when it is an expletive used as anticipative subject, we slur
it.
=Summary.=—The word _it_ is often used as an anticipative subject so that
the real subject may come after the verb. The word _there_ may be an
anticipative subject. It is then called an expletive.
=Exercise.=—Analyze the following sentences. If there is an anticipative
subject, state that fact before giving the real subject; thus,—In
the sentence, “Once upon a time there were four little rabbits,” the
anticipative subject is the expletive _there_; the real subject is _four
little rabbits_. The predicate is _were once upon a time_.
1. There would be several insuperable difficulties in adopting
the moon as a residence.
2. Every object on the moon would be only one sixth as heavy as
the same object on the earth. There a box containing a pound of
chocolate bonbons would weigh only two or three ounces.
3. It is a little curious that the effect of a short allowance
of food does not show itself in hunger.
4. There never was such a hailstorm in Wisconsin.
5. It is just the right time of the moon for planting sweet
peas.
6. There were dances, theatricals, and sleighrides that winter.
7. It would amuse me very much to sing while I am hunting.
8. A cannon that breaks loose from its fastenings on a ship is
suddenly transformed into a supernatural beast. It is a monster
developed from a machine; it has the weight of an elephant, the
agility of a mouse, the obstinacy of the ox; it takes one by
surprise, like the surge of the sea; it flashes like lightning;
it is deaf as the tomb; it weighs ten thousand pounds, and it
bounds like a child’s ball.
9. That day there came our first great snowstorm.
10. There lay the beautiful piece of embroidery that mother had
put away so carefully and forgotten so completely.
11. There’s a special providence that watches over idiots,
drunken men, and boys.
12. There came to the beach a poor exile of Erin.
13.
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.
14. In the reign of King Arthur, and in the county of Cornwall,
near to the Land’s End in England, there lived a worthy farmer,
who had an only son, named Jack.
15. There the two old dogs sat and talked of the wonderful
tenacity of rheumatism that has once settled in a dog’s
shoulder.
16. There was one passenger in the coach,—a small, dark-haired
person in a glossy buff calico dress.
17. Professor Boyesen describes what he calls the _saeter_, the
spring migration of the dairy and dairymaids. It is the great
event of the year in all the rural districts.
18. There were three Catherines, two Annes, and a Jane.
19. It is said in Ceylon that the cocoanut, like the magpie and
the robin, will flourish only within sound of the human voice.
20. There is always a sad element in the departure of a steamer.
XCVI. ELLIPTICAL SENTENCES
=374.= We have noted several constructions in which there is an ellipsis,
or omission of some word or words necessary to the grammatical structure
of the sentence.
(1) The subject of an imperative sentence, the pronoun _you_, _thou_, or
_ye_ is usually omitted; as, “(_You_) Honor the flag.”
(2) A noun is often omitted after a possessive modifier; as, “Let us go
over to Baker’s (_house_) this evening.”
(3) An auxiliary verb is often omitted; as, “Somebody has entered the
hall and (_has_) taken my umbrella.”
(4) The predicate is often omitted in a clause of comparison; as, “I am
not so tired as you (_are_ or _are tired_).” “He has no better right than
I (_have_ or _have right_).”
(5) The relative pronoun _that_ is often omitted in an adjective clause;
as, “The ring (_that_) you gave me is too small.”
(6) The subordinate conjunction _that_ is often omitted in a noun clause;
as, “You said (_that_) I might take your skates.”
=375.= The elliptical sentence is very common, especially in
conversation, where we do not have to depend entirely upon words to
convey our meaning, as we have the help of emphasis, tone of voice, and
gesture. It follows that in oral language we leave out many words that
can easily be supplied by our listeners.
(1) In answering questions, we seldom make complete statements, as,—
What is your name? (_My name is_) Donald.
Whose boy are you? (_I am_) Mr. Hill’s (_boy_).
Where do you live? (_I live_) On Jackson Street.
(2) We often omit a word that has already been expressed in the sentence;
as, “Our first maid was an Irish girl; our second (_maid was_) a
Norwegian (_girl_).”
(3) In sentences beginning with _no wonder_ or _no matter_ we omit the
main verb and the anticipative subject _it_.
“No wonder he died,” means “It is no wonder that he died.”
“No matter what I said,” means “It is no matter what I said.”
