permitting, etc. are followed by verbs denoting present or future time.
[Footnote: The "Standard Dictionary" makes this restriction: "The doubling
of the past tenses in connection with the use of _have_ with a past
participle is proper and necessary when the completion of the future act
was intended before the occurrence of something else mentioned or thought
of. Attention to this qualification, which has been overlooked in the
criticism of tense-formation and connection, is especially important and
imperative. If one says, 'I meant _to have visited_ Paris and _to have
returned_ to London before my father _arrived_ from America,' the past
[present perfect] infinitive ... is necessary for the expression of the
completion of the acts purposed. 'I meant _to visit_ Paris and _to return_
to London before my father _arrived_ from America,' may convey suggestively
the thought intended, but does not express it."]
The present infinitive expresses an action as present or future, and the
present perfect expresses it as completed, at the time indicated by the
principal verb. I _am glad to have met you_ is correct, because the meeting
took place before the time of being glad.
I _ought to have gone_ is exceptional. _Ought_ has no past tense form, and
so the present perfect infinitive is used to make the expression refer to
past time.
10. We hoped to have seen you often.
11. I should not have let you eaten it.
12. I should have liked to have seen it.
13. He would not have dared done that.
14. You ought to have helped me to have done it.
15. We expected that he would have arrived last night.
16. The experiment proved that air had weight.
+Remark+.--What is true or false at all times is generally expressed in the
present tense, whatever tense precedes.
There seems to be danger of applying this rule too rigidly. When a speaker
does not wish to vouch for the truth of the general proposition, he may use
the past tense, giving it the form of an indirect quotation; as, He said
that iron _was_ the most valuable of metals. The tense of the dependent
verb is sometimes attracted into that of the principal verb; as, I _knew_
where the place _was_.
17. I had never known before how short life really was.
18. We then fell into a discussion whether there is any beauty independent
of utility. The General maintained that there was not; Dr. Johnson
maintained that there was.
19. I have already told you that I was a gentleman.
20. Our fathers held that all men were created equal.
+Caution+.--Use _will_ and _would_ to imply that the subject names the one
whose will controls the action; use _shall_ and _should_ to imply that the
one named by the subject is under the control of external influence.
+Remark+.--The original meaning of _shall_ (to _owe_, to _be obliged_) and
_will_ (to _determine_) gives us the real key to their proper use.
The only case in which some trace of the original meaning of these
auxiliaries cannot be found is the one in which the subject of _will_ names
something incapable of volition; as, The _wind will blow_. Even this may be
a kind of personification.
+Examples+.--I _shall go_; You _will go_; He _will go_. These are the
proper forms to express mere futurity, but even here we can trace the
original meaning of _shall_ and _will_. In the first person the speaker
avoids egotism by referring to the act as an obligation or duty rather than
as something under the control of his own will. In the second and third
persons it is more courteous to refer to the will of others than to their
duty.
I _will go_. Here the action is under the control of the speaker's will. He
either promises or determines to go.
You _shall go_; He _shall go_. Here the speaker either promises the going
or determines to compel these persons to go; in either case the one who
goes is under some external influence.
_Shall_ I _go?_ Here the speaker puts himself under the control of some
external influence--the will of another.
_Will_ I _go?_--_i. e_., Is it my will to go?--is not used except to repeat
another's question. It would be absurd for one to ask what his own will is.
_Shall_ you _go_? Ans. I _shall_. _Will_ you _go_? Ans. I _will_. _Shall_
he _go?_ Ans. He _shall_. _Will_ he _go?_ Ans. He _will_. The same
auxiliary is used in the question that is used in the answer.
No difficulty _shall hinder_ me. The difficulty that might do the hindering
is not to be left to itself, but is to be kept under the control of the
speaker.
He says that he _shall go_; He says that he _will go_. Change the indirect
quotations introduced by _that_ to direct quotations, and the application
of the Caution will be apparent.
You _will see_ that my horse is at the door by nine o'clock. This is only
an apparent exception to the rule. A superior may courteously avoid the
appearance of compulsion, and refer to his subordinate's willingness to
obey.
They knew that I _should be_ there, and that he _would be_ there. The same
principles apply to _should_ and _would_ that apply to _shall_ and _will_.
In this example the events are future as to past time; making them future
as to present time, we have, They know that I _shall be_ there, and that he
_will be_ there.
