Mr.s M.P- Ij Hayai?
NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Biblioteca Femina
The Gift of
Chicago Public Library
Assembled for the
World's Fair of 1893
-A NEW-
English Grammar
MRS. M. D. L. HAYNIE,
Chicago:
A. FLANAGAN, Publisher.
1889.
B.£
RESENTED 3?
410498
9 1 23
PREFACE.
WHEN a new text-book is published, it is well to
give a reason for its existence; and, also, a reason
for its appearance before the public.
This work was written at the urgent request of my
pupils, and of many not personally known to me; and it
is one of a series of text-books embodying my teaching
for their benefit, and, also, for the benefit of any who
may find it helpful.
It was written, also, for the purpose of collecting,
arranging in methodical order, and preserving in good
form, the treasures of knowledge gathered together in
near a life-time's study of the English Language. This
study has not been confined to works of American
authors; but in the valuable collection of books on the
English Language, which have been carefully studied,
many works by noted English authors may be found.
It is put before the public, because what it contains
has been taught for many years with more than ordi¬
nary success; and it is believed that it will aid the
teacher in the work of imparting a knowledge of the
laws which control the English Language, as well as a
^3
4
preface.
practical knowledge of their use; and that it will be
very helpful, also, to the pupil in the acquisition of such
knowledge; for it is claimed that there are more im¬
portant facts presented than are found in the text-books
in general use, and that the arrangement is better.
The book contains a full treatise on Etymology, with
some pages on Syntax and Analysis, designed as intro¬
ductory to the study of the work already published—
"Syntax and Analysis Simplified."
The work is adapted to use in the higher grades in
public schools and normal schools; and, on account of
the collection of " Errors Corrected," will be of great
practical value, elsewhere.
MRS. M. D. L. HAYNIE.
Normal, 111., August i, 1888.
CONTENTS.
5
CONTENTS.
Subjects. Page.
Introduction. - - - - - -9-13
Grammar—English. - - - - -14-15
Etymology—Parts of Speech. ... - 16- 17
Thf. Noun—Divisions, Definitions, Properties. - - 17-50
Adjectives—Divisions, Definitions, Comparison, Uses. - 50- 67
Pronouns—Personal, Relative, Interrogative. - - 67r 86
Verbs—Classification, Mode, Tense, Voice, Participles,
Auxiliaries, Conjugation. - - - 86-155
Adverbs—Classification, Use. - - - 156-164
Prepositions—List of, Complex, Special Uses of. - 164-174
' Conjunctions—Classification, Uses. - - 175-185
Interjections. ------ 185-187
General Exercises. - 187-188
Rules of Syntax. ... 189-190
Recapitulation—Errors Corrected. - - 191-203
Syntax and Analysis—Introductory Remarks. - 204-205
" " " —Definitions and Uses. - 205-208
Verb Be. • - - - - • 208-213
Elements. ------ 213-214
Sentences—Classified According to LTse and Construction. 215-217
Modifiers—All Kinds and Forms. - - 217-226
Models for Analysis. ■ 226-242
Miscellaneous Exercises. - - - 243-244
INDEX.
Page. Page.
May. .... 96 Pronouns (Continued).
Methinks. .... 91.92 Relative. - - 77-83
Might. .... 96 Interrogative. - 83
Mode. 100 105 Propositions. ... 164
' Modifiers. .... 217 Quotations, Direct, Indirect. 222
Must. ..... 97,98 Recapitulation. ... 191-203
Nominative Case. - - 73-74 Rules of Syntax. - - 189-190
Noun. ----- 17-50 Sentences, Definition. - - 215
Number. .... 27-36 Sentences, Kinds. - - 215-216
Objective Case. ... 44-45 Shall and Will. ... 94,95
Parsing. .... 46 Should. .... 96
Participles. .... 113-123 Signification of Auxiliaries. - 92-98
Passive Voice. ... 99 Subject. .... 207-214
Person. ..... 25-26 Subjunctive Mode. - - 101-104
Phrase. .... 219-223 Subordinate Conjunctions. 180-184
Possessive Case. ... 42-44 Syntax, Definition. - - 205
Potential Mode. - - 103 Tense. .... 105-114
Predicate. ... 86,87,207 There, Expletive. - - 160 .
Prepositions. ... 164-174 Transitive Verbs. - - 87,88
Pronoun. .... 67-86 Verbs. 86-155
Personal. - - 69-73 Voice. .... 98-100
INTRODUCTION.
LANGUAGE.
The word language, from the Latin lingua,
tongue, means, literally, that faculty bestowed upon
men by the Creator, which enables them to communi¬
cate to one another by means of articulate sounds called
speech.
For ages, however, the word has been used, also, in
a figurative sense, which has given it a broader mean¬
ing, and it now refers to any medium of communication
between mind and mind.
It is a natural impulse of the human being to make
known:
i. What it feels.
This is indicated in the earlier stages of infancy by
laughing and crying.
When a child laughs or smiles, we know it is
experiencing a feeling of comfort combined with pleas¬
ure; when it cries or moans, we know it is experi¬
encing a feeling of discomfort or pain.
These indications of feeling are styled, very appro¬
priately, Natural Language.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
2. What it wants.
As soon as it is old enough to notice things, it indi¬
cates what it wants in various ways, ordinarily, by point¬
ing to the object, or trying to grasp it.
This is the first step in sign language, which is
used, more or less, throughout all the stages of life; as
it is often found useful and convenient, sometimes, also,
absolutely necessary.
3. What it knows.
Long before a child can talk, it finds many ways of
communicating what it knows. Perhaps the first thing
it wishes to make known, is its knowledge of the exist¬
ence of certain things in certain places;—for instance,
if it sees something new to it (it may be a flower, a bird,
a new piece of furniture, or something else) it will
instantly seek to inform some one. This it will do, some¬
times by means of articulate sounds, made to
attract attention; sometimes by leading the indi¬
vidual to the spot; and sometimes by Other
means.
Or, the child may see a familiar object in a strange
place; sometimes, also, its attention may be attracted by
unfamiliar sounds; in each and every case, however, it
will, surely, make energetic efforts to communicate
what it knows.
So far, the child has shown little more intelligence
than the higher orders of dumb animals have sometimes
shown; and were it not for the gift of reason, its intellect
would develop but little further; yet this very gift seems to
necessitate an evolving, the result of which process is
necessarily followed by a like process and its results.
INTRODUCTION.
And so this process of evolving may continue to
an almost limitless extent, producing, if properly assisted
and directed, results, marvelous to contemplate, and
beneficial to the human race, beyond measure.
4. What it wants to know.
The asking for knowledge is, perhaps, the first sign
of the development of the higher impulses of the human
being, which impulses are founded in reason.
Curiosity, or the desire to know, manifests itself
early in life; and long before the child can formulate an
inquiry, it makes its "question marksby a
series of investigations, which are, sometimes, very an¬
noying.
In this, the child displays a superiority over the dumb
animal; for, while it would open a box, or uncover a dish
to find out the contents, the animal would not, intention¬
ally, approach the object, unless attracted by the scent
of food.
The use of the different means of communication
referred to, always precedes speech, which, on account
of its remarkable flexibility, and susceptibility to inflec¬
tion, enables one to communicate thoughts with all their
possible shades of meaning.
It is not intended here to inquire into the origin
or the pit ilosopli y of the mysterious faculty called
speech, or to attempt to show its connection with
thought; these are among the impenetrable se¬
crets of nature.
We know only that, from time immemorial, articu¬
late sounds have been used as symbols of things, and
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
of what pertains to things, and that, at a certain stage of
development, the child learns this fact, and intuitively
imitates the sound that represents the thing.
It is, therefore, manifest that utterance is a natural
gift to the human being; but into what form of speech
the child will involuntarily cast his articulate sounds,
depends entirely upon the speech of those by whom it is
constantly surrounded; for that is the language he con¬
stantly hears.
English, German, Spanish, French, and
all other forms of speech, are learned by imitation; but
the laws which -govern language, whether written or
spoken, can be learned only by study.
These mysterious natural laws exercise a
peculiar power over language. They combine the differ¬
ent sounds used as symbols of what the mind contains,
forming an unbroken chain, whose links are fashioned
by the mother tongue, whatever that may be; and,
strange as it may seem, these combinations of sounds,
in all languages, ordinarily mould themselves into the
form of the sentence.
Yet, while these facts concerning the natural laws of
language cannot be denied, it is equally true that it is in
the power of man to add to, and to take from, thus im¬
proving it, and giving to it strength and beauty.
It is, also, in his power to systematize and classify
language, thus making it, not only possible, but compar¬
atively easy for one to acquire a correct habit of speak¬
ing, and accuracy in writing.
But, without a careful study of the laws of language,
there can be no superior attainment in that department,
INTRODUCTION.
13
for, in this as in every other department of science, a
knowledge of the controlling forces is necessary to
success.
The farmer must understand the laws which con¬
trol the artificial means of cultivation as well as the
natural laws which govern seed-time and harvest, if
he desires to raise a superior quality of grain.
The Natural Method does not grow the best
wheat.
The science which systematizes and classifies words,
and combines them into sentences, according to the
usage of the best speakers and writers, is called
GRAMMAR,
GRAMMAR.
Language is the medium or way by means of which
thoughts an i ,i eyed from mind to mind.
A thought is a collection of ideas making complete
sense in the mind before it is expressed.
Art idea is a mental picture.
A word, either written or spoken, is a symbol used
to represent an idea (a real picture on the mind), or
something pertaining to it (the idea).
A sentence from the Latin sententia, thought, is the
expression of a thought in words.
Grammar is the science which treats of language.
Grammar systematizes and classifies words, ele¬
ments, and sentences, according to their peculiar use by
different peoples; and the grammar of a language takes
its name from that people which* first used it—thus:
The Greek grammar derives its name from the
Greeks; the Latin, from the Latins (inhabitants of
Latium, in Italy); the French, from the inhabitants
of France, etc
(*) Which is used for persons when reference is made to a col¬
lective noun taken as unity.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
English Grammar is that division of the
science which treats of the laws which govern, and the
peculiarities which enter into the structure of the
English Language.
By studying English Grammar, one learns to
speak and write the Englisli language correctly.
English Grammar is properly divided into two,
parts only:
1. Etymology, which treats of words.
2. Syntax and Analysis, which treats of sentences.
Note.—Syntax and Analysis will be treated as inseparable.
The following belong to other departments of lan¬
guage:
1. Orthography (from the Greek orthos, right, and
grapho, / write), which refers to the correct mode of
representing sounds by letters—in other words, correct
spelling.
2. Orthoepy (from the Greek orthos, right, and
epos, spoken word), which refers to correct pronuncia¬
tion.
3. Prosody, which refers to the laws of versification.
ETYMOLOGY.
Etymology, as a division of grammar, treats of
words and their uses.
Etymology is from the Greek etymos, true, and logos,
word.
There are thousands of words in the English lan¬
guage, but all of them may be classed under eight
heads, called:
Of these parts of speech, the noun and the verb are
of primary importance in the formation of sentences:
for the noun, or some substantive expression, must be
used to represent the thing spoken of, called:
The subject, which represents that concerning
which something is said;—
And the verb, which is used as part* of the predi¬
cate, to declare or assert something of the subject.
(*) Sometimes the verb represents the entire predicate.
PATCTS OF SPEECHc
1. Noun.
2. Adjective.
3. Pronoun.
4. Verb.
6. Preposition.
7. Conjunction.
8. Interjection.
5- Adverb.
THE NOUN. 17
All discourse depends upon the proposition, which
is the combination of a subject and a predicate.
The other parts of speech are important, but not
necessary to the sentence.
The Pronoun is a representative word.
The Adjective and the Adverb are modifying
words.
The Preposition is a relation word.
The Conjunction is a connecting word.
The Interjection is an exclamatory word.
Notf..—It is necessary to teach children the characteristic
A roperties of the different parts of speech, but it is a mistake to
require them to say " quality word," " action 'rord," " relation
word" etc., when naming the parts of speech. Such a habit is not
easily broken, and, in after life, becomes embarrassiag.
TIIE JfOUN".
We become conscious of the existence of things
about us, by means of the jive senses.
We know of the existence of the sky, by seeing; of
sound, by hearing; of the qualities of food, or whatever
affects the palate, by tasting; of odor by smelling; and
of substance, by feeling, or touch.
All these existences are called objects.
The noun is that part of speech under which the
names of objects are classified.
l8 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The word noun is derived from the Latin nomen.
which means name; therefore:
A noun is the name of an object.
But there are a great many objects which we cannol
perceive by means of the senses; .these are objects, or
things, about which we think; and we are sure of theii
existence, from the cjfccts produced by them.
We know of wisdom, courage, prudence,
etc., by their effect upon material things.
The object of thought, which is really the subject oi
the sentence, cannot always be expressed by one word,
it may require a group of words, as:
Time is short.
To reach there in time is impossible.
That he should have lost so much time is deplorable.
But, in any case, the object of thought should be con¬
sidered a noun.
Groups of-words, used to represent objects of thought,
are called substantive expressions.
NOUNS.
DIVISIONS.
There are a great many Jiinds of nouns, but all
are classed in two grand divisions:
1. Common Nouns.
2. Proper Nouns.
NOUNS. DIVISIONS.
19
V common noun is a name which belongs to all the
things in a class of objects, and is applied to each indi¬
vidual of the class, when it is spoken of.
The word river is a name that belongs to every
stream of water which approaches, or goes beyond cer¬
tain limits. An explorer, in a new country, coming
suddenly upon such a stream, would, at once, recognize
its right to the name river, in common with all streams
of the kind.
And so it is with all other things which have leading
properties in common with one another.
The object represented by a common noun, may
represent the class name of anything.
COMMON NOUNS.
man,
lion,
robin,
butterfly,
city,
boy,
horse,
sparrow,
ant,
town,
girl.
cow,
chicken,
insect,
village,
hero,
dog,
turkey,
glowworm,
chair,
farmer,
tiger,
crow,
locust,
table.
EXERCISE.
Point out the common nouns in the exercise.
Such music as 'tis said
Before was never made,
But when of old the sons of morning sung,
While the Creator great
His constellations set,
And the well-balanced world on hinges hung;
And cast the dark foundations deep,
And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep.
—Milton.
20
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
A proper noun is a proper name.
Note.—The word proper is derived from the French, propre,
Latin proprius, meaning one's own, hence the fitness of the defini-
Niagara Falls,
Ohio River,
Pacific Ocean,
Cincinnati,
Mont Blanc,
Pilgrim's Progress,
Presbyterian.
Point out the proper nouns in the following
" In this by place of nature, there abode, in a remote period of
American history, that is to say, some years since, a worthy wight
of the name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed
it, 'tarried', in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the
children of the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut, a State
which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for
the forest, and sends forth, yearly, its legions of frontier woodmen,
and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane was not inap¬
plicable to his person."—Irving.
DIVISION OF COMMON NOUNS.
Common nouns are divided into:
PROrER NOUNS.
Moses,
Paul,
Mary,
Hannah,
Paul Jones,
Mary Lyon,
Hannah More,
Sir Moses Montefiore,
EXERCISE.
x. Concrete.
2. Abstract.
3. Collective.
4. Verbal.
NOUNS. DIVISIONS.
A Concrete noun is the name of an object, includ¬
ing all its properties or qualities.
The word SHOW is a concrete noun; it is a name
used to denote a substance, suggesting all its properties,
whiteness, beauty, etc., but considering none of
them apart from the others.
CONCRETE NOUNS.
bird,
robin,
music,
horse,
animal,
time.,
cow,
river,
song,
house,
lake,
book,
barn,
table,
lamp,
apple,
chair,
flower.
ABSTRACT NOUNS.
The properties or qualities of an object are often
referred to and spoken of as real objects, as:
The beauty of the rose.
The height of the mountain.
The severity of the storm.
The names of these properties, or qualities, are called
abstract nouns, because they are drawn, or taken
away from the objects to which they belong.
Abstract signifies drawn from. It is opposite
in meaning to Concrete.
The name of the result of an action is often spoken
of, also, without referring to the performance of the
action; therefore, such nouns are properly classed with
abstract nouns.
22
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
They are derived from verbs, as: Concentra¬
tion, from concentrate; ^prohibition, from
prohibit; action, from act; movement, from
move; occupation, from occupy; therefore;
An Abstract noun is the name of a property, a
quality, an action, state, or condition considered as an
independent existence.
EXERCISE.
The peculiarity of the people.
The beauty of the rose.
The transportation of the mails.
The sleep of the innocent.
The poverty of the orphans.
Some nouns, usually classed with the abstract, seem
to be concrete, as:
The sweetness of the honey.
The fragrance of the flower.
Sweetness is certainly known by the sense of taste,
and fragrance by the sense of smell, and the qualities
which they represent are considered as independent
existences, yet they are drawn from, and considered apart
from the object to which they belong; therefore, they are
properly classed with abstract nouns.
Time and Space are, by some, called abstract
nouns; but, while they seem to resemble the abstract
noun, to a certain extent, they differ materially in many
respects.
NOUNS. DIVISIONS.
2 3
COLLECTIVE NOUNS.
A Collective noun is a name, which, though singu¬
lar in form, includes a number of objects of the same
class, as:
herd, a number of cattle,
fleet, a number of vessels,
army, a number of soldiers,
congregation, a number of people.
A distinction must be made between the collec¬
tive noun, which in the singular refers to many things
of the same kind, taken or considered as a collection,
and the noun which has the same form for both num¬
bers.
The words deer, sheep, and some others, may refer to
one, or to more than one, but herd, flock, army, assembly,
committee, jury, etc., always refer to more than one.
These nouns are peculiar. Sometimes they require a
singular verb or pronoun, and sometimes a plural verb
or pronoun.
If the individual objects (persons or things)
composing the collection represented by the noun are
regarded as a single thing, the verb and the pronoun
should both be singular, as:
The society is poor, and cannot afford to refurnish
its hall.
In this sentence, reference is not made to the finan¬
cial condition of the individuals who compose it, but to
the condition of the treasury.
In the following, however, the pronoun and the verb
should both be plural, for reference is made to the mem¬
bers individually:
24
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The society (meaning the members) are wealth}', and
they can well afford to refurnish their hall.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS.
army, congregation, jury,
assembly, school, committee,
audience, family, syndicate,
church, herd, multitude,
society, flock, fraternity.
VERBAL NOUNS.
When a verb in the infinitive mode, or a parti¬
ciple is used as a substantive, it should be called a
verbal noun.
EXERCISE.
The rustling of the wind was all the sound they heard.
He wanted to remain at home. ,
EXERCISE.
Point out all the nouns in the following lines, and tell
to what class they belong:
Maud Muller on a summer's day,
Raked the meadows sweet with hay.
Beneath her torn hat glow ed the wealth
Of simple beauty and rustic health.
Singing, she wrought, and a merry glee
The mock-bird echoed from his tree.
But when she glanced to the far-off town,
White from its hill slope looking down,
The sweet song died, and a vague unrest
And a nameless longing filled her breast.
NOUNS. PROPERTIES. 25
INFLECTION.
Inflection, from the Latin inflectcre, to bend, is a
change made in the meaning of a word, either by chang¬
ing the word itself, or by the addition of other words.
Nouns are inflected to mark Person, Number,
Gender, and Case.
Inflection of Nouns and Pronouns is called Declen¬
sion.
Inflection of Adjectives and Adverbs marks degree. .
It is called Comparison.
Inflection of Verbs marks Mode, Tense, Number, and
Person; it is called Conjugation.
Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections are not
inflected.
PROPERTIES OF NOUNS.
To nouns belong person, number, gender, and case.
Person is a distinction of the noun to show whether
it (the noun) represents the speaker, the person addressed,
or the person or thing spoken of.
There are three persons:
1. The first person.
2. The second person.
3. The third person.
The first person represents the speaker as refer¬
ring to himself alone, or to himself as one of a party for
whom he speaks.
The noun in the first person is not used except by
apposition; for if one should use his own name alone, he
26
english grammar.
would seem to be speaking of a third person; hence, the
value of the personal pronouns, I and we.
exercise.
/, John.
We, the people of the United States.
The second person represents the person or per¬
sons addressed, or spoken to.
exercise.
Thomas, bring me a book.
Friends and fellow-citizens, listen to the voice of
reason.
The third person represents the person or thing,
or the persons or things spoken of.
exe'rcise.
John gave the boy a book, some pens, and some
paper.
Note.—It is a mistake to say that person is not a property
of the noun, only because it cannot be indicated by inflection.
The change in the use of the word is always suffi¬
cient to indicate the person of the noun, even in the first
person, although this can be used only in apposition
with a pronoun of the first person, on account of the
ambiguity that would necessarily result.
The noun in the second person, for the same reason,
cannot be used as subject or object (except in apposition
with a personal pronoun of the second person), but in
address if is used constantly without producing the least
ambiguity. The third person of the noun is always
known without difficulty.
NOUNS. NUMBER.
27
NUMBER.
Number is the property of the noun, which shows
whether one thing or more than one is spoken of.
There are two numbers:
1. The singular number.
2. The plural number.
The singular number is used when only one object
is meant, as:
boy, man, house, river,
or when a number of objects are referred to by a single
name, as:
society, congress, flock, jury.
The plural number is used when two, 'several, or
many objects are meant, as:
boys, men, houses, rivers, societies, etc.
FORMATION OF THE PLURAL.
The plural is regularly formed by adding s only, if
the last sound in the word blends easily with S in pro¬
nunciation, as:
book, books, chair, chairs4
toy, toys, tree, trees,
stove, stoves; top, tops;
or by adding es, when the sound of s does not unite with
the last sound in the word, as in words ending in s, X,
8, Ch, Sh, as:
glass, glasses, box, boxes,
mass, masses, tax, taxes,
grass, grasses, fox, foxes,
mess, messes, adz, adzes,
tress, tresses, topaz, topazes,
28
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
larch, larches,
birch, birches,
dish, dishes,
wish, wishes,
church, churches,
marsh, marshes,
thrush, thrushes,
brush, brushes,
lash, lashes,
bunch, bunches,
witch, witches,
match, matches,
torch, torches,
blush, blushes.
TLURAL OF NOUNS ENDING IN / OR fi.
The plural of sixteen nouns ending in f or fe is
formed by changing/" to V, and adding es:
The plural of wharf is wharves in America, but in
England it is wharfs.
The plural of staff, when referring to a body of officers.
is staffs, but when referring to a stick, the plural is staves.
Staves is, also, the plural of stave, the name of one
of the thin pieces of wood out of which casks and barrels
are made.
Other nouns ending in f or fe take the s only in
forming the plural. Among them are the following:
chief, chiefs, kerchief, kerchiefs,
cliff, cliffs, proof, proofs,
1 beef, beeves,
2 calf, calves,
3 elf, elves,
9 self, selves,
4 half, halves,
5 knife, knives,
6 leaf, leaves,
7 life, lives,
8 loaf, loaves,
10 sheaf, sheaves,
11 shelf, shelves,
12 staff, staves,
13 thief, thieves,
14 wharf, wharves,
15 wife, wives,
16 wolf, wolves.
NOUNS. NUMBER.
29
dwarf, dwarfs, puff, puffs,
fife, fifes, roof, roofs,
grief, griefs, safe, safes,
handkerchief, handkerchiefs, scarf, scarfs,
hoof, hoofs, turf, turfs,
waif, waifs,
Some nouns ending in o, preceded by a COUSO-
ncint, add es to form the plural, as:
buffalo, buffaloes,
calico, calicoes,
echo, echoes,
hero, heroes,
negro, negroes,
potato, potatoes,
volcano, volcanoes.
The following words are exceptions to this rule:
canto, duodecimo, octavo,
portico, domino, piano,
tyro, solo, quarto,
junto, halo, memento,
proviso, grotto, zero,
and, perhaps, a few others. They add S only in forming
the plural.
Nouns ending in © preceded by a vowel add the s
only, as:
cameo, cameos,
folio, folios,
trio, trios,
oratorio, oratorios.
go ENOLI
Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant,
change y to i, and add CS in forming the plural, as:
ally, allies,
colloquy, colloquies,
folly, follies,
lady, ladies,
mercy, mercies,
pony, ponies.
But, w,_en preceded by a vowel, s only is added, as:
chimney, chimneys,
donkey, donkeys,
galley, galleys,
monkey, monkeys,
money, moneys,
valleys, valleys.
Some nouns form the plural very irregularly, as:
child, children, ' mouse, mice,
foot, feet, ox, oxen,
goose, geese, tooth, teeth,
man, men,
DOUBLE PLURALS.
Several nouns have two forms for the plural, but
they differ in meaning:
brother, brothers brethren
(of same family), (of same society),
cow, cows (common use), kine (used in poetry),
die, dies (stamps), dice (for gaming),
fish, fishes (more than one), fish (quantity),
genii
(good or evil spirits),
NOUNS. NUMBER. 31
index, indexes indices
(table of contents), (signs),
pea, peas (more than one), pease (quantity),
penny, pennies (coins), pence (value).
Nouns of quantity denoting substance, are not
pluralized, unless different kinds are referred to, us:
The gold of California; the golds of California and
Australia.
The wine in the hogshead is very old.
The wines in the two goblets are Madeira and Cham"
pagne.
Abstract nouns are rarely pluralized:
The patience of the audience was severely tried.
But we may say:
His charities were numerous, and they were appre¬
ciated.
The plural of letters, figures, and signs is
peculiarly formed. These take, not only the S, but an
apostrophe, also, before the s, as:
His his are not well made, but his j's and w's are
beautiful.
Words (any part of speech) are pluralized in the
regular way, by adding s, as:
I can parse the whos and the thats, but I do not
understand the whats.
PLURALS OF COMPOUND NOUNS.
When compound nouns are formed by uniting a noun
and an adjective, or an adjective phrase, into one word,
the noun in the word is pluralized, as:
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
aid-de-camp, aids-de-camp,
court-yard, court-yards,
court-martial, courts-martial,
commander-in-chief, commanders-in-chief,
surgeon-general, surgeons-general,
brigadier-general, brigadier-generals,
father-in-law, fathers-in-law,
attorney-general, attorneys-general.
Some words, formerly compounds, have passed out of
the hyphen stage, and are treated as simple words. They
form their plurals regularly by adding S, as:
cupful, cupfuls, spoonful, spoonfuls,
handful, handfuls, mouthful, mouthfuls,
These words are used to denote amount or measure,
and should be carefully distingushed from the following:
Hands full, meaning, literally, more than one hand
filled.
Spoons full, more than one spoon filled, etc.
Names Of Scienees should be regarded as sin¬
gular, though they have the plural form:
ethics, optics, mechanics, mathematics.
Other nouns having the plural form only are always
used with the plural verb or pronoun, as:
annals, ashes, billiards,
fellows, manners, morals,
scissors, obsequies, suds,
orgies, tidings, tongs,
vitals, victuals, nippers,
shears, spectacles, vespers,
greens (vegetables), matins, etc.
nouns, numrer.
The names of some diseases, as measles, mumps,
hives, have a plural form, and are used by many with a
plural verb; others, however, with certainly more reason,
always use a singular verb and pronoun with them, as:
The measles is making him very sick; he took it
from his brother.
The best writers use both verb and pronoun in the
singular.
As the name of a disease, it would seem better to
regard them as singular nouns.
Some nouns have only one form, except in peculiar
cases, which may be used, either in the singular or the
plural.
When a numeral adjective is placed before them,
they should be in the singular form, though they are
plural in meaning; in other cases they are pluralized, as:
I have two pair of shoes; they were sold in pairs.
Give me three dozen oranges; he gave away oranges
by dozens.
Afeans is either singular or plural, in use, though
plural in form. By this means, and by these means, are
both correct. Mean is sometimes used, but it signifies a
medium.
News, alms, riches, caves, and summons are really
singular. News was formerly used with a plural verb in
England, but now it is said to be used, even in that
country, usually with a singular verb.
Nouns having a collective signification, such as sheep,
deer, mackerel, grouse, salmon, trout, etc., do not admit
of any change for the plural:
34
english grammar.
A deer was seen in the forest.
Many deer are in the park.
As a rule, proper nouns have no plural; but if
there happen to be several persons of the same name,
spoken of together, the plural number must be used, as:
The twelve Cwsars was the subject of his lecture; last
year he lectured on the Pharaohs; and he now
has in preparation a lecture on the Ptolemies.
There were two Georges and four Johns in my class.
Usage is mot un iform in pluralizing proper names
ending in y preceded by a consonant.
Some grammarians pluralize as follows:
Mary, Marys, Ptolemy, Ptolemys,
and others follow the general rule, as:
Mary, Maries, Ptolemy, Ptolemies.
Note.—There seems to be no reason why the general rule—■
changing they to i and adding es, should not be followed in plural¬
izing proper as well as common nouns.
PLURAL OF NOUNS ENDING IN M-A-N.
The following change the last syllable to men:
Englishman, Englishmen,
Frenchman, Frenchmen,
Irishman, Irishmen,
Scotchman, Scotchmen,
But, German, Germans,
Norman, Normans,
Ottoman, Ottomans,
Mussulman, Mussulmans,
talisman, talismans,
pluralize by adding S.
NOUNS. NUMBER.
NAMES AND TITLES.
Usage is not uniform in pluralizing proper nouns
preceded by a title.
When referring, however, to several ladies and sev¬
eral gentlemen of the same name, the title is commonly
pluralized, as:
I speak of the 3Iisses Thornton; the 3tessrs.
Thornton are not in the city now.
But, if reference is made to ladies in contrast with
other ladies having another name, the title is singular,
and the name plural, as:
The Miss Thorntons and the Miss Thompsons
are in the city.
