Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

"William says

sent to denote a present time; as, "William said that he was very happy;" not, "is very happy." that he is very happy.

403. a. The perfect participle, and not the past tense, is used after the tenses of the verbs have and be; as, "I have written;" "It was stolen ;" and not, "I have wrote; "It was stole."

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

b. The perfect participle must never be used for the past tense; thus, "He begun; ·” “He run;" "He drunk ;' ought to be, "He began ;' "He ran;" "He drank."

[ocr errors]

404. a. When the indicative present is used after the words, when, till, before, as soon as, after, the relative time of a future action is denoted; as, "When he arrives,

he will be welcome."

b. The indicative perfect is used after the same words, to express the completion of a future action or event; as," He will never be better till he has felt the pangs of poverty."

405. a. The principal and active verb do, and its participle done, must not supply the place of a neuter or a passive verb; thus, "He does not feel so well satisfied as he ought to do," should be, "He does not feel so well satisfied as he ought to feel."

b. But the auxiliary do may supply the place of an active verb; as, "You wrote your exercise much better than you are accustomed to do; that is, "than you are accustomed to write it."

do

C. VIOLATION OF THIS RULE." This part of knowledge has always been grow. ing, and will do so till the subject be exhausted." "Do what?" The auxiliary do cannot refer to been, for the verb to be does not imply action; nor can we say, growing." The sentence ought to be, "This part of knowledge has been always growing, and will still be so," &c., or, "will continue to grow.'

406. In compound tenses, we must avoid using a part of an auxiliary, which conveys no precise meaning without the remainder; thus, "This may serve for any book, that has or shall be published;" should be, "that has been or shall be published."

All tenses formed by means of have and be are compound tenses.

407. a. When the auxiliaries are employed to denote present, past, or future time, care must be taken that the subsequent verb be expressed in the same tense with the antecedent verb containing the auxiliary; as, "He may or can write if he chooses;" "He might or could write it he chose."

b. In the former sentence, may or can write is in the present tense, and, therefore, the subsequent verb chooses must also be in the present tense; in the latter sentence, might or could write is in the past tense, and, therefore, chose must be in the same.

"It would afford me satisfaction if I could perform it." me satisfaction, if I could have performed it."

"It would have afforded

"It is my desire that you shall come ;"'"It was my desire that you should come." "I shall feel obliged if you can grant;” “I should feel obliged if you could grant." So, also, in the following sentences, "I hope that you will come;" "I hoped that you would come." From these instances, it will be seen that the indicative corresponds with the potential in the following tenses:

Indic. Pres. I write ..
Past. I wrote ..

Poten.

Fut. I shall or will write.

Pres. when I may, can write.
Past. when I might, could, would, should, write.
Pres. when I may, can write.

c. Additional instances illustrative of this rule :

He can, may ask

fif he can, may, will write.

if he has written, to denote completion.

He might, could, &c. ask if he could, might, would, &c. write.

If he is disposed

If he were disposed

if he had written, to denote past time.
he may write.

he might write.

408. a. In the Subjunctive Mood, when negation is implied, the past tense is used to denote present time; and the past-perfect to denote past time; thus,

"If I had the book, I would send it," implies that I have it not.

"If I had had the book, I would have sent it," refers to past time.

"If I have the book, I will send it," denotes mere uncertainty ;- I may have or may not have it, which of the two I do not know.

b. In like manner, when the subsequent verb immediately follows the words as if, the past tense is used to denote present time, and the past-perfect to denote past time; as, "He fights as if he contended for life;" He fought as if he had contended for life."

"He fights as if he contended, or, were contending for life;" here, fights and contended express two actions that are contemporary, namely, both in present time; and yet, the former is in the present tense, and the latter in the past tense.

"He fought as if he had contended, or, had been contending for his life;" here, also, the two actions implied by the words fought and had contented, are contemporaneous, both implying past time; but, the latter verb, on account of its following the words as if, is put in the past-perfect tense.

409. a. The Infinitive is in the present tense when it is contemporary in point of time with its governing verb, or subsequent to it; as, "From the little conversation which I had with him, he appeared to be a man of learning;' "The apostles were determined to preach the gospel."