My friend said that he _should_ not _set_ out to-morrow. Change the
indirect to a direct quotation, and the force of _should_ will be seen.
+Direction+.--_Assign a reason for the use of shall or will in each of the
following sentences_:--
1. Hear me, for I will speak.
2. If you will call, I shall be happy to accompany you.
3. Shall you be at liberty to-day?
4. I shall never see him again.
5. I will never see him again.
6. I said that he should be rewarded.
7. Thou shalt surely die.
8. Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again.
9. Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee.
10. Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet
would I not put forth my hand against the king's son.
+Direction+.--_Fill each of the following blanks with shall, will, should,
or would, and give the reasons for your choice_:--
1. He knew who ---- betray him.
2. I ---- be fatigued if I had walked so far.
3. You did better than I ---- have done.
4. If he ---- come by noon, ---- you be ready?
5. They do me wrong, and I ---- not endure it.
6. I ---- be greatly obliged if you ---- do me the favor.
7. If I ---- say so, I ---- be guilty of falsehood.
8. You ---- be disappointed if you ---- see it.
9. ---- he be allowed to go on?
10. ---- you be unhappy, if I do not come?
+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--
1. Where will I leave you?
2. Will I be in time?
3. It was requested that no person would leave his seat.
4. They requested that the appointment would be given to a man who should
be known to his party.
5. When will we get through this tedious controversy?
6. I think we will have rain.
* * * * *
LESSON 142.
CONSTRUCTION OF NUMBER AND PERSON FORMS.
AGREEMENT.--VERBS--PRONOUNS.
+Caution+.--A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.
+Remarks+.--Practically, this rule applies to but few forms. +Are+ and
+were+ are the only plural forms retained by the English verb. In the
common style, most verbs have one person form, made by adding +s+ or +es+
(_has_, in the present perfect tense, is a contraction of the indicative
present--_ha_(_ve_)_s_). The verb _be_ has +am+ (first person) and +is+
(third person).
In the solemn style, the second person singular takes the ending +est+,
+st+, or +t+, and, in the indicative present, the third person singular
adds +eth+. (See Lessons 134 and 135.)
_Need_ and _dare_, when followed by an infinitive without _to_, are
generally used instead of _needs_ and _dares_; as, He _need_ not do it; He
_dare_ not do it.
+Caution+.--A collective noun requires a verb in the plural when the
individuals in the collection are thought of; but, when the collection as a
whole is thought of, the verb should be singular.
+Examples+.--
l. The _multitude were_ of one mind.
2. The _multitude was_ too large to number.
3. A _number were_ inclined to turn back,
4. The _number_ present _was_ not ascertained.
+Caution+.--When a verb has two or more subjects connected by _and_, it
must agree with them in the plural.
+Exceptions+.--l. When the connected subjects are different names of the
same thing, or when they name several things taken as one whole, the verb
must be singular; as, My old _friend and schoolmate is_ in town. _Bread and
milk is_ excellent food.
2. When the connected subjects are preceded by _each, every, many a_, or
_no_, they are taken separately, and the verb agrees with the nearest; as,
_Every man, woman, and child was_ lost.
3. When the subjects are emphatically distinguished, the verb agrees with
the first and is understood with the second; as, _Time, and patience also,
is_ needed. (The same is true of subjects connected by _as well as_; as,
_Time, as well as patience, is_ needed.)
4. When one of the subjects is affirmative and the other negative, the verb
agrees with the affirmative; as, _Books, and not pleasure_, occupy his
time.
5. When several subjects follow the verb, each subject may be emphasized by
making the verb agree with that which stands nearest; as, Thine _is_ the
_kingdom and_ the _power_ _and_ the _glory_.
+Remark+.--When one of two or more subjects connected by _and_ is of the
first person, the verb is in the first person; when one of the subjects is
of the second person, and none of the first, the verb is in the second
person. _I, you, and he_ = _we_; _you and he_ = _you_. We say, _Mary and I
shall_ (not _will_) be busy to-morrow.
+Caution+.--When two or more subjects are connected by _or_ or _nor_, the
verb agrees in person and number with the nearest; as, Neither _poverty nor
wealth was_ desired; Neither _he nor they were_ satisfied.
When the subjects require different forms of the verb, it is generally
better to express the verb with each subject or to recast the sentence.
