AN ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR
WITH EXERCISES

BY
GEORGE LYMAN KITTREDGE
GURNEY PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
AND
FRANK EDGAR FARLEY
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON · NEW YORK · CHICAGO · LONDON ATLANTA · DALLAS · COLUMBUS · SAN FRANCISCO

COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY GEORGE LYMAN KITTREDGE AND FRANK EDGAR FARLEY
ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
424.2

The Athenæum Press
GINN AND COMPANY · PROPRIETORS · BOSTON · U.S.A.

PREFACE

This grammar is intended for students who have already received instruction in the rudiments. Still, every such textbook must begin at the beginning. Part One, therefore, which occupies pp. 1–24, gives a succinct treatment of the Parts of Speech in the Sentence and of their substitutes, the Phrase and the Clause, concluding with a Summary of Definitions. Thus it clears the way for what follows, and may be utilized as a review, if the student needs to refresh his memory.

Part Two deals specifically and fully with Inflections and Syntax (pp. 25–182). It includes also a chapter on the use of subordinate clauses as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs (pp. 157–162), as well as a chapter in which such clauses are logically classified in accordance with their particular offices in the expression of thought (pp. 163–182).

Part Three (pp. 183–226) develops the subject of Analysis in its natural order, first explaining how sentences are put together, and then illustrating the process by which they may be resolved into their constituent parts. Modifiers and Complements are classified, and the so-called Independent Elements are discussed. There is added a special chapter on Combinations of Clauses, in which the grammatical and logical relations of coördination and subordination are set forth, and their functions in the effective use of language are considered. This portion of the book, it is hoped, will be especially useful to students of English composition.

The Appendix furnishes lists of verbs, tables of conjugation, rules for capitals and marks of punctuation, a summary of important rules of syntax, and a brief history of the English language.

The Exercises (pp. 227–290) are collected at the end of the text, so as not to break continuity. References prefixed to each, as well as page-numbers in the Table of Contents, enable the teacher to attach them, at will, to the topics which they concern. The passages for parsing, analysis, etc., have been carefully selected from a wide range of eminent British and American writers. The name of the author is often appended to the quotation, when the passage is particularly noteworthy either for its contents or its form. In most cases, however, this has not been done; but the student may always feel confident that he is occupying himself with specimens of English as actually composed by distinguished authors. The constructive exercises call particular attention to those matters in which error is especially prevalent.

An advanced grammar must aim to be serviceable in two ways. It should afford the means for continuous and systematic study of the subject or of any part of it; and it should also be useful for reference in connection with the study of composition and of literature. With this latter end in view, many notes and observations have been included, in smaller type, to show the nature and development of the various forms and constructions, and to point out differences between the usage of to-day and that which the student observes in Shakspere and other English classics. The fulness of the index makes it easy to find anything that the volume contains.

In accordance with the desire of many teachers, certain topics of importance have been treated with unusual thoroughness. Among these may be mentioned the uses of shall and will, should and would, the infinitive and the infinitive clause, conditional sentences, indirect discourse, and the combination of clauses in sentences of different kinds.

The authors are indebted to several teachers for suggestions and criticism. Particular acknowledgment is due to Mr. Theodore C. Mitchill, of the Jamaica High School, New York, and Mr. C. L. Hooper, of the Chicago Normal School.

CONTENTS

[The numbers in the first column refer to the pages of the text; those in the second column to the pages of the Exercises.]

INTRODUCTION  

TEXT

EXERCISES

Language and Grammar

xi  

Grammar and Usage

xv  

Summary of General Principles

xvii  

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

PART ONE—THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE SENTENCE

The Sentence—Subject and Predicate

1 227

Kinds of Sentences

2 227

The Eight Parts of Speech Defined

3 228

The Same Word as Different Parts of Speech

9 229

Infinitives and Participles

11 229

Comparative Importance of the Parts of Speech

13

Simple and Complete Subject and Predicate

14 230

Compound Subject and Predicate

15 230

Substitutes for the Parts of Speech

16 231

Phrases—Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverbial

16 231

Clauses—Independent and Subordinate

16 232

Compound and Complex Sentences

17 232

Compound Complex Sentences

18 232

Clauses as Parts of Speech

19 232

Summary of Definitions

21  

PART TWO—INFLECTION AND SYNTAX

CHAPTER I—INFLECTION

Inflection in General

25  

Summary of Inflections

26   CHAPTER II—NOUNS

Classification—Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

27 233

Special Classes—Abstract, Collective, Compound

29 234

Inflection of Nouns

30 235

Gender

31 235

Number

34 235

Person

39 236

Case

40 237

Nominative Case

41 237

Possessive Case

43 238

Objective Case

47 239

Parsing of Nouns

54 240 CHAPTER III—PRONOUNS

Personal Pronouns

55 241

Gender and Number of Personal Pronouns

56 241

Case of Personal Pronouns

57 241

The Self-Pronouns (Compound Personal Pronouns)

60 241

Adjective Pronouns—Demonstratives

62 243

Adjective Pronouns—Indefinites

64 243

Relative Pronouns

66 244

The Relative Pronoun

What 71 246

Compound Relative Pronouns

72 246

Interrogative Pronouns

73 246

Parsing of Pronouns

74 247 CHAPTER IV—ADJECTIVES

Classification of Adjectives

75 248

Adjectives—the Articles

77 248

Comparison of Adjectives

79 249

Irregular Comparison

81 249 CHAPTER V—ADVERBS

Classification of Adverbs

83 250

Relative and Interrogative Adverbs

86 251

Comparison of Adverbs

87 252

Use of the Comparative and Superlative

88 252

Numerals—Adjectives, Nouns, Adverbs

89 252 CHAPTER VI—VERBS

Classification of Verbs

91 253

Auxiliary Verbs—Verb-Phrases

91 253

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

92 253

Copulative Verbs

93 253

Inflection of Verbs

94 254

Tense of Verbs

94 254

Present and Past Tenses

94 254

Weak (Regular) and Strong (Irregular) Verbs

95 254

Person and Number

97 254

The Personal Endings

97 254

Conjugation of the Present and the Past

98 254

Special Rules of Number and Person

100 254

The Future Tense—

Shall

and

Will 102 256

Complete or Compound Tenses

106 258

Voice—Active and Passive

107 258

Conjugation of the Six Tenses

108 258

Use of the Passive Voice

110 258

Progressive Verb-Phrases

113 260

Emphatic Verb-Phrases

114 260

Mood of Verbs

115 261

Indicative Mood

115 261

Imperative Mood

116 261

Subjunctive Mood—Forms

118 261

Uses of the Subjunctive

119 261

Potential Verb-Phrases (Modal Auxiliaries)

124 262

Special Rules for

Should

and

Would 127 264

The Infinitive

132 266

The Infinitive as a Noun

134 266

The Infinitive as a Modifier

136 266

The Infinitive Clause

137 267

Participles—Forms and Constructions

140 268

Nominative Absolute

144 269

Verbal Nouns in

-ing

(Participial Nouns)

145 269 CHAPTER VII—PREPOSITIONS

List of Prepositions

148 270

Special Uses of Prepositions

149 270 CHAPTER VIII—CONJUNCTIONS

Coördinate (or Coördinating) Conjunctions

151 270

Subordinate (or Subordinating) Conjunctions

153 270

Correlative Conjunctions

153 270 CHAPTER IX—INTERJECTIONS

Interjections

155 272

Exclamatory Expressions

155 272 CHAPTER X—CLAUSES AS PARTS OF SPEECH

Clauses as Parts of Speech

157 272

Adjective Clauses

157 272

Adverbial Clauses

158 272

Noun (or Substantive) Clauses

159 272 CHAPTER XI—THE MEANINGS OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Clauses of Place and Time

163 272

Causal Clauses

164 272

Concessive Clauses

164 272

Clauses of Purpose and Result

166 274

Conditional Sentences

167 274

Forms of Conditions

169 274

Present and Past Conditions

170 274

Future Conditions

171 274

Clauses of Comparison

173 275

Indirect Discourse

173 277 Shall

and

Will

,

Should

and

Would

in Indirect Discourse

177 278

Indirect Questions

179 280 Shall

and

Will

,

Should

and

Would

in Indirect Questions

182 281

PART THREE—ANALYSIS

CHAPTER I—THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES

Analysis—the Elements

183 282

Simple Sentences

184 282

Compound Sentences

185 282

Complex Sentences

186 282

Compound and Complex Clauses

186 287

Compound Complex Sentences

187 283 CHAPTER II—ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES

Simple Sentences

188 283

Compound Sentences

188 283

Complex Sentences

189 283

Compound Complex Sentences

190 283 CHAPTER III—MODIFIERS

Modifiers in General

191 283

Modifiers of the Subject

192 283

Modifiers of the Predicate

196 284 CHAPTER IV—COMPLEMENTS

Use of Complements

200 285

The Direct Object

201 285

The Predicate Objective

202 285

The Predicate Nominative

202 285

The Predicate Adjective

203 285 CHAPTER V—MODIFIERS OF COMPLEMENTS AND OF MODIFIERS

Modifiers of Complements

205 286

Modifiers of Other Modifiers

207 286 CHAPTER VI—INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS

Four Kinds of Independent Elements

209 286

Parenthetical Expressions

209 286 CHAPTER VII—COMBINATIONS OF CLAUSES

General Principles

210 287

Coördination and Subordination

210 287

Clauses—Simple, Compound, Complex

211 287

Complex Sentences

186 282

Simple Sentences with Compound Subject or Predicate

212 287

Compound and Complex Sentences

213 287

Compound Complex Sentences

215 287

Varieties of the Complex Sentence

216 287

Special Complications in Complex Sentences

220 288

Special Complications in Compound Complex Sentences

222 288 CHAPTER VIII—ELLIPTICAL SENTENCES

Ellipsis in Clauses and Sentences

224 288

Varieties of Ellipsis

225 288

Examples of Elliptical Constructions

226 288 EXERCISES

Exercises on Part One

  227

Exercises on Part Two

  233

Exercises on Part Three

  282 APPENDIX

Lists of Verbs

  291

Conjugation of the Verb

to be   300

Conjugation of the Verb

to strike   301

Use of Capital Letters

  305

Rules of Punctuation

  306

Rules of Syntax

  311

The English Language

  316 Index   321

INTRODUCTION

LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR

I. The Nature of Language

Language is the expression of thought by means of spoken or written words.

The English word language comes (through the French langue) from the Latin lingua, “the tongue.” But the tongue is not the only organ used in speaking. The lips, the teeth, the roof of the mouth, the soft palate (or uvula), the nose, and the vocal chords all help to produce the sounds of which language consists. These various organs make up one delicate and complicated piece of mechanism upon which the breath of the speaker acts like that of a musician upon a clarinet or other wind instrument.

Spoken language, then, is composed of a great variety of sounds made with the vocal organs. A word may consist of one sound (as Ah! or O or I), but most words consist of two or more different sounds (as go, see, try, finish). Long or short, however, a word is merely a sign made to express thought.

Thought may be imperfectly expressed by signs made with the head, the hands, etc. Thus, if I grasp a person’s arm and point to a dog, he may understand me to ask, “Do you see that dog?” And his nod in reply may stand for “Yes, I see him.” But any dialogue carried on in this way must be both fragmentary and uncertain. To express our thoughts fully, freely, and accurately, we must use words,—that is, signs made with the voice. Such voice-signs have had meanings associated with them by custom or tradition, so that their sense is at once understood by all. Their advantage is twofold: they are far more numerous and varied than other signs; and the meanings attached to them are much more definite than those of nods and gestures.

Written words are signs made with the pen to represent and recall to the mind the spoken words (or voice-signs). Written language (that is, composition) must, of necessity, be somewhat fuller than spoken language, as well as more formal and exact. For the reader’s understanding is not assisted by the tones of the voice, the changing expressions of the face, and the lively gestures, which help to make spoken language intelligible.

Most words are the signs of definite ideas. Thus, Charles, captain, cat, mouse, bread, stone, cup, ink, call up images or pictures of persons or things; strike, dive, climb, dismount, express particular kinds of action; green, blue, careless, rocky, triangular, muscular, enable us to describe objects with accuracy. Even general terms like goodness, truth, courage, cowardice, generosity, have sufficiently precise meanings, for they name qualities, or traits of character, with which everybody is familiar.

By the use of such words, even when not combined in groups, we can express our thoughts much more satisfactorily than by mere gestures. The utterance of the single word “Charles!” may signify: “Hullo, Charles! are you here? I am surprised to see you.” “Bread!” may suggest to the hearer: “Give me bread! I am very hungry.” “Courage!” may be almost equivalent to, “Don’t be down-hearted! Your troubles will soon be over.”

Language, however, is not confined to the utterance of single words. To express our thoughts we must put words together,—we must combine them into groups; and such groups have settled meanings (just as words have), established (like the meanings of single words) by the customs or habits of the particular language that we are speaking or writing. Further, these groups are not thrown together haphazard. We must construct them in accordance with certain fixed rules. Otherwise we shall fail to express ourselves clearly and acceptably, and we may even succeed in saying the opposite of what we mean.

In constructing these groups (which we call phrases, clauses, and sentences) we have the aid of a large number of short words like and, if, by, to, in, is, was, which are very different from the definite and picturesque words that we have just examined. They do not call up distinct images in the mind, and we should find it hard to define any of them. Yet their importance in the expression of thought is clear; for they serve to join other words together, and to show their relation to each other in those groups which make up connected speech.

Thus, “box heavy” conveys some meaning; but “The box is heavy” is a clear and definite statement. The shows that some particular box is meant, and is enables us to make an assertion about it. And, in “Charles and John are my brothers,” indicates that Charles and John are closely connected in my thought, and that what I say of one applies also to the other. If, in “If Charles comes, I shall be glad to see him,” connects two statements, and shows that one of them is a mere supposition (for Charles may or may not come).

In grouping words, our language has three different ways of indicating their relations: (1) the forms of the words themselves; (2) their order; (3) the use of little words like and, if, is, etc.

I. Change of form. Words may change their form. Thus the word boy becomes boys when more than one is meant; kill becomes killed when past time is referred to; was becomes were when we are speaking of two or more persons or things; fast becomes faster when a higher degree of speed is indicated. Such change of form is called inflection, and the word is said to be inflected.

Inflection is an important means of showing the relations of words in connected speech. In “Henry’s racket weighs fourteen ounces,” the form Henry’s shows at once the relation between Henry and the racket,—namely, that Henry owns or possesses it. The word Henry, then, may change its form to Henry’s to indicate ownership or possession.

II. Order of words. In “John struck Charles,” the way in which the words are arranged shows who it was that struck, and who received the blow. Change the order of words to “Charles struck John,” and the meaning is reversed. It is, then, the order that shows the relation of John to struck, and of struck to Charles.

III. Use of other words. Compare the two sentences:

• The train from Boston has just arrived.
• The train for Boston has just arrived.

Here from and for show the relation between the train and Boston. “The Boston train” might mean either the train from Boston or the train for Boston. By using from or for we make the sense unmistakable.

Two matters, then, are of vital importance in language,—the forms of words, and the relations of words. The science which treats of these two matters is called grammar.

Inflection is a change in the form of a word indicating some change in its meaning.

The relation in which a word stands to other words in the sentence is called its construction.

Grammar is the science which treats of the forms and the constructions of words.

Syntax is that department of grammar which treats of the constructions of words.

Grammar, then, may be said to concern itself with two main subjects,—inflection and syntax.

English belongs to a family of languages—the Indo-European Family1—which is rich in forms of inflection. This richness may be seen in other members of the family,—such as Greek or Latin. The Latin word homo, “man,” for example, has eight different inflectional forms,—homo, “a man”; hominis, “of a man”; homini, “to a man,” and so on. Thus, in Latin, the grammatical construction of a word is, in general, shown by that particular inflectional ending (or termination) which it has in any particular sentence. In the Anglo-Saxon period,2 English was likewise well furnished with such inflectional endings, though not so abundantly as Latin. Many of these, however, had disappeared by Chaucer’s time (1340–1400), and still others have since been lost, so that modern English is one of the least inflected of languages. Such losses are not to be lamented. By due attention to the order of words, and by using of, to, for, from, in, and the like, we can express all the relations denoted by the ancient inflections. The gain in simplicity is enormous.

II. Grammar and Usage

Since language is the expression of thought, the rules of grammar agree, in the main, with the laws of thought. In other words, grammar is usually logical,—that is, its rules accord, in general, with the principles of logic, which is the science of exact reasoning.

The rules of grammar, however, do not derive their authority from logic, but from good usage,—that is, from the customs or habits followed by educated speakers and writers. These customs, of course, differ among different nations, and every language has therefore its own stock of peculiar constructions or turns of expression. Such peculiarities are called idioms.

Thus, in English we say, “It is I”; but in French the idiom is “C’est moi,” which corresponds to “It is me.” Many careless speakers of English follow the French idiom in this particular, but their practice has not yet come to be the accepted usage. Hence, though “C’est moi” is correct in French, we must still regard “It is me” as ungrammatical in English. It would, however, become correct if it should ever be adopted by the great majority of educated persons.

Grammar does not enact laws for the conduct of speech. Its business is to ascertain and set forth those customs of language which have the sanction of good usage. If good usage changes, the rules of grammar must change. If two forms or constructions are in good use, the grammarian must admit them both. Occasionally, also, there is room for difference of opinion. These facts, however, do not lessen the authority of grammar in the case of any cultivated language. For in such a language usage is so well settled in almost every particular as to enable the grammarian to say positively what is right and what is wrong. Even in matters of divided usage, it is seldom difficult to determine which of two forms or constructions is preferred by careful writers.

Every language has two standards of usage,—the colloquial and the literary. By “colloquial language,” we mean the language of conversation; by “literary language,” that employed in literary composition. Everyday colloquial English admits many words, forms, phrases, and constructions that would be out of place in a dignified essay. On the other hand, it is an error in taste to be always “talking like a book.” Unpractised speakers and writers should, however, be conservative. They should avoid, even in informal talk, any word or expression that is of doubtful propriety. Only those who know what they are about, can venture to take liberties. It is quite possible to be correct without being stilted or affected.3

Every living language is constantly changing. Words, forms, and constructions become obsolete (that is, go out of use) and others take their places. Consequently, one often notes in the older English classics, methods of expression which, though formerly correct, are ungrammatical now. Here a twofold caution is necessary. On the one hand, we must not criticise Shakspere or Chaucer for using the English of his own time; but, on the other hand, we must not try to defend our own errors by appealing to ancient usage.

Examples of constructions once in good use, but no longer admissible, are: “the best of the two” (for “the better of the two”); “the most unkindest cut of all”; “There’s two or three of us” (for there are); “I have forgot the map” (for forgotten); “Every one of these letters are in my name” (for is); “I think it be” (for is).

The language of poetry admits many old words, forms, and constructions that are no longer used in ordinary prose. These are called archaisms (that is, ancient expressions). Among the commonest archaisms are thou, ye, hath, thinkest, doth. Such forms are also common in prose, in what is known as the solemn style, which is modelled, in great part, on the language of the Bible.4

In general, it should be remembered that the style which one uses should be appropriate,—that is, it should fit the occasion. A short story and a scientific exposition will differ in style; a familiar letter will naturally shun the formalities of business or legal correspondence. Good style is not a necessary result of grammatical correctness, but without such correctness it is, of course, impossible.

SUMMARY OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. Language is the expression of thought by means of spoken or written words.

2. Words are the signs of ideas.

Spoken words are signs made with the vocal organs; written words are signs made with the pen to represent the spoken words.

The meanings of these signs are settled by custom or tradition in each language.

3. Most words are the signs of definite ideas: as,—Charles, captain, cat, strike, dive, climb, triangular, careless.

Other words, of less definite meaning, serve to connect the more definite words and to show their relations to each other in connected speech.

4. In the expression of thought, words are combined into groups called phrases, clauses, and sentences.

5. The relation in which a word stands to other words in the sentence is called its construction.

The construction of English words is shown in three ways: (1) by their form; (2) by their order; (3) by the use of other words like to, from, is, etc.

6. Inflection is a change in the form of a word indicating some change in its meaning: as,—boy, boy’s; man, men; drink, drank.

7. Grammar is the science which treats of the forms and the constructions of words.

Syntax is that department of grammar which treats of the constructions of words.

8. The rules of grammar derive their authority from good usage,—that is, from the customs or habits followed by educated speakers and writers.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR

PART ONE
THE PARTS OF SPEECH IN THE SENTENCE

Summary. The Sentence: Subject and Predicate; Kinds of Sentences.—Use of words in the Sentence: the Eight Parts of Speech; Infinitives and Participles.—Comparative Importance of the Parts of Speech in the Sentence: the Subject Noun (or Simple Subject); the Predicate Verb (or Simple Predicate); Compound Subject and Predicate.—Substitutes for the Parts of Speech: Phrases; Clauses; Compound and Complex Sentences.

THE SENTENCE

1. A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought.

• Fire burns.
• Wolves howl.
• Rain is falling.
• Charles is courageous.
• Patient effort removes mountains.
• London is the largest city in the world.
• A man who respects himself should never condescend to use slovenly language.

Some of these sentences are short, expressing a very simple thought; others are comparatively long, because the thought is more complicated and therefore requires more words for its expression. But every one of them, whether short or long, is complete in itself. It comes to a definite end, and is followed by a full pause.

2. Every sentence, whether short or long, consists of two parts,—a subject and a predicate.

The subject of a sentence designates the person, place, or thing that is spoken of; the predicate is that which is said of the subject.

Thus, in the first example in § 1, the subject is fire and the predicate is burns. In the third, the subject is rain; the predicate, is falling. In the last, the subject is a man who respects himself; the predicate, should never condescend to use slovenly language.

