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LATROBI
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 A GRAMMAR
OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
 A GRAMMAR OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
IN THREE VOLUMES

VOL. I. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, SOUNDS

AND SPELLINGS, WORD-FORMATION
By Hans Kurath, Ph.D.

VOL. II. PARTS OF SPEECH, ACCIDENCE

By George O. Curme, Ph.D., Litt.D.

VOL. III. SYNTAX

By George O. Curme, Ph.D., Litt.D.

D. C. HEATH A N D C O M P A N Y
BOSTON
SYNTAX BY
GEORGE O. CURME

D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY

BOSTON ! >^'
 4^5
Mi

COPYBIGHT, 1931,
BY D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY

N o part of the material covered b y thia

copyright m a y be reproduced in any form
without written permission of the publishers

(6 J 4)

LATROBB
UMiVFRSITY
LIBRARY

PRINTED IN T H E UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 PREFACE
T h e purpose of this volume is to present a systematic and rather
full outline of English syntax based upon actual usage. T h e book
contains the fruits of m a n y years of earnest investigation. F r o m
the beginning of these studies the great Oxford Dictionary has
been an unfailing source of inspiration and concrete help. T h e
author owes m u c h also to the large works of the foreign students
of our language, the grammars of Jespersen, Poutsma, Kruisinga,
Gustav Kriiger, and Wendt, the first three written in English, the
last two in German. Moreover, there is a considerable foreign
literature in the form of monographs and articles in technical
language journals. T h e author has learned m u c h from the keen
observations of these foreign scholars, w h o have sharp eyes for
the peculiarities of our language. H e has also m a d e extensive
use of the quotations gathered by them and the m a n y other
foreign workers in this field. In the same w a y he has availed
himself of the materials gathered by English-speaking scholars.
This book could not have been m a d e without the aid of these
great stores of fact. But to get a clear, independent view of
present usage and its historical development the author found it
necessary to read widely for himself, in older English and in the
present period, in British literature and, especially, in American
literature, which has not been studied so generally as it deserves.
Almost the entire important literature of the early part of the
M o d e r n English period has been read, in critical editions where
such have appeared. Everywhere attention has been called to
the loose structure of the English sentence at that time and to the
subsequent development of our simple, terse, differentiated forms
of expression an eloquent testimony to the growing intellectual
life of the English-speaking people. In the best literature of his
o w n time the author has read so extensively that he feels that his
findings have independent value. With his eyes constantly upon
present usage, he has read a large number of recent novels, dramas,
lectures, orations, speeches, letters, essays, histories, scientific
treatises, poems, etc., from all parts of the English-speaking
v
vi PREFACE

territory. It might seem atfirstglance that the novelists and

dramatists are more fully represented than writers on the events
of the day, politics, literature, history, science, etc., but in fact
this, the calm, composed form of English speech, representing the
higher unity of the language, has been very carefully studied and
illustrative examples are given everywhere throughout the book,
but usually without mention of the source since they represent
c o m m o n normal usage. In the novel and the drama, however,
we find the irregular beat of changefulfife,varying widely in dif-
ferent provinces and social strata, and, moreover, often disturbed
by the exciting influences of pressing events, changing moods, and
passionate feeling. A n attempt has been m a d e to give at least a
faint idea of this complex life so far as it has found an expression
in our language.
O n the other hand, the more dignified forms of expression have
been carefully treated. G o o d English varies according to the oc-
casion, just as our dress varies according to the occasion. Evening
dress would be out of place in playing a football game. Loose
colloquial English, as often described in this book, is frequently as
appropriate as a loose-fitting garment in moments of relaxation.
The lesser grammarians, w h o so generally present only one form of
English, not only show their bad taste, but do a great deal of harm
in that they impart erroneous ideas of language. In this book also
the language of the c o m m o n people is treated. It is here called
'popular speech' since the c o m m o n grammatical term 'vulgar'
has a disparaging meaning which arouses false conceptions. Pop-
ular English is an interesting study. O n the one hand, it has
retained characteristics of our greatest masters of English, which
the literary language has discarded. O n the other hand, quite
forgetful of its old conservatism, it boldly faces the present with
its new needs and hesitates not to give an expression to them,
often, like our western pioneers, opening up paths to n e w and
better things, going forward with faith in the present and the
future. Those w h o always think of popular speech as ungram-
matical should recall that our present literary grammar was origi-
nally the grammar of the c o m m o n people of England. W h o today
would return to our older literary English? T h e c o m m o n people
will also in the future m a k e contributions to our language. T h e
author, however, does not desire to emphasize too m u c h the
importance of the c o m m o n people. T h e expressive power of our
 PREFACE vii

language has for the most part come from the intellectual class.
Left entirely to the c o m m o n people the English language would
soon deteriorate. O n the other hand, intellectual struggles bring
to language an undesirable abstractness and intricacy of expres-
sion, while the c o m m o n people bring to it a refreshing concreteness
and simplicity, which appeals also to people of culture and will
influence them. Our American popular speech, in general, has not
proved to be very productive. It has preserved in large measure
the original British forms of expression. As, however, the various
British dialects have been brought together on American soil,
they have not been preserved intact, but have been curiously
mingled. In sections where mountains, low s w a m p y lands, and
islands have isolated tracts of country the language is often
peculiarly archaic. T h e Negroes as a result of social isolation
have preserved m a n y old forms of expression acquired in earlier
days from the whites, w h o themselves often spoke archaic British
dialect.
Diligent use has been m a d e of every possible means to secure
an accurate, reliable insight into existing conditions in all the
different grades of English speech, both as to the actualfixedusage
of today and as to present tendencies. Of course, the grades of our
literary language have been put in the foreground. A n earnest
effort has been m a d e to treat clearly the most difficult and most
perplexing questions of literary English in order that those might
receive practical help w h o are often in doubt as to h o w they should
express themselves.
This book is not rich in details. It treats of the general prin-
ciples of English expression. T h e attention is directed, not to
words, but to the grammatical categories the case forms, the
nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, the prepositional phrase,
the indicative, the subjunctive, the active, the passive, the word-
order, the clause formations, clauses with finite verb, and the
newer, terser participial, gerundival, and infinitival clauses, etc.
These categories are the means b y which w e present our thought
in orderly fashion and with precision, and are intimately associated
with the expression of our inner feeling. T h e story of the develop-
ment of these categories constitutes the oldest and most reliable
chapters in the history of the inner fife of the English people.
Serious efforts have been m a d e everywhere throughout this book
to penetrate into the original concrete meaning of these categories,
viii PREFACE

in order to throw light upon the interesting early struggles of our

people for a fuller expression of their inner life and to gain sugges-
tions for their present struggles in this direction. In these excur-
sions into older English the author in his quotations from the
original sources always preserves the older form, usually in the
original spelling, but in the case of writings still widely read, as
the Bible and Shakespeare, the spelling has been modernized in
conformity to present usage.
T h e author has not for a m o m e n t forgotten that English is a
language without a central territory that regulates its use. It is
spoken in m a n y centers, which are becoming more and more real
centers and are developing under peculiar circumstances. Hence,
usage cannot be fixed in accordance with the standards of any
particular center. In the erstwhile colonial centers, America,
Ireland, etc., English, no longer in direct touch with the language
of England, has not at all points developed in the same way. T h e
development has proceeded unevenly in the different territories.
There is no English colony or former colony that follows the
British standard in every respect, so that English is characterized
in every country by peculiarities of development; but as the
differences are not in essential things, English is still an entity,
a well-defined language with peculiar differences in the various
countries. Except where something is said to the contrary, all
descriptions of language in this book refer to the body of usage
c o m m o n to England and America. W h e r e British and American
English go different ways, each is described.
In early American English the prevailing type of expression
was southern British, the language of the southern half of England
and at the same time the literary language of the United Kingdom,
so that atfirstthe literary language of England and that of America
had the same general character. In the eighteenth century came
Scotch-Irish immigrants in large numbers, also m a n y from the
north of England. T h e speech of these newcomers was, of course,
northern British, a conservative form of English preserving older
sounds and expressions. T h e new settlers naturally went to the
newer parts of the country west of the old colonies. Their presence
there in large numbers influenced American English in certain
respects. While the younger, southern British form of English
remained intact for the most part on the Atlantic seaboard and
in large measure also in the south generally, the modified form
 PREFACE IX

of it, characterized by older, northern British features, became

established everywhere in the north except along the Atlantic
seaboard.
O n the other hand, the new things and the new needs of the
N e w World called forth a large number of n e w words and new
expressions. Moreover, the abounding, freer life of the N e w
World created a new slang. E v e n conservative Scotch Irish had
something new to offer will in the first person of the future
tense instead of literary shall. These differences in vocabulary
and idiom will always distinguish the English-speaking peoples,
but will not separate them. They have already stood a severe test.
Between 1620 and 1800 important changes took place in the
grammatical structure of English, both in Great Britain and
America, but instead of drifting apart in this period of marked
changes these two branches of English, at all important points,
developed harmoniously together. This was the result of the
universal tendency in colonial days a m o n g Americans of culture
to follow in speech the usage of the mother country. T h e colonies
had little literature of their o w n and were largely dependent in
matters of culture upon the Old World. If it had not been for
this general tendency of American culture, the language of the
N e w World might have drifted away from that of England, for,
as can be seen by American popular speech, there is a very strong
tendency for English on American soil to cling to the older forms
of the language. About 1800 the structure of literary English
had virtually attained its present form in both territories and
was in both essentially the same. That since that date no syn-
tactical changes of consequence have taken place in either branch
indicates a remarkable solidarity of structure. T h e English-
speaking people are held together by their priceless c o m m o n
heritage the English language in its higher forms in science and
literature. Constant contact with these forces will keep the dif-
ferent peoples in touch with one another. T h e same English life
pulsates everywhere, insuring in spite of the different conditions
a similarity, if not a oneness, of evolution.
Definite unifying forces are n o w at work. W e all feel that
that is the best English which is most expressive, or most simple.
These are the only principles that will be universally recognized.
The drift towards simplicity is still strong and will continue strong.
As m a n y forms and concrete pictures have in the past disappeared.
X PREFACE

yielding to simpler modes of expression, so also will they continue

to disappear in the future. W e shall thus continue to lose and
gain, lose in concreteness and gain in directness. Present tenden-
cies point to the possible ultimate loss of several valuable forms,
as 7, he, she, we, they in certain categories, since these forms are
exposed to the leveling influences of a powerful drift, as explained
in 7 C a; but there is now, on the other hand, in careful language a
strong tendency to express ourselves clearly, which prompts us
to use these expressive old forms. Indeed, at the present time
this tendency is, at this point, stronger than it has been for
centuries. T h e desire to speak clearly and accurately is even
leading us to create new forms for this purpose, as will be shown
in this book. T h e territory is wide, but thinking people every-
where, even though not in actual contact with one another, will
instinctively be guided by the same general principle, will choose
that which is most expressive. Hence the author defends in this
book the recommendations of conservative grammarians wherever
they contend against the tendencies of the masses to disregard fine
distinctions in the literary language already hallowed by long
usage. O n the other hand, the author often takes a stand against
these conservative grammarians wherever they cling to the old
simply because it is old and thus fail to recognize that English
grammar is the stirring story of the English people's long and
constant struggle to create a fuller and more accurate expression
of their inner life.
This book has a good deal to say of these struggles, even the
latest m u c h censured ones, which find so little favor with con-
servative grammarians because they are n e w and violate rules that
are sacred to them. In all ages, the things of long ago have found
zealous and fanatical defenders, w h o are at the same time foes of
the new and unhallowed. These n e w things of today, however,
need no organized defense, for they are born of universal needs
and will be supported by the resistless forces of life that created
them. T o the conservative grammarian all change is decay.
Although he knows well that an old house often has to be torn
d o w n in part or as a whole in order that it m a y be rebuilt to suit
modern conditions, he never sees the constructive forces at work
in the destruction of old grammatical forms. H e is fond of mourn-
ing over the loss of the subjunctive and the present slovenly use
of the indicative. H e hasn't the slightest insight into the fine
 PREFACE xi

constructive work of the last centuries in rebuilding the sub-

junctive. T h e present nicely differentiated use of the indicative
and the newly created subjunctive, as presented in this book, is
recommended for careful study to those w h o talk about the decay
of our language. T h e English-speaking people will chase after
fads and eagerly employ the latest slang as long as itfives,for
play is as necessary as work, but as long as it remains a great
people it will strive unceasingly to find more convenient and more
perfect forms of expression. It will do that as naturally as it
breathes, and will continue to do it, so that grammarians shall
occasionally have to revise the* school grammars. T h e fads will
pass away, but the constructive work will remain and go on. T h e
author has spent his life in studying the growth and development
of Germanic expression and has been very happy in his work. It
is his ardent hope that he has presented in this book the subject
of English expression in such a w a y that the reader m a y realize
that English grammar is not a body of set, unchangeable rules,
but a description of English expression, bequeathed to us by our
forefathers, not to be piously preserved, but to be constantly used
and adapted to our needs as they adapted it to their needs.
Square brackets have been uniformly used throughout this book
to inclose within quotations the omitted parts of an elliptical
statement. Hence they were not available for use to inclose within
quotations parenthetical remarks by the author of the Grammar.
All parenthetical remarks m a d e by the author of the Grammar
within quotations are inclosed in parentheses as elsewhere.
In the few instances in Syntax where the pronunciation of
words is indicated, use has been m a d e of the well-known W e b -
sterian key, so that the means of indicating pronunciation here are
quite different from those employed in Volume I, where English
sounds are treated scientifically. T h e author of Syntax hesitated
to assume on the part of his readers the knowledge of a scientific
alphabet.
T h e author desires to express here his feeling of obligation to
his colleague, Professor James Taft Hatfield, for m u c h aid received
from him from time to time. His wide knowledge of modern
English literature and his notes containing quotations from m o d -
ern writers illustrating characteristic forms of current English
expression have been at the author's disposal, and, what is of
gr3at importance, his fine feeling for the English of our day has
xii PREFACE

m a n y times guided the author in making final decisions. T h e

author also desires to express here his gratitude for the large
number of individual quotations that have been sent to him by
other friends.
T h e author is deeply indebted also to the following scholars,
w h o have read the manuscript and contributed valuable remarks
which have been embodied in the text or have led to important
changes: the late Professor O. F. Emerson of Western Reserve
University; Professor W . F. Bryan of Northwestern University;
Professor J. S. Kenyon of Hiram College. T h e author has had
the advantage of discussing several vexing questions with Sir Wil-
liam Craigie, the editor of the Oxford Dictionary. H e has also
received from him some valuable quotations. This acknowledg-
ment is m a d e without any desire to hold these and other contribu-
tors responsible for views in the book which they do not share.
For assistance in reading the proofs and for useful suggestions the
author desires to thank Dr. Bert Emsley of the Ohio State Uni-
versity; Professors W . Leopold, J. W . Spargo, F. A. BernstorfE
of Northwestern University; Professor Francis E . M o r a n of the
University of Notre D a m e . Finally, the author desires to express
here his deep gratitude to Dr. F. W . Scott of D. C. Heath and
C o m p a n y for encouraging this enterprise and for his active co-
operation in putting the book into its present form.

GEORGE O. CURME
Northwestern University
Evanskm, Illinois
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
See analysis of contents at the head of each chapter
"HAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY; T H E SIMPLE SENTENCE, ITS
FORMS, FUNCTIONS, A N D ESSENTIAL ELE-
MENTS 1
II. THE SUBJECT 3
CASE AND POSITION 3
FORMS 5
OMISSION OF SUBJECT 18
III. THE PREDICATE 20
A FINITE VERB OP COMPLETE PREDICATION 20
A VERB OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION AND COMPLE-
MENT 26
PREDICATE APPOSITIVE 30
PREDICATE COMPLEMENT 32
A Noun 32
An Adjective or Participle 36
A Pronoun 39
An Infinitive 44
A Gerund 47
An Adverb and Prepositional Phrase 48
IV. AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUBJECT AND PREDI-
CATE 49
NUMBER 49
PERSON 60
GENDER 61
CASE 61
V. SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE . . 62
ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS 62
(I) Adherent and Appositive Adjective and Parti-
ciple 63
(II) Attributive Genitive 70
(III) Apposition 88
(IV) Prepositional Phrase as Modifier of Noun ... 92
(V) Infinitive as Modifier of Noun 93
(VI) Adverb as Modifier of Noun 93
(VII) Clause as Modifier of Noun 94
VI. OBJECTIVE MODIFIERS 95
ACCUSATIVE O B J E C T 96
D A T I V E OBJECT, F O R M , U S E 103
GENITIVE O B J E C T 109
PREPOSITIONAL O B J E C T 112
D O U B L E OBJECT xiii 114
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER [Link]
VII. ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS 128
F O R M AND FUNCTION 128
POSITION AND STRESS 130
NEGATIVES 138
FORM OF SIMPLE ADVERBS 140
'This,' 'That,' 'The' Used Adverbially 146
COMPARISON OF ADVERBS 147
VIII. INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS 151
INTERJECTIONS 151
DIRECT ADDRESS 152
ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE 152
ABSOLUTE PARTICIPLES 158
IX. CLASSES OF SENTENCES 161
T H E COMPOUND SENTENCE 161
X. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE: SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE 174
XI. SUBJECT CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS . . 181
XII. PREDICATE CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS. 196
XIII. ADJECTIVE CLAUSE 199
ATTRIBUTIVE SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSE 199
XIV. ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE 204
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELATIVE P R O N O U N ' W H O ' . . 208
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELATIVE P R O N O U N ' W H A T ' . . 212
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RELATIVE P R O N O U N 'WHICH' . . 215
OTHER DETERMINATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS 217
DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES . . 223
PERSONALITY AND F O R M 228
CASE OF RELATIVE; ITS AGREEMENT WITH ANTECEDENT . 230
POSITION AND REPETITION OF RELATIVES 232
ASYNDETIC RELATIVE CLAUSE 233
ABRIDGMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSE 236
XV. OBJECT CLAUSE 239
GENITIVE CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 239
DATIVE CLAUSE 240
ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 241
PREPOSITIONAL CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS . . . . 253
XVI. ADVERBIAL CLAUSE 259
CLAUSE OF PLACE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 262
CLAUSE OF TIME AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 266
CLAUSE OF MANNER 277
CLAUSE OF DEGREE 294
CLAUSE OF C A U S E AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 309
CLAUSE OF CONDITION OR EXCEPTION 317
CLAUSE OF CONCESSION AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS . . . . 332
CLAUSE OF PURPOSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS 340
CLAUSE OF MEANS , 345
XVII. W O R D - O R D E R 347
 TABLE OF CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER PAGE
XVIII. TENSES AND THEIR SEQUENCE 354
PRESENT TENSE 355
PAST TENSE 357
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE 358
PAST PERFECT T E N S E 361
FUTURE TENSE 362
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE 371
XIX. ASPECT 373
DURATIVE ASPECT 373
POINT-ACTION ASPECTS 377
TERMINATE ASPECT 385
ITERATIVE ASPECT 386
XX. MOOD 389
INDICATIVE 390
SUBJUNCTIVE 390
Optative 394
Potential 409
IMPERATIVE 430
XXI. VOICE 437
ACTIVE 437
PASSIVE 443
XXII. INFINITE FORMS OF THE VERBS 448
PARTICIPLE 448
XXIII. THE INFINITIVE 455
XXIV. THE GERUND 483
XXV. ADJECTIVES 497
FUNCTIONS AND CLASSES 497
INFLECTION OF DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES 498
INFLECTION AND U S E OF LIMITING ADJECTIVES .... 508
SUBSTANTIVE FUNCTION OF ADJECTIVES 518
ADJECTIVES AND PARTICIPLES USED AS N O U N S 534
XXVI. NUMBER IN NOUNS 539
COLLECTIVE N O U N S 539
PLURAL U S E D AS SINGULAR 540
PLURAL N O U N S WITH FORM OF SINGULAR 541
PLURAL OF N A M E S OF MATERIALS 542
PLURAL OF ABSTRACT N O U N S 543
N O U N S WITHOUT A SINGULAR 543
PLURAL OF 'KIND,' 'SORT' 544
N U M B E R IN TITLES 547
XXVII. GENDER 549
XXVIII. PRONOUNS 557
XXIX. PREPOSITIONS 559
XXX. GROUPS A N D GROUP-WORDS 572
INDEX 577
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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY.
1. Syntax treats of the relations of words or groups of words
to one another in sentences.
Sentences are divided into three classes simple, compound,
and complex.

THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

DEFINITION, FORMS, FUNCTIONS,
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
2. A sentence is an expression of a thought or feeling by means
of a word or words used in such form and manner as to convey
the meaning intended.
The form of the sentence m a y be: (1) exclamatory, uttering an
outcry, or giving expression to a c o m m a n d , wish, or desire, often
closing with an exclamation point perhaps the oldest form of
the sentence; (2) declarative, stating a fact, closing with a period;
(3) interrogative, asking a question, closing with an interrogation
point.
^ h e sentence has two functions: (1) It is emotive, i.e., it is an
expression of will, or is an expression of emotions, attitudes, inten-
tions, and moods present in the speaker or to be evoked in the
listener. (2) It makes a statement, or, in the case of a question,
calls for a statement. T h e question belongs not only here but also
to (1) since it contains an expression of will. Compare 43 I A
(last par.).
It is usually considered that there are two essential elements in
every sentence the subject and the predicate: Lead sinks. The
subject is that which is spoken of. T h e predicate is that which is
said of the subject. In a normal sentence both subject and predi-
cate are present, but sometimes the one or the other or both m a y
be absent and yet the sentence m a y be a complete expression of
thought. See a below.
a. S E N T E N C E S L A C K I N G T H E O N E O R T H E O T H E R O R B O T H O F T H E
E S S E N T I A L E L E M E N T S . In accurate thinking we often need a large
vocabulary and intricate grammatical form; but language also adapts
itself readily to the simpler needs of practical life, where action, tone, and
the situation are often more expressive than words and grammatical form.
1
 2 SIMPLE SENTENCES LACKING ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS 2o

Still, as in primitive speech, a single word in connection with the proper

tone or the situation conveys our meaning and thus constitutes a complete
-^sentence: 0! Ouch! Yes. No. 'Glass. Handle with care.' Beautiful!
Hurry! If w e call out 'Fred!' to indicate that he should come, w e pro-
nounce in loud prolonged tones Fred as a dissyllable. If w e scold him w e
pronounce Fred as a monosyllable and raise the tone of the voice. Short
terse expression was not only characteristic of primitive speech when
language was undeveloped, but it is still widely used. In all such cases
the expression of the thought is perfect. T h e sentences, though brief, are
complete. In the setting in which they appear, not a word, not a syllable
is lacking. A learned grammarian with mistaken enthusiasm might
desire to expand these brief utterances into full sentences, but in spite of
his grammatical skill the language would be bad, for it would violate
good usage. W e do not here usually employ full sentences, and for a good
reason. Fuller expression would be incomplete expression, for it would
mar the thought, take something vital away from it. Thus such brief
sentences are as complete as those of exact scientific language, where,
however, the speaker, removed from everyday life, must express himself
fully if he would describe accurately the hidden forces he is studying.
In older languages there was often no verb and survivals of this older
type of sentence are still c o m m o n : Nobody here? Everybody gone? C o m -
pare 6 B a. In older speech there was sometimes no subject, expressed
or understood. See 4 II B.
The oldest form of the sentence contained only one word, which, how-
ever, was a complete sentence, not a word in its modern sense, for a word
is a later development in language growth than a sentence. This oldest
type of sentence still survives in case of exclamations, as Ouch! and the
simple imperative forms, as Go! In course of time successive sentences
often stood in such close relation to each other that the different sentences
developed into words: See! Fire! Yonder! becoming See thefireyonder!
 CHAPTER II

