An English Grammar - LightNovelsOnl.com
You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.
He washed out some _of_ the dirt, separating thereby as much of the dust as a ten-cent piece would hold.--BANCROFT.
[Sidenote: _See also Sec. 309._]
(7) _Possessive_, standing, with its object, for the possessive, or being used with the possessive case to form the double possessive.
Not even woman's love, and the dignity _of_ a queen, could give shelter from his contumely.--W.E. CHANNING.
And the mighty secret _of_ the Sierra stood revealed.--BANCROFT.
(8) _Appositional_, which may be in the case of--
(_a_) Nouns.
Such a book as that _of_ Job.--FROUDE.
The fair city _of_ Mexico.--PRESCOTT.
The nation _of_ Lilliput.--SWIFT.
(_b_) Noun and gerund, being equivalent to an infinitive.
In the vain hope _of_ appeasing the savages.--COOPER.
Few people take the trouble _of_ finding out what democracy really is.--LOWELL.
(_c_) Two nouns, when the first is descriptive of the second.
This crampfish _of_ a Socrates has so bewitched him.--EMERSON
A sorry antediluvian makes.h.i.+ft _of_ a building you may think it.--LAMB.
An inexhaustible bottle _of_ a shop.--ALDRICH.
(9) _Of time._ Besides the phrases _of old_, _of late_, _of a sudden_, etc., _of_ is used in the sense of _during_.
I used often to linger _of_ a morning by the high gate.--ALDRICH
I delighted to loll over the quarter railing _of_ a calm day.
--IRVING.
(10) _Of reference_, equal to _about_, _concerning_, _with regard to_.
The Turk lay dreaming _of_ the hour.--HALLECK.
Boasted _of_ his prowess as a scalp hunter and duelist.--BANCROFT.
Sank into reverie _of_ home and boyhood scenes.--_Id._
[Sidenote: _Idiomatic use with verbs._]
_Of_ is also used as an appendage of certain verbs, such as _admit_, _accept_, _allow_, _approve_, _disapprove_, _permit_, without adding to their meaning. It also accompanies the verbs _tire_, _complain_, _repent_, _consist_, _avail_ (one's self), and others.
Exercise.--Find sentences with six uses of _of_.
On, Upon.
324. The general meaning of on is position or direction. _On_ and _upon_ are interchangeable in almost all of their applications, as shown by the sentences below:--
(1) _Place_: (_a_) Where.
Cannon were heard close _on_ the left.--PARKMAN.
The Earl of Huntley ranged his host _Upon_ their native strand.--MRS. SIGOURNEY.
(_b_) With motion.
It was the battery at Samos firing _on_ the boats.--PARKMAN.
Thou didst look down _upon_ the naked earth.--BRYANT.
(2) _Time._
The demonstration of joy or sorrow _on_ reading their letters.
--BANCROFT.
_On_ Monday evening he sent forward the Indians.--PARKMAN.
Upon is seldom used to express time.
(3) _Reference_, equal to _about_, _concerning_, etc.
I think that one abstains from writing _on_ the immortality of the soul.--EMERSON.
He p.r.o.nounced a very flattering opinion _upon_ my brother's promise of excellence.--DE QUINCEY.
(4) _In adjurations._
_On_ my life, you are eighteen, and not a day more.--ALDRICH.
_Upon_ my reputation and credit.--SHAKESPEARE
(5) _Idiomatic phrases_: _on fire_, _on board_, _on high_, _on the wing_, _on the alert_, _on a sudden_, _on view_, _on trial_, etc.
Exercise.--Find sentences with three uses of _on_ or _upon_.
