Chapter 19

+Correction+.--This is ambiguous, as it may mean either that the writer is not doubted because he is a scholar, or that the writer's scholarship is not doubted. It should be, _The writer's being_ [Footnote: The participle may be modified not only, as here, by a noun in the possessive but by the articles _a_ and _the_---as said in Lesson 37. Whether it be _the imposing a tax_ or _the issuing a paper currency.--Bagehot_. Not _a making war_ on them, not _a leaving them_ out of mind, but _the putting_ a new _construction_ upon them, _the taking them_ from under the old conventional point of view.--_Matthew Arnold_. Poltroonery is _the acknowledging_ an _infirmity_ to be incurable.--_Emerson_. _The giving_ away a man's _money_.--_Burke_. It is not _the finding of a thing_ but _the making something_ out of it, after it is found, that is of consequence.--_Lowell_.

As seen in this last quotation, the participle may be followed by a preposition and so become a pure noun (Lesson 38).] _a scholar_ is not doubted, or _That the writer is a scholar_ is not doubted.

2. I have no doubt of the writer being a scholar. 3. No one ever heard of that man running for office. 4. Brown being a politician prevented his election. 5. I do not doubt him being sincere. 6. Grouchy being behind time decided the fate of Waterloo.

* * * * *

LESSON 124.

NUMBER AND CASE FORMS.

Declension.

+DEFINITION.--_Declension_ is the arrangement of the cases of nouns and pronouns in the two numbers+.

+Direction+.--_Learn the following declensions_:--

Declension of Nouns.

LADY. BOY. MAN. _Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural_.

Nom. lady, ladies, boy, boys, man, men, Pos. lady's, ladies', boy's, boys', man's, men's, Obj. lady; ladies. boy; boys. man; men.

Declension of Pronouns.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON-- SECOND PERSON-- _common form_ _old form_. _Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.

Nom. I, we,* you, you, thou, ye(++) _or_ you Pos. my _or_ our _or_ your _or_ your _or_ thy _or_ ye(++) _or_ you mine,+ ours, yours, yours, thine, yours, Obj. me; us. you; you. thee; you.

[Footnote *: Strictly speaking, _we_ can hardly be the plural of _I_, says Professor Sweet, for _I_ does not admit of plurality. _We_ means _I_ and _you_, _I_ and _he_, _I_ and _she_, or _I_ and _they_, etc.]

[Footnote +: The forms _mine_, _ours_, _yours_, _thine_, _hers_, and _theirs_ are used only when the name of the thing possessed is omitted; as, _Yours_ is old, _mine_ is new = _Your book_ is old, etc. _Mine_ and _thine_ were formerly used before words beginning with a vowel sound; as, _thine enemy_, _mine honor_.

The expression _a friend of mine_ presents a peculiar construction. The explanation generally given is, that _of_ is partitive, and that the expression is equivalent to _one friend of my friends_.

It is said that this construction can be used only when more than one thing is possessed such expressions as _This heart of mine_, _That temper of yours_ are good, idiomatic English. This naughty world _of ours.--Byron_. This moral life _of mine.--Sheridan Knowles_. Dim are those heads _of theirs.---Carlyle_.

Some suggest that the word possessing or owning is understood after these possessives; as, This _temper of yours_ (your possessing); others say that _of_ simply marks identity, as does of in _city of_ (=viz.) _New York_ (see Lesson 34). They would make the expression = _This temper, your temper_.

The _s_ in _ours, yours, hers_, and _theirs_ is the _s_ of _his_ and _its_ extended by analogy to _our, your, her_, and _their_, forms already possessive. _Ours, yours, hers_, and _theirs_ are consequently double possessives.]

[Footnote ++: _Ye_ is used in Chaucer and in the King James version of the Bible exclusively in the nominative, as was its original _ge__ in the Saxon. Shakespeare uses _you_ in the nominative. _You_ (the Saxon accusative _eow_) has now taken the place of _ye_, and is both nominative and objective.

THIRD PERSON--_Mas_. THIRD PERSON--_Fem_. THIRD PERSON--_Neut_. _Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural_. Nom. he, they, she, they, it, they, Pos. his, their _or_ her or their _or_ its,* their _or_ theirs, hers, theirs, theirs, Obj. him; them. her; them. it; them.

