The Grammar of English Grammars

by Goold Brown

LESSON XXVII.—PARTICIPLES.

1. What questionable uses of participles are commonly admitted by grammarians? 2. Why does the author incline to condemn these peculiarities? 3. What is observed of the multiplicity of uses to which the participle in ing may be turned? 4. What is said of the participles which some suppose to be put absolute? 5. How are participles placed? 6. What is said of the transitive use of such words as unbecoming? 7. What distinction, in respect to government, is to be observed between a participle and a participial noun? 8. What shall we do when of after the participial noun is objectionable? 9. What is said of the correction of those examples in which a needless article or possessive is put before the participle? 10. What is stated of the retaining of adverbs with participial nouns? 11. Can words having the form of the first participle be nouns, and clearly known to be such, when they have no adjuncts? 12. What strictures are made on Murray, Lennie, and Bullions, with reference to examples in which an infinitive follows the participial noun? 13. In what instances is the first participle equivalent to the infinitive? 14. What is said of certain infinitives supposed to be erroneously put for participles? 15. What verbs take the participle after them, and not the infinitive? 16. What is said of those examples in which participles seem to be made the objects of verbs? 17. What is said of the teaching of Murray and others, that, "The participle with its adjuncts may be considered as a substantive phrase?" 18. How does the English participle compare with the Latin gerund? 19. How do Dr. Adam and others suppose "the gerund in English" to become a "substantive," or noun? 20. How does the French construction of participles and infinitives compare with the English?

LESSON XXVIII.—PARTICIPLES.

21. What difference does it make, whether we use the possessive case before words in ing, or not? 22. What is said of the distinguishing or confounding of different parts of speech, such as verbs, participles, and nouns? 23. With how many other parts of speech does W. Allen confound the participle? 24. How is the distinguishing of the participle from the verbal noun inculcated by Allen, and their difference of meaning by Murray? 25. Is it pretended that the authorities and reasons which oppose the mixed construction of participles, are sufficient to prove such usage altogether inadmissible? 26. Is it proper to teach, in general terms, that the noun or pronoun which limits the meaning of a participle should be put in the possessive case? 27. What is remarked of different cases used indiscriminately before the participle or verbal noun? 28. What say Crombie and others about this disputable phraseology? 29. What says Brown of this their teaching? 30. How do Priestley and others pretend to distinguish between the participial and the substantive use of verbals in ing? 31. What does Brown say of this doctrine? 32. If when a participle becomes an adjective it drops its regimen, should it not also drop it on becoming a noun? 33. Where the sense admits of a choice of construction in respect to the participle, is not attention due to the analogy of general grammar? 34. Does it appear that nouns before participles are less frequently subjected to their government than pronouns? 35. Why must a grammarian discriminate between idioms, or peculiarities, and the common mode of expression? 36. Is the Latin gerund, like the verbal in ing, sometimes active, sometimes passive; and when the former governs the genitive, do we imitate the idiom in English? 37. Is it agreed among grammarians, that the Latin gerund may govern the genitive of the agent? 38. What distinction between the participial and the substantive use of verbals in ing do Crombie and others propose to make? 39. How does this accord with the views of Murray, Lowth, Adam, and Brown?. 40. How does Hiley treat the English participle? 41. What further is remarked concerning false teaching in relation to participles?

LESSON XXIX.—ADVERBS.

