The Grammar of English Grammars Part 169

"My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows centre in you."--B. GREENLEAF: _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 268.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma here separates the second pair of nominatives from the verb. But, according to Rule 5th, "When successive words are joined in pairs by conjunctions, they should be separated in pairs by the comma." Therefore, an other comma should be inserted after _sorrows_; thus, "My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, centre in you."]

"This mood implies possibility, or liberty, will, or obligation."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 113. "Substance is divided into Body, and Spirit into Extended and Thinking."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 253.

"These consonants, [_d_ and _t_,] like _p_, and _b, f_, and _v, k_, and hard _g_, and _s_, and _z_, are letters of the same organ."--_Walkers Dict._, p. 41: _Principles_, No. 358. "Neither fig nor twist pigtail nor cavendish have pa.s.sed my lips since, nor ever shall they again."--_Boston Cultivator_, Vol. vii, p. 36. "The words WHOEVER, or WHOSOEVER, WHICHEVER, or WHICHSOEVER, and WHATEVER, or WHATSOEVER are called COMPOUND RELATIVE p.r.o.nOUNS."--_Day's Gram._, p. 23. "Adjectives signifying profit or disprofit, likeness or unlikeness govern the dative."--_Bullions, Lat.

Gram._, 12th Ed., 215.

UNDER RULE VI.--OF WORDS ABSOLUTE.

"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 135.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after _staff_, which, with the noun _rod_, is put absolute by pleonasm. But, according to Rule 6th, "Nouns or p.r.o.nouns put absolute, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be here inserted; thus, "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."--_Psalm_ xxiii, 4.]

"Depart ye wicked."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 70. "He saith to his mother, Woman behold thy son."--_Gurney's Portable Evidences_, p. 44. "Thou G.o.d seest me."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 9; _Practical Lessons_, p. 13. "Thou, G.o.d seest me."--_Id., E. Gram._, Revised Ed., p. 195. "John write me a letter. Henry go home."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 356. "John; write a letter. Henry; go home."--_Ib._, p. 317. "Now, G. Brown; let us reason together."--_Ib._, p. 326. "Smith: You say on page 11, the objective case denotes the object."--_Ib._, p. 344. "Gentlemen: will you always speak as you mean?"--_Ib._, p. 352. "John: I sold my books to William for his brothers."--_Ib._, p. 47. "Walter and Seth: I will take my things, and leave yours."--_Ib._, p. 69. "Henry: Julia and Jane left their umbrella, and took yours."--_Ib._, p. 73. "John; harness the horses and go to the mine for some coal. William; run to the store for a few pounds of tea."--_Ib._, p. 160. "The king being dead the parliament was dissolved."--_Chandler's Gram._, p. 119.

"Cease fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 173.

"Forbear great man, in arms renown'd, forbear."--_Ib._, p. 174.

"Eternal suns.h.i.+ne of the spotless mind, Each prayer accepted and each wish resign'd."--_Hiley's Gr._, p. 123.

UNDER RULE VII.--WORDS IN APPOSITION.

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice," &c.--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 200.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after the p.r.o.noun _We_, with which the word _people_, which has adjuncts, is in apposition. But, according to Rule 7th, "Words in apposition, (especially if they have adjuncts,) are generally set off by the comma." Therefore, an other comma should be here inserted; thus, "We, the people of the United States," &c.]

"The Lord, the covenant G.o.d of his people requires it."--_Anti-Slavery Magazine_, Vol. i, p. 73. "He as a patriot deserves praise."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 124. "Thomson the watchmaker and jeweller from London, was of the party."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 128. "Every body knows that the person here spoken of by the name of _the conqueror_, is William duke of Normandy."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 33. "The words _myself, thyself, himself, herself_, and their plurals _ourselves, yourselves_, and _themselves_ are called Compound Personal p.r.o.nouns."--_Day's Gram._, p. 22.

"For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey, This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd, Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?"--_U. Poems_, p. 68.

UNDER EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING APPOSITION.

"Smith and Williams' store; Nicholas, the emperor's army."--_Day's Gram._, p. 17. "He was named William, the conqueror."--_Ib._, p. 80. "John, the Baptist, was beheaded."--_Ib._, p. 87. "Alexander, the coppersmith, did me great harm."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 126. "A nominative in immediate apposition; as, 'The boy, _Henry_, speaks.'"--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 29.

"A noun objective can be in apposition with some other; as, 'I teach the boy, _Henry_.'"--_Ib._, p. 30.

UNDER RULE VIII.--OF ADJECTIVES.

"But he found me, not singing at my work ruddy with health vivid with cheerfulness; but pale and dejected, sitting on the ground, and chewing opium."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrases, "_ruddy with health_," and "_vivid with cheerfulness_," which begin with adjectives, are not here _commaed_. But, according to Rule 8th, "Adjectives, when something depends on them, or when they have the import of a dependent clause, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma." Therefore, two other commas should be here inserted; thus, "But he found me, not singing at my work, ruddy with health, vivid with cheerfulness; but pale," &c.--_Dr. Johnson_.]

"I looked up, and beheld an inclosure beautiful as the gardens of paradise, but of a small extent."--See _Key._ "_A_ is an article, indefinite and belongs to '_book_.'"--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 10. "The first expresses the rapid movement of a troop of horse over the plain eager for the combat."--_Id., Lat. Gram._, p. 296. "He [, the Indian chieftain, King Philip,] was a patriot, attached to his native soil; a prince true to his subjects and indignant of their wrongs; a soldier daring in battle firm in adversity patient of fatigue, of hunger, of every variety of bodily suffering and ready to perish in the cause he had espoused."--See _Key_.

"For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd dead Dost in these lines their artless tale relate."

