The Grammar of English Grammars Part 232

UNDER NOTE V.--VERB BETWEEN TWO NOMINATIVES.

"The quarrels of lovers _are but_ a renewal of love."--_Adam et al. cor._ "Two dots, one placed above the other, _are_ called _a Sheva."--Wilson cor._ "A few centuries more or less _are_ a matter of small consequence."--_Id._ "Pictures were the first step towards the art of writing; _hieroglyphics were_ the second step."--_Parker cor._ "The comeliness of youth _is_ modesty and frankness; of age, condescension and dignity." Or, much better: "The _great ornaments_ of youth are,"

&c.--_Murray cor._ "Merit and good works _are_ the end of man's motion."--_Bacon cor._ "Divers philosophers hold, that the lips _are_ parcel of the mind."--_Shak. cor._ "The clothing of the natives _was_ the skins of wild beasts." Or thus: "The _clothes_ of the natives _were_ skins of wild beasts."--_Hist. cor._ "Prepossessions in _favour_ of our _native_ town, _are_ not a matter of surprise."--_Webster cor._ "Two shillings and sixpence _are_ half a crown, but not a half crown."--_Priestley and Bicknell cor._ "Two vowels, p.r.o.nounced by a single impulse of the voice, and uniting in one sound, _are_ called a _diphthong_."--_Cooper cor._ "Two or more sentences united together _are_ called a Compound Sentence."--_Day cor._ "Two or more words rightly put together, but not completing an entire proposition, _are_ called a Phrase."--_Id._ "But the common number of times _is_ five." Or, to state the matter truly: "But the common number of _tenses is six_."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "Technical terms, injudiciously introduced, _are an other_ source of darkness in composition."--_Jamieson cor._ "The United States _are_ the great middle division of North America."--_Morse cor._ "A great cause of the low state of industry, _was_ the restraints put upon it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 199; _Churchill's_, 414. "Here two tall ships _become_ the victor's prey."--_Rowe cor._ "The expenses incident to an outfit _are_ surely no object."--_The Friend cor._

"Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep, _Were_ all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep."--_Milt. cor._

UNDER NOTE VI.--CHANGE OF THE NOMINATIVE.

"Much _care_ has been taken, to explain all the kinds of words."--_Inf. S.

Gr. cor._ "Not _fewer_ [years] than three years, are spent in attaining this faculty." Or, perhaps better: "Not less than three _years' time, is_ spent in attaining this faculty." Or thus: "Not less _time_ than three years, _is_ spent," &c.--_Gardiner cor._ "Where this night are met in state Many _friends_ to gratulate His wish'd presence."--_Milton cor._ "Peace! my darling, here's no danger, Here's no _ox anear_ thy bed."--_Watts cor._ "But _all_ of these are mere conjectures, and some of them very unhappy ones."--_Coleridge cor._ "The old theorists' _practice_ of calling the Interrogatives and Repliers ADVERBS, is only a part of their regular system of naming words."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "Where _several sentences_ occur, place them in the order _of the facts_."--_Id._ "And that _all the events_ in conjunction make a regular chain of causes and effects."--_Kames cor.

"In regard to their_ origin, the Grecian and Roman republics, though equally involved in the obscurities and uncertainties of fabulous events, present one remarkable distinction."--_Adams cor._ "In these respects, _man_ is left by nature an unformed, unfinished creature."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The _Scriptures_ are the oracles of G.o.d himself."--_Hooker cor._ "And at our gates are all _kinds_ of pleasant fruits."--_S. Song cor._ "The _preterits_ of _pluck, look_, and _toss_, are, in speech, p.r.o.nounced _pluckt, lookt, tosst_."--_Fowler corrected_.

"Severe the doom that days _prolonged impose_, To stand sad witness of unnumbered woes!"--_Melmoth cor._

UNDER NOTE VII.--FORMS ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT STYLES.

