CHAPTER XXI.

SYNTAX OF THE PERSONS OF VERBS.

s. 575. For the impersonal verbs see Part IV. Chapter 27.

s. 576. _The concord of persons._--A difficulty that occurs frequently in the Latin language is rare in English. In expressions like _ego et ille_ followed by a verb, there arises a question as to the person in which that verb should be used. Is it to be in the first person in order to agree with _ego_, or in the _third_ in order to agree with _ille_? For the sake of laying down a rule upon these and similar points, the classical grammarians arrange the persons (as they do the genders) according to their _dignity_, making the verb (or adjective if it be a question of gender) agree with the most _worthy_. In respect to persons, the first is more worthy than the second, and the second more worthy than the third. Hence, the Latins said--

_Ego_ et _Balbus sustulimus_ manus. _Tu_ et _Balbus sustulistis_ manus.

Now, in English, the plural form is the same for all three persons. Hence we say _I and you are friends_, _you and I are friends_, _I and he are friends_, &c., so that, for the practice of language, the question as to the relative dignity of the three persons is a matter of indifference.

Nevertheless, it _may_ occur even in English. Whenever two or more pronouns of different persons, and of the _singular_ number, follow each other _disjunctively_, the question of concord arises. _I or you_,--_you or he_,--_he or I_. I believe that, in these cases, the rule is as follows:--

1. Whenever the words _either_ or _neither_ precede the {457} pronouns, the verb is in the third person. _Either you or I is in the wrong_; _neither you nor I is in the wrong_.

2. Whenever the disjunctive is simple (_i. e._ unaccompanied with the word _either_ or _neither_) the verb agrees with the _first_ of the two pronouns.

_I_ or _he am_ in the wrong. _He_ or _I is_ in the wrong. _Thou_ or _he art_ in the wrong. _He_ or _thou is_ in the wrong.

The reasons for these rules will appear in the Chapter on Conjunctions.

Now, provided that they are correct, it is clear that the English language knows nothing about the relative degrees of dignity between these three pronouns; since its habit is to make the verb agree with the one which is placed first--whatever may be the person. I am strongly inclined to believe that the same is the case in Latin; in which case (in the sentence _ego et Balbus sustulimus manus_) _sustulimus_ agrees, in person, with _ego_, not because the first person is the worthiest, but because it comes first in the proposition. That the greater supposed worth of the first person may be a reason for putting it first in the proposition is likely enough.

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