The English language, in its elements and forms

Note I.-BID, in the sense of command, usually is followed by an object, and the infinitive without the preposition to; as, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the In the sense of promise, it is followed by an infinitive with the preposition; as, "He bids fair to make an able statesmen."

water."

Note II. DARE, used Intransitively, is followed by an infinitive without the preposi tion; as, "I dare do all that may become a man.' Dare, Transitive, is followed by the preposition to; as, "I dare you to do it."

Note III.-FEEL, used Intransitively, is followed by an object and the infinitive without the preposition; as, "I feel it move." When used Intransitively, the infinitive has the preposition; as, "I felt afraid to speak."

Note IV.-NEED, when Transitive, is regular in its inflections; but when Intransitive, it drops the personal terminations in the present tense, is formed like the auxiliaries, and followed by the verb without the prefix to; as, "I need not go any further;" "She need dig no more."-Spectator, No. 121. "He need not urge this honourable court." To this there are exceptions: as,

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,

That to be hated needs but to be seen."-POPE.

In the use of this verb there is another irregularity which is peculiar, the verb being without a nominative expressed or implied: "Whereof here needs no account."-MILTON'S Paradise Lost, iv. 235. "There is no evidence of the fact, and there needs none."

Note V.-MAKE, in the language of Scripture, is followed by to; as, "He maketh his sun to rise." Sometimes the verb be is introduced after the verb make, while the preposition to is suppressed; as, "He is careful to make every word be heard."

Note VI.-HAVE, signifying possession or obligation, is generally followed by to; as, "I had to do this." When it implies volition, to is generally omitted; as, "Would you have us reject such an offer?" And yet we find, "Him would Paul have to go forth with him." See Section cccxxxv. The Infinitive present standing after have, in some cases expresses a duty, or task, or necessity; as, "I have to work for my bread."

When an Infinitive clause follows a transitive verb, the pronoun it is often placed immediately after the verb, and the infinitive placed in apposition to it; as, "I found it to no purpose to lay much stress on those texts that are usually alleged on the occasion." The Infinitive Mood is used to express necessity or obligation; as, "That event is never to be forgotten;" "That loss is greatly to be deplored."

This in

The construction of English. Infinitives is twofold: 1. OBJECTIVE; 2. GERUNDIAL. When one verb is followed by another without the preposition to, the construction must be considered to have grown out of the objective case; or from the form in -an. the present English is the rarer of the two constructions. See Section cccxxxv. When a verb is followed by another, preceded by the preposition to, the construction must be considered to have grown out of the so-called Gerund, that is, the form in -nne, i. e., the Dative case: I begin to move. This is the construction with the great majority of English verbs.-LATHAM.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXI.

RULE XXXI., Note I.-a. After the fatigues of the day, night bids us rest.

b. He bids fair to be an eminent scholar. C. S.

C. S.

Note IV.-a. They need but to see the work in order to be satisfied. C. S.

b. He need not beg, for he is able to work. C. S.

Note V. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. C. S.

Note VI. -a. He has to study half of the night to get his lesson. C. S.

b. They would have us refuse the invitation which has been so courteously given. C. S.

SECTION DXVI. THE INFINITIVE MODE.

RULE XXXII.-As the Infinitive Mode is the Noun of the verb, • nomen verbi, it generally perforins, in construction, the offices of a

noun.

a. It is used as the Subject or nominative of a verb; as, " To sleep is refreshing."

b. It is put in the Objective case after a Transitive verb or a preposition; as, " He loves to fight" "What went ye out for to see?" c. It can have an Adjective qualifying it; as, "To err is human." d. It can be substituted for a Noun; as, "To forgive is divine = forgiveness is divine."

When we say that a verb in the Infinitive Mode may perform the functions of a noun, we only say that the name of any action may be used without any mention of an agent. Thus we speak of the simple fact of walking or moving, independently of any specification of the walker or the mover. When actions are thus spoken of independently, the idea of Person and Number has no place in the conception; from which it follows that the so-called infinitive mode must be at once impersonal and without the distinction of number.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXII.

Rule XXXII.-a. In this life, to suffer is the destiny of man.

C. S.

a. To reveal its complacence by gifts is one of the native dialects of love. C. S. 6. That pupil evidently desires to learn. C. S.

b. Not for to hide it in a hedge,

Or for a train attendant.-BURNS. C. S.

c. To see is delightful. C. S.

c. To be blind is calamitous. C. S.

d. To think is an attribute of man = thought is an attribute of man. d. To weep and to mourn may be your destiny destiny. C. S.