We say also:
The Drs. White, and the merchants White,
The Dr. Whites, and the Dr. Smiths; but,
when the title is not repeated, it is always pluralized, as:
3lisses Thornton, Thompson, Andrews, and Upton
were at the hotel yesterday.
Drs. White, Smith, Jones, and Lewis are in the
city.
The French Mesdames, plural of Madame, is com¬
monly used in reference to several married ladies, espec¬
ially in addressing a note, or a letter, as:
Mesdames Smith and Raymond.
The French Messieurs, plural of Monsieur, has
also been adopted into English as an appropriate title
for several gentlemen, especially in directing letters, as:
Messieurs Johnson & Nelson.
This is usually contracted to Messrs.
36
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
PLURALS OF FOREIGN WORDS.
Foreign words adopted into our language gen
erally retain their own plurals,
alumna, alumnas,
alumnus, alumni,
arcanum, arcana,
antomaton, automata,
amanuensis, amanuenses,
analysis, analyses,
antithesis, antitheses,
axis, axes,
basis, bases,
bandit, banditti,
beau, beaux,
criterion, criteria,
cherub, cherubim
(or cherubs*),
datum, data,
desideratum, desiderata,
effluvium, effluvia,
ellipsis, ellipses,
erratum, errata,
genus, genera,
madame, mesdames,
monsieur, messieur,
magus, magi,
mausoleum, mausolea,
medium, media,
nucleus, nuclei,
nebula, nebulae,
oasis, oases,
phenomenon, phenomena
radix, radices,
stigma, stigmata,
seraph, seraphim
(or seraphs),
stratum, strata,
synthesis, syntheses,
vortex, vortices,
vertebra, vertebras,
virtuoso, virtuosi,
focus, foci, fungus, fungi, formula, formulae.
GENDER.
Gender is a grammatical distinction of words refer¬
ring to sex, that is, to males or females, and, also, to
things without sex.
Gender applies to words only. Sex is a dis¬
tinction which applies to living things.
(*) Pretty, healthy children are sometimes called cherubs—never
cherubim.
NOUNS. GENDER.
37
According to this grammatical distinction of words,
gender is divided into:
1. The masculine gender, which refers to males, as:
man, John Milton.
2. The feminine gender, which refers to females, as:
woman, Alice Carey.
3. The common gender, which refers to nouns repre¬
senting both males and females when sex is not known, as:
bird, kinsfolk.
4. The neuter gender, which refers to neither males
nor females, as:
watch, lamp.
Ex.—boy, girl, bird, river.
The distinction between the masculine gender and the
feminine gender is shown in three different ways:
1. By using different words.
lad, lass (or lassie),
lord, lady,
man, woman,
master, mistress,
mister, mistress,*
(or Mi., Mrs.)
nephew, niece,
papa, mama,
sire, dam,
sir, madam,
son, daughter,
(*) Master, and the feminine Mistress are used in preference to
those having control, as: the master or the mistress of the house;
Mister, Mistress—used as titles.
38
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
gentleman, lady,
hart, roe,
husband, wife,
king, queen.
stag, hind,
uncle, aunt,
wizard, witch,
2. By different terminations:
abbott, abbess, heir, heiress,
actor, actress, hero, heroine,
administrator, administratrix, host, hostess,
ambassador, ambassadress, hunter, huntress,
author, authoress,
arbiter, arbitress,
baron, baroness,
benefactor, benefactress,
count, countess,
czar, czarina,
dauphin, dauphiness,
deacon, deaconess,
director, directress,
don, donna,
duke, duchess,
editor, editress,
emperor, empress,
enchanter, enchantress,
executor, executrix,
giant, giantess,
governor, governess,
Jew, Jewess,
instructor, instructress,
lion, lioness,
marquis, marchioness,
monitor, monitress,
patron, patroness,
pder, peeress,
poet, poetess,
priest, priestess,
prince, princess,
shepherd, shepherdess,
songster, songstress,
sorcerer, sorceress,
sultan, sultana,
tailor, tailoress,
testator, testatrix,
tutor, tutoress,
viscount, viscountess,
widower, widow.
3. By joining to the noun a distinguishing
he-goat, she-goat,
man-servant, maid-servant,
pea-cock, pea-hen.
word:
NOUNS. GENDER. 3g
REMARKS ON GENDER.
When inanimate objects are personified (repre¬
sented as having the attributes of a human being), they
are spoken of as masculine or feminine, as:
We heard the roar
Of Ocean on his wintry shore.
The masculine gender is usually attributed to the
following:
1. The stronger passions—Fear, Anger, De¬
spair, Hatred.
2. Abstract nouns derived from verbs denoting
strength or violence—Murder, War, De¬
struction.
3. Names of inanimate objects that suggest power
—Time, Sun, Death, Winds, Mountains,
etc.; but things of
beauty, grace, elegance, gentleness,
etc., are feminine, as:
Mercxj, Hope, Faith, Charity, Nature,
3Ioon, Earth, Spring,
etc.; but usage is not uniform in this.
In speaking of animals of great size or Strength,
and of birds of prey, the masculine gender is used,
regardless of sex, as :
The lion is in his den;
The -eagle is seeking his prey;
but animals and birds of small size, and distinguished
by gentleness, are usually represented by the feminine
pronoun,as:
The cat is watching the bird; she will try to catch it. .
4°
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The dove knows not that she is the emblem of a
messenger of peace.
Sometimes, also, smaller animals, and even It'/lie chil¬
dren are referred to by a neuter pronoun, as :
The rabbit was frightened when it saw the dog.
The child cried for its mother.
Note.—Some grammarians think the common gender is an
unnecessary distinction; but it is, certainly, a very convenient iorm
of expression, when the gender caunot be known from the word, as:
Parent, cousin, neighbor, child, friend, pilgrim, pauper, crim¬
inal, lunatic, student, bird, and many others.
Those who object to the distinction, common gender, say the
masculine gender should be used when speaking of such objects, if
the gender cannot be determined. This, however, is very unsatis¬
factory; it is, therefore, better, in parsing the words, not to speak
of gender, if the distinction, common geuaer, is not accepted.
CASE.
Cose shows the relation in which a noun stands to
some other coord in the sentence.
There are, in English, only three coat's:
1. The Now too ti re Case.
2. The Posses.si re Case.
3. The Objective Case.
The ootti inotive case (from the I.atin, notni-
nativus, naming), is the case which names the person or
thing spoken of, or addressed, as:
Leaves have their time to fall.
Eternal Spirit! God of truth, to whom
All things seem as they are; etc.
NOUNS. CASE.
41
When a noun is used after the verb be (or some
copulative verb), meaning the same person or
thing as the subject, it must be in the nominative
case, to agree with the subject, as:
That building is a schoolhouse.
A noun used with a participle, and standing, as
it were, apart from any assertion, either as subject or ob¬
ject, is said to be in the nominative absolute with
the participle, as :
Charles having determined to leave the farm, his
father induced him to enter the university.
It will be seen, easily, that the word Charles is inde¬
pendent of any grammatical connection with the asser¬
tion, or statement.
In fragmentary, exclamatory expressions,
the noun is in the nominative case independent by ex¬
clamation, as:
Joy, joy, forever ! my task is done !
—Paradise and the Peri,
The nominative case by exclamation is often com¬
bined with address, as:
O Absalom, my son!
The noun is sometimes in the nominative case by
pleonasm, or redundancy of words, as :
My flocks, they do wander.
POSSESSIVE CASE.
The possessive case is a form of the noun used
to show ownership, as :
The boy's sled; the girl's fan.
42
English grammar.
The form of the two nouns—boy's, girPs—shows at
once that the articles, sled and fan, belong respectively
to the boy and the girl.
The possessive case has a distinct form, and,
for that reason, it is not difficult to determine when a
noun is in that case; while the nominative and objective,
-having no distinction of form to mark the difference be¬
tween them, are not always determined with ease.
The possessive form of the noun does not always indi¬
cate absolute ownership. It is used to denote :
1. Ownership.—Anna's geranium.
2. Source or Origin.—The Governor's proclamation.
3. Fitness or Adaptation.—Boys' skates.
!The man's hand.
The tree's top.
The river's source.
5. Kindred or Social Relations— { J™*®*
6. Result of some Action Upon.—Saul's conversion.
7. Relation of Time, Weight, etc.— { ^ po^nd's^weiglit.
Possesive relations are often expressed by the use
of a preposition and its object, as :
The home of my brother.
The hope of the nation.
In written language, the possessive case is
formed in singular nouns which do not end in S, by add¬
ing an apostrophe and the letter S, as:
boy's hat, girl's book, man's horse;
but, if the plural ends in s, the apostrophe only is added,
as:
boys' hats, girls' books.
NOUNS. CASE.
43
As the plural of man does not end in S, the possessive
is formed in the same way the singular is formed, as:
man's hat, men's hats,
child's toys, children's toys.
When a noun in the singular ends in the sound of S,
for the sake of euphony the apostrophe only is added, as;
for conscience' sake, for justice' sake,
for goodness' sake.
For the same reason, it is better to use the preposi¬
tional phrase with the following:
the horns of the ox,
the top of the box,
the cunning of the fox.
Usage is not uniform in the possessives of proper
names ending in s, but, excepting in the case of foreign
plurals, as:
Moses' seat, Orpheus' lyre,
the weight of authority seems to be in favor of the addi¬
tional s, as:
Edwards's Readers, Charles's pencil.
The possessive suffix is added to the last term in
compounds, as :
His brother-in-law's office.
In complex possessives, also, theJast term takes the
possessive suffix, as:
The Empress of India's subjects.
44
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
When the names of several individuals are used to¬
gether, in order to show joint ownership, the sign
of possession is added to the last only, as :
Wellington, Walton, and Warren's sheep ranch;
but, if the several names do not refer to individuals hav¬
ing joint ownership in the object possessed, but to each
as owning a different object of the same kind, the pos¬
sessive sign should be attached to each, as :
Mary's, Edith's, and Ellen's playthings.
Some curious possessives are found in the names of
plants, as:
Wolf's-bane, Job's-tears, Joseph's-coat.
Such words should be distinguished from such as
rntshane and herdsman, which have a liteial
meaning.
THE OBJECTIVE CASE.
The objective case of the noun has, as it has been
said, the same form as the nominative; but it is known
by the relation it bears to the verb; therefore:
The noun in the objective case stands for some person
or tiling upon whom or which the action indicated by the
transitive verb terminates, as :
The meteor struck the house.
The word house indicates the object affected by the
action denoted by the verb struck; and it is, therefore, in
the objective case.
A noun depending upon a preposition is, also, in the
objective case, and is governed by the preposition, as;
John gave an apple to the boy.
MOONS. CASE.
45
In the above sentence the word boy is in the objective
Case, governed by the preposition to; it is, also, the
indirect * object of the verb gave.
Here is a seeming inconsistency, but it may be
readily seen that while the word to shows the relation of
the word boy to the verb as the object affected indirectly
by it (the verb), it also governs boy, for without the
preposition the word boy would really have no meaning
whatever.
The preposition is usually understood when the indi¬
rect object precedes the direct in a sentence, as:
John gave (to) the boy an apple.
Sometimes a verb is followed by two objects, one a
direct object, and the other an attribute of the direct
object, as:
Study made him a scholar.
Exercise made him strong.
His father made him work.
The direct object and the attributive object are
inseparable in such constructions.
The attribute of the direct object is not always a
noun; it may be an adjective, or a verb. In all cases,
however, these attributes are called objects, because
they show the result of the action upon the direct object.
* Prepositions do not always show the relation of an indirect
object to the verb—they often show an adjective relation, as: the
house on the hill; or an adverbial relation, as: he walked with
rapidity.
*6
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
DECLENSION.
The inflection of a noun is called declension.
Singular. Plural.
Nom.
boy,
Nom.
boys,
Pos.
boy's,
Pos.
boys',
Obj.
boy,
Obj.
boys.
Nom.
lady,
Nom.
ladies,
Pos.
lady's,
Pos.
ladies',
Obj.
lady,
Obj.
ladies.
Nom.
fox,
Nom.
foxes,
Pos.
fox's,
Pos.
foxes',
Obj.
fox,
Obj.
foxes.
Nom.
Charles,
Pos.
Charles's,
Wanting.
Obj.
Charles.
Nom.
justice,
Pos.
justice',
Wanting.
Obj.
justice.
Name the c
:ase of each noun in the following:
" In all climates, Spring is beautiful. In the South it is intox¬
icating, and sets a poet beside himself. The birds begin to sing;
they utter a few rapturous notes, and then wait for an answer in the
silent woods. Those green-coated musicians, the frogs, make holiday
in the neighboring marshes. They, too, belong to the orchestra of
Nature, whose vast theatre is again opened, though .the doors have
been so long bolted with icicles, and the scenery hung with snow
and frost like cobwebs. This is the prelude which announces the
opening of the scene."—Hyperion.
PARSING.
Parsing is giving a complete statement of all that
pertains to a word as it is used in the sentence where it
is found.
nouns, parsing.
47
In parsing a word it is necessary to tell:
1. The part of speech to which it belongs.
2. To what particular division of the part of
speech it belongs.
3. Its properties.
4. Construction, or the part it performs in making
up or constructing the sentence.
5. Rule for construction.
In parsing a noun, tell:
1. The part of speech, and why.
2. The kind of noun, and yvhy.
3. The person, and why.
4. The number, and why.
5. The gender, and why.
6. The case, and why.
7. Rule for construction.
Notes—Construction, as applied to nouns, means case.
The pupil should be required to parse the nouns in a method¬
ical way, that is, to follow the plan given above. If permitted to
give the facts pertaining to the noun, in a careless manner, such as
giving the construction and rule before giving the properties, the
pupil will form a habit of making statements without accuracy or
system, consequently, without meaning.
Having learned, therefore, all that pertains to the
noun, the pupil should be required to make a methodical
statement of what he knows—in other words to parse the
4& English grammar.
MODELS FOR PARSING NOUNS.
model i.
Bryant wrote Thanatopsis.
Bryant . . . is a noun—it is a name; it is a proper
noun—it is a proper name; it is of
the third person—it is spoken of; it
is in the singular number—it means
but one person; it is of the mascu¬
line gender—it is the name of a
male; it is in the nominative case—
it is the subject of the verb wrote.
Rule I.— The subject of a finite
verb must be in the nominative case.
Thanatopsis . is a noun—it is a name; it is a proper
noun—it is a proper name; it is of
the third person, singular number,
neuter gender, and it is the objective
case.
Rule XII.—A noun or a pronoun
used to complete the meaning of a
transitive verb or the participles of a
transitive verb, must be in the objec¬
tive case.
model ii.
"Man's inhumanity to man,
Makes countless thousands mourn."
Man's ... is a noun—it is a name; it is a com¬
mon noun—it is a name that applies
to all the individuals of that class of
objects, and is applied to each indi¬
vidual, when it is spoken of; it is of
nouns. parsing.
49
the third person, singular number,
and masculine gender; it is in the
possessive case, used to limit in¬
humanity.
Rule VIII.—A noun or a pronoun
joined to another noun to denote pos¬
session, must be in the possessive case.
is a noun—it is a name; it is an ab¬
stract noun—it is the name of a
property, or characteristic belonging
to man, and considered as a real
object; it is of the third person,
singular number, neutgy gender; and
in the nominative case; it is subject
of the verb makes.
is a noun; common, concrete, third
person, singular number, and in the
objective case—the object of the
preposition to.
Rule XV.— The noun or pronoun
governed by a preposition must be in
the objective case.
Notes.—The nouns parsed in the models are concrete nouns,
excepting inhumanity.
Pupils should be required to give a reason for everything, in
parsing, until the teacher is sure that they are thorough. Then, but
not before, the short method of parsing will answer.
Parse the nouns in the following:
1. God is love.
2. Work is victory.—Emerson.
3. Life is real, life is earnest.—Longfellow.
4. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.—Gray.
Inhumanity
(to) Man . .
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
5. Procrastination is the thief of time.— Young.
6. There is in souls a sympathy with sounds.—Coupee.
7. One morn a Peri at the gate
Of Eden stood disconsolate.—Moore.
8. Truths are known to us in two ways; some are known
directly, and of themselves; some through the medium
of other truths.—John Stuart Mill.
9. It was an eve of Autumn's holiest mood;
The corn-fields bathed in Cynthia's silver light,
Stood ready for the reaper's gathering hand;
And all the winds slept soundly: Nature seemed
In silent contemplation to adore
lis Maker: now and then the aged leaf
Fell from its fellows, rustling to the ground.
And, as it fell, bade man think on his end.—Pollok.
ADJECTIVES.
The Adjective is the part of speech that is used
with a noun to show some property, quality, or condition
of the-object which the noun represents.
Adjectives are used, also, to limit the noun in various
ways, without referring to any property, quality, or con¬
dition belonging to the object, therefore:
An adjective is a word used with a noun to limit
or qualify the meaning of the noun in its application to
the object for which it stands.
The word adjective is derived from the Latin ad-
jectus, added to.
Adjectives arc very numerous in the English language,
giving a great variety of shades to the meaning of what
pertains to the object represented by the noun.
ADJECTIVES. CLASSES.
51
CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES.
Although, as it has been said, adjectives are very
numerous in the English Language, yet they may
all be classified under two heads:
1. Limiting Adjectives.
2. Qualifying Adjectives.
LIMITING ADJECTIVES.
Limiting adjectives are words used with nouns to
limit or restrict the meaning, without denoting any prop¬
erty, quality, or condition of the object for which the
noun stands, as:
two birds; this book; an apple.
Limiting adjectives are divided, according to their
use,' into:
1. Articles.
2. Pronominals.
3. Numerals.
ARTICLES.
Articles were formerly classed as a distinct part of
speech; but most grammarians, now, wisely class them
with the adjectives.
There are two Articles:
1. The Lndefinite article.
2. The Definite article.
The Lndefinite article an or a is derived from
the Anglo-Saxon ane, meaning one, and it really means
one thing only.
teNGUSIt GRAMMAR.
The indefinite article has two forms.
An is used before vowel sounds, as:
an apple, an honor, an heiress.
Before consonant sounds, ail becomes a, as :
a horse, a useful instrument,
a zmiversity, a eulogy.
Note.—Some writers and speakers use an before the aspirate h,
when the accent is not upon the first syllable, as: an historical ac¬
count.
In the expression, they are both of a size, the meaning
is, they are both of one size; but in twice a week, a has
the idea of the preposition on.
The indefinite article differs materially in its use
from the numeral one; for while it means only one, it
also means any one of the class of objects, as :
Give me a pencil, not a pen.
Give me one pencil, not two pencils.
The definite article the is used to point out a par¬
ticular thing, or some particular things in the class of
objects of which one is speaking, as:
The flower in the vase is a water lily.
The is used with words indicating objects of primary
importance, as:
the Church, the Resurrection,
the Reformation, the Revolution, etc.
The is sometimes used with a singular noun to rep¬
resent a class or race, as;
ADJECTIVES. PRONOMINAL.
53
The lion is fierce.
The eagle is bold.
The dove is gentle.
The oak is king of the forest.
The meaning of the word however, is re¬
stricted to one individual when the is used with it—the
man, always means one man. But the omission of the
article extends the meaning, as: »
Man is mortal (men, women, and children).
The use of the article the \tfith nouns referring to the
professions or occupations of man extends the meaning, as:
The preacher discourses of eternity.
The physician heals the sick.
The farmer ploughs the ground.
EXERCISE.
Point out articles and nouns in the followirr-
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupation,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me,
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.—Longfellow-
PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES.
There are some words which are sometimes used
alone to represent a noun, and sometimes used with a
noun to limit its meaning.
54
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
From this fact, these words have been called Pro¬
nominal Adjectives, by some Adjective Pro¬
nouns.
A Pronominal Adjective is a word which may be used
with equal propriety, as a pronoun representing a noun
understood, or as an adjective, limiting a noun expressed.
A few of these words require the use of the article,
when representing a noun understood, as:
the former, the latter, the same.
Pronominal Adjectives are commonly divided
into four classes:
x. Distributives, or those which refer to things
taken singly, as:
each, every, either, neither.
2. Demonstratives, or those which refer to
things, and point them out definitely, as:
this, that, these, those, former, latter, same.
3. Reciprocals, or those which bear a mutual
relation, as:
4. Indefinites, or those which refer to objects
without pointing them out definitely, as:
some, such, all, none, any, whole, one, other, another.
One other and another may be declined:
each other,
one another.
Singular.
Norn, one,
Pos. one's,
Nom. ones,
Pos. ones',
Plural.
Obj. one,
Obj.
ones,
ADJECTIVES. PRONOMINAL.
55
Nom. other,
Pos. other's,
Obj. other,
Nom. others,
Pos. others',
Obj. others,
One, the pronominal adjective, is from the French
on, an indefinite pronoun, used very extensively in the
French language; and it is frequently found in English
literature, as subject of the French verb dit, without
translation. It may be translated as:
anybody, somebody, we, it, they, etc.
on dit, they say; it is said, etc.
REMARKS ON PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES.
Hither and neither should be used when reference
is made to two things only, as:
either of the two books.
Any should be used when referring to more than
two, as:
any of the books (three or more).
Each Other should be used in reference to two
the two boys like each other.
One another should be used in reference to three
This and these refer to things near us, or to some¬
thing just mentioned; that and those, to something
more distant, or spoken of before.
only:
or more;
the boys are helping one another.
All, any, enough, some, more, none, no,
and some others, when used with a singular noun relate
56
english grammar,
to quantity; but when used with a plural noun they
relate to number, as:
All gold is precious.
All diamonds are precious.
Some water is in the pitcher.
Some cherries are in the basket.
Much relates to quantity; many, to numbers, as:
You have much influence, but none is used in my
interests.
You have many friends, but none are earnest in their
efforts to aid you.
A few of the words classed with the indefinite pro¬
nouns are used, also, as adverbs, as:
all, enough, no, none, etc.
I went all (entirely) over the house.
It is no longer than mine.
You are none the better for that.
The word few, when used without the indefinite
article, suggests a contrast with many, as:
I have few friends, few books, few troubles.
But when it is preceded by the indefinite article it
suggests a contrast with none, as:
I have a. few friends, a few books, a few troubles.
Note.—The combination a few seems to be inseparable. Fern
requires a plural noun as an object for limitation; and if used as sub¬
ject, the verb agreeing with it must be in the plural, yet, according
to the law that governs the use of the article, a can be used with a
singular substantive only. The word very (adverb) is often used
with few. The construction seems to be idiomatic.
ADJECTIVES. PRONOMINAL. 57
Many is a pronominal adjective. When followed
by an or a, the two words are inseparable, as:
Full many a gem of purest ray serene.
Note.—Though the expression many a refers to several persons
or things, it is always followed by a singlar noun, but the pronoun
representing the noun must be plural, and if the noun is repeated,
it must be plural, also, as :
He has spent many a day in the school room, but they have not
been well spent days, for he does not like to study.
More and most, when comparative and super¬
lative of many, refer to number; but when ot much, they
refer to quantity.
Little, less, and least, when referring to size, de¬
note quality, and are classed with qualifying adjectives,
as:
A little girl; a less (or lesser) evil; the least particle.
But when referring to amount or quality, they are
classed with pronominal adjectives, as:
He has little money to spare.
I have less courage than I had yesterday.
You showed the least prudence ot any of them.
As pronominal adjectives, they are often used with¬
out the noun.
Enough is often used as a pronominal adjective, as:
Give me enough to last until to-morrow.
Enough is left for you.
The word number is often used as a pronominal
adjective, having the nature of a collective noun; but,
58 english grammar.
although the article a is used with it often, it requires a
plural verb, almost invariably, as:
A number were in the house when I arrived.
Note.—There are a great many pronominal adjectives belong¬
ing to the indejinites, which may be known by their use without the
noun—most of them without the article. They should not be called
nouns, for they are not names.
exercise.
Point out the Pronominal Adjectives in the exercise:
The one shall be taken, and the other left.
Try to prepare for that.
Give the apple to either, though neither deserves it.
Both are trying to succeed.
I do not like this.
Many a hope has been blasted, just as they.-seemed
about to be realized.
More were there than you expected.
This rose is very beautiful.
That is a finer one.
The same has been said.
Send all you can spare.
NUMERAL ADJECTIVES.
Numeral adjectives are those used in counting,
in numbering, and in multiplying, as:
one, six, second, twofold, etc.
Those used in counting are called cardinals,
because they are the most important.
Cardinal means chief, or principal,
ADJECTIVES. QUALIFYING. 59
The ordinals are those used in numbering;
they point out a thing or things in a series.
Most ordinals are derived from the cardinals, and are
formed by adding th to the cardinal, as:
sixth, eighth, tenth, hundredth;
but the ordinals corresponding to one, two, three, are :
first, second, third.
The multiplicatives are those used to show how
many times a thing is taken, as:
once, twice, thrice, tenfold, hundred-fold, double,
triple, quadruple.
The numeral when used alone to represent a noun,
should be parsed as a noun, but not called a noun, as:
ten are on the table (ten books are on the table).
The ordinal numeral adjectives are more definite
than the cardinals, as :
Give me one book—any book.
Give me the first book—not the second.
Notk.—It is a great mistake to use the cardinal numbers, when
referring to one or more in a series, as:
Chapter two, verse nine; Book six, section four.
According to the usage of the best writers and speakers, the
following is correct:
Chapter second, verse ninth; Book sixth, section fourth.
QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES.
Qualifying adjectives are those which are used
with nouns to limit them by denoting some quality,
property, or peculiarity, as:
tender beefsteak,
honest men,
zealous partisans.
6o
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Participles, which always refer to nouns or pro¬
nouns, unless they are used as nouns, are classed with
qualifying adjectives, as:
whistling winds,
merited punishment.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.
The inflection of adjectives to show the different
degrees of quality in objects, is called comparison.
There are three degrees of comparison :
1. The positive degree.
2. The comparative degree.
3. The superlative degree.
The positive degree is used to show some quality,
property, or peculiarity in an object without reference to
that possessed by any other object, as :
a red apple, a pretty child.
These objects are represented as possessing certain
qualities, but, although possessing them in the highest
degree, the positive degree only can be used, as the quali¬
ties are not spoken of in reference to the same qualities
possessed in another object.
The comparative degree is used when two objects
possess the same quality in different degrees, one in a
greater or less degree than the other, as:
Those are better apples.
Anna is prettier than Mary.
Groups may be compared with a single object, as;
All the girls are older than Mary,
ADJECTIVES. DEGREES. 6t
In this sentence, the group (all the girls) is considered
as one party.
The superlative degree is used to show that one
object possesses a quality in greater intensity than any
other object among three or more than three, as :
The sweetest apple. The tallest tree.
This is the prettiest flower in the greenhouse.
In this sentence the flower is one of the group in the
greenhouse; but if a flower not belonging to the green¬
house were spoken of in comparison with the same group
referred to, it would be necessary to use the comparative
degree, as:
The flower in my window is prettier than any of the
flowers in the greenhouse.
FORMATION OF THE DEGREES OF COMPARISON.
The comparative degree of adjectives of one syl¬
lable is formed by adding er to the positive, in words of
one syllable, as:
warm, warmer, deep, deeper.
The superlative degree of adjectives of one syl¬
lable is formed by adding St or est to the positive, as:
warm, warmest, deep, deepest.
FULL COMPARISON.
Positive. Comparative. Superlative.
warm, warmer, warmest,
deep, deeper, deepest.
The comparative and superlative of many dissyl¬
lables are formed in the same way, as :
pretty, prettier, prettiest,
lovely, lovelier, loveliest.
62 English grammar.
pleasant, pleasanter, pleasantest.
noble, nobler, noblest,
worthy, worthier, worthiest.
All the above words may be compared by prefixing
the adverbs of degree, more and most, less and least, ex¬
cept the word pretty, as :
lovely, more lovely, most lovely, etc.
Adjectives of three or more syllables, and many
of two syllables, form their comparative by prefixing
more to the positive, as :
more industrious, more enthusiastic,
more glorious, more terrible.
The superlative degree of adjectives of three or
more syllables is formed by prefixing most to the posi¬
tive, as :
industrious, more industrious most industrious,
glorious, more glorious, most glorious,
beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
The adverbs less and least are used to show com¬
parison of inferiority.
IRREGULAR COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.
Some adjectives are compared by changeing the word
entirely; this is called irregular comparison. The fol¬
lowing are so compared:
bad, worse, worst,
evil, worse, worst,
far, farther, farthest,
forth, further, furthest,
good, better, best,
ill, worse, worst,
ADJECTIVES.
63
late,
later,
latest, or last,
nearer, or next,
oldest, or eldest,
best.
old,
well,
.nearer,
older, or elder,
better,
Well is rarely used before a noun, to modify it, but
its use as 2,predicate adjective is very common.
In its adjective use, the superlative is rarely found.
We say, in reference to health, he is well, he is better;
but we cannot say, he is best (as a comparative of well);
but good speakers and writers use the expression, at h is
best, when referring to physical condition.
Some adjectives, from their meaning, will not
admit of comparison. Among them are:
1. The Numerals, as:
3. Adjectives denoting material, or substance, as :
REMARKS ON ADJECTIVES.
one, third, hundred.
2. Most Pronominals, as:
each, this, some.
some.
gold, iron, copper,
woolen, cotton, silk.
4. Adjectives of position, as:
vertical,
5. Adjectives of form, as:
square,
horizontal.
triangular.
6. Adjectives derived from proper names, as:
American, Washingtonian,
Spanish, Jewish.
64
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
7. Adjectives having an absolute signification, as:
The adjective round is a word denoting form, but it is
compared by many good writers and speakers, perhaps,
because there are many things that approach very nearly
to that form.
The same may be said of the word perfect, which
is really an adjective of absolute signification, yet many
good writers and speakers compare it.
Universal will not admit of comparison. There is no
authority for the expression, often heard:
it is more universal.