[Footnote *: The possessive _its_ is our only personal pronoun form not found in Saxon. _His_, the possessive of the masculine _he_, was there the possessive (genitive) of the neuter _hit_ also--our _it_. But it came to be thought improper to employ _his_ to denote inanimate things as well as animate. The literature of the 16th and 17th centuries shows a growing sense of this impropriety, and abounds with _of it_, _thereof_, _her_, _it_, _the_, and _it own_ in place of _his_ as the possessive of _it_. The first appearance of the new coinage _its_ is placed in 1598. Long after its introduction many looked askance at _its_, because of the grammatical blunder it contains--the_ t_ in _its_ being a nominative neuter ending, and the _s_ a possessive ending. But no one thinks now of shunning what was then regarded as a grammatical monstrosity.]

COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

_Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. _ _Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and Nom. and_ _Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj. Obj._

myself* thyself himself; _or_ ourselves. _or_ yourselves. herself; themselves. ourself; yourself; itself;

[Footnote *: The compound personal pronouns are used (1) for emphasis; as, _I myself_ saw it: and (2) as reflexives, to turn the action of the verb back upon the actor; as, _He_ found _himself_ deserted by his friends. They are not the only words used in this last relation; where no obscurity would arise, we may use the simple personal pronouns instead. And _millions_ in those solitudes ... have laid _them_ down in their last sleep.--_Bryant_. My uncle stopped a minute to look about _him_.--_Dickens_.

The compound personal pronouns should not be used as subjects.]

+Remark+.--The possessive of these pronouns is wanting.

_Ourself_ and _we_ are used by rulers, editors, and others to hide their individuality, and give authority to what they say.

+Relative Pronouns+.

_Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu. Sing. and Plu._ _Nom_. who, which, that, what, _Pos_. whose, whose, ------, ------, _Obj_. whom. which. that. what.

+Remark+.--From the composition of _which_--_hwa:_-lic, or _hwaet-lic_ = _who-like_, or _what-like_, it is evident that _whose_ is not formed from _which_. It is, in fact, the possessive of _what_ transferred to _which_. Much has been said against this _whose_, but it is in general use. Those who regard usage as the final arbiter in speech need not avoid this form of the pronoun.

+Interrogative Pronouns+.

The interrogative pronouns _who, which_, and _what_ are declined like the relatives _who, which_, and _what_.

+Compound Relative Pronouns+.

_Singular and Plural_. _Singular and Plural_. _Nom_. whoever, whosoever, _Pos_. whosever, whosesoever, _Obj_. whomever. whomsoever.

_Whichever, whichsoever, whatever_, and _whatsoever_ do not change their form.

+Adjective Pronouns+.

_This_ and _that_ with their plurals, _these_ and _those_, have no possessive form, and are alike in the nominative and the objective. _One_ and _other_ are declined like nouns; and _another_, declined like _other_ in the singular, has no plural. _Either, neither, former_, and _latter_ sometimes take the apostrophe and _s_ ('_s_) in the singular. _Each_, _either_, and _neither_ are always singular; _both_ is always plural; and _all, any, farmery latter, none, same, some_, and _such_ are either singular or plural. [Footnote: On the pages immediately preceding Lesson 1, we said that +usage+, as determined by the majority of the best writers and speakers of the generation, is the only authority in language; and we there explained how we are able to appeal to usage as we all along have done. In treating of the adjective pronouns we now appeal to it again. In the first twelve paragraphs below we give alternative expressions. Only the second of these alternative locutions in each paragraph is allowed by many grammarians; they utterly condemn the first. On the warrant of usage we say that both expressions are correct.

1. We may use +each other+ with more than two; we may use _one another_ in such a case. We may say, "_Several_ able _men_ were in correspondence with _each other_," or "with _one another_."

2. We may use +one another+ with only two; we may use _each other_ in such a case. We may say, "The _two countries_ agreed to stand by _one another_," or "by _each other_."

3. We may use +all, both+, and +whole+ with a preposition and a noun following; we may use these words as adjectives qualifying the noun. We may say, "_All of_ the _people_," "_Both of_ the _trees_," "The _whole of_ the farm," or "_All_ the _people_," "_Both trees_," "The _whole farm_."

