ not by form. 132 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 207. Also verbs are sometimes made tran- sitive by prepositions. These may be (i) com- pounded with the verb; or (2) may follow the verb, and be used as an integral part of it : for example, — Asking her pardon for having withstood her. — Scott. I can wish myself no worse than to have it all to undergo 3. second time. — Kingsley. A weary gloom in the deep caverns of his eyes, as of a child that has otitgrown its playthings. —Hawthorne. It is amusing to walk up and down the pier and look at the countenances passing by. — B. Taylor. He was at once so out of the way, and yet so sensible, that I loved, laughed at, and pitied him. — Goldsmith. My little nurse told me the whole matter, which she had cunningly picked out from her mother. — Swift. Exercises. {a) Pick out the transitive and the intransitive verbs in the following : — 1. The women and children collected together at a distance. 2. The path to the fountain led through a grassy savanna. 3. As soon as I recovered my senses and strength from so sudden a surprise, I started back out of his reach, where I stood to view him ; he lay quiet whilst I surveyed him. 4. At first they lay a floor of this kind of tempered mortar on the ground, upon v/hich they deposit a layer of eggs. 5. I ran my bark on shore at one of their landing places, which was a sort of neck or httle dock, from which ascended a sloping path or road up to the edge of the meadow, where their nests were ; most of them were deserted, and the great thick whitish eggshells lay broken and scattered upon the ground. $. Accordingly I got everything on board, charged VERBS, 13^ my gun, set sail cautiously, along shore. As I passed by Battle Lagoon, I began to tremble. 7. I seized my gun and went cautiously from my camp : when I had advanced about thirty yards, I halted behind a coppice of orange trees, and'soofl perceived two very large bears, which had made their way through the water and had landed in the grove, and were advancing toward me. {b) Bring up sentences with five transitive and five intransitive verbs. VOICE, ACTIVE AND PASSIVE. 208. As has been seen, transitive verbs are the Meaning of , , . , , . active voice, only kind that can express action so as to go over to an object. This implies three things, — the agent, or person or thing acting ; the verb representing the action ; the person or object receiving the act. In the sentence, "We reached the village of Sorgues by dusk, and accepted the invitation of an old dame to lodge at her inn," these three things are found : the actor, or agent, is expressed by we ; the action is asserted by reached and accepted ; the things acted upon are village and invitation. Here the subject is represented as doing something. The same word is the sub- ject and the agent. This use of a transitive verb is called the active voice. 209. The active voice is that form of a verb DefinUion, which represents the subject as acting; or The active voice is that form of a transitive verb which makes the subject and the agent the same word. 134 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 5 A question. 210. Intransitive verbs are always active voice. Let the student explain why. Meaning of 21 1. In the assertion of an action, it would be passive voice. , . i r i natural to suppose, that, instead of always repre- senting the subject as acting upon some person or thing, it must often happen that the subject is spoken of as acted upon ; and the person or thing acting may or may not be expressed in the sentence : for example, — All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are speedily punished. They are punished by fear. —Emerson. Here the subject infractions does nothing: it represents the object toward which the action' of are punished is directed, yet it is the subject of the same verb. In the first sentence the agent is not expressed ; in the second, fear is the agent of the same action. So that in this case, instead of having the agent and subject the same word, we have the object and subject the same word, and the agent may be omitted from the statement of the action. Passive is from the Latin word patior, meaning to endure or suffer ; but in ordinary grammati- cal use passive means receiving an action. Definition. 212. The passive voice is that form of the verb which represents the subject as being acted upon; or The passive voice is that form of the verb which represents the subject and the object by the same word. VERBS. 135 Exercises. {a) Pick out the verbs in the active and the passive voice : — » 1. In the large room some forty or fifty students were walking about while the parties were preparing. 2. This was done by taking off the coat and vest and binding a great thick leather garment on, which reached to the knees. 3. They then put on a leather glove reaching nearly , to the shoulder, tied a thick cravat around the throat, and drew on a cap with a large visor. . 4. This done, they were walked about the room a short time ; their faces all this time betrayed consider- able anxiety. 5. We joined the crowd, and used our lungs as well as any, 6. The lakes were soon covered with merry skaters, and every afternoon the banks were crowded with spectators. 7. People were setting up torches and lengthening the rafts which had been already formed. 8. The water was first brought in barrels drawn by horses, till some officer came and opened the fire plug. 9. The exclusive in fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment, in the attempt to appropriate it. (h) Find sentences with five verbs in the active and five in the passive voice. MOOD. 213. The word mood is from the Latin modus, Definition meaning manner, way, method. Hence, when ap- plied to verbs, — Mood means the manner of conceiving and ex- pressing action or being of some subject 136 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. The three 214. There are three chief ways of expressing ^^^^' action or being : — (i) As a fact ; this may be a question, statement, or assumption. (2) As doubtful, or merely conceived of in the mind. (3) As urged or commanded. INDICATIVE MOOD. Deals with 215. The term indicative is from the Latin indicare (to declare, or assert). The indicative represents something as a fact, — Affirms or (i) By declaring a thing to be true or 7iot to bh denies, . true; thus, — Distinction is the consequence, never the object, of a great mind. — Allston. I do not remember when or by whom I was taught to read ; because I cannot and never could recollect a time when I cotdd not read my Bible. — D. Webster. Assumed as a (2) By assuming a thing to be true without de- claring it to be so. This kind of indicative clause is usually introduced by if (meaning admitting that, granting that, etc.), though, although, etc. Caution, Noticc that the action is not merely conceived as possible; it is assumed to be a fact: for example, — If the penalties of rebellion hung over an unsuccessful contest; if America was yet in the cradle of her political existence ; if her population little exceeded two millions ; if she was without government, without fleets or armies, arse- nals or magazines, without military knowledge, — still her citi- zens had a just and elevated sense of her rights. —A. Hamilton VERBS, 137 (3) By asking a question to find out some fact ; as, — Is private credit the friend and patron of industry ?— Hamilton. With respect to novels what shall I say ? — N. Webster. 216. The indicative mood is that form of a verb Definition. which represents a thing as a fact, or inquires about some fact. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. 217. Subjunctive means subjoined^ or ioined as Meaning of . . IT 1 . / the word. dependent or subordmate to somethmg else. If its original meaning be closely adhered to, we This mean- ■' ing is mis- must expect every dependent clause to have its leading, verb in the subjunctive mood, and every clause not dependent to have its verb in some other mood. But this is not the case. In the quotation from Hamilton (Sec. 215, 2) several subjoined clauses introduced by if have the indicative mood, and also independent clauses are often found having the verb in the subjunctive mood. Three cautions will be laid down which must be Cautions, observed by a student who wishes to understand and use the English subjunctive : — (i) You cannot tell it always by the form of the word. The main difference is, that the subjunctive has no -s as the ending of the present tense, third person singular; as, "If he comer (2) The fact that its clause is dependent or is introduced by certain words will not be a safe rule to guide you. (3) The meaning of the verb itself must be keenly studied. 138 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Definition, 2 1 8. The subjunctivc mood is that form or use of the verb which expresses action or being, not as a fact, but as merely conceived of in the mind. Subjunctive io Independent Clauses. I. Expressing a Wish. 219. The following are examples of this use : — Heav'n rest her soul! — Moore. God grant you find one face there You loved when all was young. KiNGSLEY. Now tremble dimples on your cheek, Sweet be your lips to taste and speak. Beddoes. Long die thy happy days before thy death. — Shakespeare. n. A Contingent Declaration or Question. 220. This really amounts to the conclusion, or principal clause, in a sentence, of which the con- dition is omitted. Our chosen specimen of the hero as literary man [if we were to choose one] would be this Goethe. — Carlyle. I could lie down like a tired child, And weep away the life of care Which I have borne and yet must bear. Shelley. Most excellent stranger, as you come to the lakes simply to see their loveliness, might it not be as well to ask after the most beautiful road, rather than the shortest? — DeQuincev. Subjunctive in Dependent Clauses. I. Condition or Supposition. 221. The most common way of representing the action or being as merely thought of, is by VERBS, 139 putting it into the form of a supposition or condi- tion ; as, — Now, if the fire of electricity and that of lightning be the same, this pasteboard and these scales may represent electri- fied clouds. — Franklin. Here no assertion is made that the two things are the same ; but, if the reader merely conceives them for the moment to be the same, the writer can make the statement following. Again, — If it be Sunday [supposing it to be Sunday], the peas- ants sit on the church steps and con their psalm books. — Longfellow. Study of CoNDiriONAL Sentences. 222. There are three kinds of conditional sen- tences : — (i) Those in which an assumed or admitted fact Real or true. is placed before the mind in the form of a condi- tion (see Sec. 215, 2); for example, — If they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God. If their names were not found in the registers of heralds, they were recorded in the Book of Life. — Macaulay. (2) Those in which the condition depends on ideal,— may ^ or may not be somethmg uncertam, and may or may not be re- true, garde d true^ or be fulfilled \ as, — If, in our case, the representative system ultimately/^//, pop- ular government must be pronounced impossible. — D. Webster. If this be the glory of Julius, the first great fomider of the Empire, so it is also the glory of Charlemagni, che second founder. — Bryce. If any man consider the present aspects of what is called by distinction society, he will see the need of these ethics. — Emerson. 140 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Unreal,— (3) SuppositioHS cofitvary to fact ^ which cannot ^aw^^ be true, or conditions that cannot be fulfilled, but are presented only in order to suggest what might be or might have been true ; thus, — If these things were true, society could not hold together. — Lowell. Did not my writings produce me some solid pudding, the great deficiency of praise would have quite discouraged me. — Franklin. \ Had he for once cast all such feelings aside, and striven energetically to save Ney, it would have cast such an en- hancing light over all his glories, that we cannot but regret its absence. — Bayne. Note. — Conditional sentences are usually introduced by if^ though^ except, unless, etc. ; but when the verb precedes the subject, the conjunction is often omitted: for example, " Were I bidden to say how the highest genius could be most advantageously employed," etc. Exercise. In the following conditional clauses, tell whether each verb is indicative or subjunctive, and what kind of con- dition : — 1. The voice, if he speak to you, is of similar physi- ognomy, clear, melodious, and sonorous. — Carlyle. 2. Were you so distinguished from your neighbors, would you, do you think, be any the happier ? — Thackeray. ' 3. Epaminondas, if he was the man I take him for, would have sat still with joy and peace, if his lot had been mine.— Emerson. 4. If a damsel had the least smattering of literature, she was regarded as ^ prodigy. — Macaulay. 5. I told hiiii, although it were the custom of our learned in Europe to steal inventions from each other, . . . yet I would take such caution that he should have the honor entire. — Swift. VERBS, 141 6. If he had reason to disHke him, he had better not have written, since he [Byron] was dead. — n. p. Wilus. 7. If it were prostrated to the ground by a profane hand, what native of the city would not mourn over its fall? — Gayarre. 8. But in no case could it be justified, except it be for a failure of the association or union to effect the object for which it was created. —Calhoun. II. Subjunctive of Purpose. 223. The subjunctive, especially be.'may, mighty and shoidd, is used to express purpose, the clause being introduced by tJiat or lest ; as, — It was necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer, that he might be strong to labor. — Franklin. I have been the more particular . . . that you may com- pare such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since made there, —id. He [Roderick] with sudden impulse that way rode, To tell of what had passed, lest in the strife They should engage with Julian's men. SOUTHEY. III. Subjunctive of Result. 224. The subjunctive may represent the result toward v^hich an action tends : — So many thoughts move to and fro, That vain it were her eyes to close. Coleridge. So live, that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan . . . Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night. Bryant. IV. In Temporal Clauses. 225. The English subjunctive, like the Latin, is sometimes used in a clause to express the time, when an action is to take place. 1^2 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming. — D. Webster. Rise up, before it be too late ! — Hawthorne. But it will not be long Ere this be thrown aside. Wordsworth. y. In Indirect Questions. 226. The subjunctive is often found in indirect questions, the answer being regarded as doubt- ful. Ask the great man if there be none greater. — Emerson. What the best arrangement were^ none of us could say. — Carlyle. Whether it were morning or whether it were afternoon, in her confusion she had not distinctly known. — De Quincey. VI. Expressing a Wish. 227. After a verb of wishing, the subjunctive is regularly used in the dependent clause. The transmigration of souls is no fable. I would it were! — Emerson. Bright star ! Would I were steadfast as thou art ! — Keats. I've wished that little isle had wingS| And we, within its fairy bowers, Were wafted off to seas unknown. Moore. VII. In a Noun Clause. Subject. 228. The noun clause, in its various uses as subject, object, in apposition, etc., often contains a subjunctive. The essence of originality is not that it be new. — Carlyle. Apposition or To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of those October logical sub' /. . . . , , , jgct. fruits. It IS necessary that you be breathing the sharp October or November air. — Thoreau. Complement, The first merit, that which admits neither substitute nor equivalent; is; that everything be in its place. —Coleridge. VERBS. 143 As sure as Heaven shall rescue me, Object I have no thought what men they be. Coleridge. Some might lament that I were cold. —Shelley. This subjunctive is very frequent after verbs After verbs •' . -' ^ of command' of commanding, ing. See that there be no traitors in your camp. —Tennyson. Come, tell me all that thou hast seen, And look thou tell me true. Scott. See that thy scepter lie heavy on his head. — DeQuincby. Vm. Concessive Clauses. 229. The concession may be expressed — (i) In the nature of the verb; for example, — Be the matter how it may, Gabriel Grub was afflicted with rheumatism to the end of his days. — Dickens. * Be the appeal inade to the understanding or the heart, the sentence is the same — that rejects it. — Brougham. (2) By an indefinite relative word, which may be {a) Pronoun. Whatever betide, weUl turn aside, And see the Braes of Yarrow. Wordsworth. (b) Adjective. That hunger of applause, of cash, or whatsoever victual it may be, is the ultimate fact of man's life. — Carlvle. (c) Adverb. Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream, . The spirit he loves remains. Shbllby. Prevalence of the Subjunctive Mood'. 230. As shown by the wide range of literature from which these examples are selected, the sub- junctive is very much used in literary English, es- pecially by those who are artistic and exact in the expression of their thought. 144 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, At the present day, however, the subjunctive is becoming less and less used. Very many of the sentences illustrating the use of the subjunctive mood could be replaced by numerous others using the indicative to express the same thoughts. The three uses of the subjunctive now most frequent are, to express a wish, a concession, and condition contrary to fact. In spoken English, the subjunctive were is much used in a wish or a condition contrary to fact, but hardly any other subjunctive forms are. It must be remembered, though, that many ot the verbs in the subjunctive have the same form as the indicative. Especially is this true of unreal conditions in past time ; for example, — Were we of open sense as the Greeks were, we had found [should have found] a poem here. — Carlyle. IMPERATIVE MOOD. Definition, 23 1. The imperative mood is the form of the verb used in direct commands, entreaties, or requests. 232. The imperative is naturally used mostly tecondterson. with the second person, since commands are di- rected to a person addressed, (i) Command. Call up the shades of Demosthenes and Cicero to vouch for your words ; point to their immortal works.— J. Q. Adams Honor all men ; love all men ; fear none. — Channing. (2) Entreaty, Oh, from these sterner aspects of thy face Spare me and mine, nor let us need the wrath Of the mad unchained elements. Bryant. VERBS, 145 (3) Request. "/^/^j-^/ mother," whispered Kit. ^' G?w^ along with me." -Dickens. Tell me, how was it you thought of coming here? — /a'. But the imperative may be used with the plural Sometimes of the first person, bmce the first person plural person in tht is not really I + I, but I+you, or I + they, etc., we '"*^'^ ' may use the imperative with we in a command, request, etc., X.o you implied in it. This is scarcely ever found outside of poetry. Part we in friendship from your land, And, noble earl, receive my hand. Scott. Then seek we not their camp — for there The silence dwells of my despair. Campbell, Break we our watch up. — Shakespeare. Usually this is expressed by let with the objec- tive : '^ Let us go." And the same with the third person : " Let him be accursed." Exercises on the Moods. {a) Tell the mood of each verb in these sentences, and what special use it is of that mood : — 1. Wherever the standard of freedom and independ- ence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart and her prayers be. 2. Mark thou this difference, child of earth ! While each performs his part, Not all the Hp can speak is worth The silence of the heart. 