English Grammar in Familiar Lectures / Accompanied by a compendium, embracing a new systematic order of parsing, a new system of punctuation, exercises in false syntax, and a system of philosophical grammar, in notes, to which are added an appendix and a key to the exercises : designed for the use of schools and private learners

NOTE 1. When nouns or pronouns next preceding and following the verb to be, signify the same thing, they are in apposition, and, therefore, in the same case. Rule 21 is predicated on the principle contained in Rule 7.

2. The verb to be is often understood; as, "The Lord made me man; He made him what he was;" that is, "The Lord made me to be man; He made him to be that which he was." "They desired me to call them brethren;" i.e. by the name of brethren. "They named him John;" i.e. by the name of John; or, by the name John; putting these two nouns in apposition.

Improper, because it is in the objective case before the verb "to be," and they is in the nominative after; consequently, Rule 21 is violated. They is in apposition with it, therefore they should be them, in the objective after to be, according to Rule 21. (Repeat the Rule.)

ILLUSTRATION. The supposed principle of government referred to in this rule, may be thus illustrated. In the sentence, "Cease to do evil," the peculiar manner in which cease is introduced, requires or compels us to put the verb do in the infinitive mood; and, according to the genius of our language, we cannot express this act of doing, when thus connected with cease, in any other mood, unless we change the construction of the sentence. Hence we say, that cease governs the mood of the verb do. Similar remarks may be applied to the words talent, eager, preparing, and him, in the respective examples under the rule.

Many respectable grammarians refer the government of this mood invariably to the preposition to prefixed, which word they do not, of course, consider a part of the verb. Others contend, and with some plausibility, that this mood is not governed by any particular word. If we reject the idea of government, as applied to the verb in this mood, the following rule, if substituted for the foregoing, might, perhaps, answer all practical purposes.

ILLUSTRATION of the examples under Rule XXIII. "To do" refers to thou understood for its agent; "to be improved" refers to talent; "to learn," to she; "to go," to they; and "to do," refers to him.

NOTE 1. The infinitive mood absolute stands independent of the rest of the sentence; as, "To confess the truth, I was in fault."

2. The infinitive mood is sometimes governed by conjunctions or adverbs; as, "An object so high as to be invisible;" "He is wise enough to deceive;" "The army is about to march."

NOTE. The present participle with the definite article the before it, becomes a noun, and must have the preposition of after it. The and of must both be used, or both be omitted; as, "By the observing of truth, you will command respect;" or, "By observing truth," &c.

NOTE 1. Participles of neuter verbs have the same case after them as before them; as, "Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch," &c.

2. A participle with its adjuncts, may sometimes be considered as a substantive or participial phrase, which phrase may be the subject of a verb, or the object of a verb or preposition; as, "Taking from another without his knowledge or assent, is called stealing; He studied to avoid expressing himself too severely; I cannot fail of having money, &c.; By promising much and performing but little, we become despicable."

3. As the perfect participle and the imperfect tense of irregular verbs, are sometimes different in their form, care must be taken that they be not indiscriminately used. It is frequently said, 'He begun,' for 'he began;' 'He run,' for 'he ran;' 'He come,' for 'he came;' the participles being here used instead of the imperfect tense; and much more frequently is the imperfect tense employed instead of the participle; as, 'I had wrote,' for 'I had written;' 'I was chose,' for 'I was chosen;' 'I have eat,' for 'I have eaten.' 'He would have spoke;'—spoken. 'He overrun his guide;'—overran. 'The sun had rose;'—risen.

Seen is improper, the perfect participle being used instead of the imperfect tense of the verb. It ought to be, "I saw him," according to Note 3, Have saw is also erroneous, the imperfect tense being employed instead of the perfect participle. The perfect tense of a verb is formed by combining the auxiliary have with its perfect participle: therefore the sentence should be written thus, "I have seen many a one:" Note 3.

