Exercise.
Analyze the following compound sentences:—
1. The gain is apparent; the tax is certain.
2. If I feel overshadowed and outdone by great neighbors, I can yet love; I can still receive; and he that loveth maketh his own the grandeur that he loves.
3. Love, and thou shalt be loved.
4. All loss, all pain, is particular; the universe remains to the heart unhurt.
5. Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth.
6. He teaches who gives, and he learns who receives.
7. Whatever he knows and thinks, whatever in his apprehension is worth doing, that let him communicate, or men will never know and honor him aright.
8. Stand aside; give those merits room; let them mount and expand.
9. We see the noble afar off, and they repel us; why should we intrude?
10. We go to Europe, or we pursue persons, or we read books, in the instinctive faith that these will call it out and reveal us to ourselves.
11. A gay and pleasant sound is the whetting of the scythe in the mornings of June, yet what is more lonesome and sad than the sound of a whetstone or mower's rifle when it is too late in the season to make hay?
12. "Strike," says the smith, "the iron is white;" "keep the rake," says the haymaker, "as nigh the scythe as you can, and the cart as nigh the rake."
13. Trust men, and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great, though they make an exception in your favor to all their rules of trade.
14. On the most profitable lie the course of events presently lays a destructive tax; whilst frankness invites frankness, puts the parties on a convenient footing, and makes their business a friendship.
15. The sturdiest offender of your peace and of the neighborhood, if you rip up his claims, is as thin and timid as any; and the peace of society is often kept, because, as children, one is afraid, and the other dares not.
16. They will shuffle and crow, crook and hide, feign to confess here, only that they may brag and conquer there, and not a thought has enriched either party, and not an emotion of bravery, modesty, or hope.
17. The magic they used was the ideal tendencies, which always make the Actual ridiculous; but the tough world had its revenge the moment they put their horses of the sun to plow in its furrow.
18. Come into port greatly, or sail with God the seas.
19. When you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world.
20. Times of heroism are generally times of terror, but the day never shines in which this element may not work.
21. Life is a train of moods like a string of beads, and as we pass through them they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what lies at its focus.
22. We see young men who owe us a new world, so readily and lavishly they promise, but they never acquit the debt; they die young, and dodge the account; or, if they live, they lose themselves in the crowd.
23. So does culture with us; it ends in headache.
24. Do not craze yourself with thinking, but go about your business anywhere.
25. Thus journeys the mighty Ideal before us; it never was known to fall into the rear.
PART III.
SYNTAX.
INTRODUCTORY.
By way of introduction.
388. Syntax is from a Greek word meaning order or arrangement.
Syntax deals with the relation of words to each other as component parts of a sentence, and with their proper arrangement to express clearly the intended meaning.
Ground covered by syntax.
380. Following the Latin method, writers on English grammar usually divide syntax into the two general heads,—agreement and government.
Agreement is concerned with the following relations of words: words in apposition, verb and subject, pronoun and antecedent, adjective and noun.
Government has to do with verbs and prepositions, both of which are said to govern words by having them in the objective case.
390. Considering the scarcity of inflections in English, it is clear that if we merely follow the Latin treatment, the department of syntax will be a small affair. But there is a good deal else to watch in addition to the few forms; for there is an important and marked difference between Latin and English syntax. It is this:—
Latin syntax depends upon fixed rules governing the use of inflected forms: hence the position of words in a sentence is of little grammatical importance.
Essential point in English syntax.
English syntax follows the Latin to a limited extent; but its leading characteristic is, that English syntax is founded upon the meaning and the logical connection of words rather than upon their form: consequently it is quite as necessary to place words properly, and to think clearly of the meaning of words, as to study inflected forms.
For example, the sentence, "The savage here the settler slew," is ambiguous. Savage may be the subject, following the regular order of subject; or settler may be the subject, the order being inverted. In Latin, distinct forms would be used, and it would not matter which one stood first.
Why study syntax?
391. There is, then, a double reason for not omitting syntax as a department of grammar,—
First, To study the rules regarding the use of inflected forms, some of which conform to classical grammar, while some are idiomatic (peculiar to our own language).
Second, To find out the logical methods which control us in the arrangement of words; and particularly when the grammatical and the logical conception of a sentence do not agree, or when they exist side by side in good usage.
As an illustration of the last remark, take the sentence, "Besides these famous books of Scott's and Johnson's, there is a copious 'Life' by Sheridan." In this there is a possessive form, and added to it the preposition of, also expressing a possessive relation. This is not logical; it is not consistent with the general rules of grammar: but none the less it is good English.
Also in the sentence, "None remained but he," grammatical rules would require him instead of he after the preposition; yet the expression is sustained by good authority.
Some rules not rigid.
392. In some cases, authorities—that is, standard writers—differ as to which of two constructions should be used, or the same writer will use both indifferently. Instances will be found in treating of the pronoun or noun with a gerund, pronoun and antecedent, sometimes verb and subject, etc.
When usage varies as to a given construction, both forms will be given in the following pages.
The basis of syntax.
393. Our treatment of syntax will be an endeavor to record the best usage of the present time on important points; and nothing but important points will be considered, for it is easy to confuse a student with too many obtrusive don'ts.
