The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (free ebook reader .txt) 📕

present or active participle I explained then."—Id. "Are some verbs used both transitively and intransitively?"—Cooper cor. "Blank verse is verse without rhyme."—Brown's Institutes, p. 235. "A distributive adjective denotes each one of a number considered separately."—Hallock cor.

   "And may at last my weary age
    Find out the peaceful hermitage."
        —MILTON: Ward's Gr., 158; Hiley's, 124.

UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A noun without an article to limit it, is taken in its widest sense."—Lennie, p. 6. "To maintain a steady course amid all the adversities of life, marks a great mind."—Day cor. "To love our Maker supremely and our neighbour as ourselves, comprehends the whole moral law."—Id. "To be afraid to do wrong, is true courage."—Id. "A great fortune in the hands of a fool, is a great misfortune."—Bullions cor. "That he should make such a remark, is indeed strange."—Farnum cor. "To walk in the fields and groves, is delightful."—Id. "That he committed the fault, is most certain."—Id. "Names common to all things of the same sort or class, are called Common nouns; as, man, woman, day."—Bullions cor. "That it is our duty to be pious, admits not of any doubt."—Id. "To endure misfortune with resignation, is the characteristic of a great mind."—Id. "The assisting of a friend in such circumstances, was certainly a duty."—Id. "That a life of virtue is the safest, is certain."—Hallock cor. "A collective noun denoting the idea of unity, should be represented by a pronoun of the singular number."—Id.

UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"When the sun had arisen, the enemy retreated."—Day cor. "If he become rich, he may be less industrious."—Bullions cor. "The more I study grammar, the better I like it."—Id. "There is much truth in the old adage, that fire is a better servant than master."—Id. "The verb do, when used as an auxiliary, gives force or emphasis to the expression."—P. E. Day cor. "Whatsoever is incumbent upon a man to do, it is surely expedient to do well."—Adams cor. "The soul, which our philosophy divides into various capacities, is still one essence."—Channing cor. "Put the following words in the plural, and give the rule for forming it."—Bullions cor. "We will do it, if you wish."—Id. "He who does well, will be rewarded."—Id. "That which is always true, is expressed in the present tense."—Id. "An observation which is always true, must be expressed in the present tense."—Id. "That part of orthography which treats of combining letters to form syllables and words, is called SPELLING."—Day cor. "A noun can never be of the first person, except it is in apposition with a pronoun of that person."—Id. "When two or more singular nouns or pronouns refer to the same object, they require a singular verb and pronoun."—Id. "James has gone, but he will return in a few days."—Id. "A pronoun should have the same person, number, and gender, as the noun for which it stands."—Id. "Though he is out of danger, he is still afraid."—Bullions cor. "She is his inferior in sense, but his equal in prudence."—Murray's Exercises, p. 6. "The man who has no sense of religion, is little to be trusted."—Bullions cor. "He who does the most good, has the most pleasure."—Id. "They were not in the most prosperous circumstances, when we last saw them."—Id. "If the day continue pleasant, I shall return."—Felton cor. "The days that are past, are gone forever."—Id. "As many as are friendly to the cause, will sustain it."—Id. "Such as desire aid, will receive it."—Id. "Who gave you that book, which you prize so much?"—Bullions cor. "He who made it, now preserves and governs it."—Id.

   "Shall he alone, whom rational we call,
    Be pleas'd with nothing, if not blest with all?"—Pope.

UNDER THE EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"Newcastle is the town in which Akenside was born."—Bucke cor. "The remorse which issues in reformation, is true repentance."—Campbell cor. "Men who are intemperate, are destructive members of community."— Alexander cor. "An active-transitive verb expresses an action which extends to an object."—Felton cor. "They to whom much is given, will have much, to answer for."—L. Murray cor. "The prospect which we have, is charming."—Cooper cor. "He is the person who informed me of the matter."—Id. "These are the trees that produce no fruit."—Id. "This is the book which treats of the subject."—Id. "The proposal was such as pleased me."—Id. "Those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."—Id. "The pen with which I write, makes too large a mark."—Ingersoll cor. "Modesty makes large amends for the pain it gives the persons who labour under it, by the prejudice it affords every worthy person, in their favour."—Id. "Irony is a figure whereby we plainly intend something very different from what our words express."—Bucke cor. "Catachresis is a figure whereby an improper word is used in stead of a proper one."—Id. "The man whom you met at the party, is a Frenchman."—Frost cor.