THE SUBJECT
PAGE
C A S E A N D POSITION OF T H E SUBJECT 3
Survivals of older word-order 3
F O R M S OF T H E SUBJECT 5
Particulars as to form 5
Peculiar use and meaning of certain pronominal forms
when employed as subject 7
OMISSION OF T H E SUBJECT 18
3. Case and Position of the Subject. In Old English, the s
ject and its article and modifying adjectives were in the nominative
case. Today only certain pronouns, he, she, etc., have a distinctive
nominative: 'He inspires.' Noun, article, and adjectives now have
here the common form: lAfinebig mind inspires.' In Old English,
the noun had a fuller inflection than now and its article and modi-
fying adjectives had still more distinctive case forms, since in this
early period they were needed to make clear the grammatical re-
lations, for then the grammatical relations were not indicated as
now by the word-order. In the course of the Old English period
the tendency to indicate the grammatical relations by the word-
order grew stronger and stronger. The subject was put into the
first place, the verb was placed next or near the subject, then
came the object and adverbial elements.
Later, after this new word-order had become established in the
subject and object relations, noun, article, and modifying adjec-
tives gradually lost their distinctive case forms, for in the new order
of things form was slighted as not being a vital factor in expressing
the thought. In the literary language the personal, relative, and
interrogative pronouns have retained their old distinctive case
forms better than nouns and adjectives, but also in these pronouns
the tendency to level away the distinctive nominative and accusa-
tive forms to a common form for both these relations has become
strong in our colloquial and popular speech, as described in 7 C a
and 11 2 e.
a. SURVIVALS OF OLDER WORD-ORDER. The new word-order with the
subject in the first place did not come into use at any particular date, but
has been gradually gaining ground throughout the centuries. Even in our
own day, however, it has not entirely supplanted the old Germanic prin-
ciple of placing the emphatic or important word in thefirstplace without
3
4 SUEVIVALS OF OLDER WORD-ORDER 3 O

regard to its grammatical function. Hence, w e still oftenfindan emphatic

or important word in thefirstplace in a sentence or proposition: 'Hdnd
m e that book!' ' Ndwhere in the world is there such a place for an idle m a n
as London.' 'He quickened his pace and sd did I.' 'These men! h o w I
detest them!' For fuller treatment see 35 1 and 2.
Also in a question, where a noun subject does not in normal usage
introduce the sentence, the noun subject is in lively language often never-
theless put into the u n c o m m o nfirstplace. Under the pressure of thought
or feeling the subject here springs forthfirstas the most important thing
before the usual grammatical structure occurs to the mind, and is later
repeated in the usual position of the subject in the form of a personal
pronoun: 'Your friends, what will they say?' (F. C. Philips, One Never
Knows, I, 52). Similarly, in declarative sentences the subject thus often
springs forth suddenly before it is felt as a subject and is then repeated
in the form of a personal pronoun, especially earlier in the period, when
the literary language was not so subject to logical and formal requirements
as today, and still very commonly in popular and colloquial speech: ' The
L6rd your G6d, which goes before you, he shallfightfor you' (Devi., I, 30).
' N o w , they ain't m a n y w o m e n that would just let a m a n stand u p like
that and give her daughter away under her nose, but my wife, sh<'s been
well trained' (William Allen White, A Certain Rich Man, Ch. VIII). If
such a subject is a clause of any kind, it must be repeated in the form of
the neuter pronoun it: 'Getting to truth it's like warming cold hands
at afire;isn't it?' (Robert Hichens, Mrs. Marden, Ch. VI). Often the
whole predicate thus suddenly springs forth with only afightpronominal
subject, later followed by the logical subject: 'It leaves a nasty taste in
the mouth, this scheme' (F. C. Philips, One Never Knows, II, 221). _
O n the other hand, in case of intransitives and passives the subject is
often withheld for a time, sometimes even until the end of the sentence,
in order to create the feeling of suspense and thus direct attention more
forcibly to it: ' M a n y years ago when I was a mere lad there lived in this
bouse a lonely old man, of whom I desire to tell you an interesting story.'
the center of the room, under the chandelier, as became a host, stood the
head of the family, old Jolyon' (Galsworthy, The Man of Property, Ch. I).
' Behind him had come in a tall woman, of fullfigureandfinepresence, wit
hair still brown Lady Valleys herself' (id., The Patrician, Ch. I). ' Fro
mere cuttings have been grown some of thefinestrosebushes I have.' Sim-
ilarly, sometimes in the subordinate clause: 'No sooner was the last lodge
of the Western drive left behind than there came into sudden view the
most pagan bit of landscape in all England' (Galsworthy, The Patrician,
Ch. VII). 'But more exactly and more boldly the real reaction of the
press was indicated by Punch's cartoon of a phoenix, bearing the grim
and forceful face of Lincoln, rising from the ashes where lay the embers of
all that of old time had gone to make up the liberties of America' (Ephrai
Douglass Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War, II, p. 239).
As in these examples, the emphatic subject that stands at the end of
a proposition or clause should be lengthy and heavy enough to form a
proper balance to what precedes. In accordance with this principle a
 41 d FORMS OF THE SUBJECT 5
short subject, even though stressed, does not usually follow a compound
tense, mood, or voice form of a verb. In an independent proposition a
short emphatic subject often follows a simple form of a verb: 'First comes
the music' Compare 35 1 (6th par.). Not so commonly now as formerly
after a compound tense, mood, or voice form of a verb: ' Then was seen
a strange sight.' This is still less commonly found in a subordinate clause:
'As he spoke, he moved across to the sapling, where was fastened his hdrse'
(Mary Johnston, The Long Roll, Ch. II) (or more commonly where his
hdrse was fastened). After there (4II c), however, a short, emphatic subjec
usually stands at the end of the subordinate clause: 'Where there is a will
thereisaway.' T do not believe that there has ever beena more lovely day.'
Usually it is not possible to place an emphatic subject after a transitive
verb since the subject could not be distinguished from the object, but
sometimes where the thought would not be endangered this old word-
order still survives: 'At last there reached his ear far down the woodland
path the sounds of voices and laughter' (James Lane Allen, The Choir
Invisible, Ch. X X I ) .
4. Forms of the Subject. The complete subject often consists
of a group of words: ' The stately ship dropped her anchor.' T h e
noun around which the other words are grouped is called the sub-
ject word, in this sentence ship. T h e subject word is always in the
nominative case.
I. Particulars as to the Form of the Subject. T h e form of the
subject m a y be that of:
a. A noun: 'The sun is shining.'
b. A pronoun: 'He is writing.' For peculiar uses of pronouns
as subject see II, p. 7.
c. A n adjective or participle used as a noun: ' N o good will come
of it.' 'Rich and poor rejoiced.' 'Ruler and ruled were alike dis-
contented with the turn of affairs.' 'The dying and the wounded
were cared for.' C o m p a r e 58.
d. T h e prepositional infinitive, in older English also the simple
infinitive: ' To err is h u m a n , to forgive divine.' ' T o k n o w m y deed,
't were best not know myself (Macbeth, II, u, 73).
T h e use of the simple infinitive is still c o m m o n in old saws:
'Better (=it is better) bend than break.' 'Better ask than go
astray.' After [it is~] better it still lingers on even in c o m m o n every-
day language: 'I mustn't be too hasty; it would be better wait a
few days, till the end of the term, or even till w e come h o m e from
the seaside, then pack her off' (Hubert H e n r y Davies, The Mollusc,
Act II).
In popular Irish English, the simple infinitive is here still well
preserved, so that it is still quite c o m m o n : 'It would be best for us
follow after the rest of the a r m y of the Whiteboys' ( W . B . Yeats,
6 FORMS OF THE SUBJECT 41/

The Unicorn from the Stars, Act III). As here Irish English often
preserves older English usage.
The preservation of the simple infinitive here in many cases
probably results from our feeling the form to be an imperative, as
can be seen by the tone or in the written language sometimes by the
punctuation: ' Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law'
London, The Call of the Wild, Ch. VI). 'Better not say too much
to the parents at present!' (De Morgan, When Ghost Meets Ghost,
Ch. III). In colloquial speech, however, the old simple infinitive
is still often used where it cannot be interpreted as an imperative:
'All she has to do is come here' (George Ade, Hand-Made Fables,
p. 29). 'She's awful. The only thing she hasn't done is bob
her hair' (Tarkington, Napoleon Was a Little Man). 'I'm not a
general. All I can do is truest the men who are' (S. V. Benet, John
Brown's Body, p. 220).
e. The gerund, usually as a parallel construction to the preposi-
tional infinitive without an essential difference of meaning: 'Seeing
is believing,' or ' To see is to believe.' ' To see with one's own eyes
men and country is better than reading all the books of travel
in the world' (Thackeray) or ' to read all the books of travel in the
world.' Compare 50 4 a.
f. Any other part of speech: 'the ups and downs of life must be
taken as they come.' 'Under is a preposition.' 'The pros and
cons must be considered.' 'I is a pronoun.'
A pronoun m a y also be used as a noun in quite a different sense,
namely, as a noun representing a person: 'Even it was hinted that
poor / had sent a hundred pounds to America' (Thackeray, Samuel
Titmarsh, Ch. XII). ' There is none so sick as, brought to bed, tha
robust he that ever has scorned sickness' (A. S. M . Hutchinson,
This Freedom, p. 207).
Instead of the usual nominative of the pronoun to serve as the
common form of the noun the accusative is often employed where
the pronominal form used follows the verb, but also often else-
where in accordance with the general tendency described in 7 C a:
'There was little me, astride on his bare back' (Hall Caine, The
Christian, I, 334). ' In his place, I (a young lady) might have be
just as bad, if I had been a him, you know' (De Morgan, The Old
Madhouse, Ch. XXVIII). ' H e viewed it (i.e., the play) as an awful
lark, especially when the Him and the Her of it eat their little
diner-de-noce together' (ib., Ch. X X X ) . The accusative is usuall
employed if an accusative to which it refers has preceded it: ' Flat,
stupid uninteresting people, every one of w h o m has, behind a
personality which does not appeal to us important us a story
of some sort' (ib., Ch. V).
 4 II B SITUATION AND IMPERSONAL IT AS SUBJECT 7

g. A group of words: ' Two times two is four.' ' Early to bed, early
to rise makes m a n healthy, wealthy, and wise.' 'In m y time, good
in the saddle was good for everything.'
h. A whole clause: ' Whoever knows him well respects him.' For
the different forms that a subject clause with afiniteverb m a y have,
see 21. Gerundial clauses are a c o m m o n characteristic of English:
'My friend's (or simply his) deceiving me was a sad disappointment
to me.' For the proper form of the subject of the gerund see 50 3.
The subject m a y be also an infinitive clause with an expressed sub-
ject: 'For me to back out n o w would be to acknowledge that I a m
afraid.' Compare 21 e.
II. Peculiar Use and Meaning of Certain Pronominal Forms
When Employed as Subject. Attention is directed here to the fol-
lowing points of English usage.
A. S I T U A T I O N ' I T ' A S S U B J E C T . It is m u c h used as subject to
point to a person or thing that is atfirstpresented in only dim outlines
by the situation, but is often later identified by a predicate noun:
' It's John, or Anna, or the boys,' or ' It's the boys, isn't it?' (utte
by someone upon hearing approaching steps). 'Somebody sat be-
hind him. A little later I saw that it was his brother.' 'Somebody
sat behind him, but I couldn't see w h o it was,' but 'There were
several sitting behind him, but I couldn't see w h o they were.'
' W h o is it (or he)?' (referring to some gentleman w h o has just
entered the room), but ' W h o are they?' (referring to two or more).
It is often a substitute for a noun obvious from the situation or the
context: 'It is twenty miles to Chicago.'
B. I M P E R S O N A L 'IT.' W e n o w say 'It rained yesterday,' but
in Gothic, the oldest Germanic language, there was no it here. The
verb had no subject at all. T h e original idea here was to call at-
tention to an activity or a state without any reference whatever to
a definite subject. In Gothic there were few such verbs, but in
oldest English and G e r m a n this group had become large, since the
original idea of calling attention to an activity or state without any
reference whatever to a definite subject had appealed more and
more to English and G e r m a n feeling as a convenient and valuable
means of expression. Difficulties, however, arose in using this
growing construction. These impersonal verbs in most cases in-
troduced the sentence, a position which was beginning to be char-
acteristic of questions requiring yes or no for an answer. T o avoid
the impression of a question and to comply with the established
convention of associating a subject with the verb, it was early
introduced as subject.
This it is related to situation it (A) in that it refers to a given
situation, but it does not point to a definite or an indefinite person or
8 IMPERSONAL IT AS SUBJECT 4 11 B

thing. A s it does not indicate a definite or an indefinite person or

thing, it is practically meaningless. This it, though containing no
real meaning, serves the useful purpose of giving the statement the
outward form of an ordinary declarative sentence with an expressed
subject, thus making it possible to preserve under changed condi-
tions a useful old construction perfectly intact, for the insertion of
the meaningless it in no w a y impaired the spirit of the old construc-
tion. In older English, the original form of impersonal verbs with-
out itfingeredon for a long while wherever the verb would not
stand in thefirstplace and thus m a k e the impression of a question:
' N o w es day' (Hampole, early fourteenth century) = ' N o w it is
day.' It evenfingersstill, but is no longer understood: 'Today is
thefirstof January.' T h e fact that w e do not employ it after today
here shows clearly that w e do not feel it as subject of is, for w e n o w
regularly employ it as the formal subject of an impersonal verb.
This usage became fixed in the course of the Middle English period.
W e here n o w construe today once felt as an adverb as a noun,
the subject of is, so that the construction has ceased to be imper-
sonal.
The it-form often competes here with the ^ere-form (see C,
p. 9), an entirely different construction in which there is an antici-
patory subject pointing to the following real subject: 'It snowed
heavily last night' or' There was a heavy snow last night.' The
words 'snowed heavily' have the same meaning as 'was a heavy
snow,' although the construction of the expressions is quite dif-
ferent, snowed being a verbal predicate and snow a subject. The
mind thus often employs two quite different means to express
the same thought. There is often no difference of meaning between
the two means of expressing a thought: ' T h e ship sails tomorrow'
or 'The ship will sail tomorrow.' E v e n though the meaning is
the same, there is sometimes a difference of coloring in the two
means, as here in the itr-form and the there-form. ' W a s snow'
with the concrete noun snow with its picture of the earth covered
with a white mantle is a more lively expression than the abstract
verb snowed. W e still say 'It frosted heavily last night' along-
side of ' There was a heavy frost last night,' but 'It dewed heavily'
has been replaced by ' There was a heavy dew.' Instead of ' It is
dewing' w e n o w say 'Dew is falling.' This fondness for the con-
crete as shown by employing a concrete noun in preference to an
abstract verb is one of the striking features of modern English,
often found also in other categories, as in 6 A 6.
Also in other meanings the old impersonal construction is not
so c o m m o n as it once was. W e n o w often prefer a construction
with a definite subject: ' It wanted but a very few days (object of
4 II C ANTICIPATORY IT AND THERE 9
wanted) before that blissful one when Foker should call Blanche
his o w n ' (Thackeray, Pendennis, I, Ch. X X X V I I I ) , but in Ch.
X X X I I 'There still wanted half an hour (subject of wanted) till
dinner.' Where there is a reference to persons, there has long
been a tendency to abandon the impersonal construction with cer-
tain verbs, since it is often desired to represent a definite person
or thing as subject and thus indicate that the person is passing
through an experience or that a definite person or thing is conceived
as affecting the person. Thus older 'me hungreth' has become
'I hunger,' or more commonly 'I a m hungry,' since the subject
is conceived as suffering. 'Me (dative) thinks' (= it seems to
me) and ' I think' seem to us today to be two constructions with
the same verb. Originally the two verbs had different forms.
After the two verbs had in Middle English become identical and
were felt as one, the personal construction here as so often else-
where gradually supplanted the impersonal. In archaic language,
however, the impersonal construction survives in the form of me-
thinks. In Shakespeare's ' W o e is m e ' woe was felt as a noun,
subject of the verb, just as w e n o w feel it, but in the older form of
the construction ' M e is [hf| w o ' it was an adverb govern-
ing the dative me, and the verb is was impersonal with the subject
it always suppressed as the dative introduced the sentence. Like-
wise in if [it] you please w e n o w construe you as subject and say if
you please. Of course, older usage often lives on in dialect and
hence is often reflected in our realistic literature: ' Don't you say
almost every day "This and that will happen, phase (subjunctive
= may it please) G o d " ' (Adam Bede, Ch. II, 29). Sheridan's
' H o w is it with you?' (The Critic, I, 2, A.D. 1779) has been re-
placed by ' H o w are you?' Similarly, older ' H o w fares it with
you?' though still used in poetic language, as in ' H o w fares it with
the happy dead?' (Tennyson, In Memoriam, X L I V ) , is n o w usually
replaced by the personal construction where the word still survives
in this meaning: 'A m a n might go farther and fare worse.' ' W e
shall see hereafter how he fared on his errand' (Freeman, Norman
Conquest, IV, X V I I , 77). Although the personal construction is
displacing the older it-form, the latter is still c o m m o n in m a n y
set expressions: 'it is late,' 'it is twelve o'clock,' 'it is stormy,
smoky,' etc.
C. A N T I C I P A T O R Y 'IT' A N D ' T H E R E . ' W h e n w e desire to call
especial attention to the subject, w e often withhold it for a time,
causing the feeling of suspense.
Where the subject is an emphatic noun or important group of
words, there is m u c h used at or near the beginning of the sentence
as anticipatory subject, pointing forward to the following real sub-
10 ANTICIPATORY IT AND THERE 4 II C

ject, the emphatic noun or important group of words: 'There once

lived in this house a very interesting old man.' 'At that m o m e n t
there came a knock at the door.' 'There is always the possibility
the possibility, I say of being All, or remaining a particle, in t
universe' (Thoreau, Journal, I, p. 486). C o m p a r e 3 a (4th par.).
For especial emphasis the subject word (4) is sometimes placed
before there is (are), followed b y the modifiers of the subject:
'Some bodies there are that, being dead and buried, do not decay'
(Thoreau, Journal, V, p. 10). 'Men there are yet living w h o have
seen him, on m a n y a day in the early seventies, riding his horse
up M a i n Street, clad in the colorful garb of the past' (Percival J.
Cooney, The Dons of the Old Pueblo, Epilogue). Always so in a
question: ' What is there to do?'
W h e n there is no predicate noun in the sentence, anticipatory
there is used to point to a following gerund used as the real subject:
'There is no getting along with him.' "There is no telling what will
happen.' In older English, it w a s used here instead of there:
'Cosin, it (now there) is no dealing with him' (Marlowe, Edward the
Second, 1. 904, about A.D. 1591, ed. 1594). B u t w h e n there is a
predicate noun or adjective in the sentence, it is the usual antici-
patory subject pointing to a following gerundial subject clause:
' It is useless, of no use, no use, no good your saying anything' (or
with general indefinite reference saying anything). C o m p a r e 21 e
(5th par. from end).
Anticipatory it is also used to point to a following subject that-
clause or a subject infinitive clause (21 e): 'It is necessary that you
exert yourself (or to exert yourself). 'It is useless, of no use, no use
no good for you to say anything' (or your saying anything, or with
general indefinite reference to say anything, or saying anything).
Here use and good are predicate nouns. If anticipatory there is
used here, use and good are subjects followed b y a prepositional
phrase of specification: ' There is no use, no good in saying any-
thing, in your saying anything,' or sometimes, 'There is no use of
your saying anything.' T h e there and it constructions are often
blended: ' There is no use your telling me that you are going to be
good' (Oscar Wilde, Dorian Gray, Ch. X I X ) , instead of the correct
' There is no use in your telling me that you are going to be good.'
Compare 21 e (5th par. from end).
Differing from impersonal it, anticipatory it has a little concrete
force, since it points to a definite subject, namely, the following in-
finitive, gerund, or substantive clause. T h e concrete force was
very slight in oldest English, for the it w a s often omitted, like-
wise situation it (A), which is still often omitted, as illustrated
in 5 d. T h e situation in both constructions m a d e the thought
4 IIC ANTICIPATORY IT AND THERE 11
clear. Anticipatory it was early introduced where, as in the pre-
ceding examples, the verb would otherwise stand in thefirstplace,
for the verb in thefirstplace was beginning to be felt as charac-
teristic of a question. T h e older type of sentence without antici-
patory it lingered for centuries where some word or words preceded
the verb: 'Of swich (such) thing [it] were goodly for to telle'
(Chaucer, Prologue of the Nonne Preestes Tale, 13). In course of
time anticipatory it has become well established, as it has been
found helpful in indicating the grammatical relations, but older
usage without it still occurs occasionally, even when the omission
of it brings the verb into thefirstplace. Older usage without it is
best preserved in quaint dialect: '[it] Used to be he couldn't abide
to eat a bite after the sun had set' (Maristan C h a p m a n , The Happy
Mountain, Ch. I). This older usage sometimes occurs in the lit-
erary language: 'One of his pistols, loaded, was already in his
suitcase, [it] Remained only to be positively assured, on some
occasion, that the Captain carried no gun' (Red Book, April, 1922,
p. 112). Similarly, anticipatory there is sometimes suppressed, as in
older English: 'From Texas came Pitzer, James, and Jeff Chisum,
his brothers, to help him in his business, [there] C a m e , too, to
reign over his household for years as chatelaine, Miss Sallie Chisum,
his niece, daughter of James Chisum, as pretty a girl as ever set
fluttering the hearts of the rough-riding cavaliers of the Pecos
country' (Walter Noble Burns, The Saga of Billy the Kid, Ch. I).
Anticipatory it is also used when it is desired to emphasize a
predicate adjective or noun, provided, however, that the logical sub-
ject is a singular noun denoting a lifeless thing, or is a clause. T h e
sentence is introduced by it, followed shortly by the predicate
adjective or noun in accordance with the old Germanic principle
of putting the emphatic word in or near thefirstplace: 'It is as-
tdnishing the amount of unadulterated sun a m a n can stand when
he is making hay.' ' It is hard work keeping the grass green this time
of year.' ' It is immaterial what names are assigned to them.' ' It is
vilely unjust, m e n closing two-thirds of the respectable careers
to women!' (Sir Harry Johnston, Mrs. Warren's Daughter, Ch.
III). 'It was m y tw6 brothers w h o did it.' Where the emphatic
predicate in a sentence containing a subject clause is a noun de-
noting a person, w e always employ anticipatory it when the desire
is to identify, as in the last example; but when the desire is to
describe, w e m a y say with Shakespeare 'It is a g6od divfne that
follows his o w n instructions' (Merchant of Venice, I, u, 15), or
n o w more commonly w e replace it by a personal pronoun that
can indicate gender and number: 'He is a g6od divfne w h o
follows his o w n instructions.' Compare 21 c.
12 ANTICIPATORY IT AND THERE 4 IIC

O n the other hand, if the logical subject is a noun denoting a

person or is a plural noun or pronoun, w e use an appropriate per-
sonal pronoun as anticipatory subject: 'He is a bright b6y, that
little brother of yours.' ' They are very engaging people, the Frenc
Canadians!' ' They are no 6rdinary h6uses, those' (Dickens, Pick-
wick, Ch. X X I ) .
After the analogy of the emphatic predicate adjectives and nouns
found in sentences which are introduced b y anticipatory it and
followed later by a formal subject in the form of a subject clause,
as described on page 11, it has become c o m m o n to m a k e any noun,
adverb, or adverbial phrase or clause emphatic b y converting it into
an emphatic predicate introduced b y it is (or was) and followed by
the subject of the sentence in the form of a subject clause. Thus
an emphatic subject m a y become formally the predicate of the
sentence: 'It is not / that a m to blame,' instead of '/ a m not to
blame.' Compare 21 c and e. Similarly, emphatic adverbs, ad-
verbial phrases, etc., m a y become formally the predicate of the
sentence, as shown b y the following examples and more fully in
21 c and 22 a: ' It is seldom that I ever see him any more,' instead
of 'I s&dom see him any more.' 'It was on this condition that I
went,' instead of 'I went on this condition.' 'It was here that it
happened,' instead of 'It happened here.' T h e c o m m o n use of
adverbs and adverbial phrases as a predicate, as described in
7 F, has facilitated the development of this curious but useful
construction.
Though this construction with an emphatic word at the begin-
ning of the sentence after the formal introduction it is, it was, etc.,
is not infrequent in the literary language, it is especially charac-
teristic of popular Irish English, where it attracts attention not
only b y its exceedingly great frequency but also b y the extremes
to which the principle is carried. For instance, any element in a
subordinate clause can be brought to the beginning of the sentence,
although the subordinate clause itself less this element follows the
principal proposition: 'It is yourself I a m come here purposely to
meet with' (Lady Gregory, The Bogie Men, p. 15). 'Is it to shoot me
you are going?' (id., The Full Moon). T h e formal introduction
it is sometimes drops out: 'A little sh6p they are saying she will
take for to open aflourstore' (ib.). In Irish English, it is is often
placed before an emphatic predicate adjective which expresses an
attribute of a person, where in the literary language the adjective
itself must stand in thefirstplace, in accordance with the old
Germanic principle described in 35 1: 'It is prdud she must be
to get you' (Yeats, Cathleen ni Houlihan) = literary 'Prdud she
must be to get you.'
4 II D PRONOUNS AS GENERAL OR INDEFINITE SUBJECT 13

In accordance with the old Germanic principle described in 35

1, 2, a predicate verb is placed in thefirstplace in the case of an
imperative: 'Hand m e that book!' In older English also in the
case of a question requiring yes or no for an answer: 'Knows he
the wickedness?' (Shakespeare, King Lear, IV, u, 92). Today w e
prefer to secure emphasis in questions by the employment of an-
other old Germanic principle. W e introduce the sentence by an
unstressed auxiliary, which contains the outward form of predica-
tion, and withhold for a time the real predicate, a predicate in-
finitive or participle, thus creating a feeling of suspense, which
imparts emphasis: 'Does he know the wickedness?' 'Did he
come?' corresponding to older 'Came he?' Compare 6 A d (2).
In oldest English it was still quite c o m m o n in narrative to put
the verb in or near thefirstplace, since in narrative the idea of
action often becomes prominent, or a form of the verb be was
brought forward to call attention to a past state of things.
M u c h later, Chaucer still uses this word-order with fine effect:
' Ran Colle our dogge, and Talbot, and Gerland, Ran cow and calf,
and eek (also) the verray hogges' (The Nonne Preestes Tale, 563).
This old usage survives in choice lively narrative style: 'Came
Christmas by which, at the outset, everybody knew it (i.e., the
war) would be over, and it was not over. Came June, 1915/ etc.
(Hutchinson, If Winter Comes, p. 256). 'Came days of storm,
days and nights of storm, when the ocean menaced us with its
roaring whiteness, and the wind smote our struggling boat with
a Titan's buffets' (Jack London, The Sea-Wolf, Ch. X X V I I ) .
Since, however, this word-order with the verb in thefirstplace
had even in Old English become intimately associated with the
idea of a question, it gradually became normal usage to place an
adverb before the verb to differentiate narrative from interroga-
tion. Thus by a simple device w e can still in narrative keep the
verb near the beginning of the sentence. W e n o w employ here
there at the beginning of the narrative and later on then: 'There
sailed a bold mariner over the sea. . . . Then came unfavorable
winds.' ' There was once a king.' In older English, before the
verb be w e sometimes find it instead of there: ' It was an English
lady bright. . . . A n d she would marry a Scottish knight' (Scott,
Last Minstrel, VI, X I ) . There is used not only in narrative style
to enable the verb to be brought near the beginning of the sentence,
but it is employed also at the beginning of the sentence to announce
the later appearance of an emphatic noun subject: 'There never
was in all the history of the world a greater blunder.' See 3 a.
D. PRONOUNS USED AS GENERAL OR INDEFINITE SUBJECT.
The pronouns one, we, you are much used here with the same
14 WE AS SUBJECT 4IIF

general or indefinite force: 'As long as one is young, one easily

acquires new friends.' 'We don't like to beflatlycontradicted.'
' You don't like to be snubbed.'
W e often use they here, but with a somewhat narrower meaning,
since it usually refers to a smaller circle or one remote, always ex-
cluding the speaker and the person addressed, hence often used by
the speaker to assert something modestly, representing it as com-
ing from others: 'In fashionable society they talk of the impending
nuptials of the D u k e of Clarence.' ' In that crowd they mostly play
cards.' 'In Japan they generally marry without love.' 'They say
best m e n are moulded out of faults' (Shakespeare).
W h e n a writer or speaker desires to refer to himself modestly,
there is a tendency at present to employ the indefinite one instead
of the sharply precise / or me: 'One (or a person, a fellow) doesn't
(instead of I don't) like to be treated that way.' 'Under such cir-
cumstances you might offer to help one' (or a fellow instead of me).
E. E D I T O R I A L ' W E . ' T h efirstperson plural is often used by
authors and speakers instead of thefirstperson singular, and the
possessive our instead of my, the author or speaker thus modestly
turning the attention away from himself b y representing his readers
or hearers as accompanying him in thought: ' Thus far we have been
considering only the outward condition of things at Luther's
birth, n o w we are to turn (or let us turn) our attention to his early
h o m e influences.' A speaker or writer often modestly employs we
since he speaks also for those associated with him: ' We (the editor
speaking for the editorial staff) owe an apology to the public for
not noticing this work on itsfirstappearance.' In these examples
we still has the original associative force, but it n o w often refers
to only one: ' We (the reviewer of the book) do not say that every-
thing in these essays is as good as what we have quoted.' 'It will
be easier to explain this later on, w h e n we have said something
about what is called the history of language' (Wyld, The Growth of
English, Ch. I, 8). T h e Plural of Modesty in its earliest forms is
very old, for w e find a quite similar usage in classical Latin.
Instead of we some authors employ here a noun with the third
person of the verb: 'The author would remark,' etc.
F. P L U R A L O F M A J E S T Y . Of later origin than editorial we is the
associative wefirstused in the third century in imperial decrees;
in that period of R o m a n history w h e n two or three rulers reigned
together and hence were associated in the official proclamations.
Later, whenever the political power was centered in one emperor
the old we was retained, so that although the associative force was
present, since the ruler included his advisers, the associative we.
developed into royal we, the Plural of Majesty, since the ruler
4 II H THOU, THEE, YE, YOU AS SUBJECTS 15