[ocr errors]

b. But the Infinitive is in the perfect tense, when it is antecedent to the governing verb; as, "Kirkstall Abbey appears to have been an extensive building."

c. ILLUSTRATION. “From the little conversation which I had with him, he appeared to be a man of learning ;" here, the verb to be is in the infinitive present, because it is contemporary with its governing verb appeared; that is, happening at the same time; thus, " He appeared then, at the very time I was speaking to him, to be a man of learning." The apostles were determined to preach the gospel;" her, the verb to preach is properly put in the infinitive present, because the action expressed by the verb to preach is subsequent to, or coming after its governing verb determined. As the execution of a thing necessarily follows our determination, it would be absurd to say, "We are determined to have done it." Indeed, all verus

expressive of hope, intention, desire, command, must be followed by the infinitive present, and not by the perfect.

d." Kirkstall Abbey appears to have been an extensive building;" here, to have been is antecedent to appears, that is, it relates to a time which was past before the time which is implied by the word appears, and the expression is the same as if I had said, "Kirkstall Abbey appears now to have been formerly an extensive building.'

Again, "It would afford me pleasure to do it" here, the infinitive present is used, because the action is not yet performed; the meaning is, "It would afford me pleasure to do it now, or at some. future period."

"It would afford me pleasure to have done it ;" here, to have done is antecedent to would afford, and is, therefore, put in the infinitive perfect; the meaning is," It would now afford me pleasure to have done it some time ago." "It would have afforded me great pleasure, as often as I reflected upon it, to have been the messenger of such intelligence;" here, to have been is in the infinitive perfect, because the message is antecedent to the pleasure." You ought to do it," implies present duty; "You ought to have done it," implies past duty.

RULE 15. THE PARTICIPLES.

LESSON 66.

410. a. Participles derived from transitive verbs, govern the objective case; as, "hearing him;" "having praised them."

b. When the Participle becomes a noun, it has all the properties of a noun; as, "The workings of the mind."

c. Participial adjectives retain the termination, but not the government of participles; when, therefore, they appear to be followed by an objective case, that objective requires the insertion of a preposition; as, "He was most deserving of

attention.'

d. The participle is frequently taken absolutely; as, “Properly speaking, there is no such thing as chance."

411. a. When the noun connected with the participle is active, or doing something, the participle is considered a Verbal Noun, and requires an article before it, and the preposition of after it; as, "In the hearing of the philosopher;" "By the preaching of Paul." Here philosopher is the hearer, Paul the preacher.

b. When any ambiguity would arise from this mode of construction, the possessive with 's should be substituted for the particle of; thus, "the killing of the gamekeeper." is ambiguous. We cannot say whether the gamekeeper was the killer or the killed. The following expression is clear, "This cannot justify the gamekeeper's killing the man."

c. But when the noun represents the object of an action, the participle is used merely as a participle, and, therefore, the article and the preposition of must be omitted; as, "In hearing the philosopher."

d. The force of the preceding rules will be more striking by an additional example; "By the preaching of the apostles;" I mean, that" The apostles preached respecting some individual;" but, when I say, "By preaching the apostles," my meaning is, that "The apostles themselves were the subjects of some other person's preaching." The expression, "On hearing of the philosopher," is elliptical; it means, "On hearing something respecting the philosopher."

e. When a preposition usually follows the participle, the word of is inadmissible;

as, "His depending on promises proved his ruin." Here of could not be inserted after depending.

412. a. Participles perform a double office; first, by governing nouns and pronouns in the possessive case; and secondly, if derived from transitive verbs, by requiring the noun or pronoun following to be in the objective case ; without the intervention of the preposition of; as, “Much depends on William's observing the rule, and error will be the consequence of his neglecting it."

b. "William's observing the rule;" here William's is in the possessive case, governed by observing in the capacity of a noun, and rule is in the objective case, governed by observing in the capacity of an active participle, and therefore the word of is unnecessary after observing."What do you think of my horse's running?" is different to "What do you think of my horse running ?" "My horse's running," implies that he did run; but," my horse running," implies a question whether he shall or shall not run. "I have some recollection of his father's being (in the capacity of) judge; here father's is the possessive governed by being.

413. a. The active participle must never be used for the passive participle; as, "Money was wanting to defray the expenses," should be, was wanted," &c.

66

b. In the following sentences also, " Young men educating for the Christian ministry" should be, "Young men preparing, studying, or under instruction, for the Christian ministry." "I want my coat mending, repairing," &c., should be, "I want my coat (to be) mended, repaired," &c.