3. Oh, that I might be admitted to thy presence ! that mine were the supreme delight of knowing thy will ! 4 Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, One glance at their array ! • 5. Whatever inconvenience ensue, nothing is to be preferred before justice. B. GRAM . — 10 i46 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 6. The vigorous sun would catch it up at eve And use it for an anvil till he had filled The shelves of heaven with burning thunderbolts^ 7. Meet is it changes should control Our being, lest we rust in ease. 8. Quoth she, " The Devil take the goose, And God forget the stranger ! " 9. Think not that I speak for your sakes. 10. " Now tread we a measure ! " said young Lochinvar. 11. Were that a just return? Were that Roman magnanimity ? 12. Well ; how he may do his work, whether he do it right or wrong, or do it at all, is a point which no man in the world has taken the pains to think of. 13. He is, let him live where else he like, in what pomps and prosperities he like, no literary man. 14. Could we one day complete the immense figure which these flagrant points compose ! 15. " Oh, then, my dear madam," cried he, " tell me where I may find my poor, ruined, but repentant child." 16. That sheaf of darts, will it not fall unbound. Except, disrobed of thy vain earthly vaunt. Thou bring it to be blessed where saints anc angels haunt? 17. Forget thyself to marble, till With a sad leaden downward cast Thou fix them on the earth as fast. 18. He, as though an instrument, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, That they might answer him. 19. From the moss violets and jonquils peep, And dart their arrowy odor through the brain, Till you might faint with that dehcious pain. 20. That a man parade his doubt, and get to imagine that debating and logic is the triumph and true work of what intellect he has ; alas ! this is as if you should over- turn the tree. 21. The fat earth feed thy branchy root That under deeply strikes ! The northern morning o'er thee shoot, High up in silver spikes ! VERBS, 147 22. Though abyss open under abyss, and opinion dis- place opinion, all are at last contained in the Eternal cause. 23. God send Rome one such other sight ! 24. " Mr. Marshall," continued Old Morgan, "see that no one mentions^ the United States to the prisoner." 25. If there js only one woman in the nation who claims the right to vote, she ought to have it. 26. Though he were dumb, it would speak. 27. Meantime, whatever she did, — whether it were in display of her own matchless talents, or whether it were as one member of a general party, — nothing could exceed the amiable, kind, and unassuming deportment of Mrs. Siddons. 28. It makes a great difference to the force of any sentence whether there be a man behind it or no. (I?) Find sentences with five verbs in the indica- tive mood, five in the subjunctive, five in the im- perative. Tenses in English TENSE. 233. Tense means time. The tense of a verb Definition, is the form or use indicating the time of an action or being. Old English had only two tenses, — the present tense, which represented present and future time ; and the past tense. We still use the present for the future in such expressions as, " I go away to- morrow ; " " If he comeSy tell him to wait." But English of the present day not only has a tense for each of the natural time divisions, — present, past, and future, — but has other tenses to correspond with those of highly inflected lan- guages, such as Latin and Greek. The distinct inflections are found only in the present and past tenses, however; thQ others are 1^8 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. compounds of verbal forms with various helping verbs, called auxiliaries ; such as be^ have^ shally will. The tenses in 234. Action or being may be represented as occurring in present, past, or future time, by means of the present, the past, and the future tense. It may also be represented as finished in pres- ent or past or future time by means of the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses. Not only is this so : there are what are called definite forms of these tenses, showing more ex- actly the time of the action or being. These make the English speech even more exact than other languages, as will be shown later on, in the conju- gations. PERSON AND NUMBER. 235. The English verb has never had full in- flections for number and person, as the classical languages have. When the older pronoun thou was in use, there was a form of the verb to correspond to it, or agree with it, as, "Thou walk^i-/," present; "Thou walked^-/," past ; also, in the third person singular^ a form ending in -eth, as, " It is not in man that walk^///, to direct his steps." But in ordinary English of the present day there is practically only one ending for person and num- ber. This is the third person, singular number; as, "He walki-;" and this only in the present tense indicative. This is important in questions of agree- ment when we come to syntax. VERBS. 149 CONJUGATION. 236. Conjugation is the regular arrangement of Definition, the forms of the verb in the various voices, moods, tenses, persons, and numbers. In classical languages, conjugation means join- ing together the numerous endings to the stem of the verb ; but in English, inflections are so few that conjugation means merely the exhibition of the forms and the different verb phrases that ex- press the relations of voice, mood, tense, etc. 237. Verbs in modern English have only four Few forms, or five forms; for example, walk has walk, walks, walked, walking, sometimes adding the old forms walkest, walkedst, zvalketh. Such verbs as choose have five, — choose, chooses, chose, choos- ing, chosen (old, choosest, choose th, chose st\ The verb be has more forms, since it is com- posed of several different roots, — am, are, is^ were, been, etc. 238. INFLECTIONS OF THE VERB BE. Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural, 1. I was We were 2. You were You were (thou wast, wert) 3. [He] was [They] were 1 . I am We are 2. You are You are (thou art) 3. [He] is [They] are Subjunctive Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural. 1. I be We be 2. You (thou) be You be PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural, 1 . I were We were 2. You were You were (thou wert) 3. [He] be [They] be | 3. [He] were [They] were 150 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Imperative Mood. Present Tense, Singular and Plural^ Be. Remarks on 239. This Conjugation is pieced out with three the verb be. . • / \ / \ 7 different roots: (i) am, is ; (2) was, were ; (3) be. Instead of the plural are, Old English had beoth and sind or sindon, same as the German sind. Are is supposed to have come from the Norse language. The old indicative third person plural be is sometimes found in literature, though it is usually a dialect form ; for example, — Where be the sentries who used to salute as the Royal chariots drove in and out ? — Thackeray. Where be the gloomy shades, and desolate mountains? — Whittier. Uses of hc^. 240. The forms of the verb be have several uses: — (i) As principal verbs. The light that never was on sea and land. — Wordsworth. {2) As auxiliary verbs, in four ways, — {a) With verbal forms in -ing (imperfect partici- ple) to form the definite tenses. Broadswords are maddening in the rear, — Each broad* sword bright was brandishing like beam of light. —Scott. {b) With the past participle in -ed, -en, etc., to form the passive voice. By solemn vision and bright silver dream, His infancy was nurtured. Shelley. {c) With past participle of intransitive verbs, being equivalent to the present perfect and past perfect tenses active ; as, VERBS. 151 When we are gone From every object dear to mortal sight. Wordsworth. We drank tea, which was now become an occasional ban- quet. — Goldsmith. {d) With the infinitive, to express intention, obli- gation, condition, etc. ; thus. It was to have been called the Order of Minerva. — Thacmeray. Ingenuity and cleverness are to be rewarded by State prizes.—/^. If I were to explain the motion of a body falling to the ground. — Burke. 241. INFLECTIONS OF THE VERB CHOOSE, Indicative Mood. PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural. 1 . I choose We choose 2. You choose You choose 3. [He] chooses [They] choose PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural, 1 . I chose We chose 2. You chose You chose 3. [He] chose [They] chose Subjunctive Mood, PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural. I choose We choose You choose You choose [He] choose [They] choose PAST TENSE. Singular. Plural. 1. I chose We chose 2. You chose You chose 3. [He] chose [They] chose Imperative Mood. Present Tense, Singular and Plural^ Choose. FULL CONJUGATION OF THE VERB CHOOSE, 242. In addition to the above inflected forms. Machinery of .1 • 1 ^» ^ 1 r o. verb in the there are many periphrastic or compound forms, voices, tenses, made up of auxiliaries with the infinitives and ^^^' 152 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. participles. Some of these have been indicated in Sec. 240, (2). The ordinary tenses yet to be spoken of are made up as follows : — (i) Future tense, by using shall and will with the simple or root form of the verb ; as, " I shall be;' " He will chooser m (2) Present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, tenses, by placing have, had, and shall (or will) have before the past participle of any verb ; as, " I have gone'' (present perfect), "I had gone'' (past perfect), "I shall have gone" (future perfect). (3) The defi7tite form of each tense, by using auxiliaries with the imperfect participle active ; as, "I am running," "They had been running." (4) The passive forms, by using the forms of the verb be before the past participle of verbs ; as, " I was chosen," *' You are chosen." 243. The following scheme will show how rich our language is in verb phrases to express every variety of meaning. Only the third person, sin- gular number, of each tense, will be given. Active Voice. Indicative Mood. Present. He chooses. Present definite. He is choosing. Past. He chose. Past definite. He was choosing. Future. He will choose. Future definite. He will be choosing. Present perfect. He has chosen. Present perfect definite. He has been choosing. VERBS. 153 Past perfect. Past perfect definite. Future perfect. Future perfect definite. He had chosen. He had been choosing. He will have chosen. He will have been choosing. Subjunctive Mood. Present, [If, though, lest, etc.] he choose. Present definite. Past. Past definite. Present perfect. * Present perfect definite. Past perfect. Past perfect definite. he be choosing. he chose (or were to choose). he were choosing (or were to be choosing), he have chosen, he have been choosing. Same as indicative. Imperative Mood. Present. (2d per.) Choose. Present definite. " Be choosing. Note. — Since participles and infinitives are not really verbs, but verbals, they will be discussed later (Sec. 262). Passive Voice. Indicative Mood. Present. Present definite. Past, Past definite. Future. Future definc'le. Present perfect. Present perfect definite. Past perfect. Past perfect definite. Future perfect. Future perfect definite. He is chosen. He is being chosen. He was chosen. He was being chosen. He will be chosen. None. He has been chosen. None. He had been chosen. None. He will have been chosen. None. 154 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Present. Present definite. Past. Past definite. Present perfect. Present perfect definite. Past Perfect. Past perfect definite. Subjunctive Mood. [If, though, lest, etc.] he be chosen. None. he were chosen (or were to be chosen), he were being chosen, he have been chosen. None. he had been chosen. None. Imperative Mood. Present tense. (2d per.) Be chosen. Also, in affirjnaUve sentences, the indicative pres- ent and past tenses have emphatic forms made up of do and did with the infinitive or simple form ; as, ** He does strtkrf " W^ did strike.'' [Note to Teacher. — This table is not to be learned now ; if learned at all, it should be as practice work on strong and weak verb forms. Exercises should be given, however, to bring up sentences containing such of these conjugation forms as the pupil will find readily in literature.] Kinds, Definition, VERBS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO FORM. 244. According to form, verbs are strong or weak. A strong verb forms its past tense by changing the vowel of the present tense form, but adds no ending; as, run, ran ; drive, drove. A weak verb always adds an ending to the present to form the past tense, and may or may not change the vowel : as, beg, begged ; lay,, laid ; • sleep, slept ; catch, caught. VERBS. 155 245- TABLE OF STRONG VERBS. Note. — Some of these also have weak forms, which are ia parentheses. Present Tense. Past Tense. Past Participle, »^ abide abode abode arise arose arisen n^wake awoke (awaked) awoke (awaked) bear bore ^ borne (active) \ born (passive) ^egin began begun behold beheld beheld bid bade., bid bidden, bid •^bind bound J bound, c \adj. bounden] bite bit bitten, bit blow blew blown break broke broken chide chid chidden, chid choose chose chosen cleave clove, clave (cleft; ) cloven (cleft) climb [clomb] climbed climbed cling clung clung come came come crow crew (crowed) (crowed) ^dig dug dug do did done draw drew drawn drink drank J drunk, drank \ [adj. drunken]' drive drove driven eat ate, eat eaten, eat . fall fell fallen fight fought fought find found found fling flung flung 'fly flew ^ flown forbear forbore forborne 156 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Present Tense. Past Tense Past Participle. -ts.' forgot forgotten forsook forsaken freeze froze frozen ^ get got got [gottenj give gave given ^go went gone grind ground ground grow grew grown hang hung (hanged) hung (hanged) vvhold held held ^now knew known lie lay lain ride rode ridden ring rang rung run ran run i^ee saw seen shake shook shaken shear shore (sheared) shorn (sheared) shine shone shone shoot shot shot -^fe shrank or shrunk shrunk shrive shrove shriven sing sang or sung sung sink sank or sunk sunk {adj. sunken] sit sat [sate] sat slay slew slain slide slid slidden, slid sling slung slung slink slunk slunk smite smote smitten speak spoke spoken spin spun spun spring sprang, sprung sprung >/stand stood stood stave stove (staved) (staved) steal stole stolen stick stuck stuck sting stung stung VERB^. 157 Present Tense. Past Tense. 4 Past Participle, stink stride strike stunk, i strode struck stank stunk stridden struck, stricken string strive strung strove strung striven swear swore sworn swim swam or swum swum swing take swung took swung taken tear thrive throw ^read tore throve threw trod (thrived) torn thriven (thrived) thrown trodden, trod - wear wore worn weave wove woven win wind won wound won wound wring write wrung wrote wrung written Remarics on Certain Verb Forms. 246. Several of the perfect participles are sel- dom used except as adjectives : as, '* his boimden duty," "the cloven hoof," "a drunken wretch," "a sunken snag." Stricken is used mostly of diseases ; as, '' stricken with paralysis." The verb bear (to bring forth) is peculiar in having one participle {borne^ for the active, and another (born) for the passive. When it means to carry or to endicre, borne is also a passive. The form clomb is not used in prose, but is much used in vulgar English, and sometimes occurs in poetry ; as, — • Thou hast clomb aloft. — Wordsworth. Or pine grove whither woodman never ^//tell told told think thought thought weep wept wept work worked, wrought worked, wrought 258. Irregular Weak Verbs. - Class n. Present Tense. Past Tense. Past Participle, >^bend bent, bended bent, bended bleed bled bled VERBS. 169 Present Tense. Past Tense. Past Participle. breed bred bred build built built cast cast cast cost cost cost feed fed fed gild gilded, gilt gilded, gilt gird girt, girded girt, girded hit hit hit hurt hurt hurt knit knit, knitted knit, knitted lead led led let let let light lighted, lit lighted, lit meet met met put put put quit quit, quitted quit, quitted read read read ^ rend rent rent rid rid rid send sent sent set set set shed shed shed shred shred shred shut shut shut slit slit slit speed sped sped spend spent spent spit spit \obs. spat] spit \obs. spat] split split split spread spread spread sweat sweat sweat thrust thrust thrust wed wed, wedded * wed, wedded wet wet, wetted wet, wetted 250. There seems to be in Modern Ens^lish a Tendency to "^^ . ^. phonetic growing tendency toward phonetic spelling m the spelling. past tense and past participle of weak verbs. For I70 THE FARTS OF SFEECH. example, -ed, after the verb bless^ has the sound of /; hence the word is often written blest. So with dipt^ whipt, dropt, tost, crost, drest, prest, etc. This is often seen in poetry, and is increasing in prose. Some Troublesome Verbs. 260. Some sets of verbs are often confused by young students, weak forms being substituted for correct, strong forms. Lie and lay Lie and lay need close attention. These are the in use and ^ meaning. f OrmS : Present Tense. Past Tense. Pres. Participle. Past Participle. 1. Lie lay lying lain 2. Lay laid laying laid The distinctions to be observed are as follows : — (i) Lie, with its forms, is regularly intransitive as to use. As to meaning, lie means to rest, to re- cline, to place one's self in a recumbent position; as, "There lies the ruin." (2) Lay, with its forms, is always transitive as to use. As to meaning, lay means to put, to place a person or thing in position ; as, " Slowly and sadly we laid him down." Also lay may be used without any object expressed, but there is still a transitive meaning ; as in the expressions, " to lay up for future use," **to lay on with the rod," "to lay about him lustily." Sit a«^ set. 261. Sit and set have principal parts as fol- lows : — Present Tense. Past Tense. Pres. Participle. Past Participle I. Sit sat sitting sat 3. Set set setting set VERBS. Notice these points of difference between the two verbs : — (i) Sit^ with its forms, is always intransitive in use. In meaning, sit signifies (a) to place one's self on a seat, to rest; {b) to be adjusted, to fit; {c) to cover and warm eggs for hatching, as, *' The hen sits'' (2) Sety with its forms, is always transitive in use when it has the following meanings : {a) to put or place a thing or person in position, as "He set down the book ; " (b) to fix or establish, as, "He sets a good example." Set is intransitive when it means {a) to go down, to decline, as, "The sun has set;'' (b) to become fixed or rigid, as, " His eyes set in his head because of the disease ; " {c) in certain idiomatic expres- sions, as, for example, "to set out," "to set up in business," "to set about a thing," "to set to work," " to set forward," " the tide sets in," " a strong wind set in," etc. Exercise. Examine the forms of //>, lay, sit, and set in these sen- tences ; give the meaning of each, and correct those used wrongly. 1. If the phenomena which lie before him will not suit his purpose, all history must be ransacked. 2. He sat with his eyes fixed partly on the ghost and partly on Hamlet, and with his mouth open. 3. The days when his favorite volume set him upon making wheelbarrows and chairs, . . . can never again be the realities they were. 4. To make the jacket sit yet more closely to the body, it was gathered at the middle by a broad leathern belt. 5. He had set up no unattainable standard of per- fection. 1/2 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. i 6. For more than two hundred years his bones lay undistinguished. 7. The author laid the whole fault on the audience. 8. Dapple had to lay down on all fours before the lads could bestride him. 9. And send'st him ... to his gods where happy lies His petty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth : — there let him lay. 10. Achilles is the swift-footed when he is sitting still. 11. It may be laid down as a general rule, that history begins in novel, and ends in essay. 