(4) Two very common questions are _What of it?_ and _What if I do?_ We
may expand the first question thus, “What (_will come_) of it?” and the
second thus, “What (_difference will it make_) if I do?”
(5) In adverbial clauses we find many cases of ellipsis, but the words
omitted can readily be supplied; as,—
I lived on the south side when (_I was_) a child.
I cut my finger while (_I was_) paring an apple.
She sings as if (_she were singing_) by note.
I will be there if (_it is_) possible.
Though (_we were_) tired and hungry we plodded on.
I will go (_though it_) rain or (_though it_) shine.
=Exercise.=—Analyze the following sentences, supplying the words omitted
wherever there is an ellipsis.
1. Wisdom is better than rubies.
2. A song to the oak, the brave old oak!
3. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night.
4. She will close the house and go to her son’s.
5. Cæsar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell.
6. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
7. And then to breakfast with what appetite you have.
8. To-day he puts forth the tender leaves of hope; to-morrow
blossoms.
9. Love’s wing moults when caged and captured.
10. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he
that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
11. Few and short were the prayers we said.
12. All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely
players.
13.
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage.
14. Though mild, Calvin was also intolerant.
15.
Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound.
16. Drink to me only with thine eyes.
17.
True hope is swift and flies with swallow’s wings,
Kings it makes gods and meaner creatures, kings.
18. My true love hath my heart, and I have his.
19.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime.
20. What if the river is too deep for the cattle to ford?
21.
If all the year were playing holidays
To sport would be as tedious as to work.
22. My kingdom for a horse!
23.
No matter what the daisies say,
I know I’ll be married some fine day.
24. Blessings on thee, little man!
25.
Six white eggs on a bed of hay,
Flecked with purple, a pretty sight.
26.
“Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?”
“Over the sea.”
27. The wind has a language, I would I could learn.
XCVII. REVIEW OF ANALYSIS
=Exercise.=—Analyze the following sentences. These sentences contain
examples of the various constructions that have been presented in this
book. If there is any doubt as to what part of speech a certain word
is, the dictionary will usually enable you to decide. Where an ellipsis
occurs, the word or words omitted should be supplied.
1. How the black cat had captured the alert and restless
squirrel so quickly was a great mystery to me.
2. If a woman puts on airs with her equals, she probably has
something about herself or her family that she is ashamed of.
3. In writing these memoirs I shall yield to the inclination
so natural to old men, of talking of themselves and their own
actions.
4.
When ye come where I have stepped,
Ye will wonder why ye wept.
5. I sought out one of these few, Fred Ouillette, pilot and
son of a pilot, an idol in the company’s eyes, a hero to the
boys of Montreal, a figure to be stared at always by anxious
passengers.
6. Must we conclude that the dignity of a bird depends upon the
length of his tail?
7. During these gales, the top of the tableland is enveloped
in thick clouds, which the people of the Cape call the Devil’s
Table Cloth.
8. The sand-hills were gashed with numberless ravines; and as
the sky had suddenly darkened, and a cold gusty wind arisen,
the strange shrubs and the dreary hills looked doubly wild and
desolate.
9.
Floweret and hope may die,
But love with us shall stay.
10. There are three beautiful dandelions out on the terrace.
11.
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
12. Gray Brother did not come upon the night when I sent him
the word.
13. The beasts cannot use me more cruelly than I have been used
by my fellow creatures.
14. If I stroked the cat in my pet monkey’s presence, he would
get into a paroxysm of rage and make great efforts to bite me.
15.
The spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
16. He was a strange figure, this tattered, long-haired man,
with the spear and wallet, and his boots cut down into sandals.
17. Gordon waited long for an opportunity to sing in the choir
at old St. George’s.
18. When shall you leave Yarmouth? On the fifteenth, if
possible.
19. The captain, whose ideas of hard riding were all derived
from trans-Atlantic sources, expressed the utmost amazement at
the feats of Sorel, who went leaping ravines, and dashing at
full speed up and down the sides of precipitous hills, lashing
his horse with the recklessness of a Rocky Mountain rider.
20. The Great American Desert is a land where no man
permanently abides; for in certain seasons of the year there is
no food either for the hunter or his steed.
21.
One constant element in luck
Is genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck.
22. Did you ever think why a dog’s nose is always wet?
23. One of the most difficult things is to get any wild animal
to allow himself to be touched with the human hand.