In parsing an adjective, tell—
1. What part of speech it is.
2. Definition.
3. Comparison.
4. Construction.
5. Rule.
J pressed the three beautiful pansies which were in that
china vase yesterday.
The is an adjective—it is a word used to
mortal,
universal,
infinite,
wrong,
immortal,
boundless,
right,
dead, etc.
MODELS FOR PARSING.
limit the meaning of a noun; it is a
limiting adjective—it is used to re¬
strict the meaning of the noun, with-
adjectives. parsing.
<5S
out referring to any of its qualities;
it is a definite article—it points out
some particular things; it limits
pansies.
Rule VII.—Adjectives are used to
limit nouns only.
Three .... is an adjective—it is a word used to
limit the meaning of a noun; it is a
limiting adjective—it is a word used
to limit a noun without referring to
any of its properties; it is a numeral
adjective—it is a word used in count¬
ing; it is a cardinal numeral—it is
used to limit a noun by showing how
many are meant; it limits pansies.
Rule VII.
Beautiful . . is an adjective—it is used to limit a
noun; it is a qualifying adjective—it
is used to show some quality of the
noun ; it is compared: Pos., beau¬
tiful; Com., more beautiful; Sup.,
most beautiful. It is in the pos¬
itive degree—it denotes a quality
without comparison; it belongs to
pansies.
Rule VII.
That .... is an adjective, pronominal—it is a
word that may be used with equal
propriety, either as a pronoun, repre¬
senting a noun understood, or as an
66
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
adjective, limiting the noun ex¬
pressed; it cannot be compared; it
limits the noun vase.
Rule VII.
China . . . is an adjective—it is derived from a
word denoting substance, therefore
it cannot be compared; it limits
vase, by denoting the material of
which it is made.
Rule VII.
Note,—When the pronominal adjective is used without the
noun, it should be parsed as the word that is parsed in the model
above, until the word limiting is reached, then the properties of the
pronoun should be given to it. The noun should not be supplied.
exercises.
Point out and parse the different kinds of adjectives:
" How great the contrast between summer and winter in the
beautiful peninsula of Scandinavia—the Land of the Midnight Sun!
" In December, in the far North, a sunless sky hangs over the
country; for the days of continuous sunshine in summer there are as
many without the sun appearing above the horizon in winter.
"During that time, even at the end of December, which is the
darkest period, when the weather is clear, one can read from eleven
A. M. to one P. M., without artificial light; but, if it is cloudy, or
snow is falling, lamps must be used.
"The moon takes the place of the sun, and the stars shine
brightly; the atmosphere is pure and clear, and the sky very blue.
"The aurora borealis sends its flashes and streamers of light high
up towards the zenith; and there are days when the electric storm
culminates in a corona of gorgeous color, presenting a spectacle
never to be forgotten."
— The Land of the Midnight Sun.
PRONOUNS.
67
With deep affection and recollection
I often think of those Shandon bells,
Whose sound so wild would, in days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle their magic spells.
On this I ponder, where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee;
With the bells of Shandon
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters of the River Lee.
PRONOUNS.
A pronoun is the part of speech which is used
instead of a noun, or to represent a noun.
The word pronoun is derived from the Latin pro,
for, and nomen, name.
It will be readily seen that these words are not
nouns (as some grammarians call them), for they are
not words used as names of objects; but they stand
for the names of objects; hence the name jpi'O-noun.
Pronouns have three special uses:
1, For euphony, in a sentence where a repetition of
the noun would not be agreeable to the ear, as:
Washington was a brave general; Washington led
Washington's troops to victory.
The following is correct:
Washington was a brave general; he led his troops to
victory.
2. They are used in the first and second person as
subject of a verb, or object of a verb or a preposition, when
58
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
the use of a noun would cause misunderstanding or am¬
biguity, as:
I want you to give a book to me, if I give an ink¬
stand to you.
Instead of:
Edith wants Alice to give a book to Edith, if Edith
gives an inkstand to Alice.
By comparing the two sentences, it will be seen that
there is not only a violation of the law of euphony, but
also of the law of perspicuity, or clearness. A better
form is the following, with the indirect object placed
before the direct object:
I want you to give me a book, etc.
3. They are used to join a subordinate clause to
the principal, as:
The woman who stole the children was a gypsy.
4. They are used interrogatively, as:
Which one did he take?
CLASSES OF PRONOUNS.
Pronouns are divided into three classes:
1. Personal Pronouns.
2. llelatire Pronouns.
3. Interrogative Pronouns.
Note.—Some grammarians add to the list Demonstrative pro¬
nouns, and Indefinite pronouns, but these have already been dis¬
posed of, under the head of Pronominal Adjectives, where they
properly belong.
PRONOUNS. PERSONAL.
69
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
A personal pronoun is one which shows by its
form the relation of the speaker to himself, as I; to the
one spoken to, as thou; to the person or thing spoken of
as, he, she, it.
A personal pronoun does not necessarily (as some
suppose from the name) stand for a person (a human
being), for in the third person, the pronoun it, referring
to things without life, is used, perhaps, more frequently
than the pronoun of the masculine or the feminine
gender.
INFLECTION OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
The inflection of Personal Pronouns is called
declension.
Declension of Personal Pronouns-:
Singular.
Nom. I,
Pos. my,
Obj. me.
Nom. we,
Pos. our
Obj.
Plural.
US.
SECOND PERSON.
Singular.
Nom. thou,
Pos. thy,
Obj. thee.
Plural.
Nom. ye or you,
Pos. your,
Obj. you.
THIRD PERSON, Masculine.
Singular.
Nom. he,
Pos. his,
Obj. him.
Nom. they,
Pos. their,
Obj. them.
Plural.
7°
ENGI.ISH GRAMMAR.
FEMININE.
Singular,
Nom. she,
Pos. her,
Obj. hers.
Nom. they,
Pos. their,
Obj. them.
Plural.
NEUTER.
Singular.
Nom. it,
Pos. its,
Nom. they,
Pos. their,
Obj. them.
Plural.
Obj. it.
REMARKS ON PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
The pronoun tllOU is used only in addressing the
Deity, or in poetry, excepting by the Quakers, who
always use thou.
The pronoun you, though really a plural form, is
used in speaking to one individual, but the plural form
of the verb is used, as:
The pronoun it has various uses:
1. It is ordinarily used to represent a neuter noun,
of the third person, singular number, as:
I have a new book, it is on the table.
2. As a subject nominative, to represent a noun or
pronoun of any person, number, or gender, as:
You were there last night; not
You was there last night.
it is I,
it is thou,
it is he,
it is the man,
it is the woman,
it is Mary.
it is we,
it is you,
it is they,
it is the men,
it is the women,
it is Charles.
PRONOUNS. PERSONAL.
7*
3. It is used as the subject of impersonal verbs which
relate to the weather, as :
It rains,
It snows,
It is pleasant,
It is disagreeable,
It is warm.
In this use, it has no antecedent, but is used with a
verb that seemingly expresses action independent of any
actor.
4. It is sometimes used to introduce a sentence, when
the law of euphony would require the subject to be placed
after the verb, as :
It would be wrong to deceive your mother.
To deceive your mother would be wrong.
It is thought that there will be no more cold weather
this winter.
That there will be no more cold weather this winter,
is thought.
The euphonic use of the word it in these sentences, is
clearly seen; and it is a mistake to say that in such con¬
structions, it has any other use. The word it, in such
sentences, cannot be parsed, being simply an expletive.
5. The pronoun it is sometimes used, for the sake of
euphony, after a verb also, and would seem to be an
object, as :
I shall foot it, if I go.
Come and trip it, as you go.
6. It is used sometimes to represent a fact, a thing,
or a group of things, as :
Can it be possible that you doubt the stability of our
government ?
72
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
It was necessity that compelled me to do it.
It is the farmers that make the country prosperous.
In the second and third sentences the pronoun it is the
real subject, and it is also the antecedent of the relative
pronoun that, used to introduce the clause.
In the first sentence, however, although the word it
is the real subject, representing a thing, the word that is
a conjunction, used to introduce a clause in apposition
with it.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.
The pronouns mine, thine, his, hers, and the
plurals, ours, yours, theirs, are, in one sense ot
the word, complex pronouns, combining the idea
of the possessor, and of the thing possessed, as :
This is mine, pours is on the table;
meaning,
This pencil is my pencil,your pencil is on the table.
Although these pronouns convey the idea of possession,
they cannot be used in the possessive case.* They always
take the case of the object possessed.
In the first sentence above, mine is in the nominative
case after the verb is, and yvrs is in the nominative case,
subject of the verb is.
In I saw mine, mine is in the objective case, object
of the verb saw.
*Mine and thine are used in poetry, with a noun; also, in highly
poetic prose; in such combinations they are in the possessive case.
PRONOUNS. ANTECEDENT.
73
COMPOUND AND REFLEXIVE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
Compound personal pronouns are formed by
adding to the simple pronouns the word self, singular;
and selves, plural, as :
These pronouns are used only in the nominative and
objective; they have no possessive form. They are used
sometimes, though seldom, as subject of a verb, as:
Here is himself, marred as you see.
The compound personal pronouns are used almost
always for emphasis, and commonly in apposition with a
noun or pronoun, as:
John was there, I saw him myself
Here myself is in apposition with /.
When the transitive verb is followed by a compound
personal pronoun, which represents the same person as
the subject, it is called a reflexive pronoun, because
the action is thrown back upon the subject, as :
He cut himself with the sharp knife.
The antecedent of a pronoun is that part of the
sentence to which the pronoun relates; therefore it may be
a word, a phrase, or a clause* as :
The man who came to the door was a traveler.
*A grammatical phrase is a preposition and its object; a clause
is a combination of a subject and a predicate, used as an element
myself, ourselves,
THE ANTECEDENT.
fd a sentence.
74
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
To invite him to enter, which was my intention, if he
had not left so suddenly, would have been noth¬
ing more than simple hospitality.
He had been robbed of all he possessed, which accounted
for his forlorn condition.
The personal pronouns always refer to an antecedent,
usually to a noun which has just been mentioned-, but
in some cases to an indefinite antecedent, or, it might
be said, to a universal antecedent, as :
The man seeks knowledge, therefore he is wise.
He (anyone) that seeketh knowledge, loveth his own
soul.
The antecedent of the relative pronoun, however,
is of more importance, as it controls the person,
number, and gender of the relative.
In parsing a pronoun, tell:
1. Part of speech, and why.
2. Kind of pronoun.
3. Antecedent.
4. Decline it, and give person, number, gender.
Rule for agreement with antecedent.
5. Case.
6. Rule for construction.
MODELS FOR PARSING PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
I stood upon the mountain, in the deepening twilight.
I ...... is a pronoun—it is a word used in¬
stead of a noun; personal—it shows
by its form the relation it bears to
the speaker; declined;
pronouns. parsing.
75
Singular. Plural.
Nom. I, W?.
i'm, My, Our.
Obj. Me. Us.
It is of the first person—it denotes
the speaker; singular number—it de¬
notes but one; nominative case, sub¬
ject of the verb stood.
Rule I.
" Tell me, ye splendid orbs! as from your throne,
Ye* mark the rolling provinces that own
Your sway," etc.
Ye is a pronoun—personal, second per¬
son, plural number, nominative case,
independent by address.
Rule XIX.
Did you hurt yourself?
Yourself . . is a pronoun; it is a personal pro¬
noun—it shows the relation of the
person spoken to, to the speaker;
it is a compound, reflexive pronoun
—it shows that the result of the
action affects the subject; it is of
the second person; singular number
(sin. yourself, plu. yourselves), ob¬
jective case, object of hurt.
Rule XII.
* Ye, in the second line, is in the nominative case, subject of the
verb mark.
76
english grammar.
That is mine; yours was on the table.
Mine .... is a possessive pronoun—a word
combining the idea of both the pos¬
sessor and the thing possessed; it is
of the first person, singular number,
and nominative case, attribute of
the subject that.
Rule XI.
Yours ... is a possessive pronoun, second per¬
son, singular number, nominative
case, subject of the verb was.
Rule I.
exercise.
Point out and parse the personal pronouns in the
following:
" Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater man
Restore us, and regain that blissful seat,
Sing heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb or of Sinai didst inspire
That Shepherd who first taught the chosen seeA
In the beginning, how the heavens and earth
Rose out of chaos : or, if Sion's hill
Delight thee more, and Silva's brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian Mount."—Paradise Lost.
" Oft have I seen at some cathedral door
A laborer pausing in the dust and heat,
Lay down his burden, and with reverent feet
Enter and cross himself, and on the floor
Kneel to repeal his paleino»ter o'er,"
PRONOUNS. RELATIVE.
77
RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
"Relative Pronouns are used in a sentence to
represent a noun in the principal proposition, and to join
to it a modifying clause.
They are called relative pronouns because they
always 'relate to an antecedent.
They are always found in subordinate propositions, or
in an abridged form of a subordinate proposition, as:
A man who entered the forest just at twilight, had
cause to regret it before morning.
The wind which goes whistling through the trees
foretells a coming storm.
He longed for a friend in whom he could trust.
He longed for a friend in whom to trust.
In the last sentence the subordinate proposition is
abridged.
The simple relative pronouns are who, whiell,
what, that, as, hut.
Who is used to represent persons only, or objects
personified, as:
The man who writes.
The woman who sews.
The boy who runs.
The girl who reads.
O stars who in thy beauty shine, etc.
Which is used in reference to animals or things
only, when not interrogative, as:
The horse which neighs.
The dog which howls.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The bird which sings.
The tree which grows.
The flower which blooms.
Note.—Which is used for persons when reference is made to a
collective noun, taken as unity, as: The congregation which assem¬
bled.
What refers to things only, except when used inter¬
rogatively. It is a peculiar word, having a double con¬
struction (two cases), as:
I saw what the traveler had lost by the wayside.
That is used with equal propriety for persons or
things, as:
The man that devotes his time to scientific studies is
seldom seen in society.
The bird that sings so sweetly is a canary
The flower that is in the vase yonder is a water lily.
That is not always used as a relative pronoun.
It may be known as a relative when who or which
can be substituted for it, as:
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of
the ungodly (who walketh, etc.).
Here is a tree that was planted a hundred years ago
(which was planted).
That is to be preferred to who or which after: who,
very, same, all, and adjectives in the superlative degree.
(See Syntax and Analysis Simplified.)
As is a relative pronoun when it follows many, much,
same, such, as:
You may take as many as will be necessary.
PRONOUNS. RELATIVE.
79
You may take as much as you want.
This is not the same as the other.
His conduct is not such as I admire.
As, like many other words in the English language,
has different uses in the construction of sentences. It is
frequently used as an adverb of degree, and, perhaps,
more frequently, as a subordinate conjunction.
Silt is a relative pronoun when it is used in the
sense of that not, as:
There breathes not clansman of thy line
But would have given his lite for thine.—Scott.
Silt has several other uses—as an adverb meaning
only; as a preposition, meaning except; and as a coordi¬
nate adversative conjunction.
REMARKS ON RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
The Relative Pronouns differ materially, in some
respects, from the personal pronouns.
1. They cannot be put into the place of a noun; they
only stand in a sentence as the representative of a noun.
2. They cannot be used as subject of an indepen¬
dent proposition.
3. They have no distinct form for person, number,
or gender, but must agree in these properties with the
antecedent.
1. The Personal Pronouns, all of them, take the
place of the noun for which they stand, as:
The little wren builds her nest every year in a niche
over the door.
8o
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
In this sentence the pronoun her takes the place of
the noun wren. This may be proved by substituting the
noun wren for the pronoun.
But in the following:
The wren which builds, etc.;
it will be seen, easily, that which does not occupy the
place of a noun; and, in fact, that it would be impos¬
sible to put a noun into the place of the relative pro¬
noun.
2. The Personal Pronouns may be used as subject in
all kinds of propositions, as:
Praise ye the Lord.
They went away rejoicing.
He labored all day, whenever he had strength enough
to go into the field.
But, it would be impossible to put a relative pronoun
into the place of any personal pronoun in the sentences
above. The relative belongs only to a certain class of
subordinate clauses (adjective).
3. The Personal Pronoun has a distinct form for each
person, number, and gender, which is too manifest to
require illustration.
The antecedent of a Relative Pronoun is usually
placed before it. If possible, the relative should be
placed sufficiently near the antecedent to prevent am¬
biguity; but in some sentences the law of euphony
makes it necessary to place it at some distance from the
antecedent.
Ex.—He took the money, and put it into a drawer,
that he had collected for his father.
pronouns. feelative, 8t
The following is correct:
He took the money that he had collected for his
father and put it into a drawer.
It was a joyous group of children that were playing
oh the village green.
By placing the antecedent immediately before the
relative, the euphony of the sentence would be entirely
destroyed , as will be seen in the following:
It that were playing was a joyous group, etc.
The pronoun it is not an expletive here, but stands
as a representative of a plural noun, as is frequently the
case. It is a mistake to suppose that the word children
is the grammatical antecedent.
Longfellow's Prose abounds in such construc¬
tions.
What is a word of double construction, and,
although not classed with the compound relatives, it in¬
cludes, as they do, both the antecedent and the relative,
and should be parsed in the same way.
Double construction means two cases.
What is not always used as a relative pronoun.
It is sometimes used as an adverb, as:
What by industry, and what by economy he amassed
a large fortune.
In this sentence what is equivalent to partly.
What is used, also, as an interjection, as:
What! do you still hesitate ?
NoTF..—The interrogative use of lohal will be treated under the
head o. Interrogatives.
82
English grammar.
JVhicTl was formerly used in referring to persons;
and is still used by many in the following:
Our Father which art in Heaven.
In modern English, however, ivhich is used in ref¬
erence to things only, as a rule; but it is used for persons
in interrogative sentences, and also, when referring to
groups of persons, as:
Which man came in?
The jury which decided.
The committee which was appointed.
The audience which was composed of all classes.
The Relatives who and which may be declined.
They do not change for number, but take that as well
as person and gender from the antecedent.
Singular and Plural. Singular and Plural.
COMPOUND RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
Compound Relative Pronouns are formed
by adding to the simple relatives the adverbs so, ever,
and soever.
They are whoso, whosoever, whichever, whichsoever,
whatever, whatsoever.
Whoever and whosoever are declined.
All these words have a double meaning, and, except¬
ing whichever and whichsoever, refer to an indefinite
antecedent.
Nom. who,
Pos. whose,
Obj. whom.
Nom. which,
Pos. whose,
Obj. which.
PRONOUNS. INTERROGATIVE.
83
Whoso, whoever, whosoever, whatever,
and whatsoever refer to persons or things taken uni¬
versally, as:
Whoever expects to find perfection under the sun will
be disappointed.
Whoever, in the sentence above, is equivalent to
any one who.
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.
Interrogative pronouns are relative pro¬
nouns used in asking questions. They are:
Who, used to inquire for persons, only, as:
Who sent you the flowers ?
Whose house is that ?
For whom do you intend to vote ?
Which, used to inquire for things, sometimes for per¬
sons, as:
Which book is yours ?
Which boy took the prize ?
Upon which lot will you build ?
For which boy shall I buy the toolsf-?
What, used to inquire for things, in rare cases for
Dersons, as:
What do you want ?
What men are those coming to the house ?
When these words are used with a noun, they are
often called interrogative adjectives.
The antecedent of the interrogative pronoun is found
in the answer, as :
Who bought the house ? Mr. Newton bought it.
84
english grammar#
MODELS FOR PARSING RELATIVE PRONOUNS,
" To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language."
Who . ... is a pronoun; it is a relative pro¬
noun—a word used to represent a
noun in the principal proposition,
called the antecedent, and to join to
it a modifying clause. The ante¬
cedent is him. It (who) is of the
third person, singular number, and
masculine gender (Rule IX). It is
of the nominative case, subject of
the verb holds.
Rule I.
Note.—The word him, though in the singular, refers to a cer¬
tain class of individuals. Nature is the antecedent of she, the sub¬
ject of speaks.
The rays of the mid-summcr sun could not penetrate the
dense forest which we had chosen for our retreat.
Which ... is a relative pronoun; it refers to
forest, its antecedent. It is in the
third person, singular number, and
neuter gender, agreeing with its ante¬
cedent (Rule IX); objective case,
object of had chosen.
Rule XII.
He is a stranger to what refines and elevates the soul.
What . . . . is a pronoun—it is a word of double
construction, representing the ante-
pronouns. farsing.
85
cedent and the relative—both of
which are included in the one word
(what), it is equivalent to that which
or the thing which; the antecedent
(thai) is in the objective case, gov¬
erned by the preposition to (Rule
XV.); the relative (which) is in the
nominative case, subject of refines
and elevates.
Rule I.
Note.—Some grammarians, and many teachers, ridicule the
idea that what is a word of double construction, but, so far, they
have failed to dispose of it in a more satisfactory manner.
" Whoever attempts to look into the future, beyond a cer¬
tain limit of probabilities, will not fail to discover
great weakness of vision, and nothing morel'
—Allan.
Whoever . . is a compound relative pronoun,
equivalent to he who, or any one who,
and implies universality. The ante¬
cedent, when the word is expanded,
is he or anyone; it is of the third
person, singular number, masculine
gender (common gender, if it refers
to anyone), singular number, and
nominative case, subject of will fail
(Rule I). The relative part of the
word, who, agrees with the antece¬
dent in gender, number, and person
(Rule XI.); it is in the nominative
case, subject of the verb attempts.
Rule I.
86
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
EXERCISES.
Point out and parse relative pronouns, in the follow¬
ing exercises:
Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land ?—Scott.
Side by side with the massivetiess of the Roman Past, all matters
that we handle or dream of now-a-days look evanescent and vision¬
ary alike.
It might be that the four persons whom we are seeking to intro¬
duce were conscious of this dreamy character of the present, as com¬
pared with the square blocks of granite wherewith the Romans built
their lives. —Hawthorne.
Who knows whither the clouds have fled
I do not know what is in the gold casket.
The little brook heard it, and built a roof
'Neath which he could house him, winter proof.—Lowell.
A cold uninterrupted rain
That washed each southern window-pane,
And made a river of the road.
All things that are on earth shall wholly pass away
Except the Love of God, which shall live and last for aye.
VERBS.
Two elements are absolutely necessary in the con¬
struction of a sentence—an element consisting of a word
or words used to represent the thing or things about
which something is said or told, called the Subject;
and an element consisting of a word or words repre¬
senting what is said or told of the subject, called the
Predicate.
VERBS. CLASSIFICATION.
87
The subject may be represented by any part of
speech, by a phrase or a clause, if used as a substantive;
but there is only one kind of word that can be used to
tell anything about the subject.
The part of speech so used is, therefore, the essen¬
tial word in the sentence, for which reason it has been
called Verb.
This word, on account of its importance in a sentence,
retains, almost literally, the form of the Latin, verbum,
from which it is derived. The Latin verbum means word.
The verb is that part of speech which is used to say
or to tell something about some person or thing.
CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS.
All verbs are divided into two general classes,
called:
1. Transitive Verbs.
2. Intransitive Verbs.
TRANSITIVE VERBS.
A transitive verb is one used to represent an action
as passing from the actor or doer, and terminating upon
some person or thing, called the object, as:
He caught a bird
She cooked the meat.
The word transitive means passing over, or going
across; and, in the case of many verbs, the action rep¬
resented by them, literally passes from the actor, and
terminates with the object, as:
I struck the table.
She broke the teacup.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
In both the foregoing sentences the verbs are used
to represent actions that may be seen.
Some transitive verbs, however, simply show that a
feeling is directed to some person or thing, as:
He loves his mot her.
He loves to study.
He hates his enemy.
He hates to labor.
And, again, there are transitive verbs which assert
neither action nor feeling, and yet their meaning can¬
not be clear without an object, upon which to rest the
assertion, as:
Alice resembles her mother.
It wonld be impossible to give the great variety of
meanings represented by the different transitive verbs,
hence the fitness of the following definition, found in
many grammars:
A transitive verb is one which requires an object to
complete its meaning.
IN TRANSITIVE VERI5S.
An intransitiee verb is one which does not re¬
quire an object to complete its meaning, as:
The boy walks.
The cut furrs.
The book lies on the table.
There are many trees in the forest.
In these sentences, it will be readily seen that the
meaning of each verb is complete without the addition
of an object.
VERBS. PECULIARITIES.
-39
The action, state, or condition represented by the verb,
does not affect any person or thing except the subject.
PECULIARITIES OF SOME VERBS.
Some verbs are always transitive, therefore, there
is nothing peculiar in their use, as:
eat, love, buy, destroy, teach,
write, read, sell, avoid, drink.
Others always suggest an object, if one is not ex¬
pressed.
But there are some verbs which, though they are
really transitive (that is, they are ordinarily .so used), by
a peculiar signification, may become intransitive, as:
gather, open, move, give,
break, shut, turn, sweep,
and a few others.
Many intransitive verbs are always intransitive,
as:
sit, go, rise, be,
lie, come, fall, become.
Certain other intransitive verbs become transitive:
1. By taking after them an object of kindred sig¬
nification, as:
ran a race, lived a life,
dreamed a dream, died a death,
sang a song, slept a sleep.
2. By a causative signification, as:
ran the train,
flew the kite,
raced the horse.
9°
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
3. By the addition of a preposition, as:
They laughed at the boy.
His mother smiled on him,
FORMS OF VERBS.
Verbs are classed, in reference to form, into reg¬
ular and irregular verbs.
A regular verb is one whose past tense and past
participle end in ed, as:
cry, cried, cried,
depart departed, departed,
love, loved, loved.
An irregular verb is one whose past tense and past
participle do not end in ed, as:
have,
had,
had.
go,
went,
gone.
write,
wrote,
written.
The regular verbs are called weak verbs.
The irregular verbs are called strong verbs.
Defective verbs are those in which some of the
parts are wanting, as:
may, can, shall.
These have no participles, though they have the past
tense.
Ought* and must have only the present tense; they
have neither the past tense, nor the participles.
* Ought is often incorrectly used with had, as: I had ought to
go; this verb has no participle; therefore, there is no possible defense
for such construction in English.
VERBS. IMPERSONAL. 91
Quoth has the past tense only.
Beware has the present tense only, and is used in the
imperative mode. •
IMPERSONAL VERBS.
Verbs used to show the condition of the
weather, or any peculiarity connected with the
elements, are called impersonal verbs.
As there can be no real subject for such verbs, the
word it has taken the place of subject, and is used with
tire most of these verbs, as :
It is warm, It rains,
It is thawing, It snows,
It is dreary, It thunders,
It is freezing, It lightens,
It is delightful, It hails,
It is disagreeable, It sprinkles,
It is cloudy, It pours,
It is dark. It darkens.
These verbs are sometimes called unipersonal,
and this would seem to be an appropriate name, as they
are used only in the third person.
Methinks is usually classed with impersonal verbs,
though it differs very materially from the class of verbs
given above.
The word methinks is said by some to be equiva¬
lent to / think; but this is a mistake, for thinks (in me¬
thinks) is derived from the verb thincan (Anglo-Saxon),
to seem or to appear; therefore, methinks means, seems to
me. The word think is derived from thencan, to think.
The subject of thinks (in methinks) is the clause
following it, as:
Rethinks that I hear, even now, the moaning of the sea.
92
english grammar.
The third person is sometimes used with this verb, as:
" Him thought, he by the brook of Cherith stood,
And saw the ravens with their horny beaks
Food to Elijah bringing, even and morn."
—Paradise Regained, Milton.
Me, in methinks, is really an indirect object of seems;
and Him, in "Him thought," is also an indirect object.*
Note.—Some intransitive verbs are followed by an indirect
object: Methinks, seems to me; him thought, seemed to him.
The auxiliary verbs are used in the conjugation
of other verbs to mark some change of mode, tense,
number, or person, as:
I am going, you are reading,
thou art singing, I do write,
they may go, he can move.
The auxiliaries are:
be, do, have, may, can, must, shall, wil4
in the present and past.
He (from the Anglo-Saxon beon, to exist"), when used
as a verb of full predication, denotes existence only, as:
John is in the house.
Mary was at home,
but when it is used to join an attribute to the subject it
is called a copula, or link. In this use it loses none of
its force in its office of predicating or asserting.
As a copula, it may join three kinds of attributes;
i. A substantive attribute, as:
The tree is an oak.
*The subject is the clause, (that) he by the brook of Cherith
stood, etc., seemed to him. This is the real meaning of the lines.
VERBS. IMPERSONAL.
93
2. An adjective attribute, as:
The tree is tall.
3. A verbal attribute, as:
The tree is growing.
When the verba-l attribute and the copula are
blended into one word, that word is called an attributive
verb, as:
The tree grows.
Do (from the Saxon don, to act, to make, to cause)
is a transitive verb, of full conjugation, in its ordinary
use, as:
Do justice to all men.
Do nothing to injure any one.
Do it for me.
As an auxiliary verb it gives emphasis to affirm¬
ative sentences, as:
I do try to be careful.
As an auxiliary, it is used, also, in negative and inter¬
rogative sentences, in ordinary conversation, without
giving emphasis, but rather to avoid it, as:
Do you hear ?
I do not hear,
instead of:
Hear you?
I hear not.
Have is from the Anglo-Saxon habban, to have. It
denotes possession, and is a verb of full conjuga¬
tion, as:
He has a knife,
He had a knife, etc.
94
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
When used as an auxiliary verb, it denotes com-
pletion, as:
I have read the letter.
I had finished my work.
Some form of have is used in all the perfect tenses, as:
Present Perfect. They have gone.
Past Perfect. They had gone.
Future Perfect. They shall or will have gone.
Shall and will are defective verbs. They are used
in forming the future tenses.
Shall is derived from the Anglo-Saxon sccalan, to
owe, or to be obliged.