spoke of himself in his official announcements in the plural instead

of the singular, as ' W e decree' instead of 'I decree.' This usage
spread to the different European courts and was c o m m o n in the
Old English period.
G. W E = Y o u . We is often used with the force of you: 'Are
we downhearted today?' Often sarcastically: ' H o w touchy we
are!' 'Oh, ain't we select since we went to that hen college!' (Sin-
clair Lewis, Babbitt, Ch. II, II) (retort of a boy to his sister, w h o has
graduated from Bryn M a w r , and on the occasion in question has
spoken to him sarcastically).
H . T H O U , T H E E , Y E , Y O U . In Middle English, it was still
possible to express the idea of number in the personal pronouns of
the second person. In the singular, thou was used as subject and
thee as dative and accusative object, while in the plural ye served
as subject and you as dative and accusative object. These gram-
matical functions for ye and you were widely observed until the
middle of the sixteenth century, and survive in the Biblical and
higher poetical language of our time. In the fourteenth century,
however, the form you with reference to one or more some-
times replaced ye in the subject relation in the usual intercourse
of life, and later in the course of the sixteenth century became more
c o m m o n here than ye. Occasionally w efindthe opposite develop-
ment in older English ye was used instead of you in the object
relation: 'I do beseech ye' (Julius Co3sar, III, i, 157). In older
English, ye is thus not infrequently used in both the subject and
the object relation, often in the form of ee: 'D'ee (do ee) k n o w this
crucifix?' (Middleton and Rowley, The Spanish Gipsie, III, in,
40, A.D. 1661). 'I c o m m e n d m e fee, sir' (Chapman, The Gentleman
Usher, III, n, 208, A.D. 1606). This usage survives in British
dialect. The outcome of this development for the literary language
is you for nominative, dative, and accusative. In Biblical language
ye is n o w uniformly employed as nominative and you as dative and
accusative, as can be seen in the present text of the King James
Version of the Bible. In the original text of this version this usage
was not so uniform, as there were in it a number of you's where w e
now find ye. Both ye and you are here still always plural forms as
originally.
The use of the plural forms ye and you for reference to one person
is closely related to the use of the plural of majesty we described in
F above. A s a ruler often spoke of himself in the plural, others in
addressing him felt that they should employ the plural form. After
this model it became general in continental Europe to address by a
plural form every individual of high rank in church and state. At
last, plural form became a mark of politeness in general and was
16 THOU, THEE, YE, YOU AS SUBJECTS 4 II H

used in speaking to an equal as well as to a superior. This n e w

usage arose in England in the thirteenth century under the influ-
ence of French, which here followed the continental Latin usage.
T h e n e w polite form of addressing one person by the plurals ye and
you did not at once displace the older usage of employing thou and
thee here. For a long while the old and the n e w forms often alter-
nated with each other, but gradually the n e w form was distinctly
felt as more polite. Thus, in older English, the forms were often
differentiated. Thou was used in familiar intercourse, and you em-
ployed as a polite form in formal relations. In Pecock's Donet
(about A.D. 1449) the father, throughout the book, addresses his
son by thou and thee, while the son out of deference uses ye and you
to his father. T h e British dialects of the South and South Midland
still distinguish between thou or thee used in intimate relation and
you or ye (often written ee) employed in polite language in more
formal intercourse. In the eighteenth century, Richardson in his
Pamela lets Lady Davers use thou to her brother in moments of
strong emotions and employ thou to Pamela in moments of anger
and tenderness. This usage survives in British dialects.
In the standard prose English of the eighteenth century, thou and
thee were entirely replaced by you, so that the form of polite ad-
dress became general in the c o m m o n intercourse of life, the one
form you serving without distinction of rank or feeling for one or
more persons and for the nominative, dative, and accusative rela-
tions. T h e lack of clearness here has called forth in the popular
speech of America, Australia, and Ireland a plural ending for this
form to indicate more than one, yous (or youse and in Ireland
also ye, yees, yez, yiz): 'He'll settle yous ( = you kids), yous guys.'
It is not unknown in British English. Horace Walpole in a letter
to Miss M a r y Berry, March 27, 1791, in speaking of her and her
sister Agnes writes playfully: 'I have been at White Pussy's (i.e.,
Lady Amherst's) this evening. She asked m u c h after yous.'
This advantage, however, is sometimes lost through the popular
tendency to simplify, i.e., to employ yous also as a singular: 'So!
At last I found youse' (cartoon in Chicago Tribune, Sept. 16,
1923).
In the southern states, you all is used as the plural of you:
'He'll settle you all.' T h e genitive you all's is also in use: 'you all
business.' You all m a y be addressed to a single person provided
the form is felt as a plural comprising a definite group of indi-
viduals: 'Do you all (addressed to a clerk representing the different
members of the firm) keep fresh eggs here?' (Alphonso Smith, The
Kit-Kat, Vol. IX, p. 27). T h e all in you all is often reduced to '11,
as it is only weakly stressed: 'Boys, I want you'll to stop that noise'
4 II H THOU, THEE, YE, YOU AS SUBJECTS 17

(ib.). In the literary language you all is used, but the stressed all
indicates that the thought is different from the normal southern
use of you all, which is simply a plural of you: 'You all are wrong,'
or 'You are dll wrong.' In popular speech you uns is often used as
the plural of you. T h e genitive is you uns'. In certain British
dialects you together is used as plural of you. In the literary lan-
guage and in ordinary colloquial speech w e bring out the plural
idea here by placing some plural noun after you: 'you gentlemen,'
'you boys,' 'you kids,' etc.
The older universal use of thou and thee in the singular and ye
and you in the plural to all persons has survived in the higher forms
of poetry and elevated diction, where the thoughts soar, but in the
realistic forms of poetry the actual language of everyday city and
country life holds almost complete sway, even where the thoughts
rise somewhat from earth, the poet forgetting that the language of
earth keeps us on earth: ' Oh, when I was in love with you, Then I
was clean and brave, A n d miles around the wonder grew, H o w well
did I behave' (Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XVIII). Thus the
old poetic forms, long used to elevate thought and feeling, are in
our o w n time breaking down; it m a y be because the poetic eleva-
tion of thought and feeling that once gave them meaning is no
longer present.
In older English, thee is sometimes seemingly used as a nomina-
tive subject, where in fact it m a y be an ethical dative (12 1 B c):
'Hear thee (possibly an ethical dative, but n o w felt as a nomina-
tive), Gratiano!' (Merchant of Venice, II, H , 189). This same form
is also sometimes found in older English as a real nominative, per-
haps after the analogy of you, which has one form for all the cases:
'How agrees the devil and thee about thy soul?' (Shakespeare,
I Henry IV, I, n, 127). 'What hast thee done?' (Marlowe,
Jew, 1085, about A.D. 1590, ed. 1636). 'If thee wilt walk with
me, I'll show thee a better' (words of a young Quaker to Benja-
min Franklin, as quoted in Franklin's Autobiography, Writings, I,
p. 255). This usage lingered m u c h later in popular speech: 'I
know thee dost things as nobody 'ud do' (George Eliot, Adam Bede,
Ch. IV).
Thou and thee are still used by Quakers, often with the nomina-
tive form thee in connection with the third person of the verb, as
explained in 8 I 1 h: ' Thou art not (or n o w more commonly thee's
not) consistent.' T h e Quaker address originally had a deep mean-
ing in that it was used toward all m e n irrespective of rank, and
hence emphasized their equality, but it has become a mere symbol
of sect since society in general recognized this democratic principle
by the employment of you without respect to social station.
18 OMISSION OF THE SUBJECT 6 d

5. Omission of the Subject. In general every sentence must

have a subject expressed, but usage admits of certain irregularities.
The subject is omitted:
a. A s a rule in imperative sentences: 'Hand m e that book.'
Compare 45 1 a, b, c.
b. In thefirstperson in a few set expressions: 'Thank you.'
'Hope to see you again.' In colloquial American the subject I is
usually omitted in the expression 'I say' employed to call atten-
tion to what is about to be said: 'Say, do you k n o w w h o that is?'
It is omitted also when 'I say' is employed as an exclamation:
'Say! won't it be glorious?' In British English, I is usually ex-
pressed in both uses of 'I say.'
c. Grammarians usually say that a subject governing a preced-
ing possessive genitive is suppressed if the same word is used
shortly before or after: 'Of the three autos William's [auto] is the
best.' ' John's hair is darker than his sister's [hair is].' ' So did his
maiden sister, Miss Monica Thorne, than whose [heart] no kinder
heart glowed through all Barsetshire' (Trollope, Dr. Thorne, II, Ch.
X X I V ) . T h e c o m m o n impression that words are omitted here, as
indicated above in brackets, is in a scientific sense erroneous. The
genitive in all such cases, as here William's, his sister's, whose, has
in English developed into a possessive pronoun. This can be
clearly seen in such cases as 'Yours is the greater treason, for
yours is the treason of friendship.' Here yours is a possessive pro-
noun, pointing forward to the governing noun treason. N o noun
can be supplied after yours, hence there is no omission here. In
the other cases there is likewise in the exact sense no omission since
the genitives have become possessive pronouns. For fuller in-
formation see 57 5 a.
d. A s in oldest English, there is still often no subject expressed
since it is suggested by the context. F r o m a modern point of view
we m a y supply as subject situation it (4 II A ) or some other pro-
noun. This old construction is most c o m m o n after as and than:
'Come as soon as [it, i.e., the coming, is] possible.' 'He described
the affair as [it, i.e., the description] follows.' 'The conditions are
as [what] follows' (or sometimes as [they here] follow). ' A s m a n y as
[they] came were caught.' In older English, the subject was often
omitted after an as which introduced a degree clause of modal re-
sult (29 2): 'I was seized by a fever which grew so upon m e as
(now that it) forced m e to a resolution of seeking m y physician at
London' (John Donne, Letter to Mrs. Cokain, Aug. 24,1628). T h e
pronoun what is often omitted: 'He never reads as m u c h as [what]
is required of the class.' 'He accomplished more than [what] was
expected of him.' Even though the subject is omitted, anticipatory
5 e OMISSION OF THE SUBJECT 19

there (4 II C ) is often employed after than and as to point forward,

as it were, to the following omitted subject: 'One would say that
there were fewerflowersjust n o w than there have been' (Thoreau,
Journal, II, p. 282).
Similarly, the pronominal object is often omitted here: 'Bring
as m a n y of them as you can find.' 'He bought more of them than
he needed.' There is no object in the subordinate clause here since
the meaning is m a d e clear by the words many and more of the prin-
cipal proposition.
The predicate is likewise often suppressed since it is implied in
some word in the principal proposition, especially in a predicate
adjective: 'Out of this war (between the North and the South) w e
emerged more homogeneous as a people than w e had ever been be-
fore' (Henry Watterson, Editorial, M a y 11, 1909). 'I a m as well
as I have ever been.'
Similarly, an adverb is often suppressed: 'He works harder than
he did as a young man.'
Earlier in the period, a what was sometimes inserted in all these
grammatical relations tofillthe vacancy that was felt: 'On the
twentieth of the last February there came on a snow, which, being
added unto what had covered the ground a few days before, m a d e
a thicker mantle for our mother than what (subject) was usual'
(Thoreau, Journal, VIII, p. 163). 'I think I laughed heartier then
than what (adv. ace.) I do n o w ' (Scott, Heart of Midlothian,
Ch. X X X ) . This what is a marked feature of current popular
speech; 'I'm more in earnest than what you are.' 'I hope you can
walk quicker than what you eat.' What is n o w never inserted
here in the literary language.
In older English, omissions of pronouns were very c o m m o n in
the subordinate clause where a preceding word suggested the mean-
ing of the sentence. This older usage survives only in set expres-
sions, as here after as and then and in relative clauses: ' The book
7. hold [it] in my hand is an English grammar.' Compare 19 3
(3rd par.), 23 II.
There is sometimes a difference of meaning between the form of
expression with the subject suppressed and that with the subject
expressed: 'The neighbors were kind as could be' (Julia Peterkin,
Scarlet Sister Mary, Ch. X X I X ) , but 'On this occasion the gruff
old fellow was as kind as he could be.'
e. Subject Omitted when Verb is Used Absolutely. In 'For who-
soever hath, to him shall be given' (Matthew, XIII, 12) the subject of
the principal proposition is omitted as the verb is used absolutely
(46, 2nd par.), i.e., without regard to a subject.
 C H A P T E R III

THE PREDICATE
PAGE
A FINITE V E R B O F C O M P L E T E P R E D I C A T I O N . . . . 20
A part suppressed 21
Finite verb replaced by noun 22
Use of do-forms 22
A V E R B O F INCOMPLETE PREDICATION A N D C O M P L E M E N T 26
Appositional type of sentence or clause 28
P R E D I C A T E APPOSITIVE 30
PREDICATE C O M P L E M E N T 32
A noun 32
In the nominative 32
Introduced by 'as' 33
Introduced by'for' 34
Introduced by 'into,' 'to' 35
In the genitive 35
An adjective or a participle 36
A predicate noun with the force of an adjective . 38
A pronoun 39
Case of predicate pronoun 41
Infinitive 44
Normal form 44
Modal form 45
Form to express purpose 47
Gerund 47
Adverb and prepositional phrase 48
FORMS OF THE PREDICATE
6. The predicate can be:
A. A Finite Verb of Complete Predication: 'Birds sing.' 'Dogs
bark.' 'Riches pass away.' 'Mary writes neatly.' 'Mary writes
beautiful letters.' Verbs of complete predication are often not
complete of themselves and need some other word or words, as in
the last two examples, to m a k e the meaning complete, but the term
'verb of complete predication'is not entirely without inner justifica-
tion. Such verbs stand in contrast to copulas (B, p. 26), which in a
mere formal w a y perform the function of predication and do not in
an actual sense predicate. Verbs of complete predication, on the
other hand, predicate, say something of the subject; they present
20
6Aa VERB OFTEN UNIMPORTANT 21

a general line of thought which is basic even if it has to be often

supplemented b y details. T h e verb with all its modifiers consti-
tutes the complete predicate.
T h e verb is not always a simple word, as in the preceding ex-
amples, but is often m a d e u p of an auxiliary and another verb-form,
both together usually called the verb-phrase: 'I have just finished
m y work.' ' I shall soonfinishm y work.' ' I cannotfinishm y work
today.' Though the auxiliary hasfiniteform as far as possible and
the verb proper is in a formal sense dependent, the verb proper
contains the basic thought.
In oldest English, the verb usually stood at or near the end of
the sentence. This withholding of the verb for a time created the
feeling of suspense and thus m a d e the verb prominent. Later, it
often became desirable to m a k e important modifiers of the verb
prominent b y suspending them for a time, so that the verb was
gradually crowded out of the end position. See 35 1 a. W e have,
however, never lost all feeling for the old principle of rendering the
verb emphatic b y withholding it for a time: ' M a n y things w e
gladly remember, others w e gladly forg6t.'

a. VERB OFTEN UNIMPORTANT. The verb often becomes quite an unim-

portant element in a sentence and on account of the overtowering impor-
tance of some other part of the predicate is so little felt that it m a y be
omitted: '[take your] Hats off!' '[sit] D o w n in front!' A part of
the verbal predicate is often suppressed since it is suggested by the con-
text : ' Have you done it?' ' Of course, I have [done it].' ' Then, I take
it, there had been er ?' 'An estrangement. Yes, there had [been]'
(Pinero, The Thunderbolt, Act I). 'They [have] been comin[g] here a
long time' (Meredith Nicholson, Blacksheep, p. 21). '[have] Y o u seen
Elmer again?' (Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country, Ch. IV). ' [did
you] Get m y wire?' (Edwin Balmer, Breath of Scandal, Ch. XIII). '[it
would] Serve you right if Red (name) wouldn't answer your old letter'
(J. P. McEvoy, The Potters), '[would you] Like to know him?' (Pinero,
Sweet Lavender, Act I). 'But I guess I [had] better go in' (Tarkington,
Gentle Julia, Ch. X X ) .
In lively narrative the suppression of the verb often imparts to the
description the idea of a brisk movement of events: 'Down the gorge and
over the bridge at the bottom of it' (Wallace, Ben Hw, VIII, Ch. VIII).
Similarly, in imperative sentences: ' The horsesand quickly!' (ib., VIII,
Ch. IX).
In older English, the infinitive of a verb of motion was often thought
unnecessary after an auxiliary, where according to present usage it must
stand: 'Thou shalt [go] to prison' (Shakespeare). In Scotland, North
Ireland, and in parts of America this old usage is still quite common after
to want (= to wish): 'I want [to get] off.' 'I want out.' 'I want in.' '
gium wants in this protective arrangement' (from an editorial in Chicago
22 USES OF DO-FORMS 6 Ad

Tribune, Nov. 10, 1919, p. 8). ' W h o said I wanted back?' (ib., cartoon,
Sept. 19,1923). It is also still commonly and widely preserved after the
full verb let (= allow) in certain set expressions: (to a conductor on a
street car) 'Let m e off at 12th Street!' Dickens in his Barnaby Rudge,
Ch. X V I I , uses it after the modal auxiliary let (431 A ) , where it n o w seems
odd to us: 'Let us to supper, Grip!' Here and there the old construc-
tion occurs elsewhere in recent literature, indicating that there is still
some feeling for it: 'I'll into the kitchen!' (Alfred Noyes, The Torch-
Bearers, p. 109). It survives generally in the proverb 'Murder will out.'
In certain dialects, as in Scotch English, it is still widely used: 'We'll
jist awa' up the stair an' luik' (George Macdonald, Robert Falconer, Ch. X ) .
b. F I N I T E V E R B R E P L A C E D B Y N O U N . There is a marked tendency in
English to clothe the chief idea of the predicate in the form of a noun
instead of a finite verb: 'The matter is under consideration,' instead of
'The matter is being considered.' 'Alter dinner w e had a quiet smoke,
instead of ' W e smoked quietly.' 'I got a good shaking up,' instead of
' I was shaken up thoroughly.' ' W e got a good snub.' Similarly, there is a
strong tendency to clothe the chief idea of the predicate in the form of a
noun instead of an infinitive which depends upon an auxiliary and hence
contains the real verbal meaning: 'Let m e have a try,' instead of 'Let
m e try it.' 'I'll make a try (instead of try) at least not to be a disgrace to
m y Alma Mater' (Mary R. S. Andrews, The Eternal Masculine, p. 381).
' Let's have a good swim!' All these cases indicate a reluctance in colloquial
speech to predicate by means of a full verb, since this method is felt as
too formal, too scientific, precise. In colloquial language there is here as
elsewhere a tendency to more concrete forms of expression. A noun seems
nearer to popular feeling than the more abstract verb. T h e verbs that are
used here in colloquial speech are all of the nature of the copulas described
in B. They merely serve to connect the predicate noun, the real predicate,
with the subject.
c. U S E O F ' D o ' T O A V O I D T H E R E P E T I T I O N O F A V E R B . In all the
different periods of English a form of do has been employed as a pro-verb
to avoid the repetition of a verb that has just been used: 'If competi-
tion advances as it has done for several years.' ' H e has never acted as he
should have done.' 'He behaves better than you do.'
In m a n y cases this usage is more modern, coming from the omission of
the infinitive in the periphrastic do-form (d) of the verb: 'Shall I ask
him?' 'Do [ask him]!' or '0 please d6 [ask him]!' 'Did you tell
him?' 'Of course I did [tell him]' or 'I surely did [tell him].'
d. U S E O F T H E P E R I P H R A S T I C F O R M W I T H ' Do.' In the present and
the past tense of verbs of complete predication the simple verb is often
replaced by a periphrastic form m a d e up of do and a dependent infinitive:
'Thus conscience does make (= makes) cowards of us all' (Shakespeare);
originally according to 46 (next to last par.) 'causes a making of
cowards out of us all.' At first, do was a full verb with an infinitive as
object. Later, it lost its concrete force and became a mere periphrastic
auxiliary. In older English, as in the example from Shakespeare, there
was usually no clear difference of meaning between the simple and the
6 A d (1) USES OF DO-FORMS 23

periphrastic form. Sometimes the periphrastic form was chosen because

it was a clearer past tense form, as in 'For m y vesture they did cast
(instead of simple cast) lots' (John, X I X , 24); sometimes for the sake of
dignity, euphony, rhythm, emphasis, often from mere caprice. This older
use of the periphrastic form without a clear differentiation from the
simple form survives in poetry and in Biblical, liturgical, and legal lan-
guage. The do-form of the verb is n o w used only in the present and the
past tense, but in early Modern English it was sometimes employed also
in the present perfect and the past perfect, especially in Scotland: 'as I
afore haue done discus' (Lauder, Tractate, 340, A.D. 1556) = have discussed
The infinitive following the past participle done was sometimes attracted
into the form of the past participle: 'Remember . . . H o w that m y
30wth I [have] done forloir' (past participle instead of the infinitive forleir
'lose') (Dunbar, X X I I , 2) = 'Remember that I have lost m y youth.'
'Thay ar Wolfis and Toddis, quha . . . haue violentlie done brokin
(instead of break) the dyk of the Scheipfald' (Burne, Disput., 78, V,
A.D. 1581) = 'They are wolves and foxes w h o have violently broken the
wall of the sheepfold.' Both forms of this construction are still found in
popular southern American English: 'I [have] done tell you 'bout Brer
Rabbit makin' 'im a steeple' (Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with Uncle
Remus, p. 97). 'I 'speck I [have] done tole (instead of tell) you 'bout dat'
(ib., p. 97). 'I've done found (instead oifind) it' (Margaret Prescott M o n -
tague, Up Eel River, p. 182). The past participle resulting from attraction
is now much more c o m m o n than the older infinitive form. This attraction
takes place also after the past tense done: ' 'Tain't so mighty long sence I
done tole (instead of tell) you 'bout ole M r . Benjermin R a m ' (Joel Chandler
Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus, p. 297). Compare 49 4 C (1) a (last par.).
The periphrastic form with do was rare in Old English, but began to
become c o m m o n in the fourteenth century and was at its height between
1500 and 1700. After the periphrastic and the simple form had long been
used interchangeably, a desire for more accurate expression led to a differ-
entiation of their meaning. This had become possible since the periph-
rasis had come to be felt as an analytic form and, like other analytic
forms, could assume different shades of meaning according to the stress,
as explained on page 24. Present usage becamefixedabout 1750, but with
certain verbs the old simple forms lingered on even in plain prose long
after they had elsewhere passed away; indeed here and there linger still,
especially in set expressions, as if I mistake not, I care not, I doubt not, I
know not, what say you? what think you? etc. Of course, the poet makes
still more liberal use of the old forms when it suits his purpose. In popular
speech there is a tendency to employ the do-form with the copula be in
declarative sentences, which is contrary to literary usage: 'Some days
she do be awful about her food' (Dorothy Gerard, The Eternal Woman,
Ch. X V ) .
In plain prose w e now employ do:
(1) In the present and the past tense of a verb of complete predication
when it stands in a question, a declarative statement, or an entreaty
where there is a desire to emphasize the idea of actuality, the truthfulness
24 USES O F JDO-FORMS 6 A d (1)

of a claim, realization or a desire of realization: ' Didn't he work?' ' Did he

work?' ' D6es he cheat?' ' I still maintain that you didn't d6 it.' ' But
I did do it.' ' W h y don't you wdrk?' T dd work.' T a m so happy to
learn that you dd intend to come.' 'D6 finish your work!' (desire of
realization). Compare (3), p. 25, 1st paragraph (end).
The employment of a stressed do to emphasize the idea of actuality is
in accordance with the general tendency in English to emphasize the
idea of actuality, realization, or modality by the use of a stressed auxil-
iary: ' W h y are you not studying?' 'I dm studying.' 'You have done
that before.' T haven't.' ' N o w I shall tell your mother. M a r k m y
words, this time I shall tell your mother' (Bennett, Old Wives' Tale, II,
Ch. IV). ' H e hasn't come yet, but he will come.' ' W h y don't you 6.6 it?'
' I cdn't.' ' I haven't done it yet, but I feel that I shbuld do it.' W e
have discovered the possibility of using our analytic verbal forms in such
a w a y as to shade our thought. In these compound forms the auxiliary
merely performs the formal function of predication, gives the time rela-
tions, or colors the thought. The verbal meaning lies in the participle
or infinitive. If w e desire to emphasize the verbal meaning, w e stress the
part of the verb that contains the verbal meaning, i.e., the participle or
infinitive; but if w e desire to emphasize the idea of actuality, truthful-
ness, realization, or modality, w e stress the auxiliary: ' W h y aren't you
wbrking?' 'I dm working.' ' W h y don't you work?' T dd work.'
This great advantage of our analytic forms has been the active factor in
extending their use. Compare 37 3.
The copula and the auxiliaries, which in single propositions, like the
preceding examples, are m u c h used to emphasize the idea of actuality,
truthfulness, are n o w also employed with the same force in double propo-
sitions, where the copula or auxiliary stands in the second shorter state-
ment, reaffirming the truth of the preceding longer statement. The
shorter proposition consists of only two words, a subject, repeating the
preceding subject in the form of a pronoun or a more explicit noun, and a
predicate, repeating the preceding verbal predicate in the form of a copula
or an auxiliary, which is sometimes only moderately stressed, sometimes,
in language charged with feeling, strongly stressed in connection with a
strong stress upon the repeated subject, so that there results a double
stress, as so often elsewhere in lively speech: 'He was odd, was the Cap-
tain.' 'But it's a cunning devil, is that machine (type machine)! and
knows more than any m a n that ever lived' (Mark Twain, Letter to Orion
Clemens, Jan. 5,1889). 'Dick had his Bible out and was praying volubly.
H e had been well brought up, had Dick' (Stevenson, Treasure Island,
Ch. X X X I I ) . 'He had a particular taste, Mr. Glenarm had' (Meredith
Nicholson, The House of a Thousand Candles, Ch. Ill, p. 43). T did not
know him. I really didn't' (Joseph Conrad, Chance, Ch. II). 'The Ship-
ping Master swung round on his stool and addressed m e as "Charles."
He did' (ib., Ch. I). 'Alexandra! Can't you see he's just a tramp and
he's after your money? H e wants to be taken care of, hi ddes' (W. S.
Cather, 0 Pioneers! p. 167). 'I love him, / do.' Similarly, w e repeat a
modal auxiliary to emphasize the idea of modality: 'John must do it,
6 A d (3) USES OF DO-FORMS 25