C. S.

weeping and mourning may be your

SECTION DXVII.-THE IMPERATIVE MODE.

RULE XXXIII.-Forms in the Imperative Mode have in English three peculiarities:

"Let

1. They have a simple form for the second person; as, "Love thou;" the third being expressed by a circumlocution; as, him love." 2. They take pronouns after instead of before them; as, in the example given, "Love thou." 3. They often omit the pronoun altogether; as, "Love."

Passion goes at once to its object, assuming it as the consequence of an indirect assertion. Thus, if the fact be that I desire that a person should go to any place, it is not necessary for me to state my desire in the indicative mode, and his going in the infinitive, or subjunctive, or potential: "I desire you to go;" or, "I desire that you go;" or, "I desire that you should go;" but, by the natural impulse of my feelings, I say, "Go!" Now this mode, from its frequent use in giving commands to inferiors, has been called the Imperative. Under this general term may be included, not only a command; as, "Let there be light," but also a wish expressed; as, "Let confusion live;" and a prayer offered; as, " Help me, Lysander, help me;" and a permission given; as, Go, but be moderate in your food." In all of them the assertion of desire on the part of the speaker is clearly implied. The sense is, "I command that there be

light;" "I wish that confusion may prevail;" "I pray you to help me;" "I permit you to go."

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIII. (THE IMPERATIVE MODE.)

RULE XXXIII.— -a. Attend, thou son of earth, to my instructions. C. S.

b. But, in order to understand this subject, let us turn the tables on the objector. C. S. c. Read, but do not devour books. Compare your information; digest it. In short, according to the proverb, "Make haste slowly.' C. S.

d. Live with your century, but be not its creature; estow upon your contemporaries not what they praise, but what they need. C. S.

e. Let them laugh who win. C. S.

f. Rouse not, I beseech you, a peace-loving, but a resolute people; alienate not from your body the affections of a whole empire. C. S.

SECTION DXVIII.-THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.

RULE XXXIV.-In conditional expressions, which imply both doubt and futurity, the Subjunctive Mode generally follows the conjunction which expresses the condition; as, "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him;" Though he were dead, yet shall he live again."

Note I. The sign of the condition is sometimes omitted; as, "Were he to read hard for the next six months, he would probably be admitted to the bar."

It must be remembered, however, that conjunctions like those quoted above do not govern the Subjunctive Mode because they are conditional, but because, in the particular condition which they accompany, there is an element of uncertainty. See Section

CCCXXXIV.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIV. (THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.) RULE XXXIV..-a. With whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. C. S. b. Except I be by Silvia in the night, there is no music in the nightingale. C. S.

Revenge back on itself recoils;

Let it; I reck not, so it light well aimed. C. S.

d. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not. C. S.

e. If this be law (which it is for you this day to decide), such a man has no trial. C. S.

Note I.-a. Were he to confess his fault, he would be forgiven. C. S.

b. Were he ten times the villain that he is, he would still find supporters. C. S.

c. Were death denied, poor man would live in vain ;

Were death denied, to him would not be life;

Were death denied, even fools would wish to die.-YOUNG.

SECTION DXIX.-SYNTAX OF TENSES.

RULE XXXV.—To express the different relations of Time, the appropriate tenses of the verb should be carefully employed. See Section CCCXXV.

"He

1. The Past improperly used for the Present Tense: "A stranger would not easily discover that this was (is) verse;" poem announced to the world that air was (is) elastic."

to the

2. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Past: "The Lord hath given (gave) and the Lord hath taken away;" "I have seen (saw) the coronation at Westininster last summer.'

3. The Present improperly used for the Present Perfect: "They continue (have continued) with me three days."

4. The Past improperly used for the Past Perfect: "They arrived (had arrived) before we reached the city."

44 [ENG. LANG. 26.]

5. The Future improperly used for the Future Perfect: "The workmen will finish (will have finished) the business at Midsummer." 6. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Present: "All the present family have been (are) much indebted to their great and honourable ancestor."

7. The Past improperly used for the Present Perfect: "This curious piece of workmanship was preserved and shown (has been preserved and shown) to strangers for more than fifty years.' 8. The auxiliary should is improperly used for would; as, "On the morrow, because he should have known (would know) the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews."