NOTE 1. Adverbs are generally set before adjectives or adverbs, after verbs, or between the auxiliary and the verb; as, "He made a very sensible discourse, and was attentively heard."

2. When the qualifying word which follows a verb, expresses quality, it must be an adjective, but when it expresses manner, an adverb should be used; as, "She looks cold; She looks coldly on him; He feels warm; He feels warmly the insult offered to him." If the verb to be can be substituted for the one employed, an adjective should follow, and not an adverb; as, "She looks [is] cold; The hay smells [is] sweet; The fields look [are] green; The apples taste [are] sour; The wind blows [is] fresh."

3. It is not strictly proper to apply the adverbs here, there, and where, to verbs signifying motion, instead of the adverbs hither, thither, whither; thus, "He came here [hither] hastily;" "They rode there [thither] in two hours;" "Where [whither] will he go?" But in familiar style, these constructions are so far sanctioned as sometimes to be admissible.

4. The use of where, instead of in which, in constructions like the following, is hardly admissible: "The immortal sages of '76, formed a charter, where [in which] their rights are boldly asserted."

5. As the adverbs hence, thence, and whence, literally supply the place of a noun and preposition, there appears to be a solecism in employing a preposition in conjunction with them: "From whence it follows;" "He came from thence since morning." Better, "whence it follows;" "He came thence." The following phrases are also exceptionable: "The then ministry;" "The above argument;" "Ask me never so much dowry;" "Charm he never so wisely." Better, "The ministry of that time or period;" "The preceding argument;" "Ever so much dowry;" "Ever so wisely."

NOTE. When one of the two negatives employed is joined to another word, it forms a pleasing and delicate variety of expression; as, "His language, though inelegant, is not ungrammatical;" that is, it is grammatical.

But, as two negatives, by destroying each other, are equivalent to an affirmative, they should not be used when we wish to convey a negative meaning. The following sentence is therefore inaccurate: "I cannot by no means allow him what his argument must prove." It should be, "I cannot by any means," &c., or, "I can by no means."

NOTE 1. The prepositions to and for are often understood, chiefly before the pronouns; as, "Give [to] me a book; Get [for] him some paper."

2. To or unto, is, by some, supposed to be understood after like and unlike; as, "He is like [unto] his brother; She is unlike [to] him." Others consider this mode of expression an idiom of the language, and maintain that like governs the objective following it.

3. Nouns signifying extension, duration, quantity, quality, or value, are used without a governing word; as, "The Ohio is one thousand miles long; She is ten years old; My hat is worth ten dollars." These are sometimes considered anomalies. See page 163.

NOTE 1. When different moods and tenses are connected by conjunctions, the nominative must be repeated; as, "He may return, but he will not tarry."

2. Conjunctions implying contingency or doubt, require the subjunctive mood after them; as, "If he study, he will improve." See pages 135, 145, and 155.

3. The conjunctions if, though, unless, except, whether, and lest, generally require the subjunctive mood after them.

4. Conjunctions of a positive and absolute nature, implying no doubt, require the indicative mood; as, "As virtue advances, so vice recedes."

NOTE 1. The conjunction as, when it is connected with such, many, or same, is sometimes, though erroneously, called a relative pronoun; as, "Let such as presume to advise others," &c.; that is, Let them who, &c. See page 116.

2. An ellipsis, or omission of some words, is frequently admitted, which must be supplied in the mind in order to parse grammatically; as "Wo is me;" that is, to me; "To sleep all night;" i.e. through all the night; "He has gone a journey;" i.e. on a journey; "They walked a league;" i.e. over a space called a league.

3. When the omission of words would obscure the sense, or weaken its force, they must be expressed.

4. In the use of prepositions, and words that relate to each other, we should pay particular regard to the meaning of the words or sentences which they connect: all the parts of a sentence should correspond to each other, and a regular and clear construction throughout should be carefully preserved.

Instead of saying, "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away;" we should say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." Instead of, "I remember the family more than twenty years;" it should be, "I have remembered the family more than twenty years."