he just must.' 'John can do it, I just k n o w he can.' 'John can dd it,
cdn't he?' 'John can't do it, cdn he?'
(2) The do-form is used also in the present and the past tense of a
verb of complete predication w h e n it stands in an entreaty, or in a question,
or in a declarative sentence with inverted word-order where there is a desire
to stress the activity or to inquire after or to state simple facts without
any intention of emphasizing the idea of actuality: 'Do finish your work!'
' Does he believe it?' ' How's ( = h o w does) it strike you?' (Jack London,
The Sea-Wolf, Ch. VII). 'Did you see him do it?' 'What's he say?'
' W h a t did he dnswer?' ' Where did he come from?' ' W h e n did he finally
gd?' 'Bitterly did w e repint our decision.' 'Never did I se"e such a
sight!' In such entreaties and questions and in such declarative state-
ments with inverted word-order the verbal meaning is usually quite
prominent and hence the verb is usually stressed. In contrast to older
English, w e n o w use the do-form here, so that by stressing the infinitive
w e can emphasize the verbal meaning pure and simple.
The do-form was so often used in questions for the sake of securing a
pure verbal form to stress and emphasize that it has become associated
with interrogative form and is n o w used in all questions, even where the
verb is not emphatic: 'Whire did you buy it?' 'Whdm did you meet?'
The old simple forms are n o w only used in questions when the subject is
an interrogative pronoun: 'Who met you?' In older English, the simple
forms could be used also when some other word was subject: 'Dis-
cern'st thou aught in that?' (Shakespeare, Othello, III, in, 101). T h e
old simple forms are still used for archaic effect in historical novels: 'Saw
you ever the like?' (Wallace, Ben Hur, Ch. X ) . Also in certain dialects,
as in Scotch English, the old simple forms are still used: 'What paid ye
for't?' (George Macdonald, Robert Falconer, Ch. X X I ) . T h e older
simple form survives widely in the literary language in the case of have,
especially in England: 'Have you swordfish?' alongside of the more com-
m o n do-form, 'Do you have swordfish?' In indirect questions the old
simple form is preserved with all verbs: 'When did you come back?'
but ' I asked him when he came back.'
(3) Do is employed also in the negative form of questions, declarative
statements, and commands when simple not is the negative, only, however,
in the present and past tense of verbs of complete predication, of course,
therefore not in the case of the copula be, the tense auxiliaries, the modal
auxiliaries can, must, etc., the auxiliary-like verb ought, often also the
auxiliary-like verbs need and dare, both of which, however, m a y take do;
usually also not in the case of have in unemphatic statements: 'He
doesn't live here,' but 'He isn't here.' T do not often forget it,' but T
must not forget it.' 'I do not go h o m e till eight,' but either 'I need not
go h o m e till eight' or 'I do not need to go h o m e till eight.' 'She dared
not tell (or to tell) him,' or 'She did not dare tell (or to tell) him.' '
haven't it with me,' but in emphatic statement 'I do ndt have it with me,'
where, however, in colloquial speech w e m a y employ also the form without
do: 'You have it with you.' T hdven't.' In commands and entreaties:
'Don't tduch me!' 'Don't have a thing to do with him!' 'Ddn't go yet I'
26 VERB OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION 6B
In negative commands and in positive and negative entreaties do is used
also with the copula be, as do has become associated with negative com-
mands and both positive and negative entreaties: ' Don't be late!' ' Don't
ydu be late!' 'Do be reasonable!' 'Don't be unreasonable!' In popular
speech do is used also elsewhere with be: 'Now, boy, w h y don't you be
perlite and get up and give one of these young ladies a seat?' (Punch).
Thus in negative statements there is usually an auxiliary, do or some
auxiliary of tense or mood or auxiliary-like verb. In all such cases, as
explained more fully in 16 2 d, the sentence adverb not, like other sentence
adverbs, stands after the auxiliary immediately before the real verbal
element, the infinitive or participle. The do-form is chosen in the case
of verbs of complete predication in order that the sentence adverb not
m a y stand in its natural place before the real verbal element. In case of
the auxiliaries has, may, can, etc., the not follows the auxiliary regularly
and thus comes into its natural position before the real verbal element.
Although in negative statements the old simple forms have disappeared
from simple prose, the charm of the beautiful older simplicity often asserts
itself in the language of our better moments: ' W e cannot do wrong to
others with impunity. Our conscience rests not until the wrong be
righted.'
B. Predicate a Verb of Incomplete Predication + Complement.
T h e predicate m a y be also a verb of incomplete predication in con-
nection with a predicate complement, the verb assuming in a mere
formal w a y the function of predication, the complement, noun or
adjective, serving as the real predicate: 'The whale is a mammal.'
' M a n is mortal.' A verb of incomplete predication is called a
copula, orfinkingverb. T h e verb be, the oldest and most c o m m o n
of the copulas, has in most cases nothing whatever of its original
concrete meaning, so that it for the most part is employed today
not to convey sense but merely to perform a function, to indicate
predication, connecting the subject with the real predicate. Con-
crete meaning, however, often enters into be, but it is usually in-
conspicuous, so that the form is felt as a copula, connecting a
subject with the real predicate: 'The book is ( = is lying) on the
table.' 'He is ( = is sitting) o n the veranda.' 'He is (= is stand-
ing working) in his workshop.' Sometimes, however, the force is
more concrete. For examples see 7 D 3.
There are at present a large n u m b e r of copulas, or linking verbs,
in English, verbs in various stages of development toward the
copula state, all containing more or less of their original concrete
meaning, so that, though all are copulas, they are all m o r e or less
differentiated in meaning from one another and from the copula be.
A n u m b e r of t h e m are serving not only as copulas, but also as full
verbs, preserving in certain meanings their original concrete force:
'The c o w has run, or gone (full verbs), into the barn,' but 'The
 6B VERB OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION 27
cow has run, or gone (copulas = become), dry.' A s copulas they
indicate a state, continuance in a state, or entrance into a state.
Simple state: ' H e is sick.' ' H e is a great master.' Continuance in
a state: 'He continues obstinate.' 'He keeps still.' Entrance into
a state m a y call attention to thefirstpoint or thefinalpoint in a
development. First point: 'He became (or got) sick.' 'He (i.e.,
Keats) n o w also commenced poet' (J. R. Lowell, Literary Essays,
I, p. 224). Final point: ' H e became (or went) blind.' ' H e became a
great master.' A s the predicate is often a verbal adjective, a past
or present participle, the copulas are often employed as auxiliary
verbs. A s auxiliary of the passive voice: 'Our house is painted
every year.' Here is has the force of gets, an old meaning that it
has had for m a n y centuries, hence the literal meaning is, 'Our
house enters every year into the painted state.' In colloquial
speech get is often used here: 'Our house gets painted every year.'
Compare 47 6. A s auxiliary of aspect (38 1) indicating duration:
'He is working.' 'He keeps on working.'
The most c o m m o n copulas are: appear, bang (Door banged
shut), become, blow (Door blew open), blush (She blushed red; see
also 7 A d ) , break (He broke loose or free), break out, bulk, burn
(Clay burns white), burst out, catch (7 F ) , chance, come, commence,
continue, cut up (British Eng. = turn out to be: H e cut up rough, i.e.,
showed resentment), eat (The cakes eat crisp, i.e., prove to be
crisp when eaten), fall, feel,flame(His faceflamedredder),flash(He
flashed crimson with anger),flush(Her cheeksflushedred; see also
7 Ad),fly(Door flew open), get, go, go on, grow, happen, hold, keep,
keep on, lie, live, look, loom, make (see (3) and (4), p. 28), prove,
rank, remain, rest, ring, rise, run, seem, shine, show, sit, smell
sound, spring (7 B a), stand, stay, strike, take (colloquial American i
'take ill, sick'), taste, turn, turn out, wax, wear (Coat wears thin),
work (Button works loose). Appear, seem, and often look, though
copulas, differ from the others in that they have subjunctive
force, casting more or less doubt upon the statement. See
44 I (last par.).
All these copulas are intransitive verbs and differ only in this
respect from the copula-like verbs in A b, which are for the most
part transitives.
There are four classes in these intransitives: (1) Those origi-
nally intransitive: 'He fell ill.' 'What I ate lies heavy on m y
stomach.' 'He stands high in the community.' (2) Verbs origi-
nally transitive which have become intransitive since their object
is so often omitted that it is no longer felt: 'The room struck
[one as] cold and cheerless' (Phillpotts, The Secret Woman, Ch. II).
' W h e n George Herbert left off [being] courtier and took orders,
28 APPOSITIONAL TYPE OF SENTENCE 6Ba

he burnt his earlier love-poetry' (G. H . Mair, English Literature,

p. 84). (3) S o m e w h a t different from the verbs in (2) are reflexive
verbs which have dropped their reflexive object since they have de-
veloped intransitive meaning, as described in 46: 'He felt m u c h
depressed,' originally ' H e felt himself m u c h depressed.' 'I felt
such a fool' (A. Marshall, The Squire's Daughter, Ch. VI). 'He
is making (for making himself) merry over us.' ' Seen by the strong
light of the window, her face showed [itself] sallow in tone' (Ellen
Glasgow, Life and Gdbriella, C h . I). (4) O n the other hand, the
transitive make often retains its object but loses so m u c h of its
concrete force that it is felt as a copula with the meaning become,
turn out to be: 'She will make him a good wife.' W e here still dimly
feel wife as an object, but w e cannot put the sentence into the pas-
sive with wife as subject, which shows that wife is virtually a
predicate noun after the copula make. Here the former object
wife does not drop out, as the objects in (3), because it has received
a n e w function, while in (3) the objects drop out since they no
longer have a function and have become useless. In form, however,
wife is still an object, as w e can see b y the simple dative object
him before it. (5) A s described in 46, intransitives often acquire
passive force: 'This cloth feels (i.e., is felt as being) soft.' O n the
other hand, as passive force is often found in intransitive form w e
sometimes use intransitive form instead of passive: ' H e took ill'
instead of 'He was taken ill,' just as w e often say 'Thefirstcon-
signment sold out in a week' instead of 'Thefirstconsignment was
sold out in a week.' In the case of both feel and take, however,
their concrete meaning and passive force are not as prominent as
their function of copula to introduce a predicate adjective.
T h e old linking verb worth (= be, become) has passed out of com-
m o n use, n o w usually replaced b y other copulas: ' W o e worth the
chase (dative), w o e worth the day (dative), That costs thy life, m y
gray' (Scott, Lady of the Lake, I, ix, 166) = ' W o e be to the chase,
woe be to the day,' etc.
a. APPOSITIONAL TYPE OF SENTENCE OR CLAUSE. The use of a copula
represents an advanced stage of language development. Originally it
was sufficient merely to place the predicate complement alongside the
subject without any formal sign of predication. Colloquial speech teems
with examples of the older type of sentences: ' Our sister dead?' ' Every-
body gone?' 'Everything in good condition.' This primitive type of sen-
tence, which simply consists in placing the predicate complement alongside
the subject, is called the appositional type of sentence. The predicate ad-
jective m a y not only follow the subject, but it very often precedes it: 'A
sad experience!' 'Good work!' 'Poor fellow!' In many cases, as in the
last example, for instance, this old appositional type of sentence is firmly
6 Ba APPOSITIONAL TYPE OF SENTENCE 29

fixed in English usage, and can scarcely be changed into the later con-
ventional form with an expressed copula. The old type is most common
where there is a strong expression of feeling, as in the last example.
In the prehistoric period of Indo-European, before it split up into
different languages, thefiniteverb of complete predication had become
established to indicate that the subject is acting, acted upon, or resting
in a certain condition. Where the predicate was a noun, adjective, ad-
verb, or prepositional phrase, the old appositional type of sentence still
in general remained in common use. But even in this prehistoric period
the copula be was often used to connect the subject with a predicate noun,
adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase. This verb was chosen because
in its historical development it had at this time lost a good deal of its
original concrete meaning and yet retained its verbal form. The loss of
concrete meaning and the retention of its verbal endings made it possible
to employ it as a formal means to introduce the predicate noun, adjective,
adverb, or prepositional phrase, for by virtue of its verbal form it possessed
the power of predication as in its earlier days when it was a verb of com-
plete predication, and moreover could indicate the relations of time and
mood, two important features not found in the older appositional type of
sentence.
From the very start the new type of sentence with the copula has been
closely associated with formal accurate language, hence is employed in
the calm flow of thought in declarative sentences and hasn't such exclu-
sive sway in loose colloquial speech or where strong feeling is involved. Of
course, the old type is common in old saws which often preserve faith-
fully older forms of expression. In many of these old saws we can see
that this primitive type can in spite of its simple structure often indi-
cate clearly the complicated grammatical relations of complex sentences:
'[if something is] Out of sight, [it soon comes] out of mind.'
This old type of predication without a copula is still common in the
headlines of our newspapers: SNOWDEN'S STAND CRITICIZED (The New York
Times, Aug. 17, 1929). Still common also in advertisements: 'Money
back guarantee in every package.'
On the other hand, it is still common in choice poetic prose, where it
often possesses a peculiar charm: 'Blossom week in Maryland! The air
steeped in perfume and soft as a caress: the sky a luminous gray inter-
woven with threads of silver,flakingsof pearls and tiny scales of opal!
All the hillsides smothered in bloom of peach, cherry and pear!'
(F. Hopkinson Smith, The Romance of an Old-Fashioned Gentleman).
It is best preserved in the subordinate clause. In the predicate accusa-
tive (15 III 2) construction: 'She boiled the egg hard' = 'She boiled the
egg that it became hard.' 'The President made him a general' = 'Th
President disposed so that he became a general.'
But it is not at all confined to the cases where the predicate of the
subordinate clause is an adjective or a noun. It is widely used also where
the predicate of the clause has the force of a verb of complete predication:
1
1 wrote to him to come' = ' I wrote to him that he should come.' This ter
old type of predication without afiniteverb is described in detail in 20 3.
30 PREDICATE APPOSITIVE 6C
In popular Irish English it is employed more widely than in the literary
language, the infinitive or participle here usually serving as predicate.
It can be used in any kind of subordinate clause: (subject clause) 'It
is notfittingMcDonough's wife to travel without company' (Lady Gregory
McDonough's Wife), (conditional clause) '/ to have money or means in
my hand, I would ask no help' (ib.). It is especially common here in
the second of two propositions connected by and, where, according to
19 3, the second proposition is felt as logically subordinate: 'What way
wouldn't it be warm and it (i.e., the sun) getting high up in the Sout
(causal clause) (J. M . Synge, The Well of the Saints, p. 1).

C. Predicate Appositive. The predicate may be also a verb of

complete predication in connection with a predicate complement,
usually called predicate appositive: 'He came h o m e sick.' ' Tired
and sleepy, I went to bed.' 'She asked h i m in tears to come again.'
'He came h o m e very much depressed.' 'The two persons w h o had
entered the house friends left it with feelings of alienation.' 'Leslie
reached Edinburgh a general without an army.' 'He died the (or as
the) richest man in the state.' 'This successful enterprise will go
d o w n in local history as representing the best that our town can do.'
For the use of as here, see 7 A b (3) and 7 B c.
T h e predicate appositive often not only adds a remark about
the subject but also has the force of an adverbial clause, thus
sustaining relations to both the subject and the principal verb:
'She sat at the window sewing' (with the force of an adverbial
clause of attendant circumstance). ' Being sick (= as I was sick), I
stayed at home.' ' Having finished my work ( = after I had finished
my work), I went to bed.' T h e wide use of the predicate appositive
in this category is one of the most characteristic features of our
language. Compare 48 2 (5th par.).
T h e predicate appositive is also found with passives: 'Even as
a young boy, he was regarded as very promising.'
T h e predicate appositive is, of course, also found after be when
the verb is in fact not a copula but a verb of complete predication:
'He is (is lying) at h o m e sick.'
T h e predicate complement is used not only with verbs of com-
plete predication but also with a predicate noun or adjective: 'He
is a good neighbor, always ready to lend a helping hand and do a
good turn.' 'She was like a bird, full of joy and music' 'Far from
being kind, he was most cruel.'
Also limiting adjectives are used as predicate appositive: 'But
there is a little redness, a kind of tendency to inflammation around
them (i.e., the eyes), and she is likewise slightly marked with the
small pox; both which blemishes were then imperceptible' (Mrs.
Eliza Fay, Letter, April 24,1779), n o w 'which blemishes were then
6C PREDICATE APPOSITIVE 31

both imperceptible,' or 'both of which blemishes were then im-

perceptible.' 'There had ridden along with this old princess's
cavalcade two gentlemen, w h o both were greeted with a great deal
of cordiality' (Thackeray, Henry Esmond, I, Ch. XII), or 'who were
both greeted with a great deal of cordiality,' or 'both of w h o m were
greeted with a great deal of cordiality.' 'They were all, both, each,
or themselves, wrong.' ' The others were all killed' or ' A11 the others
were killed.' T h e word-order all the others in the last example
shows clearly that all is developing toward the estate of an attribu-
tive adjective, but at the same time indicates its origin as a predi-
cate appositive. W e say his whole (attributive adj.) time, but all
his time, half his time, all these books, half these books, since a pr
cate appositive cannot stand between a limiting adjective and the
governing noun. Similarly, w e say these two books, but both these
books. After the analogy of two of these books w e n o w say also both
of these books, all of these books, half of these books, and 'He sent
some beautiful ties, all of which, however, were too small for me,'
or with the old appositional construction, 'He sent m e some beau-
tiful ties, which, however, were all too small for me.' These limiting
adjectives m a y be used also as predicate appositive to an object: ' I
have the letters all together.' ' I have already paid Messrs. M c C r e a
and Maire half their account' (George Mason, Letter to George
Washington, Feb. 17, 1775). 'I've not said half what I've got to
say.'
O n the other hand, half is often used as a noun, preceded b y a
limiting adjective and followed b y a partitive genitive: my half
of the money. 'I've not said the half of what I've got to say.'
The nouns half, third, quarter, etc., are often used as predicate
appositive to a subject or an object, standing before the subject or
the object: 'My halfthe melon is good.' 'My halfthe money' (George
Mason, Letter to George Washington, Feb. 17, 1775). 'Were I but
capable of interpreting to the world one half the great thoughts and
noble feelings which are buried in her grave!' (John Stuart Mill, On
Liberty, 1). 'Thefleetdid not have a quarter the number of boats it
should have had' (Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders, Ch. II).
Where the predicate is an adjective or a participle, w e avoid the
adjective half in the predicate appositive relation, since it would
be felt here as an adverb: ' Half of them were dead,' not ' They
were half dead,' for half is here felt as an adverb.
The peculiar word-order connected with many and some in older
English shows that they were predicate appositives: 'as there be
gods many and lords many' (I Cor., VIII, 5); 'the letters ... Of
many our contriving friends' (Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra,
I, u, 188); 'the fate of some your servants' (Ben Jonson, Sejanus,
32 PREDICATE NOUN 7 A a (1)

V, I, 59, A.D. 1616). W e n o w say many of our contriving friends,

some of your servants. For the further discussion of the predicate
appositive see 10 II 2 H 6.
7. Predicate Complement or Appositive. T h e predicate com-
plement or appositive m a y be:
A. A N O U N :
a. In the nominative after verbs of incomplete predication and
after passives:
(1) After the copulas enumerated in 6 B or after their infinitives
and gerunds: ' Socrates was the son of a sculptor.' ' They fell a prey
to the angry waves.' 'He (Silas Marner) felt a reformed man, de-
livered from temptation' (George Eliot). 'What big girls you're
both getting' (A. Marshall, The Eldest Son, Ch. II). 'She looks a
lady,' but look is a transitive verb with an accusative object in
'She looks compassion, daggers,' 'She would have said more; she
looked the remainder,' 'Some w o m e n use their tongues she look'd
a lecture' (Byron, Don Juan, I, xv). 'Sir Leslie Stephen had the
double advantage of both being and looking a man of letters.'
' " T h e Scarlet Letter" remains the greatest work of the kind in the
English language.' 'I shrank from grateful words which would
have sounded payment' (Meredith). 'They turned Catholics from
sincere conviction.' 'The boy will turn out a marvelous man.'
In accordance with the old Germanic principle described in 3 a
the predicate noun m a y for emphasis sometimes still stand in the
first place: 'Cantankerous chap Roger always was!' (Galsworthy,
The Man of Property, p. 24). Compare 35 1 (7th par.).
The infinitive be is often added to thefiniteform of a number of
these verbs which have considerable concrete force in order to
mark them more clearly as copulas: 'He seemed (or seemed to be) a
happy man.' 'Young Pen looked to be a lad of m u c h more conse-
quence than he was really' (Pendennis, I, Ch. XVIII). 'He lived
to be a very old man.' 'He rose to be president of the company.'
After the verbs let, bid, the simple infinitive of these copulas is
used to connect the predicate noun or adjective with the accusative
subject: 'Let m e be your friend.' 'I bade him be a good boy.' 'I
bade him be quiet.' After other verbs the copula in infinitive
clauses usually has the prepositional form: 'He never expected to
become a criminal.' 'I want you to remain m y friend.' A s he, the
subject of the principal proposition in the first example, is a
nominative, so the predicate of the infinitive clause, criminal, is also
in the nominative. In the second example, as the subject of the
infinitive clause is the accusative you, so the predicate of the clause,
friend, is also in the accusative. Distinctive forms, of course, are
found only in the case of pronouns, which are regularly in the
7 A 6 (3) PREDICATE NOUN 33
accusative in the predicate if the subject of the clause is an accu-
sative: 'He thought Richard to be me.' 'A boy w h o m I believed
to be him just passed me.' 'I believed it to be her.' 'They sup-
posed us to be them.' 'Whom do you suppose them to be?' T h e
predicate accusative becomes nominative after a passive: ' It was
at first thought to be he' (or in loose colloquial speech usually
him, as explained in 7 C a). In the active form of statement the
infinitive clause is not so c o m m o n here as a full clause with a finite
verb: 'He thought Richard w a s I' (or in loose colloquial speech
usually me, as explained in 7 C a).
O n the other hand, if the complement is predicated of the geni-
tive subject of a gerund, it is in the nominative: 'I was sure of its
being he' (or in loose colloquial speech him, as explained in 7 C a).
A noun is often predicated of a direct accusative object without
the aid of a copula an objective predicate accusative: 'The
President m a d e him a general.' This is the appositional type of
predication described in 15 III 2.
(2) After the passive forms of the transitives (see 15 III 2)
which take a predicate accusative in the active, as in ' The Presi-
dent m a d e him a general': 'He was m a d e a general.' 'He was ap-
pointed agent' 'He was called John.' 'He was called bad names.'
' H e was acclaimed king.' ' The Amsterdam Congress (of Socialists)
must be written a failure' (Times Correspondent).
b. T h e predicate nominative is introduced by as:
(1) After the intransitive appear: 'This appears to m e the (or
as the) only way out of the difficulties.'
(2) After the passive forms of look upon, look at, consider, re-
gard, greet, treat, and all others (for list see 15 III 2 A ) which in the
active take a predicate accusative introduced by as (see (3) below),
as in 'I look upon him as a worthy man': 'He is looked upon as a
worthy man.' 'He is regarded as our (or considered our, or less
commonly as our) most trustworthy man.'
(3) After a copula + complement and after intransitives of
complete predication and after passives, as is often placed before a
predicate appositive, although in accordance with older usage as is
still often, especially in poetry, lacking here, as sometimes also
in the two preceding categories: 'As a teacher, he is a stern dis-
ciplinarian.' 'Methinks you breathe Another soul; your looks are
more divine; Y o u speak a heroe (now in plain prose as a hero), and
you m o v e a god' (now in plain prose as a god) (Dryden, All for Love,
I, i, 435, A.D. 1678). 'She acted hostess (more commonly as hostess)
at the ducal parties' (Elinor Glyn, The Reason Why, C h . VII).
'One of those robust natures and incisive constitutions to which
doubtfiguresas a sickness' (Morley, Voltaire, 11). 'Lincoln was
34 PREDICATE NOUN 7Ad

born a (or as a) poor farmer's boy and died President (or as Presi-
dent) of the United States.' 'People are not born carpenters, but
sometimes they are born painters.' 'He was detested as a Tory.'
'He was shunned as a man of doubtful character.'
Here as (from all so, i.e., quite so) as a determinative (27 2,
last par.) points as with an index finger to the following noun
which expresses the idea in mind, thus always indicating oneness
with, identity. For more information about its origin see 15 III
2 A. This as stands in contrast to the predicate appositive
adjective like that takes after it a dative object (11 2 a): ' As a
true friend he stood by m e to the end,' but 'Like a friend he
came to m e and exchanged a few words with m e , but I knew
that he was inwardly not friendly disposed toward me.' T h e as
here expresses complete identity, oneness with, while like indicates
mere similarity. Latin qua (ablative fem. sing, of the relative pro-
noun qui, hence = [in the way] in which, i.e., with the meaning of
in the capacity of) is sometimes used with the force of an emphatic
as: 'He does it, not qua father, but qua judge.'
c. Instead of introducing the predicate complement by as, as in
b, w e still after a few verbs in certain set expressions employ a
prepositional phrase introduced by the preposition for, a usage
once more c o m m o n than n o w : 'He passes for an accurate scholar.'
'Analogy goes for very little in the pronunciation of English.' 'He
was taken for his brother.' 'If thou losest the prize, thou shalt be
scourged out of thefistsfor (or as) a wordy and insolent braggart'
(Scott, Ivanhoe, Ch. XIII). T h e verbs which in 15 III 2 A
sometimes take for in the active, of course, take it sometimes in
the passive.
In older English, for was used here in connection with the predi-
cate what and the verb be, where what and for have the force of
what kind of, as was fur in German: 'What is he for a fool that
betroths himself to unquietness?' (Shakespeare, Much Ado About
Nothing, I, in, 49). ' What is she for a woman?' (Dryden, Marriage
a la Mode, I, i). This older usage survives here and there in
popular speech.
d. After an intransitive copula containing the idea of growth,
development, or a change of position or condition, the predicate
complement indicates thefinalstage of the development or the
new position or state: 'I speculated h o w it would look when the
youth grew a man' (Mrs. Craik, Domestic Stories, I, Ch. V, 251).
'He became a rich man.'
The simple predicate complement is c o m m o n only after become.
In a few expressions the nominative is used after turn, blush, flush:
' She turned a livid white.' ' She blushed,flushed,a deep rose color
7A e PREDICATE GENITIVE 35