_1. Forms adapted to the Common or Familiar Style._ "Was it thou[538] that _built_ that house?"--_Brown's Inst.i.tutes_, Key, p. 270. "That boy _writes_ very elegantly."--_Ib. "Could_ not thou write without blotting thy book?"--_Ib. "Dost_ not thou think--or, _Don't_ thou think, it will rain to-day?"--_Ib. "Does_ not--or, _Don't_ your cousin intend to visit you?"--_Ib._ "That boy _has_ torn my book."--_Ib._ "Was it thou that _spread_ the hay?"--_Ib._ "Was it James, or thou, that _let_ him in?"--_Ib._ "He _dares_ not say a word."--_Ib._ "Thou _stood_ in my way and _hindered_ me."--_Ib._

"Whom _do_ I _see_?--Whom _dost_ thou _see_ now?--Whom _does_ he _see_?--Whom _dost_ thou _love_ most?--What _art_ thou _doing_ to-day?--What person _dost_ thou _see_ teaching that boy?--He _has_ two new knives.--Which road _dost_ thou _take_?--What child is he _teaching_?"--_Ingersoll cor._ "Thou, who _mak'st_ my shoes, _sellst_ many more." Or thus: "_You_, who _make_ my shoes, _sell_ many more."--_Id._

"The English language _has_ been much cultivated during the last two hundred years. It _has_ been considerably polished and refined."--_Lowth cor._ "This _style_ is ostentatious, and _does_ not suit grave writing."--_Priestley cor._ "But custom _has_ now appropriated _who_ to persons, and _which_ to things" [and brute animals].--_Id._ "The indicative mood _shows_ or _declares something_; as, _Ego amo_, I love; or else _asks_ a question; as, _Amas tu_? Dost thou love?"--_Paul's Ac. cor._ "Though thou _cannot_ do much for the cause, thou _may_ and _should_ do something."--_Murray cor._ "The support of so many of his relations, was a heavy tax: but thou _knowst_ (or, _you know_) he paid it cheerfully."--_Id._ "It may, and often _does_, come short of it."--_Murray^s Gram._, p. 359.

"'Twas thou, who, while thou _seem'd_ to chide, To give me all thy pittance _tried_."--_Mitford cor._

2. _Forms adapted to the Solemn or Biblical Style_. "The Lord _hath prepared_ his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom _ruleth_ over all."--_Psalms_, ciii, 19. "Thou _answeredst_ them, O Lord our G.o.d; thou _wast_ a G.o.d that forgave[539] them, though thou _tookest_ vengeance of their inventions."--See _Psalms_, xcix, 8. "Then thou _spakest_ in vision to thy Holy One, and _saidst_, I have laid help upon one that is mighty."--_Ib._, lx.x.xix, 19. "'So then, it is not of him that _willeth_, nor of him that _runneth_, but of G.o.d that _showeth_ mercy;' who _dispenseth_ his blessings, whether temporal or spiritual, as _seemeth_ good in his sight."--_Christian Experience of St. Paul_, p. 344; see _Rom._, ix, 16.

"Thou, the mean while, _wast_ blending with my thought; Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy."--_Coleridge cor._

UNDER NOTE VIII.--EXPRESS THE NOMINATIVE.

"Who is here so base, that _he_ would be a bondman?"--_Shak. cor._ "Who is here so rude, _he_ would not be a _Roman_?"--_Id._ "There is not a sparrow _which_ falls to the ground without his notice." Or better: "_Not a sparrow_ falls to the ground, without his notice."--_Murray cor._ "In order to adjust them _in such a manner_ as shall consist equally with the perspicuity and the strength of the period."--_Id. and Blair cor._ "But sometimes there is a verb _which_ comes in." Better: "But sometimes there is a verb _introduced_."--_Cobbett cor._ "Mr. Prince has a genius _which_ would prompt him to better things."--_Spect. cor._ "It is this _that_ removes that impenetrable mist."--_Harris cor._ "By the praise _which_ is given him for his courage."--_Locke cor._ "There is no man _who_ would be more welcome here."--_Steele cor._ "Between an antecedent and a consequent, or what goes before, and _what_ immediately follows."--_Blair cor._ "And as connected with what goes before and _what_ follows."--_Id._ "No man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake."--_Bacon cor._ "All the various miseries of life, which people bring upon themselves by negligence _or_ folly, and _which_ might have been avoided by proper care, are instances of this."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Ancient philosophers have taught many things in _favour_ of morality, so far at least as _it respects_ justice and goodness towards our fellow-creatures."--_Fuller cor._ "Indeed, if there be any such, _who_ have been, or _who_ appear to be of us, as suppose there is not a wise man among us all, nor an honest man, that is able to judge betwixt his brethren; we shall not covet to meddle in their _matters_."--_Barclay cor._ "There were _some_ that drew back; there were _some_ that made shipwreck of faith; yea, there were _some_ that brought in d.a.m.nable heresies."--_Id._ "The nature of the cause rendered this plan altogether proper; and, _under_ similar _circ.u.mstances, the orator's method_ is fit to be imitated."--_Blair cor._ "This is an idiom to which our language is strongly inclined, and _which_ was formerly very prevalent."--_Churchill cor._ "His roots are wrapped about the heap, and _he_ seeth the place of stones."--_Bible cor._