Either the subject or the predicate may consist of a single word or of a number of words. But neither the subject by itself nor the predicate by itself, however extended, is a sentence. The mere mention of a thing (fire) does not express a complete thought. Neither does a mere assertion (burns), if we neglect to mention the person or thing about which the assertion is made. Thus it appears that both a subject and a predicate are necessary to make a sentence.

3. Sentences may be declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory.

1. A declarative sentence declares or asserts something as a fact.

• Dickens wrote “David Copperfield.”
• The army approached the city.

2. An interrogative sentence asks a question.

• Who is that officer?
• Does Arthur Moore live here?

3. An imperative sentence expresses a command or a request.

• Open the window.
• Pronounce the vowels more distinctly.

4. An exclamatory sentence expresses surprise, grief, or some other emotion in the form of an exclamation or cry.

• How calm the sea is!
• What a noise the engine makes!

A declarative, an interrogative, or an imperative sentence is also exclamatory, if it is uttered in an intense or excited tone of voice.

4. In imperative sentences, the subject (thou or you) is almost always omitted, because it is understood by both speaker and hearer without being expressed.

Such omitted words, which are present (in idea) to the minds of both speaker and hearer, are said to be “understood.” Thus, in “Open the window,” the subject is “you (understood).” If expressed, the subject would be emphatic: as,—“You open the window.”

5. The subject of a sentence commonly precedes the predicate, but sometimes the predicate precedes.

• Here comes Tom.
• Next came Edward.
• Over went the carriage.

A sentence in which the predicate precedes the subject is said to be in the inverted order. This order is especially common in interrogative sentences.

• Where is your boat?
• When was your last birthday?
• Whither wander you?—Shakspere.

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

6. If we examine the words in any sentence, we observe that they have different tasks or duties to perform in the expression of thought.

Savage beasts roamed through the forest.

In this sentence, beasts and forest are the names of objects; roamed asserts action, telling us what the beasts did; savage describes the beasts; through shows the relation in thought between forest and roamed; the limits the meaning of forest, showing that one particular forest is meant. Thus each of these words has its special office (or function) in the sentence.

7. In accordance with their use in the sentence, words are divided into eight classes called parts of speech,—namely, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

I. NOUNS

8. A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing.

Examples:

• Lincoln,
• William,
• Elizabeth,
• sister,
• engineer,
• Chicago,
• island,
• shelf,
• star,
• window,
• happiness,
• anger,
• sidewalk,
• courage,
• loss,
• song.

II. PRONOUNS

9. A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. It designates a person, place, or thing without naming it.

In “I am ready,” the pronoun I is a convenient substitute for the speaker’s name. In “You have forgotten your umbrella,” the pronouns you and your designate the person to whom one is speaking.

Other pronouns are:

• he, his, him;
• she, hers, her;
• it, its;
• this, that;
• who, whose, whom, which;
• myself, yourself, himself, themselves.

Since pronouns stand for nouns, they enable us to talk about a person, place, or thing without constantly repeating the name.

10. Nouns and pronouns are called substantives.

Nouns and pronouns are very similar in their use. The difference between them is merely that the noun designates a person, place, or thing by naming it, and that the pronoun designates, but does not name. Hence it is convenient to have a general term (substantive) to include both these parts of speech.

11. The substantive to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent.

• Frank introduced the boys to his father. [Frank is the antecedent of the pronoun his.]
• Eleanor is visiting her aunt.
• The book has lost its cover.
• The trappers sat round their camp fire.
• Washington and Franklin served their country in different ways. [Their has two antecedents, connected by and.]

III. ADJECTIVES

12. An adjective is a word which describes or limits a substantive.5

This it usually does by indicating some quality.

An adjective is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.

13. An adjective limits a substantive by restricting the range of its meaning.

The noun box, for example, includes a great variety of objects. If we say wooden box, we exclude boxes of metal, of paper, etc. If we use a second adjective (small) and a third (square), we limit the size and the shape of the box.

Most adjectives (like wooden, square, and small) describe as well as limit. Such words are called descriptive adjectives.

We may, however, limit the noun box to a single specimen by means of the adjective this or that or the, which does not describe, but simply points out, or designates. Such words are called definitive adjectives.6

IV. VERBS

14. A verb is a word which can assert something (usually an action) concerning a person, place, or thing.7

• The wind blows.
• The horses ran.
• The fire blazed.
• Her jewels sparkled.
• Tom climbed a tree.
• The dynamite exploded.

Some verbs express state or condition rather than action.

• The treaty still exists.
• The book lies on the table.
• Near the church stood an elm.
• My aunt suffers much from headache.

15. A group of words may be needed, instead of a single verb, to make an assertion.

A group of words that is used as a verb is called a verb-phrase.

• You will see.
• The tree has fallen.
• We might have invited her.
• Our driver has been discharged.

16. Certain verbs, when used to make verb-phrases, are called auxiliary (that is, “aiding”) verbs, because they help other verbs to express action or state of some particular kind.

Thus, in “You will see,” the auxiliary verb will helps see to express future action; in “We might have invited her,” the auxiliaries might and have help invited to express action that was possible in past time.

The auxiliary verbs are is (are, was, were, etc.), may, can, must, might, shall, will, could, would, should, have, had, do, did. Their forms and uses will be studied in connection with the inflection of verbs.

The auxiliary verb regularly comes first in a verb-phrase, and may be separated from the rest of it by some other word or words.

• Where was Washington born?
• The boat was slowly but steadily approaching.

17. Is (in its various forms) and several other verbs may be used to frame sentences in which some word or words in the predicate describe or define the subject.

• 1. Gold is a metal.
• 2. Charles is my friend’s name.
• 3. The colors of this butterfly are brilliant.
• 4. Iron becomes red in the fire.
• 5. Our condition seemed desperate.
• 6. Bertram proved a good friend in this emergency.
• 7. My soul grows sad with troubles.—Shakspere.

In the first sentence, the verb is not only makes an assertion, but it also connects the rest of the predicate (a metal) with the subject (gold) in such a way that a metal serves as a description or definition of gold.

In sentences 4–7, becomes, seemed, proved, and grows are similarly used.

In such sentences is and other verbs that are used for the same purpose are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.

Is in this use is often called the copula, that is, the “joiner” or “link.”

The forms of the verb is are very irregular. Among the commonest are: am, is, are, was, were, and the verb-phrases has been, have been, had been, shall be, will be.8

V. ADVERBS

18. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

To modify a word is to change or affect its meaning in some way. Thus in “The river fell rapidly,” the adverb rapidly modifies the verb fell by showing how the falling took place. In “I am never late,” “This is absolutely true,” “That is too bad,” the italicized words are adverbs modifying adjectives; in “He came very often,” “He spoke almost hopefully,” “The river fell too rapidly,” they are adverbs modifying other adverbs.

Most adverbs answer the question “How?” “When?” “Where?” or “To what degree or extent?”

19. Observe that adverbs modify verbs in much the same way in which adjectives modify nouns.

Adjectives

Adverbs

A

bright

fire burned.

The fire burned

brightly

.

A

fierce

wind blew.

The wind blew

fiercely

.

A word or group of words that changes or modifies the meaning of another word is called a modifier.

Adjectives and adverbs, then, are both modifiers. Adjectives modify substantives; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

VI. PREPOSITIONS

20. A preposition is a word placed before a substantive to show its relation to some other word in the sentence.

The substantive which follows a preposition is called its object.

A preposition is said to govern its object.

In “The surface of the water glistened,” of makes it clear that surface belongs with water. In “Philip is on the river,” on shows Philip’s position with respect to the river. In, or near, or beyond would have indicated a different relation. Water is the object of the preposition of, and river is the object of the preposition on.

21. A preposition often has more than one object.

• Over hill and dale he ran.
• He was filled with shame and despair.

VII. CONJUNCTIONS

22. A conjunction connects words or groups of words.

A conjunction differs from a preposition in having no object, and in indicating a less definite relation between the words which it connects.

In “Time and tide wait for no man,” “The parcel was small but heavy,” “He wore a kind of doublet or jacket,” the conjunctions and, but, or, connect single words,—time with tide, small with heavy, doublet with jacket. In “Do not go if you are afraid,” “I came because you sent for me,” “Take my key, but do not lose it,” “Sweep the floor and dust the furniture,” each conjunction connects the entire group of words preceding it with the entire group following it.

VIII. INTERJECTIONS

23. An interjection is a cry or other exclamatory sound expressing surprise, anger, pleasure, or some other emotion or feeling.

Interjections usually have no grammatical connection with the groups of words in which they stand; hence their name, which means “thrown in.”

Examples:

• Oh! I forgot.
• Ah, how I miss you!
• Bravo! Alas!

THE SAME WORD AS DIFFERENT PARTS OF SPEECH

24. The meaning of a word in the sentence determines to what part of speech it belongs.

The same word may be sometimes one part of speech, sometimes another.

Words of entirely separate origin, meaning, and use sometimes look and sound alike: as in “The minstrel sang a plaintive lay,” and “He lay on the ground.” But the following examples (§ 25) show that the same word may have more than one kind of grammatical office (or function). It is the meaning which we give to a word in the sentence that determines its classification as a part of speech.

25. The chief classes of words thus variously used are (1) nouns and adjectives, (2) nouns and verbs, (3) adjectives and adverbs, (4) adjectives and pronouns, (5) adverbs and prepositions.

I. Nouns and Adjectives

Nouns

Adjectives

Rubber

comes from South America.

This wheel has a

rubber

tire.

That

brick

is yellow.

Here is a

brick

house.

The

rich

have a grave responsibility.

A

rich

merchant lives here.

The first two examples show how words that are commonly nouns may be used as adjectives; the third shows how words that are commonly adjectives may be used as nouns.

II. Nouns and Verbs

Nouns

Verbs

Hear the

wash

of the tide.

Wash

those windows.

Give me a

stamp

.

Stamp

this envelope.

It is the

call

of the sea.

Ye

call

me chief.

Other examples are:

• act,
• address,
• ally,
• answer,
• boast,
• care,
• cause,
• close,
• defeat,
• doubt,
• drop,
• heap,
• hope,
• mark,
• offer,
• pile,
• place,
• rest,
• rule,
• sail,
• shape,
• sleep,
• spur,
• test,
• watch,
• wound.

III. Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

That is a

fast

boat.

The snow is melting

fast

.

Draw a

straight

line.

The arrow flew

straight

.

Early

comers get good seats.

Tom awoke

early

.

For an explanation of the form of these adverbs, see § 191.

IV. Adjectives and Pronouns

Adjectives

Pronouns

This

man looks unhappy.

This

is the sergeant.

That

book is a dictionary.

That

is a kangaroo.

Each

day brings its opportunity.

I received a dollar from

each

.

For further study of this class of words, see pp. 62–65.

V. Adverbs and Prepositions

Adverbs

Prepositions

Jill came tumbling

after

.

He returned

after

the accident.

We went

below

.

Below

us lay the valley.

The weeds sprang

up

.

We walked

up

the hill.

Other examples are:

• aboard,
• before,
• beyond,
• down,
• inside,
• underneath.

Miscellaneous examples of variation are the following:—

Noun.

The

calm

lasted for three days.

Adjective.

Calm

words show quiet minds.

Verb.

Calm

your angry friend.

Other examples are:

• iron,
• stone,
• paper,
• sugar,
• salt,
• bark,
• quiet,
• black,
• light,
• head,
• wet,
• round,
• square,
• winter,
• spring.

Noun.

Wrong

seldom prospers.

Adjective.

You have taken the

wrong

road.

Adverb.

Edward often spells words

wrong

.

Verb.

You

wrong

me by your suspicions.

Noun.

The

outside

of the castle is gloomy.

Adjective.

We have an

outside

stateroom.

Adverb.

The messenger is waiting

outside

.

Preposition.

I shall ride

outside

the coach.

Adjective.

That

boat is a sloop.

Pronoun.

That

is my uncle.

Conjunction.

You said

that

you would help me.

Adjective.

Neither

road leads to Utica.

Pronoun.

Neither

of us arrived in time.

Conjunction.

Neither

Tom nor I was late.

Preposition.

I am waiting

for

the train.

Conjunction.

You have plenty of time,

for

the train is late.

Interjection.

Hurrah!

the battle is won.

Noun.

I heard a loud

hurrah

.

Verb.

The enemy flees. Our men

hurrah

.

INFINITIVES AND PARTICIPLES

26. Two classes of verb-forms illustrate in a striking way the fact that the same word may belong to different parts of speech; for they really belong to two different parts of speech at one and the same time. These are the infinitive (which is both verb and noun) and the participle (which is both verb and adjective).

27. Examples of the infinitive may be seen in the following sentences:

• To struggle was useless.
• To escape is impossible.
• To exercise regularly preserves the health.

To struggle is clearly a noun, for (1) it is the subject of the sentence, and (2) the noun effort or exertion might be put in the place of to struggle. Similarly, the noun escape might be substituted for to escape; and, in the third sentence, regular exercise (a noun modified by an adjective) might be substituted for to exercise regularly.

But these three forms (to struggle, to escape, and to exercise) are also verbs, for they express action, and one of them (to exercise) is modified by an adverb (regularly). Such forms, therefore, are noun-forms of the verb. They are classed with verbs, and are called infinitives.

28. The infinitive is a verb-form which partakes of the nature of a noun. It is commonly preceded by the preposition to, which is called the sign of the infinitive.

29. The infinitive without to is used in a great variety of verb-phrases.

• I shall go.
• John will win.
• Mary may recite.
• Jack can swim.

Such phrases will be studied in connection with the inflection of verbs.

Note. That go, win, recite, and swim are infinitives may be seen by comparing the following sentences:—“I intend to go,” “John is sure to win,” “Mary is permitted to recite,” “Jack is able to swim.”

30. The following sentence contains two participles:—

Shattered and slowly sinking, the frigate drifted out to sea.

In this sentence, we recognize shattered as a form of the verb shatter, and sinking as a form of the verb sink. They both express action, and sinking is modified by the adverb slowly. But shattered and sinking have also the nature of adjectives, for they are used to describe the noun frigate. Such words, then, are adjective forms of the verb. They are classed as verbs, and are called participles, because they share (or participate in) the nature of adjectives.

31. The participle is a verb-form which has no subject, but which partakes of the nature of an adjective and expresses action or state in such a way as to describe or limit a substantive.

A participle is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.

32. The chief classes of participles are present participles and past participles, so called from the time which they denote.

All present participles end in ing. Past participles have several different endings, which will be studied in connection with the inflection of verbs (§ 334).

33. Participles are used in a variety of verb-phrases.

• Tom is coming.
• Our boat was wrecked.
• I have sent the money.
• He has brought me a letter.
• Your book is found.
• They have sold their horses.
• You have broken your watch.
• The ship had struck on the reef.

Such phrases will be studied in connection with the inflection of verbs.

Note. The double nature of the infinitive (as both verb and noun) and the participle (as both verb and adjective) almost justifies one in classifying each as a distinct part of speech (so as to make ten parts of speech instead of eight). But it is more convenient to include them under the head of verbs, in accordance with the usual practice.

SIMPLE AND COMPLETE SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

34. Our survey of the eight parts of speech has shown, (1) that these have very different offices or functions in the sentence, and (2) that their functions are not of equal importance.

Clearly, the most important parts of speech are substantives (nouns and pronouns) and verbs.

Substantives enable us to name or designate persons, places, or things, and verbs enable us to make statements about them. Both substantives and verbs, then, are absolutely necessary in framing sentences. Without a substantive, there can be no subject; without a verb, there can be no predicate: and both a subject and a predicate, as we have seen, are needed to make a sentence.

Adjectives and adverbs are less important than substantives and verbs. Their function is to modify other parts of speech, that is, to change their meaning in some way. Thus adjectives modify substantives (by describing or limiting), and adverbs usually modify verbs (by indicating how, when, or where the action took place). Without substantives, there would be no use for adjectives; without verbs, there would be little use for adverbs.

Prepositions and conjunctions are also less important than substantives and verbs. Their office is to connect and to show relation. Of course, there would be no place for connectives if there were nothing to connect.

Interjections are the least important of all. They add liveliness to language, but they are not actual necessities. We could express all the thoughts that enter our minds without ever using an interjection.

35. A sentence may consist of but two words,—a noun or pronoun (the subject) and a verb (the predicate). Thus,—

Charles | swims.

Commonly, however, either the subject or the predicate, or both, will contain more than one word. Thus,—

Young Charles | swims slowly.

Here the complete subject (young Charles) consists of a noun (Charles) and an adjective (young), which describes Charles. The complete predicate consists of a verb (swims) and an adverb (slowly), which modifies swim by indicating how the action is performed. The subject noun (Charles) and the predicate verb (swims) are the chief words in the sentence, for neither could be omitted without destroying it. They form, so to speak, the frame or skeleton of the whole. Either of the two modifiers, the adjective or the adverb, or both, might be omitted, without destroying the sentence; for this would still exist as the expression of a thought (Charles swims), though the thought would be less definite and exact than it is when the modifiers are included.

36. The simple subject of a sentence is a noun or pronoun.

The simple predicate of a sentence is a verb or verb-phrase.

The simple subject, with such words as explain or complete its meaning, forms the complete subject.

The simple predicate, with such words as explain or complete its meaning, forms the complete predicate.

In each of the following sentences the complete subject and the complete predicate are separated by a vertical line, and the simple subject and the simple predicate are printed in italics:—

• The spider | spreads her web.
• The fiery smoke | rose upward in billowing volumes.
• A nameless unrest | urged me forward.
• Our frantic horses | swept round an angle of the road.
• The infirmities of age | came early upon him.
• The general feeling among the English in Bengal | was strongly in favor of the Governor General.
• Salutes | were fired from the batteries.
• The Clives | had been settled ever since the twelfth century on an estate of no great value near Market Drayton in Shropshire.
• I | have written repeatedly to Mr. Hobhouse.

37. Two or more simple subjects may be joined to make one compound subject, and two or more simple predicates to make one compound predicate.

• 1. Charles and Henry | play tennis well.
• 2. Moore and I | passed some merry days together.
• 3. Frances and she | are friends.
• 4. Hats, caps, boots, and gloves | were piled together in confusion.
• 5. The watch | sank and was lost.
• 6. The balloon | rose higher and higher and finally disappeared.
• 7. He | neither smiled nor frowned.
• 8. Snow and ice | covered the ground and made our progress difficult.

38. A compound subject or predicate consists of two or more simple subjects or predicates, joined, when necessary, by conjunctions.

Either the subject or the predicate, or both, may be compound.

In the first example in § 37, two simple subjects (Charles and Henry) are joined by the conjunction and to make a compound subject. In the fourth, four substantives (hats, caps, boots, gloves) form a series in which the last two are joined by and. In the fifth, sixth, and seventh, the predicates are compound; in the eighth, both the subject and the predicate.

39. The following conjunctions may be used to join the members of a compound subject or predicate: and (both ... and), or (either ... or; whether ... or), nor (neither ... nor).

SUBSTITUTES FOR PARTS OF SPEECH

PHRASES

40. A group of words may take the place of a part of speech

• The Father of Waters is the Mississippi.
• A girl with blue eyes stood at the window.
• You are looking well.

The Father of Waters is used as a noun, since it names something.

With blue eyes takes the place of an adjective (blue-eyed), and modifies girl.

At the window indicates, as an adverb might, where the girl stood, and modifies stood.

Are looking could be replaced by the verb look.

41. A group of connected words, not containing a subject and a predicate, is called a phrase.

A phrase is often equivalent to a part of speech.

1. A phrase used as a noun is called a noun-phrase.

2. A phrase used as a verb is called a verb-phrase.

3. A phrase used as an adjective is called an adjective phrase.

4. A phrase used as an adverb is called an adverbial phrase.

In the examples in § 40, The Father of Waters is a noun-phrase; with blue eyes, an adjective phrase; at the window, an adverbial phrase; are looking, a verb-phrase.

42. Many adjective and adverbial phrases consist of a preposition and its object, with or without other words.

• Your umbrella is in the corner.
• He has a heart of oak.
• A cup with a broken handle stood on the shelf.
• My house of cards fell to the floor in a heap.

Adjective or adverbial phrases consisting of a preposition and its object, with or without other words, may be called prepositional phrases.

CLAUSES—COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

43. Phrases must be carefully distinguished from clauses. The difference is that a clause contains a subject and a predicate and a phrase does not.

44. A clause is a group of words that forms part of a sentence and that contains a subject and a predicate.

• The lightning flashed | and | the thunder roared.
• The train started | when the bell rang.

Each of these sentences contains two clauses; but the relation between the clauses in the first sentence is very different from that between the clauses in the second.

In the first example, each of the two clauses makes a separate and distinct statement, and might stand by itself as a simple sentence,—that is, as a sentence having but one subject and one predicate. These clauses are joined by the conjunction and, which is not a part of either. No doubt the speaker feels that there is some relation in thought between the two statements, or he would not have put them together as clauses in the same sentence. But there is nothing in the form of expression to show what that relation is. In other words, the two clauses are grammatically independent, for neither of them modifies (or affects the meaning of) the other. The clauses are therefore said to be coördinate,—that is, of the same “order” or rank, and the sentence is called compound.

In the second example, on the contrary, the relation between the two clauses is indicated with precision. One clause (the train started) makes the main statement,—it expresses the chief fact. Hence it is called the main (or principal) clause. The other clause (when the bell rang) is added because the speaker wishes to modify the main verb (started) by defining the time of the action. This clause, then, is used as a part of speech. Its function is the same as that of an adverb (promptly) or an adverbial phrase (on the stroke of the bell). For this purpose alone it exists, and not as an independent statement. Hence it is called a dependent (or subordinate) clause, because it depends (that is, “hangs”) upon the main clause, and so occupies a lower or “subordinate” rank in the sentence. When thus constructed, a sentence is said to be complex.