Usually a preposition or, after certain verbs, the infinitive form to

be stands before the predicate complement to indicate more clearly
the idea of afinalstage or a n e w position or state: 'From a robust
and vigorous infant I grew into a pale and slender boy.' ' W h e n the
boy grows to man, and is master of the house, he pulls d o w n that
wall and builds a n e w and bigger' (R. W . Emerson, The Conduct of
Life, p. 34). ' You've suddenly turned into a woman and into a very
clever one.' 'Something got into my throat,' in contrast to 'Some-
thing was in my throat.' 'The machine got to running (gerund)
smoothly,' in contrast to 'The machine was running (predicate
participle) smoothly,' but sometimes, as explained in 50 4 c dd,
w e find simple get here instead of get to: 'If I get lying (predicate
participle) awake tonight, I shan't,' etc. (De Morgan, Joseph
Vance, Ch. X , p. 74). 'She grew u p to be a lovely woman like her
mother.' 'He rose to be inspector of police.' 'He lived to be a very
old man.' 'A rumor does not always prove (or prove to be) a fact.'
e. Predicate Genitive. After the verbs be, become, seem, feel, a
predicate genitive is used to express several ideas also found in
the attributive genitive, namely, characteristic, origin, possession
material, and sometimes the partitive idea, n o w usually with the
prepositional form of the genitive except in the case of the posses-
sive genitive, although the old simple genitive was once c o m m o n in
most of these relations: ' I a m quite of your opinion.' ' This matter
is of considerable importance.' ' W e are of the same age.' ' B e of good
cheer.' 'He seems (to be) of a sound mind.' ' I feel of no use to any-
body.' 'He was not of the poor class.' 'Render therefore unto
Caesar the things which are Cozsar's, and unto G o d the things
which are God's' (Matthew, X X I I , 21). 'God's is the quarrel'
(Shakespeare, Richard the Second, I, n, 37). 'Nature has denied
him (i.e., Lord Curzon) the wit that is Lord Rosebery's' (Athenceum,
Yl/l, 1915). "Tis mine T o speak' (Wordsworth, The Prelude,
XIII, 12). 'It is not ours (or in simpler language for us, or in
colloquial speech often our business) to criticize them.' 'The house
is of stone.' 'But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep'
(John, X , 26).
The old simple genitive of possession is still very c o m m o n when
it points backward or forward to a preceding or following noun or
pronoun, but here, as in 57 5 a, it is often to be construed as a pos-
sessive pronoun, like mine, hers, etc.: 'The book is my brother's, not
mine.' Compare 57 5 a. T h e prepositional genitive of charac-
teristic often develops here into an adjective, as is indicated by
the frequent dropping of of, which converts the group of words into
a compound adjective, as in 10 I 2: 'The plank is not [of] the right
width.' 'The chimneys are [of] the same height.' 'The two boys
36 PREDICATE ADJECTIVE OR PARTICIPLE 7Ba

are [of] the same size, age.' ' M y face became [of] a very bad color
'The door was [of] a dark brown.' 'This ring is [of] a pretty
shade.' 'It's [of] no use.' 'I only wish I could do it again; then
I should feel [of] some use' (Galsworthy, Saint's Progress, 205).
'Don't be [of] any trouble to him.' '[of] What benefit are all these
experiments?' ' What age is she?' ' What part of speech are these
words?' ' What price is this article?' ' What are potatoes today?'
Similarly, in the appositional relation after a governing noun
where the appositive has the force of a predicate: ' She is a gawky,
slipshod, untidy child, with hair [which is of] the color of tow.'
A n objective predicate genitive of characteristic is used after
show, make, represent, regard, etc.: 'He showed himself of noble
spirit,' or 'He showed himself to be of noble spirit.' T h e of of th
genitive here is often suppressed as in the predicate genitive and
for the same reason: 'He m a d e the two planks [of] the same width.'
'He painted the door [of] a green color.' '[of] What color shall I
paint the door?' After some verbs the objective predicate genitive
is introduced by as: 'I regard this as of great importance.' See also
15 III 2 A. T h e objective predicate genitive here, as the objective
predicate accusative in 15 III 2, is joined to its subject, the object
of the principal verb, without the aid of a copula, since the state-
ment is felt to be of the old appositional type of sentence described
in 6 B a, where the predicate is placed alongside of the subject like
an appositive without the aid of afiniteverb.
The genitive usually introduced b y as is often used as a
predicate appositive after intransitives of complete predication:
'This consideration ought to weigh as of value to you.'
B. P R E D I C A T E ADJECTIVE A N D PARTICIPLES. The predicate
complement or appositive m a y be an adjective or a participle:
a. Adjective or Participle as Complement. T h e adjective or
participle m a y be predicated of a noun or pronoun in the nomina-
tive, here usually standing after a copula (6 B ) or after the passive
forms of the transitives (15 III 2), which in the active take a noun
or a pronoun as a direct object and an adjective or a participle as
objective predicate, as in 'He knocked him crazy': 'The verdict
appears [to be] just.' 'He is rich.' 'He became happy.' 'He was
not a m a n w h o bulked (or figured) large in the thoughts of his
contemporaries.' 'It came easy to me.' 'She fell ill.' 'He feels
uneasy.' 'He got quite angry.' ' M u c h of our best literature goes
virtually unread.' 'The offer holds good for a month' (Mildred E.
Lambert, American Speech, Oct., 1928). 'He kept silent.' 'The
meat keeps good.' 'She keeps well.' 'He lived to be eighty years
old.' 'He looks healthy.' 'The shadow of these things it was that
had suddenly fallen upon her spirit, and loomed thick and dark
 7Bu PREDICATE ADJECTIVE OR PARTICIPLE 37

between her and the friend of her early years' (Allen Raine).
'The rumor proved [to be] true.' 'He ranks high as a general.'
'All services rank the same with G o d ' (Browning). 'He remained
silent.' 'He will not rest content with these victories.' 'It is only
where he drops the grand style that his verse really rings true.'
'Our ammunition is running short.' 'Oldish gentlefolks run fat in
general' (George Eliot, Silas Marner, C h . X I ) . 'He seems to be
contented.' ' T h e joy shone clear and warm on her face.' ' It shows
white from here.' 'He sits tight' (slang). 'It smells bad' (adj.)
but 'It smells (i.e., stinks) badly' (or disgustingly) (adverbs).
'I feel bad' (not badly). 'Your sentence sounds well (adj.), bad.'
'It sounds good to hear your voice again.' 'It sounded harsh to
me.' 'But, then, evening came, and the stars sprang alight' (Sarah
Gertrude Millin, God's Stepchildren, Ch. II, I). 'On this question
w e two stand alone.' 'Stay quiet for a little while.' 'It tastes
sour.' It turned cold.' 'The rumor turned out false' (or to be
false). ' M y father waxed hotter and hotter.' 'He was knocked
crazy.' 'The egg w a s boiled hard.' 'He was found dead.' For
the insertion of to be in a number of these sentences see A a (1).
W e still often find here the old verbless appositional type of
sentence described in 6 B a: The little rascal! The poor fellow!
A beautiful sight! A sad fate! In narrating indirectly such direct
outbursts of feeling w e often give them in part narrative form by
the use of the copula as formal predicate, but instead of converting
the adjective into a predicate adjective w e often under the influ-
ence of the original strong impression retain its original attributive
form, so that w e say 'Indeed it was a beautiful sight!' instead of
'Indeed the sight was beautiful!' and 'Mary's (or hers) was a sad
fate!' instead of 'Mary's (or her) fate was sad!'
T h e governing substantive does not always stand in the predi-
cate, as in these examples, but often serves as the subject, standing
in thefirstplace, the adjective standing in the predicate, not as a
simple predicate adjective, but in substantive form (57 1) with the
suffix one referring back to its governing noun, so that the adjec-
tive is in reality not a predicate adjective, for w e always feel its
relation to its governing noun: ' T h e sight is indeed a beautiful one!'
Though w e thus often replace the simple predicate adjective by
more expressive attributive and substantive forms, w e are, on the
other hand, fond of it in connection with a complementary prepo-
sitional phrase as a more forcible form of statement than a transi-
tive verb with an accusative object: ' Y o u are forgetful of (= forget)
the fact that,' etc. 'I was ignorant of ( = didn't know) these facts.'
'Inaccuracy is fruitful of (= produces) error.' 'His style is provoca-
tive of ( = provokes) controversy.' This usage is very c o m m o n in
38 PREDICATE NOUN WITH FORCE OF ADJECTIVE 7BM

learned speech and often tends a w a y from simplicity in the direc-

tion of bombast.
T h e adjective or participle m a y be predicated also of a direct
accusative object: 'It m a d e h i m angry.' 'She boiled the egg hard.'
' I saw h i m making a kite.' This is the so-called objective predicate
adjective or participle. C o m p a r e 15 III 2 and 15 III 2 A . A s can
be seen b y the last example, the participle here often has the force
of afiniteverb. C o m p a r e 4 8 2 (3rd par.).
T h e predicate adjective is often found in the infinitive and the
gerundial construction without reference to a definite subject since
the reference is general: 'To be cheerful is the habit of a truly
pious mind.' 'The desire of being happy reigns in all hearts.'
aa. Predicate Noun with the Force of an Adjective. In the predicate
a noun often loses its concrete force, representing no longer an individual
person, but n o w a general abstract idea, often without an article:
'He was fool ( = foolish) enough to marry her.' 'He was not blunderer
enough to betray his thought.' 'He was more hero than scoundrel.' 'He
was master of the situation.' 'The child is father of the man.' 'If I were
sovereign, I would rule that,' etc. 'He looked at m e and, heavy and strong
man as he was, he thought it wiser to speak m e fair.' 'Under such strokes
a courageous heart m a y turn coward.' 'He turned traitor.' 'Even irre-
ligious people don't feel week-day on Sundays' (Hichens). 'The highest
genius is splendidly spendthrift; it is only the second order that needs to
be niggardly' (A. Symonds, Browning, quoted from Wendt's Syntax, I,
p. 115). 'that I m a y rest assur'd Whether yond troops are friend or
enemy' (Julius Coesar, V, in, 18).
Where, as in the last example, there is a reference to more than one,
the idea of a number of individuals is usually present to our feeling, so
that w e more commonly put the noun in the plural in spite of its abstract
nature: 'Whether yonder troops are friends or enemies.' 'They were
masters of the situation.' 'Are w e not men enough to face things as they
are?' (John Burroughs, Accepting the Universe, p. 11). In T a m friends
with him' the plural idea is so strong that the predicate noun is plural
although the formal subject is singular. In a few set expressions, however,
as a survival of older usage, the abstract idea is still stronger than the
conception of different individuals, so that the noun, like an adjective,
keeps its singular form: 'They stood sentry.' 'Two girls sat sentinel beside
her' (M. H. Hewlett, The Forest Lovers, 237). 'They turned Christian'
(Kipling, Plain Tales, 11). Jespersen in his English Grammar, II, p. 166,
cites two more examples after turn: 'Enthusiasts have tried the experi-
ment of turning husbandman' (Gissing, Henry Ryecroft, 188). 'Young
gallants with no intention to turn husband' (Walter A. Raleigh, Shake-
speare, 161). The definite article imparts here abstract force, so that it
is used with the singular even where the reference is to more than one:
'They were too m u c h the lady to make up to a gentleman w h o so obviously
did not want them' (J. M . Barrie, Tommy and Grizel, 23). Of course,
7C PREDICATE PRONOUN 39

often used also where the reference is to one: 'He (J. Ramsay MacDonald)
looked the prime minister' (Edward Price Bell, Why MacDonald Came to
America, p. 25).
The predicate noun here does not usually agree with its subject in
gender, but the masculine form, as the more abstract of the two genders,
is employed with reference to both sexes: 'The King's wife was in reality
king.' 'She was master of the situation.' 'She is Jew, through and
through.' 'Nightfall saw her victor (objective predicate; see 15 III 2 A )
in this domestic contest.' In such sentences, however, as 'As for Mary,
she was mistress of herself enough to whisper to Elizabeth' (Jane Austen,
Pride and Prejudice), the feminine form mistress becomes natural since
we are influenced in our feeling by the accompanying herself. Of course,
the feminine form is regularly employed when the predicate noun refers
to something specifically feminine: ' She is more mother than wife.' ' Sheil
was very woman, and one Paris gown and the prospect of more had lifted
her from the depths to the heights' (Rupert Hughes, Clipped Wings,
Ch. XXXI).
In a few expressions the definite article is used with the noun to indicate
a particular noticeable state of things: T a m not quite the thing (= well)
today.' 'Blue socks are now the thing' ( = proper, in vogue). 'What's th
matter (= amiss) with him?' 'She has something the matter (objective
predicate = amiss) with her spine.'
On the other hand, modified nouns used as attributive adjectives, as
described in 101 2, are often used in the predicate, and, as pure adjectives,
are invariable: 'He is high church.' 'I'm west country myself.' 'The
Windfields felt hopelessly small town' (Rupert Hughes, Clipped Wings,
Ch. X X X I ) . 'His evidence was toofirsthand' (Galsworthy, Man of
Property, II, Ch. X ) . 'He isfirstrate as a cricketer' (George Bernard
Shaw). Compare 7 A e and 10 I 2.
b. Predicate Complement Introduced by 'As' or 'For.' Instead
of the simple adjective or participle the predicate is in certain in-
stances, as in the case of nouns, introduced by as or for: 'He is
generally regarded as honest, as defeated,' etc. 'He passes for rich.'
'He was left for dead.' 'He was taken u p for dead,' quite different
in meaning from 'He was taken up dead.' 'This should be taken
for granted.'
c. Adjective or Participle as Predicate Appositive. T h e adjective
or participle is associated as predicate appositive (6 C ) with an
intransitive or transitive verb of complete predication: 'He died
young.' ' Unfortified b y philosophy and unconsoled b y religion, he
perceived the arrival of the end with tears and lamentations.'
Compare 6 C.
The predicate appositive is in certain cases introduced b y as:
' Those w h o vote for this measure go on record as being willing to
further public interests at the expense of their own.'
C. PREDICATE P R O N O U N , OR A D V E R B 'SO' INSTEAD O F PRO-
40 PREDICATE P R O N O U N 7C
N O U N . The predicate complement m a y be a pronoun: 'It was he.'
'It was they.' 'It was we.' In colloquial speech the accusative is
often used here. See a, p. 41.
The predicate complement m a y be a pronoun, referring to some
preceding sentence or description, or to the idea contained in a
preceding noun, adjective, verb, or prepositional phrase: 'Thdt
(or such) was the close of a remarkable life.' ' The thing is to be fre
all around in this world, and only the poor can be thdt' (Phillpotts,
Forest, Ch. III). 'He is the author of the article, but he does not
desire to be kn6wn as such.' ' " They must be curious creatures."
"They are that," said Humpty Dumpty' (Lewis Carroll, Through
the Looking-Glass). 'She is a queen, and looks it.' 'She is v
tired, and looks it' (or so; see 3rd par. below). 'But I call no
M a n bad till such he's found' (Robert Rogers, Ponteach, I, iv,
A.D. 1776), but now more commonly, 'till he's found to be" that'
(or so; see 3rd par. below). 'He is patient, which you never are.'
' She did it without murmuring, like the brave girl which (or that)
she was.' 'I tried to stop him, m a d m a n as he was.'
That and sometimes such (now not so commonly as formerly)
can be used thus also as objective predicate (15 III 2): 'His sister
is tactful, but I couldn't call hfm that.' 'He is honest, and you wil
alwaysfindhim that' (or sometimes such, or so; see 2nd par. below)
If the indefinite pronoun one is used as predicate, it does not
refer back to an idea as do such, that, and it, but points indefinitel
to a person or thing: 'He was a notorious miser, and looked one
generally' (Reade, The Cloister and the Hearth, Ch. I). In older
English, such was used here, and is sometimes still so used. Com-
pare 57 5 6.
Instead of a predicate pronoun we often employ the adverb so
as predicate, especially in connection with if and why and in re-
ferring with emphasis to the idea contained in a preceding adjec-
tive, noun, or prepositional phrase: 'John, I hope you have not
forgotten the butter. // [that is] so, you must go back and get
it.' 'I don't like m y teacher.' ' W h y [is that] so?' 'He is
poor, and so am I.' 'He is a Catholic, and so a m I.' ' Is he a faith-
ful friend?' 'He certainly has proved so.' Although so is often
emphatic, that conveys still greater emphasis: 'To feel with them,
we must be like them; and none of us can be thdt without pains'
(Ruskin, Sesame, I).
Sometimes both it and so can be put to good use in the same sen-
tence: 'She is shy, but it is a peculiarity of hers that she never
looks it and yet is intensely so.'
The form so is, in general, the more common of the two; but, in
contrast to older usage, now generally drops out when the copula
TC a CASE OF PREDICATE PRONOUN 41

be, or in a compound tense its tense auxiliary, in accordance with

6 A d (1), is strongly stressed, or not is stressed: 'Are you ready?'
'I am.' 'He used to be rich, but isn't any more.' 'You are m y
true friend, and always have been.' 'He is willing, but I a m n6t.'
Similarly, in questions which merely express surprise: 'It is al-
ready done!' ' I s it?' but in older English, as in the preceding
cases, with so: " T w a s agreed betwixt us, before,' etc. 'Was
it so?' (Wycherley, The Gentleman Dancing-Master, V, i, 11,
A.D. 1673). 'Just n o w you wished to talk.' ' A h , did I so?'
(George H . Boker, Francesca da Rimini, V, i, A.D, 1856). 'I pray
that it m a y be so, but I cannot think that it is so' (now usually
omitted) (Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, Ch. X X I I I , A.D. 1862).
The adverb so is used not only as an ordinary predicate but often
also as an objective predicate: 'She m a d efifeinteresting just be-
cause she found it so.' ' Things are in good shape, and I like to have
(or keep) them so.' ' Is Beauty beautiful, or is it only our eyes that
make it so?' 'No m a n is poor that does not think himself so.' 'The
present scribe is no snob. H e is a respectfully brought-up old
Briton of the higher middle class at least, heflattershimself so'
(Du Maurier, Trilby, I, 196).
O n the other hand, it is often in colloquial speech used in the
predicate without reference to anything that has preceded predi-
cative situation it (4 II A ) . W h e n in a difficult situation someone
after m u c h fruitless discussion makes a bright suggestion the others
remark: 'That is it' ( = the thing to do). If a wrong motive has
been ascribed to one's act, one replies: 'No, that is not it' (= the
right explanation). Predicate it here often has the meaning of
superior, acme, point of perfection: 'Did he k n o w his Greek?'
'I should say so. H e was it' (Dialect Notes, II, p. 42). Often in
an unfavorable sense: 'He thinks he is it.' ' For barefaced lying you
are really it' (Pocket Oxford Dictionary). Predicative it often pre-
cedes the copula so that the emphatic subject m a y stand at the
end: 'In the dance it (= the important thing) is grace. In a
cigarette it is taste' (advertisement). Compare 21 b (2nd par.),
21 e (10th par.).
a. Case of the Predicate Pronoun. Where there are distinctive
case forms, the predicate pronoun should be in the nominative and
in choice language usually is, but in popular and loose colloquial
speech there has persisted since the sixteenth century a tendency
to employ here the accusative of personal pronouns as the predi-
cate complement after the copula: 'It wasn't them' (Tarkington,
Penrod and Sam, Ch. IV). 'No, it's us' (E. Poole, The Harbor,
p. 61). 'I say it is him or nobody for you' (Hardy, The Mayor
of Casterbridge, Ch. X X X ) . 'Some one said, "That's him!'"
42 CASE OF PREDICATE PRONOUN 7C a

(Hutchinson, If Winter Comes, p. 369). Under the influence of

attraction w e often find the accusative here in good authors in
serious style: 'It is not me [ w h o m ] he misjudges' (Winston
Churchill, The Inside of the Cup, p. 501), but 'It is I w h o keep
M r . Hodder in the Church' (ib., p. 512). Here me has been at-
tracted into accusatniLform under the influence of the suppressed
accusative relative which should follow it. T h e use of the accusa-
tive in the literary language is not confined to cases of attraction,
as in this example, but there is a tendency to use it elsewhere, as
in colloquial speech.
The tendency here towards the accusative is in part explained by
the position of the pronoun after the verb, a position which in
general is closely associated with the accusative. W e not infre-
quently find even the subject in the accusative when it follows the
verb: 'Here be them [that] haue beene amongst souldiers' (Ben
Jonson, Euery Man in His Humour, V, n, 4, A.D. 1601, ed. 1616).
'And damn'd be him thatfirstcries, "Hold, enough!'" (Shake-
speare, Macbeth, V, vin, 34). ' C o m e and dine with us. There'll only
be us three' (Sir Harry Johnston, Mrs. Warren's Daughter, Ch. I).
In colloquial speech, where the verb precedes the subject, the pro-
nominal subject is often in the accusative and the verb, as in 8 1 1 h,
is in the third person singular, whatever m a y be the person of the
pronoun: 'Here are you and M r . Farr, both of you whole-time
schoolmasters; here's Sir Eliphaz toiling night and day to make
cheap suitable homes for the masses; here's me (instead of here am
I) an overworked engineer' (H. G. Wells, The Undying Fire, p. 87).
'Now there's you (instead of there are you), burning yourself out 'cos
your high principles won't let you,' etc. (Sir Harry Johnston, Mrs.
Warren's Daughter, Ch. X I V ) .
Where an appositive noun stands between a pronominal subject
and the verb and thus hides, as it were, the subject and weakens
our feeling for its force, w e sometimes employ the accusative for
the subject instead of the correct nominative: 'All us girls think it
ever so romantic' (Meredith Nicholson, The House of a Thousand
Candles, Ch. IX, p. 127), instead of the correct 'All (predicate ap-
positive; see 6 C, 6th par.) we girls think,' etc., or 'We girls all
think,' etc., or 'AH of us girls think,' etc.
Where there is nofiniteverb expressed, there is a widespread
drift in colloquial speech, and sometimes even in the literary lan-
guage, to employ the accusative without regard to the grammatical
relations: 'Those m e n have other feelings than us w h o have noth-
ing suffered' (Thomas Paine, Common Sense, p. 43, A.D. 1776).
'I don't know, Frank, what the world is coming to or me either'
(Thackeray, The Newcomes, I, Ch. X X I X ) , instead of what I
TCa CASE OF PREDICATE PRONOUN 43
am coming to either. ' W h o talked it over?' 'Why, him and
her and me, of course' (De Morgan, Somehow Good, Ch. IX, p. 85).
'"I guess you ain't a N e w Yorker, huh?" Mike said. "Me, no."'
(Edna Ferber, Half Portions, p. 64). 'There was that in the room
as w e entered which was stronger than us all' (Mrs. Gaskell, Cran-
ford, 22) = than we all were. 'There's not a soul in m y house
but me (= but I) tonight' (Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd,
Ch. X X X I V ) . Other examples are given in 27 2 a, 29 1 A a, aa,
and 31 (5th par.).
The plain drift of our language is to use the accusative of per-
sonal pronouns as the c o m m o n case form for the nominative and
accusative relations; just as in nouns there is here no formal dis-
tinction. In the best grade of colloquial speech it is stillfirmusage,
however, to employ the nominative as subject when it stands im-
mediately before the verb, as in ' / a m tired.' In popular speech
the accusative is used even here when there are two or more sub-
jects connected by a conjunction: 'This is the last Sabbath-day
that him and me will be under the same roof' (Mrs. Oliphant, The
Laird of Norlaw, I, 30). ' You and him is nice falias, 'deed ye are'
(Manx dialect). 'Him and m e is friends, yes, we are' (ib.). In
popular speech in general the pronoun for thefirstperson some-
times retains the nominative form: 'Him and / (or I and him) were
there.' The accusative is sometimes used here even when there is
but a single subject: 'Her'll be sixteen come Martinmas' (M. E .
Francis, Honesty, I, Ch. II). In M a n x dialect it is c o m m o n to say,
' Them is good,' but usually ' They, we, ye, are good.' Similarly,
in the nominative absolute construction (17 3 A ) the subject in
popular speech usually has the form of the accusative: 'It will be
a very good match for m e , m'm, me being an orphan girl' (H. G.
Wells, The Country of the Blind, p. 16). Irish English preserves
the older nominative here. Compare 17 3 A.
The wide use of the accusative for the nominative, described in
detail above, is unfortunate, for, as illustrated in 29 1 B a, it is
sometimes ambiguous. The expressive power of our language
should not become impaired. It is to be hoped that all w h o are
interested in accurate expression will oppose this general drift by
taking more pains to use a nominative where a nominative is in
order. Compare 31 (5th par.). It is gratifying to observe that
this careless usage, though still c o m m o n in colloquial speech, is in
general less c o m m o n in our best literature than it once was.
Opposed to the general tendency to employ the accusative in-
stead of the nominative is the use of the nominative instead of the
accusative, especially where other words connected by a conjunc-
tion stand between the pronoun and the governing preposition or
44 NORMAL FORM OF PREDICATE INFINITIVE 7D 1 b

verb, obscuring the grammatical relations: 'He went with John

and I.' In older literary English, this error sometimes crept into
the language of prominent writers: 'All debts are cleared between
you and I' (Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, III, n, 321).
'Why, Macro, It hath beene otherwise between you and /' (Ben
Jonson, Sejanus, V, v m , 203, A.D. 1605, ed. 1616). 'Let you and I
cry quits' (Hughes, Tom Brown, I, in, A.D. 1857). This error is
still c o m m o n in popular speech: ' As soon as he saw Dorothy and I'
(Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Ch. II).
D. P R E D I C A T E I N F I N I T I V E . There are three classes of infini-
tives here:
1. Normal Prepositional Form. There are two groups:
a. The prepositional infinitive is used after the copulas: 'To
be good is to be happy.' 'To represent him as a m a n of stainless
virtue is to make himridiculous.''He seems to have ability.' 'He
seems to want to do it.' 'He appeared to desire it.' 'I happened (or
chanced) to look in that direction and caught him in the act of
doing it.' W h a t is n o w a nominative subject of the verb happen or
chance was in older English a dative of interest (12 1 B b): 'It
hapned me fall in with an vgly Captain' (Thomas Nashe, The Vn-
fortvnate Traveller, Works, II, p. 217, A.D. 1594), n o w 'I happened
to fall in with an ugly captain.' This change from dative to nomi-
native is in accordance with the modern tendency to represent the
person standing in relation to an action as doing, passing through
an experience, rather than as involved in the action or as affected
by it. Compare 4 II B (4th par.). T h e word after happen is now
a predicate infinitive linked to the subject by the copula happen,
while in older English it is a subject infinitive, sometimes with
its old simple form, as in the example from Nashe. Compare 4 d.
Thefo-infinitivewas more common.
Descriptive force is sometimes imparted here by employing as
predicate a present participle or the progressive form of the in-
finitive: 'Her whole being seemed hanging (or to be hanging) on his
words' (Galsworthy, The Country House, I, Ch. VII). 'Instead of
offering any explanation, he seemed waiting (or to be waiting) for
her to say something' (Christopher Morley, ' Thunder on the Left,'
in Harper's Magazine for Sept., 1925, p. 400).
b. The prepositional infinitive is employed after the passive
forms of two groups of verbs: (1) verbs of finding, making
(= compelling), knowing, perceiving, and others with similar or
related meanings; (2) verbs of believing, thinking, saying, re-
porting, teaching, recommending, allowing, advising, commanding,
ordering, and the like. Examples: 'He wasfinallyfound to be sleep-
ing' (a fact), or 'He was found sleeping' (with descriptive force).
7D 2 MODAL FORM OF PREDICATE INFINITTVE 45