12. I never took off my clothes, but laid down in them. VERBALS. Definition. Kinds. Definition. 262. Verbals are words that express action in a general way, without limiting the action to any time, or asserting it of any subject. Verbals may be participles, infinitives, or ger- unds. PARTICIPLES. 263. Participles are adjectival verbals ; that is, they either belong to some substantive by express- mg action in connection with it, or they express action, and directly modify a substantive, thus having a descriptive force. Notice these func- tions. Pure partici- I. At length, wearied hy his cries and agitations, and not pie in func- knowing how to put an end to them, he addressed the anj mal as if he had been a rational being. — Dwight. Here wearied and knowing belong to the subjecrr he, and express action in connection with it, but do not describe. VERBALS. 173 2. Another name glided into her petition — it was that of Express the wounded Christian, whom fate had placed in the hands '''aisoliescribe of bloodthirsty men, his avowed enemies. — Scott. Here wounded and avowed are participles, but are used with the same adjectival force that blood- thirsty is (see Sec. 143, 4). Participial adjectives have been discussed in Sec. 143 (4), but we give further examples for the sake of comparison and distinction. 3. As learned a man may live in a cottage or a college Fossil parti- ^ cities as common-room . — Thackeray. adjectives, 4. Not merely to the soldier are these campaigns interest- ing. — Bayne. 5. How charming \s divine philosophy ! — Milton. 264. Participles, in expressing action, may be Forms 0/ the active or passive, incomplete (or imperfect), com- plete (perfect or past), and perfect definite. They cannot be divided into tenses (present, past, etc.), because they have no tense of their own, but derive their tense from the verb on which they depend ; for example, — 1 . He walked conscientiously through the services of the d?iy, fiiljilling tv try section the minutest, etc. — De Quincey. Ficlfilling has the form to denote continuance, but depends on the verb walked, which is past tense. 2. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the East. Milton. Dancing here depends on a verb in the present tense. participle. 174 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 265. PARTICIPLES OF THE VERB CHOOSE. Active Voice. Imperfect. Choosing. Perfect. Having chosen., Perfect definite. Having been choosing. Passive Voice. Imperfect. None. Perfect. Chosen, being chosen, having been chosen. Perfect definite. None. Exercise. Pick out the participles, and tell whether active or passive, imperfect, perfect, or perfect definite. If pure participles, tell to what word they belong ; if adjectives, tell what words they modify. 1. The change is a large process, accomplished within a large and corresponding space, having, perhaps, some central or equatorial line, but lying, like that of our earth, between certain tropics, or limits widely separated. 2. I had fallen under medical advice the most mis- leading that it is possible to imagine. 3. These views, being adopted in a great measure from my mother, were naturally the same as my mother's. 4. Endowed with a great command over herself, she soon obtained an uncontrolled ascendency over her people. 5. No spectacle was more adapted to excite wonder. 6. Having fully supplied the demands of nature in this respect, I returned to reflection on my situation. 7. Three saplings, stripped of their branches and bound together at their ends, formed a kind of bedstead. 8. This all-pervading principle is at work in our sys tem, — the creature warring against the creating power. 9. Perhaps I was too saucy and provoking. 10. Nothing of the kind having been done, and the principles of this unfortunate king having been distorted, ... try clemency. INFINITIVES. 266. Infinitives, like participles, have no tense. When active, they have an indefinite, an imperfect, VERBALS. 175 a perfect, and a perfect definite form ; and when passive, an indefinite and a perfect form, to express action unconnected with a subject. 267. INFINITIVES OF THE VERB CHOOSE, Active Voice. Indefinite. [To] choose. Imperfect, [To] be choosing. Perfect. [To] have chosen. Perfect definite. [To] have been choosing. Passive Voice. Indefinite. [To] be chosen, /'^r/'^^/. [To] have been chosen. 268. In Sec. 267 the word to is printed in '^o with the , , , . . - , infinitive. brackets because it is not a necessary part of the infinitive. It originally belonged only to an inflected form of the infinitive, expressing purpose ; as in the Old English, "Ut eode se ssedere his ssed to sawenne*' (Out went the sower his seed to sow). But later, when inflections became fewer, to was Cases when used before the infinitive generally, except in the °"^^^ ^ following cases : — (i) After the auxiliaries shall ^ will {-with should and zvotild). (2) After the verbs may {might\ can {could\ must; also let^ make, do (as, "I do go,'' etc.), see, bid {Q,ovs\xa2iTi&), feel, hear, watch, please ; sometimes need (as, " He need not go ") and dare (to venture). (3) After had in the idiomatic use; as, *'You had better go,'' " He had rather walk than ride." (4) In exclamations;' as in the following ex- amples : — " He find pleasure in doing good ! " cried Sir William. — Goldsmith. 176 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. I urge an address to his kinswoman ! I approach her when in a base disguise ! I do this ! - Scott. " She ask my pardon, poor woman ! '' cried Charles. — Macaulay. 269. Shall and will are not to be taken as sepa- rate verbs, but with the infinitive as one tense of a verb ; as, '^ He will choose^' " I shall have chosen^'' etc. Also do may be considered an auxiliary in the interrogative, negative, and emphatic forms of the present and past, also in the imperative ; as, — What ! doth she, too, as the credulous imagine, learn [doth learn is one verb, present tense] the love of the great stars ? — BULWER. Do not e7itertai7i so weak an imagination.— Burke. She did not weep — she dz'd not break forth into reproaches. — Irving. 270. The infinitive is sometimes active in form while it is passive in meaning, as in the expression, ** a house to let.'' Examples are, — She was a kind, liberal woman ; rich rather more than needed where there were no opera boxes to rent. -De Quincey. Tho' it seems my spurs are yet to wm. —Tennyson. But there was nothing to do. — Howells. They shall have venison to eat, and corn to hoe. — Coovkh. Nolan himself saw that something was to pay. — E. E. Hale. 271. The various offices which the infinitive and the participle have in the sentence will be treated in Part II., under "Analysis," as we are now learn- ing merely to recognize the forms. GERUNDS. 272. The gerund is like the participle m form, and like a noun in use. The participle has been called an adjectival ver- VERBALS. IJf bal ; the gerund may be called a fioim verbal. While the gerund expresses action, it has several attributes of a noun, — it may be governed as a noun ; it may be the subject of a verb, or the object of a verb or a preposition ; it is often preceded by the definite article ; it is frequently modified by a possessive noun or pronoun. guished from 273. It differs from the participle in being Distm- . , '11 guished n always used as a noun : it never belongs to or participu 1 • '. and verbal limits a noun. „^^^„^ It differs from the verbal noun in having the property of governing a noun (which the verbal noun has not) and of expressing action (the verbal noun merely names an action, Sec. 11). The following are examples of the uses of the gerund : — (i) Subject : "The taking of means not to see another morning had all day absorbed every energy ; " ** Certainly dueling is bad, and has been put down." (2) Object : (a) " Our culture therefore must not omit the arming of the man." (b) "Nobody cares for planting the poor fungus ; " "I announce the good of being interpenetrated by the mind that made nature ; " " The guilt of having been cured of the palsy by a Jewish maiden." (3) Governing and Governed: " We are far from having exhausted the significance of the few sym- bols we use," also {2, b\ above; "He could em- bellish the characters with new traits without violating probability ; " "He could not help holding out his hand in return." B. GRAM. — 12 178 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Exercise. — Find sentences containing five participles^ five infinitives, and five gerunds. SUMMARY OF WORDS IN -ING, 274. Words in -ing are of six kinds, according to use as well as meaning. They are as follows : — (i) Part of the verb, making the definite tenses. (2) Pure participles, which express action, but do not assert. (3) Participial adjectives, which express action and also modify. (4) Picre adjectives, which have lost all verbal force. (5) Gerunds, which express action, may govern and be governed. (6) Verbal nouns, which name an action or state, but cannot govern. Exercise. : Tell to which of the above six classes each -ing word in the following sentences belongs : — 1. Here is need of apologies for shortcomings. 2. Then how pleasing is it, on your leaving the spot, to see the returning hope of the parents, when, after ex- amining the nest, they find the nurshngs untouched ! 3. The crowning incident of my life was upon the bank of the Scioto Salt Creek, in which I had been un- horsed by the breaking of the saddle girths. 4. What a vast, briUiant, and wonderful store of learning ! 5. He is one of the most charming masters of our language. 6. In explaining to a child the phenomena of nature, you must, by object lessons, give reahty to your teaching. 7. I suppose I was dreaming about it. What is dreaming ? VERBS AND VERBALS. 1/9 8. It is years since I heard the laughter ringing. 9. Intellect is not speaking and logicizing : it is see- ing and ascertaining. 10. We now draw toward the end of that great martial drama which we have been briefly contempladng. 11. The second cause of failure was the burning of Moscow. 12. He spread his blessings all over the land. 13. The only means of ascending was by my hands. 14. A marble figure of Mary is stretched upon the ' tomb, round which is an iron railing, much corroded, bearing her national emblem. 15. The exertion left me in a state of languor and sinking. 16. Thackeray did not, like Sir Walter Scott, write twenty pages without stopping, but, dictating from his chair, he gave out sentence by sentence, slowly. HOW TO PARSE VERBS AND VERBALS. I. VERBS. 275. In parsing verbs, give the following points : — (i) Class: {a) as to form, — strong or weak, giving principal parts ; {b) as to use^ — transitive or intransitive. (2) Voice, — active or passive. (3) Mood, — indicative, subjunctive, or imper- ative. (4) Tense, — which of the tenses given in Sec. 234. (5) Person and number, in determining which you must tell — (6) What the subject is, for the form of the verb may not show the person and number. l8o THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Caution. 276. It has been intimated in Sec. 235, we must beware of the rule, " A verb agrees with its subject in person and number." Sometimes it does ; usually it does not, if agrees means that the verb changes its form for the different persons and numbers. The verb be has more forms than other verbs, and may be said to agree with its sub- ject in several of its forms. But unless the verb is present, and ends in -s, or is an old or poetic form ending in -st or -etJi, it is best for the student not to state it as a general rule that "the verb agrees with its subject in person and number," but merely to tell what the subject of the verb is. II. VERB PHRASES 277. Verb phrases are made up of a principal verb followed by an infinitive, and should always be analyzed as phrases, and not taken as single verbs. Especially frequent are those made up of should, wouldy may, might, can, con Id, must, fol- lowed by a pure infinitive without to. Take these examples : — 1. Lee should of himself have repleiiished his stock. 2. The government might have been strong and prosperous. In such sentences as i, call shonld a weak verb, intransitive, therefore active ; indicative, past tense ; has for its subject Lee. Have replenisJied is a per- fect active infinitive. In 2, call might a weak verb, intransitive, active, indicative (as it means could), past tense ; has the subject government. Have been is a perfect active infinitive. For fuller parsing of the infinitive, see Sec. 278 (2). VERBS AND VERBALS. i8l III. VERBALS. 278. (i) Participle. Tell {a) from what verb it is derived ; {b) whether active or passive, imperfect, perfect, etc. ; (c) to what word it belongs. If a participial adjective, give points {a) and (^), then parse it as an adjective. (2) Infinitive. Tell {a) from what verb it is de- rived ; {b) whether indefinite, perfect, definite, etc, (3) Gerund, {a) From what verb derived; (J?) its use (Sec. 273). Exercise. Parse the verbs, verbals, and verb phrases in the follow- ing sentences : — 1. Byron builds a structure that repeats certain ele- ments in nature or humanity. 2. The birds were singing as if there were no aching hearts, no sin nor sorrow, in the world. 3. Let it rise ! let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming ; let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting day Hnger and play on its summit. 4. You are gathered to your fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance. 5. Read this Declaration at the head of the army. 6. Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing, Down all the line, a deafening shout, *' God save our Lord the King ! " 7. When he arose in the morning, he thought only of her, and wondered if she were yet awake. 8. He had lost the quiet of his thoughts, and his agitated soul reflected only broken and distorted images of things. So, lest I be incHned To render ill for ill. Henceforth in me instill, O God, a sweet good will. 10. The sun appears to beat in vain at the casements. l82 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 11. Margaret had come into the workshop with her sewing, as usual. 12. Two things there are with memory will abide — Whatever else befall — while life flows by. 13. To the child it was not permitted to look beyond into the hazy Hues that bounded his oasis of flowers. 14. With them, morning is not a new issuing of light, a new bursting forth of the sun ; a new waking up of all ^ that has hfe, from a sort of temporary death. 15. Whatever ground you sow or plant, see that it is in good condition. 16. However that be, it is certain that he had grown to delight in nothing else than this conversation. 17. The soul having been often born, or, as the Hin- • doos say, " travehng the path of existence through thou- sands of births," there is nothing of which she has not gained knowledge. 18. The ancients called it ecstasy or absence, — a getting-out of their bodies to think. 19. Such a boy could not whistle or dance. 20. He had rather stand charged with the imbecility of skepticism than with untruth. 21. He can behold with serenity the yawning gulf be- tween the ambition of man and his power of perform- ance. 22. He passed across the room to the washstand, leaving me upon the bed, where I afterward found he had replaced me on being awakened by hearing me leap frantically up and down on the floor. 23. In going for water, he seemed to be traveling over a desert plain to some far-off spring. 24. Hasheesh always brings an awakening of percep- tion which magnifies the smallest sensation. 25. I have always talked to him as I would to a friend. 26. Over them multitudes of rosy children came leap- ing to throw garlands on my victorious road. 27. Oh, had we some bright little isle of our own ! 28. Better it were, thou sayest, to consent ; Feast while we may, and live ere life be spent. 29. And now wend we to yonder fountain, for the hour of rest is at hand. ADVERBS, 183 ADVERBS. 279. The word adverb means joined to a verb. Adverbs The adverb is the only word that can join to a verb to modify it. When action is expressed, an adverb is usually a verb. added to define the action in some way, — time, place, or manner : as, " He began already to be proud of being a Rugby boy [time] ; " *' One of the young heroes scrambled up behind [place] ; " "He was absolute, but wisely and bravely ruling [manner]." But this does not mean that adverbs modify An adjective , , r 1 1 ^ or an adverb, verbs only: many of them express degree, and limit adjectives or adverbs; as, "William's private life was severely pure ; " " Principles of English law are put down a little confusedly." Sometimes an adverb may modify a noun or sometimes a r 1 noun or a pronoun ; for example, — pronoun. The young man reveres men of genius, because, to speak truly, they are more himself than he is. —Emerson. Is it only poets, and men of leisure and cultivation, who live with nature ? — id. To the almost terror of the persons present, Macaulay began with the senior wrangler of 180 1-2-3-4, and so on. — Thackeray. Nor was it altogether nothing. — Carlyle. Sounds overflow the listener's brain So sweet that joy is almost pain. Shelley. The condition of Kate is exactly that of Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner." — De Quincey. He was incidentally news dealer. —T. B. Aldrich. Note. — These last differ from the words in Sec. 169, being adverbs naturally and fitly, while those in Sec. 169 are 1 84 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. felt to be elliptical, and rather forced into the service oi adjectives. Also these adverbs modifying nouns are to be distin- . guished from those standing afler a noun by ellipsis, but really modifying, not the noun, but some verb understood; thus, — The gentle winds and waters [that are] near, Make music to the lonely ear. Byron. With bowering leaves [that grow] overhead, to which the eye Looked up half sweetly, ^nd half awfully. Leigh Hunt. A phrase. An advcrb may modify a phrase which is equiva- lent to an adjective or an adverb, as shown in the sentences, — They had begun to make their effort much at the sam6 time. — Trollope. I draw forth the fruit, all wet and glossy, maybe nibbled by rabbits and hollowed out by crickets^ and perhaps with a leaf or two cemented to it, but still with a rich bloom to it, — Thoreau. A clause or a It may also modify a sentence, emphasizing or quahfying the statement expressed; as, for ex- ample, — And certainly no one ever entered upon office with so few resources of power in the past. —Lowell. Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven. — Irving. We are offered six months' credit ; and that, perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it. — Franklin. Definition. 280. An adverb, then, is a modifying word, which may qualify an action word or a statement, and may add to the meaning of an adjective or adverb, or a word group used as such. ADVERBS. 185 Note. — The expression action word is put instead of verb, because any verbal word may be limited by an adverb, not simply the forms used in predication. 281. Adverbs may be classified in two ways: (i) according to the meaning of the words; (2) according to their use in the sentence. ^VERBS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO MEANING. 282. Thus considered, there are six classes: — (i) Time; as now^ to-day^ ever^ lately^ before^ hitherto, etc. (2) Place. These may be adverbs either of {a) Place where ; as here, the^'e, where, near^ yonder, above, etc. {b) Place to which ; as hither, thither, whither, whithe7'Soever, etc. (6') Place from w^hich ; as hence, thence, whence^ whencesoever, etc. (3) Manner, telling how anything is done; as well, slowly, better, bravely, beautifully. Action is conceived or performed in so many ways, that these adverbs form a very large class. (4) Number, telling how many times : once, twice, singly, two by tzvo, etc. (5) Degree, telling how much ; as little, slightly, too, partly, enough, greatly, much, very, just, etc. (see also Sec. 283). (6) Assertion, telling the speaker's belief or dis- belief in a statement, or how far he believes it to be true ; as perhaps, maybe, surely, possibly, proba- bly, not, etc. 1 86 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Special 283. The is an adverb of dee^ree when it limits remarks on ^ ^ °^ adverbs of an adjective or an adverb, especially the compara- tive of these words ; thus, — But not the less the blare of the tumultuous organ wrought its own separate creations. -De Quincey. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have ; the more evidently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience. —Burke. This and that are very common as adverbs in spoken English, and not infrequently are found in literary English ; for example, — The master ... was for this once of her opinion. — R. Louis Stevenson. Death! To die! I owe /y^^/ much To what, at least, I was. —Browning. This long's the text. —Shakespeare. The status of Such is frequently uscd as an equivalent of so: such. ^ 1. . . , . , .1 such precedes an adjective with its noun, while so precedes only the adjective usually. Meekness, . . . which gained him such universal popularity. — Irving. Such a glittering appearance that no ordinary man would , have been able to close his eyes there. —Hawthorne. An eye of such piercing brightness and siich commanding power that it gave an air of inspiration. —Leck v. So also in Grote, Emerson, Thackeray, Motley, White, and others. Pretty. Pretty has a wider adverbial use than it gets credit for. I believe our astonishment is /r^//y equal. —Fielding. Hard blows and hard money, the feel of both of which you \x^o^ pretty well by now. — Kingslev. The first of these generals is pretty generally recognized as the greatest military genius that ever lived. —Bavne. A pretty large experience. — Thackeray. ADVERBS, 187 Pretty is also used by Prescott, Franklin, De Quincey, Defoe, Dickens, Kingsley, Burke, Emer- son, Aldrich, Holmes, and other writers. The adverb mighty is very common in colloquial Mighty, English ; for example, — '''Mighty well, Deacon Gookin!" replied the solemn tones of the minister. — Hawthorne. " Maybe you're wanting to get over ? — anybody sick? Ye seem mighty anxious! " — H. B. Stowe. It is only occasionally used in literary English ; for example, — You are mighty courteous. — Bulwer. Beau Fielding, a mighty fine gentleman. —Thackeray. "Peace, Neville," said the king, "thou think'st thyself mighty wise, and art but a fool." — Scott. I perceived his sisters mighty busy. — Goldsmith. 284. Again, the meaning of words must be Notue 1 1 1 1 • r r meanings, noticed rather than their form ; for many words given above may be moved from one class to another at will : as these examples, — " He walked too far [place] ; " " That v^txQfar better [degree] ; '' " He spoke positively [manner] ; " " That is positively ' untrue [assertion] ; " *' I have seen you before [time] ;" " The house, and its lawn before [place]." ADVERBS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO USE. 285. All adverbs which have no function in the Simpu, sentence except to modify are called simple ad- verbs. Such are most of those given already in Sec. 282. 286. Some adverbs, besides modifying, have the ^^^^f^^' additional function of asking a question. i88 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. Direct qtustions. Indirect questions. These may introduce direct questions of — (i) Time. When did this humane custom begin? — H. Clay. (2) Place. Where will you have the scene ? — Longfellow. (3) Manner. And how looks it now ? — Hawthorne. (4) Degree. ^ How long have you had this whip? " asked he.— Bulwer (5) Reason. Why that wild stare and wilder cry ? — Whittier. Now wherefore stopp\st thou me?— Coleridge. Or they may introduce indirect questions of — (i) Time. I do not remember when I was taught to read.— D. Webster (2) Place. I will not ask where thou liest low. — Byron. (3) Manner. Who set you to cast about what you should say to the select souls, or how to say anything to such ? — Emerson. (4) Degree. Being too full of sleep to understand How far the unknown transcends the what we know. Longfellow. (5) Reason. I hearkened, I know not why. — Poe. 287. There is a class of words usually classed as conjunctive adverbs, as they are said to have the office of conjunctions in joining clauses, while ADVERBS. 189 having the office of adverbs in modifying ; for exarr.ple, — W\en last I saw thy young blue eyes, they smiled.— Byron. But in reality, when does not express time and modify, but the whole clause, when . . . eyes ; and zvhen has simply the use of a conjunction, not an adverb. For further discussion, see Sec. 299 under "Subordinate Conjunctions." Exercise. — Bring up sentences containing twenty ad- verbs, representing four classes. COMPARISON OF ADVERBS. 288. Many adverbs are compared, and, when compared, have the same inflection as adjectives. The following, irregularly compared, are often used as adjectives : — Positive. Conipa rative. Superlative^ well better best ill or badly worse worst much more most little less least nigh or near nearer nearest or next far farther, further farthest, furthest late later latest, last (rathe, obs. ) rather 289. Most monosyllabic adverbs add -er and -est to form the comparative and superlative, just as adjectives do; as, high, higher, highest; soon, sooner, soonest. Adverbs in -ly usually have more and most in- stead of the inflected form, only occasionally hav- ing -er and -est. IQO THE PARTS OF SPEECH, Its strings boldlier swept.— Coleridge. None can deem harshlier of me than I deem. — Byron. Only that we may wiselier see. -Emerson. Then must she keep it safelier. —Tennyson. I ^\iOw\di freelier rejoice in that absence. — Shakespeare. Form vs. use. 290. The f act that a word ends in -ly does not make it an adverb. Many adjectives have the same ending, and must be distinguished by theii use in the sentence. Exercise. Tell what each word in -ly modifies, then whether it is an adjective or an adverb. 1. It seems certain that the Normans were more cleanly in their habits, more courtly in their manners. 2. It is true he was rarely heard to speak. 3. He would inhale the smoke slowly and tranquilly. 4. The perfectly heavenly law might be made law on earth. 5. The king winced when he saw his homely little bride. 6. With his proud, quick- flashing eye, And his mien of kingly state. 7. And all about, a lovely sky of blue Clearly was felt, or down the leaves laughed through. 8. He is inexpressibly mean, curiously jolly, kindly and good-natured in secret. 291. Again, many words without -ly have the same form, whether adverbs or adjectives. The reason is, that in Old and Middle EngHsh, adverbs derived from adjectives had the ending -e as a distinguishing mark ; as, — If men smoot it with a yerde srnerte [If men smote it with a rod smartly] . — Chaucer. This e dropping off left both words having the same form. ADVERBS. 191 Weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields. — Irving. O sweet and far from cliff and scar The horns of Elfland faintly blowing. Tennyson. But he must do his errand right. — Drake. Long she looked in his tiny face. —id. Not near so black as he was painted. —Thackeray. In some cases adverbs with -ly are used side by side with those without -ly^ but with a different meaning. Such are most, mostly ; neaVy nearly; even, evenly ; hard, hardly ; etc. 292. Frequently the word there, instead of being special use of used adverbially, merely introduces a sentence, and *^^^^* inverts the usual order of subject and predicate. This is such a fixed idiom that the sentence, if it has the verb be, seems awkward or affected with- out this ^^ there introductory." Compare these: — 1. There are eyes, to be sure, that give no more admission mto the man than blueberries. — Emerson. 2. Time was when field and watery cove With modulated echoes rang. Wordsworth. HOW TO PARSE ADVERBS. 293. In parsing adverbs, give — (i) The class, according to meaning and also use. (2) Degree of comparison, if the word is com- pared. (3) What word or word group it modifies. Exercise. Parse all the adverbs in the following sentences : — 1. Now the earth is so full that a drop overfills it. 2. The higher we rise in the scale of being, the more certainly we quit the region of the brilliant eccentricities and dazzling contrasts which belong to a vulgar greatness. 192 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, 3. We sit in the warm shade and feel right well How the sap creeps up and blossoms swell. 4. Meanwhile the Protestants believed somewhat doubtfully that he was theirs. 5. Whence else could arise the bruises which I had received, but from my fall? 6. We somehow greedily gobble down all stories in which the characters of our friends are chopped up. 7. How carefully that blessed day is marked in their little calendars ! 8. But a few steps farther on, at the regular wine shop, the Madonna is in great glory. 9. The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion. 10. It is the Cross that is first seen, and always, burn- ing in the center of the temple. 11. For the impracticable, however theoretically enti- cing, is always politically unwise. 12. Whence come you? and whither are you bound? 13. How comes it that the evil which men say spreads so widely and lasts so long, whilst our good kind words don't seem somehow to take root and blossom ? 14. At these carousals Alexander drank deep. 15. Perhaps he has been getting up a little architec- ture on the road from Florence. 16. It is left you to find out why your ears are boxed. 17. Thither we went, and sate down on the steps of a house. 18. He could never fix which side of the garden walk would suit him best, but continually shifted. 19. But now the wind rose again, and the stern drifted in toward the bank. 20. He caught the scent of wild thyme in the air, and found room to wonder how it could have got there. 21. They were soon launched on the princely bosom of the Thames, upon which the sun now shone forth. 22. Why should we suppose that conscientious mo- tives, feeble as they are constantly found to be in a good cause, should be omnipotent for evil? 23. It was pretty bad after that, and but for Polly's outdoor exercise, she would undoubtedly have suc- cumbed. CONJUNCTIONS, 193 CONJUNCTIONS. 294. Unlike adverbs, conj unctions do not modify : they are used solely for the purpose of connecting. Examples of the use of conjunctions : — (i) Connectmg words : " It is the very necessity They connect and condition of existence ; " " What a simple but exquisite illustration ! " (2) Connecting word groups : "Hitherto the two Word systems have existed in different States, but side Phrases, by side within the American Union ; ** " This has happened because the Union is a confederation of clauses. States." (3) Connecting sentences: "Unanimity in this s^^^^^<^^^' case can mean only a very large majority. But even unanimity itself is far from indicating the voice of God." (4) Connectingsentence groups: VdiVdigrdiYi^s^owlA. Paragraphs be ■ too long to quote here, but the student will readily find them, in which the writer connects the divisions of narration or argument by such words as buty kozvevery hencCy nor, then, therefore, etc. 295. A conjunction is a linking word, connect- Definition, ing words, word groups, sentences, or sentence groups. 206. Conjunctions have two principal divis- classes of ^ ■' ^ ^ conjunctions, ions : — (i) Coordinate, joining words, word groups, etc., of the same rank. (2) Subordinate, joining a subordinate or depend- ent clause to a principal or independent clause. B. GRAM. — W 194 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS. 297. Coordinate conjunctions are of four kinds : — • (i) Copulative, coupling or uniting words and expressions in the same line of thought ; as and^ also, as well as y moreovery etc. (2) Adversative, connecting words and expres- sions that are opposite in thought ; as bitty yet, still, however, while, only, etc. (3) Causal, introducing a reason or cause. The chief ones ?iX^for, therefore, hence, the7i. (4) Alternative, expressing a choice, usually between two things. They are or, either^ else, nor, neither, whether. Correlatives. 298. Somc of thcsc go in pairs, answering to each other in the same sentence ; as, both . . . a7td ; not only . . . bitt (or bitt also); either . . . or ; whether . . . or ; neither . , . nor ; whether . . . or whether. Some go in threes ; as, not only . . . bttt . . . and ; either , , . or . . , or ; neither . . . nor . . . nor. Further examples of the use of coordinate con- junctions : — Copulative. Your letter, likewise, had its weight ; the bread was spent, the butter too ; the window being open, as well as the room door. Adversative. The assertion, however, serves but to show their ignorance. "Can this be so ?" said Goodman Brown. ''' Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council." Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks. CONJUNCTIONS, 195 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves. Alternative, Nor mark'd they less, where in the air A thousand streamers flaunted fair. Therefore the poet is not any permissive potentate, but is <^'^;?/ school. — H. H. Bancroft. Thus they drifted /r^w snow-clad ranges to burning plain. PREPOSITIONS. 213 (2) Origin. Commgfrom a race of day-dreamers, Ayrault had inherited the faculty of dreaming also by night. — Higginson. From h2irmony, /rom heavenly harmony This universal frame began. Dryden. (3) Time. A distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become /rom the night of that fearful dream. — Hawthorne. (4) Motive^ cause, or reason. It was from no fault of Nolan's. —Hale. The young cavaliers, from a desire of seeming valiant, ceased to be merciful. — Bancroft. Exercise. — Find sentences with three meanings of from. Of. 323. The original meaning of of was separation or source, like from. The various uses are shown in the following examples : — I. The From Relation. ( 1 ) Origin or source. The king holds his authority of the people. ~ Milton. Thomas k Becket was born of reputab'e parents in the city of London. — Hume. (2) Separation : (a) After certain verbs, such as fase, demand, rob, divest, free, clear, purge, disarm^ deprive, relieve, cure, rid, beg, ask, etc. Two old Indians cleared the spot of brambles, weeds, and grass. — Parkman. Asked no odds of^ acquitted 4;hem of etc. — Aldrich. (i) After some adjectives, — clear of, free of^ 214 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. 1 and wide of, bare of, etc. ; especially adjectives and adverbs of direction, as north of, south of, etc. The hills were bare of trees. — Bayard Taylor. Back of that tree, he had raised a little Gothic chapel. — Gayarr6. {c) After nouns expressing lack, deprivation, etc. A singular want of all human relation. — Higginson. {d^ With words expressing distance. Until he had come within a staff's length of the old dame. — Hawthorne. Within a few yards of the young man's hiding place. — id. (3) With expressions of material, especially out of. White shirt with diamond studs, or breastpin of native gold. — Bancroft. Sandals, bound with thongs of boar's hide. — Scott. Who formed, out of the most unpromising materials, the finest army that Europe had yet seen. — Macaulay. (4) Expressing cause, reason, motive. The author died ^ a fit of apoplexy. — Boswell. More than one altar was richer of his vows. — Lew Wallace. " Good for him ! " cried Nolan. " I am glad of that." — E. E. Hale. (5) Expressing agency. You cannot make a boy know, of his own knowledge, that Cromwell once ru'ed England. —Huxley. He is away of his own free will. — Dickens. n. other Relations expressed by Of. (6) Partitive, expressing a part of a number or quantity. (9/* the Forty, there were only twenty-one members present. — Parton. He washed out some of the dirt, separating thereby as much of the dust as a ten-cent piece would hold. — Bancroft. PREPOSITIONS. 215 (7) Possessive, standing, with its object, for the ^^^ ^^^^ ^^' possessive, or being used with the possessive case to form the double possessive. Not even woman's love, and the dignity of a queen, could give shelter from his contumely. — w. E. Channing. And the mighty secret of the Sierra stood revealed. — Bancroft. (8) Appositionaly which may be in the case of — {a) Nouns. Such a book as that ^ Job. — Froude. The fair city of Mexico. — Prescott. The nation of Lilliput. — Swift. {h) Noun and gerund, being equivalent to an infinitive. In the vain hope of appeasing the savages. —Cooper. Fev^r people take the trouble ^finding out what democracy really is.— Lowell. (c) Two nouns, when the first is descriptive of the second. This crampfish of a Socrates has so bewitched him. '-Emerson. A sorry antediluvian makeshift of a, building you may think it. — Lamb. An inexhaustible bottle of a shop. — Aldrich. (9) Of ^^^^' Besides the phrases of old, of late^ of a sudden, etc., of is used in the sense of during, I used often to linger of a morning by the high gate. — Aldrich. I delighted to loll over the quarter railing of a. calm day. — Irving. (10) Of reference, Qqudil to about, concerning, with regard to. 2l6 THE PARTS OF SPEECH, The Turk lay dreaming ^the hour.— Halleck. Boasted of his prowess as a scalp hunter and duelist. • — Bancroft. Sank into reverie of home and boyhood scenes, —id. Idiomatic uss Qf Is also uscd as an appendas^e of certain with verbs, -^ . xr- o verbs, such as admit, accept , allow, approve, disap- prove, permit, without adding to their meaning. It also accompanies the verbs tire, complain, repent, consist, avail (one's self), and others. Exercise. — Find sentences with six uses of qf. On, Upon. 324. The general meaning of on is position or direction. On and tcpon are interchangeable in almost all of their applications, as shown by the sentences below : — (i) Place: («) Where. Cannon were heard close on the left. — Parkman. The Earl of Huntley ranged his host Upon their native strand. Mrs. Sigourney. {h) With motion. It was the battery at Samos firing on the boats. - Parkman. Thou didst look down upon the naked earth.— Bryant. (2) Time. The demonstration of joy or sorrow on reading their let- ters. — Bancroft. On Monday evening he sent forward the Indians. —Parkman. Upon is seldom used to express time. (3) Reference, equal to about, concerning, etc. I think that one abstains from writing on the immortality of the soul. —Emerson. He pronounced a very flattering opinion upon my brother's promise of excellence. — De Quincky. PREPOSITIONS. 