It is a defective verb, having only two forms—shall
and should.
Will is from the Anglo-Saxon willati, to desire, to
be willing, to determine (to exercise the will).
Great care is necessary in the use of shall and will,
as mistakes are frequently made by substituting the one
for the other. The following will be a guide to the use
of each:
Shall must be used in the first person, when one
wishes to make a simple statement of what is to be done
in the future, as:
I shall write a letter.
I shall go home.
We shall leave to-morrow.
In the Second person, and the third person, how¬
ever, shall is used to show a determination on the part of
VERBS. IMPERSONAL.
95
the speaker to enforce obedience from the one spoken
to or spoken of, as:
You shall leave the room.
They shall be punished for disobedience.
It is used in the second and third person, also, very
frequently, to denote something that is to be done for
some one. This use of shall seems to have in it a
promise, with the idea of the ability to control its fulfill¬
ment, as:
You shall be promoted (J have the power).
He shall have what he wants (/ determine it).
Shall is used also in giving a command,* as:
Thou shalt not steal.
Will should be used in the first person to denote
determination on the part of the speaker, as:
I will go, whatever you may say.
It is also used to make a promise, as:
I will copy the papers for you, if you desire it.
We. will aid you as much as we can.
Will is always used with impersonal verbs, as:
It will rain; it will be pleasant to-day.
In asking a question, if one expects the reply to be
shall, then shall should be used in asking, as:
Shall you go to-morrow? (is it your intention?)
Yes, I shall go to-morrow.
Will you go with me to-morrow? (asking a favor)
Yes, I will go, if it be possible (a promise).
*The verb is in the indicative mode, not imperative, as somi
suppose.
96
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Should, the past tense of shall, and would, the
past tense of will, are generally used just as shall and
will are used; and they require equally as much care,
in order that there be no inaccuracy:
I should like to go (simple statement).
We should obey the commandments (obligation).
You should return to your parents (advice).
I would go, if I could (willingness or desire).
You would injure yourself by doing it (warning).
He would go; they could not prevail on him to stay
(determination).
Should is seldom incorrectly used, but would is
very often used, by careless speakers, in the place of
should, as:
I would like to rest (incorrect).
I should like to rest (correct).
May is derived from the Anglo-Saxon magan, mean¬
ing power. It formerly meant the power to do anything,
and refers now very often to a power from without which
controls the movements of others.
You may.go; you may leave the room (I remove the
hindrances).
May is a defective verb, found in the present and past
tenses only.
It has various uses, but retains, always, the idea of
strength.
Ex.—I may go to-morrow (possibility).
He may not be able to go (doubt.)
Might, the past tense of may, retains the signifi¬
cation of may, somewhat; though in some cases, it is
verbs. impersonal.
97
used in principal propositions to which are joined con¬
ditional clauses, as:
I might do it, if I could spare the time.
It is used, also, to denote a possibility in the past, as:
He might have left it at home.
Can is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cunnan, to
know. It always indicates ability, as:
I can read.
You cam write.
They can run swiftly.
He can go whenever and wherever he wishes.
From this we have the word cunning, which
means knowing. Formerly cunning referred to skill, as:
A cunning workman (a skillful workman).
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand for¬
get her cunning (skill).
Can is sometimes incorrectly used for may, as:
Can I go? j T
Can I depend upon you to help me? ( lncorrect-
May I go? j r
May I depend upon you to help me? ( ^orrec •
Note.—Can denotes power within.
Could, the past tense of can, retains the idea of
ability, as:
I could climb the tree, if I would.
You cotdd-assist him.
They cotdd recite without hesitation.
Must is from the Anglo-Saxon motan, to be obliged;
hence the idea of necessity, or being compelled to do
something, as:
I must leave the city to-night.
You must remain where you are.
98
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Must is used in various ways, but always retains
the idea of some power in surrounding circumstances,
exerted to occasion a necessity for the performance of
an act, as:
You must come in.
He must be very sure of success.
I must have a fixed salary.
They must have come, for the gate is open.
This verb has but one form. It is used with have to
form the present perfect tense of the potential mode.
Verbs are inflected to show Voice, Mode,
Tense, Number, and Person.
VOICE.
Voice is that property of the verb which shows the
relation of a transitive verb to the subject as
either the performer of the act or the receiver of the act.
There are two voices:
1. The active voice, which makes the actor
prominent.
2. The passive voice, which makes the receiver
of the act prominent.
The terms active and passive refer, in reality, to
the subject, and not to the verb; there is, therefore, no
such thing as a passive verb.
But the transitive verb takes a new form when¬
ever it is used with a subject which represents the
receiver of the act.
VERBS. VOICE. 99
It is very easy to change the form of the sentence
from an active to a passive signification.
This is usually done by making the direct object the
subject of the verb, and then the subject becomes the
object of a preposition, as:
The dog killed the rabbit (active).
The rabbit was killed by the dog (passive).
Sometimes it is necessary to introduce a new word
as subject, in changing certain forms of the passive to
the active, as:
The sound of the artillery was heard in the distance.
We heard the sound of the artillery in the distance.
The passive voice is a very useful form of ex¬
pression:
1. It adds brevity and euphony to a sentence:
Ex.—He gave ten dollars to the missionary, and he
(the missionary) used it for the benefit of the
heathen.
Ten dollars Teas* given for the benefit of the heathen.
2. When it is desirable to avoid giving prominence,
or even publicity to an act, the use of the
passive voice makes it easy to do so.
Ex.—I gave five hundred dollars to help the suffer¬
ing poor of the town (active).
Five hundred dollars was given to help the
suffering poor of the town.
Change the voice of the verbs in the following sen¬
tences:
The cyclone destroyed the town.
The rain filled the cisterns.
* '1 en dollars, the amount, not the single dollars, in coin or
IOO
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The men ploughed the large field.
Schiller wrote "William Tell."
He was reproved by the teacher.
The shrubs were carefully transplanted by the gar¬
dener.
Eating unripe fruit caused his sickness.
Speculation has ruined the fortune of many a man.
MODE.
fllode, from the Latin modus, manner, is that prop¬
erly of the verb which shows the manner in which action,
being, or state is asserted or said of the subject, as:
The boy killed the bird (said as a fact).
If the boy killed the bird (said as a condition).
The boy can kill the bird (said as having power).
Boy, kill the bird (said as a command or request).
The boy tried to kill the bird (used abstractly).
There are fives modes in English:
x. The Indicative mode.
2. The Subjunctive mode.
3. The Potential mode.
4. The Imperative mode.
5. The Infinitive mode.
The Indicative mode is used in declarative sen¬
tences to make a direct statement, to deny a direct state¬
ment, or to ask for a direct statement, as:
The horse ran away.
Did the horse run away?
The horse did not run away.
VERBS. MODE.
IOI
The Indicative mode may be used in both princi¬
pal and subordinate propositions, and may be known by
its relation to actual fact, or what is supposed to be fact,
or represented as fact, without the semblance of doubt.
The Subjunctive mode is used when a statement
is made concerning which there is some doubt or condi¬
tion in the mind of the speaker, as:
You cannot go, if it rain (doubt).
You may go, if you will promise to return early (con¬
ditional).
It will be readily seen that the subordinate clauses,
in the sentences above, have no relation to facts, but to
suppositions; and it is by this that the subjunctive mode
may be known.
This mode is used in subordinate clauses joined to
the principal by: except, if, lest, so, that, though, till,
until, unless, provided that, whether, as:
Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
I should not go, if I were you.
Though he leave me alone, I shall not be afraid.
Remain until he come.
Provided that he come in time, I will remain
(promise).
You may stay during the summer, whether I be there
Note.—The verbs in the.se sentences are in what is called the
subjunctive form; and it is much to be regretted that many good
wrilers do not use this very forcible form of expression.
In consequence of this, it seems to be going out
of use, though some of the best writers and speak¬
ers continue to regard it as the only sure means of
102
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
expressing the different shades of condilionality, doubt, or
concession.
It is even asserted, by some authors, that the
subjunctive mode is becoming obsolete.
But, though by carelessness, on the one hand, and
imitation of this careless style of expression, on the
other hand, the subjunctive form should go out of
use, the subjunctive mode would still remain, a distinct
form of expression in English. As long as there remains
a necessity for expressing any doubt or condilionality,
there will be a necessity for a peculiar form of language
to express it.
In the sentence:
If I was there, I do not remember it,
the speaker seems willing to admit the fact of his having
been at a certain place, but at the same time expresses
some doubt regarding it.
The following:
I was there,
asserts actuality, therefore, the verb is in the indicative
mode; but in:
If / was there,
doubt is asserted, therefore, the verb is in the subjunctive
mode.
A wish is often expressed in the subjunctive mode,
subjunctive form, as:
Oh that he were here!
Would that I were free!
Such expressions are exclamations, and they are only
fragments of sentences, equivalent to:
VERBS. MODE. IO3
Oh, I wish that he were here!
Oh, I wish that I were free!
The word subjunctive is from the Latin suljun-
gere, to subjoin; the subjunctive mode is found only in
subordinate propositions.
POTENTIAL MODE.
The Potential mode, as the name suggests, is used
to indicate j)0wer from some source, as:
You may go (I have the power to permit you to go).
You can walk, you can read (you have the power or
ability).
You must go (a power from some source makes it
necessary).
The potential mode has seven auxiliaries,
which are not used in other modes. They are may,
can, must, might, could, would, should.
(See signification of auxiliaries.)
IMPERATIVE MODE.
The Imperative mode is used in expressing a
desire for the performance of an act by the one spoken
to. The desire may be expressed in the form of:
1. A command:
Honor thy father and thy mother.
2. An entreaty:
Forsake me not in my affliction.
3. A request:
Bring me a glass of water.
104 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
4. Advice:
Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her
ways and be wise.
The subject of the imperative mode must be a
XU'OHOltn of the second person, singular or plural.
It is rarely expressed, but follows the verb whenever
it is expressed, as:
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature.
If the subject of the verb in the imperative mode
have no tangible antecedent, the verb is said to be in
the imperative absolute, as:
God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
In this sentence it is impossible to find an antecedent
to which the subject may refer; the verb is, therefore, in
the imperative absolute.
The word imperative is from the Latin imperare,
to command.
INFINITIVE MODE.
The Infinitive mode is the simple verb, without
any limitation of person or number.
It cannot make an assertion, and consequently can¬
not have a subject; for a subject cannot have an existence
without the existence of a predicate.
These two elements cannot exist apart.
But many grammarians call the direct object of a
finite verb the subject of the infinitive, by which it (the
object) is followed, as:
I took it to be him.
VERBS. TENSE.
They would call it the subject of to be.
Verbs in the infinitive mode are commonly used
as substantives, or as adjective modifiers; but they are
used, also, to denote purpose or motive •* then they are
adverbial in their nature, as:
To sing well requires practice.
He tried to sing.
It is time to sing.
She has gone to sing at the concert.
The verb in the infinitive mode should be parsed as
a finite verb is parsed, except in giving construction. It
is always governed by the word which it limits.
The infinitive is sometimes used absolutely , as:
To rest from labor is delightful.
In the above sentence the infinitive is used without
reference to any one in particular, therefore, it is said to
be absolute, or absolved from any subject or object.
TENSE.
Tense, from the Latin tenipus, time, is that property
of the verb which indicates the time of an action or an
event, as:
I read.
I have read.
I shall read.
Tense has reference, also, to the completeness
or incompleteness of an action or event, as:
I work.
I am working.
to6
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
There are three simple tenses:
1. The present tense.
2. The past tense.
3. The future tense.
These correspond with the absolute divisions of time,
the past, the present, the future.
There are, also, three compound tenses:
1. The present perfect tense.
2. The past perfect tense.
3. The future perfect tense.
These are called relative tenses, as they relate
to the absolute divisions of time.
THE PRESENT TENSE.
The Present Tense of the verb is commonly used
to indicate what is really taking place at the present
time, as:
There comes John.
John is coming.
But it has, also, several idiomatic uses, in which it does
not refer, necessarily, to the actual present:
1. To denote something habitual, or occurring
frequently, as:
He boards at the hotel (though he may be away at
this time).
They live in Kansas (but they are now in New York).
He is a student of the University (he is at home,
sick).
To-morrow is Saturday (occurring weekly).
VERBS. TENSE.
2. To denote what is unchanging in its nature,
as:
Procrastination is the thief of time.— Young.
Virtue's reward is sure.
3. In animated discourse, when one describes a
past event as if it were taking place in the present, as:
He comes, the conquering hero comes!
4. In subordinate clauses when the time is
really future, as:
We shall be on the mountain when the sun sets.
5. When referring to an author, though not living, if
his works are still in existence, as:
Sterne says: " God tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb."
THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
The Present Perfect Tense denotes the com¬
pletion of a past act in present time, as:
He has eaten his dinner (to-day).
I have broken my knife (recently).
This tense may be used, also, to refer to a pro¬
gressive action, as:
I have been writing all day (continuation of the past
reaching the present).
It is used, also, when the action is past, if the fact
or the effect remains,* as:
I have written the letter (the fact remains).
I have been writing all day (the act continues).
* The common form of the subjunctive mode is used here be¬
cause it is assumed that the fact remains.
108 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
It must be understood that in using the present per¬
fect tense there is a peculiar reference to the time of
speaking.
For example, if one says: I have seen him this morn¬
ing, the reference is not to the actual present, the moment
of speaking, but to an occurrence within a portion of
time assumed as present; not very distant, however,
from the time of speaking, for the morning is only a
portion ol: the day.
If the same fact were related immediately after noon,
the present perfect could not he used; but the past, as:
I saw him this morning.
In the following:
I have seen him this week,
the reference 'to the time of speaking may be very
remote—the time of the occurrence might have been the
first day of the week, or at a time nearer to the time of
speaker.
One may assume any portion of time as present,
provided that the fact or the effect remain,* as:
Have you learned to sing?
In this question the time assumed as present is the
time since you were old enough to learn to sing; but the
assumed present would be a much shorter period, if
reference were made only to the time in which one had
been making the attempt to learn to sing.
Has the world grown better ?
In the sentence above, reference is made to the
entire time, from the creation of man until the present.
* In this clause the subjunctive form of the subjunctive mode is
used, because it has reference entirely to what is suppositional.
VERBS. TENSE.
I09
PAST TENSE.
The Past Tense is used when referring to time
wholly past, without reference to the present, as:
He went to New York last winter.
I was in New York ten years ago.
This tense is used, also, to represent an incom¬
plete or progressive act, in the past, as:
They were studying in Paris when the war broke out.
I was reading when you interrupted me.
This tense may be used, also, to represent a cus¬
tomary act in the past, as:
He rode out occasionally, when the weather was fine.
Note.—One is not liable to make an incorrect use of this tense.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
The Past Perfect Tense is used to represent the
completion of a past act or event, before the perform¬
ance of another past act, or the occurrence of another
past event.
He had been there a year before he found out that
his mines were very valuable.
He had heard of it before my arrival.
This tense may be used to denote progressive
action completed in past time, as:
When I reached there, I learned that he had been
working in the mines for years.
FUTURE TENSE.
The Future Tense is used when referring to some
act or event to be performed or to occur in the future,
something that is yet to come, as:
IIO
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
I shall read the account of the accident after dinner.
He will pass the summer in Minnesota.
This tense may be used to denote itiCOmplete
action in the future; also, a custom, as:
I shall be traveling in Europe next year.
You will be repenting of this step before a month.
He will be enjoying himself at home before many
weeks elapse.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
The Future Perfect Tense is used when refer¬
ence is made to the completion of an act or event
in future time, before the performance of another act,
or the occurrence of some other event, in the more
distant future, as:
I shall have finished the work before Wednesday.
He will have left town before noon.
This tense is used, also, to denote the completion
of a future progressive act, as:
I shall have been writing long before your return.
TENSE FORMS COMPARED WITH ACTUAL TIME.
In the indicative mode all these tense forms
mark time accurately. This mode has six tenses.
Ex.—I read (present).
I have read (completed in the present).
I read (past).
I had read (completed in the past before some
past time specified).
I shall read (actual future).
VERBS. TENSE.
I shall have read (completed in the future before
some other specified future).
The subjunctive mode has six tenses, but they
do not always mark time with accuracy.
The subjunctive form of the present and past,
are suppositional or hypothetical, but very effective,
and, in one sense of the word, correct, as:
If you be there next week, see that the work goes on
rapidly.
In this sentence, although the verb is in the jpresent
tense, it does not even suggest present time, but has a
definite reference to the future, which is necessarily
doubtful or uncertain.
In the following, however, present- time is meant,
therefore the common form is used:
John, if you are in the room, open the door.
Here, John is supposed to be in the room, at the
moment, but the verb is in the subjunctive mode, because
the idea of both doubt and condition are conveyed by the
expression.
The past tense of the subjunctive form, really means
present time; but this form is used simply to indi¬
cate something hypothetical; or something that is im¬
possible, as:
If I were you, I should remain at home (I cannot be
you).
If it were possible, he would return in time.
If you were going (now) I should not hesitate.
In the follQwing:
If I promised to go, I do not remember it.
112
english grammar.
If you gave it to him, he must have lost it.
The tense marks the true time. The common form is
used, because there seems to be an implied admission of
the fact, though a doubt is also implied.
Note.—Those who are in favor of classifying the verbs in such
expressions, as the last two, in the indicative mode, have not yet
explained how it is possible to make the indicative mode express a
thing as doubtful, when its peculiar characteristic is actuality.
The future tenses of the subjunctive mode mark
time accurately.
The tenses of the potent ial m ode are not defi¬
nite with regard to actual time.
May, can, and must are auxiliaries used in the
present tense; they do not always refer, however, to
the real present, but more especially to a present per¬
mission, possibility, ability, necessity, or obligation, in refer¬
ence to the performance of an act in the future, as:
You may go (permission).
I may go (possibility).
He can write (ability).
They must return (necessity).
The past tenses of the potential, have no reference
to past time, excepting could and would, which refer
to past ability or determination, as:
I could walk (ability) five miles an hour, seven years
ago.
He would walk (determination), though he was very
weak.
The past per feet tenses refer to past time, as:
You could have assisted me, if you would.
VERBS. TENSE.
"3
I might have assisted you when I had means, but I
cannot now.
You should have assisted me.
He would have assisted me, but he could not, for want
of means.
The potential mode has only four tenses; it is
wanting in a form of expression for the future.
The imperative mode has only one tense, the
present; for a command, an entreaty, a request, or a peti¬
tion, necessarily indicates present time, as:
Give me a book (now).
Go into the house (now).
The infinitive mode has two tenses, the present,
and the present perfect.
These tenses are dependent upon the principal verb in
the sentence for the real time of what is indicated by
them.
Great care must be taken to avoid an incorrect use
of the perfect infinitive.
After the following verbs, it should never be used,
as the present infinitive is absolutely necessary:
command, fear, mean,
desire, hope, promise,
entreat, intend, try,
endeavor, long, want,
expect, wish,
and some others.
Ex.—I commanded him to go.
I desire to go.
I entreat you to go.
"4
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
I expected to go.
I feared to go.
I hope to go.
I intended to go.
I lcjnged to go.
I meant to go.
I promised to go.
I tried to go.
I want to go.
I wish to go.
Note.—Such expressions as:
I wanted to have gone.
I meant to have gone.
I intended to have written, etc.,
are never used by good writers or speakers.
One cannot want, wish, desire, intend, etc., before the time
referred to by these verbs, therefore the present, not the perfect
infinitive should be used.
The present infinitive should always be used, if the
action indicated by it, is simultaneous with the action
asserted by the principal verb, as in the sentences above.
But, if the time indicated by the infinitive is past,
with reference to the time asserted by the principal
verb, the perfect infinitive should be used, as:
I ought to have remained.
He is said to have succeeded.
But all verbs that take the perfect infinitive after
them, will also take the present infinitive, as:
I ought to remain.
He is said to succeed.
VERBS. PARTICIPLES. II5
EXERCISES.
Give voice, mode, and tense of the verbs in the fol¬
lowing:
The lights are out, and gone are all the guests
That thronging came with merriment and jests,
To celebrate the Hanging of the Crane
In the new house.—Longfellow.
Avenge, O Lord thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.—Milton.
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.—Shakspeare.
I venerate old age; and I love not the man who can look with¬
out emotion upon the sunset of Wie. — Longfellow's Prose.
And I will trust that He who heeds
The life that hides in mead and wold,
Who hangs yon alder's crimson beads,
And stains these mosses green and gold,
Will still, as He hath done, incline
His gracious care to me and mine;
Grant what we ask aright, from wrong debar,
And, as the earth grows dark, make brighter every star!
—Whittier.
All night the dreadless angel, unpursued,
Through heaven's wide champaign held his way; 'till morn
Waked by the circling, with rosy hand
Unbarr'd the gates of light.—Milton.
PARTICIPLES.
Participles are words derived from verbs, but
used in the construction of sentences as adjectives or
The word participle is derived from the Latin
participare, meaning to partake.
A participle, necessarily, retains the nature of the
Verb from which it is derived. If the verb is an active
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
transitive verb, all its participles, whether in the
active or the passive voice, must retain the active
transitive signification, as:
The man who is selling his furniture, intends to re¬
turn to his native land.
The man selling his furniture, etc.
The furniture sold by the man was not very old.
It will be seen, readily, that the participle, sell in ff,
retains the active and transitive signification of the verb
sell (is selling), from which it is derived, and that it
governs the object, furniture, just as the verb gov¬
erns it.
It is, also, true that the passive participle, sold,
retains the active and the transitive signification of the
verb. If it did not, it could not be used to show action
received—could not take a passive form.
If the verb is active and intransitive, the par¬
ticiple must, necessarily, retain the active and in¬
transitive signification, as:
The boy fell from the tree, and hurt himself.
The boy, falling from the tree, hurt himself.
If the verb expresses beiiif/, the participle must ex¬
press beintj, as:
John seas there, and caused the delay.
John's being there caused the delay.
If the verb denotes state, the participles must denote
state, as:
The child that slumbers so peacefully will soon be
aroused by this noise.
The child slumbering so peacefully, etc.
VERBS. PARTICIPLES.
"7
It will be seen, readily, that the special difference
between verbs and the participles derived'from
them is not in their nature, but in their use.
As it has been said, there are two elements in every
verb—the element that asserts, and the element as¬
serted, as:
They talk.
Here the word talk tells something, and the thing
told or asserted is the kind of action performed by the
subject; both elements are expressed by the one word,
talk, which is equivalent to are talking.
When the assertive part of the verb is taken away,
only the attributive part is left, which is the partici¬
ple.
The participle is, then, the attributive part of the
verb alone—the verb deprived of the power of assertion.
Great care should be taken to avoid the incorrect
use of participles. Uneducated people often use the par¬
ticiples alone, in making a statements, as:
I seen it, I done it,
instead of: I saw it, I did it.
Care should be taken, also, to avoid using the auxil¬
iaries with the past tense, instead of the participle, as:
I have saw.
He has took.
She has sang.
instead of: I have seen.
He has taken.
She has sung.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
USES OF THE PARTICIPLE IN CONSTRUCTION.
The participle is used in the construction of sen¬
tences, both as an adjective and as a noun, as:
John read history every evening, and passed away the
time pleasantly and profitably.
John, redding history every evening, passed away the
time pleasantly and profitably. '
John's reading history every evening was a source of
pleasure as well as profit.
In the first sentence read is a verb; in the second
sentence, reading is only a part of the verb, the attrib¬
utive part, used adjectively, to modify John; and in the
third sentence, reading is the attributive part of the
verb only, but it is used as the name of the action, and
is therefore a noun, in the nominative case, subject of
the verb was.
But, as the word reading, in both constructions (as
adjective and as noun), is derived from the word read,
and retains the signification of the verb, it is a participle,
and, it will be seen, also, that in each case the word his¬
tory is in the objective, governed by it.
The genius of the English Language seems
to give to all words derived from verbs, but which have
no power to assert, the name participle, because, per¬
haps, they join so naturally with the auxiliary verb, in
conjugation, thus making a part of the verb, as:
He is reading.
He has been reading.
He was reading, etc.
These words must be carefully distinguished from the
abstract nouns derived from verbs, such as:
VERBS. PARTICIPLES. Up
concentration, from concentrate,
judgment, from judge,
agreement, from agree,
prohibition, from prohibit,
occupation, from occupy,
action, from act,
which will not blend or unite with the copula in conju¬
gation.
DIVISIONS OF PARTICIPLES.
Grammarians are not agreed in the classifica¬
tion of participles, though it is admitted, by most
of them, that there are three divisions; and the
following names are considered appropriate:
1. The present participle.
2. The past participle.
3. The perfect participle.
The Present participle always ends in ing. It is
used to indicate the continuation of an act, an existence,
or a state, at the time represented by the principal verb
in the sentence, as:
I saw a boy going to school without his books.
The boy being at school, did not know of their
arrival.
The boy sleeping on the grass, lives in that house
yonder.
The Present participle is used with the copula
to make the progressive form of the verb, as:
He is going.
John was running.
120
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
We are eating.
It is snowing.
They are sleeping.
This participle is used very often as an adjec¬
tive, and when placed before the noun, should always
be called a participial adjective, as:
The whistling wind.
The shouting multitude.
The destroying angel.
The Present participle is used, also, to denote
an action accompanying the action asserted by the
verb in the sentence, as:
He seized my hand, uttering expressions of gratitude.
The child came to me crying, but it went away laugh¬
ing.
This participle has several constructions, in its
use as a noun:
1. It may be used as a noun with the modification of
a noun, as:
I have heard the sighing of the wind.
He did not know of the coming of my friends.
2. It may be modified as a noun, by an adjective
element, and as a verb, by an adverbial element, or an
objective element, or by both, at the same time, as:
His ploughing the field so carefully was the cause of
his reaping such immense crops of well-matured
grain, last year.
3. It may be used as subject of a verb, without any
modification, as:
Walking is fine exercise.
VERBS. PARTICIPLE. 121
4. It may be used as the object of a verb or a prep¬
osition, as:
I heard singing in the church as I passed by.
By running you may reach the train in time.
5. It may be used in the same sentence, as subject
nominative, and as predicate nominative, as:
Loving our neighbor as ourselves is fulfilling the
law.
In the sentence above, loving is a participial noun,
the subject of the verb is; and fulfilling is a participial
noun, the predicate nominative.
It will be observed that both the participial nouns
are transitive—each followed by an object expressed.
In the following sentence:
He is fulfillmg his promise,
fulfilling is not a participial noun; it is used with the
copula, making the progressive form of the verb, and the
two (is and fulfilling) should be parsed together as a sin¬
gle verb.
The jpast active participle cannot be used alone
in a sentence as a participle.
It is indispensable, however, in the formation of
the perfect tenses, in the active voice, common form of
the verb, as:
I have loved.
I had loved.
I shall have loved.
This participle is used also in forming the perfect
factive participle, as:
122 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The soldiers, having escaped from the pursuit of the
enemy, returned in safety to the camp.
The perfect active participle is formed by pre¬
fixing to the past active participle of an active verb, the
present active participle of the verb have:
Having departed.
Having created.
Having driven.
Having seen.
The perfect active participle denotes the comple¬
tion of an act at the time asserted by the principal
verb, as:
Having repeated the warning, he left without making
himself known.
This participle may be used as a noun.
Ex.—By having determined to reform, he was again
received into the confidence of his employers.
There are three passive participles.
The present passive participle is used to denote
the reception of an act at the time represented by the
principal verb, as:
The bird seen from the window is a swallow.
The boy loved by his mother, always obeyed her.
This participle never ends in ing, but is often pre¬
ceded by being, the present participle of the verb be.
It is often used as an adjective, as:
A cultivated field produces an abundant harvest;
VERBS. PARTICIPLES. 123
and, also, as a noun:
By being cultivated, the ground produced an abund¬
ant harvest.
The difference between the present passive
participle and the past passive participle is hardly
distinguishable, as they have the same form and do not,
in any case, represent past time, when used as participles.
In the following:
The purse found in the street belonged to the car¬
penter; and,
The child lost on the prairie was found by a traveler
and returned to its parents;
found and lost are passive participles. They have
the form of the past participle, but may be called pres¬
ent participles, as they refer to the reception of an act
present at the time indicated by the verbs belonged and
was found.
This form of the passive participle is used with the
copula to form the verb in the passive voice, as:
The child is lost.
The purse was found.
In forming the past tenses of the verbs in the passive
voice, the participle is evidently the past passive parti¬
ciple, though the same form is used to form the present
tense.
The perfect passive participle is used to de¬
note the reception of an act completed at the time rep¬
resented by the principal verb, as:
The purse having been found, it was claimed by a man
who evidently was pot the owner.
124
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
This participle cannot be used in forming the tenses.
It may be used as a noun in the nominative or the
objective case, as:
His having been seen here in bad company caused his
arrest.
I did not know of your having been chosen chairman
of this committee.
REMARKS ON PARTICIPLES.
Participles belong to nouns or pronouns, as:
The man coming toward the house is a stranger.
He, standing by the window, looked anxiously at the
gathering clouds.
In the first sentence, the participle coming, belongs
to the noun man; in the second sentence, the participle
standing belongs to the pronoun he.
In both <;ases the entire element, introduced by the
participle, is an adjective element,participial construction.
When the participle is placed before the noun, it
should be called a participial adjective, as:
The singing bird.
The neglected child.
The cultivated field.
The besieged city.
The participle cannot be used adverbially. It is
usually found in abridged propositions, as:
The tree which stands by the gate is an elm.
The tree standing by the gate is an elm.
VERBS. PARTICIPLES.
In the second sentence, standing by the gate, is
abridged from the adjective clause which stands by the
gate; and it retains the adjective nature of the clause,
for all abridged propositions retain the nature of the
clauses from which they are abridged.