'He was never found to neglect his work.' 'He was m a d e to shut the
door.' 'He was k n o w n to do it.' 'He was believed to be rich.' 'It
was ordered sent (or to be sent) to m y house.' 'He was ordered
(asked, requested, or told) to do it.' These two passive groups cor-
respond to the two active ones described in 15 III 2 B and 24 III
d, except that the passive is not used with the verbs of wishing and
desiring in 24 III d. Instead of the present tense of the progressive
active infinitive a present participle with descriptive force is often
used, and instead of the present passive infinitive a perfect parti-
ciple without a difference of meaning, as illustrated above.
T h e use of the infinitive after passive form is characteristic of
modern English. W e can n o w usually convert active into passive
form b y merely putting the object of the person into the nomina-
tive, changing the active to the passive voice, and retaining the
rest of the predicate without change, as if the words formed a
compound or group-word (63): (active) 'He told m e to do it';
(passive)'I was told to do it.' Compare 15 I 2 a. If, however, w e
use a simple infinitive in the active, w e employ the prepositional
form in the passive, for this construction is modern, and in modern
infinitival constructions w e regularly use the prepositional form:
'I saw him do it,' but in the passive 'He was seen to do it.' Oc-
casionally, however, the simple infinitive of the active is retained
in the passive, as illustrated in 15 III 2 B a.
2. Modal Form. After the copulas be, remain, fall, and in a few
expressions seem, the infinitive often assumes a peculiar modal
force in the predicate, expressing the necessity, possibility, or fit-
ness of an action: 'The letter is to be (i.e., must be) handed to him in
person.' 'An account of the event is to be (i.e., can be) found in the
evening papers.' ' W o m e n are not easily to be read' (Hichens, Am-
bition, Ch. X X X I V ) (cannot be easily read). 'Such w o m e n are to
{i.e., ought to) be admired.' 'That remains to be seen.' 'Having
placed so m u c h to its (i.e., the motor omnibus's) credit, however,
there falls to be considered a totally different aspect of the case' (II.
London News, N o . 3896, 1068 a). This same modal force is also
found in attributive clauses where the infinitive has the force of a
predicate: 'There are still serious difficulties to be overcome' ( =
which are to be overcome, must be overcome). 'He has given m e m u c h
to think about' ( = that I should think about). Compare 23 II 11
(2nd par.).
The idea of necessity, so often found here in the infinitive, has
m a n y shades of meaning. It indicates that something must take
place in accordance with the will of a person or of Destiny, or as
the outcome of events or a natural development, or in accordance
with some plan or agreement: 'John, you are to (or must) be up b y
46 MODAL FORM OF PREDICATE INFINITIVE 7D 2

six.' 'What a m I (or do you want m e ) to do next?' ' W e are to (or

must, or are destined to) toil and moil here below.' 'I a m to (or
must) become a burden to you all.' 'He is at last to receive his
merited reward.' 'He is yet to meet his equal.' ' W e are all to meet
next week to settle the question.' 'There is a circus to be here
next week.' There is often future force here, but it is mingled with
the modal. T h e modal force is often found also in abridged attribu-
tive relative clauses (23 II 11), where the infinitive has the force of
a predicate, although there is here, of course, no copula before it:
'She dreamed impossibly of a spirituality never to be hers1 (= which
was never to be hers). 'She did not realize that she, now or about to
be a social power (= who was now or about to be a social power), was
to do,' etc. (Hope, Intrusions of Peggy, 57). 'She desires to flee
from the wrath to come' (= which is to come). There is often fu-
ture force here in connection with the modal, as in the last example.
T h e modal force of the infinitive is often found also in abridged
accusative (24 III d) and prepositional (24 I V a, 2nd par.) clauses
where thefo-infinitiveis felt as predicated of some word in the
principal proposition: 'I don't k n o w what to do' ( = / am to do, or
should do). 'I'll tell you h o w to do it' ( = you should do it). 'I told
him where tofindit' ( = he couldfindit). 'I showed him h o w to do
it' (= he should do it). ' I shall tell him w h e n to go' (= he should go).
'I a m thinking of what to do ( I should do) next.'
In older English, the modal infinitive w a s sometimes employed
after the present participle and gerund being in an abridged parti-
cipial or gerundial clause, where present usage requires a full clause
with afiniteverb: ' John being to go your way, I a m willing to write,
because he is so willing to carry anything for m e ' (Richardson,
Pamela, I, Letter V), n o w 'Since John is to go your way, I a m will-
ing,' etc. 'This particular circumstance of her being to come so
soon' (Jane Austen, Emma, II, Ch. I), n o w 'This particular cir-
cumstance that she is to come so soon.'
In Old English, the infinitive here usually had passive meaning,
so that a number of the sentences given above in which the infini-
tive has active force represent modern usage and indicate that this
construction has extended its boundaries. Originally the infinitive
was a noun and could not express the idea of voice. In Old English,
the infinitive here usually had clear passive meaning, but the form
was active, although elsewhere passive form had come into use to
express the passive idea. T h e infinitive here w a s still felt as a
noun, object of the preposition to. In the fourteenth century the
infinitive here began to be felt as a verb, and sometimes assumed
passive form: 'The menaces of Fortune ne ben nat for to dreden
(active form with passive force), ne theflateryngesof hir to ben
 7E PREDICATE GERUND 47
desired' (passive form and force) (Chaucer, Boethius, II, I), n o w
' The menaces of Fortune are not to be dreaded, nor are her flatterie
to be desired.' The development of passive form for passive mean-
ing was naturally facilitated by the fact that the infinitive here
sometimes had active force, so that passive form was needed to dis-
tinguish passive from active meaning. The gradual development of
passive form for passive meaning m a d e it possible to employ active
form freely for active meaning: ' H o w am I to (can I) pay such a
debt?' 'He is to come back tonight.' Other examples of infini-
tives with active form and meaning are given on page 46. There
are, however, a few survivals of older usage with active form and
passive meaning: 'This house is to let.' 'He is to blame for it.' 'He
seems to blame for it' with modal force, while in passive form 'He
seems to be blamed for everything that goes wrong' there is no
modal force at all. In abridged attributive relative clauses, active
form with passive meaning is still c o m m o n : 'He is not a m a n to
trifle with' (= that can be trifled with). Compare 23 II 11. Some-
times, however, active and passive form here have a little different
meaning: 'This is the m a n to send' (= that should be sent), but
'This is the m a n to be sent' (= that in accordance with our plan will
be sent).
A s in 4 II B (last par.), there has been a change of subject here
since the Old English period wherever there was in Old English a
dative of reference (12 1 B a): ' A c us is to smeagenne baet Drihten
on baere costunge nolde his pa myclan miht gecyban' (Blickling
Homilies, p. 33, tenth century), n o w 'But we are to consider that
the Lord in his temptation did not desire to reveal his great
power.' T h e newer construction is a marked characteristic of
Modern English, but it began to appear in Middle English: 'He
wist (knew) what he was to do' (Wyclif, Selected Works, I, 120).
3. Form to Express Purpose. After a copula an infinitive to-
clause is sometimes used as a predicate to indicate purpose: 'John
is n o w with us to help us with our work.' 'I have been d o w n town to
buy a new hat.' In all such cases the copula has considerable con-
crete meaning. In older English, be was used here as a pure copula
without any concrete force, where w e n o w replace the fo-infinitive
by a present participle, copula andfo-infinitivein older English
being used m u c h as the progressive form: ' A M I E N S . H e hath been
all this day to look you (now has been looking for you). J A Q U E S .
And I have been all this day to avoid him' (Shakespeare, As You
Like It, II, v, 33) (now have been avoiding him).
E. P R E D I C A T E G E R U N D . T h e gerund is often used as a predi-
cate, usually as a parallel construction to the prepositional in-
finitive without an essential difference of meaning: 'To build
48 PREDICATE ADVERB AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE 7F

upon any other foundation (than religion) is building upon sand'

(Southey) (or 'to build upon sand'). Compare 50 4 b.
F. P R E D I C A T E A D V E R B A N D P R E P O S I T I O N A L P H R A S E . In gen-
eral, adverbs and prepositional phrases modify adjectives, adverbs,
and verbs of complete predication as adverbs proper, but a large
number of adverbs and prepositional phrases are used as adjectives
a s attributive adjectives, or as predicate complements standing
after a linking verb, or as predicate appositives (7 C ) following a
verb of complete predication. T h e use of adverbs and preposi-
tional phrases in the attributive relation is described in 10 I 2 and
10 VI. T h e following examples illustrate their use as predicate
complement and predicate appositive.
Predicate complement: 'The matter is quite otherwise.' 'Is M r .
Smith in?' ' M y day's work is over.' ' Don't strike a m a n when he is
down.' 'He is down and out.' 'He is out for a walk.' 'The sun is up.'
'He was up early this morning.' 'He is up in mathematics.' 'lam
up with him now. I was behind him for a while, but I have caught
(finking verb) up with him.' 'Smallpox is about' 'He is about
(adverb, not preposition, for the prepositional infinitive cannot
now stand after a preposition) to take the step.' 'He seems about
(adverb) to take the step.' 'The car is in good condition' (predi-
cate prepositional phrase). 'The nation is at peace.' 'I must be
about (preposition) my Father's business' (Luke, II, 49). 'The
trend is in this direction.' 'The trend of both statements was to
the effect that in this critical hour friends of law and order should
stand by the President' (Chicago Tribune, Dec. 29, 1929). 'The
book is up to (compound preposition) date.' 'He is not up to his
task.' 'I a m up to his tricks.' 'He is up to some mischief.' 'It
up to you to do something.' The predicate is often a prepositional
gerundial clause: 'He is about taking the step.' 'He seems about
taking the step.' 'He is on the point of (compound preposition) ta
ing the step.' 'He is above doing such things.'
Predicate appositive: 'The fruit arrived in good condition.' 'H
came h o m e out of humor.'
In m a n y compounds the preposition on is reduced to a, as in
abreast, afoot, aglow, ashore, away, etc., all originally prepositiona
phrases, hence freely used as predicate complement or as predicate
appositive. Predicate complement: 'He is asleep, ashore, away,'
etc. Predicate appositive: 'He is lying on the sofa asleep.' 'He
came h o m e all aglow with enthusiasm.'
A n adverb or a prepositional phrase can be predicated also of an
accusative object, i.e., can be an objective predicate (15 III 2 A ) :
'I should not wish it otherwise.' 'I found everything in good condi-
tion.' There is no copula here. For an explanation see 15 III 2.
 CHAPTER IV

AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUBJECT

AND PREDICATE
PAGE
NUMBER 49
PERSON 60
GENDER 61
CASE 61
8. The predicate agrees wherever the form will permit
with the subject in number, person, gender, and case. On account
of the lack of distinctive forms the verb often cannot be brought
into agreement with the subject; but, so far as the form will per-
mit, present usage requires strict concord. Older usage was not so
strict.
I. N U M B E R
1. If the subject is singular, the verb is also singular:
tiniest hair casts a shadow.'
a. The verb which follows situation it (4II A) or an anticipatory
subject it that points to a following clause is always singular, even
though the reference is to more than two: 'Where does all that
noise come from?' 'It's the children playing upstairs.' 'It was
m y brothers who were struck.' ''Twas men I lack'd' (Shakespeare,
II Henry VI, III, i, 345). Compare 4 II C.
b. If a subject in the singular is associated by means of with,
together with, as well as, no less than, like, but, except,
words which logically though not formally constitute a part of the
subject, the subject is now with our present strong feeling for form
usually in the singular, although the plural is often found here in
older English and is sometimes still used: 'But godliness with con-
tentment is great gain' (I Timothy, VI, 6), but sometimes with a
plural verb if the idea of number is prominent: 'Old Sir John with
half-a-dozen more are at the door' (Onions, Syntax, p. 31), wher
however, to most speakers and writers and is more natural than
with, or is is more natural if with is employed. ' The island of
tralia, with Tasmania, constitutes the Commonwealth of Austral
'The bat together with the balls was stolen.' 'Justice, as well as
mercy, allows it.' ' The girl, as well as the boys, has learned to
ride' and of course ' The girls, as well as the boy, have learned to
49
50 N U M B E R A G R E E M E N T O F SUBJECT A N D PREDICATE 8I1 d

ride.' 'Man, no less than the lower forms of life, is a product of

the evolutionary process.' ' The conquest of the air, like all the con-
quests that m a n has m a d e over the elements, is taking a costly
toll of h u m a n life.' ' Nothing but dreary dikes occurs to break the
monotony of the landscape.' 'Nobody but John and William was
there.' 'Nobody, except his most intimate friends, knows of it.'
c. It is often very difficult, indeed, to determine whether the
noun which precedes the copula is the subject or the predicate
complement. Professor Jespersen has given us a good practical
rule for use in perplexing cases: 'The subject is comparatively
definite and special, while the predicate is less definite, and thus
applicable to a greater number of things' (The Philosophy of
Grammar, p. 150). In c o m m o n practice, however, m a n y find it
difficult to distinguish subject and predicate here. T h e present
tendency is to avoid a decision on this perplexing point b y regulat-
ing the number of the copula b y a mere formal principle namely,
as the nominative before the copula is often the subject, it has be-
come the rule to place the copula in accord with it, whether it be
a subject or a predicate. 'Her children (subject) are her sole care.'
'Her principal anxiety (predicate, but felt as subject) was her chil-
dren.' ' The chief curse (predicate, but felt as subject) is taxes.' O n
the other hand, as the noun which follows the copula is often the
subject, w e frequently, especially in older English,findthe copula in
accord with it: ' All that w e found of the deer were the ragged hide,
some patches of hair, cracked bones, and two long ears' (Zane Grey,
in Harper's Monthly, Aug., 1925). 'What it (i.e., the air) unques-
tionably did contain were carbon monoxide gas and prussic acid
gas' (E. E . Free, 'The Origin of Life,' in Forum, Oct., 1925). 'His
pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the
skies' (Psalms, XVIII, 11). 'The wages of sin is death' (Romans,
VI, 23). A s far as the form is concerned, w e might interpret wages
here as a singular, subject of is, for it is often used as a singular in
older English, as illustrated in 2 /, p. 58. But, according to the
rule given above, it is the predicate and death the subject.
d. Collective nouns take a singular verb or a plural verb, ac-
cording as the idea of oneness or plurality is uppermost in the mind:
' The multitude, unacquainted with the best models, are captivated
by whatever stuns or dazzles them' (Macaulay). ' The assembly was
dissolved.' 'Congress were (now was) pleased to order m e an ad-
vance of two quarters' salary' (Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel
Osgood, Oct. 5, 1785). 'The Senior Class requests (i.e., as a unit)
the pleasure of your company,' but ' The Senior Class are unable
to agree upon a president.' ' The choir knelt and covered their faces'
(Bennett, Old Wives' Tale). T h e point of view sometimes shifts
8 I 1 e NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 51

within one and the same sentence, so that the verb is n o w singular,
n o w plural, although the reference in the different cases is to the
same noun: ' There was a grand band hired from Rosseter, who, with
their wonderful wind-instruments and puffed-out cheeks, were
themselves a delightful show to the small boys' (George Eliot, Adam
Bede, 233). Aside from cases where the idea of oneness is quite
pronounced, there is in general still a tendency in English now,
however, not so strong as formerly to employ a plural verb with
a collective noun. Of course, sometimes here formal forces counter-
act this general tendency. T h e singular is sometimes chosen for the
sake of a contrast or a parallelism: 'Although he himself presum-
ably knows what are the thoughts and ideas which he is trying to
express, his audience does not.' 'The Mary Rogers was strained,
the crew was strained, and big Dan Cullen, master, was likewise
strained' (Jack London, When God Laughs). Compare 59 1.
Similarly, if a group of words, especially a partitive group, con-
veys the idea of plurality, a number of individuals, the verb is in
the plural, even though the governing noun is singular, while the verb
is singular if the group conveys the idea of oneness: 'The greatest
part of these years was spent in philosophic retirement,' but 'The
greatest part of the Moguls and Tartars were as illiterate as their
sovereigns.' In 'A large number of the garrison were prostrate
with sickness' and 'There are a large number of things that I de-
sire to say' number is n o w felt not as a collective noun but as a
component of a compound numeral, the indefinite pronoun a large
number with plural force, so that the verb is in the plural. In
older English, number was sometimes treated as a singular noun in
accordance with its singular form: ' In the Chirche above in heven
is a noumbre of greete seintis' (Wyclif, Selected Works, II, 309,
A.D. 1380). This treatment of number as a singular noun is still
found occasionally where a writer follows the outward form rather
than the inner meaning: 'Chicago has as m a n y more (models)
and besides these there is probably an equal number of occasional
sitters, transients' (Beecher Edwards, 'Faces That H a u n t You,' in
Liberty, M a y 22, 1926).
e. The singular is the regular form after the indefinite or general
pronouns each one, everybody, everyone, anyone, either, nobody,
neither, etc., since they are n o w usually felt as presenting the sub-
ject separately: 'Each of us must live his or her (60 1 d) life.'
'Everyone has his hobby.' 'Either of the expressions is correct,
but the former is more c o m m o n than the latter.' 'Neither has a
wife.' In older English, the plural was c o m m o n here, as the tend-
ency was then strong to give expression to the plural idea logi-
cally contained in these words: 'Everyone in the house were in
52 NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 8 I 1 h

their beds' (Fielding, Tom Jones, B o o k VII, Ch. X I V ) . This usage

survives in loose colloquial and popular speech. Compare 61 1 a.
After neither, however, the plural verb is still found also in the
literary language alongside of the singular. O n account of the
strong plural idea logically contained in it, the plural verb was
c o m m o n in older English and is still found in good authors:
'Thersites' body is as good as Ajax', w h e n neither are alive'
(Shakespeare, Cymbeline, IV, n, 252). 'Neither of the sisters were
very m u c h deceived' (Thackeray). 'Neither of us are dukes'
(H. G. Wells, The New Machiavelli, p. 316). Compare 2 c, p. 56.
None, originally singular, m a y also be classed here w h e n the
reference is to one person: 'None has more keenly felt them'
(Stevenson). It is c o m m o n in older English, and is still used in
choice language, but is n o w largely replaced b y no one or nobody.
It is n o w quite c o m m o n , however, as a plural with a plural verb:
'None are so deaf as those that will not hear.'
Just as the singular is usually found after the pronouns each one,
everyone, either, neither, it is also usually employed after the adjec
tive forms each, every, either, neither, although the reference is
more than one: ' Every boy is taught to read and write.' 'Either ex-
pression is correct.' 'Neither speech is to exceedfifteenminutes.'
/. For the number of the verb after kind of, sort of, see 59 7.
g. A plural personal pronoun, subject of a plural verb, often has
for its antecedent a singular noun modified b y many a: 'But
yesterday I saw many a brave warrior, in all the p o m p and circum-
stance of war, marching to the battlefield. W h e r e are they now?'
h. T h e principle that the verb should agree with the subject is
very often not recognized in popular speech. Here in the present
indicative the third person singular is used for all persons and both
numbers, in accordance with the tendency to level away the in-
equalities within a category, provided distinctive form is not ab-
solutely necessary to the thought: I says, you says, he says, w e
says. In dialect thou (4 II H ) likewise has a verb in the third
person after it: 'Thou's not acting right' (Stanley Houghton,
Hindle Wakes, Act II). This usage is c o m m o n also in the language
of Quakers: ' Thee ( 4 I I H ) is wrong about that.' In older English,
more commonly with thou as subject: ' H o w comes thou Into truth
if thou hast not beene led by ye spirit of truth?' (George Fox,
Journal, p. 313, A.D. 1657).
N O T E . This use of the verbal ending s for all persons and numbers
was originally a dialectic feature of Northern English. In the Old English
period the oldest ending for the second person singular of the verb was s.
In this early period the s often spread to the second person plural, and
then further spread to the other persons of the plural and to the third
8 I 1 A Note NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 53

person singular, so that in the Old English period s was often used in the
North for all persons and numbers except thefirstperson singular. In
Middle English, the s spread in the North also to the first person singular,
so that the s was sometimes used for all persons and numbers: 'as I before
you has talde' (Cursor Mundi, 14135, A.D. 1300), n o w 'as I have told you
before.' '0 gode pertre comes god peres' (ib., 37), n o w 'From a good
pear tree come good pears.'
This s was destined to play an important part in the literary language.
In Middle English it spread to the northern part of the Midland, where
it was used in the East in the third person singular and in the West in the
third person singular and often also in the plural. In both sections,
however, the old th continued to be used alongside of it in the third person
singular. T h e s at this time had not yet reached London, and thus it did
not affect Chaucer's customary language. But he was well acquainted
with it, and in his Reues Tale let the two Northern clerks employ their
Northern s in characteristic manner, using it for all persons and numbers:
'And forthy (therefore) is I come' (111). 'Howfares thy faire doghter and
thy wyf?' (103). In one instance Chaucer used an s-form on his o w n
account for the sake of the rime. Later, the s-ending became established
in London and the South generally. M a n y people from the North and
the northern Midland came to the growing national capital to live and,
of course, brought with them their handy s-ending, which by reason of
its marked superiority in ease of utterance appealed to the people there
as it had appealed previously to the people of the North. It affected at
first only colloquial speech, while in literary prose the older and more
stately th maintained itself for a time. Shakespeare employed s in the
prose of his dramas, where the tone is colloquial, while the translators of
the Bible used th throughout as more appropriate for a serious style.
The poets often employed s on account of its warmer tone or for the sake
of rime or meter. After the time of Shakespeare s gradually became
established in all styles of the literary language, but only in the third
person singular, not in the other persons of the singular and throughout
the plural as in northern English.
In older literary English, however, s was not entirely confined to the
third person singular. Just as the s in the North spread from the second
person singular to the plural and to the other persons of the singular,
the literary s of the third person singular, from the late fifteenth to well
into the eighteenth century, occasionally spread to other forms, especially
to the second person singular and the third person plural: 'Syker, thou's
(i.e., thou is) but a laesie loord' (Spenser, The Shepheards Calender, July,
33, A.D. 1579) = 'Surely, you are a lazy lubber.' ' W h y bends thou thus
thy minde to martir m e ? ' (Kyd, The Spanish Tragedie, III, ix, 6,
A.D. 1585-1587). 'What are they that comes here?' (Richard Edwards,
Damon and Pithias, 376, A.D. 1571). 'Your commissioners telz m e '
(Queen Elizabeth, Letters to James VI, 44). This usage survives in the
literary language in jocular imitations of popular speech in the case of
says I, says you instead of said I, said you, parenthetical insertions in a
quotation to indicate the author of the language: '"It was folly and in-
54 N U M B E R A G R E E M E N T OF SUBJECT A N D PREDICATE 8I2 a

gratitude, M r . Brough," says I, "I see it all now"' (Thackeray, Samuel

Titmarsh, Ch. VI). It survives also in the second person singular after
thee in the language of the Quakers, as described in h, p. 52.
In popular speech we find for all persons and numbers not only does
but also do after the analogy of a number of other auxiliaries (may, can,
etc.) which have no s in the third person singular: 'They always does it'
(Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit). ' It do seem hard' (Masefield, The Everlast-
ing Mercy). In older English, this do occurs sometimes in the literary
language: 'He do confess himself to speak of this third kind' (Philpot,
Exam, and Writ., 335, A.D. 1553). 'He do' not hear m e I hope' (Ben Jon-
son, Every Man out of His Humour, Inductio, 351, A.D. 1600). In loose
colloquial speech, the negative form don't is still widely used as an aux-
iliary for all persons and numbers: 'I, you, he, we, they, don't believe it.'
In the Isle of M a n hev is used for all persons and numbers: T, thou, he,
we, hev' (= have). For the peculiar use of the uninflected form of the
verb in the east Midland of England for all numbers and persons of the
present tense see Accidence, 56 4 b. This usage is c o m m o n also in
American Negro dialect: 'Dish yer chicken-nabber look lak (like) he
dead' (Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus, p. 20). 'Gawd
always lub (for loves) de righteous' (Du Bose Heyward, Porgy, p. 32).
In the past tense there is also in the literary language, aside from the
poetic second person singular, no ending for person or number, except that
the plural of was is were: I said, you said, he said, w e said, etc., but:
was, you were, he was, w e were, you were, etc. In older English, leveling
took place even in the case of was, which was sometimes used for both
singular and plural, and for all persons. Thus was was sometimes used
with the subject thou instead of wast: 'Where was thou born?' (Marlowe,
The Jew of Malta, 892, about A.D. 1590, ed. 1636). Was was most fre-
quently employed for were with the subject you where the reference was
to only one individual: 'Pray, Sir, h o w was you cured of your love?'
(Fielding, Love in Several Masqves, Act. IV, Scene II). Of this once
very c o m m o n construction Noah Webster says on page 92 of his Philo-
sophical and Practical Grammar (A.D. 1807): 'The compilers of grammars
condemn the use of was with you but in vain. The practice is uni-
versal, except among m e n who learn their language by books. The best
authors have given it their sanction, and the usage is too well established
to be altered.' The use of was for reference to more than one was much
less widespread, but it has become c o m m o n in current popular speech:
'we, you, they, was.' But also the older literary usage of employing in
the second person was for reference to one and were for more than one
occurs here: you was (sing.), you were (pi.).
2. If the subject is plural, or if there are several subjects, the
verb is plural: 'The boys in our class are m o r e numerous than the
girls.' 'A strong wind and a full sail bring joy to the sailor.'
a. W h e n the verb precedes a n u m b e r of subjects, it is often in
the singular, especially in older English: 'And n o w abideth faith,
hope, charity, these three' (/ Cor., XIII, 13). This usage lingers on
8 12 6 NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 53