2 1 J (4) In adjurations. On my life, you are eighteen, and not a day more. — Aldrich. Upon my reputation and credit. —Shakespeare. (5) Idiomatic phrases : on fire^ on board, on high, on the wing, on the alert, on a sudden, on view, on trial, etc. Exercise. — Find sentences with three uses of on or upon. To. 325. Some uses of to are the following: — (i) Expressing motion : {a) To a place. Come to the bridal chamber, Death ! — Halleck. Rip had scrambled to one of the highest peaks. - Irving. {h) Referring to time. Full of schemes and speculations to the last. — Parton. Revolutions, whose influence is felt to this hour. — Parkman. (2) Expressing result. He usually gave his draft to an aid . . . to be written over, — often to the loss of vigor. — Benton. To our great delight, Ben Lomond was unshrouded. — B. Taylor. (3) Expressing comparison. But when, unmasked, gay Comedy appears, 'Tis ten to one you find the girl in tears. Aldrich. They are arrant rogues : Cacus was nothing to them. — Bulwer. Bolingbroke and the wicked Lord Littleton were saints to him. —Webster. (4) Expressing concern, interest. To the few, it may be genuine poetry. — Bryant. His brother had died, had ceased to be, to him. —Hale. Little mattered to them occasional privations. — Bancroft. m »l8 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. (5) Equivalent to according to. Nor, to my taste, does the mere music ... of your style' fall far below the highest efforts of poetry. —Lang. We cook the dish to our own appetite. — Goldsmith. (6) With the infinitive (see Sec. 268). Exercise. — Find sentences containing three uses of to, With. 326. With expresses the idea of accompaniment, and hardly any of its applications vary from this general signification. In Old English, mid meant in company with, while wid meant against: both meanings are included in the modern with. The following meanings are expressed by with: — (i) Personal accompaniment. The advance, with Heyward at its head, had already reached the defile. — Cooper. For many weeks I had walked with this poor friendless girl. — De Quincey. (2) Instrumentality. With my crossbow I shot the albatross. —Coleridge. Either with the swingle-bar, or with the haunch of our near leader, we had struck the off-wheel of the little gig. — De Quincey. (3) Cause, reason, motive. He was wild with delight about Texas. — Hale. She seemed pleased with the accident. — Howells. (4) Estimation, opinion. How can a writer's verses be numerous if with him, as with you, " poetry is not a pursuit, but a pleasure " ? — Lang. It seemed a supreme moment with him. — Howells. PREPOSITIONS, 2 1 9 (5) Opposition, After battling with terrific hurricanes and typhoons on every known sea. — Aldrich. The quarrel of the sentimentalists is not with life, but with you. — Lang. > (6) The equivalent of notwithstanding, in spite of. With all his sensibility, he gave millions to the sword. — Channing. Messala, with all his boldness, felt it unsafe to trifle fur- ther. —Wallace. (7) Time. He expired with these words. — Scott. With each new mind a new secret of nature transpires. — Emerson. Exercise. — Find sentences with four uses oiwith. HOW TO PARSE PREPOSITIONS. 327. Since a preposition introduces a phrase and shows the relation between two things, it is necessary, first of all, to find the object of the preposition, and then to find what word the prepo- sitional phrase limits. Take this sentence : — The rule adopted on board the ships on which I have met ^' the man without a country " was, I think, transmitted from the beginning. — E. E. Hale. The phrases are {\) on board the ships, (2) on whichy (3) without a country, {/^from the beginning. The object of on board is ships ; of on, which ; of without, country ; of from, beginni^tg. In (i), the phrase answers the question where^ and has the office of an adverb in telling where 220 THE PARTS OF SPEECH. the rule is adopted ; hence we say, on board shows the relation between ships and the participle adopted. In (2), on which modifies the verb have met by telling where : hence on shows the relation between which (standing for ships^ and the verb have met. In (3), without a country modifies man, telling what man, or the verb was understood : hence without shows the relation between country and man^ or was. And so on. The parsing of prepositions means merely tell- ing between what words or word groups they show relation. Exercises. (^) Parse the prepositions in these paragraphs : — 1. I remember, before the dwarf left the queen, he followed us one day into those gardens. I must needs show my wit by a silly illusion between him and the trees, which happens to hold in their language as it does in ours. Whereupon, the malicious rogue, watching his op- portunity when I was walking under one of them, shook it directly over my head, by which a dozen apples, each of them near as large as a Bristol barrel, came tumbling about my ears ; one of them hit me on the back as I chanced to stoop, and knocked me down flat on my face ; but I received no other hurt, and the dwarf was pardoned at my desire, because I had given the provocation. — Swift. 2. Be that as it will, I found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with prodigious speed. The first jolt had Hke to have shaken me out of my hammock. I called out several times, but all to no purpose. I looked towards my win- dows, and could see nothing but the clouds and the sky. I heard a noise just over my head, like the clapping of wings, and then began to perceive the woeful condition I PREPOSITIONS. 221 was in; that some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to let it fall on a rock : for the sagacity and smell of this bird enabled him to discover his quarry at a great distance, though better concealed than I could be within a two-inch board. — id. {b) Give the exact meaning of each italicized prepo- sition in the following sentences : — 1. The guns were cleared of their lumber. 2. They then \thfor a cruise up the Indian Ocean. 3. I speak these \h\ngs from a love of justice. 4. To our general surprise, we met the defaulter here. 5. There was no one except a little sunbeam of a sister. 6. The great gathering in the main street was on Sundays, when, after a restful morning, though unbroken by the peal of church bells, the miners gathered from hills and ravines /^r miles around /^r marketing. 7. The troops waited in their boats by the edge of a strand. 8. His breeches were of black silk, and his hat was garnished 7vith white and sable plumes. 9. A suppressed but still distinct murmur of appro- bation ran through the crowd at this generous proposition. 10. They were shriveled and colorless with the cold. 11. On every solemn occasion he was the striking fig- ure, even to the eclipsing of the involuntary object of the ceremony. 12. 0?i all subjects known to man, he favored the world with his opinions. 13. Our horses ran on a sandy margin of the road. 14. The hero of the poem is 2i\d the King." (2) Pronoun : " Memory greets them with the ghost of a smile." SIMPLE SENTENCES, 239 (3) Infinitive : "We like to see everything do its office." (4) Gerund : " She heard that sobbing of litanies, or the thundering of organs." (5) Adjective used as a noim : " For seventy leagues through the mighty cathedral, I saw the quick and the dead'' Things used as Complement. 350. As complement of ^ixv intransitive Ytrhy — CompUinent . (i) Noun: "She had been an ardent /^/r/^/." intransitive (2) Pronoun : " Who is she in- bloody coronation robes from Rheims .? " " This is she^ the shepherd girl." (3) Adjective: "Innocence is ever simple and credulous^ (4) Infinitive : " To enumerate and analyze these relations is to teach the science of method." (5) Gerund: "Life is a pitching of this penny, — heads or tails ; " " Serving others is serving us." (6) A prepositional phrase : "His frame is on a larger scale ; " "The marks were of a kind not to be mistaken." It will be noticed that all these complements have a double office, — completing the predicate, and explaining or modifying the subject. As complement of a transitive verb, — Of a transitive (i) Noun: " I will not call you cowards.'' '^^^^^ (2) Adjejctive: "Manners make h^diMty sup erfiti- ous and tigly ;'' "Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered pliant and 7nalleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation." In this last sentence, the object is made the subject by being passive, and 240 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. the words italicized are still complements. Like all the complements in this list, they are adjuncts of the object, and, at the same time, complements of the predicate. (3) Infinitive^ or infinitive phrase : " That cry which made me look a thousand ways ; " *' I hear the echoes throng.'' (4) Participle y or participial phrase : "I can imagine him pushing firmly on, trusting the hearts of his countrymen^ (5) Prepositional phrase : " My antagonist would render my poniard and my speed of no use to me." Modifiers. I. Modifiers of Subject, Object, or Complement. 351. Since the subject and object are either nouns or some equivalent of a noun, the words modifying them must be adjectives or some equiv- alent of an adjective ; and whenever the comple- ment is a noun, or the equivalent of the noun, it is modified by the same words and word groups that modify the subject and the object. These modifiers are as follows : — (1) ^ possessive: ''My memory assures mc of this ; " " She asked her father s permission." (2) A word in apposition : " Theodore Wielandj the prisoner at the bar, was now called upon for his defense ; " " Him, this young idolater , I have seasoned for thee." (3) An adjective: ''Great geniuses have the shortest biographies ; " "Her father was a prince in Lebanon, — proud, unforgiving, austere.'' (4) Prepositional phrase : " Are the opinions of \ SIMPLE SENTENCES. 24 1 a mail on right and wrongs on fate and causation, at the mercy of a broken sleep or an indigestion ? " " The poet needs a ground in popular tradition to work on." (5) Infinitive phrase: "The way to know him is to compare him, not with nature, but with other men ; " " She has a new and unattempted problem to solve;'' ** The simplest utterances are worthiest to be written^ (6) Participial phrase : " Another reading, ^/W;^ at the request of a Dutch lady, was the scene from King John ; " " This was the hour already appointed for the baptism of the new Christian daughter." Exercise. — In each sentence in Sec. 351, tell whether the subject, object, or complement is modified. II. Modifiers of the Predicate. 352. Since the predicate is always a verb, the word modifying it must be an adverb or its equivalent: — (i) Adverb: ^^ Slowly and sadly we laid him down." (2) Prepositional phrase : '* The little carriage is creeping on at one mile an hour ;'' '^ In the twin- kling of an eye, our horses had carried us to the ter- mination of the umbrageous isle'' In such a sentence as, " He died like a God," the word group like a God is often taken as a phrase ; but it is really a contracted clause, the verb being omitted. (3) Participial phrase : "She comes down from heaven to his help, interpreting for him the most Tells how, difficult truths, and leading him from star to star'' 242 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES, (4) Infinitive phrase : "No imprudent, no socia- ble angel, ever dropped an early syllable to a^iswer his longing.'' (For participial and infinitive phrases, see further Sees. 357-363-) (5) hidirect object: "I gave every man a trum- pet ; " " Give them not only noble teachings, but noble teachers.'' These are equivalent to the phrases to eve^y man and to them, and modify the predicate in the same way. w^uh^assive • When the verb is changed from active to passive, or ' the indirect object is retained, as in these sen- tences : " It is left yoti to find out the reason why ; " " All such knowledge should be given her.'' subject of pas- Or somctimcs the indirect object of the active sive verb and . , 11. r 1 • 11 direct object voicc bccomcs the subjcct of the passive, and the direct object is retained: for example, *' She is to ' be taught to exterid the limits of her sympathy ;'' ** I was shown an immense sarcophagus T (6) Adverbial objective. These answer the ques- tion when, or how long, how far, etc., and are . consequently equivalent to adverbs in modifying a predicate : " We were now running thirteen miles an hour ; " " One way lies hope ; " " Four hours be- fore midnight we approached a mighty minster." Exercises. (a) Pick out subject, predicate, and (direct) object : — 1. This, and other measures of precaution, I took. 2. The pursuing the inquiry under the light of an end or final cause, gives wonderful animation, a sort of person- ality to the whole writing. SIMPLE SENTENCES. 3. Why does the horizon hold me fast, with my joy and grief, in this center? 4. His books have no melody, no emotion, no humor, no relief to the dead prosaic level. 5. On the voyage to Egypt, he liked, after dinner, to fix on three or four persons to support a proposition, and as many to oppose it. 6. Fashion does not often caress the great, but the children of the great. 7. No rent roll can dignify skulking and dissimulation. 8. They do not wish to be lovely, but to be loved. (h) Pick out the subject, predicate, and complement : 1. Evil, according to old philosophers, is good in the making. 2. But anger drives a man to say anything. 3. The teachings of the High Spirit are abstemious, and, in regard to particulars, negative. 4. Spanish diet and youth leave the digestion undis- ordered and the slumbers light. 5. Yet they made themselves sycophantic servants of the King of Spain. 6. A merciless oppressor hast thou been. 7. To the men of this world, to the animal strength and spirits, the man of ideas appears out of his reason. 8. I felt myself, for the first time, burthened with the anxieties of a man, and a member of the world. (c) Pick out the direct and the indirect object in each : — 1. Not the less I owe thee justice. 2. Unhorse me, then, this imperial rider. 3. She told the first lieutenant part of the truth. 4. I promised her protection against all ghosts. 5. I gave him an address to my friend, the attorney. 6. Paint-me, then, a room seventeen feet by twelve. (^) Pick out the words and phrases in apposition : — 1. To suffer and to do, that was thy portion in Hfe. 2. A river formed the boundary, — the river Meuse. 3. In one feature. Lamb resembles Sir Walter Scott ; viz., in the dramatic character of his mind and taste. ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 4. This view was luminously expounded by Archbishop Whately, the present Archbishop of Dublin. 5. Yes, at length the warrior lady, the blooming cor- net, this nun so martial, this dragoon so lovely, must visit again the home of her childhood. {e) Pick out the modifiers of the predicate : — 1. It moves from one flower to another hke a gleam of light, upwards, downwards, to the right and to the left. 2. And hark ! like the roar of the billows on the shore, The cry of battle rises along their changing line. 3. Their intention was to have a gay, happy dinner, after their long confinement to a ship, at the chief hotel. 4. That night, in little peaceful Easedale, six children sat by a peat fire, expecting the return of their parents. Compound Subject, Compound Predicate, etc. 353. Frequently in a simple sentence the writer uses two or more predicates to the same subject, two or more subjects of the same predicate, several modifiers, complements, etc. ; but it is to be no- ticed that, in all such sentences as we quote below, the writers of them purposely combined them in single statements, and they are not to be expanded into compound sentences. In a compound sen- tence the object is to make two or more full state- ments. Examples of compound subjects are, " By degrees Rip's azve and apprehension subsided ; " '' The name of the child, the air of the mother, the tone of her voice, — all awakened a train of recollections in his mind." Sentences with compound predicates are, ** The company broke tip, and retnrned to the more impor- tant concerns of the election ; " '' He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock, and, with a SIMPLE SENTENCES, heart full of trouble and anxiety, Uirned his steps homeward." Sentences with compound objects of the same verb are, '' He caught his daughter and her cJiild in his arms ; " ** Voyages and travels I would also have." And so with complements, modifiers, etc. Logical Subject and Logical Predicate. 354. The logical subject is the simple or gram- matical subject, together with all its modifiers. The logical predicate is the simple or grammati- cal predicate (that is, the verb), together with its modifiers, and its object or complement. It is often a help to the student to find the logi- cal subject and predicate first, then the grammati- cal subject and predicate. For example, in the sentence, "The situation here contemplated ex- poses a dreadful ulcer, lurking far down in the depths of human nature," the logical subject is the situation here contemplated, and the rest is the logical predicate. Of this, the simple subject is situation; the predicate, exposes ; the object, ulcer^ etc. Independent Elements of the Sentence. 355. The following words and expressions are grammatica^Uy independent of the rest of the sen- tence ; that is, they are not a necessary part, do not enter into its structure : — (i) Person or thing addressed: " But you know them. Bishop; " ^'Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again." ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES, (2) Exclamatory expressions : '* But the lady — ! Oh, heavens ! will that spectacle ever depart from my dreams ? " The exclamatory expression, however, may be the person or thing addressed, same as (i), above: thus, **Ah, yoimg sir! what are you about ? " Or it may be an imperative, forming a sentence : " Oh, hurry, hurry, my brave young man ! " (3) Infinitive phrase thrown in loosely : " To make a long story short, the company broke up ; " " Truth to say, he was a conscientious man." (4) Prepositional phrase not modifying^: "With- in the railing sat, to the best of my remem- brance, six quill-driving gentlemen;" ^^ At all events, the great man of the prophecy had not yet appeared." (5) Participial phrase: " But, generally speaking, he closed his literary toils at dinner ; " " Consider- ing the burnish of her French tastes, her noticing even this is creditable." (6) Single zvords : as, ''0\i,yes ! everybody knew them;" ''No, let him perish;" ''Well, he some- how lived along;" " Why, grandma, how you're winking ! " "Now, this story runs thus." There are some adverbs, such as perhaps, truly, really, undoubtedly, besides, etc., and some conjunc- tions, such as however, then, moreover, therefore, nevertheless, etc., that have an office in the sen- tence, and should not be confused with the words spoken of above. The words well, now, why, and so on, are independent when they merely arrest the attention without being necessary. SIMPLE SENTENCES, PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES. 356. In their use, prepositional phrases may be, (i) Adjectival, modifying a noun, pronoun, or word used as a noun : for example, " He took the road to King Richard' s pavilion ;'' "I bring re- ports on that subject from Ascalon." (2) Adverbial, limiting in the same way an ad- verb limits : as, " All nature around him slept in calm moonshine or /;/ deep shadow;'' ^'Yzx from the madding crowd's ignoble strife." (3) hidepefident, not dependent on any word in the sentence (for examples, see Sec. 355, 4). PARTICIPLES AND PARTICIPIAL PHRASES. 357. It will be helpful to sum up here the re- sults of our study of participles and participial phrases, and to set down all the uses which are of importance in analysis : — (i) The adjectival use, already noticed, as fol- lows : — {a) As a complement of a transitive verb, and at the same time a modifier of the object (for an ex- ample, see Sec. 350, 4). (li) As a modifier of subject, object, or comple- ment (see Sec^35i, 6). (2) The adverbial use, modifying the predicate, instances of which were seen in Sec. 352, 3. In these the participial phrases connect closely with the verb, and there is no difficulty in seeing that they modify. There are other participial phrases which are These need used adverbially, but require somewhat closer ^^^l^'^^''^' 248 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. attention; thus, "The letter of introduction, con- taining no matters of business, was speedily run through." In this sentence, the expression containing no matters of business does not describe letter, but it is equivalent to because it contained no matters of business, and hence is adverbial, modifying was speedily rnn through. Notice these additional examples : — Being a great collector of everything relating to Milton [reason, ^'Because I was," etc.], I had naturally possessed myself of Richardson the painter's thick octavo volumes. Neither the one nor the other writer was valued by the public, both having [since they had] a long warfare to accom- plish of contu?nely and ridicule. Wilt thou, therefore, being now wiser [as thou art] in thy thoughts, suffer God to give by seeming to refuse ? (3) Wholly independent in meaning and gram- mar. See Sec. 355, (5), and these additional ex- amples : — Assuming the specific heat to be the same as that of water ^ the entire mass of the sun would cool down to 15,000° Fahren- heit in five thousand years. This case excepted, the French have the keenest possible sense of everything odious and ludicrous in posing. INFINITIVES AND INFINITIVE PHRASES. 