In the following there is a seeming contradiction to
this statement, as the abridged proposition is adverbial:
He left Canada in December because the climate was
too cold.
The climate being too cold, he left Canada in Decem¬
ber.
It will be seen that, although the abridged proposi¬
tion retains the adverbial nature of the clause, the par¬
ticipial construction, being too cold, belongs to and
modifies the noun climate. And in the following:
Having determined to seek his fortune in the west, he
did not hesitate to make known his intentions
to his friends.
The participial construction is abridged from the
adverbial clause:
After (or when) he had determined to seek his for¬
tune in the west, etc.
And while the entire expression, having determined
to seek a home in the west, is an adverbial modifier of the
predicate, the participle itself really belongs to the word
understood, and logically, to the subject he.
There is another construction in which the participle
seems to be used adverbially, as in the following familiar
sentence:
Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger, comes
dancing from the east.
126
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Here the word dancing seems to be used as an ad¬
verb, modifying comes; but it really belongs to and mod¬
ifies star. It is connected to the predicate only with the
idea of an accompanying action.
The following participles have the same construction:
The child crying came to me for help, and laughing
went out to play again.
The noun or pronoun and the participle are some¬
times used absolutely, that is, they have no grammat¬
ical relation to the sentence, though closely connected
With it in thought, as:
The father returning unexpectedly, the children sud¬
denly became very quiet.
Sometimes the participle is used absolutely without
the noun or pronoun, as:
Generally speaking, the winters are not severe in this
latitude.
Confessing the truth, I know I was mistaken.
DIRECTIONS FOR PARSING PARTICIPLES.
In parsing a participle tell:
1. It is a participle.
2. Definition.
3. From what verb derived.
4. What part of the verb.
5. What it retains of the verb from which it is de¬
rived.
6. Kind of participle.
7. Construction.
8. Rule.
verbs. parsing.
MODEL FOR PARSING A PARTICIPLE.
The parents, honored by their children, are passing the
evening of life in peace and happiness.
Honored . . is a participle—it is a word de*
rived from a verb, but used in the
construction of the sentence as an
adjective; it is derived from the
verb honor; it is the attributive part
of the verb—it retains the active
transitive signification of the verb,
but does not retain the power of
assertion; it is a present passive
participle—it denotes the reception
of an act at the time represented by
the principal verb; it is used as an
adjective, and with its modifiers
limits the noun parents.
Rule X.
All participles may be parsed according to this
model, even the participial noun, making no change,
except in giving the kind of participle, the construction,
and the rule.
When the participle is placed before the noun, it
should be called a participal adjective, as it has been
said; but when placed after the noun, with its modifiers,
it is called participial construction.
Note.—The participial construction adds to the brevity,
strength, and beauty of language; and is much used by writers,
especially in poetic composition. Scott's poems abound in partici-
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Parse the participles in the exercises:
"Harp of the north, farewell! the hills grow dark,
On purple peaks a deeper shade descending;
In twilight copse the glow worm lights her spark,
The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending.
Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending,
And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy;
Thy numbering sweet with nature's vespers blending,
With distant echo fiom the fold and lea,
And herd-b .j's evenn g pipe, and hum of housing bee."
—Scott.
"A fat clcrg\ man, clad in black, with a surplice thrown loosely
about him, came pacing along one of the aisles from beneath the
organ-loft, and ascended the pulpit."—Longfellow.
CLASSIFICATION OF VERDS ACCORDING TO FORM.
Verbs are classified, according to their form, into
regular verbs, whose past tense and past participle
end in etl, as:
depart, departrvf, depart^/
and
Irregular verbs, whose past tense and past par¬
ticiple do not end in ed, as;
do, did, done.
These verbs form the past tense and past participle
in such a variety of ways that the name irregular, seems
very appropriate; and it is impossible to get a knowl¬
edge of the principal parts except by study.
Some grammarians classify these verbs (regular and
irregular) into:
1. Strong verbs.
2. Weak verbs.
VERBS. IRREGULAR.
129
Most irregular verbs are called strong verbs.
Hegular verbs are called weak verbs.
Regular, or weak verbs, are increasing in numbers.
IRREGULAR VERBS.
Irregular verbs are so called because there is
110 regular form for the ending of the past tense and
past participle.
These />arts of the verbs are variously formed; there
guide to
their formation:
do,
did,
done,
g°,
went,
gone,
am,
was,
been,
see,
saw,
seen,
set,
set,
set.
Many of the irregular verbs have either gone out of
use, or have taken the regular form, and some have
become redundant; that is, they have both a regu¬
lar and an irregular form in the past tense or past par¬
ticiple, and some in both.
LIST OF IRREGULAR WORDS.
Present. Pase. Past Participle.
abide, abode, abode,
am, was, been,
arise, arose, arisen,
bear (to bring forth), bore, born,
bear (to carry), bore, borne,
beat, beat, beaten, beat,
begin, began, begun, begun,
behold, beheld, beheld,
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Present. '
Past.
Past Participle.
beseech,
besought,
besought,
bestride,
bestrode, bestrid, bestridden, bestrid,
bid,
bid, bade,
bid, bidden,
bind,
bound,
bound,
bite,
bit,
bitten, bit,
bleed,
bled,
' bled,
break,
broke, brake,
broken,
breed,
bred,
bred,
bring,
brought,
brought,
burst,
burst,
burst,
buy,
bought,
bought,
cast,
cast,
cast,
chide,
chid,
chidden, chid,
choose,
chose,
chosen, chose,
cleave QLo split),
cleft, clove,
cloven, cleft,
cling,
clung,
clung,
come,
came,
come,
cost,
cost,
cost,
creep,
crept,
crept,
cut,
cut,
cut,
do.
did,
done,
drink,
drank,
drunk, drank,
drive,
drove,
driven,
eat,
eat, ate,
eaten, eat,
fall,
fell,
fallen,
feed,
fed,
fed,
feel,
felt,
felt,
fight,
fought,
fought,
find,
found,
found,
flee,
fled,
fled,
fling,
flung,
flung,
fly,
flew,
flown,
forsake,
forsook,
forsaken,
VERBS. IRREGULAR.
Present.
Past-
Past Partieiple.
freeze,
froze,
frozen,
get,
got,
got, gotten,
give,
gave,
given,
go,
went,
gone,
grind,
ground,
ground,
have,
had,
had,
hear,
heard,
heard,
hide,
hid,
hidden, hid,
hit,
hit,
hit,
hold,
held,
held,
hurt,
hurt,
hurt,
keep,
kept,
kept,
lay,
laid,
laid,
lead,
led,
led,
leave,
left,
left,
lend,
lent,
lent,
let,
let,
let,
lie (to recline),
lay,
lain,
lose,
lost,
lost,
make,
made,
made,
mean,
meant,
meant,
meet,
met,
met,
pay,
paid,
paid,
put,
put,
put,
read,
read,
read,
rend,
rent,
rent,
ride,
rode,
ridden,
ring,
rang, rung,
rung,
rise,
rose,
risen,
run
ran, run,
run,
say,
said,
said,
see,
saw,
seen,
seek,
sought,
sought,
132 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Present.
Past.
Past Participle.
sell,
sold,
sold,
send,
sent,
sent,
set,
set,
set,
shake,
shook,
, shaken,
shed,
shed,
shed,
shoe,
shod,
shod,
shoot,
shot,
shot,
shred,
shred,
shred,
shrink,
shrank, shrunk,
shrunken,shrunk,
shut,
shut,
shut,
sing,
sang, sung,
sung,
sink,
sunk,sank,
sunk,
sit,
sat,
sat,
slay,
slew,
slain,
sleep,
slept,
slept,
slide,
slid,
slidden, slid,
sling,
slung, slang,
slung,
smite,
smote,
smitten, smit,
speak,
spoke, spake,
spoken,
spend,
spent,
spent,
spin,
spun, span,
spun,
spit,
spit, spat,
spit,
spread,
spread,
spread,
spring,
sprang, sprung,
sprung,
stand,
stood,
stood,
steal,
stole,
stolen,
stick,
stuck,
stuck,
sting,
stung,
stung,
stride,
strid, strode,
strid, stridden,
strike,
struck,
struck, stricken,
string,
strung,
strung,
strive,
strove,
striven,
swear,
swore,
sworn,
VERBS. REDUNDANT.
• 133
sweep,
swim,
swing,
take,
teach,
tear,
tell,
think,
'thrust,
tread,
wear,
weave,
weep,
win,
wind,
wring,
write.
Past.
swept,
swam, swum,
swung,
took,
taught,
tore,
told,
thought,
thrust,
trod,
wove,
wept,
won,
wound,
wrung,
wrote.
Past Participle.
swept,
swung,
taken,
taught,
torn,
told,
thought,
thrust,
trodden,
worn,
woven, wove,
wept,
won,
wound,
wrung,
written.
REDUNDANT VERBS.
Many vAbs have two forms for the past tense, or the
past participle, some for both, as:
bid, bid, bade, bidden, bid,
eat, eat, ate, eat, eaten,
ring, rang, rung, rung,
and many others.
Besides those which have two irregular forms, there
are some which have both an irregular and a regular
form. The following list includes most of them:
awake, awoke, awaked, awaked,
bend, bent, bended, bent, bended,
bereave, bereaved, bereft, bereaved, bereft,
build, built, builded, built, budded,
134 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Present.
Past.
Past Participle.
catch,
caught, catched,
caught, catched,
clothe,
clothed, clad,
clothed, clad,
crow,
crew, crowed,
crew, crowed,
dare (to venture) dared, durst,
dared,
dare (challenge)
dared,
dared,
(always regular)
deal,
dealed, dealt,
dealed, dealt,
dig,
dug, digged,
dug, digged,
dream,
dreamed, dreamt,
dreamed, dreamt,
dwell,
dwelled, dwelt,
dwelled, dwelt,
gild,
gilded, gilt,
gilded, gilt;
gird,
girded, girt,
girded, girt,
hang,
hanged, hung,
(to take life)
hanged, hung,
heave,
heaved, hove,
heaved, hoven,
hew,
hewed,
hewed, hewn,
kneel,
kneeled, knell,
kneeled, knelt,
knit,
knit, knitted,
knit, knitted,
light,
lighted, lit,
lighted, lit,
mow,
mowed,
mowed, mown,
pen,
penned, pent,
penne'd, pent,
quit,
quit, quitted,
quit, quitted,
rid,
rid, ridded,
rid, ridded,
rive,
rived,
rived, riven,
saw,
sawed,
sawed, sawn,
seethe,
seethed,
seethed,sodden,
shape,
shaped,
shaped, shapen,
shave,
shaved,
shaved, shaven,
shear,
sheared,
sheared, shorn,
shine,
shone, shined,
shone, shined,
slit,
slit, slitted,
slit, slitted,
smell,
smelled, smelt,
smelled, smelt,
sow,
sowed,
sowed, sown,
speed,
sped, speeded,
sped, speeded,
•
VERBS. IRREGULAR. IJ5
Present.
Past.
Past Participle.
spell,
spelled, spelt,
spelled, spelt,
spill,
spilled, spilt,
spilled, spilt,
split,
split, splitted,
split, splitted,
spoil,
spoiled, spoilt,
spoiled, spoilt,
stave,
staved, stove,
staved, stove,
stay,
stayed, staid,
stayed, stayed,
strew,
strewed,
strewed, strewn,
sweat,
sweat, sweated,
sweat, sweated,
swell,
swelled,
swelled, swollen,
thrive,
thrived, throve,
thrived, thriven,
wax,
waxed,
waxed, waxen,
wet,
wet, wetted,
wet, wetted,
work,
worked, wrought,
worked, wrought.
The following
are not redundant, though the regular
form is often used by careless or uneducated people:
blow,
blew,
blown,
burst,
burst,
burst,'
draw,
drew,
drawn,
grow,
grew,
grown,
know,
knew,
known,
throw,
threw,
thrown.
REMARKS ON IRREGULAR VERBS.
Mistakes are frequently made in using irregular
verbs.
Great care should be taken to use the auxiliary
verb with the participle, not with the past tense, when
forming perfect tenses, as:
I have gone (not, I have went).
I have seen (not, I have saw).
I have written (not, I have wrote)-,
136
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Also, to use the past tense, not the past participle, when
making an assertion referring to past time, as:
I saw it (not, I seen it).
I did it (not, I done it.
The participle without an auxiliary cannot make
an assertion.
Set is often incorrectly used in the place of sit; lay,
in its past, laid, for lay, the past of lie, as:
I set down, or have set down (incorrect.)
I sat down, or have sat down (correct).
I lay down (correct).
I laid down (incorrect).
I have lain down (correct).
I have laid down (incorrect).
Laid is correct when it means to put, or to place, as:
I laid the book down.
Many of the irregular verbs have the termination en
in one form of the participle. This termination is to be
preferred in most cases, as:
I have ea.ten; it is hidd<?«; it was bittf«; it was beaten;
and some others.
Gotten, one form of the participle of get, was for a
long time considered obsolete; but it is used frequently
by modern writers.
The word get should not be used in any of its parts,
unless the statement refers to. acquisition by means of
personal agency, as:
I have got a fortune; correct, if I have acquired it by
my own efforts; I have a fortune, if it has been
given me.
VERBS. IRREGULAR.
137
Stricken, one form of the participle of strike, is used
commonly in reference to affliction of some kind, as:
Stricken with sorrow; stricken with palsy, etc.
It is often used, also, in reference to erasures, as:
The offensive clause was stricken out;
His name was stricken from the roll.
Note.—Some of the forms of redundant verbs are used only in
poetry; in some cases the two forms are eqtially good; but in others,
one of the forms is much to be preferred to the other. What is con¬
sidered by most writers and speakers as the better form, is indicated
in the list by italics.
In some cases these forms have different meanings, as:
Hanged, in reference to taking life; this is also poetic.
Ex.—We hanged our harps upon the willows, etc.
—Psalm.
Hung has another meaning:
Ex.—He hung his coat on the nail.
Pen, as a regular verb, means to write or enclose;
pent has a figurative use, but retains the idea of confine¬
ment, as: Pent up grief, etc.
The verb hear is peculiar, not in its use, but in the
formation of its past tense and past participle It is the
only verb in English having the ending (present tense)
in ear, that forms the past tense and past participle by
adding d:
hear, heard, heard;
But we find:
fear, feared, feared,
sear, seared, seared,
rear, reared, reared,
tear, tore, torn,
wear, (wore, worn, etc.
138 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
INFLECTION OF THE VERB.
Inflection of verbs to show person, number, voice,
mode, and tense is called conjugation.
Synopsis is the giving of only one person and num¬
ber through all the modes, tenses, and voices, as:
Present. Present Perfect. Past.
I love. I have loved. I loved, etc.
The principal parts of the verb are:
1. Present indicative.
2. Past indicative.
3. Past participle.
All other forms of the verb are made from these,
therefore the name principal parts is appropriate.
Person and number are not, really, properties of the
verb; but simply variations in form to correspond with
the person and number of the subject.
Ex.—I love, thou lovest, he loves; I am, thou art, he
is, we are.
PROGRESSIVE AND EMPHATIC FORMS.
The progressive form is made by combining
some form of the verb be with the present participle
ending in ing, as:
I am writ ing, I was read ing} I have been skat/v^, I
shall be running, I had been sleep/«^.
The verb do is used in the present and past 'enses to
make an assertion emphatic, as:
I do study, I did study.
This form is found only in the indicative, subjunctive,
and imperative modes.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
139
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
PRINCIPAL PARTS.
Present. Past. Past Participle.
am. was. been.
INDICATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular.
1. I am,
2. Thou art
3. He is;
Plural.
1. We are,
2. Ye or you are,
3. They are.
PRESENT rERFECT TENSE.
r, I have been, 1. We have been,
2. Thou hast been, 2. Ye or you have been,
3. He has been; 3. They have been.
PAST TENSE.
1. I was, 1. We were,
2. Thou wast, 2. Ye or you were,
3. He was; 3. They were.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
r. I had been,
2. Thou hadst been,
3. He had been;
1. We had been,
2. Ye or you had been,
3. They had been.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. I shall or will be,
2. Thou shalt or will be,
3. He shall or will be;
1. We shall or will be,
2. Ye or you shall be,
3. They shall or will.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. I shall or will have been, i. We shall or will have been
2. Thou shalt or wilt have 2. Ye or you shall or will
been, have been,
3. He shall or will have 3. They shall or will have
been; been.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. If I am, 1. If we are,
2. If thou art, 2. If ye or you are,
3. If he is; 3. If they are.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I have been, 1. If we have been,
2. If thou art, 2. If ye or you are,
3. If he is; 3. If they are.
PAST TENSE.
1. If I was, 1. If we were,
2. If thou wast, 2. If ye or you were,
3. If he was; 3. If they were.
PAST PERFECr TENSE.
1. If I have been, 1. If we have been,
2. If thou hast been, 2. If ye or you have been,
3. If he has been; . 3. If they have been.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. If I shall or will be, 1. If we shall or will be,
2. If thou shalt or wilt be, 2. If ye or you shall or will
be,
3. If he shall or will be. 3. If they shall or will be.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
141
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
If I shall or will have x. If we shall or will have
been, been,
If thou shalt or wilt have 2. If ye or you shall or will
been, have been,
If he shall or will have 3. If they shall or will have
been; been.
SUBJUNCTIVE FORM.
PRESENT TENSE.
Plura.
1. If we be,
2. If ye or you be,
3. If they be.
PAST TENSE.
If I were, 1. If we were,
If thou were or wert, 2. If ye or you were.
If he were; 3. If they were.
POTENTIAL MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
I may, can, or must be, 1. We may, can, or must be,
Thou mayst, canst, or 2. Ye or you may, can, or
must be, must me,
He may, can, or must 3. They may, can, or must
be; be.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
I may have been, x. We may have been,
Thou mayst have been, 2. Ye or you may have been,
He may have been; 3. They may have been.
Singular.
If I be,
If thou be,
If he be;
142
english grammar.
past
1. I might, could, would, or
should be,
2. Thou mightst, couldst,
wouldst, or should be,
3. He might, could, would,
or should be;
1. We might, could, would,
or should be,
2. Ye or you might, could,
would, or should be,
3. They might, could, would,
or should be.
past perfect tense.
x. I might have been, 1. We might have been,
2. Thou mightst have been, 2. Ye or you might have
been,
3. He might have been; 3. They might have been.
Note.—The auxiliaries can and must, may also be used in thf
Present Perfect tense; and could, would, and should, in the Past
Perfect.
IMPERATIVE MODE. <•
Singular. Plural.
Be, or be thou. Be, or be ye or you.
emphatic form.
Do thou be. Do ye or you be.
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present—To be.
Perfect—To have been.
PARTICIPLES.
Present—Being.
Past—Been.
Perfect—Having been.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
143
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB HAVE.
INDICATIVE MODE.
Present,
have,
Singular.
1. I have,
2. Thou hast,
3. He has;
1. I have had,
2. Thou hast hi
3. He has had;
1. I had,
2. Thou hadst,
3. He had;
1. I had had,
2. Thou hadst 1
3. He had had;
1. I shall or will have,
2. Thou shalt or wilt have,
3. He shall or will have;
Past. Past Participle,
had, had.
have.
have had,
: had.
had,
had had,
had.
1. We shall or will have,
2. Ye or you shall or will
have,
3. They shall or will have.
PRESENT TENSE.
Plural.
1. We have,
2. Ye or you
3. They have
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
i. We have h
ad, 2. Ye or you
3. They have
PAST TENSE.
1. We had,
2. Ye or you
3. They had.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
i. We had ha
aad, 2. Ye or you
3. They had
FUTURE TENSE.
144
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE,
x. I shall or will have had, i. We shall or will have had,
2. Thou shalt or wilt have 2. Ye or you shall or will
had, have had,
3. He shall or will have 3. They shall or will have
had; had.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. riural.
1. If I have, 1. If we have,
2. If thou hast or have, 2. If ye or you have,
3. If he has or have; 3. If they have.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I have had, 1. If we have had,
2. If thou hadst had, 2. If ye or you have had,
3. If he has had; 3. If they have had.
PAST TENSE.
. If I had, 1. If we had,
. If thou hadst or had, 2. If ye or you had,
. If he had; 3. If they had.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
. If I had had, 1. If we had had,
. If thou hadst or had had, 2. If ye or you had had,
. If he had had; 3. If they had had.
FUTURE TENSE.
. If I shall or will have, 1. If we shall or will have,
, If thou shalt or wilt 2. If ye or you shall or will
have, have,
. If he shall or will have; 3. If they shall or will have.
VERES. CONJUGATION. 145
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I shall or will have i. If we shall or will have
had, had,
2. If thou shalt or will have 2. If ye or you shall or will
had, have had,
3. If he shall or will have 3. If they shall or will have
had; had.
No re.—AH verbs have a subjunctive form in the present and the
past, as: if thou have, it he have, in the present, second, and third
person; also, in the second person past, if thou had.
POTENTIAL MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
1. I may, can, or must have, x. We may,can,or must have
2. Thou mayst, canst, or 2. Ye or you may, can, or
must have, must have,
3. He may, can, or must 3. They may, can, or must
have; have.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. I may, can, or must, 1. We may, can, or must
have had, have had,
2. Thou mayst, canst, or 2. Ye or you may, can, or
must have had, must have had,
3. He may, can or, must 3. They may, can, or must
have had; have had.
PAST TENSE.
1. I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could, would,
should have, or should have,
2. Thou mightest, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could,
wouldst, or shouldst would, or should have,
have,
3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, would,
or should have; or should have.
46
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
. I might have had, i. We might have had,
. Thou mightest have had, 2. Ye or you might have had,
. He might have had; 3. They might have had.
IMPERATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
Have, or have thou. Have ye or you.
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present tense—To have.
Perfect tense—To have had.
PARTICIPLES.
Present—Having.
Past—Had.
Perfect—Having had.
Note.—The verb have will take the passive form, but is seldom
used, except when meaning to regard or to esteem.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOVE.
PRINCIPAL PARTS.
Present. Past. Past Participle.
Love. Loved. Loved.
PRESENT TENSE.
I love,
Thou lovest,
He loves;
1. We love,
2. Ye or you love,
3. They love.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. I have loved, i. We have loved,
2. Thus hast loved, 2. Ye or you have loved,
3. He has loved; 3. They have loved.
PAST TENSE.
1. We loved,
2. Ye or you loved,
3. They loved.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. I had loved, 1. We had loved,
2. Thou hadst loved, 2. Ye or you had loved,
3. He had loved; 3. They had loved.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. 1 shall or will love, 1. We shall or will love,
2. Thou shalt or wilt love, 2. Ye or you shall or will
love,
3. He shall or will love; 3. They shall or will love.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. I shall or will have loved, 1. We shall or will have
loved,
2. Thou shalt or wilt have 2. Ye or you shall or will
loved, have loved,
3. He shall or will have 3. They shall or will have
loved, loved.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. If I love. 1. If we love.
2. If thou lovest or love, 2. If ye or you love,
3. If he loves, or love; 3. If they love.
1. I loved,
2. Thou lovedst,
3. He loved;
I4S
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I have loved, i. If we have loved,
2. If thou hast or have i. If ye or you have loved,
loved,
3. If he has loved; 3. If they have loved.
PAST TENSE.
1. If I loved, 1. If we loved,
2. If thou lovedst or loved, 2. If ye or you loved,
3. If he loved; 3. If they loved.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I had loved, 1. If we had loved,
2. If thou hadst or had 2. If ye or,you had loved,
loved,
3. If he had loved; 3. If they had loved.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. If I shall or will love, 1. If we shall or will love,
2. If thou shalt or wilt love, 2. If ye or you shall or will
love,
3. If he shall or will love; 3. If they shall or will love.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I shall or will have 1. If we shall or will have
loved, loved,
2. If thou shalt or wilt have 2. If ye or you shall or will
loved, have loved,
3. If he shall or will have 3. If they shall or will have
loved; loved.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
149
POTENTIAL MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. I may, can, or must love, r. We may, can, or must love,
2. Thou mayst, canst, or 2. Ye or you may, can, or
must love, must love,
3. He may, can, or must 3. They may, can, or must
love; love.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. I may have loved,
2. Thou mayst have loved,
3. He may have loved;
1. We may have loved,
2. Ye or you may have loved,
3. They may have loved.
PAST TENSE.
1. I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could, would,
should love, or should love,
2. Thou mightest, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could,
wouldst, or shouldst would, or should love,
love,
3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, would,
or should love; or should love.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. I might have loved, 1.
2. Thou mightst have loved, 2.
3. He might have loved; 3.
We might have loved,
Ye or you might have
loved,
They might have loved.
IMPERATIVE MOOD.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
Love thou. Love ye or you.
INGUSH GRAMMAR.
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present—To love.
Perfect—To have loved.
PARTICIPLES.
Present—Loving.
Past—Loved.
Perfect—Having loved.
PASSIVE VOICE.
The Passive Voice of transitive verbs is formed
by placing before the past passive participle of the verb,
the various forms of the the verb to be.
INDICATIVE MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
i. I am loved, x. We are loved,
a. Thou art loved, 2. Ye or you are loved,
3. He is loved; 3. They are loved.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. I have been loved, 1. We have been loved,
2. Thou hast been loved, 2. Ye or you have been loved
3 He has been loved; 3. They have been loved.
TAST TENSE.
j. I was loved, 1. We were loved,
2. Thou wast loved 2. Ye or you were loved,
3. He was loved; 3. They were loved.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
1. I had been loved, r. We had been loved,
2. Thou hadst been loved, 2. Ye or you had been loved,
3. He had been loved; 3. They had been loved.
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
FUTURE TENSE.
1. I shall or will be loved,
2. Thou shalt or wilt be
loved,
3. He shall or will be loved;
1. We shall or will be loved,
2. Ye or you shall or will be
loved,
3. They shall or will be
loved.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
1. I shall or will have been x. We shall or will have been
loved, loved,
2. Thou shalt or wilt have 2. Ye or you shall or will
been loved, have been loved,
3. He shall or will have 3. They shall or will have
been loved; been loved.
SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.
PRESENT .TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
1. If I am loved, 1. If we are loved,
2. If thou art loved, 2. If you are loved,
3. If he is loved; 3. If they are loved.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
1. If I have been loved, 1. If we have been loved,
2. If thou hast been loved, 2. If ye or you have been
loved,
3. If he has been loved; 3. If they have been loved.
PAST TENSE.
1. If I was loved, 1. If we were loved,
2. If thou wast or wert 2. If ye or you were loved,
loved,
3. If he was loved; 3. If they were loved.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
. If I had been loved, 1. If we had been loved,
. Ifthouhadst been loved, 2. If ye or you had been loved
loved,
. If he had been loved; 3. If they had been loved,
FUTURE TENSE.
. If I shall or will be loved, 1. If we shall or will be loved
. If thou shalt or wilt be 2. If ye or you shall or will
loved, be loved,
. If he shall or will be 3. If they shall or will be
loved; loved.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.
. If I shall or will have 1. If we shall or will have
been loved, been loved,
. If thou shalt or wilt have 2. If ye or you shall or will
been loved, have been loved,
. If he shall or will have 3. If they shall or will have
been loved; been loved.
POTENTIAL MODE.
PRESENT TENSE.
Singular. Plural.
. I may, can, or must be 1. We may, can, or must be
loved, loved,
Thou mayst, canst, or 2. Ye or you may, can, or
must be loved, must be loved,
He may, can, or must be 3. They may, can, or must
loved; be loved.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
I may have been loved, 1. We may have been laved,
Thou mayst have been 2. Ye or you may have been
loved, loved,
He may have been loved; 3. They may have been loved
VERBS. CONJUGATION.
153
PAST TENSE.
I might be loved, 1.
Thou mightst be loved, 2.
He might be loved; 3.
We might be loved,
Ye or you might be loved.
They might be loved.
PAST PERFECT TENSE.
I might have been loved, r. We might have been loved
Thou mightst have been 2. Ye or you might have
loved, been loved,
He might have been 3. They might have been
loved; loved.
IMPERATIVE MODE.
Singular. Plural.
Be thou loved, Be ye or you loved
INFINITIVE MODE.
Present-"To be loved.
Perfect—To have been loved.
PARTICIPLES.
Present—Being loved.
Past—Loved.
Perfect—Having been loved.
DIRECTIONS FOR PARSING VERBS.
In parsing a verb, tell:
1. It is a verb, and why.
2. Regular or irregular.
3. Transitive or intransitive.
4. Voice.
5. Mode.
*54
english grammar.
6. Tense.
7. Inflect.
8. Agreement with subject
9. Rule.
Until the puj lis are familiar with the properties and
uses of the different kinds of verbs, it is well to require
them to give reasons for all statements in parsing.
MODELS FOR PARSING A VERD.
I goo is not a leap year.
Is is a verb—it is a word used to affirm
or tell something of the subject,
/goo; it is irregular—its past tense
and past participle do not end in ed;
it is intransitive—it does not require
an object to complete its meaning;
it is in the indicative mode—it
makes a direct statement; present
tense—it is used idiomatically, to
denote the recurrence of a period of
time (a century); third person, and
singular number, to agree with the
subject, the noun igoo, according to
Rule VI.—A verb must agree with
its subject in number and person.
I make the netted sunbeam dance.— Tennyson.
3IaJie . . . . is a verb—irregular, transitive; ac¬
tive voice; indicative mode, present
tense; first person, singular number,
to agree with the subject /.
verbs. parsing.
Dance . . . . is a verb—it signifies, but does not
assert, action; regular, transitive;
infinitive mode (the sign to oi..itted
after make); present tense, and de¬
pends upon the verb make, accord¬
ing to
Rule XVIII.— The infinitive has
the signification and modifications of
the verb, but is used as a noun or an
adjective.
exercises.
