The Grammar of English Grammars Part 278

_Perfect definition_, what.

_Perfect participle_, or _second part._, defined: --its form: --how has been variously called: --its character and name as distinguished from the imperf. part: --why sometimes called the _pa.s.sive part_.; why this name liable to objection: --how may be distinguished from the preterit of the same form: --should not be made to govern an objective term. ("_The characters_ MADE USE OF," MURR.,): --not to be used for the pret., nor confounded with the pres.: --what care necessary in the employment of; when to be distinguished from the preterits of their verbs.

_Perfect tense_, defined.

--_Perf. tense_ of indic., as referring to time relatively fut.

_Period_, or _full stop_, its pause.

--_Period_, or _circuit_, nature of.

--_Period_, probably the oldest of the points; how first used: --how used in Hebrew: --what used to mark: --Rules for the use of: --not required when short sentences are rehea.r.s.ed as examples: --whether to be applied to letters written for numbers: --with other points set after it: --whether proper after Arabic figures used as ordinals.

--_Period of abbreviation_, whether always supersedes other points.

_Permanent_ propositions, to be expressed in the pres. tense.

_Permitting_, &c., verbs of, see _Commanding_.

_Personal p.r.o.noun_, defined.

--_Personal p.r.o.nouns_, simple, numb, and specificat. of: --declension of: --often used in a reciprocal sense, ("_Wash_ YOU," &c.,).

--(See also _It_.) --_Personal p.r.o.nouns_, compound, numb. and specificat. of. 298: --explanat. and declension of: --CHURCH. account of: --of the first and second persons, placed before nouns to distinguish their persons.

_Personification_, defined, --MURR. definition of, blamed, --what const.i.tutes the purest kind of, --change of the gend. of inanimate objects by, --whether it always changes the gender of anteced. term, --agreem. of p.r.o.nouns with their antecedents in cases of, --Rule for capitals in do., --comp., --_Personifications_, CHURCH, on the determination of gender in, --_Personified_ objects, names of, put in the second pers., and why, --how p.r.o.nouns agree with,

_Persons_, term defined, --_Persons_, named and defined, --the distinction of, on what founded, --_Persons, numbers_, &c., character of BROWN'S definitions of, --_Persons_, in gram., nature of; absurd teachings of some grammar-makers concerning, --distinctions of, in written lang., --_Person_ and _number_ of a verb, what, --_Persons_, second and third, of a verb, distinctive formations of, --do., in Lat., shown, --_Person_, nouns of the second, in Eng., in how many ways can be employed, --the _third_, put with the p.r.o.n. _I_, by vulgarism, ("THINKS I _to myself_,") --the first, place of, --_Persons_, whether the imperat. mood may have three, --connected antecedents of different, agreem. of p.r.o.n. with, --connected nominatives of different, agreem. of verb with,

_Perspicuity_, as a quality of style, in what consists, --is essential in composition; BLAIR quoted, --the excellence of, --Precepts aiming at offences against,

_Perversions of Eng. grammar_, the design, in part, of BROWN'S code of synt, is to make intelligent judges of, --_Perversions, literary_, Crit. N. concerning,

_Phonetics, phonography, phonotopy_, BROWN'S estimate of; DR. JOH. cited, --account of, --TRENCH'S views of, --_Phonographic system_ of stenography, its practical value; _phonotopy_, to what may be advantageously applied,

_Phrase_, defined, --_Phrase_ made the subject of a verb, how to be taken, --_Phrases_, distinct, conjunctively connected, agreem. of verb with, --distinct, disjunctively connected, do., --unconnected, do., --BAD _phrases_, examples of, from authors, --do., corrected, --_Phrases_ or _clauses_, ellips. of, shown, --_Adverbial phrase_, (so termed by some,) see _Adverb_.

_Place_ or _position_ of the different parts of speech, see _Article, Noun, Adjective_, &c.

_Pleonasm_, defined, --_Pleonasm_, when allowable with respect to a p.r.o.n., --in what instances impressive and elegant; when, the vice of ill writing, --occurs sundry times in the Bible,

_Pluperfect tense_, defined, --_Pluperf. tense_, what implies when used conditionally; what, in the negative form of supposition, --how formed in the indic. mood; do. in the potential, --indic. form of, put by enall. for pluperf. of the pot., --PLUPERFECT, signif. of the term; several innovators (as BULL., BUTL., _et al._) have been fain to discard it,

_Plural number_, of nouns, how formed, --of most nouns in Eng., is simple and regular, --of nouns ending in a vowel preceded by a vowel, --of do. in _y_ preceded by a consonant, --of do. in _o_ preceded by a consonant, --construc. of, when several persons of the _same name_ are spoken of ("_The Stuarts_,") --of prop. names, its formation, --of nouns in _i, o, u_, or _y_, preceded by a consonant, --when _name_ and _t.i.tle_ are to be used together, ("_The Miss Bells_,") --of nouns in _f_, --of nouns not formed in _s_ or _es_, --of compounds, --of certain compound terms, ("_Ave-Maries_," &c.,) --wanting to some nouns, --of nouns of mult.i.tude, --_Plural_, nouns made so by nature or art, --of foreign nouns, 253, --improperly formed by adding apostrophic _s_, --of mere characters, how denoted,

_Plurality_, the idea of; see _Unity_, &c.