24. Old Trinity’s steeple probably sways eighteen inches
whenever an elevated train passes.
25. Do steeple climbers always work in pairs?
26. The chipmunk had made a well-defined path from his door out
through the weeds and dry leaves into the territory where his
feeding ground lay.
27. No wonder Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
28. In Bermuda the banana is as omnipresent as the onion.
29. We called the mice Jack, Jill, and Jenny, and they seemed
to know their names.
30. Shooting the Lachine Rapids is like taming a particularly
fierce lion.
31. Turk slept at night outside his master’s door, and no
sentry could be more alert upon his watch than this faithful
mastiff, who had apparently only one ambition,—to protect and
to accompany his owner.
32. We fancied we could hear the huge bodies of the whales
burrowing through the water.
33. At length, finding my life very solitary, I accepted the
claw and heart of a rich and respectable green parrot, who
offered me a good home and the devotion of a lifetime.
34. Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
35. Presently the doe stepped away, and left her little one
lying on a spotted heap of dead leaves and moss.
36. While traveling along the Rhine, we observed that when the
German has nothing else to do, he eats and drinks.
37. The Spaniards changed the whole character and habits of the
Indians when they brought the horse among them.
38. The fires in the Australian bush are often the work of the
natives, to frighten away the white men; and sometimes the work
of the shepherds, to make the grass sprout afresh.
39. Near the Pyramids, more wondrous and more awful than all
else in the land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphinx.
40. The sexton had lived in Stratford for eighty years, and
seemed still to consider himself a vigorous man, with the
trivial exception that he had nearly lost the use of his legs.
41. What if this were my last day at school?
42. It was something to have seen the dust of Shakespeare.
43. A queen bee will lay two hundred eggs in a few hours, and
in the year she will generally have laid twenty or thirty
thousand.
44. The ground was carpeted with softest moss, into which the
boy’s feet sunk so deep that they were almost covered; and all
over the moss were sprinkled little star-shaped pink flowers.
45. The wolf asked little Red Riding Hood whither she was going.
46.
O happy harbor of God’s saints!
O sweet and pleasant soil!
In thee no sorrow can be found,
Nor grief, nor care, nor toil.
47. She fell back upon the floor as if by the stroke of an
unseen hand.
48. Whether she was attended by a physician from Canton or from
Milton, I was unable to say; but neither the gig with the large
allopathic sorrel horse, nor the gig with the homœopathic white
mare was ever seen hitched at the gate during the day.
49. No sooner did I open their door than out the little
starlings would all fly, and seat themselves on my head and
shoulders.
50. Neither eye nor ear revealed him anything.
51. Small leisure have the poor for grief.
52. By a flight of winding stairs we reached a covered balcony,
over which a tropical vine wanders at will.
53. Dora heard Marjorie singing, laughing, chatting, as she
flashed here and there, helping and hindering in about equal
proportions.
54. No matter what honors your ancestors attained, make your
own name honorable.
55. As I trod the sounding pavement, there was something
intense and thrilling in the idea that the remains of
Shakespeare were moldering beneath my feet.
56. The lark, springing up from the reeking bosom of the
meadow, towered away into the bright fleecy cloud, pouring
forth torrents of melody.
57. I now found myself among noble avenues of oaks and elms,
whose vast size bespoke the growth of centuries.
58. The air within the tunnel is somewhat damp, but fresh and
agreeably cool, and one can scarcely realize in walking along
the light passage, that a river is rolling above his head.
59. No frog egg may hope to develop into a turtle, or a bird,
or anything but a frog.
60. I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft.
61. Everybody knows that the porcupine is ridiculously
fastidious in his choice of food.
62.
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.
63. If I choose to work eleven hours a day, what of it?
64. Far below lay the earth, brown, dry, and desolate, from
drouth.
65. There was no sleep that long night for the little duck
mother Quackalina.
66. One evening, after the ice of a sleet storm had clogged
their wings, the pigeons settled on one of the highest
buildings they could find, and sat and shivered through the
long night.
67. The taking down of a steeple two hundred and thirty-eight
feet high, that rises on a closely built city street, is not a
simple proceeding.
68.
The legend of Felix is ended, the toiling of Felix is done;
The master has paid him his wages, the goal of his journey is won.
69. There we were shown the chair on which the English monarchs
have been crowned for several hundred years.
70. Under the seat is the stone brought from the Abbey of
Scone, whereon the kings of Scotland were crowned.