4. We may use the pronouns +either+ and +neither+, as we do the conjunctions _either_ and _neither_, with more than two; we may use _any one_ and _none_ in such cases. We may say, "Here are _three candidates_; you may vote for _either_ or for _neither_ of them," or "for _any one_ or for _none_ of them."

5. We may use +he+ or some other personal pronoun after the indefinite one; we may repeat the _one_ in such a case. We may say, "The home _one_ must quit, yet taking much of its life along with _him_," or "along with _one_."

6. We may use +such+ before an adjective and its noun; we may use _so_ with the adjective in such a case. We may say, "_Such a strong argument_," "_Such admirable talent_," or "_So strong an argument_," "_Talent so admirable_."

7. We may use the plural +ones+; we may use the noun for which _ones_ stands. We may say, "You have red roses, I have white _ones_," or "white _roses_."

8. We may apply +the other two+ to those that remain when one of three things has been taken from the rest; we may use _the two others_ in such a case. We may say, "One of them kept his ground; _the other two_ ran away," or "_the two others_ ran away."

9. We may use +a+ before a noun in the singular and +or two+ after it; we may use _one or two_ before the noun in the plural. We may say, "I will go in _a day or two_," or "in _one or two days_."

10. We may use +either+ in the sense of _each_; we may use _each_ instead. We may say, "He wrested the land on _either_ side of the Seine," or "on _each_ side of the Seine."

11. We may insert a noun, or a noun and other words, between +other+ and +than+; we may place the _than_ immediately after _other_. We may say, "We must look for somee _other reasons for it than_ those suggested," or "for some _reasons for it other than_ those suggested."

12. We may use +none+ in the plural; we may use _none_ in the singular. We may say, "_None hear_ thy voice," or "_None hears_ thy voice."

The paragraphs below contain noteworthy uses of adjective pronouns but no really alternative expressions.

13. Usage is overwhelmingly in favor of +any one else's, no one else's, somebody else's, nobody else's+, instead of _any one's else_, etc. There is scarcely any authority for placing the (_'s_) upon _one_ or _body_. "Written by Dickens for his own or _any one else's_ children." This form is common and convenient. We are advised to shun it, but we need not.

14. Usage is also decidedly in favor of +first two, last three+, etc., instead of _two first, three last_, etc.]

Descriptive adjectives used as nouns are plural, and are not declined. Such expressions as "the _wretched's_ only plea" and "the _wicked's_ den" are exceptional.

* * * * *

LESSON 125.

CASE FORMS--PRONOUNS.

The pronouns _I_, _thou_, _he_, _she_, and _who_ are the only words in the language that have each three different case forms.

+Direction+.--_Study the Declensions, and correct these errors_:--

Our's, your's, hi's, her's, it's, their's, yourn, hisn, hern, theirn.

Construction of Case Forms--Pronouns.

+Caution.--I, we, thou, ye, he, she, they,+ and +who+ are +nominative+ forms, and must not be used in the objective case. +Me, us, thee, him, her, [Footnote: _Her_ is also a possessive.] them,+ and +whom+ are objective forms, and must not be used in the nominative case.

Remark.--The eight nominative forms and the seven objective forms here given are the only distinctive nominative and objective forms in the language. All the rules of syntax given in the grammars to guide in the use of the nominative and the objective case apply, practically, only to these fifteen words.

+Direction.+--_Study carefully the Definitions and principles given under the head of case, Lesson 119, and then correct these errors, giving your reasons in every instance:--_

1. It is not me you are in love with. [Footnote: Dr. Latham defends _It is me,_ but condemns _It is him,_ and _It is her_. Dean Alford regards as correct the forms condemned by Latham, and asserts that _thee_ and _me_ are correct in, "The nations not so blest as _thee_" "Such weak minister as me may the oppressor bruise." Professor Bain justifies _If I were him, It was her, He is better than me,_ and even defends the use of _who_ as an objective form by quoting from Shakespeare, "_Who_ servest thou under?" and from Steele, "_Who_ should I meet?"