"New York, Fifthmonth 3d, 1823.

Dear friend,

_I_ am sorry to hear of thy loss; but _I_ hope it may be retrieved. I should be happy to render thee any a.s.sistance in my power. _I_ shall call to see thee to-morrow morning. Accept a.s.surances of my regard. A. B."

"New York, May 3d, P. M., 1823.

Dear sir,

_I_ have just received the kind note _you_ favoured me with this morning; and _I_ cannot forbear to express my grat.i.tude to you. On further information, _I_ find _I_ have not lost so much as _I_ at first supposed; and _I_ believe _I_ shall still be able to meet all my engagements. _I_ should, however, be happy to see you. Accept, dear sir, my most cordial thanks. C. D."

See _Brown's Inst.i.tutes_, p. 271.

"Will martial flames forever fire thy mind, And _wilt thou_ never be to Heaven resign'd?"--_Pope cor._

UNDER NOTE IX.--APPLICATION OF MOODS.

_First Clause of the Note.--The Subjunctive Present_.

"He will not be pardoned unless he _repent_."--_Inst._, p. 191. "If thou _find_ any kernelwort in this marshy meadow, bring it to me."--_Neef cor._ "If thou _leave_ the room, do not forget to shut that drawer."--_Id._ "If thou _grasp_ it stoutly, thou wilt not be hurt:" or, (familiarly,)--"thou _will_ not be hurt."--_Id._ "On condition that he _come_, I will consent to stay."--_Murray's Key_, p. 208. "If he _be_ but discreet, he will succeed."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Take heed that thou _speak_ not to Jacob."--_Gen._, x.x.xi, 24. "If thou _cast_ me off, I shall be miserable."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Send them to me, if thou _please_."--_Ib._ "Watch the door of thy lips, lest thou _utter_ folly."--_Ib._ "Though a liar _speak_ the truth, he will hardly be believed."--_Bartlett cor._ "I will go, unless I _be_ ill."--_L. Murray cor._ "If the word or words understood _be_ supplied, the true construction will be apparent."--_Id._ "Unless thou _see_ the propriety of the measure, we shall not desire thy support."--_Id._ "Unless thou _make_ a timely retreat, the danger will be unavoidable."--_Id._ "We may live happily, though our possessions _be_ small."--_Id._ "If they _be_ carefully studied, they will enable the student to pa.r.s.e all the exercises."--_Id._ "If the accent _be_ fairly preserved on the proper syllable, this drawling sound will never be heard."--_Id._ "One phrase may, in point of sense, be equivalent to an other, though its grammatical nature _be_ essentially different."--_Id._ "If any man _obey_ not our word by this epistle, note that man."--_2 Thess._, iii, 14. "Thy skill will be the greater, if thou _hit_ it."--_Putnam, Cobb, or Knowles, cor._ "We shall overtake him, though he _run_."--_Priestley et al. cor._ "We shall be disgusted, if he _give_ us too much."--_Blair cor._

"What is't to thee, if he _neglect_ thy urn, Or without spices _let_ thy body burn?"--_Dryden cor._

_Second Clause of Note IX.--The Subjunctive Imperfect_.[540]

