The third part of Grammar is SYNTAX, which treats of the agreement and
government of words and of their proper arrangement in a sentence.
SYNTAX consists of two parts, _Concord_ and _Government_.
CONCORD is the agreement which one word has with another, in gender,
person, number, or case.
For the illustration of agreement and government, see pages 52, and 53.
For the definition of a sentence, and the transposition of its words and
members, see pages 119, 124, 128, and 167.
The principal parts of a simple sentence are the _nominative_ or
subject, the _verb_ or attribute, or word that makes the affirmation,
and the _object_, or thing affected by the action of the verb; as, "A
wise _man governs_ his _passions_." In this sentence, _man_ is the
subject; _governs_, the attribute; and _passions_ the object.
A PHRASE is two or more words rightly put together, making sometimes a
part of a sentence, and sometimes a whole sentence.
ELLIPSIS is the omission of some word or words, in order to avoid
disagreeable and unnecessary repetitions, and to express our ideas
concisely, and with strength and elegance.
In this recapitulation of the rules, Syntax is presented in a condensed
form, many of the essential NOTES being omitted. This is a necessary
consequence of my general plan, in which Etymology and Syntax, you know
are blended. Hence, to acquire a complete knowledge of Syntax from this
work, you must look over the whole.
You may now proceed and parse the following additional exercises in
false Syntax; and, as you analyze, endeavor to correct all the errors
without looking at the Key. If, in correcting these examples, you should
be at a loss in assigning the reasons why the constructions are
erroneous, you can refer to the manner adopted in the foregoing pages.