+Remarks+.--When a singular and a plural subject are used, the plural
subject is generally placed next to the verb.
In using pronouns of different persons, it is generally more polite for the
speaker to mention the one addressed first, and himself last, except when
he confesses a fault.
+Caution+.--A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and
person; as, _Thou who writest_; _He who writes_; _They who write_, etc.
The three special Cautions given above for the agreement of the verb will
also aid in determining the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent.
+Remarks+.--The pronoun and the verb of an adjective clause relating to the
indefinite subject _it_ take, by attraction, the person and number of the
complement when this complement immediately precedes the adjective clause;
as, It is I _that am_ in the wrong; It is thou _that liftest_ me up; It is
the dews and showers _that make_ the grass grow.
The pronoun _you_, even when singular, requires a plural verb.
+Direction+.--_Justify the use of the following italicized verbs and
pronouns_:--
1. _Books is_ a noun.
2. The good _are_ great.
3. The committee _were_ unable to agree, and _they_ asked to be discharged.
4. The House _has_ decided not to allow _its_ members the privilege.
5. Three times four _is_ twelve. [Footnote: "Three times four _is_ twelve"
and "Three times four _are_ twelve" are both used, and both are
defended. The question is (see Caution for collective nouns), Is the
number four thought of as a whole, or are the individual units composing
it thought of? The expression = Four taken three times is twelve.
_Times_ is a noun used adverbially.]
6. Five dollars _is_ not too much.
7. Twice as much _is_ too much.
8. Two hours _is_ a long time to wait.
9. To relieve the wretched _was_ his pride.
10. To profess and to possess _are_ two different things.
11. Talking and eloquence _are_ not the same.
12. The tongs _are_ not in _their_ place.
13. Every one _is_ accountable for _his_ own acts.
14. Every book and every paper _was_ found in _its_ place.
15. Not a loud voice, but strong proofs _bring_ conviction.
16. This orator and statesman _has_ gone to _his_ rest.
17. Young's "Night Thoughts" _is his_ most celebrated poetical work.
18. Flesh and blood _hath_ not revealed it.
19. The hue and cry of the country _pursues_ him.
20. The second and the third Epistle of John _contain_ each a single
chapter.
21. _Man is_ masculine because _it_ denotes a male.
22. Therein _consists_ the force and use and nature of language.
23. Neither wealth nor wisdom _is_ the chief thing.
24. Either you or I _am_ right.
25. Neither you nor he _is_ to blame.
26. John, and his sister also, _is_ going.
27. The lowest mechanic, as well as the richest citizen, _is_ here
protected in _his_ right.
28. There _are_ one or two reasons. [Footnote: When two adjectives
differing in number are connected without a repetition of the noun, the
tendency is to make the verb agree with the noun expressed.]
29. Nine o'clock and forty-five minutes _is_ fifteen minutes of ten.
30. Mexican figures, or picture-writing, _represent_ things, not words.
[Footnote: The verb here agrees with _figures_, as _picture-writing_ is
logically explanatory of _figures_.]
31. Many a kind word and many a kind act _has_ been put to his credit.
+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--
1. _Victuals_ are always plural.
2. Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" are his great work.
3. What sounds have each of the vowels?
4. "No, no," says I.
5. "We agree," says they.
6. Where was you?
7. Every one of these are good in their place.
8. Neither of them have recited their lesson.
9. There comes the boys.
10. Each of these expressions denote action.
11. One of you are mistaken.
12. There is several reasons for this.
13. The assembly was divided in its opinion.
14. The public is invited to attend.
15. The committee were full when this point was decided.
16. The nation are prosperous.
17. Money, as well as men, were needed.
18. Now, boys, I want every one of you to decide for themselves.
19. Neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven.
20. She fell to laughing like one out of their right mind.
21. Five years' interest are due.
22. Three quarters of the men was discharged.
23. Nine-tenths of every man's happiness depend upon this.
24. No time, no money, no labor, were spared.
25. One or the other have erred in their statement.
26. Why are dust and ashes proud?
27. Either the master or his servants is to blame.
28. Neither the servants nor their master are to blame.
29. Our welfare and security consists in unity.
30. The mind, and not the body, sin.
31. He don't like it.
32. Many a heart and home have been desolated by drink.
GENERAL REVIEW.
TO THE TEACHER.--See suggestions to the teacher, page 255*.