The constructions presented as general will be justified by quotations from modern writers of English who are regarded as "standard;" that is, writers whose style is generally acknowledged as superior, and whose judgment, therefore, will be accepted by those in quest of authoritative opinion.
Reference will also be made to spoken English when its constructions differ from those of the literary language, and to vulgar English when it preserves forms which were once, but are not now, good English.
It may be suggested to the student that the only way to acquire correctness is to watch good usage everywhere, and imitate it.
NOUNS.
394. Nouns have no distinct forms for the nominative and objective cases: hence no mistake can be made in using them. But some remarks are required concerning the use of the possessive case.
Use of the possessive. Joint possession.
395. When two or more possessives modify the same noun, or indicate joint ownership or possession, the possessive sign is added to the last noun only; for example,—
Live your king and country's best support.—Rowe.
Woman, sense and nature's easy fool.—Byron.
Oliver and Boyd's printing office.—Mcculloch.
Adam and Eve's morning hymn.—Milton.
In Beaumont and Fletcher's "Sea Voyage," Juletta tells, etc.—Emerson.
Separate possession.
396. When two or more possessives stand before the same noun, but imply separate possession or ownership, the possessive sign is used with each noun; as,—
He lands us on a grassy stage, Safe from the storm's and prelate's rage.—Marvell
Where were the sons of Peers and Members of Parliament in Anne's and George's time?—Thackeray.
Levi's station in life was the receipt of custom; and Peter's, the shore of Galilee; and Paul's, the antechamber of the High Priest.—Ruskin.
Swift did not keep Stella's letters. He kept Bolingbroke's, and Pope's, and Harley's, and Peterborough's.—Thackeray.
An actor in one of Morton's or Kotzebue's plays.—Macaulay.
Putting Mr. Mill's and Mr. Bentham's principles together. —Id.
397. The possessive preceding the gerund will be considered under the possessive of pronouns (Sec. 408).
PRONOUNS.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
I. NOMINATIVE AND OBJECTIVE FORMS.
398. Since most of the personal pronouns, together with the relative who, have separate forms for nominative and objective use, there are two general rules that require attention.
General rules.
(1) The nominative use is usually marked by the nominative form of the pronoun.
(2) The objective use is usually marked by the objective form of the pronoun.
These simple rules are sometimes violated in spoken and in literary English. Some of the violations are universally condemned; others are generally, if not universally, sanctioned.
Objective for the nominative.
399. The objective is sometimes found instead of the nominative in the following instances:—
(1) By a common vulgarism of ignorance or carelessness, no notice is taken of the proper form to be used as subject; as,—
He and me once went in the dead of winter in a one-hoss shay out to Boonville.—Whitcher, Bedott Papers.
It seems strange to me that them that preach up the doctrine don't admire one who carrys it out.—Josiah Allens Wife.
(2) By faulty analysis of the sentence, the true relation of the words is misunderstood; for example, "Whom think ye that I am?" (In this, whom is the complement after the verb am, and should be the nominative form, who.) "The young Harper, whom they agree was rather nice-looking" (whom is the subject of the verb was).
Especially is this fault to be noticed after an ellipsis with than or as, the real thought being forgotten; thus,—
But the consolation coming from devotion did not go far with such a one as her.—Trollope.
This should be "as she," because the full expression would be "such a one as she is."
400. Still, the last expression has the support of many good writers, as shown in the following examples:—
She was neither better bred nor wiser than you or me.—Thackeray.
No mightier than thyself or me.—Shakespeare.
Lin'd with Giants deadlier than 'em all.—Pope.
But he must be a stronger than thee.—Southey.
Not to render up my soul to such as thee.—Byron.
I shall not learn my duty from such as thee.—Fielding.
A safe rule.
It will be safer for the student to follow the general rule, as illustrated in the following sentences:—
If so, they are yet holier than we.—Ruskin.
Who would suppose it is the game of such as he?—Dickens.
Do we see
The robber and the murd'rer weak as we?
—Milton.
I have no other saint than thou to pray to.—Longfellow.
"Than whom."
401. One exception is to be noted. The expression than whom seems to be used universally instead of "than who." There is no special reason for this, but such is the fact; for example,—
One I remember especially,—one than whom I never met a bandit more gallant.—Thackeray.
The camp of Richard of England, than whom none knows better how to do honor to a noble foe.—Scott.
She had a companion who had been ever agreeable, and her estate a steward than whom no one living was supposed to be more competent.—Parton.
"It was he" or "It was him"?
402. And there is one question about which grammarians are not agreed, namely, whether the nominative or the objective form should be used in the predicate after was, is, are, and the other forms of the verb be.
It may be stated with assurance that the literary language prefers the nominative in this instance, as,—
For there was little doubt that it was he.—Kingsley.
But still it is not she.—Macaulay.
And it was he
That made the ship to go.
—Coleridge.
In spoken English, on the other hand, both in England and America, the objective form is regularly found, unless a special, careful effort is made to adopt the standard usage. The following are examples of spoken English from conversations:—
"Rose Satterne, the mayor's daughter?"—"That's her."—Kingsley.
"Who's there?"—"Me, Patrick the Porter."—Winthrop.
"If there is any one embarrassed, it will not be me."—Wm. Black.
The usage is too common to need further examples.