45. An ordinary compound sentence (as we have seen in § 44) is made by joining two or more simple sentences, each of which thus becomes an independent coördinate clause.

In the same way we may join two or more complex sentences, using them as clauses to make one compound sentence:—

The train started when the bell rang, | and | Tom watched until the last car disappeared.

This sentence is manifestly compound, for it consists of two coördinate clauses (the train started when the bell rang; Tom watched until the last car disappeared) joined by and. Each of these two clauses is itself complex, for each could stand by itself as a complex sentence.

Similarly, a complex and a simple sentence may be joined as coördinate clauses to make a compound sentence.

The train started when the bell rang, | and | Tom gazed after it in despair.

Such a sentence, which is compound in its structure, but in which one or more of the coördinate clauses are complex, is called a compound complex sentence.9

46. 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. All other clauses are said to be independent.

Clauses of the same order or rank are said to be coördinate.

Sentences may be simple, compound, or complex.

1. A simple sentence has but one subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound.

2. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent coördinate clauses, which may or may not be joined by conjunctions.

3. A complex sentence consists of two or more clauses, one of which is independent and the rest subordinate.

A compound sentence in which one or more of the coördinate clauses are complex is called a compound complex sentence.

I. Simple Sentences

• Iron rusts.
• George V is king.
• Dogs, foxes, and hares are quadrupeds. [Compound subject.]
• The defendant rose and addressed the court. [Compound predicate.]
• Merton and his men crossed the bridge and scaled the wall. [Both subject and predicate are compound.]

II. Compound Sentences

• Shakspere was born in 1564; he died in 1616. [Two coördinate clauses; no conjunction.]
• A rifle cracked, and the wolf fell dead. [Two clauses joined by the conjunction and.]
• You must hurry, or we shall lose the train. [Two clauses joined by or.]
• James Watt did not invent the steam engine, but he greatly improved it. [Two clauses joined by but.]
• Either you have neglected to write or your letter has failed to reach me. [Two clauses joined by either ... or.]

The following conjunctions may be used to join coördinate clauses: and (both ... and), or (either ... or), nor (neither ... nor), but, for.

III. Complex Sentences

Examples will be found in §§ 48–50.

Clauses as Parts of Speech

47. Subordinate clauses, like phrases, are used as parts of speech. They serve as substitutes for nouns, for adjectives, or for adverbs.

1. A subordinate clause that is used as a noun is called a noun (or substantive) clause.

2. A subordinate clause that modifies a substantive is called an adjective clause.

3. A subordinate clause that serves as an adverbial modifier is called an adverbial clause.

48. I. Noun (or Substantive) Clauses.

{Success | That we should succeed in this plan} is improbable.

The thought in these two sentences is the same, but in the second it is more fully expressed. In the first sentence, the subject is the noun success; in the second, the subject is the noun clause, that we should succeed in this plan. This clause is introduced by the conjunction that; the simple subject of the clause is the pronoun we, and the simple predicate is the verb-phrase should succeed. The first sentence is simple; the second is complex.

Substantive clauses are often introduced by the conjunction that.

49. II. Adjective Clauses. The following sentences illustrate the use of (1) an adjective, (2) an adjective phrase, (3) an adjective clause, as a modifier of the subject noun.

• {An honorable man | A man of honor | A man who values his honor} will not lie.
• {A seasonable word | A word in season | A word that is spoken at the right moment} may save a soul.
• {My native land | The land of my birth | The land where I was born} lies far across the sea.

The first two sentences in each group are simple, the third is complex.

50. III. Adverbial Clauses. The following sentences illustrate the use of (1) an adverb, (2) an adverbial phrase, (3) an adverbial clause, as a modifier of the predicate verb (or verb-phrase).

• The lightning struck {here. | on this spot. | where we stand.}
• Mr. Andrews lives {near. | in this neighborhood. | where you see that elm.}
• The game began {punctually. | on the stroke of one. | when the clock struck.}
• The banker will make the loan {conditionally. | on one condition. | if you endorse my note.}

The first two sentences in each group are simple, the third is complex.

51. Adjective clauses may be introduced (1) by the pronouns who, which, and that, or (2) by adverbs like where, whence, whither, when.

Adverbial clauses may be introduced (1) by the adverbs where, whither, whence, when, while, before, after, until, how, as, or (2) by the conjunctions because, though, although, if, that (in order that, so that), lest, etc.

Note. The use of phrases and clauses as parts of speech increases enormously the richness and power of language. Though English has a huge stock of words, it cannot provide a separate noun or adjective or adverb for every idea. By grouping words, however, in phrases and clauses we, in effect, make a great variety of new nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, each precisely fitted to the needs of the moment in the expression of thought.

SUMMARY OF DEFINITIONS

The Sentence

1. Language is thought expressed in words.

2. To express thought words are combined into sentences.

3. A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought.

4. Sentences may be declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory.

(1) A declarative sentence declares or asserts something as a fact.

(2) An interrogative sentence asks a question.

(3) An imperative sentence expresses a command or a request.

(4) An exclamatory sentence expresses surprise, grief, or some other emotion in the form of an exclamation or cry.

A declarative, an interrogative, or an imperative sentence may also be exclamatory.

Subject and Predicate

5. Every sentence consists of a subject and a predicate.

The subject of a sentence designates the person, place, or thing that is spoken of; the predicate is that which is said of the subject.

6. The simple subject of a sentence is a noun or pronoun.

The simple predicate of a sentence is a verb or verb-phrase.

7. The simple subject, with such words as explain or complete its meaning, forms the complete subject.

The simple predicate, with such words as explain or complete its meaning, forms the complete predicate.

8. A compound subject or predicate consists of two or more simple subjects or predicates, joined, when necessary, by conjunctions.

Either the subject or the predicate, or both, may be compound.

The Parts of Speech

9. In accordance with their use in the sentence, words are divided into eight classes called parts of speech,—namely, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

(1) A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing.

(2) A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. It designates a person, place, or thing without naming it.

Nouns and pronouns are called substantives.

The substantive to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent.

(3) An adjective is a word which describes or limits a substantive.

This it usually does by indicating some quality.

An adjective is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.

An adjective which describes is called a descriptive adjective; one which points out or designates is called a definitive adjective.

(4) A verb is a word which can assert something (usually an action) concerning a person, place, or thing.

Some verbs express state or condition rather than action.

A group of words that is used as a verb is called a verb-phrase.

Certain verbs, when used to make verb-phrases, are called auxiliary (that is, “aiding”) verbs, because they help other verbs to express action or state of some particular kind.

Is (in its various forms) and several other verbs may be used to frame sentences in which some word or words in the predicate describe or define the subject. In such sentences, is and other verbs that are used for the same purpose are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.

(5) An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

A word or group of words that changes or modifies the meaning of another word is called a modifier.

Adjectives and adverbs are both modifiers.

(6) A preposition is a word placed before a substantive to show its relation to some other word in the sentence.

The substantive which follows a preposition is called its object.

(7) A conjunction connects words or groups of words.

(8) An interjection is a cry or other exclamatory sound expressing surprise, anger, pleasure, or some other emotion or feeling.

10. The meaning of a word in the sentence determines to what part of speech it belongs.

The same word may be sometimes one part of speech, sometimes another.

11. The infinitive is a verb-form which partakes of the nature of a noun. It is commonly preceded by the preposition to, which is called the sign of the infinitive.

12. The participle is a verb-form which has no subject, but which partakes of the nature of an adjective and expresses action or state in such a way as to describe or limit a substantive.

A participle is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.

The chief classes of participles are present participles and past participles, so called from the time which they denote.

Substitutes for the Parts of Speech

Phrases

13. A group of connected words, not containing a subject and a predicate, is called a phrase.

A phrase is often equivalent to a part of speech.

(1) A phrase used as a noun is called a noun-phrase.

(2) A phrase used as a verb is called a verb-phrase.

(3) A phrase used as an adjective is called an adjective phrase.

(4) A phrase used as an adverb is called an adverbial phrase.

14. Adjective or adverbial phrases consisting of a preposition and its object, with or without other words, may be called prepositional phrases.

Clauses

15. A clause is a group of words that forms part of a sentence and that contains a subject and a predicate.

16. A clause used as a part of speech is called a subordinate clause. All other clauses are said to be independent.

17. Clauses of the same order or rank are said to be coördinate.

18. Sentences may be simple, compound, or complex.

(1) A simple sentence has but one subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound.

(2) A compound sentence consists of two or more independent coördinate clauses, which may or may not be joined by conjunctions.

(3) A complex sentence consists of two or more clauses, one of which is independent and the rest subordinate.

A compound sentence in which one or more of the coördinate clauses are complex is called a compound complex sentence.

19. Subordinate clauses, like phrases, are used as parts of speech. They serve as substitutes for nouns, for adjectives, or for adverbs.

(1) A subordinate clause that is used as a noun is called a noun (or substantive) clause.

(2) A subordinate clause that modifies a substantive is called an adjective clause.

(3) A subordinate clause that serves as an adverbial modifier is called an adverbial clause.

PART TWO
INFLECTION AND SYNTAX

CHAPTER I
INFLECTION

52. Inflection is a change of form in a word indicating some change in its meaning. A word thus changed in form is said to be inflected.

Thus the nouns man, wife, dog, may change their form to man’s, wife’s, dog’s, to express possession; or to men, wives, dogs, to show that two or more are meant.

The pronouns I, she, may change their form to our, her.

The adjectives large, happy, good, may change their form to larger, happier, better, to denote a higher degree of the quality; or to largest, happiest, best, to denote the highest degree.

The verbs look, see, sing, may change their form to looked, saw, sang, to denote past time.

The examples show that a word may be inflected (1) by the addition of a final letter or syllable (dog, dogs; look, looked), (2) by the substitution of one letter for another (man, men), or (3) by a complete change of form (good, better, best).

53. The inflection of a substantive is called its declension; that of an adjective or an adverb, its comparison; that of a verb, its conjugation.

Note. Some forms which we regard as due to inflection are really distinct words. Thus we is regarded as a form of the pronoun I, but it is in fact an altogether different word. Such irregularities, however, are not numerous, and are properly enough included under the head of inflection.

The table below gives a summary view of inflection, and may be used for reference with the following chapters.

• Substantives (Nouns and Pronouns)
  • Gender
    • Masculine (male)
    • Feminine (female)
    • Neuter (no sex)
  • Number
    • Singular (one)
    • Plural (more than one)
  • Person
    • First (speaker)
    • Second (spoken to)
    • Third (spoken of)
  • Case
    • Nominative (subject case)
    • Possessive (ownership)
    • Objective (object case)
• Adjectives and Adverbs
  • Comparison
    • Positive Degree
    • Comparative Degree
    • Superlative Degree
• Verbs
  • Number (Verb agrees with Subject)
    • Singular
    • Plural
  • Person (Verb agrees with Subject)
    • First
    • Second
    • Third
  • Tense
    • Simple Tenses
      • Present
      • Past
      • Future
    • Compound Tenses
      • Perfect (or Present Perfect)
      • Pluperfect (or Past Perfect)
      • Future Perfect
  • Mood
    • Indicative (all six tenses)
    • Imperative (Present Tense only)
    • Subjunctive (Present, Past, Perfect, Pluperfect)
  • Voice
    • Active (Subject acts)
    • Passive (Subject receives the action)
  • Infinitives (Present and Perfect)
  • Participles (Present, Past, and Perfect)

CHAPTER II
NOUNS

CLASSIFICATION—COMMON NOUNS AND PROPER NOUNS

54. A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing.

55. Nouns are divided into two classes—proper nouns and common nouns.

1. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing.

Examples:

• Lincoln,
• Napoleon,
• Ruth,
• Gladstone,
• America,
• Denver,
• Jove,
• Ohio,
• Monday,
• December,
• Yale,
• Christmas,
• Britannia,
• Niagara,
• Merrimac,
• Elmwood,
• Louvre,
• Richardson,
• Huron,
• Falstaff.

2. A common noun is a name which may be applied to any one of a class of persons, places, or things.

Examples:

• general,
• emperor,
• president,
• clerk,
• street,
• town,
• desk,
• tree,
• cloud,
• chimney,
• childhood,
• idea,
• thought,
• letter,
• dynamo,
• cruiser,
• dictionary,
• railroad.

Proper nouns begin with a capital letter; common nouns usually begin with a small letter.

Note. Although a proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing, that name may be given to more than one individual. More than one man is named James; but when we say James, we think of one particular person, whom we are calling by his own name. When we say man, on the contrary, we are not calling any single person by name: we are using a noun which applies, in common, to all the members of a large class of persons.

Any word, when mentioned merely as a word, is a noun. Thus,—

And is a conjunction.

56. A common noun becomes a proper noun when used as the particular name of a ship, a newspaper, an animal, etc.

• Nelson’s flagship was the Victory.
• Give me this evening’s Herald.
• My dog is named Rover.
• The Limited Express is drawn by the Pioneer.

57. A proper noun often consists of a group of words, some of which are perhaps ordinarily used as other parts of speech.

Examples:

• James Russell Lowell,
• Washington Elm,
• Eiffel Tower,
• Firth of Clyde,
• North Lexington Junction,
• Stony Brook,
• Westminster
• Abbey,
• Measure for Measure,
• White House,
• Brooklyn Bridge,
• Atlantic Railroad,
• Sherman Act,
• The Return of the Native,
• Flatiron Building.

Note. These are (strictly speaking) noun-phrases (§ 41); but, since all are particular names, they may be regarded as proper nouns.

58. A proper noun becomes a common noun when used as a name that may be applied to any one of a class of objects.

• The museum owns two Rembrandts and a Titian.
• I exchanged my old motor car for a new Halstead.
• My fountain pen is a Blake.
• Lend me your Webster.
• He was a Napoleon of finance.
• I am going to buy a Kazak.

59. Certain proper nouns have become common nouns when used in a special sense. These generally begin with a small letter.

Examples:

• macadam (crushed stone for roads, so called from Macadam, the inventor),
• mackintosh (a waterproof garment),
• napoleon (a coin),
• guinea (twenty-one shillings),
• mentor (a wise counsellor),
• derringer (a kind of pistol).

60. A lifeless object, one of the lower animals, or any human quality or emotion is sometimes regarded as a person.

This usage is called personification, and the object, animal, or quality is said to be personified.

Each old poetic Mountain
Inspiration breathed around.—Gray.

Who’ll toll the bell?
“I,” said the Bull,
“Because I can pull.”

His name was Patience.—Spenser.

Smiles on past Misfortune’s brow
Soft Reflection’s hand can trace;
And o’er the cheek of Sorrow throw
A melancholy grace.—Gray.

Love is and was my lord and king,
And in his presence I attend.—Tennyson.

Time gently shakes his wings.—Dryden.

The name of anything personified is regarded as a proper noun and is usually written with a capital letter.

Note. The rule for capitals is not absolute. When the personification is kept up for only a sentence or two (as frequently in Shakspere), the noun often begins with a small letter.

SPECIAL CLASSES OF NOUNS

61. An abstract noun is the name of a quality or general idea.

Examples:

• blackness,
• freshness,
• smoothness,
• weight,
• height,
• length,
• depth,
• strength,
• health,
• honesty,
• beauty,
• liberty,
• eternity,
• satisfaction,
• precision,
• splendor,
• terror,
• disappointment,
• elegance,
• existence,
• grace,
• peace.

Many abstract nouns are derived from adjectives.

Examples:

• greenness (from green),
• depth (from deep),
• freedom (from free),
• wisdom (from wise),
• rotundity (from rotund),
• falsity or falseness (from false),
• bravery (from brave).

62. A collective noun is the name of a group, class, or multitude, and not of a single person, place, or thing.

Examples:

• crowd,
• group,
• legislature,
• squadron,
• sheaf,
• battalion,
• squad,
• Associated Press,
• Mediterranean Steamship Company,
• Senior Class,
• School Board.

The same noun may be abstract in one of its meanings, collective in another.

• They believe in fraternity. [Abstract.]
• The student joined a fraternity. [Collective.]

63. Abstract nouns are usually common, but become proper when the quality or idea is personified (§ 60).

Collective nouns may be either proper or common.

64. A noun consisting of two or more words united is called a compound noun.

Examples:

• (1) common nouns,—
  • tablecloth,
  • sidewalk,
  • lampshade,
  • bedclothes,
  • steamboat,
  • fireman,
  • washerwoman,
  • jackknife,
  • hatband,
  • headache,
  • flatiron,
  • innkeeper,
  • knife-edge,
  • steeple-climber,
  • brother-in-law,
  • commander-in-chief,
  • window curtain,
  • insurance company;
• (2) proper nouns,—
  • Johnson,
  • Williamson,
  • Cooperstown,
  • Louisville,
  • Holywood,
  • Elk-horn,
  • Auburndale,
  • Stratford-on-Avon,
  • Lowell Junction.

As the examples show, the parts of a compound noun may be joined (with or without a hyphen) or written separately. In some words usage is fixed, in others it varies. The hyphen, however, is less used than formerly.

Note. The first part of a compound noun usually limits the second after the manner of an adjective. Indeed, many expressions may be regarded either (1) as compounds or (2) as phrases containing an adjective and a noun. Thus railway conductor may be taken as a compound noun, or as a noun (conductor) limited by an adjective (railway).

INFLECTION OF NOUNS

65. In studying the inflection of nouns and pronouns we have to consider gender, number, person, and case.

1. Gender is distinction according to sex.

2. Number is that property of substantives which shows whether they indicate one person or thing or more than one.

3. Person is that property of substantives which shows whether they designate (1) the speaker, (2) the person spoken to, or (3) the person or thing spoken of.

4. Substantives have inflections of case to indicate their grammatical relations to verbs, to prepositions, or to other substantives.

These four properties of substantives are included under inflection for convenience. In strictness, however, nouns are inflected for number and case only. Gender is shown in various ways,—usually by the meaning of the noun or by the use of some pronoun. Person is indicated by the sense, by the pronouns used, and by the form of the verb.

I. GENDER

66. Gender is distinction according to sex.

Nouns and pronouns may be of the masculine, the feminine, or the neuter gender.

1. A noun or pronoun denoting a male being is of the masculine gender.

Examples:

• Joseph,
• boy,
• cockerel,
• buck,
• footman,
• butler,
• brother,
• father,
• uncle,
• he.

2. A noun or pronoun denoting a female being is of the feminine gender.

Examples:

• girl,
• Julia,
• hen,
• waitress,
• maid,
• doe,
• spinster,
• matron,
• aunt,
• squaw,
• she.

3. A noun or pronoun denoting a thing without animal life is of the neuter gender.

Examples:

• pencil,
• light,
• water,
• star,
• book,
• dust,
• leaf,
• it.

A noun or pronoun which is sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine is often said to be of common gender.

Examples:

• bird,
• speaker,
• artist,
• animal,
• cat,
• European,
• musician,
• operator,
• they.

67. A pronoun must be in the same gender as the noun for which it stands or to which it refers.

Each of the following pronouns is limited to a single gender:

• Masculine: he, his, him.
• Feminine: she, her, hers.
• Neuter: it, its.

All other pronouns vary in gender.

• Robert greeted his employer. [Masculine.]
• A mother passed with her child. [Feminine.]
• This tree has lost its foliage. [Neuter.]
• Who laughed? [Masculine or feminine.]
• How do you do? [Masculine or feminine.]
• They have disappeared. [Masculine, feminine, or neuter.]
• I do not care for either. [Masculine, feminine, or neuter.]

68. A neuter noun may become masculine or feminine by personification (§ 60).

Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The blue Mediterranean.—Shelley.

Stern daughter of the Voice of God!
O Duty!—Wordsworth.

Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe.—Milton.

69. In speaking of certain objects, such as a ship and the moon, it is customary to use she and her. In like manner, he is used in speaking of the sun and of most animals, without reference to sex, although it often designates an insect or other small creature, and even a very young child.

Who and which are both used in referring to the lower animals. Which is the commoner, but who is not infrequent, especially if the animal is thought of as an intelligent being.

Thus one would say, “The dog which is for sale is in that kennel,” even if one added, “He is a collie.” But which would never be used in such a sentence as, “I have a dog who loves children.”

70. The gender of masculine and of feminine nouns may be shown in various ways.

1. The male and the female of many kinds or classes of living beings are denoted by different words.

Masculine

Feminine

father

mother

husband

wife

uncle

aunt

king

queen

monk

nun

wizard

witch

lord

lady

horse

mare

gander

goose

drake

duck

cock

hen

ram

ewe

bull

cow

hart

hind

buck

doe

fox

vixen

10

2. Some masculine nouns become feminine by the addition of an ending.

Masculine

Feminine

heir

heiress

baron

baroness

lion

lioness

prince

princess

emperor

empress

tiger

tigress

executor

executrix

administrator

administratrix

hero

heroine

Joseph

Josephine

sultan

sultana

Philip

Philippa

Note. The feminine gender is often indicated by the ending ess. Frequently the corresponding masculine form ends in or or er: as,—actor, actress; governor, governess; waiter, waitress. The ending ess is not so common as formerly. Usage favors proprietor, author, editor, etc., even for the feminine (rather than the harsher forms proprietress, authoress, editress), whenever there is no special reason for emphasizing the difference of sex.

3. A few feminine words become masculine by the addition of an ending. Thus,—widow, widower; bride, bridegroom.

4. Gender is sometimes indicated by the ending man, woman, maid, boy, or girl.

Examples:

• salesman, saleswoman;
• foreman, forewoman;
• laundryman;
• milkmaid;
• cash boy, cash girl.

