The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (read books for money TXT) 📖

test of truth:
    'It must be right; I've done it from my youth.'
    Questions he answer'd in as brief a way:
    'It must be wrong; it was of yesterday.'"—Id.
MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"This would seem to say, 'I doubt nothing, save one thing; namely, that he will fulfill his promise:' whereas that is the very thing not doubted."—Bullions cor. "The common use of language requires, that a distinction be made between morals and manners: the former depend upon internal dispositions; the latter, upon outward and visible accomplishments."—Beattie cor. "Though I detest war in each particular fibre of my heart, yet I honour the heroes among our fathers, who fought with bloody hand. Peacemakers in a savage way, they were faithful to their light: the most inspired can be no more; and we, with greater light, do, it may be, far less."—T. Parker cor. "The article the, like a, must have a substantive joined with it; whereas that, like one, may have it understood: thus, speaking of books, I may select one, and say, 'Give me that;' but not, 'Give me the;'—[so I may say,] 'Give me one;' but not, 'Give me a.'"—Bullions cor. "The Present tense has three distinct forms: the simple; as, I read: the emphatic; as, I do read: and the progressive; as, I am reading." Or thus: "The Present tense has three distinct forms;—the simple; as, 'I read;'—the emphatic; as, 'I do read;'—and the progressive; as, 'I am reading.'"—Id. "The tenses in English are usually reckoned six: the Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, the First-future, and the Second-future."—Id. "There are three participles; the Present or Active, the Perfect or Passive, and the Compound Perfect: as, loving, loved, having loved." Or, better: "There are three participles from each verb; namely, the Imperfect, the Perfect, and the Preperfect; as, turning, turned, having turned."—Murray et al. cor. "The participles are three; the Present, the Perfect, and the Compound Perfect: as, loving, loved, having loved." Better: "The participles of each verb are three; the Imperfect, the Perfect, and the Preperfect: as, turning, turned, having turned."—Hart cor. "Will is conjugated regularly, when it is a principal verb: as, present, I will; past, I willed; &c."—Frazee cor. "And both sounds of x are compound: one is that of gz, and the other, that of ks."—Id. "The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is useful."—L. Mur., p. 28: Cooper cor. "The pronoun stands in stead of the noun: as, 'The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is useful.'"—L. Murray cor. "A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun, to prevent too frequent a repetition of it: as, 'The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is useful.'"—Id. "A Pronoun is a word used in the room of a noun, or as a substitute for one or more words: as, 'The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is useful.'"—Cooper cor. "A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things; as, Animal, tree, insect, fish, fowl."—Id. "Nouns have three persons; the first, the second, and the third."—Id.

   "So saying, her rash hand in evil hour
    Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat:
    Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,
    Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe,
    That all was lost."—MILTON, P. L., Book ix, l. 780.

SECTION IV.—THE PERIOD. CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.—OF DISTINCT SENTENCES.

"The third person is the position of a word by which an object is merely spoken of; as, 'Paul and Silas were imprisoned.'—'The earth thirsts.'—'The sun shines.'"—Frazee cor.

"Two, and three, and four, make nine. If he were here, he would assist his father and mother; for he is a dutiful son. They live together, and are happy, because they enjoy each other's society. They went to Roxbury, and tarried all night, and came back the next day."—Goldsbury cor.

"We often resolve, but seldom perform. She is wiser than her sister. Though he is often advised, yet he does not reform. Reproof either softens or hardens its object. He is as old as his classmates, but not so learned. Neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him. Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall. He can acquire no virtue, unless he make some sacrifices."—Id.

   "Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd,
    Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd;
    Th' unconscious figure, smiling all serene,
    Suspended in a golden chain was seen."—Falconer.

UNDER RULE II.—OF ALLIED SENTENCES.

"This life is a mere prelude to an other which has no limits. It is a little portion of duration. As death leaves us, so the day of judgement will find us."—Merchant cor.

