Chapter 143

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF VERBS.

§ 480. The government of verbs is of two sorts, (1.) _objective_, and (2.) _modal_.

It is objective where the noun which follows the verb is the name of some object affected by the action of the verb,--as _he strikes me_; _he wounds the enemy_.

It is modal when the noun which follows the verb is not the name of any object affected by the verb, but the name of some object explaining the manner in which the action of the verb takes place, the instrument with which it is done, the end for which it is done, &c.

The government of all transitive verbs is necessarily objective. It may also be modal,--_I strike the enemy with the sword_ = _ferio hostem gladio_.

The government of all intransitive verbs can only be modal,--_I walk with the stick_. When we say, _I walk the horse_, the word _walk_ has changed its meaning, and signifies _make to walk_, and is, by the very fact of its being followed by the name of an object, converted from an intransitive into a transitive verb.

The modal construction may also be called the _adverbial construction_; because the effect of the noun is akin to that of an adverb,--_I fight with bravery_ = _I fight bravely_: _he walks a king_ = _he walks regally_. The modal (or adverbial) construction, sometimes takes the appearance of the objective: inasmuch as intransitive verbs are frequently followed by a substantive, e.g., _to sleep the sleep of the righteous_. Here, nevertheless, this is no proof of government. For a verb to be capable of governing an objective case, it must be a verb signifying an action affecting an object; which is not the case here. The sentence means, to _sleep as the righteous sleep_, or _according to the sleep of the righteous_.

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