5. A noun or a pronoun is sometimes prefixed to a noun to indicate gender.

Examples:

• manservant, maidservant;
• mother bird;
• cock sparrow, hen sparrow;
• boy friend, girl friend;
• he-wolf, she-wolf.

6. The gender of a noun may be indicated by some accompanying part of speech, usually by a pronoun.

• My cat is always washing his face.
• The intruder shook her head.
• I was confronted by a pitiful creature, haggard and unshaven.

Note. The variations in form studied under 2 and 3 (above) are often regarded as inflections. In reality, however, the masculine and the feminine are different words. Thus, baroness is not an inflectional form of baron, but a distinct noun, made from baron by adding the ending ess, precisely as barony and baronage are made from baron by adding the endings y and age. The process is rather that of derivation or noun-formation than that of inflection.

II. NUMBER

71. Number is that property of substantives which shows whether they indicate one person, place, or thing or more than one.

There are two numbers,—the singular and the plural.

The singular number denotes but one person, place, or thing. The plural number denotes more than one person, place, or thing.

72. Most nouns form the plural number by adding s or es to the singular.

Examples:

• mat, mats;
• wave, waves;
• problem, problems;
• bough, boughs;
• John, Johns;
• nurse, nurses;
• tense, tenses;
• bench, benches;
• dish, dishes;
• class, classes;
• fox, foxes.

Special Rules

1. If the singular ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, the plural ending is es.

Examples:

• loss, losses;
• box, boxes;
• buzz, buzzes;
• match, matches;
• rush, rushes.

2. Many nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also take the ending es in the plural.

Examples:

• hero, heroes;
• cargo, cargoes;
• potato, potatoes;
• motto, mottoes;
• buffalo, buffaloes;
• mosquito, mosquitoes.

3. Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form their plural in s: as,—cameo, cameos; folio, folios.

4. The following nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also form their plural in s:—

• banjo
• bravo
• burro
• cantocasino
• chromo
• contralto
• duodecimo
• dynamo
• halo11
• junto
• lasso
• memento11
• octavo
• piano
• proviso
• quarto
• solo
• soprano
• stiletto
• torso
• tyro
• zero11

73. In some nouns the addition of the plural ending alters the spelling and even the sound of the singular form.

1. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant change y to i and add es in the plural.

Examples:

• sky, skies;
• fly, flies;
• country, countries;
• berry, berries.

(Contrast:

• valley, valleys;
• chimney, chimneys;
• monkey, monkeys;
• boy, boys;
• day, days.)

Most proper names ending in y, however, take the plural in s.

Examples:

• Mary, Marys;
• Murphy, Murphys;
• Daly, Dalys;
• Rowley, Rowleys;
• May, Mays.

2. Some nouns ending in f or fe, change the f to v and add es or s.

Examples:

• wharf, wharves;
• wife, wives;
• shelf, shelves;
• wolf, wolves;
• thief, thieves;
• knife, knives;
• half, halves;
• calf, calves;
• life, lives;
• self, selves;
• sheaf, sheaves;
• loaf, loaves;
• leaf, leaves;
• elf, elves;
• beef, beeves.

74. A few nouns form their plural in en.

These are:

• ox, oxen;
• brother, brethren (or brothers);
• child, children.

Note. Ancient or poetical plurals belonging to this class are: eyne (for eyen, from eye), kine (cows), shoon (shoes), hosen (hose).

75. A few nouns form their plural by a change of vowel.

These are:

• man, men;
• woman, women;
• merman, mermen;
• foot, feet;
• tooth, teeth;
• goose, geese;
• mouse, mice;
• louse, lice.

Also compound words ending in man or woman, such as

• fireman, firemen;
• saleswoman, saleswomen;
• Dutchman, Dutchmen.

Note. German, Mussulman, Ottoman, dragoman, firman, and talisman, which are not compounds of man, form their plurals regularly: as,—Germans, Mussulmans. Norman also forms its plural in s.

76. A few nouns have the same form in both singular and plural.

Examples:

• deer,
• sheep,
• heathen,
• Japanese,
• Portuguese,
• Iroquois.

Note. This class was larger in older English than at present. It included, for example, year, which in Shakspere has two plurals:—“six thousand years,” “twelve year since.”

77. A few nouns have two plurals, but usually with some difference in meaning.

Singular

Plural

brother

brothers (relatives)

brethren (members of the same society)

horse

horses (animals)

horse (cavalry)

foot

feet (parts of the body)

foot (infantry)

sail

sails (on vessels)

sail (vessels in a fleet)

head

heads (in usual sense)

head (of cattle)

fish

fishes (individually)

fish (collectively)

penny

pennies (single coins)

pence (collectively)

cloth

cloths (pieces of cloth)

clothes (garments)

die

dies (for stamping)

dice (for gaming)

• The pennies were arranged in neat piles.
• English money is reckoned in pounds, shillings, and pence.

78. When compound nouns are made plural, the last part usually takes the plural form; less often the first part; rarely both parts.

Examples:

• spoonful, spoonfuls;
• bathhouse, bathhouses;
• forget-me-not, forget-me-nots;
• editor-in-chief, editors-in-chief;
• maid-of-honor, maids-of-honor;
• gentleman usher, gentlemen ushers;
• Knight Templar, Knights Templars;
• Lord Justice, Lords Justices;
• manservant, menservants.

79. Letters of the alphabet, figures, signs used in writing, and words regarded merely as words take ’s in the plural.

• “Embarrassed” is spelled with two r’s and two s’s.
• Your 3’s look like 8’s.
• Tell the printer to change the §’s to ¶’s.
• Don’t interrupt me with your but’s!

80. Foreign nouns in English sometimes retain their foreign plurals; but many have an English plural also.

Some of the commonest are included in the following list:12

Singular

Plural

alumna (feminine)

alumnæ

alumnus (masculine)

alumni

amanuensis

amanuenses

analysis

analyses

animalculum

animalcula

13

antithesis

antitheses

appendix

appendices

appendixes

axis

axes

bacillus

bacilli

bacterium

bacteria

bandit

banditti

bandits

basis

bases

beau

beaux

beaus

candelabrum

candelabra

cumulus

cumuli

cherub

cherubim

cherubs

crisis

crises

curriculum

curricula

datum

data

ellipsis

ellipses

erratum

errata

formula

formulæ

formulas

genius

genii

geniuses

genus

genera

gymnasium

gymnasia

gymnasiums

hippopotamus

hippopotami

hypothesis

hypotheses

larva

larvæ

memorandum

memoranda

memorandums

nebula

nebulæ

oasis

oases

parenthesis

parentheses

phenomenon

phenomena

radius

radii

seraph

seraphim

seraphs

species

species

stratum

strata

synopsis

synopses

tableau

tableaux

tempo

tempi

terminus

termini

thesis

theses

trousseau

trousseaux

vertebra

vertebræ

The two plurals sometimes differ in meaning: as,—

• Michael Angelo and Raphael were geniuses.
• Spirits are sometimes called genii.
• This book has two indices.
• The printer uses signs called indexes.

81. When a proper name with the title Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Master, is put into the plural, the rules are as follows:—

1. The plural of Mr. is Messrs. (pronounced Messers14). The name remains in the singular. Thus,—

Mr. Jackson, plural Messrs. (or the Messrs.) Jackson.

2. Mrs. has no plural. The name itself takes the plural form. Thus,—

Mrs. Jackson, plural the Mrs. Jacksons.

3. In the case of Miss, sometimes the title is put into the plural, sometimes the name. Thus,—

Miss Jackson, plural the Misses Jackson or the Miss Jacksons.

The latter expression is somewhat informal. Accordingly, it would not be used in a formal invitation or reply, or in addressing a letter.

4. The plural of Master is Masters. The name remains in the singular. Thus,—

Master Jackson, plural the Masters Jackson.

Other titles usually remain in the singular, the name taking the plural form: as,—the two General Follansbys. But when two or more names follow, the title becomes plural: as,—Generals Rolfe and Johnson.

82. Some nouns, on account of their meaning, are seldom or never used in the plural.

Such are many names of qualities (as cheerfulness, mirth), of sciences (as chemistry15), of forces (as gravitation).

Many nouns, commonly used in the singular only, may take a plural in some special sense. Thus,—

earth (the globe)

earths (kinds of soil)

ice (frozen water)

ices (food)

tin (a metal)

tins (tin dishes or cans)

nickel (a metal)

nickels (coins)

83. Some nouns are used in the plural only.

Such are:

• annals,
• athletics,
• billiards,
• dregs,
• eaves,
• entrails,
• lees,
• nuptials,
• oats,
• obsequies,
• pincers,
• proceeds,
• riches,
• scissors,
• shears,
• suds,
• tweezers,
• tongs,
• trousers,
• victuals,
• vitals;

and (in certain special senses)

• ashes,
• goods,
• links,
• scales,
• spectacles,
• stocks.

84. A few nouns are plural in form, but singular in meaning.

Such are:

• gallows,
• news,
• measles,
• mumps,
• small pox (for small pocks),
• politics,

and some names of sciences

• (as, civics,
• economics,
• ethics,
• mathematics,
• physics,
• optics).

Note. These nouns were formerly plural in sense as well as in form. News, for example, originally meant “new things.” Shakspere uses it both as a singular and as a plural. Thus,—“This news was brought to Richard” (King John, v. 3. 12); “But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?” (1 Henry IV, iii. 2. 121). In a few words modern usage varies. The following nouns are sometimes singular, sometimes plural: alms, amends, bellows, means, pains (in the sense of “effort”), tidings.

III. PERSON

85. Person is that property of substantives which shows whether they denote (1) the speaker, (2) the person spoken to, or (3) the person spoken of.

A substantive is in the first person when it denotes the speaker, in the second person when it denotes the person spoken to, in the third person when it denotes the person or thing spoken of.

• I, the king, command his presence. [First person.]
• You, Thomas, broke the window. [Second person.]
• Charles, come here. [Second person.]
• He, the fireman, saved the train. [Third person.]
• The diver sinks slowly from our view. [Third person.]
• The tower suddenly collapsed. [Third person.]

The examples show (1) that the person of a noun has nothing to do with its form, but is indicated by the sense or connection; (2) that certain pronouns denote person with precision. Thus, I is always of the first person; you of the second; and he of the third. These personal pronouns will be treated in Chapter III.

IV. CASE

86. Substantives have inflections of case to indicate their grammatical relations to verbs, to prepositions, or to other substantives.

There are three cases,—the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

The possessive case is often called the genitive.

The nominative and the objective case of a noun are always alike in form. In some pronouns, however, there is a difference (as,—I, me; he, him).

Declension of Nouns

87. The inflection of a substantive is called its declension. To decline a noun is to give its case-forms in order, first in the singular number and then in the plural. Thus,—

Singular

Nominative

boy

horse

fly

chimney

calf

lass

man

deer

Possessive

boy’s

horse’s

fly’s

chimney’s

calf’s

lass’s

man’s

deer’s

Objective

boy

horse

fly

chimney

calf

lass

man

deer

Plural

Nominative

boys

horses

flies

chimneys

calves

lasses

men

deer

Possessive

boys’

horses’

flies’

chimneys’

calves’

lasses’

men’s

deer’s

Objective

boys

horses

flies

chimneys

calves

lasses

men

deer

Nominative Case

88. The nominative case is used in the following constructions: (1) the subject, (2) the predicate nominative, (3) the vocative, (or nominative of direct address), (4) the exclamatory nominative, (5) appositive with a nominative, (6) the nominative absolute.

1. The subject of a verb is in the nominative case.

• Water freezes.
• Charles climbed the mountain.
• The boy’s face glowed with health and exercise.
• A thousand men were killed in this battle.

In the third example, face is the simple subject; the complete subject is the boy’s face. In the fourth, men is the simple subject; the complete subject is a thousand men. Both face and men are in the nominative case; face is in the singular number; men in the plural.

2. A substantive standing in the predicate, but describing or defining the subject, agrees with the subject in case and is called a predicate nominative.

A predicate nominative is also called a subject complement or an attribute.

• Lobsters are crustaceans.
• A good book is a faithful friend.
• Shakspere was a native of Stratford-on-Avon.
• Arnold proved a traitor.
• Adams was elected president.

The rule for the case of the predicate nominative is particularly important with respect to pronouns (§ 119).

I am

he

.

Are you

she

?

It is

I

.

It was

we

who did it.

The predicate nominative is commonest after the copula is (in its various forms). It will be further studied in connection with intransitive and passive verbs (§§ 214, 252).

3. A substantive used for the purpose of addressing a person directly, and not connected with any verb, is called a vocative.

A vocative is in the nominative case, and is often called a nominative by direct address or a vocative nominative.

• Come, Ruth, give me your hand.
• Turn to the right, madam.
• Herbert, it is your turn.
• Come with me, my child.

Note. A vocative word is sometimes said to be independent by direct address, because it stands by itself, unconnected with any verb. That a vocative is really in the nominative case may be seen in the use of the pronoun thou in this construction: as,—I will arrest thee, thou traitor (see § 115).

4. A substantive used as an exclamation is called an exclamatory nominative (or nominative of exclamation).

• Peace, be still.
• Fortunate Ruth!
• A drum! a drum! Macbeth doth come.
• Look! a balloon!
• The sun! then we shall have a fine day.

Certain exclamatory nominatives are sometimes classed as interjections (§ 375).

5. A substantive added to another substantive to explain it and signifying the same person or thing, is called an appositive and is said to be in apposition.

An appositive is in the same case as the substantive which it limits.

Hence a substantive in apposition with a nominative is in the nominative case.

• Mr. Scott, the grocer, is here. [Apposition with subject.]
• Tom, old fellow, I am glad to see you. [Apposition with vocative.]
• The discoverer of the Pacific was Balboa, a Spaniard. [Apposition with predicate nominative.]

Note. Apposition means “attachment”; appositive means “attached noun or pronoun.” An appositive modifies the noun with which it is in apposition much as an adjective might do (compare “Balboa, a Spaniard” with “Spanish Balboa”). Hence it is classed as an adjective modifier.

Possessive Case

89. The possessive case denotes ownership or possession.

• John’s yacht lies at her moorings.
• The duck’s feet are webbed.
• The mutineer’s pistol burst when he fired.

Note. Most uses of the possessive come under the general head of possession in some sense. Special varieties of meaning are source (as in “hen’s eggs”) and authorship (as in “Wordsworth’s sonnets”).

A possessive noun or pronoun modifies the substantive to which it is attached as an adjective might do. Hence it is classed as an adjective modifier.

Forms of the Possessive Case

90. The possessive case of most nouns has, in the singular number, the ending ’s.

Examples:

• the owl’s feathers,
• Elizabeth’s hat,
• the officer’s name.

Plural nouns ending in s take no further ending for the possessive. In writing, however, an apostrophe is put after the s to indicate the possessive case.

Examples:

• the owls’ feathers,
• the officers’ names,
• the artists’ petition,
• the engineers’ ball.

Plural nouns not ending in s take ’s in the possessive.

Examples:

• the firemen’s ball,
• the policemen’s quarters,
• the children’s hour.

Note. In older English the possessive of most nouns was written as well as pronounced with the ending -es or -is. Thus, in Chaucer, the possessive of child is childës or childis; that of king is kingës or kingis; that of John is Johnës or Johnis. The use of an apostrophe in the possessive is a comparatively modern device, due to a misunderstanding. Scholars at one time thought the s of the possessive a fragment of the pronoun his; that is, they took such a phrase as George’s book for a contraction of George his book. Hence they used the apostrophe before s to signify the supposed omission of part of the word his. Similarly, in the possessive plural, there was thought to be an omission of a final es; that is, such a phrase as the horses’ heads was thought to be a contraction of the horseses heads. Both these errors have long been exploded.

91. Nouns like sheep and deer, which have the same form in both the singular and the plural, usually take ’s in the possessive plural.

Thus, the deer’s tracks would be written, whether one deer or more were meant.

92. Possessive Singular of Nouns ending in s.

1. Monosyllabic nouns ending in s or an s-sound usually make their possessive singular by adding ’s.

Examples:

• Charles’s hat,
• Forbes’s garden,
• Mr. Wells’s daughter,
• Rice’s carriage,
• Mrs. Dix’s family,
• a fox’s brush.

Note. Most of these monosyllabic nouns in s are family names. The rule accords with the best usage; but it is not absolute, for usage varies. Hence forms like Charles’ and Wells’ cannot be condemned as positively wrong, though Charles’s and Wells’s are preferable. In speaking, the shorter form is often ambiguous, for there is no difference in sound between Dix’ and Dick’s, Mr. Hills’ and Mr. Hill’s, Dr. Childs’ and Dr. Child’s.

2. Nouns of two or more syllables ending in s or an s-sound, and not accented on the last syllable, may make their possessive singular by adding ’s, or may take no ending in the possessive.

In the latter case, an apostrophe is added in writing, but in sound there is no difference between the possessive and the nominative.

Examples:

• Burrows’s (or Burrows’) Hotel,
• Æneas’s (or Æneas’) voyage,
• Beatrice’s (or Beatrice’) gratitude,
• Felix’s (or Felix’) arrival,
• for conscience’s (or conscience’) sake.

Most of the nouns in question are proper names. In speaking, one must often use the longer form to prevent ambiguity; for Williams’ and William’s, Roberts’ and Robert’s, Robbins’ and Robin’s, are indistinguishable in sound.

Note. Nouns of two or more syllables ending in s or an s-sound and accented on the last syllable, follow the rule for monosyllables. Thus,—Laplace’s mathematics (not Laplace’); Alphonse’s father (not Alphonse’).

When final s is silent (as in many French names), ’s must of course be added in the possessive. Thus,—Descartes’s philosophy (pronounced Daycárt’s).

Use of the Possessive Case

93.16 Possession may be denoted by a phrase with of as well as by the possessive case. The distinction between the two forms cannot be brought under rigid rules, but the following suggestions will be of use.

I. In older English and in poetry the possessive case of nouns is freely used, but in modern prose it is rare unless the possessor is a living being. A phrase with of is used instead.

• The mayor of Detroit (NOT Detroit’s mayor).
• The top of the post (NOT the post’s top).
• The prevalence of the epidemic (NOT the epidemic’s prevalence).

Contrast the poetic use:—

Belgium’s capital had gathered then
Her beauty and her chivalry.—Byron.

Other prepositions are sometimes used: as,—“the explosion in New York” (NOT “New York’s explosion”), “the station at Plymouth.”

II. When the possessor is a living being, good usage varies.

1. If there is actual ownership or possession of some material thing, the possessive case is generally used in the singular: as,—“John’s hat” (not “the hat of John”). The possessive plural, however, is often replaced by a phrase with of, to avoid ambiguity or harshness: as,—“the jewels of the ladies” (rather than “the ladies’ jewels”)17, “the wings of the geese” (rather than “the geese’s wings”).

2. With nouns denoting a quality, an act, or the like, either the possessive or the of-phrase is proper: as,—“John’s generosity,” or “the generosity of John”; “John’s condition,” or “the condition of John”; “the guide’s efforts,” or “the efforts of the guide”; “Cæsar’s death,” or “the death of Cæsar.”

When there is any choice, it usually depends on euphony (that is, agreeable sound), and is therefore a question of style. Sometimes, however, there is a distinction in sense. “John’s fear,” for example, indicates that John is afraid; but “the fear of John” means the fear which John inspires in others.

III. The following phrases are established idioms with the possessive. In some of them, however, the possessive may be replaced by of and its object.

• (1) The earth’s surface,
• the sun’s rays,
• the moon’s reflection,
• the pit’s mouth,
• a rope’s end,
• his journey’s end,
• at his wit’s end,
• the ship’s keel,
• the water’s edge,
• the cannon’s mouth,
• out of harm’s way,
• at swords’ points,
• for pity’s sake,
• for conscience’ sake;
• (2) a moment’s pause,
• a year’s time,
• a hand’s breadth,
• a boat’s length,
• a month’s salary,
• a week’s notice,
• a night’s rest,
• a day’s work,
• a stone’s throw,
• a feather’s weight,
• an hour’s delay,
• a dollar’s worth,
• not a foot’s difference.

In the second group of phrases (“a moment’s pause,” etc.), the possessive denotes not ownership, but measure or extent.

IV. The possessive case of certain pronouns (my, our, your, his, her, its, their) is more freely used than that of nouns in expressions that do not denote actual ownership.

• I know him to my sorrow. [Compare: to his loss, to our detriment, to his advantage.]
• The brass has lost its polish.
• This question must be decided on its merits.
• His arguments did not fail of their effect.

For the inflection of these pronouns, see § 115. For the use of whose, see § 152.

94. When a thing belongs to two or more joint owners, the sign of the possessive is added to the last name only.

• Brown, Jones, and Richardson’s factories. [Brown, Jones, and Richardson are partners.]
• It is George and William’s turn to take the boat. [George and William are to go in the boat together.]
• On the other hand, in order to avoid ambiguity we should say, “Brown’s, Jones’s, and Richardson’s factories,” if each individual had a factory of his own; and “George’s and William’s answers were correct,” if each boy answered independently of the other.

95. In compound nouns the last part takes the possessive sign. So also when a phrase is used as a noun.

• My father-in-law’s home is in Easton.
• We had a quarter of an hour’s talk.

Other examples are the following:—

• My brother-in-law’s opinion;
• the commander-in-chief’s orders;
• the lady-in-waiting’s duties;
• the coal dealer’s prices;
• Edward VII’s reign;
• the King of England’s portrait;
• half a year’s delay;
• in three or four months’ time;
• a cable and a half’s length;
• the pleasure of Major Pendennis and Mr. Arthur Pendennis’s company (Thackeray).