"He went from Boston to New York.—He went (I say) from Boston; he went to New York. In walking across the floor, he stumbled over a chair."—Goldsbury corrected.

"I saw him on the spot, going along the road, looking towards the house. During the heat of the day, he sat on the ground, under the shade of a tree."—Goldsbury corrected.

"'George came home; I saw him yesterday.' Here the word him can extend only to the individual George."—Barrett corrected.

"Commas are often used now, where parentheses were [adopted] formerly. I cannot, however, esteem this an improvement."—Bucke's Classical Grammar, p. 20.

   "Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel,
    Didst let them pass unnotic'd, unimprov'd.
    And know, for that thou slumberst on the guard,
    Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar
    For every fugitive."—COTTON: Hallock and Enfield cor.

UNDER RULE III.—OF ABBREVIATIONS.

"The term pronoun (Lat. pronomen) strictly means a word used for, or in stead of, a noun."—Bullions corrected.

"The period is also used after abbreviations; as, A. D., P. S., G. W.
Johnson."—N. Butler cor.

"On this principle of classification, the later Greek grammarians divided words into eight classes, or parts of speech: viz., the Article, Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."— Bullions cor.

"'Metre [Melody] is not confined to verse: there is a tune in all good prose; and Shakspeare's was a sweet one.'—Epea Pter., ii, 61. [First American Ed., ii, 50.] Mr. H. Tooke's idea was probably just, agreeing with Aristotle's; but [, if so, it is] not accurately expressed."— Churchill cor.

"Mr. J. H. Tooke was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, in which latter college he took the degree of A. M. Being intended for the established church of England, he entered into holy orders when young; and obtained the living of Brentford, near London, which he held ten or twelve years."—Tooke's Annotator cor.

   "I, nor your plan, nor book condemn;
    But why your name? and why A. M.?"—Lloyd cor.

MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath," &c.—Isaiah, lviii, 13.
"He that hath eeris of hervnge, here he."—WICKLIFFE: Matt., xi, 15.
"See General Rules for Spelling, iii, v, and vii."—N. Butler cor. "False
witnesses did rise up."—Ps., xxxv, 11.

"An explicative sentence is used for explaining; an interrogative sentence, for inquiring; an imperative sentence, for commanding."— Barrett cor. "In October, corn is gathered in the field by men, who go from hill to hill with baskets, into which they put the ears.—Susan labours with her needle for a livelihood.—Notwithstanding his poverty, he is a man of integrity."—Golds, cor.

"A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables, a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trissyllable; a word of four or more syllables, a polysyllable."—Frazee cor.

"If I say, 'If it did not rain, I would take a walk;' I convey the idea that it does rain at the time of speaking. 'If it rained,' or, 'Did it rain,' in [reference to] the present time, implies that it does not rain. 'If it did not rain,' or, 'Did it not rain,' in [reference to the] present time, implies that it does rain. Thus, in this peculiar application, an affirmative sentence always implies a negation; and a negative sentence, an affirmation."—Id. "'If I were loved' and, 'Were I loved;' imply I am not loved: 'If I were not loved,' and, 'Were I not loved,' imply I am loved. A negative sentence implies an affirmation, and an affirmative sentence implies a negation, in these forms of the subjunctive."—Id.

"What is Rule III?"—Hart cor. "How is Rule III violated?"—Id. "How do you parse letter in the sentence, 'James writes a letter?' Ans. Letter is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and objective case; and is governed by the verb writes, according to Rule III, which says, 'A transitive verb governs the objective case.'"—Id.

   "Creation sleeps. 'Tis as the gen'ral pulse
    Of life stood still, and nature made a pause;
    An awful pause! prophetic of her end.
    And let her prophecy be soon fulfill'd:
    Fate, drop the curtain; I can lose no more."—Young.

SECTION V.—THE DASH. CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.—OF ABRUPT PAUSES.