"And so would I, if I _were_ he."--_Inst._, p. 191. "If I _were_ a Greek, I should resist Turkish despotism."--_Cardell cor._ "If he _were_ to go, he would attend to your business."--_Id._ "If thou _felt_ as I do, we should soon decide."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Though thou _shed_ thy blood in the cause, it would but prove thee sincerely a fool."--_Ib._ "If thou _loved_ him, there would be more evidence of it."--_Ib._ "If thou _convinced_ him, he would not act accordingly."--_Murray cor._ "If there _were_ no liberty, there would be no real crime."--_Formey cor._ "If the house _were_ burnt down, the case would be the same."--_Foster cor._ "As if the mind _were_ not always in action, when it prefers any thing."--_West cor._ "Suppose I _were_ to say, 'Light is a body.'"--_Harris cor._ "If either oxygen or azote _were_ omitted, life would be destroyed."--_Gurney cor._ "The verb _dare is_ sometimes used as if it _were_ an auxiliary."--_Priestley cor._ "A certain lady, whom I could name, if it _were_ necessary."--_Spect. cor._ "If the _e were_ dropped, _c_ and _g_ would a.s.sume their hard sounds."--_Buchanan cor._ "He would no more comprehend it, than if it _were_ the speech of a Hottentot."--_Neef cor._ "If thou _knew_ the gift of G.o.d," &c.--_Bible cor._ "I wish I _were_ at home."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "Fact alone does not const.i.tute right: if it _did_, general warrants were lawful."--_Junius cor._ "Thou _lookst_ upon thy boy, as though thou _guessed_ it."--_Putnam, Cobb, or Knowles, cor._ "He fought as if he _contended_ for life."--_Hiley cor._ "He fought as if he _were contending_ for his life."--_Id._

"The dewdrop glistens on thy leaf, As if thou _shed for me_ a tear; As if thou _knew_ my tale of grief, _Felt_ all my sufferings severe."--_Letham cor._

_Last Clause of Note IX.--The Indicative Mood_.

"If he _knows_ the way, he does not need a guide."--_Inst._, p. 191. "And if there _is_ no difference, one of them must be superfluous, and ought to be rejected."--_Murray cor._ "I cannot say that I admire this construction though it _is_ much used."--_Priestley cor._ "We are disappointed, if the verb _does_ not immediately follow it."--_Id._ "If it _was_ they, _that_ acted so ungratefully, they are doubly in fault."--_Murray cor._ "If art _becomes_ apparent, it disgusts the reader."--_Jamieson cor._ "Though perspicuity _is_ more properly a rhetorical than a grammatical quality, I thought it better to include it in this book."--_Campbell cor._ "Although the efficient cause _is_ obscure, the final cause of those sensations lies open."--_Blair cor._ "Although the barrenness of language, or the want of words, _is_ doubtless one cause of the invention of tropes."--_Id._ "Though it _enforces_ not its instructions, yet it furnishes a greater variety."--_Id._ "In other cases, though the idea _is_ one, the words remain quite separate."--_Priestley cor._ "Though the form of our language _is_ more simple, and has that peculiar beauty."--_Buchanan cor._ "Human works are of no significancy till they _are_ completed."--_Kames cor._ "Our disgust lessens gradually till it _vanishes_ altogether."--_Id._ "And our relish improves by use, till it _arrives_ at perfection."--_Id._ "So long as he _keeps_ himself in his own proper element."--_c.o.ke cor._ "Whether this translation _was_ ever published or not, I am wholly ignorant."--_Sale cor._ "It is false to affirm, 'As it is day, it is light,' unless it actually _is_ day."--_Harris cor._ "But we may at midnight affirm, 'If it _is_ day, it is light.'"--_Id._ "If the Bible _is_ true, it is a volume of unspeakable interest."--_d.i.c.kinson cor._ "Though he _was_ a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."--_Bible cor._ "If David then _calleth_ (or _calls_) him Lord, how is he his son?"--_Id._

"'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill _Appears_ in writing, or in judging, ill."--_Pope cor._

UNDER NOTE X.--FALSE SUBJUNCTIVES.