71. Sleeping or waking, my thoughts are all of Ireland and of
you.
72. Fortunately for us, our two lean, wiry little horses did
not object to being used as aquatic animals.
73. Many Russian villages possess a public bath of the most
primitive construction, but in some parts of the country the
peasants take their vapor bath in the household oven in which
the bread is baked!
74. This aptly illustrates a common Russian proverb, which says
that what is health to the Russian is death to the German.
75. Scarfs, shawls, stuffs for dresses, morning gowns, and
vests, handkerchiefs, sashes, purses, and tobacco bags are
heaped in rich profusion.
76. When a man of fourscore, he continued his weekly visits to
the schools.
77. His master having been honorably discharged before the
close of the war, Jim was left with the regiment in care of
Wiggins, the wagoner.
78. No other pigeon is so bold and fearless, so full of bulldog
tenacity, so full of royal courage, as the homer.
79. The French carried their imitation of Indians so far that
they often disguised themselves to resemble their allies, with
paint, feathers, and all.
80. It was sometimes impossible to tell in an attacking party
which were French and which were Indians.
81. The sea was dotted everywhere with the heads of seals
hurrying to land and begin their share of fighting.
82. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
83.
If eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for being.
84.
Out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
85.
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore.
86. How I wish that when the Angel comes for me, I might reach
out and feel your hand!
GENERAL REVIEW
Exercise 1
(1) The family of the Lambs had long been among the most
thriving and popular in the neighborhood; the Miss Lambs
were the belles of Little Britain, and everybody was pleased
when old Lamb had made money enough to shut up shop, and put
his name on a brass plate on his door. (2) In an evil hour,
however, one of the Miss Lambs had the honor of being a lady in
attendance on the Lady Mayoress, at her great annual ball, on
which occasion she wore three towering ostrich feathers on her
head. (3) The family never got over it; they were immediately
smitten with a passion for high life; set up a one-horse
carriage, put a bit of gold lace round the errand-boy’s
hat, and have been the talk and detestation of the whole
neighborhood ever since. (4) They could no longer be induced
to play at Pope-Joan or blindman’s buff; they could endure no
dances but quadrilles, which nobody had ever heard of in Little
Britain; and they took to reading novels, talking bad French,
and playing upon the piano. (5) Their brother, too, who had
been articled to an attorney, set up for a dandy and a critic,
characters hitherto unknown in these parts; and he confounded
the worthy folks exceedingly by talking about Kean, the opera,
and the “Edinburgh Review.”
—WASHINGTON IRVING, _Sketch Book_.
1. Consult the dictionary for the meaning of all words in this paragraph
that you do not understand.
2. Account for the capitalization and punctuation. Why is the term
_Edinburgh Review_ inclosed in quotation marks?
3. What kind of noun is _family_ in sentence (1)? Use it in a sentence so
as to reveal its number and its gender. What is its number in sentence
(3)? How do you account for it?
4. What two plural forms has the term _Miss Lamb_? What is the plural
of _Lady Mayoress_? What does the dictionary say about the plural form
_folks_? What is the number of _everybody_ in sentence (1)? What is the
plural of _attorney_? of _dandy_?
5. Tell the part of speech and use of _long_, _enough_, sentence (1);
_however_, _one_, _which_, sentence (2); _ever_, _since_, sentence (3);
_no_, _longer_, _no_, _but_, sentence (4); _too_, _up_, _hitherto_,
sentence (5). Which of these words can be used as other parts of speech?
Illustrate in sentences.
6. Are _thriving_ in sentence (1) and _towering_ in sentence (2)
participles or adjectives? How do you decide? Is _pleased_ in sentence
(1) a complement of _was_ or a part of a passive verb _was pleased_? How
do you decide? How is _smitten_ used in sentence (3)? Find two passive
verbs, and prove that they are passive.
7. Supply the ellipsis before and after _popular_ in sentence (1); before
_put_ in sentence (1).
8. Tell the use of each of the following verbals: _being_ (2); _reading_,
_talking_, _playing_ (4); _talking_ (5). Tell how each of these verbals
is modified or completed.
9. Select each prepositional phrase and tell what it modifies.
10. Select all the infinitives with _to_ and tell the grammatical use of
each.
11. Parse the relative pronouns in sentences (4) and (5). Are the clauses
that they introduce restrictive or unrestrictive?