+Scheme for the Verb.+
(_The numbers refer to Lessons_.)
VERB.
Uses.
To assert action, being, or state.--Predicate (4, 11)
To assume action, being, or state.
Participles (37)
Infinitives (40)
Classes.
Form.
Regular (92).
Irregular (92, 132, 133).
(Redundant and Defective)
Meaning.
Transitive (92).
Intransitive (92).
Modifications.
Voice.
Active (129, 130).
Passive (129, 130).
Mode.
Indicative (131, 134-137).
Potential (131, 134-137).
Subjunctive (131, 134-137, 140).
Imperative (131, 134-137).
Tense.
Present. |
Past. |
Future. + 131, 134-138,
Present Perfect.| 140, 141.
Past Perfect. |
Future Perfect. |
Number.
Singular. + 131, 134, 135.
Plural. |
Person.
First. |
Second. + 131, 134, 135.
Third. |
Participles.--Classes.
Present. |
Past. + 131, 134, 136.
Past Perfect. |
Infinitives.--
Present. |
Present Perfect.| 131, 134, 135.
+Questions on the Verb+.
1. Define the verb and its classes.--Lessons 92, 132.
2. Define the modifications of the verb.--Lessons 129, 131.
3. Define the several voices, modes, and tenses.--Lessons 129, 131.
4. Define the participle and its classes.--Lesson 131.
5. Define the infinitive.--Lesson 131.
6. Give a synopsis of a regular and of an irregular verb in all the
different forms.--Lessons 134, 135, 136, 137.
7. Analyze the different mode and tense forms, and give the functions of
the different tenses.--Lesson 138.
8. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the mode
and tense forms, and of the person and number forms.--Lessons 140, 141,
142.
* * * * *
LESSON 143.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
_Lesson_ 112.--What are Modifications? Have English words many inflections?
Have they lost any? What is Number? Define the singular and the plural
number. How is the plural of nouns regularly formed? In what ways may the
plural be formed irregularly? Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 113.--Give the plural of some nouns adopted from other languages.
How do compounds form the plural? Illustrate the several ways. How do
letters, figures, etc. form the plural? Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 114.--Give examples of nouns having each two plurals differing in
meaning. Some which have the same form in both numbers. Some which have no
plural. Some which are always plural. What is said of the number of
collective nouns?
_Lesson_ 116.--In what four ways may the number of nouns be determined?
Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 117.--What is Gender? Define the different genders. What is the
difference between sex and gender? The gender of English nouns follows
what? Have English nouns a neuter form? Have all English nouns a masculine
and a feminine form? In what three ways may the masculine of nouns be
distinguished from the feminine? Illustrate. Give the three gender forms of
the pronoun.
_Lesson_ 118.--How is gender in grammar important? When is the pronoun of
the masculine gender used? When is the neuter pronoun _it_ used? By the aid
of what pronouns are inanimate things personified? In personification, when
is the masculine pronoun used, and when is the feminine? Illustrate. What
is the Caution relating to gender?
_Lesson_ 119.--What is Person? Is the person of nouns marked by form?
Define the three persons. When is a noun in the first person? In the second
person? What classes of words have distinctive person forms? Why is person
regarded in grammar? What is Case? Define the three cases. What is the case
of a noun used independently? Of an explanatory modifier? Of an objective
complement? Of a noun or pronoun used as attribute complement? Illustrate
all these.
_Lesson_ 121.--What is Parsing? Illustrate the parsing of nouns.
* * * * *
LESSON 144.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
_Lesson_ 122.--How many case forms have nouns, and what are they? How is
the possessive of nouns in the singular formed? Of nouns in the plural?
Illustrate. What is the possessive sign? To which word of compound names or
of groups of words treated as such is the sign added? Illustrate. Instead
of the possessive form, what may be used? Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 123.--In what case alone can mistakes in the construction of nouns
occur? Illustrate the Cautions relating to possessive forms.
_Lesson_ 124.--What is Declension? Decline _girl_ and _tooth_. Decline the
several personal pronouns, the relative and the interrogative. What
adjective pronouns are declined wholly or in part? Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 125.--What words in the language have each three different case
forms? What are the nominative, and what the objective, forms of the
pronouns?
_Lesson_ 127.--What one modification have adjectives? What is Comparison?