To say, "I have visited Washington last summer; I have seen the work more than a month ago," is not good sense. The constructions should be, "I visited Washington, &c.; I saw the work, &c." "This mode of expression has been formerly much admired:"—"was formerly much admired." "If I had have been there;" "If I had have seen him;" "Had you have known him," are solecisms too gross to need correction. We can say, I have been, I had been; but what sort of a tense is, had have been? To place had before the defective verb ought, is an error equally gross and illiterate:—"had ought, hadn't ought." This is as low a vulgarism as the use of theirn, hern, and hizzen, tother, furder, baynt, this ere, I seed it, I tell'd him.

Thus, we say, "Philosophers made great discoveries in the last century;" "He was much afflicted last year;" but when we refer to the present century, year, week, day, &c. we ought to use the perfect tense; as, "Philosophers have made great discoveries in the present century;" "He has been much afflicted this year;" "I have read the president's message this week;" "We have heard important news this morning;" because these events occurred in this century, this year, this week, and to-day, and still there remains a part of this century, year, week, and day, of which I speak.

In general, the perfect tense may be applied wherever the action is connected with the present time, by the actual existence either of the author of the work, though it may have been performed many centuries ago; but if neither the author nor the work now remains, the perfect tense ought not to be employed. Speaking of priests in general, we may say, "They have, in all ages, claimed great powers;" because the general order of the priesthood still exists; but we cannot properly say, "The Druid priests have claimed great powers;" because that order is now extinct. We ought, therefore, to say, "The Druid priests claimed great powers."

The following examples may serve still farther to illustrate the proper use and application of the tenses. "My brother has recently been to Philadelphia." It should be, "was recently at Philadelphia;" because the adverb recently refers to a time completely past, without any allusion to the present time. "Charles is grown considerably since I have seen him the last time." Corrected, "Charles has grown, since I saw him," &c. "Payment was at length made, but no reason assigned for its being so long postponed." Corrected, "for its having been so long postponed." "They were arrived an hour before we reached the city:"—"They had arrived."

"The workmen will complete the building at the time I take possession of it." It should be, "will have completed the building," &c. "This curious piece of workmanship was preserved, and shown to strangers for more than fifty years past:"—"has been preserved, and been shown to strangers," &c. "I had rather write than beg:"—"I would rather write than beg."

"On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty whereof Paul was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands." It ought to be, "because he would know; or, being willing to know," &c. "The blind man said, 'Lord, that I might receive my sight;'" "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." In both these examples, may would be preferable to might. "I feared that I should have lost the parcel, before I arrived:"—"that I should lose." "It would have afforded me no satisfaction, if I could perform it." It ought to be, "if I could have performed it;" or, "It would afford me no satisfaction, if I could perform it." "This dedication may serve for almost any book that has, is, or shall be published:"—"that has been, or will be published."

"Last week I intended to have written," is improper. The intention of writing was then present with me; and, therefore, the construction should be, "I intended to write." The following examples are also inaccurate; "I found him better than I expected to have found him;" "My purpose was, after spending ten months more in commerce, to have withdrawn my wealth to another country." They should be, "expected to find him;" "to withdraw my wealth."

"This is a book which proves itself to be written by the person whose name it bears." It ought to be "which proves itself to have been written," &c. "To see him would have afforded me pleasure all my life." Corrected, "To have seen him;" or, "To see him would afford me pleasure," &c. "The arguments were sufficient to have satisfied all who heard them:"—"were sufficient to satisfy." "History painters would have found it difficult to have invented such a species of beings:"—"to invent such a species."

Instead of saying, "He did not know that eight and twenty were equal to twenty and eight;" "The preacher said very audibly, that whatever was useful, was good;" "My opponent would not believe, that virtue was always advantageous.;" The constructions should be, "are equal to twenty;" "whatever is useful, is good;" "virtue is always advantageous."