RULE 16. ADVERBS.

LESSON 67.

414. a. Adverbs must be placed near the words whose signification they modify, that the sense may be exactly conveyed. They are generally placed, 1. before adjectives; 2. after verbs that are single, but sometimes before them; 3. between the auxiliary and the verb; as, "A truly diligent man ;" "He behaves well and is much esteemed."

b. In the following example, jointly is not in its proper situation; "The Celtiberi, in Spain, borrowed that name from the Celtæ and Iběri, from whom they were jointly descended." "Jointly with whom?" It should be," from whom (the Celtæ and Iběri) jointly they were descended."

415. The Adverb is placed-1. Before adjectives: as, "A truly diligent man." -2. After a verb when it is single, and after the object of a transitive verb; as,

"He speaks correctly; ""He loves him sincerely." Sometimes, however, it precedes the verb; as, "He really respects him."-3. In active and neuter verbs when there is one auxiliary, it is placed either between the auxiliary and verb, or after both; as," He has diligently employed his time;" "He has spoken well." When there are two auxiliaries, it is placed either between them or after both; as, "He might easily have known the result;"" He should have earnestly urged it upon him." But sometimes, when anything emphatical is intended, it precedes the auxiliaries; as, "And certainly you must have known."-4. In passive verbs, the adverb is generally placed after the auxiliary, when there is one, and frequently after the last, when there are two or more; as, "He was graciously received; "He might have been correctly instructed in that science."— A negative adverb is placed before the participle, whether it is active or passive; as," Not having heard;" Not having been seen."-5. When there are several adverbs, and several aux

iliaries to the same verb, the adverbs must be intermixed with the auxiliaries; as, "I have always been very much perplexed under these circumstances."-6. In interrogative and exclamatory expressions, the adverbs generally introduce the sentence; as, "How completely this most amiable of human virtues had taken possession of his soul."

416. a. Care must be taken in the position of the word only; if I say." Only he was poor;" my meaning is, that "He was merely this one thing-poor." If I say, "He only was poor," I mean, that "He was the only individual that was poor." If I say. He was only poor," I may mean, that" He was poor and nothing else." Only follows the nouns and pronouns to which it refers; as, "Him only have I known;" ;" "The man only was discovered." When there is a negative, only precedes the noun and pronoun, as, " Not only the sheep, but also the horse;" and, also, when it refers to one of two words indifferently, as, "Theism can be opposed only to polytheism or atheism." When it refers to a whole clause, it is generally placed before it; as, " By greatness, I do not mean only the bulk of any single object, but the largeness of the whole view." These observations will generally be applicable to the words merely, solely, chiefly, first, at least, and a few others.

b." It is not the business of virtue, to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them." Here, the business of virtue is intended to be denied to be one thing, and affirmed to be another; not must, therefore, be inserted in its proper clause; thus, "It is the business of virtue, not to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them." "I do not think that he was averse to the office, nor do I believe that it was unsuited to him." Here, as do think and do believe are nearly synonymous, one must be rejected, and or substituted for nor; thus, "I do not think either that he was averse to the office, or that it was unsuited to him."

c. When an article is used, it must be placed either before the adverb or after both adverb and adjective; as, "On a rather cursory perusal of the book; "Too great a variety."

417. The adverb enough is always placed after the adjective which it modifies, and the adjective and the adverb after the substantive; as, "A house large enough."

418. a. The adverb never must not be used for ever; thus, "Charm he never so wisely;" should be, "Charm he ever so wisely."

b. The words never, sometimes, often, always, generally precede the verb; as, "I never was there;" "He always speaks." But they may either precede or follow an auxiliary; as, “He was never allowed;" or, "He never was allowed to be idle."

c. Seldom or ever, should be seldom or never, or, seldom if ever; e'er, a contraction of ever, is sometimes improperly used for ere, before; scarcely anything is preferable to almost nothing.

419. The adverbs hence, thence, whence, do not require from before them, as each of them implies that preposition; thus, "Whence did you come;" signifies, "from what place did you come?"

420. Hither, thither, and whither, are at present used after verbs of motion only on solemn occasions. In other situations, the adverbs here, there, where, are employed; as, "He came here ;" "We rode there."

421. a. When and then must not be used for nouns and pronouns; thus, “Since when?” “since then, ""the then

« PoprzedniaDalej »