9. The Indicative Present is correctly used after the words when, till, before, as soon as, after, to express the relative time of a Future action; as, "When the mail arrives he will come."

as,

10. The Infinitive Present Perfect is incorrectly used for the Present; "The last work I intended to have written (to write.)"

11. When a verb in the Present Perfect tense is preceded by when, as soon as, before, till, or after, it performs the office of the Future Perfect; as," Before he has been there, I shall arrive."

There is something peculiar in the use of the Preterit tense. Take the following case: A servant calls on me for a book; if I am uncertain whether I have it or not, I answer, "If the book be in my library, or if I have the book, your master is welcome to it;" but if I am certain that I have not the book, I say, "If the book were in my library, or if I had the book, it should be at your master's service." Here it is obvious that when we use the Present tense it implies uncertainty of the fact, and when we use the Preterit it implies a negation of its existence. Thus, also, a person at night would say to his friend, "If it rain you shall not go," being uncertain at the time whether it did or did not rain; but if, on looking out, he perceived it did not rain, he would then say, "If it rained you should not go,' intimating that it did not rain.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXV. (THE TENSES.)

RULE XXXV.-1. a. If my readers will turn their thoughts back on their old friends, they will find it difficult to call a single man to remembrance who appeared to know that life was short till he was about to lose it. F. S.

b. A cursory perusal would not enable you to discover that this was a poem. F. S!

2. I assure you I have seen the king last summer.

F. S.

3. I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me three days.

F. S.

4. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. F. S.

5. John will earn his wages when his service is completed. F. S.

6. I have now been writing to my friend whom I wish to see.

F. S.

7. This relic was carefully preserved these ten years.

F. S.

8. Because he should have known the reason of his condemnation, he made the inquiry. F. S.

9. I shall wait in London until my friend comes. 10. a. I intended last year to have visited you. b. I expected to have ploughed my land last week. 11. As soon as he comes I will invite him home.

C. S.

F. S.

C. S.

SECTION DXX.-SYNTAX OF PARTICIPLES.

RULE XXXVI.-The Present, the Past, and the Compound Participles, of Transitive and of Intransitive verbs, like adjectives, belong to substantives; as, "He, watching the coming storm, prepared to meet it; "The risen sun has scattered the collected clouds: "" Having slept during the night, the traveller went on his way." When used in this way the participle is an adjective, expressing an attribute, though it differs from the adjective in expressing time.

Like adjectives, participles belong to sentences and parts of sentences. A participle with the prefix un often becomes an adjective; as, unbidden. If the verb also has the prefix, the partiticiple retains the quality of a verb, instead of becoming an adjective; as, unfolding from unfold.. Many words originally participles have in use become adjectives; as, " Writing paper;" "looking glass."

Note I.-The Present and the Compound participles of Transitive verbs in the active voice govern the objective case; as, "He was striking him;" "Having struck him, he proceeded to other acts of violence." In cases like these, the participle performs one of the offices of the verb, as well as that of an adjective.

RULE XXXVI.-a. He, loving his work, performed it successfully. C. S.

b. Loved and admired by his friends, he fell a sacrifice to inordinate ambition. C. S. c. Having lost his health, he was obliged to relinquish his profession. C. S. d. Rasing, like Shakspeare's pirate, the eighth commandment from the Decalogue, the minstrels praised their chieftains for the very exploits against which the laws of the country denounced a capital doom.-WALTER SCOTT. C. S.

C. S.

Note I.-a. Esteeming themselves wise, they become fools. E. S. b. After defeating his army, he took possession of the kingdom, c. Having studied law in London, he devoted himself to his profession in his native town. C. S.

SECTION DXXI.-PARTICIPLES.

RULE XXXVII.-The Present and the Compound Participles of Transitive and of Intransitive verbs, like nouns, are put in the Nominative case, or in the Objective case, or govern the Possessive case; as, "The reading of the report occupied an hour;" " Writing requires more effort than talking;" "Its excesses may be restrained without destroying its existence;" "He was displeased with the king's having disposed of the office, or with his having bestowed it upon an unworthy man ;" "This did not prevent John's being acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated Duke of Normandy.

When the present participle is preceded by a or the, it always takes the character of a Noun, and is generally followed by the preposition of; as, "We are expecting a rising of the people;" "The middle station of life seems to be advantageously situated for the gaining of wisdom."

Without the article preceding it, this participle becomes a noun in certain constructions; as, " Rising early is healthy;" "This is the advantage of early rising."

The forms by sending them, by the sending of them, are preferable to

« Zurück Weiter »

Books