Note 4.—Every adjective has a substantive, either expressed or understood, as “the just shall live by faith,” i.e. “the just man;” “few were present,” i.e. “few persons.”
Note 5.—The adjective is generally placed immediately before the substantive, as, “a learned man,” “a chaste woman.”
Exc. 1.—When the adjective is closely connected with some other word, by which its meaning is modified or explained, as, “a man loyal to his prince,” where the attributive loyal is closely connected with the following words.
Exc. 2.—When the verb to be expresses simple affirmation, as, “thou art good;” or when any other verb serves as a mere copula to unite the predicate with its subject, as, “he seems courageous,” “it looks strange.”
Exc. 3.—For the sake of harmony, as, “Hail! bard divine.”
Exc. 4.—When there are more adjectives than one connected with the substantive, as, “a man wise, valiant, and good.”
Exc. 5.—Adjectives denoting extent, whether of space or of time, are put after the clause expressing the measure, as, “a wall ten feet high,” “a child three years old,” “a speech an hour long.”
Note 6.—It has been doubted whether the cardinal should precede or follow the ordinal numeral. Atterbury says, in one of his letters to Pope, “Not but that the four first lines are good.” We conceive the expression to be quite correct, though the other form, namely, “the first four,” be often employed to denote the same conception. There is no contrast intended between these four and any other four, otherwise he should have said, “The first four.” If we say, “the first seven years,” it implies a division into sevens, as takes place, for example, in the terms of a lease; “the seven first years” implies no such division. The Latins, as far as I have observed, had only one mode of arrangement. “Itaque quinque primis diebus.”—Cæs. B. C. i. 5. “Tribus primis diebus.”—Ib. i. 18. That the adoption of one and the same collocation, in all cases, would sometimes mislead the reader, is evident. If we take, for example, seven objects, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and say “the first, and the three last,” we clearly refer to A, and E, F, G; but if we say “the first and the last three,” we may indicate A, B, C, the first three, and E, F, G, the last three.
Note 7.—Each is employed to denote two things taken separately, and is therefore used as singular[122]. Either is also singular, and implies only one of two; as, take either, that is “the one or the other, but not both.” Both is a plural adjective, and denotes the two collectively.
Note 8.—Every is an adjective singular, applied to more than two subjects taken individually, and comprehends them all. It is sometimes joined to a plural noun, when the things are conceived as forming one aggregate, as, every twelve years, i.e. “every period of twelve years.”