An English Grammar Part 61

SPECIAL REMARKS.

[Sidenote: As if.]

301. _As if_ is often used as one conjunction of manner, but really there is an ellipsis between the two words; thus,--

But thy soft murmuring Sounds sweet _as if_ a sister's voice reproved.

--BYRON.

If a.n.a.lyzed, the expression would be, "sounds sweet _as_ [the sound would be] _if_ a sister's voice reproved;" _as_, in this case, expressing degree if taken separately.

But the ellipsis seems to be lost sight of frequently in writing, as is shown by the use of _as though_.

[Sidenote: As though.]

302. In Emerson's sentence, "We meet, and part _as though_ we parted not," it cannot be said that there is an ellipsis: it cannot mean "we part _as_ [we should part] _though_" etc.

Consequently, _as if_ and _as though_ may be taken as double conjunctions expressing manner. _As though_ seems to be in as wide use as the conjunction _as if_; for example,--

Do you know a farmer who acts and lives _as though_ he believed one word of this?--H GREELEY.

His voice ... sounded _as though_ it came out of a barrel.--IRVING.

Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain, _As though_ a rose should shut, and be a bud again.

--KEATS

Examples might be quoted from almost all authors.

[Sidenote: As _for_ as if.]

303. In poetry, _as_ is often equivalent to _as if_.

And their orbs grew strangely dreary, Clouded, even _as_ they would weep.

--EMILY BRONTE.

So silently we seemed to speak, So slowly moved about, _As_ we had lent her half our powers To eke her living out.

--HOOD.

HOW TO Pa.r.s.e CONJUNCTIONS.

304. In parsing conjunctions, tell--

(1) To what cla.s.s and subcla.s.s they belong.

(2) What words, word groups, etc., they connect.

[Sidenote: _Caution_.]

In cla.s.sifying them, particular attention must be paid to the _meaning_ of the word. Some conjunctions, such as _nor, and, because, when_, etc., are regularly of one particular cla.s.s; others belong to several cla.s.ses. For example, compare the sentences,--

1. It continued raining, _so_ that I could not stir abroad.--DEFOE

2. There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, _so_ they be each honest and natural in their hour.--EMERSON

3. It was too dark to put an arrow into the creature's eye; _so_ they paddled on.--KINGSLEY

In sentence 1, _so that_ expresses result, and its clause depends on the other, hence it is a subordinate conjunction of result; in 2, _so_ means provided,--is subordinate of condition; in 3, _so_ means therefore, and its clause is independent, hence it is a coordinate conjunction of reason.

Exercise.

Pa.r.s.e all the conjunctions in these sentences:--

1. When the G.o.ds come among men, they are not known.

2. If he could solve the riddle, the Sphinx was slain.

3. A lady with whom I was riding in the forest said to me that the woods always seemed to wait, as if the genii who inhabit them suspended their deeds until the wayfarer had pa.s.sed.

4. The mountain of granite blooms into an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate finish as well as the aerial proportions and perspective of vegetable scenery.

5. At sea, or in the forest, or in the snow, he sleeps as warm, dines with as good an appet.i.te, and a.s.sociates as happily, as beside his own chimneys.

6. Our admiration of the antique is not admiration of the old, but of the natural.

7. "Doctor," said his wife to Martin Luther, "how is it that whilst subject to papacy we prayed so often and with such fervor, whilst now we pray with the utmost coldness, and very seldom?"

8. All the postulates of elfin annals,--that the fairies do not like to be named; that their gifts are capricious and not to be trusted; and the like,--I find them true in Concord, however they might be in Cornwall or Bretagne.

9. He is the compend of time; he is also the correlative of nature.

10. He dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.

11. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray.

12. It may be safely trusted, so it be faithfully imparted.

13. He knows how to speak to his contemporaries.

14. Goodness must have some edge to it,--else it is none.

15. I hope it is somewhat better than whim at last.

16. Now you have the whip in your hand, won't you lay on?

17. I scowl as I dip my pen into the inkstand.