358. The various uses of the infinitive give considerable trouble, and they will be presented here in full, or as nearly so as the student will require. I. The verbal use. (i) Completing an incom- plete verb, but having no other office than a verbal one. SIMPLE SENTENCES. 249 id) With may {might), can {could), should, would, seem, ought, etc. : ''My weekly bill used invariably to be about fifty shillings ; " " There, my dear, he should not have known them at all; " '' He would instruct her in the white man's religion, and teach her how to be happy and good." {b) With the forms of be, being equivalent to a future with obligation, necessity, etc. : as in the sentences, '' Ingenuity and cleverness are to be rewarded by State prizes ; " " ' The Fair Penitent * was to be acted that evening." {c) With the definite forms of go, equivalent to a future : " I was going to 7'epeat my remonstrances ; " " I am not going to dissert on Hood^s humor." (2) Completing an incomplete transitive verb, but also belonging to a subject or an object (see Sec. 344 for explanation of the complements of transitive verbs) : " I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events " (re- tained with passive) ; '' Do they not cause the heart to beat, and the eyes to fill f 359. II. The substantive use, already exam- ined ; but see the following examples for further illustration : — {i) As the subject: ** To have the wall there, was to have the foe's life at their mercy ; " '' To teach is to learn." (2) As the object : " I like to hear them tell their old stories ; " "I don't wish to detract from any gentleman's reputation." (3) As complement : See examples under (i), above. 250 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. (4) In appositiofiy explanatory of a noun preced ing : as, " She forwarded to the EngHsh leaders a touching invitation to unite with the French ; " " He insisted on his right to forget her." 360. III. The adjectival use, modifying a noun that may be a subject, object, complement, etc. : for example, " But there was no time to be lost ; " *^ And now Amyas had time to ask Ayacanora the meaning of this ; " *' I have such a desire to be well with my public" (see also Sec. 351, 5). 361. IV. The adverbial use, which may be to express — (i) Purpose: "The governor, Don Guzman, sailed to the eastward only yesterday to look for you ; " '' Isn't it enough to bring us to death, to please that poor young gentleman's fancy } " (2) Result: "Don Guzman returns to the river mouth to find the ship a blackened wreck ; " " What heart could be so hard as not to take pity on the poor wild thing } " (3) Reason: "I am quite sorry to part with them; " "Are you mad, to betray yourself by your own cries .-*" "Marry, hang the idiot, to bring m^ such stuff ! " (4) Degree : " We have won gold enough to serve us the rest of our lives ; " " But the poor lady was too sad to talk except to the boys now and again." (5) Condition : " You would fancy, to hear McOrator after dinner, the Scotch fighting all the battles;" " To say what good of fashion we can, it rests on reality " (the last is not a simple SIMPLE SENTENCES, sentence, but it furnishes a good example of this use of the infinitive). 362. The fact that the infinitives in Sec. 361 are used adverbially, is evident from the meaning of the sentences. Whether each sentence containing an adverbial infinitive has the meaning of purpose, result, etc., may be found out by turning the infinitive into an equivalent clause, such as those studied under subordinate conjunctions. To test this, notice the following : — In (i), to look means that he might look ; to please is equivalent to that he may please^ — both purpose clauses. In (2), to find shows the result of the return; not to take pity is equivalent to that it would not take pity. In (3), to part means because I party etc. ; and to betray and to bring express the reason, equivalent to that you betray, etc. In (4), to serve and to talk are equivalent to \as much gold'] as will serve us ; and " too sad to talk " also shows degree". In (5), to hear means if yoti should hear, and to say is equivalent to if we say, — both expressing condition. 363. V. The independent use, which is of two kinds, — (i) Thrown loosely into the sentence; as in Sec. 355,(3). (2) Exclamatory ; " I a philosopher ! I advance 252 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. pretensions ; " " ' He to die ! ' resumed the bishop." (See also Sec. 268, 4.) OUTLINE OF ANALYSIS. 364. In analyzing simple sentences, give — (i) The predicate. If it is an incomplete verb, give the complement (Sees. 344 and 350) and its modifiers (Sec. 351). (2) The object of the verb (Sec- 349). (3) Modifiers of the object (Sec. 351). (4) Modifiers of the predicate (Sec. 352). (5) The subject (Sec. 347). (6) Modifiers of the subject (Sec. 351). (7) Independent elements (Sec. 355)^ This is not the same order that the parts of the sentence usually have ; but it is believed that the student will proceed more easily by finding the predicate with its modifiers, object, etc., and then finding the subject by placing the question who or what before it. Exercise in Analyzing Simple Sentences. I Analyze the following according to the directions given : — 1. Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour. 2. I will try to keep the balance true. 3. The questions of Whence? What? and Whither? and the solution of these, must be in a life, not in a book 4. The ward meetings on election days are not sof tened by any misgiving of the value of these ballotings. 5. Our English Bible is a wonderful specimen of the strength and music of the English language. 6. Through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams. SIMPLE SENTENCES. 253 7. To be hurried away by every event, is to have no political system at all. 8. This mysticism the ancients called ecstasy, — a getting-out of their bodies to think. 9. He risked everything, and spared nothing, neither ammunition, nor money, nor troops, nor generals, nor himself. 10. We are always in peril, always in a bad plight, just on the edge of destruction, and only to be saved by in- vention and courage. 11. His opinion is always original, and to the purpose. 12. To these gifts of nature, Napoleon added the ad- vantage of having been born to a private and humble for- tune. 13. The water, like a witch's oils, • Burnt green and blue and white. 14. We one day descried some shapeless object float- ing at a distance. 15. Old Adam, the carrion crow, The old crow of Cairo ; He sat in the shower, and let it flow Under his tail and over his crest. 16. It costs no more for a wise soul to convey his quality to other men. 17. It is easy to sugar to be sweet. 18. At times the black volume of clouds overhead seemed rent asunder by flashes of hghtning. 19. The whole figure and air, good and amiable other- wise, might be called flabby and irresolute. 20. I have heard Coleridge talk, with eager energy, two stricken hours, and communicate no meaning what- soever to any individual. 21. The word conscience has become almost confined, in popular use, to the moral sphere. 22. You may ramble a whole day together, and every moment discover something new. 23. She had grown up amidst the liberal culture, of Henry's court a bold horsewoman, a good shot, a grace- ful dancer, a skilled musician, an accomplished scholar. 24. Her aims were simple and obvious, — to preserve her throne, to keep England out of war, to restore civil and religious order. 254 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 25. Fair name might he have handed' down, Effacing many a stain of former crime. 26. Of the same grandeur, in less heroic and poetic form, was the patriotism of Peel in recent history. 27. Oxford, ancient mother ! hoary with ancestral honors, time-honored, and, haply, time-shattered power — I owe thee nothing ! 28. The villain, I hate him and myself, to be a re- proach to such goodness. 29. I dare this, upon my own ground, and in my own garden, to bid you leave the place now and forever. 30. Upon this shore stood, ready to receive her, in front of all this mighty crowd, the prime minister of Spain, the same Cond^ OHvarez. 31. Great was their surprise to see a young officer in uniform stretched within the bushes upon the ground. 32. She had made a two days' march, baggage far in the rear, and no provisions but wild berries. 33. This amiable relative, an elderly man, had but one foible, or perhaps one virtue, in this world. 34. Now, it would not have been filial or ladylike. 35. Supposing this computation to be correct, it must have been in the latitude of Boston, the present capital of New England. 36. The cry, "A strange vessel close aboard the frigate ! " having already flown down the hatches, the ship was in an uproar. 37. But yield, proud foe, thy fleet With the crews at England's feet. 38. Few in number, and that number rapidly perish- ing away through sickness and hardships ; surrounded by a howling wilderness and savage tribes ; exposed to the rigors of an almost arctic winter, — their minds were filled with doleful forebodings. 39. List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest. 40. In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, Distant, secluded, still, the httle village of Grand-Pr^ Lay in the fruitful valley. 41. Must we in all things look for the how, and th^ why, and the wherefore ? CONTRACTED SENTENCES. 25$ CONTRACTED SENTENCES. 36'5. Some sentences look like simple ones in Words left ^ ^ ^ ^ out after form, but have an essential part omitted that is thanc^ras. so readily supplied by the mind as not to need expressing. Such are the following : — " There is no country more worthy of our study tban England [is worthy of our study]." "The distinctions between them do not seem to be so marked as [they are marked] in the cities."" To show that these words are really omitted, compare with them the two following : — "The nobility and gentry are more popular among the inferior orders than they are in any other country." " This is not so universally the case at present as // was formerly." 366. As shown in Part I. (Sec. 333), the expres- ^.^^^^^^^^ sions of manner introduced by like, though often treated as phrases, are really contracted clauses ; but, if they were expanded, as would be the con- nective instead of like ; thus, — " They'll shine o'er her sleep, like [as] a smile from the west [would shine], From her own loved island of sorrow." This must, however, be carefully discriminated from cases where like is an adjective complement; as,— " She is like some tender tree, the pride and beauty of the grove ; " " The ruby seemed like a spark of fire burning upon her white bosom." Such contracted sentences form a connecting link, between our study of simple and complex sentences. ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. COMPLEX SENTENCES. 367. Our investigations have now included all the machinery of the simple sentence, which is the unit of speech. Our further study will be in sentences which are combinations of simple sentences, made merely for convenience and smoothness, to avoid the tiresome repetition of short ones of monotonous similarity. Next to the simple sentence stands the complex sentence. The basis of it is two or more simple sentences, which are so united that one member is the main one, — the backbone, — the other mem- bers subordinate to it, or dependent on it; as in this sentence, — " When such a spirit breaks forth into complaint, we are aware how great must be the suffering that extorts the murmur." The relation of the parts is as follows : — we are aware , I , , . , .7 rr~ . when such a spirit breaks now sreat 7nust be the siifferins' r .1 ■ . z/ • . ^ i forth tjito complaint^ that extorts the murmur. This arrangement shows to the eye the picture that the sentence forms in the mind, — how the first clause is held in suspense by the mind till the second, we are aware, is taken in ; then we recog- nize this as the main statement ; and the next one, how great . . . suffering, drops into its place as subordinate to we are aware ; and the last, that . . . murmur, logically depends on suffering. Hence the following definition : — COMPLEX SENTENCES. 257 368. A complex sentence is one containing one Definition, main or independent clause (also called the prin- cipal proposition or clause), and 07ie or more subor- dinate or dependent clauses. 369. The elements of a complex sentence are the same as those of the simple sentence ; that is, each clause has its subject, predicate, object, com- plements, modifiers, etc. But there is this difference : whereas the sim- ple sentence always has a word or a phrase for subject, object, complement, and modifier, the complex sentence has statements or clauses for these places. CLAUSES. 370. A clause is a division of a sentence, con- Definition: taining a verb with its subject. Hence the term clause may refer to the main division of the complex sentence, or it may be ap- plied to the others, — r- the dependent or subordinate clauses. 371. A principal, main, or independent clause independent is one making a statement without the help of any other clause. A subordinate or dependent clause is one which Dependent 1 IT i-r . c/ause. makes a statement dependmg upon or modifymg some word in the principal clause. 372. As to their office in the sentence, clauses AvWj. are divided into noun, adjective, and adverb clauses, according as they are equivalent in use to nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. B. GRAM. — 17 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. Noun Clauses. 373. Noun clauses have the following uses : — (1) Stibject : " That such men should give prej- udiced views of America is not a matter of sur- prise." (2) Object of a verb, verbal, or the equivalent of a verb: (a) "I confess these stories, for a time, put an end to my fancies;'' (b) "I am aware [I know] that a skillful illustrator of the immortal bard would have swelled the materials T Just as the object noun, pronoun, infinitive, etc., is retained after a passive verb (Sec. 352, 5), so the object clause is retained, and should not be called an adjunct of the subject ; for example, "We are persuaded that a thread runs through all thiftgs;'' "I was told that the house had not bee7i shut, night or day, for a hundred years'^ (3) Complement: ** The terms of admission to this spectacle are, that he have a certai7t solid and intelligible way of living'' (4) Apposition, (a) Ordinary apposition, explan- atory of some noun or its equivalent : '' Cecil's saying of Sir Walter Raleigh, ' / know that he can toil terribly,' is an electric touch." ib) After " it introductory " (logically this is a subject clause, but it is often treated as in apposition with it^: "//was the opinion of some, that this might be the wild huntsman famous i^t German legend.'^ (5) Object of a preposition : " At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the cliffs." Notice that frequently only the introductory COMPLEX SENTENCES. word is the object of the preposition, and the whole clause is not ; thus, " The rocks presented a high impenetrable wall, over which the torrent came tumbling." 374. Here are to be noticed certain sentences seemingly complex, with a noun clause in appo- sition with it ; but logically they are nothing but simple sentences. But since they are complex in form, attention is called to them here ; for ex- ample, — " Alas ! it is we ourselves that are getting buried alive under this avalanche of earthly impertinences." To divide this into two clauses — {a) It is we oitrselves^ {b) that a7'e . . . impertijiences — would be grammatical ; but logically the sentence is, We ourselves are getting . . . impertinences, and it is . . . that is merely a framework used to effect emphasis. The sentence shows how it may lose its pronominal force. Other examples of this construction are, — " It is on the understanding, and not on the sentiment, of a nation, that all safe legislation must be based." "- Then it is that deliberative Eloquence lays aside the plain attire of her daily occupation." Exercise. Tell how each noun clause is used in these sentences : — 1. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. 2. But the fact is, I was napping. 3. Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream, I scanned more narrowly the aspect of the building. 4. Except by what he could see for himself, he could know nothing. ANALYSIS OF^ SENTENCES. 5. Whatever he looks upon discloses a second sense. 6. It will not be pretended that a success in either of these kinds is quite coincident with what is best and inmost in his mind. 7. The reply of Socrates, to him who asked whether he should choose a wife, still remains reasonable, that, whether he should choose one or not, he would repent it. 8. What history it had, how it changed from shape to shape, no man will ever know. 9. Such a man is what we call an original man. 10. Our current hypothesis about Mohammed, that he was a scheming impostor, a falsehood incarnate, that his religion is a mere mass of quackery and fatuity, begins really to be no longer tenable to any one. Adjective Clauses. 375. As the office of an adjective is to modify, the only use of an adjective clause is to limit or describe some noun, or equivalent of a noun : con- sequently the adjective may modify any noun, or equivalent of a noun, in the sentence. The adjective clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns whoy whichy thaty bitty as ; some- times by the conjunctions wheiiy where y whither y wheficey wJiereiriy zvJierebyy etc. Frequently there is no connecting word, a rela- tive pronoun being understood. 376. Adjective clauses may modify — (i) The subject: "The themes it offers for con- templation are too vast for their capacities ; " " Those who see the Englishman only in towny are apt to form an unfavorable opinion of his social character." (2) The object: "From this piazza Ichabod en- COMPLEX SENTENCES, 26 1 tered the hall, which formed the center of the mansion.'* (.3) The complement: ''The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plow-horse, tJiat had outlived ahnost everything bnt his nsefuhtess ; '' *' It was such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad day lights (4) Other words : " He rode with short stirrups, which bi'oiight his knees nearly np to the pommel of the saddle;'' "No whit anticipating the oblivion which awaited their narnes and feats, the cham- pions advanced through the lists ; " " Charity cov- ereth a multitude of sins, in another sense than that in which it is said to do so in Scripture '' Exercise. Pick out the adjective clauses, and tell what each one modifies ; i.e., whether subject, object, etc. 1. There were passages that reminded me perhaps too much of Massillon. 2. I walked home with Calhoun, who said that the principles which I had avowed were just and noble. 3. Other men are lenses through which we read our own minds. 4. In one of those celestial days when heaven and earth meet and adorn each other, it seems a pity that we can only spend it once. 5. One of the maidens presented a silver cup, con- taining a rich mixture of wine and spice, which Rowena ^ tasted. 6. No man is reason or illumination, or that essence we were looking for. 7. In the moment when he ceases to help us as a cause, he begins to help us more as an effect. 8. Socrates took away all ignominy from the place, which could not be a prison whilst he was there. 9. This is perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. of ghosts except in our long-established Dutch settle- ments. 10. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy. 11. Nature waited tranquilly for the hour to be struck when man should arrive. Adverbial Clauses. 377. The adverb clause takes the place of an adverb in modifying a verb, a verbal, an adjective, or an adverb. The student has met with many adverb clauses in his study of the subjunctive mood and of subordinate conjunctions ; but they require careful study, and will be given in detail, with examples. 