1. What is replied to Dr. Adam's suggestion, "Adverbs sometimes qualify substantives?" 2. Do not adverbs sometimes relate to participial nouns? 3. If an adverbial word relates directly to a noun or pronoun, does not that fact constitute it an adjective? 4. Are such expressions as, "the then ministry," "the above discourse," good English, or bad—well authorized, or not? 5. When words commonly used as adverbs assume the construction of nouns, how are they to be parsed? 6. Must not the parser be careful to distinguish adverbs used substantively or adjectively, from such as may be better resolved by the supposing of an ellipsis? 7. How is an adverb to be parsed, when it seems to be put for a verb? 8. How are adverbs to be parsed in such expressions as, "Away with him?" 9. What is observed of the relation of conjunctive adverbs, and of the misuse of when? 10. What is said in regard to the placing of adverbs? 11. What suggestions are made concerning the word no? 12. What is remarked of two or more negatives in the same sentence? 13. Is that a correct rule which says, "Two negatives, in English, destroy each other, or are equivalent to an affirmative?" 14. What is the dispute among grammarians concerning the adoption of or or nor after not or no? 15. What fault is found with the opinion of Priestley, Murray, Ingersoll, and Smith, that "either of them may be used with nearly equal propriety?" 16. How does John Burn propose to settle this dispute? 17. How does Churchill treat the matter? 18. What does he say of the manner in which "the use of nor after not has been introduced?" 19. What other common modes of expression are censured by this author under the same head? 20. How does Brown review these criticisms, and attempt to settle the question? 21. What critical remark is made on the misuse of ever and never? 22. How does Churchill differ from Lowth respecting the phrase, "ever so wisely," or "never so wisely?" 23. What is observed of never and ever as seeming to be adjectives, and being liable to contraction? 24. What strictures are made on the classification and placing of the word only? 25. What is observed of the term not but, and of the adverbial use of but? 26. What is noted of the ambiguous use of but or only? 27. What notions are inculcated by different grammarians about the introductory word there?

LESSON XXX.—CONJUNCTIONS.

1. When two declinable words are connected by a conjunction, why are they of the same case? 2. What is the power, and what the position, of a conjunction that connects sentences or clauses? 3. What further is added concerning the terms which conjunctions connect? 4. What is remarked of two or more conjunctions coming together? 5. What is said of and as supposed to be used to call attention? 6. What relation of case occurs between nouns connected by as? 7. Between what other related terms can as be employed? 8. What is as when it is made the subject or the object of a verb? 9. What questions are raised among grammarians, about the construction of as follow or as follows, and other similar phrases? 10. What is said of Murray's mode of treating this subject? 11. Has Murray written any thing which goes to show whether as follows can be right or not, when the preceding noun is plural? 12. What is the opinion of Nixon, and of Crombie? 13. What conjunction is frequently understood? 14. What is said of ellipsis after than or as? 15. What is suggested concerning the character and import of than and as? 16. Does than as well as as usually take the same case after it that occurs before it? 17. Is the Greek or Latin construction of the latter term in a comparison usually such as ours? 18. What inferences have our grammarians made from the phrase than whom? 19. Is than supposed by Murray to be capable of governing any other objective than whom? 20. What grammarian supposes whom after than to be "in the objective case absolute?" 21. How does the author of this work dispose of the example? 22. What notice is taken of O. B. Peirce's Grammar, with reference to his manner of parsing words after than or as? 23. What says Churchill about the notion that certain conjunctions govern the subjunctive mood? 24. What is said of the different parts of speech contained in the list of correspondents?

LESSON XXXI.—PREPOSITIONS.

1. What is said of the parsing of a preposition? 2. How can the terms of relation which pertain to the preposition be ascertained? 3. What is said of the transposition of the two terms? 4. Between what parts of speech, as terms of the relation, can a preposition be used? 5. What is said of the ellipsis of one or the other of the terms? 6. Is to before the infinitive to be parsed just as any other preposition? 7. What is said of Dr. Adam's "To taken absolutely?" 8. What is observed in relation to the exceptions to Rule 23d? 9. What is said of the placing of prepositions? 10. What is told of two prepositions coming together? 11. In how many and what ways does the relation of prepositions admit of complexity? 12. What is the difference between in and into? 13. What notice is taken of the application of between, betwixt, among, amongst, amid, amidst? 14. What erroneous remark have Priestley, Murray, and others, about two prepositions "in the same construction?" 15. What false doctrine have Lowth, Murray, and others, about the separating of the preposition from its noun? 16. What is said of the prepositions which follow averse and aversion, except and exception? 17. What is remarked concerning the use of of, to, on, and upon? 18. Can there be an inelegant use of prepositions which is not positively ungrammatical?