"And there is something in your very strange story, that resembles—Does
Mr. Bevil know your history particularly?"—Burgh's Speaker, p. 149.
"Sir,—Mr. Myrtle—Gentlemen—You are friends—I am but a
servant—But—"—Ib., p. 118.

"An other man now would have given plump into this foolish story; but
I—No, no, your humble servant for that."—GARRICK, Neck or Nothing.

"Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou hasten thy trial; which if—Lord have mercy on thee for a hen!"—SHAKSPEARE, All's Well.

   "But ere they came,—O, let me say no more!
    Gather the sequel by that went before."—IDEM, Com. of Errors.

UNDER RULE II.—OF EMPHATIC PAUSES.

"M,—Malvolio;—M,—why, that begins my name."—SINGER'S SHAK., Twelfth
Night.

"Thus, by the creative influence of the Eternal Spirit, were the heavens and the earth finished in the space of six days—so admirably finished—an unformed chaos changed into a system of perfect order and beauty—that the adorable Architect himself pronounced it very good, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."—Historical Reader, p. 10.

"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop remained in my country, I never would lay down my arms—never, never, never."—Pitt's Speech.

   "Madam, yourself are not exempt in this,—
    Nor your son Dorset;—Buckingham, nor you."—SHAK.

UNDER RULE III.—OF FAULTY DASHES.

"'You shall go home directly, Le Fevre,' said my uncle Toby, 'to my house; and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter; and we'll have an apothecary; and the corporal shall be your nurse: and I'll be your servant, Le Fevre.'"—Sterne cor.

"He continued: 'Inferior artists may be at a stand, because they want materials.'"—Harris cor. "Thus, then, continued he: 'The end, in other arts, is ever distant and removed.'"—Id.

"The nouns must be coupled with and; and when a pronoun is used, it must be plural, as in the example. When the nouns are disjoined, the pronoun must be singular."—Lennie cor.

"Opinion is a common noun, or substantive, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case."—Wright cor.

   "The mountain, thy pall and thy prison, may keep thee;
    I shall see thee no more, but till death I will weep thee."
        —See Felton's Gram., p. 93.

MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"If to accommodate man and beast, heaven and earth—if this be beyond me, 'tis not possible.—What consequence then follows? Or can there be any other than this?—if I seek an interest of my own, detached from that of others, I seek an interest which is chimerical, and can never have existence."—Harris.

"Again: I must have food and clothing. Without a proper genial warmth, I instantly perish. Am I not related, in this view, to the very earth itself?—to the distant sun, from whose beams I derive vigour?"—Id.

"Nature instantly ebbed again; the film returned to its place; the pulse fluttered—stopped—went on—throbbed—stopped again—moved—stopped.— Shall I go on?—No."—Sterne cor.

"Write ten nouns of the masculine gender;—ten of the feminine;—ten of the neuter; ten indefinite in gender."—Davis cor.

"The infinitive mood has two tenses; the indicative, six; the potential, four; the subjunctive, two; and the imperative, one."—Frazee cor. "Now notice the following sentences: 'John runs.'—'Boys run.'—'Thou runnest.'"—Id.

"The Pronoun sometimes stands for a name; sometimes for an adjective, a sentence, or a part of a sentence; and, sometimes, for a whole series of propositions."—Peirce cor.

   "The self-applauding bird, the peacock, see;
    Mark what a sumptuous pharisee is he!"—Cowper cor.

SECTION VI.—THE EROTEME. CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.—OF QUESTIONS DIRECT.

"When will his ear delight in the sound of arms? When shall I, like Oscar, travel in the light of my steel?"—Ossian, Vol. i, p. 357. "Will Henry call on me, while he shall be journeying south?"—Peirce cor.

"An Interrogative Pronoun is one that is used in asking a question; as, 'Who is he? and what does he want?'"—P. E. Day cor. "Who is generally used when we would inquire about some unknown person or persons; as, 'Who is that man?'"—Id. "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?"—Zech.,