We never know the worth of the water, till the well is dry.
When the summer fields are mown,
When the birds are fledged and flown,
And the dry leaves strew the path;
With the falling of the snow,
With the cawing of the crow,
Once again the fields we mow
And gather in the aftermath.—Longfellow.
He liveth long who liveth well.
Time is a file that wears and makes no noise.
Warren Hastings sprang from an ancient and illustrious race. It
has been affirmed that his pedigree can be traced back* to the great
Danish sea-king, whose sails were long the terror of both coasts of
the British channel, and who, after many fierce and doubtful strug¬
gles, yielded at last to the valor and genius of Alfred.—Macaulay.
*Can be traced back, should be parsed, all the words together,
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
ADVERBS.
The adverb (from the Latin ad, to; and verburn,
verb) is that part of speech which is used to limit
the meaning of a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an
adverb.
Ex.—The snow falls rapidly.
The snow falling rapidly.
The very beautiful snow is falling.
The snow is falling too rapidly.
The adverb is not absolutely necessary to complete
the meaning of the word which it limits, but it adds to it
many different shades of meaning, in reference to time,
place, manner, etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERDS.
Adverbs are classified according to their meaning
into:
i. Adverbs of time, which answer the questions
when? how long? In
ow often?
when?
how long?
how often?
now,
always,
often,
then,
ever,
seldom,
hitherto,
evermore,
frequently,
hereafter,
forever,
rarely,
soon,
forevermore,
repeatedly,
late,
never,
continually,
lately,
nevermore,
unremittingly,
immediately,
eternally,
again,
when. everlastingly,
ADVEKHS. CLASSIFICATION.
Adverbs of place answer the questions where?
whither? whence?
where?
whither?
whence?
here,
forward,
thence,
there,
backward,
everywhere,
hence,
anywhere,
yonder,
somewhere,
upward,
nowhere,
downward,
toward,
towards.
Adverbs of
manner answer the question how?
well,
ill,
elegantly,
wisely,
nobly,
gracefully,
feebly,
slowly,
feelingly,
quickly,
vainly,
trustfully,
gently,
badly,
beautifully,
freely,
swiftly,
sorrowfully,
admirably.
headlong,
pell-mell,
asunder,
lengthwise,
etc., etc.
Adverbs of degree and quantity answer the
questions how? and how much?
as,
almost,
all,
tolerably,
so,
little,
somewhat,
extremely,
too,
vastly,
scarcely,
exceedingly,
the,
greatly,
nearly,
excessively,
quite,
hardly,
entirely,
eminently,
much,
wholly,
equally,
sufficiently,
more,
rather,
partially,
altogether,
most,
very,
largely,
especially,
less,
mostly,
hardly,
absurdly.
least,
quite,
feNGJ.tSlt GRAMMAR.
MODAL ADVERBS.
Modal (idverbs are so called because they affect
the manner of the assertion, and are not used to modify
a single word.
They modify by showing the degree of certainty or
uncertainty with which a statement is made; and they
tange in gradual gradation from absolute denial to cer¬
tainty, or from certainty to denial, thus:
no, nay, not,
possibly,
perhaps, likely, maybe, mayhap, haply, perchance,
peradventure,
probably,
yea, yes, certainly, verily, truly, doubtless, really,
assuredly, etc.
Ex.—I shall not remain after you leave.
I may, possibly, remain after you leave.
Perhaps, I may remain after you leave.
I shall, probably, remain after you leave.
Certainly, I shall remain after you leave.
These adverbs are often called adverbs of af¬
firmation, negation, or doubt.
Adverbs of cause and motive are used only in
asking for cause, reason, or motive, as:
Why did you go?
The cause, reason, or motive for an act, or for the ex¬
istence of anything, cannot be given in one word, there¬
fore, there are no adverbs of cause, reason, or motive.
ADVERBS. COMPARISON.
*59
Such questions are answered by phrases or clauses, as:
Why did you go?
I went to get a book.
I went, because I was sent for.
I went ,for I desired to see my friends again.
COMPARISON OF ADVERBS.
Some adverbs admit of comparison, when actions
or qualities are to be regarded as one surpassing another1
or others in degree of intensity, as:
John sings well.
James sings better.
Henry sings best.
Many of the adverbs Of manner are derived
from qualifying adjectives, and will admit of compari¬
son, as:
brightly, more brightly, most brightly,
clearly, more clearly, most clearly.
Some adverbs of time admit of comparison;
also, some denoting place or degree, as:
late,
later,
latest,
early,
earlier,
earliest,
far,
farther,
farthest,
forth,
further,
furthest,
much,
more,
most,
little,
less,
least.
REMARKS ON ADVERBS.
The negative modal adverb no should be dis¬
tinguished from the adjective no.
ENOT.TSH GRAMMAR.
The adverb HO is from not (na or nea, Saxon'
The adjective no is from none (not one).
Farther and further may be used as adjectives
or as adverbs. There is, also, a point of difference in
meaning. Farther refers to actual distance; further
to something additional, as:
He went farther than I went.
And he said, further, etc.
The words today, yesterday, and tomorrow,
are classed, by some grammarians, with adverbs of time,
but they are really nouns, in the objective case, the object
of a preposition, which is very often expressed, though
frequently understood.
Ex.—He will leave on to-morrow.
They came on yesterday.
These words, with the preposition, always express
an adverbial relation of time, but should be classed with
adverbial phrase elements.
The is always an adverb in such constructions as:
" The more I read, the greater my wonder grew."
The colder the weather is, the better I feel.
The longer I remain, the better I am satisfied.
The harder I work, the less I earn.
The word there is frequently used for the sake of
euphony, in sentences whose subject is placed after the
verb, as:
There is a God.
There is a place of rest.
ADVERBS. COMPARISON.
There come the children.
There go the soldiers.
In such constructions, there should be called an ex¬
pletive, that is, a word used to fill up or supply a
vacancy, produced by placing the subject after the verb.
In such sentences, it has no adverbial force.
A great many words are used both as adjectives
and adverbs, as:
He is well (adjective).
He is succeeding well (adverb).
His lot is hard (adjective) and he has a hard time (ad-
ective), for he works hard (adverb) day and night.
The following, also, depend for classification upon
the kind of word they modify:
More people were present, than you expected.
More beautiful grounds were never seen.
Great care should be used, in many cases, to
mark the distinction between constructions requiring the
use of an adverb, and those requiring the use of an
adjective.
Where the condition of the subject is referred to,
an adjective should always be used, as:
She looks bad (not badlyj.
He feels bad (not badly.
It looks beautiful (not beautifully).
All copulative verbs, as well as the verb to be, join
adjectives, never adverbs, to the subject.
fcNGLlSii GRAMMAR.
On the other hand, many make the mistake of using
adjectives where adverbs should be used, as:
It is real good, real pretty, real warm, awful niee,
awful pretty, etc.
Some constructions require an adverb of degree
before the adjectives, for an adjective cannot modify an
adjective, as:
really good, very pretty, etc.
No adverb, excepting an adverb of degree, can
be used to modify either adjectives or other adverbs.
Some adverbs are used independently, that is,
they do not enter into the structure of the sentence, but
simply accompany it, as:
JVell, when shall I expect you ?
Why, I told you to expect me on Thursday.
Now, do not be offended.
These adverbs, well, why, and now, have no modi¬
fying power, when used as they are above, and have
none of the meaning commonly attached to them, when
forming a part of a sentence.
They seem to be useful in conversation, partaking
somewhat of the nature of the interjection, but much less
emphatic or expressive.
Like is used as an adverb, when it modifies a clause,
as:
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear Him,
but, with this exception, it is properly used only as an
adjective; commonly, a predicate adjective.
Adverbs, parsing.
Sometimes an adverb is used as the subsequent
term of a preposition, as:
at once, until now, after when.
In such cases the adverb has the construction of a noun.
Adverbs are frequently used to modify phrases
or clauses, as:
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.—Cray.
Such adverbial expressions as now and then, no more,
and a few others, used without a preposition, are insep¬
arable, and should be parsed as a single adverb.
MODEL FOR PARSING ADVERBS.
Oft did their harvest to the sickle yield.—Gray.
Oft is an adverb; it is a word used to
limit the meaning of a verb, a par¬
ticiple, an adjective, or an adverb;
it limits the meaning of did yield, by
denoting time repeated.
Rule XIII.—Adverbs are used to
modify verbs, participles, adjectives,
and adverbs.
exercises.
Point out the adverbs in the following exercises,
and parse them:
But books are good only as far as a boy is ready for them. He
sometimes gets ready very slowly.—Emerson.
Meanwhile we did our nightly chores.—Whittier.
And yet the world goes on. It is strange how soon, when a
great man dies his place is filled; and so completely that he seems
no longer wanted.—Longfellow's Prose.
164 English grammar.
To whom our ancestor:
Henceforth I fly not death, nor would prolong
Life much; bent rather, how I may be quit,
Fairest and easiest, of this cumbrous charge;
Which I must keep till my appointed day
Of rendering up, and patiently attend
My dissolution. Michael replied:
Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livest
Live well; how long, or short, permit to heaven.
—Milton.
PREPOSITIONS.
The preposition is the part of speech which is
used to show the relation of the noun or pronoun, to
some other word.
Preposition is from the Latin prae, before; and
positus, placed; for, as a rule, the preposition is placed
before the noun.
Every preposition suggests two terms—the ante¬
cedent term, or the word which the preposition and its
objects modify, and the subsequent term, which is
the object of the preposition.
The subsequent term must be a noun, a pronoun,
or some word or words used as a noun; but the ante¬
cedent term may be a noun, a pronoun, verb, participle,
adjective, or adverb.
Ex.—The name of the minister.
I know him of whom you spoke.
He went into the room.
He running at full speed.
He was desirous of doing good.
He walks too rapidly for me.
PREPOSITIONS.
When the preposition shows the relation of its object
to a noun, or to any substantive expression, the two (the
preposition and objecf) form an adjective phrase element.
In other cases, the element is either adverbial or objec¬
tive. (See Syntax and Analysis Simplified.)
Prepositions were first used, and are still used for
dejiniteness, particularly in reference to time and space,
for the use of a single adverb leaves, frequently, a very
vague impression upon the mind:
Come early (indefinite). Come at six (definite).
Put it there (indefinite). Put it upon the table (defi¬
nite).
The following list contains words ordinarily used as
prepositions:
LIST OF PREPOSITIONS.
a,
before,
for,
throughout,
aboard,
behind,
from,
till,
about,
below,
in,
to,
above,
beneath,
into,
touching,
across,
besides,
notwithstanding,
toward,
after,
between,
of,
towards,
against,
betwixt,
off,
under,
along,
beyond,
on,
underneath
amid,
by,
over,
until,
amidst,
concerning,
i past,
into,
among,
down,
regarding,
up,
amongst,
during,
respecting,
upon,
around,
ere,
save,
with,
at,
except,
since,
within,
athwart,
excepting,
through,
without.
i66
KNGUSH GRAMMAR.
COMPLEX PREPOSITIONS.
Sometimes two or more words are combined, thus
forming a complex preposition. The two should be parsed
as one word.
The following are complex prepositions:
according to, from between, on account of,
as for, from off, out of,
as to, from under, over against,
contrary to, instead of, round about,
devoid of, in respect to, with respect to,
from among, in place of, with regard to.
REMARKS ON PREPOSITIONS.
The prepositions, as it has been remarked, were
used originally to indicate definiteness of time or space,
but they have now a broader use, and serve to indicate
relations of thought and feeling of every variety and
shade of meaning.
Ex.—He is going into the room.
He is going into society.
He is going into business.
He is going into sendee.
He is going into a decline.
It would be impossible- to give illustrations of all the
peculiar uses of these words, but the following will give
some idea of the great variety of uses to which they may
be put, and will aid, also, in guiding a speaker or writer in
the choice of the right preposition to use in construc¬
tion:
A. indicates:
Purpose.
% PREPOSITIONS. REMARKS.
A is a preposition in such expressions, as:
a fishing, a hunting, a riding,
a walking, a skating, etc.
Such constructions are used by the best writers and
speakers. The phrases are adverbial, denoting purpose.
At indicates:
1. Direction.—They looked at me; he threw a
stone at the dog.
2. Locality.—I was at home; but he was at church.
3. Time.—They left at noon; and will return at
some future time.
4. Idiomatic.—A t your request, at rest, at leisure, at
great expense, at great odds, at war, at joe. per
yard, etc.
Hu indicates:
1. Nearness or proximity, either of rest or motion.
—He planted the tree by the gate; the tree is
by the house.
2. Agency or instrument.—The bird was killed by
the boy.
3. Idiomatic.— To put a thing by—to put it aside or
out of the way, but not far away.
To come by a thing—to get possession of it.
By day and by night—time repeated.
By the yard, by the hundred, by the dozen—accord¬
ing to measurement or number.
Such expressions, also, as: by forgiving, by going, and
many others, are common household expressions, having
the nature of adverbial elements of manner.
168
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Hetiveen and betwixt are used in reference to
both time and place, and should be used only in reference
to two points of time, or two places-.
He came between sunset and dark.
He lives between Boston and Cambridge.
The nouns or pronouns following between and betwixt
should both be in the objective case, as:
This is between you and me—not you and /.
Durhuj refers to time, and always to a period of
time; continuance, from the beginning to the end.
Great care should be taken to avoid the use of the
word during when reference is made to a point of time
only.
During the week—the entire week.
During the day—the entire day.
During the hour—the entire hour.
Fot' originally meant in front of, but at the present
time there is little, if any, meaning in its use. It refers
more especially to purpose, end, benefit, or direction, as:
This is for you.
I shall go for the doctor.
I shall fight for liberty.
What went ye out for to see?
The idiomatic meanings of for are various, many of
them figurative.
jSx.—l do not care for that.
I thank you for your kindness.
I am for the best method.
PREPOSITIONS. REMARKS.
169
For is used frequently in contrast with against.
Fx.—I shall vote for this measure, buf my brother
will vote against it.
In suggests the idea of inclosure, as:
in the house, in a box, in the field, in town;
and it retains this idea in most of its uses, as:
in winter, in dreams, in reality,
in consideration of, in fact.
In very often indicates rest, though action within
limits is also indicated by it, as:
The bird flew in the room, meaning inside of it.
Into differs materially from in; it suggests en¬
trance, as:
He walked into the house.
They went into the field.
He put his books into the desk.
He led the man into difficulty.
Ill is frequently used incorrectly for into, as:
He put his knife in his pocket.
Come in the house.
The bird flew in the tree.
Correct:
He put his knife into his pocket.
Come into the house.
The bird flew into the tree.
On indicates rest upon a foundation; or the placing
upon a foundation, for the purpose of resting, as:
The book is on the table.
170 F.NGJ.ISH GRAMMAR.
He built his house on the top of the hill.
'He put his hat on the table.
In many of its figurative uses it retains the idea ol
rest upon a sure foundation, as:
Rely on me.
Do not depend on him.
It is often used with phrases of time, as:
On Monday.
On the same night.
On hearing of your departure.
Oil has also many idiomatic uses, as:
On hand.
On fire.
On duty.
He spoke on the subject.
On the tariff.
On taxation for improvements, etc.
Of indicates possession, as:
The house of my father.
The coat of the little boy.
The wares of the peddler.
There is no other preposition, perhaps, which may be
used to denote so great a variety of relations.
Ex.—The bank of the river.
The top of the box.
The spirit of the age.
The thought of his loss.
PREPOSITIONS. REMARKS.
The expression of his countenance.
He spoke of duty,
Learn of me.
Full of joy.
To die of hunger.
A yard of cloth.
A tumbler of water.
Off was originally the same as of. In modern Eng¬
lish, however, it is used more frequently as an adverb.
In such expressions as pay off, set off, draw off, etc.,
off should be parsed with the verb.
To indicates movement towards or in the direction
of, in reference to both time and space, also, action
toward an object, as:
From morning to night.
From time to time.
From here to there.
From St. Louis to Chicago.
Give it to the boy.
To has many figurative uses, but in all retains
the idea of nearness or approach, sometimes, result, as:
I am inclined to that opinion.
Turned to dust, etc.
Purpose is indicated in such expressions as:
He came to dinner,
i. e., for the purpose of dining.
The following also give the idea of nearness:
An enemy to idleness.
172 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
A friend to humanity.
A victim to intemperance.
To suggests approach; into, suggests entrance; in,
enclosure.
Many prepositions combine with verbs, making what
are called compound verbs, as:
cast up, cut through, act up to,
see into, cut up, put on,
put off, to bring to,
and many others, which will be easily recognized as be¬
longing to this class.
Such expressions as by-and-by, hand-in-hand, in vain,
at once, at least, etc., should be disposed of as insep¬
arable phrases.
They lost si {flit of, they found fault with,
they accounted for, are idiomatic and forcible ex¬
pressions, always followed by an object, in the active,
and sometimes in the passive, as:
They lost sight of him.
Sight was lost of him (allowable, but not recom¬
mended).
He was lost sight of.
Lost sight of is inseparable, but in the second sen¬
tence above, sight becomes subject.
It has not been attempted to give the meaning and
uses of all prepositions; for it would be almost impos¬
sible. With the accompanying noun, they enter into the
construction of sentences in every conceivable manner.
PREPOSITIONS. PARSING.
173
Mistakes in the use of prepositions are rare.
The following will aid in acquiring an accurate use
of them:
Agree with.
Comply with.
Compare with (quality).
Compare to (illustration).
Differ with one (in opinion).
Differ from a person or thing (in character
or appearance).
Defend ourselves against.
Defend others from.
MODEL FOR PARSING A PREPOSITION.
In parsing a preposition, tell:
1. What it is.
2. Definition.
3. Antecedent term.
4. Subsequent term.
5. Kind of relation.
6. Rule.
Come wander with me, she said,
Into regions yet tint rod.
JVith .... is a preposition—it is a word used to
show the relation of a noun or pro¬
noun to some other word; its ante¬
cedent term is wander; its subse¬
quent term, or object, is me; it shows
a relation of the object me, to the an¬
tecedent term, the verb wander—an
adverbial relation of accompaniment.
174
english grammar.
Rule XIV.—Prepositions are used
to show the relation of a noun or a
.pronoun to some other word in a sen¬
tence.
exercise.
Foinl out and parse prepositions in the following:
First he built a lodge for fasting,
Built a wigwam in the forest,
liy the shining Big-Sea-water,
In the blithe and pleasant spring-time,
In the Moon of Leaves he built it,
, And with dreams and visions many,
Seven whole days and nights he fasted.
On the first day of his lasting,
Through the leafy woods he wandered;
Saw the deer start from the thicket.—Hiawatha.
When the mariner has been tossed, for many days, in thick
weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the
first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his
latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from
his true course.— Webster''s Reply to Hayne.
Of all professions that this world has known,
From clowns and cobblers upwards to the throue;
From the grave architect of Greece and Rome,
Down to the framer of a farthing broom,
The worst for care, and undeserved abuse,
The first in real dignity and use
(If skilled to teach, and diligent to rule),
Ts the learn'd master of a little school.— Wilson.
In the beautiful month of October, I made a foot excursion
along the banks of the Loire, from Orleans to Tours.
The vintage had already commenced. The peasantry were
busy in the fields, the song that cheered their labors was on the
breeze, and the heavy wagon tottered by, laden with the clusters of
the vine. Everything around me wore that happy look which makes
the heart glad.—Longfellow's li ose.
CONJUNCTIONS.
175
CONJUNCTIONS.
The conjunction (from the Latin con, together,
and jungo, I join) is the part of speech used to connect
words, phrases, or propositions.
There are many connective words besides conjunc¬
tions, but they enter into the structure of sentences;
these are relative pronouns and conjunctive adverbs.
The real conjunction, however, is used simply as a
connective.
CLASSIFICATION OF CONJUNCTIONS.
(Conjunctions are divided into:
1. Coordinate Conjunctions.
2. Subordinate Conjunctions.
Coordinate conjunctions are used to unite ele¬
ments which are independent of each other, but of equal
rank in a sentence, as:
The snow is falling fast, and the ground will be cov¬
ered very soon.
This sentence is compound; it is formed by uniting
two simple sentences, each of which could be used alone;
but the combination of the two into one compound sen¬
tence, is a better form of expression.
Compound sentences may consist of several proposi¬
tions, independent of one another, but coordInatelff
united. Very long sentences, however, do not add to
the strength or the beauty of discourse.
i76
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
When words or phrases are united by COO I'd ill a t<*
conjunctions, each of the united elements must stand in
the same relation to some other part of the sentence, as:
The robin and the blue bird bare come! welcome har¬
bingers of spring.
The husbandman knows when io sow and when to reap.
DIVISIONS OF COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS.
Coordinate conjunctions are subdivided into:
1. Copulative.
2. Adversative.
3. Alternative.
Copulative conjunctions are used to unite parts
of a sentence which are not only e<pial in rank, but are
of the same character; that is, the parts harmonize in
thought.
Ex.—Come, wander with me, she said,
Into regions yet untrod;
Ami read what is still unread
In the manuscripts of God.—Longfellow.
It will be readily seen in the above lines, that the
second member of the quotation, introduced by the
copulative conjunction, and, harmoni/.es admirably in
thought, as well as in construction, with the first member.
This law of harmony is very frequently violated by
careless speakers and writers.
Ex.—I am enjoying everything here, the sea breezes,
the moonlight picnics, the sails on the bay,
the charming drives—yes, everything, and I
fear that I shall be obliged to leave before
the close of the season.
CONJUNCTIONS. COORDINATE.
177
The word and is used in this sentence to introduce a
member which is entirely in contrast with the first mem¬
ber, therefore the construction is faulty; hit should be
Used to indicate the contrast.
And is the leading copulative conjunction. Its use in a
sentence does not give emphasis, unless it is repeated
where the sentence is composed of several members.
Emphasis is given by the use of associate connec¬
tions, as:
even, likewise, moreover,
also, therefore, further,
and some others.
The associate connectives, as the name indicates, are
used near to the principal conjunction. If they are used
where simple sentences are united, they must be in the
member in which the principal connective is found, as:
The testimony against him is very weak, and there¬
fore, there is no justice in the verdict.
Correlative conjunctions also are used to give
emphasis to a statement. The correlative must be placed
before the principal conjunction, and, if used in a com¬
pound sentence, must be placed in the first member, as:
He was both anxious to spend a year in the univer¬
sity at Heidelberg, and also, to visit London
and Paris before returning.
In such sentences as this, it is better to contract the
second member for the sake of euphony, thus:
He was anxious both to spend a year in the univer¬
sity at Heidelberg, and also, to visit London
and Paris before returning.
t78
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Not only are the birds singing, but the trees and
shrubs are budding; sure signs of the coming of
spring.
When not only is used as a correlative of but, this
conjunction (but) is used as a copulative conjunction,
equivalent to and he, and she, etc.
The correlatives, besides giving emphasis, always
suggest something additional.
As well (IS is a copulative conjunction, inseparable.
It is used very much as and is used, but serves for em¬
phasis, and has the curious effect of both addition and
separation. Compare the following:
Edith and Alice are at school in Boston.
Edith as well as Alice is at school in Boston.
When the two members of a compound subject are
connected by as well as, if both members are singular, a
singular verb will be required.
The Adversative conjunction is used to join
words, phrases, or clauses that are contrasted in meaning,
but are the same in construction, as:
He came when I sent for him, but did not remain
long enough to give me the help that I needed.
Hat is the leading adversative conjunction, and may
be used to show simple opposition without emphasis; or
it may show an inference opposed to, or in contrast with,
what might naturally be drawn from the first state¬
ment, as:
A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words
stir up anger.
CONJUNCTIONS. COORDINATE. 179
A careless boy that night he seemed;
But at his desk he had the look
And air of one who wisely schemed.
Adversative coordination is made emphatic
by the use of associate connectives and corelatives, as:
He has all that one could wish, but still he is not
satisfied.
The following associates are used to make the adver¬
sative coordination emphatic:
yet, still, nevertheless,
however, notwithstanding, lest,
and some others.
He seems to study, but still he does not improve.
Alternative conjuctions are used to suggest alter¬
nation, or the leaving out of something—of one or more
of several things.
Give me the apples or an orange, or a lemon, it does
not matter which.
The leading alternative conjunctions are or and nor;
the associate connections, else and otherwise; the
correlatives, either, neither, and whether.
You must leave immediately, or else you will not
reach the train in time.
Give me either the red one, or the blue one.
I shall give you neither the one nor the other.
I am not sure whether I shall go or not.
Else is used constantly in ordinary conversation;
otherwise is rarely used, except in argumentative or
didactic discourses.
iSo
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Sl'IK IRD1NATE C< INJUNCTIONS.
The subordinate conjunctions are used to
join subordinate propositions to independent proposi-
t:ons, to which they show a relation of dependence, as:
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Only a few of the subordinate connectives are pure
conjunctions. Among them are the following:
that, lest, though, if,
than, till, since, for,
and some others.
The relative j^'ononns and the conjunctive
adverbs are all used as subordinate connectives; but
they, as it has been said, form, also, a material part of
the sentence.
Subordinate adjective clauses are connected
to the principal proposition by the relative pronouns and
relative adverbs.
Ex.—His little pet rabbit, which he had mourned as
lost, suddenly ran from out of the bushes.
Happy the snow-locked homes wherein
He tuncil his merry vrnlitt. — W'titlitr.
Adverbial clauses are joined to principal prop¬
ositions by subordinate conjunctions and conjunctive
adverbs.
Adverbial clauses denoting place axe joined
to the principal proposition by:
where,
where'er,
wherever,
whither,
whithersoever,
whence,
CONJUNCTIONS. SUBORDINATE. I»I
wheresoever, as far as,
as long as, farther than,
longer than.
Ex.—The traveler stopped, where two roads met.
Those denoting time, by:
after, as long as, until,
as, before, when,
as soon as, ere, whenever,
as often as, since, while,
as frequently as, till, whilst.
Ex.— While you are resting, I will remain with you.
Connectives denoting cause or reason by:
as, inasmuch as,
because, since,
for.
Ex.—Aid me if you can, for I am very needy.
Those denoting condition, concession, and
opposition (adversatives), by:
if, unless,
though, provided,
although, provided that,
except, lest.
Ex.—You continue to offend him, though he has
warned you of the consequences.
Clauses denoting manner, by:
as, just as,
as-as, so that,
so-as, such that,
l82
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Ex.—I did it as I was told to do it (manner).
This will grow as tall as that (comparison of
equality).
This will not grow so tall as that (negative
equality).
They will make it just as you told them (corres¬
pondence).
Study so that you may learn (consequences).
The longer he stays, the hotter he likes the place
(proportionate equality).
He likes the place better than he did (like it)
at first (inequality).
REMARKS ON SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS.
In the sentence, the colder it grows, the stronger I feel,
the word the should be parsed as an adverb, modifying
colder-, the before stronger, is also an adverb.
Mistakes are rare in the use of subordinate conjunc¬
tions, though great care should be taken in the use of:
while, and as if.
While. like during, should never be used unless the
entire period is included, as:
1 will take care of your house while you are in
Europe;
but it would not be correct to say:
I will go to your house while you are in Europe,
as a point and not a period of time would be referred to.
In the last sentence when should be used instead of
while.
CONJUNCTIONS. SUBORDINATE. 183
As though is often incorrectly used in place of as
if. This cannot be defended on any grammatical
grounds. In such sentences as the following:
You act as if you were afraid to go,
there is always an ellipsis of an entire clause:
You act as you would act, if you were afraid to go.
It will be seen in this sentence that as introduces a
clause which harmonizes in thought with the thought in
the principal proposition, and that it is consistently fol¬
lowed by a clause denoting condition, but in:
You act as though you were afraid to go,
expanded:
You act as you would act though you were afraid
to go,
there is great inconsistency, for the conjunction though
indicates opposition, contrast, concession, and would seem
to imply that the individual, though afraid, does not ap¬
pear to be so, a meaning opposite to what the speaker
intends.
In the best English literature we find as if, not as
though, used in such sentences.
In parsing a conjunction, tell:
1. What part of speech.
2. Definition.
3. Class.
4. What it connects.
5. Rule.
184
english grammar.
MODEL FOR PARSING CONJUNCTIONS.
Birds will sing and flowers will bloom when spring
comes.
Ami .... is a conjunction—it is a word used
to connect words, phrases, and
clauses; it is a co-ordinate conjunc¬
tion—it is used to connect elements
of equal rank—it is a copulative
conjunction, it connects elements
which harmonize in thought; it con¬
nects the two members of the com¬
pound sentence, birds will sing and
flowers will bloom.
Rule XVI.—Ccordinate Conjunc¬
tions are used to join elements of the
same ranks.
When .... is a conjunctive adverb—it is used
to join the subordinate clause, when
spring comes, to the independent
propositions in the sentence; it is
also used to modify the verbs sing,
bloom, and comes, by denoting time
simultaneous.
Ri 1 l XVII.—So'*. i di»ate ceu/unc-
lions ,re uud to join tlemtu/s of dif-
The pure subordinate conjunctions, that, than, as, if
and others, have no modifying power. They are used
only to join subordinate to principal propositions.
Interjections.
exercises.
Point out and parse conjunctions!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 1
will fear no evil.
You should not delay, when duty calls.
E'en now the devastation is began,
And half the business of destruction done.—Goldsmith.
The wind blows as if a storm were coming.
If thou wouldst read a lesson that will keep
Thy heart from fainting, and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills.
I might go from the scene of my sorrow, but
my sorrow would never go from me.—Anon.
The world will change, and time will fly,
And we all grow old as the years go by.
INTERJECTIONS.
The Interjection is that part of speech which is
used to denote sudden emotion.