--_Union Poems_, p. 68.

"Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest: Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."

--_Day's Gram._, p. 117.

"Idle after dinner in his chair Sat a farmer ruddy, fat, and fair."

--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 125.

UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING ADJECTIVES.

"When an attribute becomes a t.i.tle, or is emphatically applied to a name, it follows it; as Charles, the Great; Henry, the First; Lewis, the Gross."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 153; _Improved Gram._, p. 107. "Feed me with food, convenient for me."--_Cooper's Practical Gram._, p. 118. "The words and phrases, necessary to exemplify every principle progressively laid down, will be found strictly and exclusively adapted to the ill.u.s.tration of the principles to which they are referred."--_Ingersoll's Gram., Pref._, p. x. "The _Infinitive Mode_ is that form of the verb which expresses action or being, unlimited by person, or number."--_Day's Gram._, p. 35. "A man, diligent in his business, prospers."--_Frost's Practical Gram._, p. 113.

"O wretched state! oh bosom, black as death!"

--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 118.

"O, wretched state! O, bosom, black as death!"

--_Singer's Shak._, Vol. ii, p. 494.

UNDER RULE IX.--OF FINITE VERBS.

"The Singular denotes _one_; the Plural _more_ than one."--_Bullions, E.

Gram._, p. 12; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 16; _Lennie's Gram._, p. 7.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after _Plural_, where the verb _denotes_ is understood. But, according to Rule 9th, "Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required." Therefore, a comma should be inserted at the place mentioned; thus, "The Singular denotes _one_; the Plural, _more_ than one."]

"The _comma_ represents the shortest pause; the _semicolon_ a pause longer than the comma; the _colon_ longer than the semicolon; and the _period_ longer than the colon."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 111. "The comma represents the shortest pause; the semicolon a pause double that of the comma; the colon, double that of the semicolon; and the period, double that of the colon."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 151; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 127. "Who is applied only to persons; which to animals and things; what to things only; and that to persons, animals, and things."--_Day's Gram._, p. 23. "_A_ or _an_ is used before the singular number only; _the_ before either singular or plural."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 10. "Homer was the greater genius; Virgil the better artist."--_Day's Gram._, p. 96. "Homer was the greater genius, Virgil the better artist."--POPE'S PREFACE: _British Poets_, Vol. vi, p. viii. "Words are formed of syllables; syllables of letters."--_St. Quentin's General Gram._, p. 2. "The Conjugation of an active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE; and that of a pa.s.sive verb the Pa.s.sIVE VOICE."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 19. "The CONJUGATION of an active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE, and that of a pa.s.sive verb the Pa.s.sIVE VOICE."--_Smith's New. Gram._, p. 171. "The possessive is sometimes called the genitive case; and the objective the accusative."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 12mo, p. 44. "Benevolence is allied to few vices; selfishness to fewer virtues."--_Kames, Art of Thinking_, p. 40. "Orthography treats of Letters, Etymology of Words, Syntax of Sentences, and Prosody of Versification."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 21.

"Earth praises conquerors for shedding blood; Heaven those that love their foes, and do them good."--See _Key_.

UNDER RULE X.--OF INFINITIVES.

"His business is to observe the agreement or disagreement of words."--_Bullions, E. Grammar_, Revised Edition, p. 189.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma here divides _to observe_ from the preceding verb. But, according to Rule 10th, "The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be inserted after _is_; thus, "His business is, to observe the agreement or disagreement of words."]

"It is a mark of distinction to be made a member of this society."-- _Farnum's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 25; 2d Ed., p. 23. "To distinguish the conjugations let the pupil observe the following rules."--_Day's D. S.

Gram._, p. 40. "He was now sent for to preach before the Parliament."-- _Life of Dr. J. Owen_, p. 18. "It is inc.u.mbent on the young to love and honour their parents."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 83. "It is the business of every man to prepare for death."--_Id., ib._, 83. "It argued the sincerest candor to make such an acknowledgement."--_Id., ib._, p. 115. "The proper way is to complete the construction of the first member, and leave that of the second understood."--_Ib., ib._, p. 125. "ENEMY is a name. It is a term of distinction given to a certain person to show the character in which he is represented."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 23. "The object of this is to preserve the soft sound of _c_ and _g_."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 29. "The design of grammar is to facilitate the _reading, writing_, and _speaking_ of a language."--_Barrett's Gram._, 10th Ed., Pref., p. iii. "Four kinds of type are used in the following pages to indicate the portions that are considered more or less elementary."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 3.

UNDER RULE XI.--OF PARTICIPLES.

"The chancellor being attached to the king secured his crown."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 114.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase, "being attached to the king," is not _commaed_. But, according to Rule 11th, "Participles, when something depends on them, when they have the import of a dependent clause, or when they relate to something understood, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma." Therefore, two commas should be here inserted; thus, "The chancellor, being attached to the king, secured his crown."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 66.]

"The officer having received his orders, proceeded to execute them."-- _Day's Gram._, p. 108. "Thus used it is in the present tense."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, Revised Ed., p. 33. "The _Imperfect_ tense has three distinct forms corresponding to those of the present tense."--_Id., ib._, p. 40.

"Every possessive case is governed by some noun denoting the thing possessed."--_Id., ib._, p. 87. "The word _that_ used as a conjunction is preceded by a comma."--_Id., ib._, p. 154. "His narrative being composed upon such good authority, deserves credit."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p. 97. "The hen being in her nest, was killed and eaten there by the eagle."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo. p. 252. "p.r.o.nouns being used instead of nouns are subject to the same modifications."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 92. "When placed at the beginning of words they are consonants."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 14. "Man starting from his couch, shall sleep no more."--_Ib._, p. 222.