_Poetic feet_, treated, --(See _Iambus, Trochee_, &c.) --_Poetic foot_, of what consists, --_Poet. feet_, number to be recognized in Eng., --princ.i.p.al Eng., named and defined, --kinds of, which form ORDERS OF VERSE, --what combinations of, severally form _dimeter, trimeter_, &c., --(See _Dimeter, Trimeter_, &c.) --_Poetic_ collocation of words, in prose, as offending against perspicuity, PREC. respecting, --_Poetic diction_, treated, --in what abounds, --_Poetical Peculiarities_,

_Poetry_, as defined by BLAIR, --character of its style, --aim and end of, --exterior distinction of, --why difficult, by a definition, to be distinguished from prose, --inept directions of some grammatists respecting the parsing of, --_Poetry_, every line in, should begin with a capital,

_Points_, or _stops_, the princ.i.p.al, named, and their forms shown, --the purpose of, --length of pauses denoted by, --often variously used in different editions of the same work, --origin of, See _Punctuation_.

_Points_ of the compa.s.s, adjectives for; modes of varying them,

_Possession_, relation of, see _Property_.

_Possessive case_, defined, --_Poss. case_, how formed --disputes of the earlier grammarians respecting, --CARD. _et al._ attempt to revive exploded error concerning, --form of, --origin of, in Eng., --odd notions of some grammarians concerning the regular formation of --exceptions or irregularities in the formation of --_Poss. case_, PEI. on, criticised --ASH and PRIESTL. on the plur.

--use of the two forms of, in pers. p.r.o.nouns --_of the simp. pers. p.r.o.nouns_, grammarians differ with respect to; should not be considered mere adjectives --are p.r.o.nom. adjectives, according to DR. LOWTH and his followers, --whose doctrine BROWN canva.s.ses, also, WEBSTER'S, WILSON'S, MURRAY'S --_Poss. case_, its equivalence to _of_ and the objective, not a _sameness of case_, (in oppos. to Nix.) --of p.r.o.nouns, not to be written with apostrophe --of nouns in appos., application of the possessive sign to --by what _governed_ --whether the rule for, has true exceptions --appos. of one with an other, ("_For_ DAVID _my_ SERVANT'S _sake_,") the construc. examined --appar. in abstract construc., ("_All_ MINE _are_ THINE,") --as governed by a part, the construc. examined; COROL.

--why the governm. of, should be limited to nouns only --whether before a real part., denotes the possession of something --_Possessive sign_, omission oL not a true ellips.

--always implies a governing word, --how taken by compounds --liable to be added to adjunct of the former noun --whether it can be rightly added to separate adjectives, ("_The_ GUILTY'S _prayer_,") --_which_ noun of connected possessives takes --Poss. case, place and order of --generally equivalent to prep. _of_ and _the objective_, --governed by something not expressed, ("St. Paul's,") --_Possessives, connected_, how to be taken, --Poss. _singular_, with _s_ omitted, ("For CONSCIENCE' _sake_") --_Poss. case_ of nouns sing, in _ss_, false teaching of KIRKH. _et al._, respecting the formation of --MURR. rule for the construc. of, why objectionable, --compounds embracing, lack uniformity in writing, --peculiarity of, with respect to correlatives, ("Father's son,") --_Possessive_ relation between a portion of time and its correlative action, ("THREE YEARS' _hard work_" or, "_Three years_ OF HARD WORK,") --_Poss. case_, appropriate form of, to be observed, --plural, with a noun in forced agreem., ("For OUR PARTS,") ib., N. iv: --needless use of, before a participle, ("In THEIR _p.r.o.nouncing the Greek_,") --_Possessive p.r.o.nouns, my, thy, his_, &c., how often should be inserted, or repeated

_Potential mood_, defined --_Potential mood_, why so called; by what _signs_ distinguished, --may, like the indic., be used in asking questions; why by some included in the subj.

--in what tenses used; nature of the imperf. tense --formation and inflection of its tenses, shown in the verb LOVE, conjugated,

_Power_ of a letter, the _powers_ of the letters, what meant by, when spoken of, --The _power_ of a letter is not its sound, as MURR. et al incorrectly teach --The _simple powers_ of the letters, many irreconcileable doctrines have been advanced thereon; GARDINER'S notions concerning, stated in brief, --RUSH'S explanations of, his pretentious scheme of the alphab. how estimated by BROWN --The _just powers_ of the letters, what, and how are to be learned, --_Powers_ of the letters, variable; how become so; WALK, cited

_Praxis_, defined; lit. signif. of the word, as from the Gr.

_Precision_, as a quality of style, in what consists, --Precepts aiming at offences against --conciseness, or brevity, as opposed to

_Prefixes_, their management in syllabication, R.: --Explanation of --import and character of the particles used as, in Eng.; the _roots_ to which prefixed, not always proper Eng. words --_Prefixes_, ENG. or ANGLO-SAX., --_Prefixes_, poet, usage with respect to,

_Preperfect participle_, defined --_Preperf. part._, its form --its nature and name,

PREPOSITIONS, Etymol. of --_Preposition_ defined --importance of a right use, and a right explan. of --HARR. explanation of, as cited by LOWTH, stricture on HARR.