in poetry: 'It is man's age-long struggle to draw near His Maker,

learn His thoughts, discern His law A boundless task in whose
infinitude, A s in the unfolding light and law of love, Abides our
hope and our eternal joy' (Alfred Noyes, The Torch-Bearers, p. 230).
Plain prose usage here today favors strict agreement of the verb
with its subject, hence the plural is n o w the natural form of the
verb. There is often a hesitation to use a plural verb because it
does not harmonize with the nearest subject: 'There is little illus-
tration and no side-lights of suggestion' (G. W . Lewes, Aristotle,
Ch. I, p. 20), instead of 'There is little illustration and there are no
side-lights of suggestion.'
In older English, as illustrated on page 53, a singular verb was
not infrequently used with a following plural subject, a usage
which survives in popular speech. Survivals still occasionally
occur also in the literary language after there is, there exists, etc.;
i.e., in certain set expressions where the mind is not on the alert:
' There exists, sometimes only in germ and potentially, sometimes
more or less developed, the same tendencies and passions which
have m a d e our fellow-citizens of other classes what they are'
(M. Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, Ch. III). 'Here there does
seem to be, if not certainties, at least a few probabilities, that,'
etc. (H. G. Wells, Mankind in the Making, Ch. III).
W h e n the subjects precede, the verb sometimes stands in the
singular, agreeing with the last of a number of subjects, usually,
however, only w h e n this part of the subject serves as a climax to
the whole of the subject or summarizes the different subjects:
'Your interest, your honor, G o d himself bids you do it' (Onions,
An Advanced English Syntax, p. 31). 'Her knights and dames
her court is there' (Byron, Parisina).
In older English, a singular verb is often found after two or more
singular subjects where w e n o w employ a plural verb. T h e singular
form of the verb here was defended on the ground that the verb
agrees with one subject and is understood with the other or the
others. N o a h Webster in his Philosophical and Practical Gram-
mar (A.D. 1807) defends thus the following sentence: 'Nor were the
young fellows so wholly lost to a sense of right as pride and conceit
has (now have) since m a d e them affect to be' (Rambler, N o . 97).
b. In case several coordinate singular subjects represent the
same person, the verb is in the singular, often also w h e n they are
felt as forming a distinct collective idea, a close union or oneness
of idea: ' M y colleague and dear friend (one person) is near death's
door.' 'Slow and steady (one person or animal that is slow and
steady) wins the race.' 'Tomumble over the past, to live on the
classics, however splendidly, is senility' (H. G. Wells). ' To make
56 NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 8 12c

life worth living and to raise the standard of comfort sounds well'
(G. Peel). 'A cart and horse (felt as a unit) was seen at a distance.'
'The sum and substance of the matter is this,' etc. 'The long and
short of it is,' etc. Aside from a few expressions, the singular is
not n o w so c o m m o n as formerly where the different subjects form
a collective idea.
O n the other hand, when each of a number of singular noun
subjects is considered separately, the verb is in the singular: 'A
fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss
of friends, seems at the m o m e n t untold loss' (Emerson). 'The
author, the wit, the partisan, thefinegentleman, does not take the
place of the m a n ' (id.). 'Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 7s our
destined end or w a y ' (Longfellow, Psalm of Life). 'Either sex and
every age was engaged in the pursuits of industry' (Gibbon, Roman
Empire, Ch. X ) . 'Every boy and girl is taught to read and write.'
'Many an orator and essayist has pointed out the supreme value to
manhood of the hard grinding conditions under which such boys
grow up' (Theodore Clarke Smith, James A. Garfield, I, p. 35).
c. In connection with the conjunctions not only but (also),
either or, neither nor, partly partly, etc., the different su
jects are considered singly, and hence the verb agrees with one of
them the one next to it and is understood with the others:
'Not only the children are ill, but also the mother.' 'Not only
arms and arts, but man himself has yielded to it' (i.e., the pen).
'Either John or William is to blame.' 'Either the mayor or the
aldermen are to blame.' 'Neither the girls nor John is to blame.'
'Neither she nor John is to blame.'
After neither nor w e still oftenfindthe plural verb after singu-
lar subjects since there has long been a tendency to give formal
expression to the plural idea which always lies in the negative form
of statement: 'And neuer sithen nouther the kyng of Ermonye ne
the countree weren neuer in pees' (Mandeville, Travels, Ch. XVII,
about A.D. 1410-1420) = 'Since that time neither the King of
Armenia nor the country have been at peace.' 'Neither search
nor labor are necessary' (Johnson, Idler, N o . 44, A.D. 1759).
'Neither he nor his lady were at h o m e ' (George Washington,
Diary, Dec. 2, 1789). 'Neither Leopardi nor Wordsworth are
of the same order with the great poets w h o m a d e such verses
as . . .' (Matthew Arnold). 'Neither painting norfightingfeed
m e n ' (Ruskin). 'It (i.e., Matthew Arnold's Thyrsis) does not
carry the same conviction of distress that Lycidas does; neither
the friendship nor the sorrow seem so profound' (Robert Bridges,
'Poetic Diction in English,' in Forum, M a y , 1923, p. 1539).
Compare these examples with those in 1 e, p. 51. Similarly, after
8 I 2 e NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 57

not . . . either or, which has the force of neither nor: ' I do
not think either Montaigne or Johnson were good judges' (Lord
Avebury). W e sometimes find the plural after or since the speaker
or writer feels that the statement, though at any one time appli-
cable to only one of two or more things, holds good for them all:
' M y life or death are equal both to m e ' (Dryden). 'A drama or
an eTpicfillthe mind and one does not look beyond them' (Matthew
Arnold, Essays in Criticism, II, p. 135). 'Acting, singing, or re-
citing are forbidden them' (H. G. Wells). 'What are honor or
dishonor to her?' (Henry James). 'Language is the medium of
literature as marble or bronze or clay are the materials of the sculp-
tor' (Sapir, Language, p. 237). T h e expression one or two always
requires the plural: ' There are one or two subjects on which you are
bound to have but one opinion' (Ruskin). After a word or two the
singular is often used since w e feel the collective force: 'Only a
word or two is (or are) needed here.' Where the subjects are per-
sonal pronouns of different persons there is considerable fluctua-
tion in present usage. See II, p. 60.
d. If the subject of the sentence is the n a m e of a book, drama,
newspaper, country, or in general any title, proper name, the verb
is usually in the singular: '"The Virginians" is a good story.'
'"The Liars" was produced yesterday at the Criterion.' '"The
Times" reports,' etc. 'The United States is the paradise of the
workman,' but often also the plural: 'The United States of
America, which reckon 20,000,000 of people' (Emerson, English
Traits, 26). See also 59 2.
e. If a single plural subject or several singular or plural subjects
are felt as forming the idea of a firm mass or fixed amount, the
verb is in the singular: 'Nearly thirty shillings was paid for a pound
of tea in 1710.' 'Oh, there's bushels of fun in that!' (Eugene Field,
Poems of Childhood, 'The Drum'). ' Thefiftymiles was (or were)
covered by the winner in four hours, fourteen minutes, and forty-
five seconds.' 'Thirty minutes is sufficient for a good sermon.'
'Four years has seemed a long time to you but a very short time
to us' (Woodrow Wilson, June 12,1910). 'Three times (adverbial
element) 3 is (or are) 9.' 'Three times 3 quarts of water is 9
quarts.' 'Three times 3 oranges are 9 oranges.' '2 and 2 is (or
are) 4.' '2 quarts of water and two more quarts is 4 quarts.'
'2 oranges and 2 oranges are 4 oranges.' '4 from 6 (phrase used
as subject) leaves (not leave) 2,' but '6 less (or minus) 4 is (or
are) 2,' in which 'less 4' and 'minus 4' are prepositional phrases
with adverbial force. '20 divided by 5 (phrase used as subject)
equals (not equal) 4.' '5 is contained in 15 three times,' or 'There
are three 5's in 15.' 'There was two hundred dollars in the purse,'
68 NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 8 14

but 'There were two hundred-dollar bills in the purse.' 'Three-

fourths of the surface of the earth is sea,' but 'Three fourths of
our old college class are married.'
/. N o u n s that are plural in form but singular in sense, such as
gallows, news, measles, mumps, smallpox (for small pocks), usually
take a verb in the singular: ' This sad news was brought to him at
once.' 'Few diseases provide a more favorable chance for con-
sumption to develop than does measles' (Thos. S. Blair, Public
Hygiene, p. 307). S o m e nouns, such as amends, means, odds (now
usually a plural, except in the meaning of difference), pains, tid-
ings (more commonly a plural), are sometimes used as plurals,
sometimes as singulars: 'What's the odds?' but 'The odds are
against us.' 'Great pains have (or has) been taken,' or 'Much
pains has been taken.' 'All possible means have been adopted,'
or 'Every means has been tried.' 'Then come (less commonly
comes) tidings that,' etc. Sciences in -4cs, as mathematics, eco-
nomics, physics, etc., are usually felt as singulars, but the names
of practical matters, as athletics, gymnastics, tactics, politics,
usually felt as plurals: 'Mathematics is (sometimes are) not his
strong point.' 'Physics is mainly the science of the transforma-
tion of energy.' ' Politics are m y only pleasure' (Oscar Wilde, An
Ideal Husband, Act I), but also the singular is used here where
the idea of oneness is pronounced: 'Politics makes strange bed-
fellows.' In older English, wages was a plural form with singular
force: 'Their daily wages is so small' (Sir T h o m a s More, Utopia).
Wages is n o w a plural: 'But I shall be able to manage till m y first
quarter's wages come in' (George Moore, Esther Waters, Ch. III).
The singular wage is often used: a living wage or living wages.
Compare 59 2.
Alms, eaves, and riches (from Old French richesse), though in
older English singular forms, are n o w felt and treated as plurals:
'Where riches are, some alms are due.' 'The eaves are not yet
finished.'
Lots of or lots, heaps of or heaps, though originally plural nouns,
are n o w felt as indefinite pronouns expressing an indefinite number
or amount, so that, when used as subject expressing an indefinite
amount, they take a singular verb: 'There is lots of fun and there's
lots to follow.' 'There was heaps of fun' (Alec W a u g h , Loom of
Youth, III, Ch. VIII). Compare Parts of Speech, 7 5.
3. Where there are an affirmative and a negative subject, the
verb agrees with the affirmative: 'Virtue, not rolling suns, the
mind matures' (Young, Night Thoughts).
4. T h e verb is in the plural where a singular abstract subject
is modified b y two or more adjectives connected b y and which
8 17 NUMBER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 59

clearly indicate that two or more things are meant: 'Sacred and
profane wisdom agree in declaring that "pride goeth before a fall."'
The abstract subject here retains its singular form since it cannot
as an abstract noun take a plural. Similarly, w e employ a singular
subject and a plural verb w h e n the subject is a mass word modified
by two adjectives connected b y and: 'Good and bad butter are
things quite different to our taste.'
Of course, the verb is in the plural where there is an article or
other limiting adjective before each of the descriptive adjectives
to indicate that two persons or things are described: ' The red and
the white rose are both beautiful.' Similarly, the verb is in the
plural after a singular noun modified b y two possessive adjectives
referring to different persons: ' Your and my wife (or more com-
monly your wife and mine) are good friends.' Compare 10 I 4 and
57 5 a.
5. After the group more than there is a difference of usage
according to the meaning. T h e usual form of expression is the
singular verb since more than is felt as an adverb, as equivalent to
not merely; but others feel more as a plural indefinite pronoun
and employ the plural verb: ' M o r e than one has (or have) found it
so.' Of course, the plural is used w h e n the words are separated:
'More have found it so than just he.'
Similarly, Zess than is often felt as an adverb: 'There were less
than (adverb) sixty ( = sixty people) there,' or 'There were fewer
(plural pronoun) than sixty there.'
6. T h e predicate noun agrees with the subject in number: ' The
Puritans (subject) were the King's most exasperated enemies,' or
in order to emphasize the subject 'The King's most exasperated
enemies were the Puritans' For the position of the subject
see 3, p. 3.
a. The predicate noun does not agree with the subject if it is the
name of a material or is a collective or an abstract noun: ' Ye are the salt
of the earth' (Matthew, V, 13). 'The Swedes are a Germanic people.'
'Good children are the joy of their parents.' Concrete nouns in the predi-
cate assume a general abstract force and then often do not agree with
the subject, as illustrated in 7 B a aa.
7. The verb is in the singular if its subject is a clause: ' That
they were in error in these matters is n o w clear to us and probably
also to their warmest friends.' Similarly, a group of words con-
taining a single thought or picture takes the singular form of
the verb: 'Early to bed and early to rise makes a m a n healthy,
wealthy, and wise.' ' Three such rascals hanged in one day is good
work for society.' C o m p a r e 17 3 B .
60 PERSON AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 8 II 3

II. P E R S O N
A few difficulties arise with regard to the form of the verb
when pronouns of different persons are used as subjects:
1. W h e n two or more subjects of different persons are in appo-
sition, the verb agrees with thefirstof them since it is felt as
containing the leading idea: 'I, your master, command you.'
2. Where there are an affirmative and a negative subject, the
verb agrees with the affirmative: 'I, not you, am to blame,' or
'I am to blame, not you.'
3. Where there are subjects of different persons connected by
or or nor, most grammarians prescribe that the verb should agree
with the nearest subj ect: ' Either he or I am in the wrong.' ' Either
w e or John is in the wrong.' 'Neither he nor I am in the wrong.'
'Neither w e nor John is in the wrong.' In our ordinary English,
however, this construction is not n o w c o m m o n , for most people
desire to avoid the annoying necessity of making a choice between
the two persons. Hence the most c o m m o n usage n o w is to sep-
arate the sentence into two distinct propositions, each with a
verb or one with a verb and one elliptical in form: 'Either he is
in the wrong or I am.' ' W e are not in the wrong, nor [is] John
either.' T h e wide currency of this usage indicates that most
people dodge the necessity of making a choice between the two
persons as though it were an educational test which they dreaded
to meet. This diffidence stands in marked contrast to the fearless
directness which in similar cases elsewhere often urges us to express
ourselves tersely at whatever cost, since w e feel that it is better to
speak by guess than to become systematically awkward in expres-
sion. In colloquial and popular speech m a n y people, feeling this
awkwardness, place the subjects together and employ a plural verb,
which, though often incorrect, always avoids the clash of the differ-
ent persons: 'Either he or 7 are in the wrong.' After nor, however,
the plural occurs also in the literary language, for here it is logi-
cal, as often elsewhere after neither or neither nor: 'Neither
Isabel nor I are timid people' (H. G. Wells, The NewMachiavelli,
p. 436). 'Neither you nor I are ever going to say a word about
it' (Marion Crawford, Katherine Lauderdale, I, Ch. X V ) .
In a number of cases the force of or is not really disjunctive,
so that the rule does not apply at all and w e must be guided by
the sense: 'There are one or two irregularities to be noted.' Here
one or two has the force of an indefinite number, hence the verb
is in the plural. In 'The scriptures, or Bible, are the only authen-
tic source' (Bishop Tomline) the words 'or Bible' are a mere
explanation of 'Scriptures,' which is the real subject.
8 IV CASE AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE 61

In the above examples either and neither are construed as con-

junctions, so that they do not influence the form of the verb. But
sometimes they are treated as pronouns employed as subject of
the verb and followed by two appositives: 'Either he or I is in
the wrong.' 'Neither m y dog nor I is for sale' (Thomas Nelson
Page, John Marvel, Assistant, Ch. X X V I ) . 'Neither you nor I
necessary to the progress of that great Methodist Church' (Sinclair
Lewis, Elmer Gantry, Ch. XVIII, IV). Of course, the verb is
here always in the third person, agreeing with its subject either or
neither.
III. G E N D E R
The predicate noun can assume a form in accordance with t
natural sex of the person or animal represented by the subject,
provided such forms are elsewhere in common use for persons or
animals: ' He is a count.' ' The animal is a bull.' ' She is a cou
In general, we have few such special forms for males and females,
and hence usually employ the same form for both males and
females: 'He is a teacher.' 'She is a teacher.' 'She is a good
of mine.' Sometimes we can put a word such as woman, lady, man,
girl, boy, etc., before the predicate noun to indicate sex: 'She is
the only woman competitor.' 'She is the best lady (better woman)
physician in the city.' 'It's a woman friend of mine.' 'It's a
man friend of mine.' 'It's a boy actor.' 'It's a she goat, a he
goat.' For a fuller treatment see 60 1 b.

IV. CASE
The predicate noun or pronoun agrees with a nominative sub-
ject in case and thus both stand in the nominative: 'It is /,'
but in colloquial speech we often hear the accusative here: 'It
is me.' See 7 C a. 'Who (predicate) are the men working on
the roof?' 'They are the tilers.' Where there is a reference to
a name already mentioned, a predicate pronoun is used: 'Jesus
therefore went forth, and said unto them, W h o m seek ye? They
answered, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he'
(John, XVIII, 4-5). Today we may still in such a case say
'I am he,' or perhaps more commonly 'This is he,' but in col-
loquial speech we sometimes replace the pronoun by a noun: 'I
am the man [you're looking for],' or 'I am your man.'
A noun or pronoun predicated of an accusative is in the accusa-
tive. For examples see 7 A a (1), 4th par.
A noun or pronoun predicated of the genitive subject of a gerund
is in the nominative. For an example see 7 A a (1), next to last par.
Also the genitive is used in the predicate. See 7 A e.
 CHAPTER V

SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE

9. The subordinate elements of a sentence are called modifiers.
They are divided into the following general classes:
1. Attributive Adjective Modifiers, which modify a noun or a
pronoun.
2. Objective Modifiers, which modify a verb, an adjective, or an
adverb.
3. Adverbial Modifiers, which modify a verb, an adjective, or
another adverb. It is often difficult to distinguish an adverbial
from an objective modifier as both kinds of modifiers modify verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs. In this book the term object is used
where the relation to the modified word is close. T h e expression
adverbial modifier is employed to indicate a less close relation.
Compare 14 a, 24 IV, 24 I V a, 25 1.
Thus modifiers are classified according to their function. Recent
grammarians under Jespersen's influence speak also of the 'rank'
of the modifier. In 'exceedingly prompt action' action is called
the principal, prompt the secondary word or adjunct, exceedingly
the tertiary word or subjunct.

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS

PAGE
A D H E R E N T A N D APPOSITIVE A D J E C T I V E A N D PARTICIPLE 63
Position and stress 63
Nouns, adverbs, and phrases used as adjectives . . 66
Repetition of limiting adjective 68
Noun modified by two possessive adjectives con-
nected by 'and' 69
Logical relations of the adjective to the governing
noun 70
Orthographical form 70
ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 70
Form, position, stress 70
S-genitive associated with the conception of life . 75
Double genitive 75
Position of genitive among other attributive modi-
fiers 77
Categories 77
Genitive of origin 78
62
10 I 1 ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS 63

PAGE
Possessive genitive 78
Possessive group genitive 80
Unclear old genitive 81
Subjective genitive 81
Objective genitive 81
Genitive of material or composition 82
Descriptive genitive 83
Genitive of characteristic 83
Genitive of measure 83
Appositive genitive 84
Partitive genitive 85
Nature 86
Replaced by an appositive 87
Appositive replaced by a partitive genitive . . 87
Blending 88
Genitive of gradation 88
APPOSITION 88
Loose apposition 89
Pronouns in apposition 91
Appositive to a sentence 91
Close apposition 91
PREPOSITIONAL P H R A S E A S M O D I F I E R O F A N O U N . . 92
INFINITIVE A S M O D I F I E R O F A N O U N 93
ADVERB AS MODIFIER OF A N O U N 93
CLAUSE AS MODIFIER OF A N O U N 94
Logical relation of clause to governing noun . . . . 94
10. Attributive adjective modifiers are treated as follows:
I. ADHERENT AND APPOSITIVE ADJECTIVE AND PARTICIPLE

The attributive adjective stands either before or after its gov

erning noun; in the former position called adherent, in the latter
position appositive, adjective. A s will be shown on page 64, the
appositive adjective is m u c h nearer the nature of a predicate
adjective than is the adherent adjective.
Adherent and appositive adjectives which modify verbal nouns
are in a formal sense adjectives, but they have the force of adverbs:
'his late arrival,' 'his last visit here.'
The inflectional forms of the adjective and their use are treated
in 52-56. Other matters are presented below.
1. Position and Stress. T h e adjective in the attributive rela-
tion usually precedes the governing noun, is a little less strongly
stressed, and normally has descriptive force: 'this little boy.' This
is descriptive stress. T h e adjective, when important to the
thought, is often strongly stressed, but yet a little less strongly
64 ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS 10 I 1

than the governing noun: 'This is bldck ingrdtitude!' Here w e

have emphatic stress, usually indicated in this book b y two
marks of chief stress, although the second accent is a little stronger.
If the adjective is more strongly stressed than the governing noun
and precedes it, it usually has distinguishing or classifying force:
' the little book, not the big one' (distinguishing stress). ' Little mind
(classifying stress) always think so.' 'Big words seldom go with
good deeds' (classifying stress).
A participle usually follows the governing noun as an appositive
w h e n its verbal force is marked, but of course stands before the
noun w h e n felt as an adherent edjective: 'He dropt his chin like
a man shot' (H. G. Wells) ( = like a man who has just been shot, or
like a man after he has been shot). Adjectives in -ble are often
treated as participles since they contain a good deal of verbal
force: gdrges nearly impassable, sufferings unspeakable, the only
person visible, and after the analogy of such expressions also with
all the solemnity possible, the best style possible, etc. This word
order and stress has descriptive force, hence often is used when
the participle is stressed, for the stressed participle before the
noun would have classifying force, as in an unhedrd of crime,
while in fact attention is here usually directed toward an act:
the result arrived at (with descriptive force = the result which has
been arrived at). ' T h e crowd round a couple of ddgs fighting is a
crowd masculine mainly with an occasional active, compassionate
woman.' 'In the world's view a wdman soiled is a woman spoiled'
(Hall Caine). ' Bdys neglected were bdys lost' (Kipling). This word-
order is sometimes used b y good authors in the case of adjectives
in the hope of securing a striking effect through the unusual posi-
tion of the adjective, but the marked classifying force does not
harmonize with the descriptive stress: ' After Sndbs Military Sn6bs
Clerical suggest themselves' (Thackeray), instead of the more nat-
ural and forceful 'After Military Snobs (classifying stress and
force) Clerical Snobs suggest themselves.'
O n the other hand, it is both natural and c o m m o n to place
stressed adjectives after the noun w h e n they have descriptive force:
'a laugh musical but malicious' (Mrs. H . W a r d ) . 'Calculations
quick and Anxious passed through the young wife's brain' (id.).
Such adjectives, like participles, are felt as descriptive appositives
rather than as adherent adjectives, i.e., as explanatory additions
with the force of a descriptive, subordinate, attributive clause,
which always follows the governing noun. A single adjective fre-
quently stands after an indefinite pronoun with this force: 'Sdme-
thing [which is] niw, ndthing [which is] extraordinary, Everything
[which is] English.' ' I can't believe anything [which is] much can
 10 I 1 ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS 65

happen.' 'Let Jenny marry sdmebody [who is] rich.' Similarly,

nouns used as adj ectives: ' something silk.' ' Everything metal was
intolerable to the touch.' B u t a single adjective stands m u c h less
commonly with this force after a noun. A single adjective clings
tenaciously to its place before the noun, and can in only compara-
tively few instances stand after the noun in native English expres-
sion; but when two adjectives are united b y a conjunction, as in
thefirsttwo examples in this paragraph, they often follow the gov-
erning noun. This position is also c o m m o n when a single adjective
is modified, or when there are a number of adjectives not con-
nected by conjunctions, for in these cases, as in the case of two
adjectives connected b y a conjunction, the adjective or adjectives
after the noun are felt as appositives: ' It was a plan so stupid that
no one approved of it.' ' It was a beautiful deed worth remembering.'
'It was an army a hundred thousand strong.' 'He was a m a n very
just in all his dealings with his fellows.' 'She is a w o m a n inferior
none in unselfish service.' ' W h e n observing this Chinese peasantry,
you seem to be watching a community of ants, persistent, untiring,
organized; only the ants are m e n , physically strong, assiduous, re
sourceful, adaptable, cheerful.'
The modified adjective or participle is often before the noun
where w e should uponfirstthought expect tofindit after the noun:
'a m a n y times exploded error,' 'too cdstly a sacrifice,' or 'a too
c6stly sacrifice,' 'so harsh an answer.' 'I a m as good a sch61ar as
he.' In these and m a n y similar examples w e prefer adherent form
and thus put the noun after the adjective or participle in order to
m a k e the noun more prominent in accordance with the usual char-
acter of adherent descriptive groups. But to call attention to the
adjective and yet give it descriptive force, w e employ the apposi-
tional form: 'in weather as inclement as that on the day previous.'
O n the other hand, w e m a y say 'a too costly sacrifice' w h e n w e
desire descriptive force and 'a too costly sacrifice' w h e n w e desire
to convey classifying force. Notice the classifying force in the fol-
lowing example: ' True, Wolf Larsen possessed intellect to an un-
usual degree, but it was directed solely to the exercise of his savage
instincts and m a d e him but the more formidable a savage' (Jack
London, The Sea-Wolf, Ch. X X I I I ) . A s so + a stressed adjective
often has descriptive force; it is often found in the appositional
construction w h e n it is more strongly stressed than the governing
noun: 'a pdwer so str6ng,' 'people so uneducated,' etc. If, how-
ever, the adjective is not a descriptive (51 2) but a limiting (51 2)
adjective the adherent form m a y be freely used without destroying
the descriptive force: 'so m u c h mdney,' 'so few people,' 'so m a n y
books.'
66 NOUNS, ADVERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES AS ADJECTIVES 10 I 2