378. Adverb clauses are of the following kinds ; (i) Time: '' As we go.Xh^ milestones are grave- stones ; " " He had gone but a little way before he espied a foul fiend coming ; " '' When he was come up to Christian, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance." (2) Place : " Wherever the sentiment of right comes in, it takes precedence of everything else ; '* "He went several times to England, where he does not seem to have attracted any attention'' (3) Reason, or Cause : '' His English editor lays no stress on his discoveries, since he was too great to care to be original; " "I give you joy that truth is altogether wholesome'' (4) Manner : " The knowledge of the past is valuable only as it leads us to form just calculations with respect to the future ; " " After leaving the whole party under the table, he goes away as if nothing had happened." COMPLEX SENTENCES. ( 5 )^ Degree, or Comparison: ''They all be- come wiser than they were;'' "The right con- clusion is, that we should try, so far as we can, to make up our shortcomings ; " " Master Simon was in as chirping a humor as a grasshopper filled with dew [is] ; " " The broader their education is, the wider is the horizon of their thought." The first clause in the last sentence is dependent, expressing the degree in which the horizon, etc., is wider. (6) Purpose : " Nature took us in hand, shap- ing our actions, so that we might ?iot be ended tintimely by too gross disobedience'' (7) Result, or Consequence : " He wrote on the scale of the mind itself, so that all things have symmetry in his tablet;" *'The window was so far superior to every other in the church, that the vanquished artist killed himself from mortification." (8) Condition: ''If we tire of the saints, Shakespeare is our city of refuge ; " '' Who cares for that, so thou gain aught wider and nobler? ** ''You can die grandly, and as goddesses would die were goddesses mortal." (9) Concession, introduced by indefinite rela- tives, adverbs, and adverbial conjunctions, — zvho* ever^ whatever, however, etc. : " But still, however good she may be as a witness, Joanna is better ; " " Whatever there may remain of illiberal in discus- sion, there is always something illiberal in the severer aspects of study." These mean 710 matter how good, no matter w hat remains, etc. ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. Exercise. • Pick out the adverbial clauses in the following sen- tences ; tell what kind each is, and what it modifies : — 1. As I was clearing away the weeds from this epi- taph, the little sexton drew me on one side with a mys- terious air, and informed me in a low voice that once upon a time, on a dark wintry night, when the wind was unruly, howling and whisthng, banging about doors and windows, and twirling weathercocks, so that the living were fright- ened out of their beds, and even the dead could not sleep quietly in their graves, the ghost of honest Preston was attracted by the well-known call of " waiter," and made its sudden appearance just as the parish clerk was singing a stave from the " mirrie garland of Captain Death." 2. If the children gathered about her, as they some- times did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble because they had so much the sound of a witch's anathemas. 3. The spell of hfe went forth from her ever-creative spirit, and communicated itself to a thousand objects, as a torch kindles a flame wherever it may be apphed. ANALYZING COMPLEX SENTENCES. 379. These suggestions will be found helpful : — (i) See that the sentence and all its parts are placed in the natural order of subject, predicate, object, and modifiers. (2) First take the sentence as a whole ; find the principal subject and principal predicate; then treat noun clauses as nouns, adjective clauses as adjectives modifying certain words, and adverb clauses as single modifying adverbs. (3) Analyze each clause as a simple sentence. For example, in the sentence, " Cannot we con- ceive that Odin was a reality .^ " we is the prin- COMPLEX SENTENCES. cipal subject; cannot conceive is the principal predicate ; its object is that Odin was a reality ^ of which clause Odi^i is the subject, etc. 380. It is sometimes of great advantage to map out a sentence after analyzing it, so as to picture the parts and their relations. To take a sentence: — " I cannot help thinking that the fault is in themselves, and that if the church and the cataract were in the habit of giving away their thoughts with that rash generosity which characterizes tourists, they might perhaps say of their visitors, * Well, if you are those men of whom we have heard so much, we are a little disappointed, to tell the truth.' " This may be represented as follows : — I cannot help thinking {d) That the fauit is p themselves, and lb) [that] they might (^perhaps) say of their visitors I I {a) We are {a little) disappointed o 6 o J {b) If you are those men ^\0f whom we have heard so much. {a) If the church and . . . that rash generosity \ {b) Which characterizes tourists. Outline. 381. (i) Find the principal clause. (2) Analyze it according to Sec. 364. (3) Analyze the dependent clauses according ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES, to Sec. 364. This of course includes dependent clauses that depend on other dependent clauses, as seen in the '' map" (Sec. 380). Exercises. (a) Analyze the following complex sentences : — 1. Take the place and attitude which belong to you. 2. That mood into which a friend brings us is his dominion over us. 3. True art is only possible on the condition that every talent has its apotheosis somewhere. 4. The deep eyes, of a hght hazel, were as full of sorrow as of inspiration. 5. She is the only church that has been loyal to the heart and soul of man, that has clung to her faith in the imagination. 6. She has never lost sight of the truth that the product human nature is composed of the sum of flesh and spirit. 7. But now that she has become an establishment, she begins to perceive that she made a blunder in trust- ing herself to the intellect alone. 8. Before long his talk would wander into all the uni- verse, where it was uncertain what game you would catch, or whether any. 9. The night proved unusually dark, so that the two principals had to tie white handkerchiefs round their elbows in order to descry each other. ID. Whether she would ever awake seemed to depend upon an accident. 11. Here lay two great roads, not so much for travel- ers that were few, as for armies that were too many by half. 12. It was haunted to that degree by fairies, that the parish priest was obliged to read mass there once a year. 13. More than one military plan was entered upon which she did not approve. 14. As surely as the wolf retires before cities, does the fairy sequester herself from the haunts of the licensed victualer. 15. M. Michelet is anxious to keep us in mind that this bishop was but an agent of the English, COMPLEX SENTENCES. i6. Next came a wretched Dominican, that pressed her with an objection, which, if appHed to the Bible, would tax every miracle with unsoundness. 17. The reader ought to be reminded that Joanna D'Arc was subject to an unusually unfair trial. 18. Now, had she really testified this wilHngness on the scaffold, it would have argued nothing at all but the weakness of a genial nature. 19. And those will often pity that weakness most, who would yield to it least. 20. Whether she said the word is uncertain. 21. This is she, the shepherd girl, counselor that had none for herself, whom I choose, bishop, for yours. 22. Had they been better chemists, had we been worse, the mixed result, namely, that; dying for thenij the flower should revive for us, could not have been effected. 23. I like that representation they have of the tree. 24. He was what our country people call a7i old one, 25. He thought not any evil happened to men of such magnitude as false opinion. 26. These things we are forced to say, if we must con- sider the effort of Plato to dispose of Nature, — which will not be disposed of 27. He showed one who was afraid to go on foot to Olympia, that it was no more than his daily walk, if con- tinuously extended, would easily reach. 28. What can we see or acquire but what we are? 29. Our eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened. 30. There is good reason why we should prize this liberation. {l?) First analyze, then map out as in Sec. 380, the fol- lowing complex sentences : — 1 . The way to speak and write what shall not go out of fashion, is to speak and write sincerely. 2. The writer who takes his subject from his ear, and not from his heart, should know that he has lost as much as he has gained. 3. " No book," said Bentley, " was ever written down by any but itself." ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. 4. That which we do not beUeve, we cannot adequately say, though we may repeat the words never so often. 5. We say so because we feel that what we love itf not in your will, but above it. 6. It makes no difference how many friends I have, and what content I can find in conversing with each, if there be one to whom I am not equal. 7. In every troop of boys that whoop and run in each yard and square, a new-comer is as well and accurately weighed in the course of a few days, and stamped with his right number, as if he had undergone a formal trial of his strength, speed, and temper. COMPOUND SENTENCES. 382. The compound sentence is a combination of two or more simple or complex sentences. While the complex sentence has only one main clause, the compound has two or more independent clauses making statements, questions, or com- mands. Hence the definition, — 383. A compound sentence is one which con- tains two or more independent clauses. This leaves room for any number of subordinate clauses in a compound sentence : the requirement is simply that it have at least two independent clauses. Examples of compound sentences : — (i) Simple sentences united: "He is a palace of sweet sounds and sights ; he dilates ; he is twice a man ; he walks with arms akimbo; he soliloquizes.'* (2) Simple with complex: "The trees of the forest, the waving grass, and the peeping flowers have grown intelligent; and he almost fears to trust them with the secret which they seem to invite.'* COMPOUND SENTENCES. 269 (3) Complex with complex: ''The power which tesides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he . know until he has tried." 384. From this it is evident that nothing new is added to the work of analysis already done. The same analysis of simple sentences is re- peated in (i) and (2) above, and what was done in complex sentences is repeated in (2) and (3). The division into members will be easier, for the coordinate independent statements are readily taken apart with the subordinate clauses attached, if there are any. Thus in (i), the semicolons cut apart the inde- pendent members, which are simple statements ; in (2), the semicolon separates the first, a simple member, from the second, a complex member ; in (3), and connects the first and second complex members, and nor the second and third complex members. 385. The coordinate conjunctions and, nor, or, Connectives, but, etc., introduce independent clauses (see Sec. 297). But the conjunction is often omitted in copula- tive and adversative clauses, as in Sec. 383 (i). Another example is, " Only the star dazzles ; the planet has a faint, moon-like ray " (adversative). 386. The one point that will give trouble is the f^^^yl^^^ variable use of some connectives ; as but, for, yet, while (whilst), however, whereas, etc. Some of these are now conjunctions, now adverbs or prepo- thought. 270 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES. sitions ; others sometimes coordinate, sometimes subordinate conjunctions. The student must watch the logical comiection of the members of the sentence, and not the form of the connective. Exercise. Of the following illustrative sentences, tell which are compound, and which complex : — 1. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense ; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost. 2. I no longer wish to meet a good I do not earn, for example, to find a pot of buried gold. 3. Your goodness must have some edge to it — else it is none. 4. Man does not stand in awe of man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, but it goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other men. 5. A man cannot speak but he judges himself. 6. In your metaphysics you have denied personality to the Deity, yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life. 7. I thought that it was a Sunday morning in May ; that it was Easter Sunday, and as yet very early in the morning. 8. We denote the primary wisdom as intuition, whilst all later teachings are tuitions. 9. Whilst the world is thus dual, so is every one of its parts. 10. They measure the esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what each is. 11. For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something. 12. I sometimes seemed to have lived for seventy or one hundred years in one night ; nay, I sometimes had feelings representative of a millennium, passed in that time, or, however, of a duration far beyond the limits of experience. COMPOUND SENTENCES. 27 1 13. However some may think him wanting in zeal, the most fanatical can find no taint of apostasy in any measure of his. 14. In this manner, from a happy yet often pensive child, he grew up to be a mild, quiet, unobtrusive boy, and sun-browned with labor in the fields, but with more intelligence than is seen in many lads from the schools. OUTLINE FOR ANALYZING COMPOUND SENTENCES. 387. (i) Separate it into its main members. (2) Analyze each complex member as in Sec. 381. (3) Analyze each simple member as in Sec. 364. Exercise. Analyze the following compound sentences : — 1. The gain is apparent ; the tax is certain. 2. If I feel overshadowed and outdone by great neighbors, I can yet love ; I can still receive ; and he that loveth maketh his own the grandeur that he loves. 3. Love, and thou shalt be loved. 4. All loss, all pain, ^s particular ; the universe remains to the heart unhurt. 5. Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth. 6. He teaches who gives, and he learns who receives. 7. Whatever he knows and thinks, whatever in his apprehension is worth doing, that let him communicate, or men will never know and honor him aright. 8. Stand aside ; give those merits room ; let them mount and expand. 9. We see the noble afar off, and they repel us ; why should we intrude ? 10. We go to Europe, or we pursue persons, or we read books, in the instinctive faith that these will call it out and reveal us to ourselves. 11. A gay and pleasant sound is the whetting of the scythe in the mornings of June, yet what is more lone- some and sad than the sound of a whetstone or mower's rifle when it is too late in the season to make hay? 12. "Strike," says the smith, "the iron is white;*' ANALYSIS OF, SENTENCES, "keep the rake," says the haymaker, "as nigh the scythe as you can, and the cart as nigh the rake." 13. Trust men, and they will be true to you ; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great, though they make an exception in your favor to all their rules of trade. 14. On the most profitable lie the course of events presently lays a destructive tax ; whilst frankness invites frankness, puts the parties on a convenient footing, and makes their business a friendship. 15. The sturdiest offender of your peace and of the neighborhood, if you rip up his claims, is as thin and timid as any ; and the peace of society is often kept, because, as children, one is afraid, and the other dares not. 16. They will shuffle and crow, crook and hide, feign to confess here, only that they may brag and conquer there, and not a thought has enriched either party, and not an emotion of bravery, modesty, or hope. 17. The magic they used was the ideal tendencies, which always make the Actual ridiculous ; but the tough world had its revenge the moment they put their horses of the sun to plow in its furrow. 18. Come into port greatly, or sail with God the seas. 19. When you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. 20. Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work. 21. Life is a train of moods like a string of beads, and as we pass through them they prove to be many- colored lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what Hes at its ^ocus. 22. We see young men who owe us a new world, so readily and lavishly they promise, but they never acquit the debt ; they die young, and dodge the account ; or, if they live, they lose themselves in the crowd. 23. So does culture with us ; it ends in headache. 24. Do not craze yourself with thinking, but go about your business anywhere. 25. Thus journeys the mighty Ideal before us ; it never was known to fall into the rear. PART IIL SYNTAX. S. GRAM. — 1 8 INTRODUCTORY. 388. Syntax is from a Greek word meaniner or- Byway of ^ J o introduction der or arrangement. Syntax deals with the relation of words to each other as component parts of a sentence, and with their proper arrangement to express clearly the in- tended meaning. 389. Following the Latin method, writers on ^^^^"^^^ English grammar usually divide syntax into the syntax. two general heads, — agreement and government. Agreement is concerned with the following rela- tions of words : words in apposition, verb and sub- ject, pronoun and antecedent, adjective and noun. Government has to do with verbs and preposi- tions, both of which are said to govern words by having them in the objective case. 390. Considering the scarcity of inflections in English, it is clear that if we merely follow the Latin treatment, the department of syntax will be a small affair. But there is a good deal else to watch in addition to the few forms ; for there is an important and marked difference between Latin and English syntax. It is this : — Latin syntax depends upon fixed rules governing the use of inflected forms : hence the position of words in a sentence is of little grammatical impor- tance. 275 SYNTAX. English syntax follows the Latin to a limited extent ; but its leading characteristic is, that Eng- lish syntax is founded upon the meaning and tJie logical connection of words rather than upon their form : consequently it is quite as necessary to place words properly, and to think clearly of the mean- ing of words, as to study inflected forms. For example, the sentence, "The savage here the settler slew," is ambiguous. Savage may be the subject, following the regular order of subject; or settler may be the subject, the order being in- verted. In Latin, distinct forms would be used, and it would not matter which one stood first. 391. There is, then, a double reason for not omitting syntax as a department of grammar, — Firsts To study the rules regarding the use of inflected forms, some of which conform to classical grammar, while some are idiomatic (peculiar to our own language). Second, To find out the logical methods which control us in the arrangement of words ; and par- ticularly when the grammatical and the logical conception of a sentence do not agree, or when they exist side by side in good usage. As an illustration of the last remark, take the sentence, -" Besides these famous books of Scott's and Johnson's, there is a copious ' Life ' by Sheri- dan." In this there is a possessive form, and added to it the preposition of, also expressing a possessive relation. This is not logical ; it is not consistent with the general rules of grammar : but none the less it is good English. INTRODUCTORY, Also in the sentence, " None remained but he," grammatical rules would require him instead of he after the preposition ; yet the expression is sus- tained by good authority. 