These words do not enter into the structure of sen¬
tences, but accompany them, and, certainly, give a shade
of meaning to them, although they cannot modify.
The word interjection is from the Latin inter,
between, and jacio, I throw; these words are thrown in
between the parts of discourse—most frequently in con¬
versation.
They are independent words, and are governed by no
grammatical laws, though each one is as expressive as an
entire sentence, and sometimes more so.
i86
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The following are the principal interjections:
s. Of joy.—Ah! oh! hurra! huzza!
Meeting.—Welcome! hail!
3. Parting.—Adieu! good bye! farewell!
4. Silence.—Hush! hist! mum!
5'. Approbation.—Good! bravo! well done!
It. Call for attention.—Hallo! ho! hark! O!
7. Wonder or surprise.—Ha! what! strange! impos¬
sible!
8. Interruption.—Stop! hold!
9. Disgust.—Oh! fie! foh! fudge! pshaw! tut!
10. Sorrow.—Alas! oh! ah! woe!
There is an essential difference to be observed in
writing or printing O and oh.
The letter O should always be a capital; it should be
used only in address, or invocation, and should never be
followed directly by an exclamation point.
Ex.—O father, help me!
O gentle muse!
Oil should never accompany words of address or in¬
vocation, and should not be begun with a capital, unless
at the beginning of a sentence. It should be used only
when expressive of strong emotion. When the excla¬
mation ends with it, the exclamation point should be
placed after it, as:
Oh! how you frightened me.
If the words accompanying the interjection ioxmpart
of the exclamation, the point should be put after thefrtStf.
interjections. exercises.
187
Sometimes a comma follows oh, and it will require care
to determine where the point should be placed.
Ex.— Oh the joy of meeting you again!
Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of Time!
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime.
Many fragmentary sentences have the force of
interjections, as, impossible! look! behold! strange!
In parsing an interjection, tell:
1. The part of speech.
2. The definition.
3. Kind of emotion expressed.
4. Rule.
Oh ! I have found my ring.
Oh is an interjection—it is a word used
to express sudden emotion; it is
used with this sentence to express
surprise and joy. It has no gram¬
matical relation to the sentence.
Rule XIX.—Independent elements,
including interjections, have no gram¬
matical relation to the sentences which
they accompany.
GENERAL EXERCISES.
Farewell, Scandinavia—Land of the Midnight Sunt I have
wandered over thy country from north to south; I have seen thy gay
cities and quiet villages, thy fruitful farms, thy humble cottages; I
have sailed upon thy fjords and lakes; I have wended my way in
the midst of thy beautiful valleys and dales; I have clambered over
thy majestic mountains; I have gazed with awe and wonder upon
thy noble glaciers; I have stood upon thy grand and rugged coasts,
and watched the storm-tossed sea as it dashed with fury upon thy
shores.—Du Chaiilu.
i88
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Rut Hope can here her moonlight vigils keep,
And sing to charm the spirit of the deep:
Swift as yon streamer lights the starry pole,
Her visions warm the watchman's pensive soul.—CampheH.
I have seen, before now, a creeping vine try to grow up against
a marble wall; it shoots out its tendrils in all directions, seeking for
some crevice by which to fasten and to climb; looking now above
and now below, twining upon itself, reaching farther up, but after
all, finding no good foothold and falling away as if in despair.
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
Rut at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.—Longfellow.
So days went on: a week had passed
Since the world was heard from last.— Whittier.
'Twas in a shady avenue,
Where lofty elms abound—
And from a tree
There came to me
A sad and solemn sound,
That sometimes murmured overhead,
And sometimes underground.—Hood.
Four trees I pass not by,
Which o'er our house their evening shadows threw,
Three ash, and one of elm: tall trees they were.—Polio!;.
The brown autumn came. Out of doors it brought to the fields
the prodigality of the golden harvest; to the forest, revelations of
light; and to the sky, the sharp air, the morning mist, the red clouds
at evening. Within doors, the sense of seclusion, the stillness of
closed and curtained windows, musings by the fireside, books,
friends, conversation, and the long meditative evenings. To the
farmer, it brought surcease of toil; to the scholar, that sweet delir¬
ium of the brain which changes toil to pleasure. It brought the wild
duck back to the reedy marshes of the south; it brought the wild
song back to the fervid brain of the poet.—Longfellow.
rules of syntax.
RULES OF SYNTAX.
Rule I.—The subject of a finite verb must be in the
nominative case.
Rule II.— The noun or pronottn connected to the subject
of a finite verb, by the copula, must be in the nominative
case.
Rule III.— The adjective connected to the subject, by
the copula, must represent some characteristic property of
the subject.
Rule IV.—•The verbal attribute connected to the sub-
ject, by the copula, must represent some action or state nat~
ural to the subject.
Rule V.— The attribute of a proposition, whether sub¬
stantive, adjective, or verbal, must agree with the subject,
when joined to it by a copulative verb.
Rule VI.—A verb must agree with its subject in per¬
son and number:
1. The verb must be plural, when the members of a
compound subject are taken conjointly.
2. The verb must be singular, when the members of
the compound subject are taken separately, if the
members are each in the singular member.
3. If one of the members is plural, and the other, or
others, singular, the verb must agree with the one
next to it.
Rule VII.—Adjectives are used to limit nouns only.
Rule VIII.—A noun or pronoun, joined to another
noun to denote possession, must be in the possessive case.
190
english grammar.
Rule IX.—A noun or pronoun used with another noun
or pronoun to identify or to explain, or by way of emphasis,
is put by apposition in the same case as that of the noun
which it limits.
Rule X.—Participles are used to modify nouns or pro¬
nouns, but they retain the signification of the verb, and
may be modified as a verb.
Rule XI.—Pronouns must agree in gender, number,
and person with their antecedent.
Rule XII.—A noun or a pronoun used to complete the
meaning of a transitive verb, or the participles of a tran¬
sitive verb, must be in the objective case.
Rule XIII.—Adverbs are used to modify verbs, par¬
ticiples, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Rule XIV.—Prepositions are used to show the relation
of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence.
Rule XV.— The noun or pronoun governed by the
preposition, must be in the objective case.
Rule XVI.—Coordinate conjunctions are used to join
elements of the same rank.
Rule XVII.—Subordinate conjunctions are used to
join elements of different rank.
Rule XVIII.— The infinitive has the signification and
modifications of the verb, but is used as a noun or an ad¬
jective.
Rule XIX.—Independent elements, including interjec¬
tions, have no grammatical relation to the sentence which
they accompany.
RECAPITULATION.
REC APITUL AT ION.
ERRORS CORRECTED.
It is not attempted here to correct all the errors
of speech, in the use of the English Language,
but those only which are heard constantly, and in
almost all localities.
It is much to be regretted that, notwithstanding the
great improvement in methods of imparting knowledge,
made within the late few years, and, also, the rapid
progress in the practical application of the laws
which govern the science of education, errors in
the use of the English Language are increasing in
numbers, and spreading with great rapidity.
Many who would not violate the laws of the language
by saying:
I seen it, I done it,
It was me, It was him,
say without the least hesitation, and seemingly un¬
conscious that they are making mistakes which are
quite as serious:
real good, that much, this long, etc.
Pupils should, therefore, be required to study care¬
fully the following lessons:
I92
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
INCORRECT.
It is me.
It was her.
It was him.
It was them.
CORRECT.
It is I.
It was she.
It was he.
It is they.
The noun or pronoun following the verb be, meaning
the same person or thing as the subject, must be in the
same case as the subject; therefore, if the pronoun is so
used, it must take the nominative form, not the objective.
INCORRECT.
John left the apples for
you and I.
He told you and I to wait
for him.
This is between you and I.
He sent these books to
him and I.
Mary has sent for you
and I.
CORRECT..
John left the apples for
you and me.
He told you and me to
wait for him.
This is between you and
me.
He sent these books to
him and me.
Mary has sent for you and
me.
The noun or pronoun used as the object of a transitive
verb or a preposition, must be in the objective case, there¬
fore, the use of I, the nominative form of the personal
pronoun in the sentences above, is incorrect.
INCORRECT.
Sim and I went.
Me and him will go.
Her and I staid at h„me.
CORRECT.
He and I went.
£ and he are going.
She and I staid at home.
RECAPITULATION.
193
Note.—In the second sentence, under correct, the word he
should be placed before and, as the third personal pronoun should
always precede the first, as: he and /,
A noun or pronoun used as the subject of a verb,
must be in the nominative case, therefore, the pronouns
him, me, and her, are incorrectly used, because they
have the objective, not the nominative form,
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
I want a piece this long. I want a piece so long.
Can you go that far? Can you go SO far?
This and that are pronominal adjectives, there¬
fore, they cannot limit adjectives or adverbs. In the
first sentence, long is an adjective; in the second, far
is an adverb; therefore, they cannot be limited by this or
that. The proper word to use in both cases is SO, an
adverb of degree.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
Give me one of them ap- Give me one of these ap¬
ples. pies.
Them books on the table Those books on the table
are mine. are mine.
The pronoun in the objective case cannot be placed
before a noun to modify it, therefore it is incorrect to
say them apples or them books. The pronominal adjec¬
tives, these and those, are the proper words to use in such
constructions.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
I went real early. I went really early.
You are real good to me. You are really good to
me.
i94
english grammar.
I am real glad you came. I am really glad you
came.
It is awful pretty. It is rery pretty.
The use of such expressions is increasing to an alarm¬
ing extent, without any grammatical authority whatever.
Adjectives cannot modify adjectives or adverbs, hence
the incorrectness of the use of real before early, an ad¬
verb of time, and before good and glad, qualifying adjec¬
tives.
It would seem too ridiculous to notice in a text¬
book such expressions as awful pretty, awful nice, etc.,
but as they are spreading and taking root, it is neces¬
sary for both teachers and books to try to check
their progress, and to eradicate them, if possible.
The use of the word awful is incorrect in two ways:
1. It is an adjective, therefore cannot limit another
adjective.
2. The idea represented by the word awful, does not
harmonize witji the idea of prettiness or of nicety.
The adverb i•ery is the appropriate word for such
constructions, as:
You are very good to me.
I am very glad you came.
It is very pretty.
incorrect. correct.
I feel badly. I feel bad.
You look badly. You look bad.
He looks miserably. He looks miserable.
The flowers look beau- The flowers look beau¬
tifully. tiful.
RECAPITULATION. 195
Adverbs should not be used after the verbs look and
feel, when they (the verbs) are used to assert a quality, a
condition, or a property of a subject. Adjectives are the
proper words to use in such constructions.
Some adjectives end in ly, and are thought by begin¬
ners in the study of grammar to be adverbs, as:
The child looked lovely.
I feel poorly.
Lovely is never an adverb, but poorly is an adverb in
such constructions as the following:
The work was done poorly.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
The maple is not as tall as The maple is not so tall as
the oak. the oak.
John is taller than him,. John is taller than he.
Comparison of equality is indicated by as — as;
therefore the following is correct:
The oak is as tall as the maple;
but in negative comparisons, the first term should be SO.
After than, the noun or pronoun should be in the
nominative case. The following is the expanded form of
the sentence above:
John is taller than he is tall.
Such clauses are elliptical for the sake of euphony.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
I intended to have writ- I intended to write,
ten.
He hoped to have come. He hoped to come.
i96
english grammar,
Mary wanted to have Mary wanted to be here,
been here.
John wished to have John wished to go to Eu-
gone to Europe with rope with his cousins,
his cousins.
I expected to have en- I expected to enter col-
tered college last year. lege last year.
The perfect infinitive cannot be used correctly after
the verbs in the sentences above. The present infinitive
should always be used with them and with some other
verbs, to indicate action simultaneous with the action
asserted by the principal verb.
incorrect. correct.
John done that. John did that.
1 seen the eclipse. I saw the eclipse.
I have saw the man. I have seen the man.
I have wrote the letter. I have written the letter.
The participle used alone cannot make an assertion;
for that reason done and seen (both of them participles)
are incorrectly used. The auxiliary verb, have, should be
used with a participle to form the perfect tenses; there¬
fore, have saw and have wrote are incorrect expressions;
saw and wrote are not participles, but verbs in the past
tense.
incorrect. correct.
I will injure myself if I I shall injure myself if
undertake it. I undertake it.
I shall aid you if you un- 1 will aid you if you un¬
dertake it. dertake it.
RECAPITULATION.
19?
The first sentence is incorrect, because wilt in the
first person, always, when correctly used, indicates either
determination or promise, neither of which is intended;
the speaker means simply to predict, therefore shall
should be used; but in the second sentence, the speaker
is making- a promise, therefore, will should be used, for
shall in the first person cannot be correctly used to make
a promise.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
I would like to attend, I should like to attend,
but I cannot. but I cannot.
Would, the past tense of will, is very often incor¬
rectly used in place of should, the past tense of shall,
when a simple statement is made without any idea of de¬
termination, as in the sentence above. The combination,
would like, should never be used as a predicate when the
subject is of the first person.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
I will leam you your I will tench you your
lesson. lesson.
Formerly, the verb learn meant both to acquire knowl¬
edge and to impart knowledge, but the latter meaning
has passed out of the English Language; and the verb
teach has taken its place; therefore, (food usage forbids
such constructions as the sentence under the head of
incorrect.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
You had OUf/ht to go. Yon ouffht to go.
The verb ought is not a verb of full conjugation. It
has no participle, consequently it cannot have a perfect
i98
english grammar.
tense, as all the perfect tenses are formed by joining a
participle to some form of have. The expression is con¬
sidered one of the greatest violations of pure English.
incorrect. correct.
I laid down on the grass, I lay down on the grass,
and was laying there and was lying there
when you called me. when you called me.
Laid is the past tense of the verb lay, which means
to place, as:
I laid the book on the table.
It should never be used in reference to talcing or
being in a reclining position:
I laid a book on the table, but the book lies
on the table or is lying on the table.
I lie down to rest (present).
I lay down to rest (past).
I am lying down to rest (continuation).
I have lain down to rest (completion).
Present. Past. Present participle. Past participle.
lay (to place), laid, laying, laid,
lie (to recline), lay, lying, lain.
incorrect. correct.
I will set here until you are I will sit here until you are
ready. ready.
He was setting in the He was sitting in the
rocking-chair. rocking-chair.
The verb set means to put or to place, as:
I set the pitcher on the table.
It does not change its form in the principal parts:
RECAPITULATION.
199
Present. Past. Present participle. Past participle.
set, set, setting, set.
It should never be used in the sense of taking a posi¬
tion, or being in a position.
The verb sit is used in reference to taking a position,
or being in a position-.
Present. Past. Present participle. Past participle.
sit, sat, sitting, sat.
I sit in the rocking-chair.
I sat in the rocking-chair.
I am sitting in the rocking-chair.
I have sat in the rocking-chair.
I set the pitcher of water on the table this morn¬
ing, and it is sitting there yet.
In the sense of brooding, in reference to birds, it is
generally admitted that the verb sit, not set, should be
used, as:
The robin is sitting on four beautiful eggs.
INCORRECT. CORRECT.
Frank come home last Frank came home last
night. night.
The principal parts of the verb come, are:
Present. Past. Past participle.
come, came, come;
it will be seen readily, therefore, that come should never
be used in the past tense. This incorrect construction is
very common.
fcngi.ish grammar,
20<5
Incorrect.
I called to see you during
your absence in Eu¬
rope, for I thought you.
were at home.
Two men fell, overcome by
heat, while the pro¬
cession passed through
the avenue.
correct.
I called to see you whcrl
you were absent in
Europe, for I thought
you were at home.
Two men fell, overcome by
heat, as the procession
passed through the
avenue.
During and while, always, when correctly used,
refer to a period of time, i. e., to all the time spoken of;
during your absence in Europe, means the entire time
spent in Europe, therefore, if the sentence is correct,
the call must have been a very long one. The inconsist¬
ency will be easily seen.
While the procession passed through the avenue,
has reference, also, to a period of time an hour, per¬
haps. The incorrectness in the second sentence, there¬
fore, will be seen at once, for it could have taken but an
instant for the men to fall; it would take some time for
the procession to pass through the avenue.
The singular and discordant combination of as and
though, which is authorized neither by good usage
nor by any known rule of syntax; strange as it
may seem, is used by some educated people, in place of
the correct combination of as and if.
In such combinations, a clause denoting resemblance
in manner, is always omitted by ellipsis, followed by a
clause denoting condition.
The use of as if is found in the writings of the best
authors of English literature, both in England and ia
RECAPITULATION.
America, as will be seen by reference to selections found
below.
In the following, from John Wilson, an English
author:
Having, he rushes past you, till he falls
As if struck by lightning,—
the expanded form,
As he would fall //struck by lightning,
shows clearly that the intention of the writer is to pre¬
sent in a vivid manner, the suddenness of the fall, by
comparing it to something with which all are familiar,
i. e., the suddenness with which one falls, when struck by
lightning. The clause denoting comparison, introduced
by as, is properly followed by the conditional clause, if
struck by lightning.
But, if as though were used,
he falls,
As though struck by lightning,
the idea conveyed would be that he did not fall, for,
though struck by lightning, is an adversative clause, to
be used only when it is desirable to modify another
clause, by denoting something opposed to the idea ex¬
pressed in the clause which it modifies, or something
yielded or conceded.
In the following, from Longfellow.
Ami. having bie!iUa,ie<l, made ha,'.e t„ g.,,
As if lu- licat4 the dt-Unl maim bell,
Ami had but little time to say farewell,
the idea conveyed is that the monk could not have
made greater haste if he had been hurrying, because he
heard the distant matin bells; but if the writer had used
202
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
as though, in place of (IS if, there would have been an
en/ire change of meaning, if any meaning whatever.
The clause, though he heard the distant matin bells,
should not be used unless intended to indicate concession,
opposition, contrast, or something adversative, as:
The monk was up betimes, but did not make haste to
go, though he heard the distant matin bells.
The expression as- though if found at all in En¬
glish literature, is exceedingly rare.
Whitney, in his Essentials of English Grammar, says,
in speaking of this combination: " If the ellipsis were
filled out, though could hardly ever begin the conditional
clausebut he does not give a single example to prove
it even possible.
Strenuous efforts have been made to find a sentence
in which the word though is correctly used with as,
also, to make such a sentence, but without success in
either case.
It seems, therefore, to be a necessary conclusion that
the word though cannot be used to begin a conditional
clause, used to modify a clause denoting comparisoti of
equality; in fact, that, properly speaking, there is no such
syntactical combination as (IS though.
SELECTIONS FROM NOTED AUTHORS, SHOWING THAT
AS IF IS GOOD USAGE.
Instructions for the negotiation were needed; and the Governor
General framed them in that situation of extreme danger, with as
much composure as if he had been writing in his palace at Calcutta.
—Macaulay.
It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon
the soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence.— Wash¬
ington Irving.
RECAPITULATION.
I felt as if in great haste.—Thomas Carlyle.
A speck, a mist, a shape I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
— Coleridge, in The Phantom Ship.
I just tried
The slippers on, amazed to see them shaped
So fairly to my feet, when all at once
I felt my steps upborne and hurried on
Almost as if with wings.—Bryant.
So disasters come not singly,
But as if they watched and waited
Scanning one another's motions.—Longfellow.
'•I was certainly in earnest, and you seemed equally so,"
replied Hilda, glancing back at Donatello, as if to reassure herself
of the resemblance.—Hawthorne.
His stately mien as well implied
A high-born heart, a martial pride,
As if a Baron's crest he wore,
And sheathed in armor trode the shore.
—Scott, The Lady of the Lake.
But poets should
Exert a double vision; should have eyes
To see near things as comprehensively
As if afar they took their point of sight.—Mrs. Browning.
And, like a gaunt and spectral hand,
The tremulous shadow of a birch
Reached out and touched the door's low porch
As if to lift its latch. — Whittier.
The crows flapped over by twos and threes,
In the pool drowsed the cattle up to their knees,
The little birds sang as if it were
The one day in summer of all the year.
—Jatnes Russell Lowell.
Each agent produced the same amount of effect as if it had
acted separately.—John Stuart Mill.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
The human mind is constantly occupied in passing
judgments upon whatever is brought to its notice by
means of the five senses, and, also, in making com¬
parisons.
These acts of judging and comparing, or, perhaps,
judging by comparing, are in most cases, involuntary
and instantaneous, but sometimes voluntary and deliberate.
Illustration.—On entering an orchard one decides
at a glance, and without being conscious of any mental
effort, that the trees are fruit trees; and on tasting the
fruit, that it is sweet, sour, or bitter, pleasant or unpleas¬
ant to the taste.
But on seeing a complicate piece of machinery,
for the first time, hearing chords of music from a
strange instrument, and in fact, when anything strange
and unfamiliar presents itself, one pauses to deliberate,
before forming a decision, or passing a judgment.
In all cases, however, if the judgment be expressed in
words, these words seem naturally to arrange themselves
into the form of a sentence, which always consists of
three terms, representing the three ideas which form the
proposition, in the mind, before it is expressed.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
The three ideas forming the proposition are
1. The idea of the object.
2. The idea of an attribute of the object.
3. The idea of assertion.
The mental action which arranges ideas in such
a way as to make complete sense is called thought,
a general term; but one such combination is called a
thought.
Thought is the essential element, or basis of all
discourse, but, when expressed, if it be not clothed in
proper words, or if the arrangement of the words be
faulty, it may become obscure, unattractive, and even
unintelligible.
Hence arises the necessity for something to
guide and control expression, thus giving power to
make a correct, intelligent, clear, and attrac¬
tive statement of what the mind has wrought out.
A thorough Tcnoivledge of the laws of Syntax
and Analysis will give this power in a high degree.
SYNTAX.
Syntax is the division of grammar that treats of
sentence making.
The word syntax is from the Greek syn, together, and
taxis, arrangement.
The rules of syntax are statements of the laws
which govern the arrangement of words in a sentence,
by which their true relation to each other may be easily
understood. These rules also guide in the choice of
words.
206 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Any violation of the rules of syntax, either in the use
of inappropriate words, or in a faulty arrangement of
words in a sentence, is called false syntax.
Analysis is the taking apart or separating anything
into its component parts or elements.
As a part of grammar, it refers to the separation
of the elements of a sentence from each other, or from
one another, for the purpose of examining each in its
reference to some other element or elements.
Syntax and analysis, on account of the close relation
they bear to each other, may be considered and treated
as inseparable.
Analysis aids greatly in composition. A sen¬
tence whose construction is perfect, consists of appro¬
priate elements, so skillfully joined that they will sepa¬
rate easily and neatly; but, if the construction be faulty,
or if the materials used in the formation of the elements
be inappropriate, there can be no systematic separation—
only a breaking up.
The attempt to analyze a sentence, will lead to a
detection Of errors, either in the use of words, or
in the construction.
But to gain a knowledge of the nature and use of
words, phrases, and clauses, of how and why they are put
together; also, of where to begin to analyze—where to
touch the joint, as it were—and of how to proceed method¬
ically, requires careful study, and much practice.
Out of skill in the analysis of sentences, is evolved
skill in the analysis of all discourse, thus giving one a
mastery of Language.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS. 20^
DEFINITIONS.
An idea, is a mental picture, conception, or notion.
A word is an oral or written representation of an
idea.
A thought is a collection of the kind of ideas neces¬
sary to form a proposition, and their correct arrange¬
ment in the mind, before being expressed.
Note.—A proposition is the combination of a subject and a
predicate.
A sentence is an expression of a thought in words,
either oral or written.
Every sentence must consist of two parts:
1. The subject.
2. The predicate.
The subject is that which denotes the thing of
which something is asserted.
The predicate denotes what is said or affirmed of
the subject.
The predicate consists of two parts, the thing,
the quality, or condition, or the action, asserted
or said of the subject, and called the attribute, as:
The planet is Mars.
The silk is blue.
The boy is poor.
The girl is writing,
and the part which affirms or asserts, and, at the same
time, joins the attribute to the subject.
20.S
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
This is called the copula, which is always some
form of the verb Be.
It is the essential element in the predicate, for without
it, no assertion can be made.
Note.—Those who deny that the copula forms a part of the
predicate seem to be ignorant of the fact that the word predicate is
from the Latin, predicare, which means to predicate, or to affirm.
THE VERB BE USED TO DENOTE EXISTENCE.
The verb Be is often used to assert existence only.
It is then an attributive verb.
Note.—An attributive veil) is one in which the copula and
attribute are blended, making a single word. (See Etymology.)
The expletive there is often used to introduce a
sentence, when the verb denotes existence, as:
There is a God.
exercises.
Verb Be used to denote existence (position).
God is everywhere.
Cattle are on the hills.
Birds are in the tree.
Ice was in the chest.
Water is in the well.
There are apples in the basket.
A boy has been here.
A mouse is in the trap.
Here are the papers.
Henry A in Germany.
SYNTAX ANn ANALYSIS.
209
Verb Be used as copula (positive).
When the verb Be is used as copula, it may con¬
nect to the subject three different kinds of attributes:
1. Substantive attribute, as:
Eagles are birds.
2. Adjective attribute, as:
Eagles are fierce.
3. Verbal attribute, as:
Eagles are flying
Note.—Attributes belonging to objects are numerous and var¬
ious, but all are classed under these three heads.
The substantive attribute is used to represent
the subject in another form; but must always agree with
it in case.
The verb Be is always intransitive, therefore it has no
governing power; hence the noun or pronoun used as
attribute must be in the nominative case.
When the attribute is a pronoun,, mistakes are
frequently made by careless or uneducated people,
therefore great care should be taken to teach children,
as it has been said before, to use the following:
It is 7,
It was they,
It was he,
It was she.
instead 01, It is vie,
It was them,
It was him,
It was her.
210
p.noush grammar.
Notes.—The sentence! I took James to be him (meaning I took
James to be your brother), is correct. The infinitive to be does not
govern, it is simply a form of the verb Be used as copula to join the
attributive object him to the direct object James; both words are
governed by took.
All the forms of Be may be used as copula.
Verb Be used as copula to join a substantive attribute
to the subject.
1. I am a merchant.
2. Thou art a teacher.
3. John is a teamster.
4. Pansies are flowers.
5. She was a scholar.
6. Thou wast a student.
7. Thou wert a philosopher.
8. We have been soldiers.
9. They had been wanderers.
10. Henry will be an orator.
11. I took John to be an orator.
12. I was not sure of its being he.
The verb Be, used to join adjective attributes to the sub-
exerc1ses.
ject.
exercises.
Skies arc blue.
Cherries are ripe.
Winds were high.
Cold is precious.
I am sad.
She is good.
Jane is ready.
You are merry.
Apples are red.
It is useful.
He is angry.
They are happy.
syntax and analysis.
211
The verb Be, used to join a verbal attribute to the sub¬
ject.
Supply different forms of the copula to connect the
following verbal attributes to the subject:
Lena — sewing. Robins — flying.
Birds — hopping. Stars — twinkling.
Stephen — ploughing. Fish — swimming.
Wheat — ripening. Boys — running.
Clouds — gathering. Bees — humming.
Anna — knitting. Men — working.
Note.—The copula, though it always exists in the verb, is fre¬
quently blended, as it has been said, with the verbal attribute, thus
making a new word in which neither are expressed. The verb is
then attributive, as: Jane sews—Jane is sewing.
Expand the following verbs, showing both copula
and attribute, and supply subjects:
studies,
sail,
swing,
fought,
build,
sold,
twinkle,
listened,
walk,
sings.
Note.—The adverb cannot be used as an attribute. It is al¬
ways used to limit or modify.
The copulative verbs, seem, become, appear, and
many verbs used as copulative verbs, take after them the
attributes of the subject, as:
11 e seems an invalid.
They became fanners.
The clouds appear to be gathering fast.
The child seems happy.
212
tCNOTJSH GRAMMAR.
Point out the copula and the copulative verbs in the
following sentences; also the verb Be, used to denote
existence, and the attributive verbs.
He is a good boy.
George will become a good boy.
David seems a good boy.
Albert appears a good boy.
Gold is in the mine.
Note.—It will be seen that the verb be, the copula, is more posi¬
tive in making assertions than the copulative verbs are.
The fear of. the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.*
His words were shed softer than leaves from the pine,
And they fell on Sir Launfal as snows on the brine,
That mingle their softness and quiet in one
Willi the shaggy unrest they float down upon;
And the voice that was calmer than silence, said:
" Lo, it is I; be not afraid."—The vision of Sir Launfal.
lie is coming from the meadow
Whore the lark has built her nest,
Under heavy grass that's ripening:—
Soon the scythe will break her rest!—Anon.
Wide swung again our ice-locked door,
And all the world was oursf once more.—Snow Pound.
O how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors!
—Shakspeare.
* Note the difference between the word beginning in:
The fear of the I.orrl is the beginning of wisdom,
and the same word in,
The fear of the I.ord is beginning to lead him into wis¬
dom's ways;
in the first sentence it is a participial noun, substantive attribute; in
the second it is a verbal attribute.
f Ours, substantive attribute equivalent to our world.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
213
The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new,
And hope is brightest, when it dawns from fears.
All was silent without, and illuming the landscape with silver,
Fait lose the dewy moon and the niyiiad stars.—Longfelloiv.
l'ethaps it may surprise some peisons to hear that amusements
may become a means of cultuie.—James Freeman Clarke.
ELEMENTS.
The elements of the sentence are the words,phrases,
and clauses that enter into its construction.
A phrase, in its ordinary meaning, is any group of
words not containing a finite verb; but:
A phrase element is a preposition and its object,
or a verb in the infinitive mode.
A clause element is a proposition used as a sen¬
tence element.
There are only five distinct sentence elements,
two piintipul, and three subordinate:
1. Subject.
2. Predicate.
3. Adjective element.
4. Objective element.
5. Adverbial element.
Independent elements have no syntactical rela¬
tion to the sentence; they are related, however, in thought.