12. Tell the use and case of each of the following nouns: _belles_ (1);
_talk_, _detestation_ (3); _characters_ (5).
13. Tell the principal parts of each of these verbs: _put_ (1); _had_,
_wore_ (2); _got_, _set_ (3); _took_ (4).
Exercise 2
(1) Ahem! Dry work, this speechifying, especially to an
unpracticed orator. (2) I never conceived till now what toil
the temperance lecturers undergo for my sake; hereafter they
shall have the business to themselves. (3) Do, some kind
Christian, pump a stroke or two, just to wet my whistle. (4)
Thank you, sir! (5) My dear hearers, when the world shall have
been regenerated by my instrumentality, you will collect your
useless vats and liquor casks into one great pile and make a
bonfire in honor of the town pump. (6) And when I shall have
decayed like my predecessors, then, if you revere my memory,
let a marble fountain, richly sculptured, take my place upon
this spot. (7) Such monuments should be erected everywhere and
inscribed with the names of the distinguished champions of my
cause.
(8) One o’clock! (9) Nay, then, if the dinner bell begins to
speak, I may as well hold my peace. (10) Here comes a pretty
young girl of my acquaintance with a large stone pitcher for me
to fill. (11) May she draw a husband while drawing her water,
as Rachel did of old! (12) Hold out your vessel, my dear! (13)
There it is, full to the brim; so now run home, peeping at your
sweet image in the pitcher as you go, and forget not, in a
glass of my own liquor, to drink “Success to the town pump.”
—NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, _Twice Told Tales_.
1. Consult the dictionary for the meaning of words in these paragraphs
that you do not understand.
2. Classify each sentence both as to purpose and structure.
3. What part of speech is _ahem_? What feeling does it express in
sentence (1)?
4. Supply the ellipsis in sentence (1). What part of speech is
_speechifying_? What is its grammatical use?
5. What does the adverb _especially_ in sentence (1) modify?
6. Account for the use of _shall_ and _will_ in these paragraphs.
7. Select all the dependent clauses. Tell the class and use of each, and
the introductory word.
8. Select all the terms of address. What is the base word of each?
9. What is the use of _now_ sentence (2)? _old_ (11)? _dinner_ (9)?
10. Parse each predicate verb in sentences (3), (5), (6), (7).
11. Tell the part of speech and use of _themselves_, sentence (2);
_stroke_, _two_ (3); _there_, _full_, _peeping_, _glass_, _own_ (13).
12. Tell the use of all infinitive phrases in sentences (3), (6), (9),
(10), (13).
Exercise 3
(1) Once upon a time there came to this earth a visitor from a
neighboring planet. And he was met at the place of his descent
by a great philosopher, who was to show him everything.
(2) First of all they came through a wood, and the stranger
looked upon the trees. “Whom have we here?” said he.
(3) “These are only vegetables,” said the philosopher. “They
are alive, but not at all interesting.”
(4) “I don’t know about that,” said the stranger. “They seem to
have very good manners. Do they never speak?”
(5) “They lack the gift,” said the philosopher.
(6) “Yet I think I hear them sing,” said the other.
(7) “That is only the wind among the leaves,” said the
philosopher. “I will explain to you the theory of winds; it is
very interesting.”
(8) “Well,” said the stranger, “I wish I knew what they are
thinking.”
(9) “They cannot think,” said the philosopher.
(10) “I don’t know about that,” returned the stranger; and
then laying his hand upon a trunk: “I like these people,” said
he.
(11) “They are not people at all,” said the philosopher. “Come
along.”
(12) Next they came through a meadow where there were cows.
(13) “These are very dirty people,” said the stranger.
(14) “They are not people at all,” said the philosopher; and
he explained what a cow is in scientific words which I have
forgotten.
(15) “That is all one to me,” said the stranger. “But why do
they never look up?”
(16) “Because they are graminivorous,” said the philosopher;
“and to live upon grass, which is not highly nutritious,
requires so close an attention to business that they have
no time to think, or speak, or look at the scenery, or keep
themselves clean.”
(17) “Well,” said the stranger, “that is one way to live, no
doubt. But I prefer the people with the green heads.”
(18) Next they came into a city, and the streets were full of
men and women.
(19) “These are very odd people,” said the stranger.
(20) “They are the people of the greatest nation in the world,”
said the philosopher.