302. In some cases, authorities — that is, stand- Some rules not rigid, ard writers — differ as to which of two construc- tions should be used, or the same writer will use both indifferently. Instances will be found in treating of the pronoun or noun with a gerund, pronoun and antecedent, sometimes verb and sub- ject, etc. When usage varies as to a given construction, both forms will be given in the following pages. 393. Our treatment of syntax will be an en- deavor to record the best usage of the present time on important points ; and nothing but important points will be considered, for it is easy to confuse a student with too many obtrusive donts. The constructions presented as general will be justified by quotations from modeim writers of English who are regarded as " standard ,*^ " that is, writers whose style is generally acknowledged as superior, and whose judgment, therefore, will be accepted by those in quest of authoritative opinion. Reference will also be made to spoken English when its constructions differ from those of the literary language, and to vulgar English when it preserves forms which were once, but are not now, good English. It may be suggested to the student that the only way to acquire correctness is to watch good usage everywhere^ and imitate it. 2/8 SYNTAX, NOUNS. 394. Nouns have no distinct forms for the nom- inative and objective cases : hence no mistake can be made in using them. But some remarks are required concerning the use of the possessive case. Use of the 305, When two or more possessives modify the 'possessive. . t . • 1 • Joint fosses- samc uoun, or mdicate jomt ownership or posses- sion, the possessive sign is added to the last noun only ; for example, — Live your king and coimtrfs best support. — Rowe. Woman, sense and nature'' s easy fool. — Bvron. Oliver and Boyd^s printing office. — McCulloch. Adam and Eve'^s morning hymn. —Milton. In Beau7nont and Fletcher'' s " Sea Voyage," Juletta tells, etc. — Emerson. ^^sZnf^^^' 39^* When two or more possessives stand be- fore the same noun, but imply separate possession or ownership, the possessive sign is used with each noun; as, — He lands us on a grassy stage, Safe from the storm^s and prelate'^s rage. Marvell, Where were the sons of Peers and Members of Parliament in Anne's and George'' s time? — Thackeray. LevVs station in life was the receipt of custom ; and Peter''s, the shore of Galilee ; and PauPs, the antechamber of the High Priest. — Ruskin. Swift did not keep Stella'' s letters. He kept Bolingbroke''s, and Pope''s^ and Harley^s, and Peterborough's. — Thackeray. An actor in one of Morton'' s or Kotzebue^s plays. — Macaulay. Putting Mr. Mill's and Mr. Bentham's principles to- gather. — id. PRONOUNS. 397. The possessive preceding the gerund will be considered under the possessive of pronouns \Sec. 408). PRONOUNS. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. I. NOMINATIVE AND OBJECTIVE FORMS. 398. Since most of the personal pronouns, together with the relative who, have separate forms for nominative and objective use, there are two general rules that require attention. (i) The nominative use is usually marked by ^^^^^0,1 the nominative form of the pronoun. (2) The objective use is usually marked by the objective form of the pronoun. These simple rules are sometimes violated in spoken and in literary English. Some of the violations are universally condemned ; others are generally, if not universally, sanctioned. 300. The objective is sometimes found instead Objective for ^^ •' the nomina of the nominative in the following instances : — tive. (i) By a common vulgarism of ignorance or carelessness, no notice is taken of the proper form to be used as subject; as, — He and me once went in the dead of winter in a one-hoss shay out to Boonville. — Whitcher, Bedott Papers. It seems strange to me that them that preach up the doc- trine don't admire one who carrys it Q\x\.. — Josiah Allen's Wife. (2) By faulty analysis of the sentence, the true relation of the words is misunderstood ; for exam- 280 SYNTAX. pie, " Whom think ye that I am ? " (In this, whom is the complement after the verb am, and should be the nominative form, \vho^ *'The young Harper, whom they agree was rather nice-look- ing" {whom is the subject of the verb zvas). Especially is this fault to be noticed after an ellipsis with than or as, the real thought being forgotten ; thus, — But the consolation coming from devotion did not go far with such a one as ^^r. — Trollope. This should be "as she,'' because the full expres- sion would be "such a one as she is'' 400. Still, the last expression has the support of many good writers, as shown in the following examples : — She was neither better bred nor wiser than you or me. — Thackeray. No mightier than thyself or ///^. — Shakespeare. Lin'd with Giants deadlier than V;// all.— Pope. But he must be a stronger than thee. — Southey. Not to render up my soul to such as thee. — Byron. I shall not learn my duty from such as thee. — Fielding. It will be safer for the student to follow the gen- eral rule, as illustrated in the following sentences : — If so, they are yet holier than Tf^. — Ruskin. Who would suppose it is the game of such as ^^.^ — Dickens Do we see The robber and the murd'/er weak as we f Milton. I have no other saint than thoti to pray to. — Longfellow. 401. One exception is to be noted. The expres- sion than whom seems to be used universally in- stead of "than who." There is no special reason for this, but such is the fact ; for example, — PRONOUNS. 281 One I remember especially, — one than whom I never met a bandit more gallant. —Thackeray. The camp of Richard of England, than whom none knows better how to do honor to a noble foe. — Scott. She had a companion who had been ever agreeable, and her estate a steward than whom no one living was supposed to be more competent. — Parton. 402. And there is one question about which "/^ i^as he/ 1 , , , , suyth. These two properties seem essential to wit, more particu- larly the last of them. —Addison. " Ha, ha, ha ! " roared Goodman Brown when the wind laughed at him. "Let us see which will laugh loudest.'*'' — Hawthorne. 431. In Shakespeare's time it was quite common Double comn . parative and to use a double comparative and superlative by superlative. using more or most before the word already having -er or -est. Examples from Shakespeare are, — How much more elder art thou than thy \o(:M.^\- Merchant of Venice. Nor that I am more better than Prospero. — Tempest. Come you more nearer. — Hamlet. With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. — y. Ccesar. 3o8 SYNTAX. Also from the same period, — Imitating the manner of the most ancient est and finest Grecians. — Ben Jonson. After the jnost straitest sect of our religion. — Zf/ ADVERBS. ADVERBS. 452. A very careful writer will so place the Position of modifiers of a verb that the reader will not mis- eu. ' take the meaning. The rigid rule in such a case would be, to put the modifier in such a position that the reader not only can understand the meaning intended, but ca7inot misunderstand the thought. Now, when such adverbs as only^ even, etc., are used, they are usually placed in a strictly correct position, if they modify single words ; but they are often removed from the exact position, if they modify phrases or clauses : for example, from Irving, ** The site is only to be traced by fragments of bricks, china, and earthenware." Here only modifies the phrase by fragments of bricks, etc., but it is placed before the infinitive. This misplacement of the adverb can be detected only by analysis of the sentence. Exercise. Tell what the adverb modifies in each quotation, and see if it is placed in the proper position : — 1. Only the name of one obscure epigrammatist has been embalmed for us in the verses of his rival. —Palgrave. 2. Do you remember pea shooters? I think we only had them on going home for holidays. —Thackeray. 3. Irving could only live very modestly. He could only afford to keep one old horse. — a/. 4. The arrangement of this machinery could only be accounted for by supposing the motive power to have been steam.— Wendell Phillips. 5. Such disputes can only be settled by arms. -a/. 6. I have only noted one or two topics which I thought most likely to interest an American reader. - N. p. WiLUS. SYNTAX. 7. The silence of the first night at the farmhouse, — a stiWness broken only by two whippoorwills. — Higginson. 8. My master, to avoid a crowd, would suffer only thirty people at a time to see me. — Swift. 9. In relating these and the following laws, I would only be understood to mean the original institutions. — /af. 10. The perfect loveliness of a woman's countenance can only consist in that majestic peace which is founded in the memory of happy and useful years. —Ruskin. 11. In one of those celestial days it seems a poverty that we can only spend it once. — Emerson. 12. My lord was only anxious as long as his wife's anx- ious face or behavior seemed to upbraid him. —Thackeray. 13. He shouted in those clear, piercing tones that could be even heard among the roaring of the cannon. — Cooper. 14. His suspicions were not even excited by the omi- nous face of Gerard. — Motley. 15. During the whole course of his administration, he scarcely befriended a single man of genius. — Macaulay. 16. I never remember to have felt an event more deeply than his death. — Sydney Smith. 17. His last journey to Cannes, whence he was never destined to return. — Mrs. Grote. USE OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES. 453. In Old and Middle English, two negatives strengthened a negative idea ; for example, — He nevere yet no vileineye ne sayde, In al his lyf unto no maner wight. Chaucer. No Sonne, were he never so old of yeares, might not marry. — Ascham. The first of these is equivalent to " He didn't never say no villainy in all his life to no manner of man," — four negatives. This idiom was common in the older stages of the language, and is still kept in vulgar English ; as, — ADVERBS, 327 I tell you she ain' been nowhar ef she don' know we all. — Page, in Ole Virginia. There were?^V no pies to equal hers.— Mrs. Stowe. There are sometimes found two negatives in Exceptional modern English with a negative effect, when one of the negatives is a connective. This, however, is not common. I never did see him again, nor never shall. — De Quincey. However, I did not act so hastily, neither.— J^kfo^. The prosperity of no empire, nor the grandeur of no king, can so agreeably affect, etc. —Burke. But, under the influence of Latin syntax, the Regular law •' of negatives usual way of regardmg the question now is, that in modem two negatives are equivalent to a7t affirmative, denying each other. Therefore, if two negatives are found together, it is a sign of ignorance or carelessness, or else a purpose to make an affirmative effect. In the latter case, one of the negatives is often a prefix ; as mfrequent, ^//^common. Exercise. Tell whether the two or more negatives are properly used in each of the following sentences, and why : — 1. The red men were not so infrequent visitors of the English settlements. — Hawthorne. 2. " Huldy was so up to everything about the house, that the doctor didn't miss nothin' in a temporal way." — ^Mrs. Stowe. 3. Her younger sister was a wide-awake girl, who hadn't been to school for nothing. — Holmes. 4. You will find no battle which does not exhibit the most cautious circumspection. — Bayne. 5. Not only could man not acquire such information, but ought not to labor after it. — Grote. 6. There is no thoughtful man in America who would not consider a war with England the greatest of calam- ities. — Lowell. English. 328 SYNTAX. 7. In the execution of this task, there is no man who would not find it an arduous effort. - Hamilton. 8. "A weapon," said the King, " well worthy to con- fer honor, nor has it been laid on an undeserving shoul- der."— Scott. And who, and which. Choice and proper posi- tion of correlatives. CONJUNCTIONS. 454. The sentences given in Sees. 419 and 420 on the connecting of pronouns with different ex- pressions may again be referred to here, as the use of the conjunction, as well as of the pronoun, should be scrutinized. 455. The most frequent mistakes in using con* junctions are in handling correlatives, especiall}) both . . . and, neither . . . nor, either . . . or, no/- only . . . but, not merely . . . but {also). The following examples illustrate the correct use of correlatives as to both choice of words and position : — Whether at war or at peace, there we were, a standing menace to all earthly paradises of that kind. — Lowell. These idols of wood can neither hear nor feel. — Prescott. Both the common soldiery and their leaders and com- manders lowered on each other as if their union had not been more essential than ever, not only to the success of their com- mon cause, but to their own safety. — Scott. Things to be In thcsc examples it will be noticed that 7ior, not watched. . ^ ^ or, is the proper correlative of neither ; and that all correlatives in a sentence ought to have corre- sponding positions : that is, if the last precedes a verb, the first ought to be placed before a verb ; if the second precedes a phrase, the first should also. CONJUNCTIONS. This is necessary to make the sentence clear and symmetrical. In the sentence, " I am neither in spirits to enjoy it, orX.0 reply to it," both of the above requirements are violated. The word neither in such a case had Correction. better be changed to not . . . either, — "I am not in spirits either to enjoy it, or to reply to it." Besides neither . . . or, even neither . . . nor is often changed to not — either . . . or with advan- tage, as the negation is sometimes too far from the verb to which it belongs. A noun may be preceded by one of the correla- tives, and an equivalent pronoun by the other^ The sentence, "This loose and inaccurate manner of speaking has misled us doth in the theory ol taste and of morals," may be changed to '' This loose . . . misled us doth in the theory of tast^> and in that of morals." Exercise. Correct the following sentences : — 1. An ordinary man would neither have incurred the danger of succoring Essex, nor the disgrace of assailing him . — Mac AULA Y. 2. Those ogres will stab about and kill not only strangers, but they will outrage, murder, and chop up their own kin. — Thackeray. 3. In the course of his reading -(which was neither pursued with that seriousness or that devout mind which such a study requires) the youth found himself, etc. — /^. 4. I could neither bear walking nor riding in a car- riage over its pebbled streets. — Franklin. 5. Some exceptions, that can neither be dissembled nor eluded, render this mode of reasoning as indiscreet as it is superfluous. — Gibbon. 6. They will, too, not merely interest children, but grown-up persons. - WesUmnster Review. SYNTAX. 7. I had even the satisfaction to see her lavish some kind looks upon my unfortunate son, which the other could neither extort by his fortune nor assiduity. — Goldsmith. 8. This was done probably to show that he was neither ashamed of his name or family. — Addison. 456. Occasionally there is found the expression /;7 <2;/<^ instead of the better authorized try to ; as, — We will try ^;/^ avoid personalities altogether.— Thackeray. Did any of you ever try and read " Blackmore's Poems " ? — Id. Try and 2iWQi\A the pronoun. —Bain. We will try and get a clearer notion of them. — Ruskin. 457. Instead of the subordinate conjunction that, but, or but that, or the negative relative but, we sometimes find the bulky and needless but what. Now, it is possible to use but what when what is a relative pronoun, as, " He never had any money but what he absolutely needed ; " but in the following sentences what usurps the place of a conjunction. Exercise. In the following sentences, substitute that, but, or but that for the words but what : — 1. The doctor used to say 'twas her young heart, and I don't know but what he was right. — s. o. Jewett. 2. At the first stroke of the pickax it is ten to one but what yow are taken up for a trespass. — Bulwer. 3. There are few persons of distinction but ivhat can hold conversation in both languages. — Swift. 4. Who knows but what there might be English among those sun-browned half-naked masses of panting wretches ? — Kingsley. 5. No little wound of the kind ever came to him but what he: disclosed it at once. — Trollope. 6. They are not so distant from the camp of Saladin but what ihty might be in a moment surprised. — Scqtt. PREPOSl TIONS, 3 3 1 PREPOSITIONS. 458. As to the placing of a preposition after its object in certain cases, see Sec. 305. 459. In the primary meaning of between and among there is a sharp distinction, as already seen in Sec. 313 ; but in Modern English the difference is not so marked. Between is used most often with two things only, but still it is frequently used in speaking of several objects, some relation or connection between two at a time being implied. Among is used in the same way as amid (though not with exactly the same meaning), several objects being spoken of in the aggregate, no separation or division by twos being implied. Examples of the distinctive use of the two words : — The contentions that arise between the parson and the Two things, squire.— Addison. We reckoned the improvements of the art of war among the triumphs of scfence. — Emerson. Examples of the looser use of between: — Natural objects affect us by the laws of that connection A number oj which Providence has established between certain motions of ^ ^^^^' bodies. — Burke. Hence the differences between men in natural endowment are insignificant in comparison with their common wealth. — Emerson. They maintain a good correspondence between those wealthy societies of men that are divided from one another by seas and oceans.— Addison. Looking up at its deep-pointed porches and the dark places between their pillars where there were statues once. — Ruskin. 332 SYNTAX. What have I? a soldier of the Cross, to do with recollec- tions of war betwixt Christian nations? — Scott. Also between may express relation or connec- tion in speaking of two groups of objects, or one object and a group ; as, — A council of war is going on beside the watch fire, between the three adventurers and the faithful Yeo. — Kingsley. The great distinction between teachers sacred or literary, — between poets like Herbert and poets like Pope, — between philosophers like Spinoza, Kant, and Coleridge, and philoso- phers like Locke, Paley, Mackintosh, and Stewart, etc. — Emerson. 460. Certain words are followed by particular prepositions. Some of these words show by their composition what preposition should follow. Such are absolve, involve, different. Some of them have, by custom, come to take prepositions not in keeping with the original mean- ing of the words. Such are derogatory, averse. Many words take one preposition to express one meaning, and another to convey a different mean- ing ; as, correspond, confer. And yet others may take several prepositions indifferently to express the same meaning. 461. List I. Absolve yr'%. That is more than I expected of you. — Scott. Of Doctor P. nothing better was to be expected. — Poe. Not knowing what might be expected of men in general. — G. Eliot. She will expect more attention from you, as my friend. — Walpole. PREPOSITIONS. 335 There was a certain grace and decorum hardly to be expected fro7n a man. — Macaulay. 1 have long expected something remarkable from you. — G. Eliot. 465. " Part with " is used with both persons and things, but " part from " is less often found in speaking of things. Illustrations of '* part with^' " part from ; " — He was fond of everybody that he was used to, and hated to part with them. — Austen. Cleveland was sorry to part with him. — Bulwer. I can part with my children for their good. — Dickens. I part with all that grew so near my heart. — Waller. To part from you would be misery. — Marryat. ''Part from." I have just seen her, just parted from her. — Bulwer. Burke parted /r^ -mrT'im^ '5Qr , OCT tS46- _2iUa:63CG__iL oepz/ LD 21-x ^•>?&> UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ..•* ;.'•>