The two principal elements are:
1. Subject.
2. Predicate,
and upon these, the subordinate elements depend for
their meaning.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The Sllbjcct of a sentence, is always a noun, or
something used as a noun, as:
Water flows.
In this sentence the noun water is the subject; but
in the following, the subject of the first sentence is a
phrase, and of the second, a clause:
To return is impossible.
That you should want to return is surprising.
The predicate must contain a finite verb, but
the attribute may be a word, a phrase, or a clause:
The boy is gone.
The boy is to go.
The truth is, that the boy went long ago.
The subordinate elements, like the principal,
may be words, phrases, or clauses:
Adjective elements:
They had a pleasant time.
They will remember it in time to come.
They have known times which were trying.
Objective elements:
The boy gathered cherries.
He gathered cherries for me.
He said that he gathered cherries.
Adverbial elements:
The horse ran rapidly.
He ran with great rapidity.
I was frightened, when he ran so rapidly,
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS-
SENTENCES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO USE.
A sentence, as it has been said, is the expression
of a thought in words; but, there are four different
ways of making known the thought, and these different
ways have given names to the four different hinds
of sentences:
1. Declarative<
2. Interrogative.
3. Imperative.
4. Exclamative.
A declarative sentence is one which asserts or
affirms, or makes a denial, as:
All the air was white with moonlight,
All the water black with shadow.
We must not mar the gladness of the hour,
With songs of sadness.
An interrogative sentence is one used to ask a
question, as:
Why do you sing those songs of sadness,
When the day is so full of gladness ?
An imperative sentence is one used to express a
command, a request, an entreaty, as:
Go into the house, and remain until I call you.
Lend me your knife, I have lost mine.
Let us then be up and doing
With a heart for any fate.
An exclamative sentence is one used to express
emotion, or excitement of any kind, as:
Look! oh we cannot escape!
216
enoi.isu ckammar.
Oh! what have you done?
Ah, I am weary of this unremitting toil!
Noie.—The exclamative sentence is often called exclamatory;
hut there seems to he 110 good reason for giving a dillerent termina¬
tion to the one kind of sentence, when the termination ive is, at
least, as appropriate as the other.
SENTENCES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO CONSTRUC¬
TION.
According to const ruction, sentences are
classified as
1. Simple.
2. Complex.
3. Compound.
A simple sentence consists of one subject and one
finite verb, or predicate.
Ex.—Apples fall.
A simple sentence may consist of fiew words, or of a
great many words, as both subject and predicate will
take an unlimited number of modifiers.
A complex sentence must contain at least two
propositions, an independent proposition, and a proposition
dependent upon it, called a subordinate proposition.
Ex.—You did not come when I called you.
The purts of a complex sentence are called clauses.
A. subordinate connective is used to join the depen¬
dent clause to the principal.
A eompounil sentence consists of at least two
independent propositions.
Ex.—I called you, but you did not come.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
2T7
The propositions forming a compound sentence are
called members.
The members of a compound sentence are joined
together by coordinate conjunctions.
M< JDIKIEUS.
As it has been said, only the subject and predicate
are required to form a proposition, but, in many cases,
the thought would be exceedingly indefinite if nothing
more were added, as in the following:
The carpenters arc building.
This is a sentence, and yet the thought expressed is
incomplete, for he may be building a house, a barn, a
church, in fact there are many kinds of structures which
the carpenter builds. But by placing an objective ele¬
ment after the verb, the statement is made more nearly
complete:
The carpenters are building a ship.
This sentence may be extended to a great length by
using subordinate elements to limit the subject and the
predicate, and words depending upon them.
The subordinate elements thus used are called mod¬
ifiers.
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause, joined to
some other aw/, phrase, or clause, to change the mean¬
ing in some way; thus adding, not only clearness to the
sentence, but often beauty and elegance.
The modifiers of the subject are any words,phrases,
or clauses joined to it, to limit or change its meaning in
any way. They are called adjective elements.
2 18
ENCI.ISH GRAMMAR.
Adjective word elements:
A beautiful pine tree stands before my window.
His horse is in the pasture.
Ten horses are in the pasture.
That man is a farmer.
Mr. Rudenz, the architect, is in France.
In the sentences above, the article, the pronoun in the
possessive, the numeral adjective, the qualifying adjective,
the pronominal adjective and the noun in apposition, are
all used to limit the subject; therefore, they should be
called adjective elements.
When a noun or pronoun is used to limit another noun
or pronoun, by apposition, in order to identify, to describe,
to explain, or for the sake of emphasis by repetition, it
should be called an adjective word element.
Ex.—Mr. Caston, the banker, is in New York.
Her home, a beautiful cottage in the valley,
was given her by her brother.
The occupation of the girls, lace making, is
very injurious to the eyes.
Water, water, quick! a glass of water.
The adjective, as it has been said, cannot modify an¬
other adjective, but there is a peculiar construction of the
adjective and the noun, forming a complex idea, which
may be modified by an adjective.
Ex.—The pretty red rose.
A good little boy.
Rose-colored ladies' gloves.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
2I9
In the sentences above, pretty modifies red rose;
1food modifies little boy; and rose-colored modi¬
fies Indies' gloves. It is well to impress upon pupils
the fact that in such constructions as: ladies' gloves9
the adjective indicating the color, does not refer to the
persons, but to articles adapted to their use.
Other words, also, may be joined with the subject or
with a noun in any construction, as:
As man, esteemed* by his neighbors.
A brick house, f
A stone wall.J
Any phrase joined to the subject, or to a noun in
any construction, is an adjective modifier, and
should be called in analysis an adjective phrase
element.
Adjective phrase elements:
The home of the friendless.
A reason for leaving.
His desire to remain.
Any clause joined to the subject, or to a noun in any
construction, is an adjective modifier, and should be called,
in analysis, an adjective clause element.
Adjective clause elements:
The vine that covers my window.
The time when I shall see you again.
The place where I lost my knife.
*A participle, f j: Nouns denoting material, used as adjective
elements.
220
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Note.—When a conjunctive adverb connects an adjective clause
to a noun, it should be parsed as a relative adverb, used to join the
subordinate clause to the noun, also to modify the verb in subordi¬
nate clause.
The objective word element is used to com¬
plete the meaning of the transitive verb or its participles.
Objective word elements:
They planted trees.
I saw them planting trees.
Having planted the trees, they went home.
The objective phrase element is used as an
indirect object, to show that the action of the verb is ex¬
erted to or for some person or thing; also the material
out of which a thing is made, and it often indicates the
person or thing referred to indirectly, by the verb, in
conversation.
Objective phrase elements:
The boy gave an apple to the child.
I made { for) him a coat out of blue cloth.
His letter gave (to) me comfort.
It spoke of final sueeess.
He did it for me.
Note.—The verb in the infinitive mode, though it is a phrase
element, when used as an objective element, is always a direct object.
An indirect object sometimes completes the mean¬
ing of an adjective, as:
The pitcher is full of water.
They were desirous of learning telegraphy.
He was very anxious to go.
(See Syntax and Analysis Simplified.)
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
221
Note.—This construction is peculiar, but those who deny that
phrases complete the meaning of the adjective, thus becoming ob¬
jective elements, have failed, so far, to give a satisfactory explana-
The verb in the infinitive mode is used very often
as an objective element, but after the verbs
bid, dare, see, feel,
hear, make, need, let,
and some others, the word to is generally omitted, as:
I bade him stay.
You will not dare leave him.
I saw him go.
I felt it move.
They heard the sea roar.
She made him study.
You need not stay.
Copulative verbs in the active voice, take
after them two objects, a direct object, and an attribute
of the direct object, as:
They crowned her queen.
It made the child happy.
He made the boy work.
They named her Julia.
They called him a scholar.
The second, or attributive object is not always
a noun. It is sometimes an adjective, and very often a
verb in the infinitive mode. These are called objective
elements, because they show the result of action upon the
direct objects.
EN HUSH GRAMMAR.
From the fact that these constructions (direct and
attributive object) are instparable elements, they have
been appropriately called double objects.
If one be taken from the other, the meaning is
entirely changed, as:
She made the coffee strong.
She made the coffee.
The object ire clause element is a proposition
used to complete the meaning of a transitive verb.
Direct and indirect quotations are used more
frequently than any other form of proposition, as clause
element.
Ex.—He said, " You came too late " (direct).
He said that I came too late (indirect).
They told me how to make it.
He showed me where to put it.
The last two sentences contain objective clause ele¬
ments, but they are not quotations.
After the verbs say and tell, and some others, an ob¬
jective element may consist of many clauses, and, also,
of entire sentences, quoted directly or indirectly.
This is called direct or indirect discourse.
The adverbial word element is used to mod¬
ify verbs, participles, adjectives, and adverbs, by denoting
time, place, cause, manner, or degree, and the modal ad¬
verbs, nay, no, not, yes, surely, etc., which modify the
entire assertion.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
223
He spoke hastily.
Speaking hastily, he lost control of himself.
They left early.
They came here.
It is very curious.
It is not too long. (See Etymology).
Adverbial phrase elements are very numer¬
ous, and are more definite than the adverbs, as:
The book is there (indefinite).
The book is on the table (definite).
It was early (indefinite).
It was at day-break (definite).
These elements give many different shades of mean¬
ing to the elements they modify.
The adverbial clause element is a proposition
used to modify another proposition, or some word in a
proposition by denoting time,place, cause, and manner, as:
She saw the bird when it flew out of the cage.
You will find it where you lost it.
I shall go there, because the climate is warmer.
Do it as I told you to do it.
Adverbial clauses are joined to the clauses
which they modify, by conjunctive adverbs.
(See Etymology, and Syntax and Analysis Simplified.)
Compound word, phrase, and clause ele¬
ments, of every kind, are formed, all of them, in the
same way, that is, by using coordinate conjunctions to
connect them, as:
224 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
William and Mary.
Green or yellow.
Not red, but white.
To ride or to walk.
Where the birds are always singing, and where the
trees are always green.
We know the laws of our country, and we must obey
them.
Very little difficulty will be met with in the attempt
to analyze compound elements, or compound sentences,
unless the members of the compound elements or sen¬
tences are themselves complex.
CONTRACTED, OR CONDENSED SENTENCES.
For the sake of brevity as well as euphony, com¬
pound sentences are often contracted or condensed, thus
becoming partially compound.
Ex.—We traveled by moonlight, and we enjoyed the
exquisite beauty of light and shadow (full
form).
We traveled by moonlight, and enjoyed the ex¬
quisite beauty of light and shadow (con¬
tracted).
The second sentence is contracted by omitting the
subject, we, in the second member of the compound
sentence, for, as it is subject of both traveled and en¬
joyed, the repetition is useless.
A sentence may be contracted or condensed ,
also, by not repeating the predicate, when it is common
to two subjects.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
225
Ex.—Daisies are beautiful flowers, and pansies are
beautiful flowers (full form).
Daisies and pansies are beautiful flowers (con¬
tracted).
ABRIDGED PROPOSITIONS.
Subordinate propositions are sometimes
abridged, but, although they are changed in form,
there is no material change in meaning.
The participial construction is used in the
abridgement of adjective clauses.
Ex.—I wandered into the forest, which bounds my
farm on the north (full form).
I wandered into the forest, bounding my farm
on the north (abridged).
The boy who whistles so 4oud, is trying to
appear brave in the dark (full form).
The boy whistling so loud, is trying to appear
brave in the dark (abridged).
The infinitive is often used to abridge proposi¬
tions.
Ex.—I wish that you would assist me vfull form).
I wish you to assist me (abridged).
Such expressions, as:
I wanted that you should should read this.
He wanted that I should return early,
should not be used, for, although they are constructed
according to syntax and will admit of analysis, they are
exceedingly harsh and unpleasant to the ear. The
abridged form is much to be preferred, as:
226
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
I wanted you to read this.
He wants me to return early.
The clause element may be used as subject of a
proposition, as:
How he happened to make the mistake is surprising.
" I do not fear the consequences," was his reply.
It may be used also as predicate nominative, as:
The cause of the trouble was that he was very care¬
less.
The clause element is often used as a noun in appo¬
sition, as:
The fact that the man was absent at the time, was
proof of his innocence.
All clauses used as subject, predicate nominative, and
as a noun in apposition, should be called substantive
clauses.
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE.
MODELS FOR ANALYSIS.
When analyzing a sentence, it is well for beginners
to state the facts about all the elements, in me¬
thodical order.
To make a correct analysis of a sentence,
especially, if it is at all complicated , requires abso¬
lute concentration of the mind on the work; and,
by this necessary concentration, combined with methodical
working, the mind is strengthened, and correct habits of
thinking are formed.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
227
In everythiny we do, much routine work is
necessary to produce the skill required to do it quickly
and well; and certainly nothing is more desirable than
skill in the practical use of language, as well as in lit¬
erary criticism, which, as it has been said, is the result
of a careful study of Analysis.
The si m pi est form of the sentence, oral or writ¬
ten, is a single word, so far as expression is concerned,
but another word is always understood.
The verb, yo, when uttered as a command, entreaty,
or request, is in the imperative mode, but the subject of
verbs in that mode is understood. It is very rarely ex¬
pressed, when the verb is in the imperative, therefore
the analysis would be very simple and easy.
MODEL I.
The simple sentence contains but one proposi¬
tion.
Books are caskets.
It is a proposition, it is the combination of a subject
and a predicate.
It is a sentence—it is the expression of a thought in
words; it is a simple sentence—it consists of but one
proposition:
Hooks .... is the subject—it is a word used to
represent that about which some¬
thing is said or affirmed.
Are caskets . . is the predicate; are is the copula,
a form of the verb be used to make
the assertion, and also, to join the
228
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
attribute to the subject. Caskets is
the substantive attribute—it is used
to represent the subject as belong¬
ing to a certain class of objects-, it
agrees with the subject in person,
number, gender, and case.
It will be observed that this sentence is very indefi-
nite, but by using modifiers, it can be made definite and
expressive.
Books are golden caskets.
Books are golden caskets containing jewels.
Books are golden caskets containing precious jewels.
Books are golden caskets containing precious jewels of
thought.
The sentence is enlarged, made definite, and beau¬
tified by adding:
Golden (an adjective word element).
Containing (an adjective word element, participial
construction).
Jewels (an objective word element modifying con¬
taining).
Precious (an adjective word element, modirying
jewels).
Of thought (an adjective phrase element, modifying
jewels).
In a full analysis of this simple sentence, the words:
containing precious jewels of thought,
should be given as a complex adjective element, participial
construction; containing, the basis, modified by precious
jewels of thought, an objective word element, complex;
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
229
the basis, jewels, is modified by, precious, an adjective
word element, and by of thought, an adjective phrase
element.
MODEL II.
On Esek Harden's oaken floor
With many an autumn threshing worn,
Lay the heaped ears of unhusked corn.
— Whittier.
It is a sentence, it is the expression of a thought in
words-, it is a simple sentence, it contains but one proposi¬
tion.
Ears .... is the simple subject; it is modified
by heaped, an adjective word ele¬
ment (participle); the complex idea,
heaped ears, is modified by the, an
adjective word element; ears is mod¬
ified, also, by of unhusked corn, a
complex adjective phrase element; of
corn is the basis; corn is modified by
unhusked, a simple adjective word
element (participle).
Lay . . , . is the simple predicate; it is modified
by On Esek Harden's oaken floor
with many an autumn threshing worn,
a complex adverbial phrase element,
denoting place; on floor, is the basis,
modified by oaken, a simple adjective
word element; the complex idea, oaken
floor, is modified by Esek Harden's,
a simple adjective element, denoting
possession; floor is modified, also,
230
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
by with many an autumn ttneshing
worn, a complex adjective word ele¬
ment ( participle) ; worn is the basis,
it is modified by many an autumn
threshing, a complex adverbial cle¬
ment of manner, showing the means
or instrument used in acting upon the
floor; with threshing is the basis-,
threshing (a participial noun), is
modified by autumn, a simple adjec¬
tive word element; the complex idea,
autumn threshing, is modified by
many an, a simple adjective word
element.
Note.—Many and an are inseparable, and in parsing or an¬
alyzing should be regarded as a single word.
EXERCISES.
Simple sentences:
God is.
God is everywhere.
God is love.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
Four seasons fill the measure of the year.—Keats.
I built my soul a lordly pleasure-house. — Tennyson.
On the Mountains of the Prairie,
On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry,
Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
He, the Master of Life, descending
On the red crags of the quarry
Stood erect.
syntax and analysis.
23I
Note.—The sentence, is simple, and declarative; but it con¬
tains some curious constructions. Pupils should be required to find
in it, three adjective elements, by apposition. The word erect is an
adjective, used to denote the appearance of the Indian's " Master
of Life'''' as he stood on the mountains, etc.; it is not an adverb, as
some think.
COMPLEX SENTENCES.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES.
A complex sentence consists of one princi¬
pal, or independent proposition, and one or several
subordinate or dependent propositions.
Adjective clauses are joined to principal clauses by the
relative pronouns, who, which, that, what, but, and
as. When a relative pronoun restricts the meaning of a
noun, as:
There is the boy that broke the window,
a comma should not be placed before it, but, if it does
not restrict the meaning of the noun, as:
He sold the horse for one hundred dollars, which he
put into the bank,
a comma should be placed before it; but in the sentence:
That is the money which he put into the bank,
the relative which is restrictive, as it will be easily
seen, therefore no comma should be placed before it.
MODELS FOR ANALYSIS.
MODEL I.
That is the little girl who took the prize.
It is a sentence, it is the expression of a thought in
words; it a declarative sentence, it asserts something as
real; it is a complex sentence; it consists of two propo-
232
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
sitions, one principal and one subordinate. The princi¬
pal proposition, is:
That is the little girl,—
the subordinate proposition, is:
who took the prize.
That .... is the subject of the principal propo¬
sition; it is unmodified.
Is (jirl ... is the simple predicate; is, is the
copula, girl is the substantive attri¬
bute; girl is modified by little, a
qualifying adjective word element;
the complex idea, little girl, is modi¬
fied by the, an adjective word element;
girl is modified, also, by who took
the prize, an adjective clause element.
Who .... is the subject; it is a restrictive rela¬
tive pronoun in this sentence; it is
unmodified.
Took .... is the simple predicate; it is modified
by the complex objective word ele¬
ment, the prize; prize is modified by
the, an adjective word element. The
entire assertion in the sentence is
modified by not, a modal adverb.
I do not remember the time when the surrounding co
try looked so beautiful.
This is a complex declarative sentence.
I do not remember the time,
is the principal proposition,
when the surrounding country looked so beautiful,
is the subordinate proposition.
T is the subject of the principal propo¬
sition—it is unmodified.
Do remember is the simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by the time when the surround¬
ing country looked so beautiful, a
complex objective word element;
time is the basis—it is modified by
the subordinate clause, an adjective
clause element, connected to it
(time) by the relative adverb, when.
Country . . . is the simple subject, of the subordi¬
nate proposition—it is modified by
surrounding, an adjective word ele¬
ment (participle), the complex idea,
surrounding country, is modified by
the adjective word element, the.
looked beautiful is the simple predicate—looked is a
copulative verb, used to connect the
adjective attribute, beautiful, to the
subject, country; beautiful is modi¬
fied by so, an adverbial word ele¬
ment of degree.
EXERCISES.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the un¬
godly.—Psalm /.
Here, ground-fast in their native fields,
Untempted by the city's gain,
The quiet farmer folk remain
Who bear the pleasant name of Friends.
234
english grammar.
Note.—Relative pronous are often governed by prepositions,
but the clauses which they introduce are adjective clause elements,
as: The man on whom I depended for help has not returned.
SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSES.
MODELS FOR ANALYSIS.
Substantive Clauses are to be disposed of in
analysis as nouns, in whatever construction they may be
found; but, after the sentence is analyzed, they (the
clauses) may be resolved into their component parts.
MODEL I.
" Where did he get it? " was my question.
This is a simple declarative sentence.
'' Where did he
get it?" . . is the subject—it is unmodified.
Was question is the predicate; was is the copula;
question is the substantive attribute,
modified by my, an adjective word
element.
The subject, " Where did he get it?" is an interro¬
gative sentence, used as a noun.
He is the subject—unmodified.
Hid get ... is the simple predicate; it is modified
by it, an objective word element,
and, also, by wfiere, an interrogative
adverb of place.
MODEL II.
The reason was, that he did not receive the telegram.
It is a simple declarative sentence.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
235
Reason ... is the simple subject—it is modified
by the adjective word element the.
Was that he did
not receive the
telegram . . is the simple predicate; was is the
copula; that he did not receive the
telegram, is the attribute.
MODEL HI.
The belief that my dream is prophetic of good, gives
me hope, in spite of your ridicule.
This is a simple declarative sentence.
Belief .... is the simple subject—it is modified
by the adjective word element the,
and by that my dream is prophetic of
good, a substantive clause element,
by apposition.
Gave .... is the predicate—it is modified by
hope, a direct objective word element,
and by me, an indirect objective
phrase element {to me). It is mod-
fied, also, by in spite of your ridicule.
In spite of ridicule is the basis; ridi¬
cule is modified by your, an adjective
word element; in spite of is a com¬
plex preposition.
MODEL IV.
Each little life
Thinks the great axle of the universe
Turns on its fate.—Bayard Taylor.
It is a simple declarative sentence.
236
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
Life is the simple subject—it is modified
by little, an adjective word element,
the complex idea, little life, is modi¬
fied by each, a simple adjective
word element.
is the simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by the direct objective element,
the entire clause {that, connective
understood), the great axle of the
universe turns on its fate.
is the simple subject of the subordi¬
nate clause—modified by great, and
the complex idea, great axle, is
modified by the; axle is modified,
also, by of the universe, an adjective
phrase element.
is the simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by on its fate, an adverbial
element of manner.
EXERCISES.
Substantive clauses:
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream.
Tell me not that I must leave you.*
* In the first sentence me is the indirect object, and (that) Life
is but an empty dream, is the direct object; but there seems to be a
difference between that sentence and the second, which, at a glance,
appears to be the same. In the first sentence, the direct object
certainly has no special connection with me, the indirect; but.in the
second, the clause, that I must leave you, is so closely related to me
as to be inseparable from it, therefore, resembling (the two together)
the double object, more than any other construction, and, in the
abridged form, tell me not to leave you, me to leave you is certainly
a double object of the preposition to understood, the whole, (to) me
to leave you, the indirect object of tell. Grammarians have failed to
dispose of the construction more satisfactorily.
Axle
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
237
" What shall I do with it? " was what she said.
Good neighbors mine, he sternly said,
This passes harmless mirth or jest. -Whittier.
The report that the ship was lost at sea is true.
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES.
MODELS FOR ANALYSIS.
Adverbial Clauses are used to modify some
word or words in the principal clause, by denoting time,
place, cause, manner, or degree.
The adverbial clauses are many and various; it
would be impossible, therefore, to give a model for each
kind.
MODEL I.
The more I walk, the better I feel. ■.
This is a complex declarative sentence; the better I
feel is the principal proposition, the more I walk is the
subordinate proposition.
I is the subject of the principal prop¬
osition, unmodified.
Feel better . . is the simple predicate; feel is a
copulative verb, used to join the
attribute, better, to the subject; bet¬
ter is the adjective attribute, used to
show the condition of the subject—
it is modified by the, an adverbial
word element-, the principal propo¬
sition is modified by the subordinate
clause, the more I walk.
238 ENGUSH GRAMMAR.
I is the subject of the subordinate
clause, unmodified.
Walk .... is the simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by the more, an adverbial ele¬
ment of degree; more is the basis,
modified by the, an adverbial word
element.
MODEL II.
I knew that, when I was ten years old.
This is a complex declarative sentence; the principal
proposition is, I knew that; the subordinate proposition
is, when I was ten years old.
I is the subject, unmodified.
knew .... is the predicate—it is modified
by that, an objective word element;
it is modified, also, by when I was
ten years old, an adverbial clause ele¬
ment denoting time.
I is the subject, unmodified.
WftS <)l<l ... is the simple predicate, was is the
copula, old is the predicate adjective,
or adjective attribute; old is modi¬
fied by (by) ten years, an adverbial
element of measurement of time;
when is used to join the adverbial
clause to the principal; it also mod¬
ifies was old.
MODEL III.
Met kinks (that) the little streamlet sings as if it wished
to join the feathered songsters in their morning
songs of gladness.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
239
The word met/links is not equivalent to I think—it is
impossible to make me take the place of I, properly,
in any construction.
Methinks means: seems to me, and the entire clause
(that) the little streamlet sings, and its modifiers, is the
subject. The sentence is complex.
The ( Iff use . . is the subject; thinks is the simple
predicate—it is equivalent to seems;
it is modified by (to) me, an indirect
objective phrase element,
streamlet . . is the subject of the clause which is
the subject of thinks—it is modified
by little, and the complex idea, little
streamlet, is modified by the, adjec¬
tive word element.
shlf/s .... is 4he simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by as (it would sing) if it wished
to join the feathered songsters in their
morning songs of gladness, a complex
adverbial element of manner denot¬
ing resemblance or correspondence;
the basis is as (it would sing), mod¬
ified by if it wished to join, etc., an
adverbial clause element denoting
condition.
EXERCISES.
Adverbial clauses:
Remain here, until they come.
If I remain longer, I shall miss the train.
The longer I remain, the better I like the city.
240 ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
He will go where the climate is milder.
Trim the hedge, just as I told you.
COMPOUND AND PARTIALLY COMPOUND
SENTENCES.
MODELS FOR ANALYSIS.
Compound sentences are easily analyzed, as
they are composed, always, of two or more simple sen¬
tences.
The parts of a compound sentence should not
each be called a sentence, but a member of the
sentence.
If the members of a compound sentence be complex,
they should be analyzed according to the directions given
for the analysis of complex sentences.
Sentences consisting of one proposition, modified by
an abridged proposition, should be called sim¬
ple sentences.
MODEL I.
Go 7l it/i me to the country, and let us breathe the pure,
fresh air once more.
It is a compound imperative sentence; the first mem¬
ber is. Go with me to the country; the second member is,
and let us breathe the pure, fresh air once more.
Thou or yon . is the subject of the first member—it
(understood) is unmodified.
Go is the simple predicate—it is modi¬
fied by with me, an adverbial element
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
241
of accompaniment, also by to the
country, an adverbial element of
place.
is the subject of the second member,
unmodified.
is the simple predicate, modified by
us (to) breathe the jure, fresh air
once more, a double objective element;
us is the direct object; (to) breathe
the pure, fresh air once more, is the
complex attribute object; (to) breathe
is the basis, modified by the pure,
fresh air, a complex objective word
element; air is the basis, modified
by pure* and fresh, two adjective
word elements; to breathe is modi¬
fied, also, by once more, an ad¬
verbial element of time; more is the
basis, modified by once, an adverbial
element denoting time repeated.
The two members of the compound
sentence are united by the coordi¬
nate conjunction, and.
MODEL II.
The bird building her nest in that tree, is a sparrow.
It is a simple sentence, containing an abridged proposi¬
tion.
*Pure and fresh are dependent upon air, in the same way,
therefore, pure does not modify the complex idea fresh air, but the
modifies the complex idea, pure, fresh air.
Thou or you .
(understood)
Let
242
KNO.LISH GRAMMAR.
Jtii'd .... is the simple subject, modified by the,
and, also, by building her nest in that
tree, a complex adjective element,
participial construction; building, is
the basis, modified by her nest,
a complex objective element; nest is
the basis, modified by her, an adjec¬
tive word element; building, is mod •
ified, also, by in that tree, a complex
adverbial element of place; in tree
is the basis, tree is modified by the
adjective word element; that, the
abridged element, is from which is
building her nest, an adjective clause.
is sparrow . . is the predicate; is, the copula, and
sparrow the substantive attribute,
modified by the adjective word ele¬
ment, a.
MODEL III.
I came to see you.
It is a simple dclarative sentence, containing an
abridged proposition.
I is the subject unmodified.
came .... is the simple predicate; it is modified
by to see you, an infinitive* of pur¬
pose, abridged from that I might see
you; to see is the basis, modified by
you, an objective word element.
For other models and explanations, see Syntax and
Analysis Simplified.
*This is the only use of the infinitive which has in it the na¬
ture of an adverbial element.
SYNTAX AND ANALYSIS.
MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES.
The scene was fair to look upon.
"What have I done? " said the sculptor, shocked at his own
casual production.—Hawthorne.
Life is full of beauty and delight, but we do not always see it.
Across the level table-land
A grassy, rarely trodden way,
With thinnest skirt of birchen spray
And stunted growth of cedar, leads
To where you see the dull plain fall
Sheer off, steep-slanted, ploughed by all
The season's rainfalls. On its brink
The over-leaning harebells swing. — Whit tier.
No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.—Lowell.
Turn, turn my wheel! turn round and round,
Without a pause, without a sound:
So spins the flying world away!—Longfellow.
Something it is which thou hast lost;
Some pleasure from thine early years.—Tennyson.
Pleasantly gleamed in the soft, sweet air, the Basin of Minas,
Where the ships, with their wavering shadows, were riding at
anchor. —Longfellow.
Perhaps some of the Acadians, in their aimless wanderings
through the town found themselves near a large brick edifice, which
was fenced in from the street by an iron railing, wrought with fan¬
tastic figures.—Hawthorne.
At the moment when Wellington drew back,
Napoleon started up.
A local tradition, which evidently exaggerates, says that two
thousand horses, and fifteen hundred men were buried in the sunken
road of Ohain.—Battle of Waterloo, Victor Hugo.
244
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,
But has one vacant chair!—Longfellow.
I have as many as will be needed.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
—Longfellow.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
F'ull of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
4>N>
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