UNDER RULE III.—OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

"John, James, and Thomas, are here: that is, John, and James, and Thomas, are here."—Cooper cor. "Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs."—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 116. "To Nouns belong Person, Gender, Number, and Case."—Id., ib., p. 9. "Wheat, corn, rye, and oats, are extensively cultivated."—Bullions cor. "In many, the definitions, rules, and leading facts, are prolix, inaccurate, and confused."—Finch cor. "Most people consider it mysterious, difficult, and useless."—Id. "His father, and mother, and uncle, reside at Rome."—Farnum cor. "The relative pronouns are who, which, and that."—Bullions, E. Gram., p. 23. "That is sometimes a demonstrative, sometimes a relative, and sometimes a conjunction."—Bullions cor. "Our reputation, virtue, and happiness, greatly depend on the choice of our companions."—Day cor. "The spirit of true religion is social, kind, and cheerful."—Felton cor. "Do, be, have, and will, are sometimes principal verbs."—Id. "John, and Thomas, and Peter, reside at Oxford."—Webster cor. "The most innocent pleasures are the most rational, the most delightful, and the most durable."—Id. "Love, joy, peace, and blessedness, are reserved for the good."—Id. "The husband, wife, and children, suffered extremely."—L. Murray cor. "The husband, wife, and children, suffer extremely."—Sanborn cor. "He, you, and I, have our parts assigned us."—Id.

   "He moaned, lamented, tugged, and tried,
    Repented, promised, wept, and sighed."—Cowper.

UNDER RULE IV.—OF ONLY TWO WORDS.

"Disappointments derange and overcome vulgar minds."—L. Murray cor. "The hive of a city or kingdom, is in the best condition, when there is the least noise or buzz in it."—Id. "When a direct address is made, the noun or pronoun is in the nominative case, independent."—Ingersoll cor. "The verbs love and teach, make loved and taught, in the imperfect and participle."—Id. "Neither poverty nor riches were injurious to him."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 152. "Thou or I am in fault."—Id., p. 152. "A verb is a word that expresses action or being."—P. E. Day cor. "The Objective Case denotes the object of a verb or a preposition."—Id. "Verbs of the second conjugation may be either transitive or intransitive."—Id. "Verbs of the fourth conjugation may be either transitive or intransitive."—Id. "If a verb does not form its past indicative by adding d or ed to the indicative present, it is said to be irregular."—Id. "The young lady is studying rhetoric and logic."—Cooper cor. "He writes and speaks the language very correctly."—Id. "Man's happiness or misery is, in a great measure, put into his own hands."—Mur. cor. "This accident or characteristic of nouns, is called their Gender."—Bullions cor.

   "Grant that the powerful still the weak control;
    Be man the wit and tyrant of the whole."—Pope cor.

UNDER EXCEPTION I.—TWO WORDS WITH ADJUNCTS.

"Franklin is justly considered the ornament of the New World, and the pride of modern philosophy."—Day cor. "Levity, and attachment to worldly pleasures, destroy the sense of gratitude to Him."—L. Mur. cor. "In the following Exercise, point out the adjectives, and the substantives which they qualify."—Bullions cor. "When a noun or pronoun is used to explain, or give emphasis to, a preceding noun or pronoun."—Day cor. "Superior talents, and brilliancy of intellect, do not always constitute a great man."—Id. "A word that makes sense after an article, or after the phrase speak of, is a noun."—Bullions cor. "All feet used in poetry, are reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables, and four of three."—Hiley cor. "He would not do it himself, not let me do it."—Lennie's Gram., p. 64. "The old writers give examples of the subjunctive mood, and give other moods to explain what is meant by the words in the subjunctive."—O. B. Peirce cor.

UNDER EXCEPTION II.—TWO TERMS CONTRASTED.

