Note. Thus nonsense! and fire! are nouns in the exclamatory nominative; I! is a pronoun in the same construction; halt! is a verb in the imperative (compare hark! hush! behold! look!); good! is an adjective; forward! on! away! and back! are adverbs; but! is a conjunction.
The following examples illustrate various exclamatory expressions,—words, phrases, and sentences:—
- 1. How late I shuddered on the brink!—Young.
- 2. “Right! right!” a thousand tongues exclaimed.—Southey.
- 3. The pale stars are gone!—Shelley.
- 4. Poor widowed wretch! ’twas there she wept in vain.—Campbell.
- 5. O heartfelt raptures! Bliss beyond compare!—Burns.
- 6. ’Tis done! dread Winter spreads his latest glooms.—Thomson.
- 7. Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly.—Shakspere.
- 8. I had—ah! have I now?—a friend.—Byron.
- 9. “To arms!” cried Mortimer, and couched his quivering lance.—Gray.
- 10. O for the gentleness of old Romance!—Keats.
- 11. “Run!” exclaims she, with a toss of indignant astonishment.—Carlyle.
- 12. Can he keep himself still if he would! Oh, not he!—Wordsworth.
CHAPTER X
CLAUSES AS PARTS OF SPEECH
376. A clause is a group of words that forms part of a sentence and that contains a subject and a predicate.
A clause used as a part of speech is called a subordinate clause ([§ 46]).
377. A subordinate clause may be introduced by (1) a relative or an interrogative pronoun, (2) a relative or an interrogative adverb, (3) a subordinate conjunction.
The relative pronouns are: who, which, what, that (= who or which), as (after such or same), and the compound relatives whoever, whichever, whatever. Their uses have already been studied ([pp. 66–73]).
The chief relative adverbs are: where, whence, whither, wherever, when, whenever, while, before, after, till, until, since, as, how, why ([p. 86]).