Note. Noun-phrases often contain two substantives, the second of which is in apposition with the first. In such phrases, of is generally preferable to the possessive. Thus, we may say either “Tom the blacksmith’s daughter” or “the daughter of Tom the blacksmith”; but “the son of Mr. Hill the carpenter” is both neater and clearer than “Mr. Hill the carpenter’s son.” The use of ’s is also avoided with a very long phrase like “the owner of the house on the other side of the street.”

An objective may stand in apposition with a possessive, the latter being equivalent to of with an object. Thus,—“I am not yet of Percy’s mind [= of the mind of Percy], the Hotspur of the North” (Shakspere).

96. The noun denoting the object possessed is often omitted when it may be readily understood, especially in the predicate.

• Conant’s [shop] is open until noon.
• I buy my hats at Bryant’s [shop].
• We will dine at Pennock’s [restaurant].
• That camera is mine. (See § 122.)

This construction is common in such expressions as:—

• He was a relative of John’s.
• That careless tongue of John’s will get him into trouble.

In the first example, “a relative of John’s” means “a relative of (= from among) John’s relatives.” The second example shows an extension of this construction by analogy. See § 122.

Objective Case

97. The objective case, as its name implies, is the case of the object. Most of its uses are covered by the following rule:—

The object of a verb or preposition is in the objective case.

The object of a preposition has already been explained and defined (§§ 20–21).

98. The object of a verb may be (1) the direct object, (2) the predicate objective, (3) the indirect object, (4) the cognate object. Of these the direct object is the most important.

The objective is also used (5) adverbially (§ 109), (6) in apposition with another objective (§ 110), and (7) as the subject of an infinitive (§ 111).

1. Direct Object

99. Some verbs may be followed by a substantive denoting that which receives the action or is produced by it. These are called transitive verbs. All other verbs are called intransitive.

• 1. That man struck my dog.
• 2. The arrow hit the target.
• 3. Cæsar conquered Gaul.
• 4. Mr. Holland sells flour.
• 5. The farmer raises corn.
• 6. Mr. Eaton makes stoves.
• 7. My grandfather built that house.

In Nos. 1–4, the verb is followed by a noun denoting the receiver of the action. Thus, in the first sentence, the dog receives the blow; in the second, the target receives the action of hitting. In Nos. 5–7, the verb is followed by a noun denoting the product of the action. For example, the corn is produced by the action expressed by the verb raises.

In each example, the noun that follows the verb completes the sense of the verb. “That man struck ——.” “Struck whom?” “He struck the dog.” Until dog is added the sense of the verb struck is incomplete.

100. A substantive that completes the meaning of a transitive verb is called its direct object, and is said to be in the objective case.

Thus, in the examples above, dog is the direct object of the transitive verb struck; target is the direct object of hit,—and so on. Each of these nouns is therefore in the objective case.

The direct object is often called the object complement, or the object of the verb.

101. Intransitive verbs have no object.

• The lion roared.
• The visitor coughed gently.
• The log drifted downstream.
• We all listened intently.

Compare these sentences with those in § 99. We observe that the verbs (unlike those in § 99) admit no object, since their meaning is complete without the addition of any noun to denote the receiver or product of the action. “The man struck——” prompts the inquiry, “Struck whom?” But no such question is suggested by “The lion roared”; for “Roared what?” would be an absurdity.

102. The predicate nominative (§ 88, 2) must not be confused with the direct object. They resemble each other in two particulars: (1) both stand in the predicate, and (2) both complete the meaning of the verb. But they differ utterly in their relation to the subject of the sentence. For—

The predicate nominative describes or defines the subject. Hence both substantives denote the same person or thing.

Charles [SUBJECT] {is | was | became | was elected} captain [PREDICATE NOMINATIVE].

The direct object neither describes nor defines the subject. On the contrary, it designates that upon which the subject acts. Hence the two substantives regularly18 denote different persons or things.

Charles [SUBJECT] {struck James [OBJECT]. | threw a stone [OBJECT]. | built a boat [OBJECT].}

Both the direct object and the predicate nominative are classed as complements, because they are used to complete the sense of the predicate verb (§ 483).

103. A verb of asking sometimes takes two direct objects, one denoting the person and the other the thing.

• She asked the boy his name.
• Ask me no favors.
• I asked the lawyer his opinion.

2. Predicate Objective

104. Verbs of choosing, calling, naming, making, and thinking may take two objects referring to the same person or thing.

The first of these is the direct object, and the second, which completes the sense of the predicate, is called a predicate objective.

• We chose Oscar president. [Oscar is the direct object of chose; president is the predicate objective.]
• I call John my friend.
• They thought the man a coward.
• Make my house your home.

The predicate objective is often called the complementary object or the objective attribute. It is classed as a complement.

An adjective may serve as predicate objective.

• I call this ship unseaworthy.
• Your letter made your sister anxious.
• What makes Edwin so careless?

3. Indirect Object and Similar Idioms

105. Some verbs of giving, telling, refusing, and the like, may take two objects, a direct object and an indirect object.

The indirect object denotes the person or thing toward whom or toward which is directed the action expressed by the rest of the predicate.

Direct Object only

Direct Object and Indirect Object

Dick sold his bicycle.

Dick sold

John

his bicycle.

I gave permission.

I gave this

man

permission.

He paid a dollar.

He paid the

gardener

a dollar.

She taught Latin.

She taught my

children

Latin.

Most of the verbs that admit an indirect object are included in the following list:—

• allot,
• allow,
• assign,
• bequeath,
• bring,
• deny,
• ensure,
• fetch,
• fling,
• forbid,
• forgive,
• give,
• grant,
• guarantee,
• hand,
• lease,
• leave,
• lend,
• let,
• owe,
• pardon,
• pass,
• pay,
• refund,
• refuse,
• remit,
• restore,
• sell,
• send,
• show,
• sing,
• spare,
• teach,
• tell,
• throw,
• toss,
• vouchsafe.

Pronouns are commoner as indirect objects than nouns.

• They denied her the necessities of life.
• I guaranteed them a handsome profit.
• The king vouchsafed them an audience.

It is always possible to insert the preposition to before the indirect object without changing the sense.

Since the indirect object is equivalent to an adverbial phrase, it is classed as a modifier of the verb.

Thus, in “Dick sold John his bicycle,” John is an adverbial modifier of the predicate verb sold.

The indirect object is sometimes used without a direct object expressed. Thus,—

He paid the hatter.

Here hatter may be recognized as an indirect object by inserting to before it and adding a direct object (“his bill,” “his money,” or the like).

106. The objective case sometimes expresses the person for whom anything is done.

• William made his brother a kite [= made a kite for his brother].
• Sampson built me a boat [= built a boat for me].

This construction may be called the objective of service.

Note. The objective of service is often included under the head of the indirect object. But the two constructions differ widely in sense, and should be carefully distinguished. To do an act to a person is not the same thing as to do an act for a person. Contrast “John paid the money to me,” with “John paid the money for me”; “Dick sold a bicycle to me,” with “Dick sold a bicycle for me.”

107. The objective case is used after like, unlike, near, and next, which are really adjectives or adverbs, though in this construction they are often regarded as prepositions.

• She sang like a bird. [Like is an adverb.]
• The earth is like a ball. [Like is an adjective.]
• My office is near the station. [Near is an adjective.]
• That answer was unlike Joseph. [Unlike is an adjective.]
• This man walks unlike Joseph. [Unlike is an adverb.]
• A stream ran near the hut. [Near is an adverb.]

The use of the objective after these words is a peculiar idiom similar to the indirect object (§ 105). The nature of the construction may be seen (as in the indirect object) by inserting to or unto (“She sang like unto a bird”).

Note. The indirect object, the objective of service, and the objective after like, unlike, and near are all survivals of old dative constructions. Besides the case of the direct object (often called accusative), English once had a case (called the dative) which meant to or for [somebody or something]. The dative case is easily distinguished in Greek, Latin, and German, but in English it has long been merged in form with the ordinary objective.

4. Cognate Object

108. A verb that is regularly intransitive sometimes takes as object a noun whose meaning closely resembles its own.

A noun in this construction is called the cognate object of the verb and is in the objective case.

• He ran a race.
• The mayor coughed a dubious, insinuating cough.
• A scornful laugh laughed he.
• The trumpeter blew a loud blast.
• She sleeps the sleep of death.

Note. Cognate means “kindred” or “related.” The cognate object repeats the idea of the verb, often with some modification, and may be classed as an adverbial modifier. Its difference from the direct object may be seen by contrasting “The blacksmith struck the anvil” with “The blacksmith struck a mighty blow” (cf. “struck mightily”). For the pronoun it as cognate object, see § 120.

5. Adverbial Objective

109. A noun, or a phrase consisting of a noun and its modifiers, may be used adverbially. Such a noun is called an adverbial objective.

• We have waited years for this reform.
• I am years older than you are.
• The river is miles away.
• The water rose three feet.
• This is an inch too long.
• My brother is twenty years old.
• I will stay a short time.
• Wait a moment.
• Come here this instant!
• Turn your eyes this way.
• This silk is several shades too light.

A group of words consisting of an adverbial object with its modifier or modifiers forms an adverbial phrase (§ 41).

6. Objective in Apposition

110. A substantive in apposition with an objective is itself in the objective case.

• Yesterday I saw Williams the expressman. [Apposition with the direct object of saw.]
• Tom gave his friend John a book. [Apposition with the indirect object friend.]
• He lives with Andrews the blacksmith. [Apposition with the object of the preposition with.]

This rule follows from the general principle that an appositive is in the same case as the substantive to which it is attached (§ 88, 5).

7. Subject of an Infinitive

111. The subject of an infinitive is in the objective case.

This construction will be treated in connection with the uses of the infinitive (§ 325).

Parsing

112. To parse a word is to describe its grammatical form and to give its construction.

In parsing a noun, we mention the class to which it belongs, give its gender, number, person, and case, and tell why it is in that case. Thus,—

1. Frank shot a wolf.

Frank is a proper noun of the masculine gender, in the singular number and third person. It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the verb shot.

Wolf is a common noun of the masculine or feminine [or common] gender, in the singular number and third person. It is in the objective case, because it is the object [or direct object] of the transitive verb shot.

2. Jane, come here.

Jane is a proper noun of the feminine gender, in the singular number and second person. It is in the nominative case, being used as a vocative (or in direct address).

3. The rope is fifteen feet long.

Feet is a common noun of the neuter gender, in the plural number and third person. It is in the objective case, being used as an adverbial modifier of the adjective long.

4. Edgar’s boat is a sloop.

Edgar’s is a proper noun of the masculine gender, in the singular number and third person. It is in the possessive case, modifying the noun boat.

CHAPTER III
PRONOUNS

113. A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. It designates a person, place, or thing without naming it.

The substantive to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person (§ 11).

Pronouns have in general the same constructions as nouns.

114. Pronouns may be classified as (1) personal, (2) adjective, (3) relative, and (4) interrogative.

Under adjective pronouns are included (a) demonstrative pronouns and (b) indefinite pronouns.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

115. The personal pronouns serve to distinguish (1) the speaker, (2) the person spoken to, and (3) the person, place, or thing spoken of (§ 85).

They are declined as follows:—

The Pronoun of the First Person:

I

SINGULAR

PLURAL

Nominative

I

Nominative

we

Possessive

my

or

mine

Possessive

our

or

ours

Objective

me

Objective

us

The Pronoun of the Second Person:

thou

SINGULAR

PLURAL

Nominative

thou

Nominative

you

or

ye

Possessive

thy

or

thine

Possessive

your

or

yours

Objective

thee

Objective

you

or

ye

The Pronoun of the Third Person:

he

,

she

,

it

Singular

Plural

 

MASCULINE

FEMININE

NEUTER

MASCULINE, FEMININE, and NEUTER

Nominative

he

she

it

they

Possessive

his

her

or

hers

its

their

or

theirs

Objective

him

her

it

them

Unlike nouns, most of the personal pronouns have distinct forms for the nominative and the objective.

Note. The possessive case of personal pronouns never has the apostrophe. Thus,—its, yours, theirs.

The form it’s is proper only as a contraction of it is.

GENDER AND NUMBER

116. The pronouns of the first and second persons (I and thou) may be either masculine or feminine.

The pronouns of the third person have different forms for masculine, feminine, and neuter in the singular (he, she, it); but in the plural the form they serves for all three genders.

Note. In the oldest English his was both masculine and neuter. The neuter use lasted until the seventeenth century. Thus,—

That same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his lustre.—Shakspere, Julius Cæsar, i. 2. 123.

117. Thou, thy, thine, thee, and ye are old forms still found in poetry and the solemn style.

In ordinary prose, you, your, and yours are the only forms used for the second person, whether singular or plural. Yet you, even when denoting a single person, always takes the verb-forms that go with plural subjects. Thus,—

My friend, you were [NOT was] in error.

Hence you may best be regarded as always plural in form, but may be described as singular in sense when it stands for one person only.

Note. Members of the Society of Friends (commonly called Quakers) and of some other religious bodies use thee and thy in their ordinary conversation.

Ye was formerly the regular nominative plural, and you the objective; but the forms were afterwards confused. Ye has gone out of use except in poetry and the solemn style, and you is now the regular form for both nominative and objective.

Where an objective form ye is found printed instead of you (as often in Shakspere,—“A southwest blow on ye”), it represents an indistinct pronunciation of you rather than the old nominative ye. This indistinct sound may still be heard in rapid or careless speech (“I’ll tell yer the truth”).

Ye as an abbreviation for the (as in “ye old town”) has nothing to do with the pronoun ye. The y simply stands for the character þ (an old sign for th), and the abbreviation was pronounced the, never ye.

118. They, you, and we are often used indefinitely for “one” or “people in general.”

• They say that Joe has gone to sea.
• To shut off the steam, you close both valves of the radiator.

Note. We, our, and us are used in editorial articles instead of I, my, and me, because the writer represents the whole editorial staff. This practice should not be followed in ordinary composition.

A sovereign ruler may use we, our, and us when speaking of himself in proclamations and other formal documents. This construction is often called “the plural of majesty.” Thus,—

Know that we have divided
In three our kingdom.—Shakspere.

The form ’em (as in “Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose ’em,” in Julius Cæsar) is not a contraction of them, but of hem, an old objective plural of he.

CASE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Nominative Case

119. Nominative constructions of the personal pronouns are the same as those of nouns (§ 88).

• I am ready. [Subject.]
• It is I. [Predicate nominative.]
• Here, you rascal, what are you about? [Vocative, direct address.]
• Poor you! [Nominative of exclamation.]
• General Austin, he and no other, won the battle. [Apposition.]

For the nominative absolute, see § 345.

Care must be taken not to use an objective form when a predicate nominative is required.

• It is I [NOT me].
• It is we [NOT us] who did it.
• It was he [NOT him] who told us.
• It was they [NOT them] who were to blame.

120. It has several peculiar uses in the nominative.

1. It is used as the subject in many expressions like “It rains,” “It snows,” “It lightens,” “It is cold,” where no definite subject is thought of. In this use, it is said to be impersonal.

Note. An impersonal it also occurs as a cognate object (§ 108) in colloquial language: as,—“Hang it!” “Go it!” “He went it.” “He farmed it for a year.” Other examples of the indefinite and impersonal it in various constructions are: “We are roughing it.” “Keep it up.” “You’ll catch it.” “Let it all go.” “He made a poor job of it.” “He made a success of it.”

2. It often serves as grammatical subject merely to introduce the verb is, the real subject of the thought standing in the predicate. In this use it is called an expletive (or “filler”).

• It is he.
• It is Christmas.
• It was a tiresome ride.

In these examples, the subject of the thought (he, Christmas, ride) appears as a predicate nominative.

3. The antecedent of it is often a group of words.

Wearing tight shoes is foolish. It deforms the feet.

121. In imperative sentences the subject (you) is commonly omitted: as,—“Shut the door.”

Note. The subject I is sometimes omitted in wishes (as, “Would he were here!” for “I would that he were here”). So also in “Thank you,” “Pray tell me” (compare prithee for “I pray thee”).

Expressions like “Canst tell?” (for “Canst thou tell?”), “Art there?” (for “Art thou there?”) are common in poetry and older English. These come from the gradual wearing away and final disappearance of the pronoun thou (canst thou, canstow, canstë, canst).

Possessive Case

122. The possessive forms my, thy, our, your, her, and their are used when a noun follows; mine, thine, ours, yours, hers, and theirs cannot be followed by a noun, and stand commonly in the predicate. His may be used in either way.

My

brother has arrived.

The fault is

mine

.

Our

work is done.

Those seats are

ours

.

I have torn

your

glove.

This pencil is

yours

.

Their

turn has come.

That field is

theirs

.

His

hair is black.

The book is not

his

.

Examples of mine, yours, etc. not in the predicate are:

• Mine was a terrier; yours was a pointer.
• Theirs is a red motor car.
• Ours broke down last night.
• His leaked badly.
• His name is Martin; hers is Smith.

In such cases the pronoun is always emphatic. The construction is chiefly colloquial.

Note. In older English and in poetry mine and thine are common instead of my and thy before words beginning with a vowel or h: as,—

• Mine eyes dazzle: she died young.—John Webster.
• The very minute bids thee ope thine ear.—Shakspere.

Mine is sometimes used after a vocative noun: as,—brother mine.

For expressions like “a friend of mine,” “that unruly tongue of yours,” see § 96.

123. When two or more separate objects are spoken of as possessed, a possessive should precede the name of each if there is danger of ambiguity.

• I will send for our secretary and our treasurer. [Two persons.]
• I will send for our secretary and treasurer. [One person.]
• I have called for my bread and my milk. [Two things.]
• I have called for my bread and milk. [A mixture.]
• Have you Bacon’s “Essays and Apophthegms”? [One book.]
• Have you Bacon’s “Essays” and his “Advancement of Learning”? [Two books.]

Objective Case

124. The commonest constructions in which personal pronouns take the objective case are the following:—

1. Object of a preposition (§ 97): as,—

Take it from him.

2. Direct object of a transitive verb (§ 99): as,—

I will find you.

3. Indirect object of a transitive verb (§ 105): as,—

He gave me a dollar.

4. Subject of an infinitive (see § 325).

Note. In poetry the objective me is sometimes used in exclamations: as,—“Me miserable!” (Milton).

In methinks and meseems (“it seems to me”), me is a remnant of the old dative, as in the indirect object (see § 107).

The compounds thereof, therewith, therefrom, etc., are equivalent to of it, with it, from it, etc.: as,—“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus xxv. 10).

For the impersonal it as cognate object, see § 120.

THE SELF-PRONOUNS (COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS)

125. The three compound personal pronouns are made by adding the word self to certain forms of the personal pronouns. Thus,—

• myself, plural ourselves;
• thyself or yourself, plural yourselves;
• himself, herself, itself, plural themselves.

To these may be added the indefinite oneself, more commonly written as two words, one’s self (§ 139).

Observe that yourself is singular, and yourselves plural. Hisself and theirselves are incorrect forms. Ourself (not ourselves) is the compound pronoun corresponding to the royal we (§ 118).

What touches us ourself shall be last served.—Shakspere.

126. 1. The compound personal pronouns may be used to emphasize substantives.

In this use they are called intensive pronouns.

• I myself will go.
• King Alfred himself took the field.
• They did the work themselves.

An intensive pronoun is in apposition with the substantive to which it refers.

2. The compound personal pronouns may be used as the objects of transitive verbs or of prepositions when the object denotes the same person or thing as the subject.

In this use they are called reflexive pronouns.

• I have hurt myself.
• King Alfred interested himself in his subjects.
• These schemers deceived themselves.
• Mary was talking to herself.
• He gave himself a holiday. [Indirect object.]

These pronouns are called reflexive (that is, “bending back”) because they refer back to the subject and repeat its meaning in an object construction.

Note. A reflexive pronoun sometimes refers to a substantive in the objective case: as,—“Our captors left us to ourselves.”

In older English the simple personal pronouns me, thee, etc., were often used reflexively: as,—“I held me [= myself] still”; “Yield thee [= thyself] captive”; “They built them [= for themselves] houses” (see § 106). This idiom survives in colloquial language (as, “I have hurt me,” “I have bought me a rifle”), but it is avoided in writing except in a few expressions such as: “I must look about me”; “We gazed about us”; “Look behind you.”

127. The adjective own is sometimes inserted between the first and the second part of the self-pronouns for emphasis.

Examples:

• my own self,
• your own self,
• his own self,
• our own selves,
• their own selves.

In this use, self is in strictness a noun limited by the possessive and by the adjective own, but the phrases may be regarded as compound pronouns. Other adjectives are sometimes inserted between the possessive and self: as,—my very self, his worthless self.

128. The intensive pronouns are sometimes used without a substantive. Thus,—

• It is myself. [Myself = I myself.]
• You are hardly yourself to-day.

In poetry and older English, the intensives are even found as subjects: as,—“Ourself will mingle with society” (Macbeth).

129. The intensive pronouns should not be used as simple personal pronouns.

Thus we should say:—“He was kind to Mary and me” (NOT myself); “They invited my wife and me (NOT myself).”

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS

130. Some words are used either as adjectives or as pronouns. Such words are called adjective pronouns.

Adjective pronouns are classified, according to their meaning, as (1) demonstrative pronouns and (2) indefinite pronouns.

I. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

131. The demonstratives are this (plural, these), that (plural, those). They point out persons or things for special attention.

The demonstratives may be used either as adjectives or as pronouns.

I. As adjectives:—

This

sailor saved my life.

These

girls are energetic.

Be kind to

this

child.

I am not alarmed by

these

threats.

Give

this

boy a dime.

These

cherries are sour.

This

fire is too hot.

Look at

these

acorns.

That

saw is dull.

Those

trees are dying.

We must cross

that

stream.

Take

those

dishes away.

That

train is late.

Who are

those

strangers?

Send

that

dog home.

Do you see

those

rocks?

I am tired of

that

tune.