"We often commend, as well as censure, imprudently."—L. Mur. cor. "It is as truly a violation of the right of property, to take a little, as to take much; to purloin a book or a penknife, as to steal money; to steal fruit, as to steal a horse; to defraud the revenue, as to rob my neighbour; to overcharge the public, as to overcharge my brother; to cheat the post-office, as to cheat my friend."—Wayland cor. "The classification of verbs has been, and still is, a vexed question."—Bullions cor. "Names applied only to individuals of a sort or class, and not common to all, are called Proper nouns."—Id. "A hero would desire to be loved, as well as to be reverenced."—Day cor. "Death, or some worse misfortune, now divides them." Better: "Death, or some other misfortune, soon divides them."—Murray's Gram., p. 151. "Alexander replied, 'The world will not permit two suns, nor two sovereigns.'"—Goldsmith cor.

   "From nature's chain, whatever link you strike,
    Tenth, or ten-thousandth, breaks the chain alike."—Pope.

UNDER EXCEPTION III.—OF AN ALTERNATIVE OF WORDS.

"Metre, or Measure, is the number of poetical feet which a verse contains."—Hiley cor. "The Cæsura, or division, is the pause which takes place in a verse, and which divides it into two parts."—Id. "It is six feet, or one fathom, deep."—Bullions cor. "A Brace is used in poetry, at the end of a triplet, or three lines which rhyme together."—Felton cor. "There are four principal kinds of English verse, or poetical feet."—Id. "The period, or full stop, denotes the end of a complete sentence."—Sanborn cor. "The scholar is to receive as many jetons, or counters, as there are words in the sentence."—St. Quentin cor. "That [thing], or the thing, which purifies, fortifies also the heart."—O. B. Peirce cor. "That thing, or the thing, which would induce a laxity in public or private morals, or indifference to guilt and wretchedness, should be regarded as the deadly Sirocco."—Id. "What is, elliptically, what thing, or that thing which."—Sanborn cor. "Demonstrate means show, or point out precisely."—Id. "The man, or that man, who endures to the end, shall be saved."—Hiley cor.

UNDER EXCEPTION IV.—OF A SECOND COMMA.

"That reason, passion, answer one great aim."—POPE: Bullions and Hiley cor. "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim."—L. Murray's Gram., p. 269; Cooper's Murray, 182; Comly, 145; Ingersoll, 282; Sanborn, 268; Kirkham, 212; et al. "Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above."—James, i, 17. "Every plant, and every tree, produces others after its kind."—Day cor. "James, and not John, was paid for his services."—Id. "The single dagger, or obelisk [Dagger], is the second."—Id. "It was I, not he, that did it."—St. Quentin cor. "Each aunt, each cousin, hath her speculation."—Byron. "'I shall see you when you come,' is equivalent to, 'I shall see you then, or at that time, when you come.'"—N. Butler cor.

   "Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame;
    August her deed, and sacred be her fame."—Pope cor.

UNDER RULE V.—OF WORDS IN PAIRS.

"My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, centre in you."—Greenleaf or Sanborn cor. "This mood implies possibility or liberty, will or obligation."—Ingersoll cor. "Substance is divided into body and spirit, into extended and thinking."—Brightland cor. "These consonants, [d and t,] like p and b, f and v, k and hard g, and s and z, are letters of the same organ."—J. Walker cor. "Neither fig nor twist, pigtail nor Cavendish, has passed my lips since; nor ever shall again."—Cultivator cor. "The words whoever or whosoever, whichever or whichsoever, and whatever or whatsoever, are called Compound Relative Pronouns."—Day cor. "Adjectives signifying profit or disprofit, likeness or unlikeness, govern the dative."—Bullions cor.

UNDER RULE VI.—OF WORDS ABSOLUTE.

"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."—Psalm xxiii 4. "Depart, ye wicked."—J. W. Wright cor. "He saith unto his mother. Woman, behold thy son!"—John, xix, 26. "Thou, God, seest me."—Bullions cor. "John, write me a letter. Henry, go home."—O. B. Peirce cor., twice. "Now, G. Brown, let us reason together."—Id. "Mr. Smith, you say, on page 11th, 'The objective case denotes the object'"—Id. "Gentlemen, will you always speak as you mean?"—Id. "John, I sold my books to William, for his brothers."—Id. "Walter, and Seth, I will take my things, and leave yours."—Id. "Henry, Julia and Jane left their umbrella, and took yours."—Id. "John, harness the horses, and go to the mine for some coal."—Id. "William, run to the store, for a few pounds of tea."—Id. "The king