An English Grammar Part 94

426. The compounds somebody else, any one else, n.o.body else, etc., are treated as units, and the apostrophe is regularly added to the final word _else_ instead of the first. Thackeray has the expression _somebody's else_, and Ford has _n.o.body's else_, but the regular usage is shown in the following selections:--

A boy who is fond of _somebody else's_ pencil case.--G. ELIOT.

A suit of clothes like _somebody else's_.--THACKERAY.

Drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire as benevolently as if they were _somebody else's_.--d.i.c.kENS.

Certainly not! nor _any one else's_ ropes.--RUSKIN.

Again, my p.r.o.nunciation--like _everyone else's_--is in some cases more archaic.--SWEET.

Then everybody wanted some of _somebody else's_.--RUSKIN.

His hair...curled once all over it in long tendrils, unlike _anybody else's_ in the world.--N.P. WILLIS.

"Ye see, there ain't nothin' wakes folks up like _somebody else's_ wantin' what you've got."--MRS. STOWE.

ADJECTIVES.

AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES WITH NOUNS.

[Sidenote: These sort, all manner of, _etc._]

427. The statement that adjectives agree with their nouns in number is restricted to the words this and that (with these and those), as these are the only adjectives that have separate forms for singular and plural; and it is only in one set of expressions that the concord seems to be violated,--in such as "_these sort_ of books,"

"_those kind_ of trees," "_all manner_ of men;" the nouns being singular, the adjectives plural. These expressions are all but universal in spoken English, and may be found not infrequently in literary English; for example,--

_These kind_ of knaves I know, which in this plainness Harbor more craft, etc.--SHAKESPEARE

All _these sort_ of things.--SHERIDAN.

I hoped we had done with _those sort_ of things.--MULOCH.

You have been so used to _those sort_ of impertinences.--SYDNEY SMITH.

Whitefield or Wesley, or some other such great man as a bishop, or _those sort_ of people.--FIELDING.

I always delight in overthrowing _those kind_ of schemes.--AUSTEN.

There are women as well as men who can thoroughly enjoy _those sort_ of romantic spots.--_Sat.u.r.day Review_, London.

The library was open, with _all manner_ of amusing books.--RUSKIN.

According to the approved usage of Modern English, each one of the above adjectives would have to be changed to the singular, or the nouns to the plural.

[Sidenote: _History of this construction._]

The reason for the prevalence of these expressions must be sought in the history of the language: it cannot be found in the statement that the adjective is made plural by the attraction of a noun following.

[Sidenote: _At the source._]

In Old and Middle English, in keeping with the custom of looking at things concretely rather than in the abstract, they said, not "all _kinds_ of wild animals," but "alles cunnes wilde deor" (wild animals of-every-kind). This the modern expression reverses.

[Sidenote: _Later form._]

But in early Middle English the modern way of regarding such expressions also appeared, gradually displacing the old.

[Sidenote: _The result._]

Consequently we have a confused expression. We keep the form of logical agreement in standard English, such as, "_This sort_ of trees should be planted;" but at the same time the noun following _kind of_ is felt to be the real subject, and the adjective is, in spoken English, made to agree with it, which accounts for the construction, "_These kind of_ trees are best."

[Sidenote: _A question._]

The inconvenience of the logical construction is seen when we wish to use a predicate with number forms. Should we say, "This kind of rules _are_ the best," or "This kind of rules _is_ the best?" _Kind_ or _sort_ may be treated as a collective noun, and in this way may take a plural verb; for example, Burke's sentence, "A _sort_ of uncertain sounds _are_, when the necessary dispositions concur, more alarming than a total silence."

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS.

[Sidenote: _Use of the comparative degree._]

428. The comparative degree of the adjective (or adverb) is used when we wish to compare two objects or sets of objects, or one object with a cla.s.s of objects, to express a higher degree of quality; as,--

Which is _the better_ able to defend himself,--a strong man with nothing but his fists, or a paralytic cripple enc.u.mbered with a sword which he cannot lift?--MACAULAY.

Of two such lessons, why forget The _n.o.bler_ and the _manlier_ one?

--BYRON.

We may well doubt which has the _stronger_ claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished.--PRESCOTT.

A _braver_ ne'er to battle rode.--SCOTT.

He is _taller,_ by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court.--SWIFT.

[Sidenote: Other _after the comparative form._]

429. When an object is compared with the cla.s.s to which it belongs, it is regularly excluded from that cla.s.s by the word _other_; if not, the object would really be compared with itself: thus,--

The character of Lady Castlewood has required more delicacy in its manipulation than perhaps any _other_ which Thackeray has drawn.--TROLLOPE.

I used to watch this patriarchal personage with livelier curiosity than any _other_ form of humanity.--HAWTHORNE.