They justify such expressions as _It is me_ from the analogy of the French _c'est moi_, and on the ground that they are "more frequently heard than the prescribed form." But such analogy would justify _It are them (ce sont eux)_; and, if the argument from the speech of the uneducated is to have weight, we have good authority for _"Her ain't a calling we: us don't belong to she."_ A course of reading will satisfy one that the best writers and speakers in England are not in the habit of using such expressions as _It is me_, and that these are almost, if not quite unknown in American literature. No one has freed himself from the influence of early associations that are in a careless moment some vicious colloquialism may not creep into his discourse. A Violation of every principle of grammar may be defended, if such inadvertencies are to be erected into authority. To whatever is the prevailing, the habitual, usage of a majority of the best writers and speakers the grammarian should bow without question; but not to the accidental slips of even the greatest writers, or to the common usage of the unreflecting and the uncultivated.]

2. She was neither better bred nor wiser than you or me. [See previous Footnote.] 3. Who servest thou under? [See previous footnote.] 4. It was not them, it was her. 5. Its being me should make no difference. 6. Him and me are of the same age. 7. Them that study grammar talk no better than me. 8. I am not so old as her; she is older than me by ten years. 9. He was angry, and me too. 10. Who will go? Me. 11. It isn't for such as us to sit with the rulers of the land. 12. Not one in a thousand could have done it as well as him. 13. Him being a stranger, they easily misled him. 14. Oh, happy us! surrounded thus with blessings. 15. It was Joseph, him whom Pharaoh promoted. 16. I referred to my old friend, he of whom I so often speak. 17. You have seen Cassio and she together. 18. Between you and I, I believe that he is losing his mind. 19. Who should I meet the other day but my old friend? 20. Who did he refer to, he or I? 21. Who did he choose? Did he choose you and I? 22. He that is idle and mischievous reprove. 23. We will refer it to whoever you may choose. 24. Whosoever the court favors is safe. 25. They that are diligent I will reward. 20. Scotland and thee did in each other live. 27. My hour is come, but not to render up my soul to such as thee. 28. I knew that it was him. 29. I knew it to be he. 30. Who did you suppose it to be? 31. Whom did you suppose it was? 32. I took that tall man to be he. 33. I thought that tall man was him.

Although _than_ is not a preposition, it is sometimes followed by _whom,_ as in the familiar passage from Milton: "Beelzebub... _than whom,_ Satan except, none higher sat." _Than whom_ is an irregularity justified only on the basis of good usage. _Whom_ here may be parsed as an objective case form used idiomatically in place of _who_.

* * * * *

LESSON 126.

CONSTRUCTION OF CASE FORMS.

MISCELLANEOUS--REVIEW.

Direction.--_Correct these errors, and give your reasons:--_

1. Who was Joseph's and Benjamin's mother? 2. It did not occur during Washington, Jefferson, or Adams's administration. 3. I consulted Webster, Worcester, and Walker's dictionary. 4. This state was south of Mason's and Dixon's line. 5. These are neither George nor Fanny's books. 6. Howard's, the philanthropist's, life was a noble one. 7. It is Othello's pleasure, our noble and valiant general's. 8. He visited his sons-in-law's homes.

+Explanation.+--If the possessive plural of such nouns were used, this would be correct; but it is better to avoid these awkward forms.

9. A valuable horse of my friend William's father's was killed. 10. For Herodias's sake, his brother Philip's wife. 11. For the queen's sake, his sister's. 12. Peter's, John's, and Andrew's occupation was that of fishermen. 13. He spoke of you studying Latin. 14. It being difficult did not deter him. 15. What need is there of the man swearing? 16. I am opposed to the gentleman speaking again. 17. He thought it was us. 18. We shall shortly see which is the fittest object of scorn, you or me. 19. I shall not learn my duty from such as thee. 20. A lady entered, whom I afterwards found was Miss B. 21. A lady entered, who I afterwards found to be Miss B. 22. Ask somebody's else opinion. 23. Let him be whom he may. 24. I am sure it could not have been them. 25. I understood it to be they. 26. It is not him whom you thought it was. 27. Let you and I try it. 28. All enjoyed themselves, us excepted. 29. Us boys enjoy the holidays. 30. It was Virgil, him who wrote the "Aeneid." 31. He asked help of men whom he knew could not help him.

TO THE TEACHER.--These schemes and questions under the head of General Review are especially designed to aid in securing an outline of technical grammar.

The questions given below may be made to call for minute details or only for outlines. In some cases a single question may suffice for a whole lesson.