I am sorry for

those

children.

II. As pronouns:—

This

is a fine morning.

19 These

are cowboys.

This

is my uncle.

Robert gave me

these

.

Can you do

this

?

I never saw

these

before.

This

is the road.

Who are

these

?

Look at

this

.

These

are our rackets.

That

is Ellen in the canoe.

Those

are deer.

That

would please him.

Those

are nasturtiums.

That

must be he.

What are

those

?

What is

that

?

Those

are kangaroos.

If the demonstrative is followed by a noun which it limits (as in “this sailor”), it is an adjective. If the demonstrative points out something which it does not name (as in “This is a fine morning”), it takes the place of a noun and is therefore a pronoun. The simple subject of the sentence “This camera is expensive” is the noun camera, which is modified by the adjective this. The subject of the sentence “This is expensive” is the pronoun this.

Note. Yon, yond, and yonder are common as demonstratives in older English and in poetry. Thus,—“Nerissa, cheer yon stranger” (Merchant of Venice). “Question yond man” (As You Like It). “Is not yond Diomed?” (Troilus and Cressida). “Call yonder fellow hither” (Henry V). “Is yonder the man?” (As You Like It).

132. Demonstratives have only the inflection of number. They have the same form for all three genders. The nominative and objective cases are alike; the possessive is replaced by of with the objective.

Singular

Plural

Nom. and Obj.

this

Nom. and Obj.

these

Possessive

[of this]

Possessive

[of these]

Nom. and Obj.

that

Nom. and Obj.

those

Possessive

[of that]

Possessive

[of those]

Yon, yond, and yonder are not inflected.

133. A demonstrative pronoun may be used to avoid the repetition of a noun.

• My dog and that [= the dog] of my friend John have been fighting.
• Compare these maps with those [= the maps] on the blackboard.

134. The singular forms this and that (not the plurals these and those) are used with the nouns kind and sort.

• I like this kind of grapes.
• I have met this sort of people before.
• That kind of apples grows in Idaho.

II. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

135. The indefinite pronouns point out objects less clearly or definitely than demonstratives do.

Examples:

• each,
• every,
• either,
• both,
• neither,
• some,
• any,
• such,
• none,
• other,
• another,
• each other,
• one another.

• Each has its merits.
• Some are missing.
• I cannot give you any.
• Either is correct.
• He knows neither of you.
• I like both.

136. Most indefinites may be either pronouns or adjectives. But none is always a substantive in modern use, and every is always an adjective.

137. None may be either singular or plural. When it means distinctly not one, it is singular. In many instances either construction is permissible.

• None of us has the key.
• None was (or were) left to tell the tale.

138. Each other and one another are regarded as compound pronouns. They designate related persons or things.

• My neighbor and I like each other.
• We must bear with one another.

The relation indicated by these pronouns is that of reciprocity. Hence they are often called reciprocal pronouns.

There is no real distinction between each other and one another. The rules sometimes given for such a distinction are not supported by the best usage.

139. One (possessive one’s) is often used as an indefinite personal pronoun. Thus,—

One does not like one’s [NOT his or their] motives to be doubted.

The use of his (for one’s) to refer back to a preceding one is found in respectable writers, but is contrary to the best usage.

For the indefinite use of we, you, they, see § 118.

140. All, several, few, many, and similar words are often classed as indefinites. They may be used as adjectives or as substantives. Everybody, everything, anybody, anything, somewhat, aught, naught,20 etc., are called indefinite nouns.

141. Care should be taken in framing such sentences as the following:—

• Everybody has his [NOT their] faults.
• If anybody wishes to go, he [NOT they] may.
• If anybody objects, let him [NOT them] speak.
• Every member of this class must hand in his [NOT their] composition to-day.
• Each hurries toward his [NOT their] home.
• Each of us must lead his [NOT their] own life.

In sentences of this kind, the personal pronoun (he, his, him) must be in the singular to agree with its antecedent (everybody, anybody, etc.) (see § 113).

Note. When the antecedent is of common gender (as in the last example), the personal pronouns (he, his, him) may be regarded as of common gender also. In very precise or formal language, one may say he or she, his or her: as,—“Each of us must lead his or her own life”; but this form of expression is to be avoided unless the distinction is clearly necessary.

142. When used as adjectives, none of the indefinites have any forms of inflection. The same is true when they are pronouns, except as follows:—

Others is used as the plural of another. The possessive forms are:—singular, another’s; plural, others’. The other (possessive, the other’s) has in the plural the others (possessive, the others’). Each other and one another add ’s in the possessive. One has a possessive one’s; the one becomes the ones in the plural.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

143. Relative pronouns have a peculiar function in the sentence, since they serve both as pronouns and as connectives. Their use may be seen by comparing the two sentences that follow:—

• 1. This is the sailor, and he saved my life.
• 2. This is the sailor who saved my life.

Each consists of two parts or clauses (§ 44). In No. 1, the two clauses are connected by the conjunction and, which belongs to neither; the pronoun he, which stands for sailor, is the subject of the second clause. In No. 2, there is no conjunction; instead, we find the word who, which replaces and he. This who is a pronoun, since it stands for sailor (precisely as he does in No. 1) and (like he) is the subject of the verb saved. But who is also a connective, since it joins the two parts of the sentence as and does in No. 1. Such words (which serve both as pronouns and as connectives) are called relative pronouns.

In No. 1, the two clauses are coördinate. Neither serves as a modifier, and each might stand alone as a complete sentence (“This is the sailor.” “He saved my life”). The sentence is compound (§ 44). In No. 2, on the contrary, the clause who saved my life is a subordinate or dependent clause, for it is used as an adjective modifier of the noun sailor, which it limits by showing what particular sailor is meant. The sentence is complex (§ 44). The dependent clause (who saved my life) is connected with the main clause (this is the sailor) by the pronoun who, which refers to sailor.

144. Relative pronouns connect dependent clauses with main clauses by referring directly to a substantive in the main clause.21

This substantive is the antecedent of the relative (§ 11).

Thus in § 143 the noun sailor is the antecedent of who.

Relative means “carrying back.” These pronouns are so called because they carry the mind back directly to the antecedent.

145. The simple relative pronouns are who, which, that, as, and what.

Who and which are declined as follows in both the singular and the plural:—

Nominative

who

which

Possessive

whose

whose

Objective

whom

which

That, as, and what are not inflected. They have the same form for both nominative and objective and are not used in the possessive case.

146. As may be used as a relative pronoun when such stands in the main clause.

• Such of you as have finished may go.
• I have never seen such strawberries as these [are].
• Use such powers as you have.

147. As is often used as a relative after the same.

This color is the same as that [is].

Other relatives are also used after the same.

• This is the same book that (or which) you were reading yesterday.
• This is the same man that (or whom) I saw on the pier last Friday.

148. Who is either masculine or feminine; which and what are neuter; that and as are of all three genders.

• All who heard, approved.
• Here is the lad whose story interested you.
• The first woman whom I saw was Mary.
• He answered in such English as he could muster.
• I saw nobody that I knew.
• This is the road that leads to London.

In older English the which is often used for which: as,—

Our foster-nurse of nature is repose,
The which he lacks.—Shakspere.

For other uses of as, see §§ 368, 428–429. For but in such sentences as “There was nobody but believed him,” see § 370.

149. A relative pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person.

The sentences in § 148 illustrate the agreement of the relative with its antecedent in gender.

Since relative pronouns have the same form for both numbers and for all three persons, their number and person must be discovered, in each instance, by observing the number and person of the antecedent.

• It is I who am wrong. [First person, singular number: antecedent, I.]
• All you who are ready may go. [Second person plural: antecedent, you.]
• Give help to him who needs it. [Third person, singular: antecedent, him.]
• The road that leads to the shore is sandy. [Third person singular: antecedent, road.]
• The roads that lead to the shore are sandy. [Third person plural: antecedent, roads.]

To determine the number and person of a relative pronoun is particularly necessary when it is the subject of the clause, for the form of the verb varies (as the examples show) according to the number and person of the subject (§ 222). Hence the rule for the agreement of a relative with its antecedent is of much practical importance.

150. The case of a relative pronoun has nothing to do with its antecedent, but depends on the construction of its own clause.

• The servant who opened the door wore livery. [Who is in the nominative case, being the subject of opened.]
• He discharged his servant, who immediately left town. [Who is in the nominative case, since it is the subject of left, although its antecedent (servant) is in the objective.]
• The servant whom you discharged has returned. [Whom is in the objective case, since it is the direct object of discharged. The antecedent (servant) is, on the other hand, in the nominative, because it is the subject of has returned.]
• Here is such money as I have. [As is in the objective case, being the object of have. The antecedent (money) is in the nominative.]

151. A relative pronoun in the objective case is often omitted.

Here is the book

which

you wanted.

Here is the book you wanted.

The noise

that

I heard was the wind.

The noise I heard was the wind.

The man

whom

I met was a carpenter.

The man I met was a carpenter.

Note. In older English a relative in the nominative is often omitted: as,—“There’s two or three of us have seen strange sights” (Julius Cæsar), that is, “There are two or three of us who have seen,” etc. The same omission is often made in rapid or careless colloquial speech. It is approved in clauses with there in such sentences as “He is one of the best men there are in the world” (§ 232).

152. Certain questions of gender call for particular attention.

1. Which is commonly used in referring to the lower animals unless these are regarded as persons. This is true even when he or she is used of the same animals (§ 69).

• This is the dog which I mentioned. Isn’t he a fine fellow?
• We have one cow which we prize highly. She is a Jersey.

2. The possessive whose may be used of any object that has life.

• This is the man whose watch was stolen.
• I have a cat whose name is Tabby.
• This is the tree whose leaves were destroyed. It is quite dead.

3. In the case of things without animal life, of which and whose are both common. The tendency is to prefer of which in prose, but whose is often used because of its more agreeable sound. In poetry, whose is especially frequent.

• A broad river, the name of which I have forgotten, forms the northern boundary of the province.
• Jack was fishing with a bamboo rod, to the end of which he had tied a short piece of ordinary twine.
• She was gazing into the pool, whose calm surface reflected her features like a mirror. [“The surface of which” would not sound so well.]

Note. In older English, which is often used for who or whom: as,—“He which hath your noble father slain, pursued my life” (Hamlet).

The compounds whereof, wherefrom, wherewith, etc., are equivalent to of which, from which, etc. (cf. § 124). Thus,—“Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him” (Genesis xxvii. 41).

DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVES

153. The clause introduced by a relative pronoun is an adjective clause, since it serves as an adjective modifier of the antecedent (§ 143). There are two different ways in which the antecedent may be thus modified.

• 1. The Italian, who wore a flower in his coat, smiled at me.
• 2. The Italian who wore a flower in his coat smiled at me.

In the first sentence, the italicized relative clause serves simply to describe the Italian, not to identify him. The flower is a mere detail of the picture.

In the second sentence, the relative clause serves not merely to describe the Italian, but also to distinguish him from all others. The flower is mentioned as a means of identification. The relative clause confines or restricts the meaning of the antecedent (Italian).

154. A relative pronoun that serves merely to introduce a descriptive fact is called a descriptive relative.

A relative pronoun that introduces a clause confining or limiting the application of the antecedent is called a restrictive relative.

Thus in the first example in § 153, who is a descriptive relative; in the second, it is a restrictive relative.

155. Before a descriptive relative we regularly make a pause in speaking, but never before a restrictive relative. Hence the rule:—

A descriptive relative is preceded by a comma; a restrictive relative is not.

• Three sailors, who were loitering on the pier, sprang to the rescue.
• A clumsy weapon, which I took for a blunderbuss, hung over the fireplace.
• I told the news to the first man that (or whom) I met.
• The coins that (or which) you showed me are doubloons.
• Nothing that I have ever read has moved me more profoundly than the third act of “King Lear.”

156. Who, which, and that are all used as restrictive relatives; but some writers prefer that to which, especially in the nominative case.

Note. That is not now employed as a descriptive relative, though it was common in this use not very long ago. Thus in 1844 Disraeli wrote: “The deer, that abounded, lived here in a world as savage as themselves” (Coningsby, book iii, chapter 5).

The omission of the relative (§ 151) is possible only when the relative is restrictive.

• The boy [whom] I saw at your house has left town. [Restrictive.]
• Charles, whom I saw yesterday, had not heard the news. [Descriptive.]

THE RELATIVE PRONOUN WHAT

157. The relative pronoun what is equivalent to that which, and has a double construction:—(1) the construction of the omitted or implied antecedent (that); (2) the construction of the relative (which).

• {What | That which} was said is true. [Here what, being equivalent to that which, serves as the subject both of was said and of is.]
• Tom always remembers {what | that which} is said to him. [Here what, being equivalent to that which, serves as both the object of remembers and as the subject of is said.]
• Tom always remembers {what | that which} he learns. [Here what serves both as the object of remembers and as the object of learns.]

In parsing what, mention both of its constructions.

Note. Another method of dealing with the relative what is to regard the whole clause (what was said; what is said to him; what he learns) as a noun clause. Thus the clause what was said in the first sentence would be the subject of is; in the second and third sentences, the clause would be the object of remembers. What, in the first sentence, would be parsed as the subject of was said; in the second, as the subject of is said; and in the third, as the object of learns. Neither view is incorrect, and each has its special advantages. The student may well be familiar with both methods, remembering that grammar cannot be treated like mathematics.

COMPOUND RELATIVE PRONOUNS

158. The compound relative pronouns are formed by adding ever or soever to who, which, and what.

They are declined as follows:—

Singular and Plural

Nominative

whoever (whosoever)

whichever (whichsoever)

Possessive

whosever (whosesoever)

————

Objective

whomever (whomsoever)

whichever (whichsoever)

Whatever (whatsoever) has no inflection. The nominative and the objective are alike, and the possessive is supplied by the phrase of whatever (of whatsoever).

The phrase of whichever (of whichsoever) is used instead of whosever exactly as of which is used instead of whose (§ 152).

159. The compound relative pronouns may include or imply their own antecedents and hence may have a double construction.

Whoever calls, he must be admitted. [Here he, the antecedent of whoever, is the subject of must be admitted, and whoever is the subject of calls.]

Whoever calls must be admitted. [Here the antecedent he is omitted, being implied in whoever. Whoever has therefore a double construction, being the subject of both calls and must be admitted.]

• He shall have whatever he wishes.
• I will do whichever you say.

In such sentences, care should be taken to use whoever and whomever correctly. The nominative (whoever) is required when the relative is the subject of its own clause.

• He asked whoever came.
• He told the story to whoever would listen.
• He asked whomever he knew.
• He told the story to whomever he met.

160. The compound relatives are sometimes used without an antecedent expressed or implied.

• Whoever deserts you, I will remain faithful.
• Whomever it offends, I will speak the truth.
• Whatever he attempts, he is sure to fail.
• Whichever you choose, you will be disappointed.

Note. This construction is closely related to that explained in § 159. “Whoever deserts you, I will remain faithful,” is practically equivalent to “Whoever deserts you, let him desert you! I will remain faithful.” No antecedent, however, is felt by the speaker, and hence none need be supplied in parsing. Compare concessive clauses (§ 401).

161. Which, what, whichever, and whatever are often used as adjectives.

• Use what (or whatever) powers you have.
• Whichever plan you adopt, you have my best wishes.

162. A noun limited by the adjectives what, whichever, and whatever, may have the same double construction that these relatives have when they are used as pronouns (§ 159). Thus,—

Take whichever pen is not in use. [Here pen is both the direct object of take, and the subject of is.]

Whoso for whosoever and whatso for whatsoever are common in older English.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

163. The interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what. They are used in asking questions.22

• Who is your neighbor?
• Who goes there?
• Whom have you chosen?
• From whom did you learn this?
• Whose voice is that?
• Which shall I take?
• Which is correct?
• What did he say?
• What is lacking?
• With what are you so delighted?

164. Who has a possessive whose, and an objective whom. Which and what are not inflected.

Who may be either masculine or feminine; which and what may be of any gender.

165. The objective whom often begins a question (as in the third example in § 163). Care should be taken not to write who for whom.

166. Which and what are used as interrogative adjectives.

• Which street shall I take?
• What village is this?

167. The interrogative adjective what may be used in a peculiar form of exclamatory sentence. Thus,—

• What a cold night this is!
• What courage he must have had!

What! by itself often serves as an exclamation: as,—“What! do you really think so?” In this use what may be regarded as an interjection.

168. In parsing pronouns the following models may be used:—

1. He was my earliest friend.

He is a personal pronoun of the third person. It is in the masculine gender, the singular number, and the nominative case, being the subject of the verb was.

2. A policeman whom I met showed me the house.

Whom is a relative pronoun of the masculine gender, singular number, and third person, agreeing with its antecedent, policeman. It is in the objective case, being the direct object of the transitive verb met.

3. The corporal, whose name was Scott, came from Leith.

Whose is a relative pronoun of the masculine gender, singular number, and third person, agreeing with its antecedent, corporal. It is in the possessive case, modifying the noun name.

4. Whose birthday do we celebrate in February?

Whose is an interrogative pronoun in the masculine or feminine gender, singular number, and possessive case, modifying the noun birthday.

5. He injured himself severely.

Himself is a compound personal pronoun of the third person, used reflexively. It is of the masculine gender, singular number, and third person, agreeing with its antecedent, he. It is in the objective case, being the direct object of the transitive verb injured.

CHAPTER IV
ADJECTIVES

CLASSIFICATION OF ADJECTIVES

169. An adjective is a word which describes or limits a substantive.

An adjective is said to belong to the substantive which it describes or limits.

An adjective which describes is called a descriptive adjective; one which points out or designates is called a definitive adjective (§ 13).

Most adjectives are descriptive: as,—round, cold, red, angry, graceful, excessive, young, sudden, Roman.

Note. Many descriptive adjectives are compound (see § 64): as,—steadfast, lionlike, fireproof, downright, heartsick, everlasting, brown-eyed, broad-shouldered, ill-tempered, dear-bought, far-fetched, never-ending, self-evident, self-important. “He was a matter-of-fact person.” “Tom is hail-fellow-well-met with everybody.” “This is an out-of-the-way place.” “A dashing, down-at-the-heel youth answered my knock.”

170. A proper noun used as an adjective, or an adjective derived from a proper noun, is called a proper adjective and usually begins with a capital letter.

Examples:

• a Panama hat,
• Florida oranges,
• a Bunsen burner;
• Virginian,
• Spenserian,
• Newtonian,
• Icelandic,
• Miltonic,
• Byronic,
• Turkish,
• English,
• Veronese.

Note. Many so-called proper adjectives begin with a small letter because their origin is forgotten or disregarded: as,—china dishes, italic type, mesmeric power, a jovial air, a saturnine expression, a mercurial temperament, a stentorian voice.

171. Definitive adjectives include:—pronouns used as adjectives (as, this opportunity; those pictures; either table; what time is it?); numeral adjectives (as, two stars; the third year); the articles, a (or an) and the.

Pronouns used as adjectives (often called pronominal adjectives) have been studied under Pronouns—demonstratives (§§ 131–134), indefinites (§§ 135–142), relatives (§§ 143–162), interrogatives (§§ 163–167).

Numeral adjectives will be treated, along with other numerals (nouns and adverbs), in §§ 204–208.

The articles will be treated in §§ 173–180.

172. Adjectives may be classified, according to their position in the sentence, as attributive, appositive, and predicate adjectives.

1. An attributive adjective is closely attached to its noun and regularly precedes it.

• The angry spot doth glow on Cæsar’s brow.
• O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome!
• Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.

2. An appositive adjective is added to its noun to explain it, like a noun in apposition (§ 88, 5).

Noun in Apposition

Appositive Adjective

The castle, a

ruin

, stood on the edge of the cliff.

The castle,

ancient

and

ruinous

, stood on the edge of the cliff.

Bertram, the

ringleader

, refused to surrender.

Bertram,

undaunted

, refused to surrender.

3. A predicate adjective completes the meaning of the predicate verb, but describes or limits the subject.

Predicate adjectives are common after is (in its various forms) and other copulative verbs, particularly become and seem (§ 17).

• The sea is rough to-day.
• Burton soon became cautious in his judgments.
• You seem anxious about your future.
• The air grew hot and sultry.
• Our first experiment proved unsuccessful.
• The milk turned sour.
• Our agent proved trustworthy.

Note. The construction of the predicate adjective is similar to that of the predicate nominative (§ 88, 2). Both are known as complements, because they complete the meaning of a verb.

After look, sound, taste, smell, feel, a predicate adjective is used to describe the subject. Thus,—

• Your flowers look thrifty. [Not: look thriftily.]
• Their voices sound shrill. [Not: sound shrilly.]
• This apple tastes sweet. [Not: tastes sweetly.]
• The air smells good. [Not: smells well.]
• The patient feels comfortable. [Not: feels comfortably.]

For predicate adjectives after passive verbs, see § 492.

For the use of an adjective as predicate objective, see § 104.

THE ARTICLES

173. The adjectives a (or an) and the are called articles.

1. The definite article the points out one or more particular objects as distinct from others of the same kind.

• The train is late.
• Here is the key.
• The children are in the next room.

2. The indefinite article a (or an) designates an object as merely one of a general class or kind.

• Lend me a pencil.
• I have a cold.
• A young man answered my knock.

The article a is a fragment of ān (pronounced ahn), the ancient form of the numeral one; an keeps the n, which a has lost. The is an old demonstrative, related to that.

174. The with a singular noun sometimes indicates a class or kind of objects.

• The scholar is not necessarily a dryasdust.
• The elephant is the largest of quadrupeds.
• The aëroplane is a very recent invention.
• Resin is obtained from the pine.

Note. In this use the is often called the generic article (from the Latin genus, “kind” or “sort”). The singular number with the generic the is practically equivalent to the plural without an article. Thus in the first example the sense would be the same if we had, “Scholars are not necessarily dryasdusts.”