--its simplicity among the parts of speech; how should be explained in parsing, --no sufficient RULE for the synt. of, in most of the Eng. grammars, _Prepositions_ and their objects, as preceding the words on which they depend, ("_Of man's first disobedience, &c., Sing_" MILC.,) --_Prepositions_, what it is, to find the terms of relations of; disput. text cited in ill.u.s.tration --the special _adaptation_ of; example of misuse by MURR., remarked on --HARR., on the purpose for which almost all _prepositions_ were orig.

formed, and on the nature of their relations; his views controverted by BROWN, --Prepositions and their governed objects, the true determination of; examples of joint objects, and of joint antecedents, wrong views of MURR. and his followers concerning this matter.

--_Prepositions_, two connected, for what different purposes used --two coming together, ("FROM AMONG the _just_,") --_Prepositions complex_, what their character, and how may be resolved; are occasionally compounded by the hyphen --_Prepositions_, how might be divided into cla.s.ses; the inutility in parsing of the division into "_separable_ and _inseparable_;"

HALL'S absurd idea of a divis., noticed --whether "two in immediate succession require a noun to be understood between them," (NUTT.) --words commonly reckoned, (_in, on, of_, &c.,) used after infinitives or participles, in adverbial construc., ("_Houses to eat and drink_ IN") --_Prepositions_, List of --grammarians differ considerably in their tables of; do. concerning the characteristics of; what BROWN supposes, in oppos. to the a.s.sertion that "Every _prep_. requires an obj. case after it"

--LENN. and BULL. on "_prepositions becoming adverbs_," criticised --MURR. on "_prepositions_ appearing to be adverbs," criticised --_Preposition_, whether it can be justly said to take a sent. for its object --_Prepositions_, words in the list of, sometimes used as other parts of speech --extension of the list of --examples of the less usual, _a_, and others beginning with _a_ --do. of unusual ones beginning with _b, c_, or _d_ --_unusual_, quotations ill.u.s.trating further the list of --_Preposition_, RULE of synt. for the _word governed by_ --_Prepositions_, in Eng., govern no other case than the obj.; most, may take the imperf. part. for their obj.

--The brief a.s.sertion, that "_Prepositions_ govern the obj. case,"

wherein is exceptionable as the sole rule for both terms --_Prepositions_, ellipt. construc. of, with adjectives, (_in vain, in secret_, &c.) --sometimes appar. govern adverbs --_Preposition_, appar. governing a perf. part., ("_To give it up_ FOR LOST") --_Prepositions_, Synt. of --do., in what consists --what RELATIONS, show; (see _To_ and _For_) --the parsing of; why tolerable writers are liable to err most in their use of --_Preposition_, the true terms of the relat. of, how may be discovered --when beginning or ending a sent. or clause, what the construc.

--the terms of relation of, what may be; both usually expressed --position of, with respect to the governed word --_Prepositions_, several, dependent on one anteced. term, ("_A declaration_ FOR _virtue and_ AGAINST _vice_," BUTL.) --two coming together between the same terms of relat.; do. in the same construc.; erron. remark of PRIESTL., MURR., _et al._, concerning the latter --_Preposition_, the separating of, from its noun, false doctrine of LOWTH, MURR., _et al._, concerning --_Prepositions_, prop, choice of --do., with respect to the allowable uses of --as adapted in meaning to _two_ objects, or to _more_ --_Preposition_, ellips. or omiss. of, where ineleg.

--insertion of, when do.

--_Prep. and its object_, position of, in respect to other words --do., punc. of --_Prep._, ellips. of, shown --_Prepositions_, derivation of --poet. usage with respect to

_Present tense_, defined --_Pres. tense_, described --of the indic., used to express general truths --deceased authors spoken of in, and why --for the past, by Grecism; in animated narrative, for do., by enall.

--of the indic. and the subj., when preceded by _as soon as_, &c., to what _time_, refers --of the infin., what time is expressed by; expedients used to express _fut_. time by --of the INFINITIVE, the ROOT, or RADICAL VERB --of the subj., its use, and how considered by some --_Pres. tense_, sometimes improp. with the conjunc. _that_, ("_Others said_, THAT _it is Elias_")

_Preter, preterimperfect_, &c., disused terms for _past, imperfect_, &c.

--_Preter_, prefix, its meaning

_Preterit_, defined --_Preterit_, described --its form and variations --present tendency to a reg. orthog. of, to be encouraged --groundless rule of some, for forming second pers. of, when the pres.

and the pret. are alike --not to be used in forming the comp. tenses of a verb

_Preventing_, verbs of, with part., in stead of infin.

--what construc. is proper for

_Primitive word_, defined --_Primitive words_ regarded as such in Eng., may generally be traced to ulterior sources

_Princ.i.p.al parts_, of a verb, (see _Chief Terms_) --of a sent., how many, and what