Define the three degrees. How are adjectives regularly compared? What are
the Rules for Spelling? Illustrate them. How are adjectives of more than
one syllable generally compared? How are degrees of diminution expressed?
Can all adjectives be compared? Illustrate. How are some adverbs compared?
Illustrate the irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs.
_Lesson_ 128.--To how many things does the comparative degree refer? What
does it imply? Explain the office of the superlative. What word usually
follows the comparative, and what the superlative? Give the Cautions
relating to the use of comparatives and superlatives, and illustrate them
fully.
_Lesson_ 129.--What is Voice? Of what class of verbs is it a modification?
Name and define the two voices. When is the one voice used, and when the
other? Into what may the passive form be resolved? Illustrate. What may be
mistaken for a verb in the passive voice? Illustrate.
_Lesson_ 130.--In changing a verb from the active to the passive, what does
the object complement become? How may an intransitive verb sometimes be
made transitive? Illustrate.
* * * * *
LESSON 145.
REVIEW QUESTIONS.
_Lesson_ 131.--What is Mode? Define the four modes. What is Tense? Define
the six tenses. Define the infinitive. Define the participle. Define the
classes of participles. What are the number and person of a verb?
_Lesson_ 132.--What is Conjugation? Synopsis? What are auxiliary verbs?
Name them. What are the principal parts of a verb? What are redundant and
what are defective verbs?
_Lesson_ 134.--How many inflectional forms may irregular verbs have? How
many have regular verbs? What is said of the subjunctive mode? Of _to_ with
the infinitive? How is a verb conjugated in the emphatic form?
_Lesson_ 136.--How is a verb conjugated in the progressive form? How is a
transitive verb conjugated in the passive voice? Give an example of a verb
in the progressive form with a passive meaning. What does the progressive
form denote? Can all verbs be conjugated in this form? Why? Give all the
participles of the verbs _choose_, _break_, _drive_, _read_, _lift_.
_Lesson_ 137.--How may a verb be conjugated interrogatively? Negatively?
Illustrate. How may a question with negation be expressed in the indicative
and potential modes?
_Lesson_ 138.--Into what may the compound, or periphrastic, forms of the
verb be resolved? Illustrate fully. What is said of the participle in _have
written_, _had written_, etc.? Give and illustrate the several uses of the
six tenses.
_Lesson_ 140.--Show how the general Caution for the use of the verb is
frequently violated. When does a conditional or a concessive clause require
the verb to be in the indicative? Illustrate. When is the subjunctive used?
Illustrate the many uses of the subjunctive.
_Lesson_ 141.--Give and illustrate the general Caution relating to mode and
tense forms. Give and illustrate the Caution in regard to _will_ and
_would_, _shall_ and _should_.
_Lesson_ 142.--Give and illustrate the Cautions relating to the agreement
of verbs and pronouns. Illustrate the exceptions and the Remarks.
* * * * *
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS.
+Suggestions for the Study of the following Selections.+
+TO THE TEACHER+.--The pupil has now reached a point where he can afford to
drop the diagram--its mission for him is fulfilled. For him to continue its
use with these "Additional Examples," unless it be to outline the relations
of clauses or illustrate peculiar constructions, is needless; he will
merely be repeating that with which he is already familiar.
These extracts are not given for full analysis or parsing. This, also, the
pupil would find profitless, and for the same reason. One gains nothing in
doing what he already does well enough--progress is not made in climbing
the wheel of a treadmill. But the pupil may here review what has been
taught him of the uses of adjective pronouns, of the relatives in
restrictive and in unrestrictive clauses, of certain idioms, of double
negatives, of the split infinitive, of the subjunctive mode, of the
distinctions in meaning between allied verbs, as _lie_ and _lay_, of
certain prepositions, of punctuation, etc. He should study the general
character of each sentence, its divisions and subdivisions, the relations
of the independent and the dependent parts, and their connection, order,
etc. He should note the +periodic structure+ of some of these sentences--of
(4) or (19), for instance--the meaning of which remains in suspense till
near or at the close. He should note in contrast the +loose structure+ of
others--for example, the last sentence in (20)--a sentence that has several
points at any one of which a complete thought has been expressed, but the
part of the sentence following does not, by itself, make complete sense.
Let him try to see which structure is the more natural, and which is the
more forcible, and why; and what style gains by a judicious blending of the
two.