175. An adjective preceded by the may be used as a plural noun.

• The brave are honored.
• The rich have many cares.
• The strong should protect the weak.

176. An is used before words beginning with a vowel or silent h; a before other words. Thus,—

• an owl;
• an apple;
• an honest man;
• a stone;
• a pear.

177. Special rules for a or an are the following:—

1. Before words beginning with the sound of y or w, the form a, not an, is used.

Examples:

• a union,
• a university,
• a yew,
• a ewe,
• a eulogy,
• a Utopian
• scheme,
• such a one.

This rule covers all words beginning with eu and many beginning with u. Note that the initial sound is a consonant, not a vowel. An was formerly common before such words (as,—an union, such an one), but a is now the settled form.

2. Before words beginning with h and not accented on the first syllable, an is often used. Thus, we say—

• a his´tory;
• BUT, an histor´ical novel.

In such cases, the h is very weak in sound, and is sometimes quite silent, so that the word practically begins with a vowel. Usage varies, but careful writers favor the rule here given. An was formerly more common before h than at present.

178. With two or more connected nouns or adjectives the article should be repeated whenever clearness requires (cf. § 123).

• I have consulted the secretary and the treasurer. [“The secretary and treasurer” would imply that the same person held both offices.]
• I found an anchor and a chain. [“An anchor and chain” would suggest that the chain was attached to the anchor.]
• In some towns there are separate schools for the boys and the girls; in others the boys and girls attend the same schools.
• He waved a red and white flag.
• He waved a red and a white flag.

179. A is often used distributively, in the sense of each.

• I paid five dollars a pair for my shoes.
• The letter-carrier calls twice a day.
• My class meets three times a week.

In such phrases a is better than per, except in strictly commercial language.

180. When used with adjectives, the articles precede, except in a few phrases: as,—

• Such an uproar was never heard.
• Many a man has tried in vain.

For the adverb the, which is quite distinct from the article in use and meaning, see § 195.

For the preposition a (as in “He went a-fishing”), see § 352.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

181. In comparing objects with each other, we may use three different forms of the same adjective.

• Thomas is strong.
• William is stronger than Thomas.
• Herbert is strongest of the three.

This inflection of adjectives is called comparison, and the three forms are called degrees of comparison.

182. The degrees of comparison indicate by their form in what degree of intensity the quality described by the adjective exists.

There are three degrees of comparison,—the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.

1. The positive degree is the simplest form of the adjective, and has no special ending.

It merely describes the quality, without expressing or suggesting any comparison.

Thomas is strong.

Thus, the positive degree of the adjective strong is strong.

2. The comparative degree of an adjective is formed by adding the termination er to the positive degree.

It denotes that the quality exists in the object described in a higher degree than in some other object.

William is stronger than Thomas.

Thus, the comparative degree of the adjective strong is stronger.

3. The superlative degree is formed by adding est to the positive degree.

It denotes that the quality exists in the highest degree in the object described.

Herbert is strongest of the three.

Other examples of the comparison of adjectives are:—

Positive Degree

Comparative Degree

Superlative Degree

rich

richer

richest

poor

poorer

poorest

fast

faster

fastest

firm

firmer

firmest

183. Rules of Spelling.

1. Adjectives ending in silent e drop this letter before the comparative ending er and the superlative ending est. Thus,—

• wise, wiser, wisest;
• pure, purer, purest;
• handsome, handsomer, handsomest.

2. Most adjectives ending in y change y to i before the endings er and est. Thus,—

• silky, silkier, silkiest;
• glossy, glossier, glossiest;
• sorry, sorrier, sorriest.

3. Adjectives having a short vowel and ending in a single consonant double this before the endings er and est. Thus,—

• dim, dimmer, dimmest;
• sad, sadder, saddest;
• fit, fitter, fittest;
• big, bigger, biggest;
• red, redder, reddest;
• hot, hotter, hottest.

184. Many adjectives are compared by prefixing the adverbs more and most to the positive degree.

Many adjectives of two syllables and most adjectives of three or more syllables are so compared. Thus,—

• recent, more recent, most recent;
• terrible, more terrible, most terrible;
• triumphant, more triumphant, most triumphant;
• economical, more economical, most economical.

Some adjectives may be compared in either way.

Examples:

• intense, intenser, intensest;
• OR intense, more intense, most intense.

So also—

• profound,
• sublime,
• unkind.

Note. The adverbs less and least may be used with an adjective, if one wishes to run down the scale of comparison: as,—terrible, less terrible, least terrible. This idiom, however, should not be regarded as comparison of the adjective. “Superlative” means “in the highest degree,” and is not applicable to least terrible, which means “terrible in the lowest degree.”

IRREGULAR COMPARISON

185. Several adjectives have irregular comparison.23

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

bad (evil, ill)

worse

worst

far

farther

farthest

——

further

furthest

good

better

best

late

later, latter

latest, last

well (in health)

better

——

little

less, lesser

least

much, many

more

most

Old has comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest. Elder or eldest may be used with certain nouns of relationship, or in the phrases the elder and the eldest.

This is my

elder

brother.

My brother is

older

than yours.

Jane was the

eldest

of six children.

I shall wear my

oldest

clothes.

Elder is also used as a noun: as,—“You should respect your elders.”

Next is a superlative of nigh. It is used only in the sense of “the very nearest.”

• I live in the next street.
• The next time he comes, I shall refuse to see him.

186. A few superlatives end in -most. With these, one or both of the other degrees are commonly wanting.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

——

(former)

foremost

hind

hinder

hindmost

——

inner

inmost, innermost

(out,

adverb

)

outer

outmost, outermost

(utter)

utmost, uttermost

(up,

adverb

)

upper

uppermost

——

——

endmost

——

nether

nethermost

top

——

topmost

——

——

furthermost

north

——

northmost

northern

(more northern)

northernmost

south

——

southmost

southern

(more southern)

southernmost

east, eastern

(more eastern)

easternmost

west, western

(more western)

westernmost

Note. The ending -most is not the adverb most. It is a very old superlative ending -mest changed under the influence of the adverb most.

187. For adjectives incapable of comparison, see § 202. For special rules for the use of comparative and superlative, see §§ 199–203.

188. In parsing an adjective, tell whether it is descriptive or definitive, mention the substantive to which it belongs, and specify the degree of comparison.

CHAPTER V
ADVERBS

189. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

• The storm ceased suddenly.
• A very disastrous storm swept the coast.
• The storm ceased very suddenly.

190. Adverbs are classified according to their meaning as: (1) adverbs of manner; (2) adverbs of time; (3) adverbs of place; (4) adverbs of degree.24

1. Adverbs of manner answer the question “How?” “In what way?”

They modify verbs or adjectives, rarely adverbs. Most of them are formed from adjectives by adding ly.

• Tom answered courageously.
• The poor child looked helplessly about.
• Softly and silently fell the snow.
• The pain was terribly severe.
• The river rose surprisingly fast.

2. Adverbs of time answer the question “When?” They usually modify verbs. Thus,—

• The old castle is now a museum.
• He was recently promoted.
• I have been disturbed lately.
• My friend arrives to-day.
• James was then a boy of seven.
• I have already rung the bell.
• Afterwards he regretted his haste.

3. Adverbs of place answer the question “Where?” They usually modify verbs. Thus,—

• Come here.
• Yonder stands the culprit.
• An old sailor came forward.
• My sister is out.
• I was abroad that winter.

4. Adverbs of degree answer the question “To what degree or extent?” They modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Thus,—

• Arthur is rather tall.
• Father was much pleased.
• Father was very much pleased.
• The task seemed utterly hopeless.
• That is hardly possible.
• That is not possible.

191. Some adverbs have the same form as the corresponding adjectives.

• You have guessed right.
• How fast the tide ebbs!
• The horse was sold cheap.
• Tired men sleep sound.

Other examples are:—

• wrong,
• straight,
• early,
• late,
• quick,
• hard,
• far,
• near,
• slow,
• high,
• low,
• loud,
• ill,
• well,
• deep,
• close,
• just,
• very,
• much,
• little.

Under this head come certain adverbs of degree used to modify adjectives.

• His eyes were dark blue. [Compare: very blue.]
• That silk is light yellow. [Compare: rather yellow.]
• These flowers are deep purple. [Compare: intensely purple.]
• The water was icy cold. [Compare: extremely cold.]

That dark, light, etc., are adverbs in this use appears from the fact that they answer the question “How?” Thus,—“His eyes were blue.” “How blue?” “Dark blue.”

Note. In the oldest English many adverbs ended in -ë, as if formed directly from adjectives by means of this ending. Thus, the adjective for hot was hāt, side by side with which was an adverb hātë (dissyllabic), meaning hotly. In the fourteenth century this distinction was still kept up. Thus, Chaucer used both the adjective hōt and the dissyllabic adverb hōtë, meaning hotly. Between 1400 and 1500 all weak final e’s disappeared from the language. In this way the adverb hotë, for example, became simply hot. Thus these adverbs in -ë became identical in form with the corresponding adjectives. Hence in the time of Shakspere there existed, in common use, not only the adjective hot, but also the adverb hot (identical in form with the adjective but really descended from the adverb hotë). One could say not only “The fire is hot” (adjective), but “The fire burns hot” (adverb of manner).

The tendency in modern English has been to confine the form without ending to the adjective use and to restrict the adverbial function to forms in -ly. Thus, a writer of the present time would not say, in prose, “The fire burns hot,” but “The fire burns hotly.” Nevertheless, a number of the old adverbs without ending still remain in good use, and must not be regarded as erroneous.

In poetry, moreover, such adverbs are freely employed; as,—“The boy like a gray goshawk stared wild.” [In prose: stared wildly.]

For adverbial phrases, see §§ 41–42, 475.

For the adverbial objective, see § 109.

192. Yes and no are peculiar adverbs used in assenting and denying. Thus,—

Are you hungry?

No.

Note. As now used, yes and no stand for complete sentences. Originally, however, they were modifiers, and hence they are still classed as adverbs. The original meaning of no was “never.” Compare never as an emphatic negative in modern English: as,—“Will you surrender?” “Never!” The oldest affirmative adverb was yea. Yes was originally a compound of yea with a form of so, and was used in emphatic affirmatives (like our just so!).

Other adverbs or adverbial phrases are sometimes used like yes or no. Such are certainly, assuredly, by no means, not at all. In these cases, however, the modifying effect of the word or phrase may easily be seen when the sentence is supplied. Thus,—“Will you help me?” “Certainly [I will help you].”

193. There is often used merely to introduce a sentence in the inverted order (§ 5).

• There is a hole in my shoe.
• There are many strangers in town.
• There rose a thick smoke from the volcano.

In this use, there is sometimes called an expletive (or “filler”). It is unemphatic, and has lost all its force as an adverb of place. Contrast “There [emphatic] stood an Indian under a tree” with, “There [unemphatic expletive] stood an Indian under a tree.”

RELATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS

194. Relative adverbs introduce subordinate clauses and are similar in their use to relative pronouns.

I know a farmhouse {in which | where} we can spend the night.

Where is an adverb of place, modifying can spend. But it also introduces the subordinate clause, as the relative pronoun which does. Hence where is called a relative adverb.

195. The principal relative adverbs are:—where, whence, whither, wherever, when, whenever, while, as, how, why, before, after, till, until, since.

Because of their similarity to conjunctions, these words are often called conjunctive adverbs.

• He had a fever when he was in Spain.
• Work while it is day.
• As the ship passed, we observed that her decks were crowded with Malays. [Time.]
• Keep to the right, as the law directs. [Manner.]
• You started before I was ready.
• Wait until the car stops.
• Since you came, it has rained constantly.

As and since in the sense of “because,” and while in the sense of “although,” are classed as conjunctions (§ 368).

The clauses introduced by relative adverbs may be either adjective or adverbial (§§ 49–50, 379–382).

Note. In “The more you waste, the sooner you will want” (and similar sentences) the is not an article, but an old case-form of the pronoun that, used as an adverb of degree. We may expand the sentence as follows: “To what extent you waste more, to that extent you will want sooner.” Thus it appears that the first the has a relative force, and the second the a demonstrative force.

196. An interrogative adverb introduces a question.

Where, when, whence, whither, how, why, may be used as interrogative adverbs. Thus,—

• Where are you going?
• Why must you go?

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS

197. Adverbs have three degrees of comparison,—the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.

1. Most adverbs are compared by means of more and most.

• John came promptly. [Positive.]
• Richard came more promptly than John. [Comparative.]
• Henry came most promptly of all. [Superlative.]

2. A few adverbs are compared by means of the endings er and est. Thus,—

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

near

nearer

nearest

soon

sooner

soonest

Further examples are:—

• cheap,
• dear,
• early,
• fast,
• hard,
• high,
• long,
• loud,
• quick,
• slow,
• deep.25

Some adverbs are compared in both ways. Thus,—

• often, oftener or more often,
• oftenest or most often.

198. Several adverbs have irregular comparison.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

far

farther

farthest

forth

further

furthest

ill

worse

worst

badly

nigh

nigher

nighest

next

well

better

best

late

later

latest

last

little

less

least

much

more

most

These adverbs in the main have the same forms as the adjectives studied in § 185 above. Note, however: (1) that good and bad are never adverbs; (2) that ill and well, better and best, worse and worst, may be either adverbs or adjectives. Rather is now used in the comparative only.

USE OF THE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

199. The comparative degree, not the superlative, is used in comparing two persons or things.

The superlative is used in comparing one person or thing with two or more.

Right:

Mary is the

more agreeable

of the two.

Mary is the

most agreeable

of all the family.

Wrong:

I like both Mary and Jane, but I am

fondest

of Mary.

I am studying Latin, history, and geometry, but I dislike the

latter

.

The same principle applies to adverbs.

• John runs faster than Tom. [Here the acts of two persons are compared.]
• Which of you three can run fastest? [Here the acts of more than two are compared.]

Note. In older English the superlative sometimes occurs when only two objects are thought of. This use is still found in a few proverbial phrases: as,—“Put your best foot foremost.”

200. The superlative is sometimes used merely for emphasis, without implying any definite comparison: as—“My dearest Kate!”

The superlative of emphasis is very common with most.

• Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors.—Shakspere.
• Justice had been most cruelly defrauded.—Wordsworth.

Excessive use of this construction (like frequent repetition of very) is tiresome and weakens style.

Double comparison (as more worthier, most unkindest) is common in older English, but is now a gross error.

201. When two adjectives or adverbs are contrasted by means of than, more is used with the first.

• Such indulgence is more kind than wise.
• This scheme is more clever than honest.
• He acts more boldly than discreetly.

Note. The adverb rather is often used with the first adjective or adverb (as,—“rather kind than wise” or “kind rather than wise”), but in a slightly different sense.

202. Many adjectives and adverbs are, from their meaning, incapable of comparison. Such are:—

1. Adjectives expressing a quality as absolute or complete, and adverbs derived from such adjectives.

Examples:

• unique,
• universal,
• single,
• matchless,
• instantaneous,
• triangular,
• everlasting,
• infinite,
• mortal;
• uniquely,
• singly,
• eternally,
• mortally.

2. The adverbs here, there, then, now, when, and the like.

Note. Words like perfect, exact, straight, etc., are commonly said to be incapable of comparison, but this is an error. For each of these words may vary in sense. When perfect (for example) denotes absolute perfection, it cannot be compared. But perfect has also another sense: namely, “partaking in a higher or lower degree of the qualities that make up absolute perfection,” so that we may describe one statue as more perfect than another, or one of three statues as the most perfect of them all. In this use, which is unobjectionable, we simply admit that nothing in the world is absolutely flawless, and assert that the three statues approach ideal perfection in various degrees.

203. An adjective phrase may sometimes be compared by means of more and most.

• I was never more out of humor [= more vexed].
• I think your last suggestion most in keeping [= most appropriate].

NUMERALS—ADJECTIVES, NOUNS, AND ADVERBS

204. Words indicating number are called numerals. They are adjectives, nouns, or adverbs.

• There are seven days in the week. [Adjective.]
• Twelve make a dozen. [Noun.]
• I have called twice. [Adverb.]

205. The chief classes of numerals are cardinals and ordinals.

1. Cardinal numeral adjectives (one, two, three, four, etc.) are used in counting, and answer the question “How many?”

• I had to pay three dollars.
• There were forty-two vessels in the fleet.

Note. In such expressions as “The boy was sixteen,” the numeral is a predicate adjective limiting boy (§ 172, 3). We need not expand sixteen to “sixteen years old.”

2. Ordinal numeral adjectives (first, second, third, etc.) denote the position or order of a person or thing in a series.

• Carl plays the second violin.
• Your friend is sitting in the fifth row.

206. All the cardinal and ordinal numerals may become nouns and may take a plural ending in some of their senses.

• One is enough.
• Four are missing.
• The nine played an excellent game.
• Three twos are six.
• The men formed by fours.
• Thousands perished by the way.
• Eight is two thirds of twelve. [So regularly in fractional parts.]

Note. Hundred, thousand, million were originally nouns, but are now equally common as adjectives. Other numeral nouns are:—twain, couple, pair, brace, trio, quartette, quintette, foursome, dozen, score, century.

207. Certain numeral adjectives (single, double, triple, etc.) indicate how many times a thing is taken or of how many like parts it consists.

• A double row of policemen stood on guard.
• A fourfold layer of chilled steel forms the door.

Some of these words may be used as adverbs.

• The cabman charged double.
• His fear increased tenfold.

208. Certain numeral adverbs and adverbial phrases indicate how many times an action takes place.

• Once my assailant slipped.
• I rang the bell twice.
• The river hath thrice flow’d, no ebb between.—Shakspere.

The only adverbs of this kind in ordinary use are once and twice. For larger numbers an adverbial phrase (three times, four times, etc.) is employed. Thrice, however, is still common in poetry and the solemn style.

CHAPTER VI
VERBS

CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS

209. A verb is a word which can assert something (usually an action) concerning a person, place, or thing (§ 14).

Most verbs express action. Some, however, merely express state or condition. Thus,—

• 1. We jumped for joy.
• Rabbits burrow into the sides of hills.
• 2. While memory lasts, I can never forget you.
• This mountain belongs to the Appalachian range.

A verb-phrase is a group of words that is used as a verb (§ 15).

• The leaves are turning.
• The money has been found.

210. Certain verbs, when used to make verb-phrases, are called auxiliary (that is, “aiding”) verbs, because they help other verbs to express action or state of some particular kind (§ 16).

The auxiliary verbs are is (are, was, were, etc.), may, can, must, might, shall, will, could, would, should, have, had, do, did.

• I am writing.
• We must go.
• You will fall.
• He has forgotten me.
• We had failed.
• I do see him.

The auxiliary verb may be separated from the rest of the verb-phrase by other words.

• I have always liked him.
• I shall soon send for you.
• Robert was completely bewildered.
• He has hardly ever spoken to me.

211. Verbs are either transitive or intransitive (§ 99).

Some verbs may be followed by a substantive denoting that which receives the action or is produced by it. These are called transitive verbs. All other verbs are called intransitive.

A substantive that completes the meaning of a transitive verb is called its direct object.

In the following sentences, the first four verbs are transitive (with objects), the last five are intransitive (without objects):—

• Lightning shattered the oak.
• Clouds darkened the sky.
• Chemists extract radium from pitchblende.
• The orator quoted Tennyson incorrectly.
• Look where he stands and glares!
• The bankrupt absconded.
• The orange sky of evening died away.
• The words differ in a single letter.

212. A verb which is transitive in one of its senses may be intransitive in another.

Transitive (with Object)

Intransitive (without Object)

Boys

fly

kites.

Birds

fly

.

The pirates

sank

the ship.

The stone

sank

.

I

closed

my eyes.

School

closed

yesterday.

Tom

tore

his coat.

The cloth

tore

easily.

213. Many transitive verbs may be used absolutely,—that is, merely to express action without any indication of the direct object.

Transitive Verb with Object expressed

Transitive Verb used absolutely

The horses

drank

water.

The horses

drank

from the brook.

The farmer

plows

his fields.

The farmer

plows

in the spring.

Charles is

drawing

a picture.

Charles

is drawing

.

There is a sharp contrast between a transitive verb used absolutely and a real intransitive verb. To the former we can always add an object; with the latter no object is possible.

214. Is (in its various forms) and several other verbs may be used to frame sentences in which some word or words in the predicate describe or define the subject (§ 17).

Such verbs are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.

Is in this use is often called the copula (or “link”).

• Time is money.
• Grant was a tireless worker.
• Macbeth became a tyrant.
• His swans always prove geese.
• The current is sluggish.
• Lions are carnivorous.
• This village looks prosperous.
• The consul’s brow grew stern.
• The queen turned pale.

In the first four examples, the copulative verb (the simple predicate26) is followed by a predicate nominative (§ 88, 2); in the last five by a predicate adjective (§ 172, 3).

The copulative verbs are intransitive, since they take no object. Sometimes, however, they are regarded as a third class distinct both from transitive and intransitive verbs.

215. The verb is is not always a copula. It is sometimes emphatic and has the sense of exist.

• I think. Therefore I am. [That is, I exist.]
• Whatever is, is right. [The second is is the copula.]

Most of the other copulative verbs may be used in some sense in which they cease to be copulative.

• The lawyer proved his case.
• Walnut trees grow slowly.
• Mr. Watson grows peaches.
• The wheel turned slowly on the axle.
• He turned his head and looked at me.

INFLECTION OF VERBS

216. Verbs have inflections of tense, person and number, and mood. They also have the distinction of voice, which is expressed by the help of verb-phrases.