"If a man _has built_ a house, the house is his."--_Wayland cor._ "If G.o.d _has required_ them of him, as is the fact, he has time."--_Id._ "Unless a previous understanding to the contrary _has been had_ with the princ.i.p.al."--_Berrian cor._ "O! if thou _hast hid_ them in some flowery cave."--_Milton cor._ "O! if Jove's will _has linked_ that amorous power to thy soft lay."--_Id._ "SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: If thou love, If thou loved."--_Dr. Priestley, Dr. Murray, John Burn, David Blair, Harrison, and others_. "Till Religion, the pilot of the soul, _hath_ lent thee her unfathomable coil."--_Tupper cor._ "Whether nature or art _contributes_ most to form an orator, is a trifling inquiry."--_Blair cor._ "Year after year steals something from us, till the decaying fabric _totters_ of itself, and _at length crumbles_ into dust."--_Murray cor._ "If spiritual pride _has_ not entirely vanquished humility."--_West cor._ "Whether he _has_ gored a son, or _has_ gored a daughter."--_Bible cor._ "It is doubtful whether the object introduced by way of simile, _relates_ to what goes before or to what follows."--_Kames cor._

"And bridle in thy headlong wave, Till thou our summons answer'd _hast_." Or:-- "And bridle in thy headlong wave, Till thou _hast granted what we crave_."--_Milt. cor._

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XV AND ITS NOTE.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The gentry _are_ punctilious in their etiquette."--_G. B_. "In France, the peasantry _go_ barefoot, and the middle sort _make_ use of wooden shoes."--_Harvey cor._ "The people _rejoice_ in that which should cause sorrow."--_Murray varied_. "My people _are_ foolish, they have not known me."--_Bible and Lowth cor._ "For the people _speak_, but _do_ not write."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "So that all the people that _were_ in the camp, trembled."--_Bible cor._ "No company _like_ to confess that they are ignorant."--_Todd cor._ "Far the greater part of their captives _were_ anciently sacrificed."--_Robertson cor._ "_More than_ one half of them _were_ cut off before the return of spring."--_Id._ "The other cla.s.s, termed Figures of Thought, _suppose_ the words to be used in their proper and literal meaning."--_Blair and Mur. cor._ "A mult.i.tude of words in their dialect _approach_ to the Teutonic form, and therefore afford excellent a.s.sistance."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "A great majority of our authors _are_ defective in manner."--_J. Brown cor._ "The greater part of these new-coined words _have_ been rejected."--_Tooke cor._ "The greater part of the words it contains, _are_ subject to certain modifications _or_ inflections."--_The Friend cor._ "While all our youth _prefer_ her to the rest."--_Waller cor._ "Mankind _are_ appointed to live in a future state."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The greater part of human kind _speak_ and _act_ wholly by imitation."--_Rambler_, No. 146. "The greatest part of human gratifications _approach_ so nearly to vice."--_Id._, No. 160.

"While still the busy world _are_ treading o'er The paths they trod five thousand years before."--_Young cor._

UNDER THE NOTE.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"In old English, this species of words _was_ numerous."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "And a series of exercises in false grammar _is_ introduced towards the end."--_Frost cor._ "And a jury, in conformity with the same idea, _was_ anciently called _homagium_, the homage, or manhood."--_Webster cor._ "With respect to the former, there _is_ indeed _a_ plenty of means."--_Kames cor._ "The number of school districts _has_ increased since the last year."--_Throop cor._ "The Yearly Meeting _has_ purchased with its funds these publications."--_Foster cor._ "_Has_ the legislature power to prohibit a.s.semblies?"--_Sullivan cor._ "So that the whole number of the streets _was_ fifty."--_Rollin cor._ "The number of inhabitants _was_ not more than four millions."--_Smollett cor._ "The house of Commons _was_ of small weight."--_Hume cor._ "The a.s.sembly of the wicked _hath_ (or _has_) inclosed me."--_Psal. cor._ "Every kind of convenience and comfort _is_ provided."--_C. S. Journal cor._ "Amidst the great decrease of the inhabitants in Spain, the body of the clergy _has_ suffered no diminution; but _it_ has rather been gradually increasing."--_Payne cor._ "Small as the number of inhabitants _is_, yet their poverty is extreme."--_Id._ "The number of the names _was_ about one hundred and twenty."--_Ware and Acts cor._

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XVI AND ITS NOTES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF--THE VERB AFTER JOINT NOMINATIVES.