The Grammar of English Grammars - 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.
"When THIS _and_ THAT, or THESE _and_ THOSE, refer to a preceding sentence; THIS or THESE _represents_ the latter member or term, _and_ THAT or THOSE, the former."--_Churchill cor._; and _Lowth_.
"The rearing of them became his first care; their fruit, his first food; and _the_ marking _of_ their kinds, his first knowledge."--_N. Butler cor._
"After the period used with abbreviations, we should employ other points, if the construction demands _them_; thus, after 'Esq.,' in the last example, there should be, besides _the_ period, a comma."--_Id._
"In the plural, the verb _has_ the same _form_ in all the persons; _but still_ the principle in _Rem._ 5, under Rule iii, that the first or second person takes precedence, is applicable to verbs, _in parsing_."--_Id._
"Rex and Tyrannus are of very different characters. The one rules his people by laws to which they consent; the other, by his absolute will and power: that _government_ is called freedom; this, tyranny."--_L. Murray cor._
"A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, _that_ can be known or mentioned: as, George, London, America, goodness, charity."--See _Brown's Inst.i.tutes_, p. 31.
"Etymology treats of the cla.s.sification of words, their various modifications, and _their derivation_"--_P. E. Day cor._
"To punctuate correctly, implies a thorough acquaintance with the meaning of words and phrases, as well as _with_ all their corresponding connexions."--_W. Day cor._
"All objects _that_ belong to neither the male nor _the_ female kind, are said to be of the neuter gender, _except certain things personified_."--_Weld cor twice_.
"The a.n.a.lysis of the Sounds in the English language, presented in the preceding statements, _is_ sufficiently exact for the purpose in hand.
Those who wish to pursue _the subject_ further, can consult Dr. Rush's admirable work, 'The Philosophy of the Human Voice.'"--_Fowler cor._ "n.o.body confounds the name of _w_ or _y_ with _the_ sound _of the letter_, or _with its_ phonetic import."--_Id._ [[Fist] This a.s.sertion is hardly true. Strange as such a blunder is, it has actually occurred. See, in Orthography, Obs. 5, on the Cla.s.ses of the Letters, at p. 156.--G. B.]
"Order is Heav'n's first law; and, this _confess'd_, Some are, and must be, greater than the rest."--_Pope_.
LESSON II--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"_From_ adjectives of one syllable, _and some of two_, the comparative is formed by adding _r_ or _er_ to the positive; and the superlative, by adding _st_ or _est_: as, _sweet, sweeter, sweetest_; _able, abler, ablest_."--_Bullions cor._
"_From_ monosyllables, _or from dissyllables ending with a vowel or the accent_, the comparative is formed by adding _er_ or _r_ to the positive; and the superlative, by adding _est_ or _st_: as, _tall, taller, tallest_; _wise, wiser, wisest_; _holy, holier, holiest_; _complete, completer, completest_."--_Id._
"By this method, the confusion and unnecessary labour occasioned by studying grammars, in these languages, constructed on different principles, _are_ avoided; the study of one is rendered a profitable introduction to the study of an other; and an opportunity is furnished to the _inquiring_ student, of comparing the languages in their grammatical structure, and _of_ seeing at once wherein they agree, and wherein they differ."--_Id._
"No larger portion should be a.s.signed for each recitation, than the cla.s.s can easily master; and, till _the previous lessons are well learned_, a new portion should not be given out."--_Id._ "The acquisitions made in every new lesson, should be _riveted_ and secured by repeated revisals."--_Id._
"The personal p.r.o.nouns may be pa.r.s.ed briefly, thus: '_I_ is a personal p.r.o.noun, _of_ the first _person_, singular _number_, masculine _gender_, (feminine, if the speaker is a female,) _and_ nominative _case_.' '_His is_ a personal p.r.o.noun, _of_ the third _person_, singular _number_, masculine _gender, and_ possessive _case_.'"--_Id._
"When the male and _the_ female are expressed by distinct terms, as, _shepherd, shepherdess_, the masculine term has also a general meaning, expressing both male and female; and is always to be used when the office, occupation, _or_ profession, and not the s.e.x, of the individual, is chiefly to be expressed; the feminine term being used only when the discrimination of s.e.x is indispensably necessary. Thus, when it is said, 'The poets of this country are distinguished _for_ correctness of taste,' the term 'poets' clearly includes both male and female writers of poetry."--_Id._
"Nouns and p.r.o.nouns connected by conjunctions, must be in the same _case_"--_Ingersoll cor._
"Verbs connected by _and, or_, or _nor_, must _generally_ be in the _same mood_ and _tense_; and, when _the tense has different forms_, they must be in the same form."--_Id._
"This will habituate him to reflection; exercise his _judgement_ on the meaning of the author; and, without any great effort on his part, impress indelibly on his memory the rules which he is required to give. After the exercises under _any_ rule have been gone through, _agreeably to the direction_ in the note _at the bottom of_ page _88th_, they may be read over again in a corrected state, the pupil making an emphasis on the correction made; or they may be presented in writing, at the next recitation."--_Bullions cor._
"Man, but for that, no action could attend; And, but for this, _were active_ to no end."--_Pope_.
LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.
"'Johnson, the bookseller and stationer' indicates that _bookseller_ and _stationer_ are _terms_ belonging to the same person; 'the bookseller and the stationer,' would indicate that they belong to different persons."--_Bullions cor._
"_Past_ is [commonly] an adjective; _pa.s.sed_, the past tense or perfect participle of the verb: and they ought not (as _they_ frequently _are_) to be confounded with each other."--_Id._
"Not only the nature of the thoughts and sentiments, but the very selection _or_ arrangement of the words, gives English poetry a character which separates it widely from common prose."--_Id._
"Men of sound, discriminating, and philosophical minds--men prepared for the work by long study, patient investigation, and extensive acquirements--have laboured for ages to improve and perfect it; and nothing is hazarded in a.s.serting, that, should it be unwisely abandoned, it will be long before an other, equal in beauty, stability, and usefulness, _will_ be produced in its stead."--_Id._, on the common "system of English Grammar."
"The article _the_, on the other hand, is used to restrict; and is therefore termed _Definite_. Its proper office is, to call the attention to a particular individual or cla.s.s, or to any number of such; and _accordingly it_ is used with nouns _of_ either number, singular or plural."--_Id._
"Hence, also, the infinitive mood, a participle _with its adjuncts_, a member of a sentence, or a _whole_ proposition, forming the subject of discourse, or the object of a verb or preposition, and being the name of an act or circ.u.mstance, _is_, in construction, regarded as a _noun_; and _is_ usually called, 'a substantive phrase:' as, '_To play_, is pleasant.'--'_That he is an expert dancer_, is no recommendation.'--'Let your motto be, _Honesty is the best policy_.'"--_Id._
"In accordance with his definition, Murray has divided verbs into three cla.s.ses: _Active, Pa.s.sive_, and _Neuter_;--and _included_ in the first cla.s.s transitive verbs only; and, in the last, all verbs used intransitively"--_Id._
"Moreover, as the name of the speaker or _that of_ the person spoken to is seldom expressed, (the _p.r.o.noun_ I being used _for the former_, and THOU _or_ YOU _for the latter_,) a noun is very _rarely_ in the first person; not often in the second; and _hardly ever_ in either, unless it _is_ a proper noun, or a common noun _denoting an object_ personified."--_Id._
"In using the _parsing_ exercises, it will save much time, (_and this saving_ is _all-important_,) if the pupil be taught to say _all things_ belonging to the noun, in the fewest words possible; and to say them always in the same order, _after the example_ above."--_Id._
"In any phrase or sentence, the adjectives qualifying a noun may generally be found by prefixing the phrase, 'What kind of,' to the noun, in the form of a question; as, 'What kind of horse?' 'What kind of stone?' 'What kind of way?' The word containing the answer to the question, is an adjective."--_Id._
"In the following exercise, let the pupil first point out the nouns, and then the adjectives; and tell how he knows them to be _such_."--_Id._
"In the following sentences, point out the improper _ellipses_; _show_ why _they are_ improper; and correct _them_."--_Id._
"SINGULAR. PLURAL.
1. I am smitten, 1. We are smitten, 2. Thou art smitten, 2. You are smitten, 3. He is smitten; 3. They are smitten."--_Wright cor._
CHAPTER II.--UTTERANCE.
The second chapter of Prosody, treating of articulation, p.r.o.nunciation, elocution and the minor topics that come under Utterance, contains no exercises demanding correction in this Key.
CHAPTER III.--FIGURES.
In the third chapter of Prosody, the several Figures of speech are explained; and, as the ill.u.s.trations embrace no errors for correction, nothing here corresponds to the chapter, but the t.i.tle.
CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.
FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE, CORRECTED.
LESSON I.--RHYTHM RESTORED.
"Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in me.'"
--_Young_.
"Canst thou grow sad, thou _say'st_, as earth grows bright."
--_Dana_.
"It must be so;--Plato, thou _reason'st_ well"