Tense indicates time; person and number correspond with person and number in substantives; mood shows the manner in which the action is expressed; voice indicates whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

TENSE OF VERBS

217. The tense of a verb indicates its time.27

Verbs have forms of tense to indicate present, past, or future time.

1. A verb in the present tense refers to present time.

2. A verb in the past tense refers to past time.28

3. A verb in the future tense refers to future time.

The present, the past, and the future are called simple tenses.

Present Tense

Past Tense

Future Tense

He

lives

here.

He

lived

here.

He

will live

here.

The sun

shines

.

The sun

shone

.

The sun

will shine

.

I

know

him.

I

knew

him.

I

shall know

him.

FORMS OF THE PRESENT AND THE PAST

218. The present and the past tense have special forms of inflection.

For the moment we will consider the form which the verb has when its subject is the first personal pronoun I.

In the present tense the verb has its simplest form, without any inflectional ending.

• I like it.
• I hope for the best.
• I dwell in the wilderness.
• I find him amusing.

219. The past tense is formed in two ways, and a verb is classed as weak or strong in accordance with the way in which it forms this tense.

1. Weak verbs form the past tense by adding ed, d, or t to the present.

Examples:

• mend, mended;
• select, selected;
• fill, filled;
• glow, glowed;
• talk, talked;
• revere, revered;
• dwell, dwelt.

2. Strong verbs form the past tense by changing the vowel of the present, without the addition of an ending.

Examples:

• drink, drank;
• begin, began;
• come, came;
• rise, rose;
• bind, bound;
• cling, clung;
• stick, stuck;
• wear, wore.29

Weak verbs are sometimes called regular, and strong verbs irregular verbs.

For a list of the strong verbs see pp. 291–297.

Note. The terms strong and weak were first applied to verbs for a somewhat fanciful reason. The strong verbs were so called because they seemed to form the past tense out of their own resources, without calling to their assistance any ending. The weak verbs were so called because they could not form the past tense without the aid of the ending ed, d, or t.

220. The ending that is written ed is fully pronounced only when d or t precedes (as,—thread, threaded; attract, attracted). Otherwise, e is silent, so that the ending becomes, in pronunciation, d or t (as,—entered, pronounced enter’d; rocked, pronounced rockt).

In poetry and the solemn style, however, the silent e in the ending ed is sometimes restored to its ancient rights.

221. Many weak verbs show special irregularities in the past tense.

1. Make has made in the past, and have has had.

2. Some verbs in -nd and -ld form their past tense by changing this d to t.

Examples:

• bend, bent;
• send, sent;
• lend, lent;
• rend, rent;
• spend, spent;
• build, built.

3. A few verbs add d or t in the past and also change the vowel of the present. Thus,—

sell

sold

tell

told

shoe

shod

say

said (pronounced

sed

)

hear

heard (pronounced

herd

)

bring

brought

buy

bought

catch

caught

seek

sought

beseech

besought

teach

taught

methinks

methought

Work has an old past tense wrought, common in poetry; its usual past is worked. For must, would, etc., see p. 299.

4. Some verbs that have a long vowel sound in the present have in the past a short vowel sound before the ending t.

Examples:

• creep, crept;
• keep, kept;
• sleep, slept;
• sweep, swept;
• weep, wept;
• feel, felt;
• deal, dealt (pronounced delt);
• mean, meant (pronounced ment);
• lose, lost;
• leave, left.30

5. Some verbs in d or t preceded by a long vowel sound have a short vowel in the past but add no ending.

Examples:

• bleed, bled;
• breed, bred;
• feed, fed;
• speed, sped;
• lead, led;
• read (pronounced reed), read (pronounced red);
• meet, met;
• light, lit (also lighted).

6. Some verbs in d or t have in the past the same form as in the present.

Examples:

• shed, past shed;
• spread, past spread;
• bet, past bet;
• hit, past hit;
• set, past set;
• put, past put;
• shut, past shut;
• cut, past cut;
• hurt, past hurt;
• cast, past cast.

Note. The verbs in 5 and 6 might appear to be strong verbs, since they have no ending in the past and some of them change the vowel. They are, however, all weak verbs. Their lack of ending is due to the fact that the d or t of the termination has been absorbed in the final d or t of the verb itself. Thus, the past set was originally settë (dissyllabic), and this form, after the loss of -ë, became indistinguishable in sound from set, the present.

For lists of irregular weak verbs, see pp. 291–299.

PERSON AND NUMBER—THE PERSONAL ENDINGS

222. A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

Verbs, like substantives, have two numbers (singular and plural) and three persons (first, second, and third).

The singular number denotes a single person or thing. The plural number denotes more than one person or thing.

The first person denotes the speaker; the second person denotes the person spoken to; the third person denotes the person or thing spoken of.

223. The inflections of person and number in verbs may be seen by framing sentences with the personal pronouns as subjects. Thus,—

Present Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I walk.

1. We walk.

2. Thou walk-

est

.

2. You walk.

3. He walk-

s

[old form, walk-

eth

].

3. They walk.

Past Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I walked.

1. We walked.

2. Thou walked-

st

.

2. You walked.

3. He walked.

3. They walked.

From the sentences it is evident (1) that the person and number of a verb are usually shown by its subject only, but (2) that some verb-forms have special endings which denote person and number.

224. The endings by means of which a verb indicates person and number are called personal endings.

1. In the present tense a verb has two personal endings, est for the second person singular and s for the third person singular (old form eth).

The first person singular and all three persons of the plural are alike. The simplest form of the verb is used and no personal ending is added.

2. The past tense has but one personal ending,—est or st in the second person singular.31

The forms in est or st are confined to poetry and the solemn style. In ordinary language, the second person plural is used to address a single person.

The following table shows the personal endings of the present and the past tense:—

Personal Endings

Present Tense

Past Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. [

no ending

]

1. [

no ending

]

1. [

no ending

]

1. [

no ending

]

2. -est, -st

2. [

no ending

]

2. -est, -st

2. [

no ending

]

3. -s [

old

, -eth]

3. [

no ending

]

3. [

no ending

]

3. [

no ending

]

Conjugation of the Present and the Past

225. The inflection of a verb is called its conjugation (§ 53). When we inflect a verb we are said to conjugate it.

Conjugation of the Weak Verb

Walk

Present Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I walk.

1. We walk.

2. Thou walkest.

32

2. You walk.

3. He walks.

3. They walk.

Past Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I walked.

1. We walked.

2. Thou walkedst.

2. You walked.

3. He walked.

3. They walked.

Conjugation of the Strong Verb

Find

Present Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I find.

1. We find.

2. Thou findest.

2. You find.

3. He finds.

3. They find.

Past Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I found.

1. We found.

2. Thou foundest.

2. You found.

3. He found.

3. They found.

Conjugation of the Copula

Present Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I am.

1. We are.

2. Thou art.

2. You are.

3. He is.

3. They are.

Past Tense

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I was.

1. We were.

2. Thou wast.

2. You were.

3. He was.

3. They were.

Note. The English verb formerly had more personal endings. In Chaucer, for instance, the typical inflection of the present is:—

Singular

Plural

1. I walkë.

1. We walken (

or

walkë).

2. Thou walkest.

2. Ye walken (

or

walkë).

3. He walketh.

3. They walken (

or

walkë).

The disappearance of all weak final e’s in the fifteenth century (§ 191) reduced the first person singular and the whole plural to the single form walk. Later, walks (a dialect form) was substituted for walketh, and still later the second person singular was replaced in ordinary use by the plural. The result has been that in modern speech there are only two common forms in the present tense,—walk and walks. In poetry and the solemn style, however, walkest and walketh are still in use. The plural in en is frequently adopted by Spenser as an ancient form (or archaism): as,—“You deemen the spring is come.”

Special Rules of Number and Person

226. When the subject is compound (§ 38), the number of the verb is determined by the following rules:—

1. A compound subject with and usually takes a verb in the plural number.

• My brother and sister play tennis.
• The governor and the mayor are cousins.

2. A compound subject with or or nor takes a verb in the singular number if the substantives are singular.

• Either my brother or my sister is sure to win.
• Neither the governor nor the mayor favors this appointment.

3. A compound subject with and expressing but a single idea sometimes takes a verb in the singular number.

The sum and substance [= gist] of the matter is this.

Note. This construction is rare in modern English prose. It is for the most part confined to such idiomatic phrases as end and aim (= purpose), the long and short of it, etc. The poets, however, use the construction freely (as in Kipling’s “The tumult and the shouting dies”).

4. If the substantives connected by or or nor differ in number or person, the verb usually agrees with the nearer.

• Either you or he is to blame.
• Neither you nor he is an Austrian.
• Neither John nor we were at home.
• Neither the mayor nor the aldermen favor this law.

But colloquial usage varies, and such expressions are avoided by careful writers. The following sentences show how this may be done:—

• Either you are to blame, or he is.
• One of you two is to blame.
• Neither of you is an Austrian.
• He is not afraid; neither am I.
• Both John and we were away from home.

227. In such expressions as the following, the subject is not compound, and the verb agrees with its singular subject:—

• The governor with his staff is present.
• John, as well as Mary, is in London.
• Tom, along with his friends Dick and Bob, is taking a sail.

228. Nouns that are plural in form but singular in sense commonly take a verb in the singular number (§ 84).

• Economics is an important study.
• The gallows has been abolished in Massachusetts.

In some words usage varies. Thus, pains, in the sense of care or effort, is sometimes regarded as a singular and sometimes as a plural.

Great pains has (or have) been taken about the matter.

229. Collective nouns take sometimes a singular and sometimes a plural verb.

When the persons or things denoted are thought of as individuals, the plural should be used. When the collection is regarded as a unit, the singular should be used.33

• 1. The Senior Class requests the pleasure of your company. [Here the class is thought of collectively, acting as a unit.]
• 2. The Senior Class are unable to agree upon a president. [Here the speaker has in mind the individuals of whom the class is composed.]
• 3. The nation welcomes Prince Joseph. [The whole nation unites as a single individual to welcome a distinguished guest.]
• 4. The American nation are descended from every other nation on earth. [The separate qualities of the individuals who constitute the nation are in the speaker’s mind.]

230. A number in the sense of “several” or “many” regularly takes the plural; the number takes the singular.

• A number of sailors were loitering on the pier.
• The number of tickets is limited.

231. Half, part, portion, and the like, take either the singular or the plural according to sense.

• Half of a circle is a semicircle.
• Half of the passengers were lost.

232. A verb which has for its subject a relative pronoun is in the same person and number as the antecedent. For examples, see § 149.

Errors are especially common in such sentences as,—

• This is one of the strangest sights that ever were seen. [The antecedent of that is sights (not one); hence the relative (that) is plural, and accordingly the verb is plural (were, not was).]
• Mr. Winn’s oration was among the most eloquent that have [NOT has] been delivered in this state for many years.
• This is one of the finest paintings there are in the hall. [For the omission of the relative, see § 151.]

THE FUTURE TENSE

233. The future tense is a verb-phrase consisting of the auxiliary verb shall or will followed by the infinitive without to (§ 29).

The following table shows the form of the future for each of the three persons (1) in assertions and (2) in questions:—

Future Tense

Assertions (Declarative)

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. I shall fall.

1. We shall fall.

2. Thou wilt fall.

2. You will fall.

3. He will fall.

3. They will fall.

Questions (Interrogative)

SINGULAR

PLURAL

1. Shall I fall?

1. Shall we fall?

2. Shalt thou fall?

2. Shall you fall?

3. Will he fall?

3. Will they fall?

234. Common errors are the use of will for shall (1) in the first person in assertions and questions, and (2) in the second person in questions.

In the following sentences the first person of the future tense is correctly formed:—

I shall [

NOT will

] drown.

Shall [

NOT will

] I drown?

I shall [

NOT will

] fail.

Shall [

NOT will

] I fail?

We shall [

NOT will

] sink.

Shall [

NOT will

] we sink?

The verb-phrases with shall express merely the action of the verb in future time. They do not indicate any willingness or desire on the part of the subject.

Contrast the following sentences, in which I will or we will is used:—

• I will go with you.
• I will give you what you ask.
• I will not endure it.
• We will allow you to enter.
• We will have the truth.

Here the verb-phrases with will do not (as in the previous examples of I shall) express the action of the verb in future time. They express the present willingness or desire or determination of the speaker to do something in the future.

Hence such verb-phrases with will in the first person are not forms of the future tense. They are special verb-phrases expressing willingness or desire.

235. In the first person shall, not will, is the auxiliary of the future tense in both assertions and questions. It denotes simple futurity, without expressing willingness, desire, or determination.

Will in the first person is used in promising, threatening, consenting, and expressing resolution. It never denotes simple futurity.

I. Simple Futurity (Future Tense)

• I shall be eighteen years old in July. [Not: will be.]
• Hurry, or we shall miss our train. [Not: will miss.]
• We shall be glad to see him. [Not: will be.]

II. Promises, Threats, etc.

• I will subscribe to your fund. [Promise.]
• We will do our best. [Promise.]
• I will discharge you if you are late again. [Threat.]
• We will permit you to go. [Consent.]
• I will have obedience. [Resolution.]

I’ll and we’ll are contractions of I will and we will and can never stand for I shall and we shall.

• I’ll meet you at noon. [Promise.]
• I’ll never consent. [Resolution.]
• We’ll be revenged on you. [Threat.]

236. When willingness is expressed by an adjective, I shall is correct; when by an adverb, I will. Thus,—

• I shall be glad to help you.
• I will gladly help you.

Note. Such expressions as I shall be glad, I shall be willing, I shall be charmed to do this, express willingness not by means of shall but in the adjectives glad, willing, charmed. To say, “I will be glad to do this,” then, would be wrong, for it would be to express volition twice. Such a sentence could only mean “I am determined to be glad to do this.”

On the other hand, in “I will gladly help you,” volition is expressed by the verb-phrase will help and the adverb merely modifies the phrase by emphasizing the speaker’s willingness. Hence I will is correct.

237. Will, when emphasized, always expresses determination on the part of the subject, even in the second and third persons.

• I WILL go, no matter what you say.
• {You WILL | He WILL} act foolishly, in spite of my advice.

238. In the second person Shall you? not Will you? is the proper form of the future tense in questions.

Will you? always denotes willingness, consent, or determination, and never simple futurity.

Note that in questions in the second person, the auxiliary used is the same as that expected in the answer.

I. Future Tense (Simple Futurity)

• Shall you be disappointed if he does not come? [I shall.]
• Shall you regret his absence? [I shall.]
• Shall you go by boat or by train? [I shall go by boat.]

II. Verb-Phrase denoting Willingness, etc.

• Will you write often? [I will.]
• Will you allow me to help you? [I will.]
• Will you be so kind as to open the window? [I will.]

239. Shall in the second and third persons is not the sign of the future tense in declarative sentences.

It is used in commanding, promising, threatening, and expressing resolution, the volition being that of the speaker.

• Thou shalt not kill. [Command.]
• You shall have the hat before Monday. [Promise.]
• You shall pay for this insult! [Threat.]
• She shall not regret her generosity. [Resolution.]

In prophetic language, shall is common in the second and third persons, even when there is no idea of commanding or the like.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.—Joel ii. 31.

240. In military orders and official communications, custom permits the more courteous will in the place of shall in the second and third persons.

• You will immediately report for orders.
• Heads of Departments will submit their estimates before January first.

For shall and will in subordinate clauses, see pp. 130–132.

241. Future time may also be expressed by the present tense, or by about or going with the infinitive (§ 319).

• We sail for Havana on Tuesday.
• They are about to begin the study of Greek.

COMPLETE OR COMPOUND TENSES

242. Completed action is denoted by special verb-phrases made by prefixing to the past participle some form of the auxiliary verb have.

These are called the complete or compound tenses.

There are three complete or compound tenses,—the perfect (or present perfect), the pluperfect (or past perfect), and the future perfect.

1. The perfect (or present perfect) tense denotes that the action of the verb is complete at the time of speaking. It is formed by prefixing have (hast, has) to the past participle.

• I have learned my lesson.
• He has convinced me.

Note. With several verbs of motion the auxiliary be is sometimes used instead of have: as,—“My friends are gone” (or “have gone”); “Your time is come” (or “has come”).

2. The pluperfect (or past perfect) tense denotes that the action was completed at some point in past time. It is formed by prefixing had (hadst) to the past participle.

• Before night fell, I had finished the book.
• When Blake had spoken, Allen rose to reply.

3. The future perfect tense denotes that the action will be completed at some point in future time. It is formed by prefixing the future tense of have (shall have, etc.) to the past participle.

Before I hear from you again, I shall have landed at Naples.

The future perfect tense is rare except in very formal writing.

243. The forms of the past participle will be studied in § 334. Meanwhile, the following practical rule will serve every purpose:—

The past participle is that verb-form which is used after I have.

Examples:

• [I have] mended,
• tried,
• swept,
• bought,
• broken,
• forgotten,
• found,
• sunk,
• dug.

244. A verb-phrase made by prefixing having to the past participle is called the perfect participle.

Having reached my destination, I stopped.

A verb-phrase made by prefixing to have to the past participle is called the perfect infinitive.

I am sorry to have missed you.

245. Three forms of the verb are so important that they are called the principal parts. These are:—

• (1) the first person singular of the present;
• (2) the first person singular of the past;
• (3) the past participle.

Present

Past

Past Participle

(I) walk

(I) walked

walked

(I) think

(I) thought

thought

(I) see

(I) saw

seen

(I) come

(I) came

come

(I) make

(I) made

made

VOICE—ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

246. Voice is that property of verbs which indicates whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

There are two voices, active and passive.

1. A verb is in the active voice when it represents the subject as the doer of an act.

• Richard shot the bear.
• Mr. Hardy builds carriages.
• Dr. Wilson has cured my father.

2. A verb is in the passive voice when it represents the subject as the receiver or the product of an action.

• The bear was shot by Richard.
• Carriages are built by Mr. Hardy.
• My father has been cured by Dr. Wilson.

247. The passive voice of a verb is expressed by a verb-phrase made by prefixing some form of the copula (is, was, etc.) to the past participle.

In the passive voice of the complete tenses, the past participle been follows the proper form of the auxiliary have (as in the third example in § 246, 2).

The passive of the infinitive is made by prefixing to be (perfect, to have been) to the past participle. Thus,—

• Present infinitive passive: to be struck.
• Perfect infinitive passive: to have been struck.

248. The following table gives the conjugation of the verb strike in the active and passive of the six tenses:—

Active Voice

Passive Voice

Present Tense

SINGULAR

1. I strike.

1. I am struck.

2. Thou strikest.

2. Thou art struck.

3. He strikes.

3. He is struck.

PLURAL

1. We strike.

1. We are struck.

2. You strike.

2. You are struck.

3. They strike.

3. They are struck.

Past Tense

SINGULAR

1. I struck.

1. I was struck.

2. Thou struckest.

2. Thou wast (

or

wert) struck.

3. He struck.

3. He was struck.

PLURAL

1. We struck.

1. We were struck.

2. You struck.

2. You were struck.

3. They struck.

3. They were struck.

Future Tense

SINGULAR

1. I shall strike.

1. I shall be struck.

2. Thou wilt strike.

2. Thou wilt be struck.

3. He will strike.

3. He will be struck.

PLURAL

1. We shall strike.

1. We shall be struck.

2. You will strike.

2. You will be struck.

3. They will strike.

3. They will be struck.

Perfect (or Present Perfect) Tense

SINGULAR

1. I have struck.

1. I have been struck.

2. Thou hast struck.

2. Thou hast been struck.

3. He has struck.

3. He has been struck.

PLURAL

1. We have struck.

1. We have been struck.

2. You have struck.

2. You have been struck.

3. They have struck.

3. They have been struck.

Pluperfect (or Past Perfect) Tense

SINGULAR

1. I had struck.

1. I had been struck.

2. Thou hadst struck.

2. Thou hadst been struck.

3. He had struck.

3. He had been struck.

PLURAL

1. We had struck.

1. We had been struck.

2. You had struck.

2. You had been struck.

3. They had struck.

3. They had been struck.

Future Perfect Tense

SINGULAR

1. I shall have struck.

1. I shall have been struck.

2. Thou wilt have struck.

2. Thou wilt have been struck.

3. He will have struck.

3. He will have been struck.

PLURAL

1. We shall have struck.

1. We shall have been struck.

2. You will have struck.

2. You will have been struck.

3. They will have struck.

3. They will have been struck.

Use of the Passive Voice

249. Any sentence of which the predicate is a transitive verb followed by an object, may be changed from the active to the passive form without affecting the sense.

• Active. Richard shot the bear.
• Passive. The bear was shot by Richard.

In this change, (1) bear, the object of the active verb shot, becomes the subject of the passive verb was shot; and (2) Richard, the subject of the active verb shot, becomes by Richard, an adverbial phrase, modifying the passive verb was shot. Thus we have the rule:—

The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive, and the subject of the active verb becomes in the passive an adverbial phrase modifying the predicate verb.

Active Voice

Passive Voice

My cat caught a bird.

A bird was caught by my cat.

Austin thanked Charles.

Charles was thanked by Austin.

The bullet penetrated a tree.

A tree was penetrated by the bullet.

Sargent painted that portrait.

That portrait was painted by Sargent.

The fireman had saved the child.

The child had been saved by the fireman.

250. Intransitive verbs are ordinarily used in the active voice only.

• The bystanders laughed.
• The watchdogs bark.
• Snow is falling.

251. An intransitive verb followed by a preposition is often used in the passive, the object of the preposition becoming the subject of the verb.

Active Voice

Passive Voice

Everybody

laughed

at him.

He

was laughed at

by everybody.

The attorney general

has

not yet

passed upon

this bill.

This bill

has

not yet

been passed upon

.

He

has tampered with

this lock.

This lock

has been tampered with

.

The cart

ran over

me.

I

was run over

by the cart.