Scheme for the Noun.

(_The numbers refer to Lessons_.)

NOUN. Uses. Subject (4, 8). Object Complement (28). Attribute Complement (29, 30). Objective Complement (31). Adjective Modifier (33). Adverb Modifier (35). Principal word in Prep. Phrase (17). Independent (44). Classes. Common (85). (Abstract and Collective.) Proper (85). Modifications. Number. Singular (112-116). Plural (112-116). Gender. Masculine (117, 118). Feminine (117, 118). Neuter (117, 118). Person. First (119). Second (119). Third (119). Case. Nominative (119). Possessive (119, 122, 123). Objective (119).

Questions on the Noun.

1. Define the noun and its classes.--Lesson 85.

2. Name and define the modifications of the noun.--Lessons 112, 117, 119.

3. Name and define the several numbers, genders, persons, and cases.--Lessons 112, 117, 119.

4. Give and illustrate the several ways of forming the plural.--Lessons 112, 113, 114.

5. Give and illustrate the several ways of distinguishing the genders.--Lesson 117.

6. How is the possessive case formed?--Lesson 122.

7. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the possessive forms.--Lesson 128.

+Scheme for the Pronoun.+

PRONOUN. +Uses+.--Same as those of the Noun. +Classes+. Personal (85, 86, 87). Relative (85, 86, 87). Interrogative (85). Adjective (85, 87). +Modifications+.--Same as those of the Noun (112, 117, 118, 119, 124, 125, 142).

Questions on the Pronoun.

1. Define the pronoun and its classes, and give the lists.--Lesson 85.

2. Decline the several pronouns.--Lesson 124.

3. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the different pronouns.--Lessons 86, 87.

4. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the number forms, the gender forms, and the case forms.--Lessons 118, 125, 142.

* * * * *

LESSON 127.

COMPARISON.

+Introductory Hints.+--_That apple is sweet, that other is sweeter, but this one is the sweetest._ The adjective _sweet_, expressing a quality of the three apples, is, as you see, inflected by adding _er_ and _est_.

Adjectives, then, have one modification, and this is marked by form, or inflection. This modification is called +Comparison+, because it is used when things are compared with one another in respect to some quality common to them all, but possessed by them in different degrees. The form of the adjective which expresses the simple quality, as _sweet_, is of the +Positive Degree+; that which expresses the quality in a greater or a less degree, as _sweeter_, _less sweet_, is of the +Comparative Degree+; and that which expresses the quality in the greatest or the least degree, as _sweetest_, _least sweet_, is of the +Superlative Degree+.

But even the positive implies a comparison; we should not say, This _apple_ is _sweet_, unless this particular fruit had more of the quality than ordinary apples possess.

Notice, too, that the adjective in the comparative and superlative degrees always expresses the quality relatively. When we say, This _apple_ is _sweeter than that_, or, This _apple_ is the _sweetest of the three_, we do not mean that any one of the apples is very sweet, but only that one apple is sweeter than the other, or the sweetest of those compared.

The several degrees of the quality expressed by the adjective may be increased or diminished by adverbs modifying the adjective. We can say _very_, _exceedingly_, _rather_, or _somewhat_ sweet; _far_, _still_, or _much_, sweeter; _by far_ or _much_ the sweetest.

Some adverbs, as well as adjectives, are compared.

Adjectives have one modification; viz., +Comparison+. [Footnote: Two adjectives, _this_ and _that_, have number forms--_this_, _these_; _that_, _those_. In Anglo-Saxon and Latin, adjectives have forms to indicate gender, number, and case.]

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Comparison_ is a modification of the adjective (or the adverb) to express the relative degree of the quality in the things compared.+ [Footnote: Different degrees of quantity, also, may sometimes be expressed by comparison.]

+The _Positive Degree_ expresses the simple quality.+

+The _Comparative Degree_ expresses a greater or a less degree of the quality.

+The _Superlative Degree_ expresses the greatest or the least degree of the quality+.

+RULE.--Adjectives are regularly compared by adding _er_ to the positive to form the comparative, and _est_ to the positive to form the superlative+.

RULES FOR SPELLING.

+RULE I.--Final e is dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel; as+, _fine, finer; love, loving._