Sometimes an adjective m u s t be placed after the n o u n to avoid

a clash of different numbers: 'one of the greatest export articles
of N o r w a y , perhaps the greatest' (Fowler, Modern English Usage,
p. 402), not 'one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest, export ar-
ticles of Norway.' 'One of thefinestp o e m s of a n equal length
produced of recent years, if not thefinest'(ib.), not 'one of the
finest, if not thefinest,p o e m of an equal length produced of recent
years.'
o. A S I N G L E U N M O D I F I E D A D J E C T I V E A F T E R T H E N O U N . In a number
of set expressions under French influence a single unmodified adjective
has become established in the position after its governing noun: the
President elect; fee simple; the sum t6tal; cdurt martial; the bddy p61itic;
Pdet Laureate; Pdstmaster General; from time immem6rial; devil incar-
nate, etc. A few such groups have arisen under Latin influence: God
Almighty; third person plural, etc. Not only the word-order in such
groups but also the stress is in most cases foreign, for the accent upon
the second member, i.e., the descriptive stress, is in marked contrast to
its distinguishing or classifying force, as can be seen in comparing the
Latin group Asia Minor with the native English Greater New Ydrk.
These foreign groups with a stressed adjective after the noun should not
be confounded with native English groups with the same word-order and
stress but with descriptive force: the amdunt due ( = the amount which
is due); the am&unt overcharged; the wreck of February last; Frederick
the Great; Chapter 1 (usually read and spoken One instead of The First
under the influence of the written R o m a n character). 'A man dead is a
man diad, and there is an end of the matter' (Macaulay) = 'A m a n if he
is once dead is a m a n who is dead for good.'
A few of these cases of post position of the adjective are very old:
mother dear; Grace dear, etc. Originally the adjective was a substantive
here and this original usage is still very common; of course in modern
form with a limiting adjective before the descriptive: 'Oliver, m y dear'
(Dickens).
2. Nouns, Adverbs, Phrases, and Sentences Used as Adherent
Adjectives. O n e of the marked features in English is the great
freedom with which nouns, adverbs, phrases, and sentences can
stand before a noun in adjective function: a stdne bridge; a bdy
16ver; a baby b6y; the Smith residence; the pdet phil6sopher;
foreign language instruction; a twelve-pound package; a cldck-
work t6y; a large-scale m a p ; the United States g6vernment; a
cat and ddg life (compare similar example in 3rd par.); the down
stroke; the above argument; the then secretary; his almost im-
pudence; in after years; an out-and-out failure; a n up-to-date
dictionary; that never-to-be-forgotten 16ok; these not-to-be-avdided
current expenses; m y next-door neighbor; a quarter-past-seven
train; a world-wide reputation; the underground railroad; a pen
 10 I 2 NOUNS, ADVERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES AS ADJECTIVES 67

and ink drawing; a matter-of-fact m a n ; a money-back guarantee;

in a free-and-dasy, gd-as-you please sort of way; the most stay-at-
home person that I ever heard of; a very go-ahead-looking little
p6rt; a drg-as-dust study; a pay-as-you-go p61icy. Similarly, if w e
drop the of in a predicate genitive it is because w e feel the words
following the of as a predicate adjective: ' T h e children are exactly
[of] the same age.' ' D o I look [to be of] my age?' ' [of] What color
shall I paint your door?' after the analogy of ' Shall I paint your
door white?' (objective predicate). Compare 7 A e.
In all the groups in the preceding paragraph the second member,
always a noun, is more heavily stressed than thefirstmember,
which is n o w felt as an adjective, i.e., descriptive stress prevails.
These groups which normally have descriptive stress should not
be confounded with groups that normally have distinguishing or
classifying stress upon thefirstmember, which is always a noun or
has a noun as its basic element: headache; well water; cannon ball;
artillery fire; insurance cdmpany; boy-lover (i.e., a lover of boys,
contrast to a bdy lover, a youthful lover); a bdrgain counter; an
army officer; a book review; a lively good roads agitation; a n e w dry
goods store, etc. T h efirstm e m b e r in these groups w a s originally
always stressed, hence these rigid formations were compounds or
group-words (63). B u t the marked feature in a large number of
these formations as w e n o w use them is that, in contrast to older
usage, the stress is no longer rigid. While in m a n y cases w e usually
stress thefirstm e m b e r w h e n the group has classifying force, w e do
not hesitate to shift the accent to the second m e m b e r when w e
desire to impart descriptive force: 'Good roads agitation will lead to
good rdads legislation.' W e today feel thefirstm e m b e r of a large
number of the formations as an adjective which modifies the second
member, hence w e treat thefirstm e m b e r as an adjective, stressing
it to impart classifying force, but stressing the following noun to
impart descriptive force. Of course, the adjectives in the preced-
ing paragraph m a y , like other adjectives, be stressed more heavily
than their governing noun when the desire is to impart classifying
force: b6y singers; a pen-and-ink drawing; the productions of his
after years; an up-to-date dictionary. T h e oldest groups in the
preceding paragraph, such as stdne bridge (in Old English stdn-
brycg), were originally compounds or group-words and hence were
rigid formations with stress upon thefirstm e m b e r , but later the
feeling that thefirstm e m b e r describes rather than classifies broke
up the old formation and led to the shifting of the stress upon the
second m e m b e r , so that w e n o w feel thefirstm e m b e r as an adjec-
tive. T h e groups described at the beginning of this paragraph had
the same origin, but the peculiar oneness of meaning in some of
68 REPETITION OF LIMITING ADJECTIVE 10 1 3

them has preserved their oldrigidityof form. In general, however,

most of them are developing in the same direction as the groups
in the preceding paragraph.
Adjectives are often formed from the plural of nouns: the
Niagara Falls post office; a lively good roads agitation; harbors
legislation (Chicago Tribune, Jan. 10, 1930); the fierce Kiowa,
C o m a n c h e and other plains tribes (Milo Milton Quaife in 'His-
torical Introduction' to Kendall's Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe
Expedition); a big arms budget (Chicago Tribune, Bee. 29, 1929);
a two-thirds majority; the customs officers; thefive-powersparley
(Chicago Herald-Examiner, Jan. 5,1930); an auto-sales cabinet; the
expenditures committee (Chicago Daily News, Feb. 3, 1930); the
house rules committee (ib.); the Highways Committee (Review of
Reviews), etc. In most cases the singular is more c o m m o n here:
the parcel (sometimes parcels) post; a ten-dollar bill; a fifty-doll
suit; a two-trouser suit; a two-cent stamp; a two-horse carriage;
22-carat gold; a two-volume novel; afive-actplay; the five-power
naval conference; the national rose show, etc. W e often feel the
genitive as an adjective: a this year's loon (Thoreau, Journal, XI,
p. 309); a n e w beginner's Latin book; obvious printer's (also print-
ers') errors; a cat and dog's life; a n e w old men's h o m e ; a pleasant
five minutes' talk; a lovers' quarrel; a boys' school; a very good girl
school. 'No mere bankers' plan will meet the requirements, no
matter h o w honestly conceived. It should be a merchants' and a
farmers' plan as well' (Woodrow Wilson, August 7, 1912). Com-
pare 10 II 2 F a, b.
In English there is one c o m m o n restriction to placing attributive
elements before the governing noun. If the attributive modifier
is an infinitive phrase, it must follow the governing noun, aside
from a few passive infinitive phrases, such as those given in 2, p. 66:
'all time to come,' 'the n e w measures to save coal,' etc.
Adverbs and prepositional phrases often modify nouns as ap-
positive adjective elements (10 I I ) : 'the tree yonder,' 'the book
upon the table.' Compare 10 VI, 10 IV.
3. Repetition of Limiting Adjective. If the limiting adjective
modifies two nouns, both representing the same person or thing,
or parts of a whole, it should be used only once; while, on the other
hand, if the nouns represent different persons or things that it is
desired to contrast or to mark as distinct and separate, the limiting
adjective should be repeated before each noun: 'He is the guardian
and natural protector (one person) of the lad,' but ' The teacher
and the guardian (two persons) of the lad were discussing his case
together.' 'A G e r m a n and English dictionary,' or 'a German-
English dictionary' (one book), but 'a G e r m a n and an English
10 I 4 TWO POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES CONNECTED BY AND 69

dictionary' (two books); 'the red and white rose' (one rose with
two colors), but 'the red and the white rose' (two roses, each with
only one color); 'the red and white roses' (a number of roses,
each of which is red and white), but 'the red and the white roses'
(a number of roses, some of which are all red and others of which
are all white); (felt as belonging together) 'the King and Queen,'
'my knife and fork,' 'this watch and chain,' 'thefirstand second
verses of the song'; 'a horse and cart,' but' I bought a horse and a
cart' (the horse and the cart not belonging together) and 'A fair
and a brunette w o m a n were sitting inside the stagecoach.'
However, even where the reference is to different individuals,
the second limiting adjective is often, for convenience' sake,
dropped, provided no ambiguity would arise: 'the old and new
worlds,' 'the English and German languages' instead of 'the old
and the n e w world,' 'the English and the G e r m a n language.' 'A
doctor and nurse were provided for them.' T h e omission of the
limiting adjective becomes even necessary here to prevent awk-
wardness if there stands before both of the coordinated adjectives
one or more adjectives which belong to them both: 'a peculiar
neuter nominative and accusative singular in -d: id,' etc. (Lane,
Latin Grammar, p. 86).
One advantage accrues to us from the non-inflection of the
adjective; namely, that the same adjective m a y modify a singular
and a plural, so that w e need not repeat it: 'some particular chap-
ter or chapters.'
O n the other hand, the article is often repeated, not to m a k e the
thought clear, but to emphasize the individual words: ' Becky took
an interest in everything appertaining to the estate, to the farm,
the park, the gardens, and the stables' (Thackeray, Vanity Fair).
4. N o u n Modified by T w o Possessive Adjectives Connected by
'And.' O n the one hand, the noun here often denotes a person or
thing associated jointly with two or more different persons: 'I
shall not cease to be their and your affectionate friend.' 'Let it be
your and my gift.'
O n the other hand, the noun here often denotes different persons
or things: 'Your (or sometimes yours; see 57 5 a) and my wife (or
more commonly and more clearly your wife and mine) are good
friends.' ' Your (or sometimes yours) and my house (or more com-
monly and more clearly your house and mine) are the only ones
where good music is cultivated.' T h e context usually makes the
thought clear. Plural form is sometimes employed here to express
the plural idea: 'Mine (or more commonly my) and her souls (or
my and her soul, or more commonly my soul and hers) rushed to-
gether' (Browning, Cristina, VI). W e regularly say 'Your and
70 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 10 II 1

m y favorite books' when w e m e a n 'Your favorite books and mine.'

Here again the latter expression is more c o m m o n and also clearer.
Compare 57 5 a.
5. Logical Relations of the Adjective to Its Governing Sub-
stantive. The attributive adjective has the force of a predicate,
i.e., it is something predicated of the governing noun. The at-
tributive adjective, however, as in 'the cruel man,' differs from
the predicate adjective, as in ' The m a n is cruel,' in that it indi-
cates that the thought is incomplete, while the predicate adjective
indicates that the clause or sentence is complete. A s explained in
6 C, the predicate appositive adjective sustains relations to both
the subject and the principal verb, and thus often has the force of
an adverbial clause: ' Cruel beyond belief (= as he was cruel beyond
belief adverbial clause of cause), he didn't listen to their plead-
ings.' T h e adherent and the appositive attributive adjective often
have the same force as the predicate appositive adjective when they
modify a subject: ' The cruel m a n , or the m a n , cruel beyond belief,
didn't listen to their pleadings' = 'The m a n didn't listen to their
pleadings, as he was cruel or cruel beyond belief (adverbial clause
of cause). 'This old w o m a n still dolls herself up like a young lady'
= 'This w o m a n still dolls herself up like a young lady, although she
is old' (adverbial clause of concession).
6. Orthographical Form. English orthography often does not
distinguish between a simple attributive adjective in an ordinary
syntactical group and an attributive adjective as a component of
a group-word (63) or compound. Thus in practical joker the ad-
jective practical does not modify joker but is a component of the
derivative practical joker = practical joke + -er. New and second
hand bookseller is a group-word = new and second-hand book
+ seller. Dirty clothes basket is usually a compound = dirt
clothes + basket, but it m a y also be an ordinary syntactical group
= a dirty clothes-basket.

II. ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE

A noun or pronoun in the genitive may modify a noun.

1. Form, Position, and Stress. Oldest English had more geni-
tive forms than the language of today. W e n o w have only two
distinctive forms, the prepositional genitive with of and the older
form in -s. The genitive -s is n o w always written 's, but it is pro-
nounced in two different ways: (1) After sibilants pronounced ez,
i.e., with a pronounced e followed by a z-sound, as in Jones's.
(2) Elsewhere pronounced as a simple s or z, as in Smith's, John's.
Originally, the s-genitive ending was always es (with pronounced
10 II FORM OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 71

e), and even as late as Shakespeare's time the old ending es occurs,
not only after sibilants, but also occasionally after non-sibilant
sounds: 'as white as whales bone' (Love's Labor's Lost, V, n, 332).
Where in present-day English the old long genitive in -es is used
after other sounds than sibilants, it is a mere literary form em-
ployed in poetry for the sake of the meter: ' M y eyes for beauty
pine, M y soul for Goddes grace' (Bridges, Shorter Poems, Book IV,
9). In actual speech the old long genitive ending es with pro-
nounced e survives only after sibilants; elsewhere it is reduced to
a simple s.
About 1380 the e of the old genitive ending es began to disap-
pear in written English, atfirstin words of more than one syllable:
'the Pardoners Tale' (Chaucer, Ellesmere M S . ) ; 'Joseps son' (The
Pepysian Gospel Harmony, 46, about A.D. 1400); 'resons d o m '
(Pecock, Folewer, p. 10, about A.D. 1454); 'the Emperours counsail'
(Thomas Cromwell, Letter to Pate, M a y 11, 1540). A t the close
of the sixteenth century simple s is the usual genitive ending also
in monosyllabic nouns: 'in Gods care' (Chettle, Kind-Hartes
Dreame, p. 22, A.D. 1592).
As can be seen b y the preceding examples, the apostrophe was
not usually associated with the genitive ending in older English.
This old genitive s without an apostrophe is preserved in its (57
5 a), his, hers, ours, yours, theirs. In the case of nouns singular
began to appear about 1680, gaining ground atfirstonly slowly.
About a century later plural s' began to be used. T h e apostrophe
in 's does not always indicate that a sound is suppressed, for w e
often pronounce 's as es, thus suppressing nothing, as in Jones's.
The apostrophe came into use here at a time when the his-
genitive, as in 'John his book,' was widely used, competing with
the s-genitive. T h e s-genitive was doubtless felt by m a n y as a
contraction of the Ms-genitive, which strengthened the tendency
to place an apostrophe before the genitive ending s. This theory
does not explain the use of 's after a feminine or a plural noun.
The 's spread by analogy from masculine nouns to feminines and
plurals.
The Ms-genitive occurs occasionally in Old English: 'Enac his
beam' (Numbers, XIII, 29) = 'Anak's sons.' In older English
alongside of the Ms-genitive were a Mr-genitive and a their-
genitive: 'Mary her books,' 'the boys their books.' Also these gen-
itive forms occur in Old English. T h e genitive with M s , her, and
their became c o m m o n between 1500 and 1700: 'my lord his
gracious letteres' (Thomas Cromwell, Letter to Thomas Arondell,
June 30, 1528); 'Mars his true moving' (Shakespeare, I Henry VI,
I, n, I); 'in those 12 years of Sr. Tho. Smith his government'
72 FORM OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 10 II 1

(The Tragical Relation of the Virginian Assembly, A.D. 1624);

' William Bradford his wife' (Bradford, History of Plymouth Plan-
tation, p. 410, A.D. 1630-1648); 'Mr. Dudley his house' (Winthrop,
Journal, Oct. 31, 1632); 'at William Morse his house' (Increase
Mather, Remarkable Providences, A.D. 1684). 'Then I took m y
children and one of my sisters hers' (The Captivity of Mary Row-
landson, p. 2, A.D. 1682). 'For m y Sowle, my Father and Mother
their Sowles' (Thomas Cromwell, Testament, July 12, 1529).
After the seventeenth century the genitive with his, her, and
their gradually disappeared from the literary language, but it
survives in popular speech: 'in George the First his time' (Thack-
eray, Pendennis, I, Ch. X X I I ) .
The genitive in 's is still, as in older English, often, especially in
poetic language and in poetry, used with nouns designating life-
less things, but it is m u c h more commonly employed with nouns
designating living beings: 'the sun's rays,' 'John's hat,' 'theboy's
hat,' etc. T h e 's is added also in the plural if the plural does not
end in -s: 'men's shoes,' 'children's shoes.' T h e plural in -s takes
only the apostrophe: 'the boys' hats,' etc. N a m e s of persons
and c o m m o n nouns denoting persons which end in a sibilant
usually in the written language take here in the genitive singu-
lar 's, which is spoken az: 'Mrs. Adams's wrapper' (Tarking-
ton, Alice Adams, Ch. I X ) . 'The D u k e sat at his hostess's
right' (Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, Ch. VIII). But
the plural genitive takes only the apostrophe, which is added to
the full plural form in -es: 'the Adamses' small veranda' (Alice
Adams, Ch. VII). T h e genitive plural of words not ending in a
sibilant adds the apostrophe to the plural in simple -s: 'the
Gaunts' cottage' (Galsworthy, The Freelands, Ch. X X X V I I I ) .
Sometimes, however, w e find a separate genitive ending, as in
the singular, an 's added to the regular plural: 'I ran over to
the Flemings's' (Meredith Nicholson, A Reversible Santa Claus,
Ch. V ) . In dialect the genitive of the plural folks ends thus quite
commonly in -es: 'bizzy wid udder fo'ks's doin's' (Joel Chandler
Harris, Uncle Remus, p. 68). Often also in the case of other
plurals in -s: 'the farmers's cows' (Wright, The English Dialect
Grammar, p. 265).
T h e genitive singular of words ending in a sibilant not infre-
quently still, as often in Middle English and early Modern English,
has no ending, but n o w in the written language takes an apos-
trophe: 'Cards' pride' (Hugh Walpole, Fortitude, p. 80). This
usage is general in the case of Jesus' and ancient names in -es, as
Xerxes', Socrates', etc. Quite commonly so also in the case of
designations of lifeless things in certain set expressions, especially
10 II 1 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 73

before a word beginning with s, as sake, to avoid bringing near

together three s-sounds, as in 'for old acquaintance' sake,' 'for
goodness' sake,' 'for conscience' sake.' In older English, in these
set expressions with sake the s was suppressed even in words not
ending in a sibilant, which was an unconscious shortening of the
long s resulting from such expressions as 'for sport[s] sake'
(Shakespeare, Henry IV, I, n, 77). It looks as though the long
genitive ending -es had disappeared in Middle English and early
Modern English after sibilants, but alongside of this shortened
genitive was a Ms-genitive. A s the M s of the Ms-genitive was
weakly stressed, it had about the same pronunciation as the old
genitive ending -es and might often have been confounded with
it, so that in m a n y cases the form might have been a genitive in
-es. However that m a y be, the genitive in -es is n o w the usual
form here though it is written -s: Jones's.
The forms with suppressed -s in all the cases described above
are survivals of older usage. T h e dropping of the genitive ending
was facilitated b y analogies that existed in older inflection. In
m a n y Middle English nouns the genitive did not have a distinctive
ending. Such a genitive survives in Lady, as in a Lady chapel, a
Lady altar, etc., i.e., My Lady's chapel, altar, etc., but it is toda
felt as an adjective. After the analogy of such old genitives with-
out a distinctive genitive ending m a n y nouns dropped their geni-
tive ending, so that such endingless genitives are characteristic of
older English. Later, under the influence of the general feeling
that the grammatical relations here should be expressed clearly,
the genitive s was not only restored to those nouns that once had
it, but it was given also to the nouns that did not have a distinctive
ending. Though this n e w development is at present strong, there
are a number offluctuationswhere older usage lingers on alongside
of the new, as described above. In British dialect of the North
Country the endingless genitive is still c o m m o n : ' m y father'
brother.' This genitive occurs often also in American Negro dia-
lect: 'King Deer' daughter' (Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with
Uncle Remus, p. 69), 'fer Gawd' sake' ( D u Bose Heyward, Porgy,
p. 168).
Also the prepositional genitive with of is often used with nouns
denoting living beings and is moreover the usual form for nouns
denoting lifeless things: John's hat; Job's patience and the patience
of Job; a man's leg, but only a leg of a table.
Originally, i.e., in primitive Indo-European, the genitive did not
have a distinctive form, but was distinguished from its governing
noun by placing it before the governing noun and by stressing it
more heavily. This older type is still well preserved in numerous
74 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 10 II 1

compounds and group-words (63): siin-Hse = the rising of the

sun; water-power = power of water, etc. E v e n in the prehistoric
period the inflected simple genitive had come into wide use and
was of course very c o m m o n in oldest English, but it was still as in
the prehistoric period placed before the governing noun and in
m a n y cases w a s still stressed m o r e heavily. Little b y little the
heavily stressed simple inflected genitive w a s removed in the Old
English period from the position before the less heavily stressed
governing noun to the place after it, and was later for the most part
gradually replaced b y the prepositional genitive, as explained
below.
T h e less heavily stressed simple inflected genitive remained
before the governing noun and is still there. T h u s the inflected
genitive that stands before the governing noun usually has a
weaker stress than its governing noun, while the genitive after the
governing noun has a heavier stress: Mr. Smith's new house, but
the new hduse of Mr. Smith. This is the normal stress in genitive
groups wherever the stress is descriptive. T h e old stressed simple
inflected or uninflected genitive before the governing noun is still
preserved wherever there is a strong desire to distinguish or classify;
n o w pronounced with a little extra force to convey this meaning:
(with distinguishing force) Jdhn's hat, not William's; the t&ble-leg,
not the chair-leg; (with classifying force) a child's language; a child'
voice; a girl's hat; water-power; hdrse-pdwer; steam-power; a chair-le
a table-leg. Of course, w e can often put a n extra strong stress upon
the second m e m b e r in order to distinguish it: Jdhn's hat, not his
ball. In the case of both persons and things w e can distinguish
and classify also b y m e a n s of the prepositional genitive b y plac-
ing, according to the meaning, a little stronger stress upon the
first or the second m e m b e r of the genitive group: (with distin-
guishing force) the leg of the table, not the leg of the chair; the leg
of the table, not the tdp; the helmets of the djficers, not those of th
common sdldiers; (with classifying force) the language of a child,
or a child's language; the patience of JSb. B u t if in any of these
cases the stress upon the second m e m b e r is stronger than that
upon thefirstm e m b e r , yet not extra strong, the force is descrip-
tive: 'The helmet of this officer is broken.' 'The language of
this child is quite undeveloped.'
In Old English, there were several simple genitive forms: -es
for m a n y masculines and neuters; -e for certain feminines; -an for
certain masculines, feminines, and neuters, etc. Although in oldest
English, the simple genitive was the usual form, the n e w preposi-
tional genitive was in certain categories coming into use b y reason
of the strong concrete force of of, originally meaning from, which
 10 II 1 b DOUBLE GENITIVE 75

indicated m o r e graphically the ideas of separation, source, and

origin than the simple genitive. Thus, people began to say ' H e
walks in the strength of God' instead of ' H e walks in God's
strength,' since the words of God, i.e., from God, vividly brought
out the idea of m a n walking and struggling o n earth, at the same
time drawing strength from a higher source. Later, w h e n Old
English inflection began to lose its distinctive case forms, the un-
clear simple genitives were, without regard to gender, replaced,
on the one hand, b y the clear simple genitive in's and, on the other
hand, b y the clear prepositional genitive with of. T h e tendency
toward the prepositional genitive, which originally w a s the result
of a strong desire for concrete expression, later became a formal
trend toward clearer expression. T h u s w e feel the prepositional
genitive with of today only as one of the t w o genitive forms with-
out a vivid feeling for the origin of the preposition of.
a. S-GENITIVE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONCEPTION OF LIFE. AS
the prepositional genitives after the governing noun were usually desig-
nations of things, the prepositional genitive has become associated with
designations of things and the form in -s with designations of living
beings. This distinction between living and lifeless things is, however,
not closely observed. W e quite often in choice English still employ the
genitive in -s in cases of unstressed designations of things to impart descrip-
tive force and at the same time stress the governing noun: 'When I think
of all the sorrow and the barrenness that has been wrought in m y life by
want of a few more pounds per annum than I was able to earn, I stand
aghast at mdney's significance' (Gissing, Henry Ryecroft, V, p. 15). 'It
was apparently felt that, for the sake of the mind's peace, one ought not
to inquire into such things too closely' (Arnold Bennett, The Old Wives'
Tale, IV, Ch. IV, p. 82). 'A bbok's chances depend more on its selling
qualities than its worth.' The old genitive in -s cannot be freely used
here. The thing must usually have some sort of individual life like a
living being, but this idea of life m a y be very faint. It is faintest when
the name of a thing is used as the subject of a gerund, where it is often
not felt at all: 'There is n o w no further danger of the hduse's settling.'
Of course, the idea of life is often strong: 'the 6cean's r6ar'; 'Truth's
greatest victories,' etc. O n the other hand, under similar conditions, w e
often use the stressed genitive in -s to impart distinguishing force:
'for Heaven's sake'; 'at death's ddor'; 'Duty's call,' etc.
6. D O U B L E G E N I T I V E . T h e simple form in -s is still widely used
when the genitive stands before the governing noun, but in the position
after the governing noun it has been entirely replaced by the form with
of, for it would here not be felt as a genitive but as a plural. W e may,
however, quite often use the terminational genitive of personal pronouns
after the governing noun provided w e place the prepositional genitive
sign of before the terminational genitive, so that it becomes clear that
the form in question is a genitive: 'bi neghbur wijf yerne noght at haue,
76 DOUBLE GENITIVE 10 II 1 b

N e aght of his, ne mai, ne knaue' (Cursor Mundi, 1. 6479, about A.D. 1300)
= 'Yearn not to have your neighbor's wife, nor property of his ( = that is
his), nor his maiden, nor his servant.' In this old example and similar
ones in this same book the clear genitive sign of is put before his, since in
this and all similar genitives, as yours, mine, etc., the genitive force is
not felt, since these forms are also used as possessive pronouns in the
nominative, dative, and accusative relations. T h e combination of of and
the old genitive, his, hers, yours, theirs, etc., makes a clear genitive. This
double genitive is usually preferred to the form with of + accusative, as
of him, of her, etc., since there is usually a strong desire to express here
after the governing noun the idea of personal possession that is so promi-
nent in the old inflectional genitive found before the governing noun.
Hence the double genitive is strictly limited to reference to a definite
person or definite persons: 'a friend of mine,' 'this friend of ours,' 'the
friend of mine of w h o m I spoke yesterday,' 'these friends of mine,' 'a
remark of hers,' etc., not 'a friend of me, of us,' etc. B u t w e say'a beauti-
ful picture (i.e., likeness) of her' in contrast to 'a beautiful picture of hers'
(i.e., that belongs to her). T h e usual idea in the double genitive is that of
possession, as in 'that great weakness of his,' or the closely related idea
of origin, authorship, as in 'this remark of his.' But the partitive idea
often mingles with that of possession: 'a friend of mine,' 'an admirer of
hers.' In course of time there has become associated with the double
genitive a marked liveliness of feeling, so that it n o w often implies praise
or censure, pleasure or displeasure: 'that dear little girl of yours,' 'that
kind wife of yours,' 'this broad land of ours,' 'that ugly temper of hers,'
'that ugly nose of his.' 'Thus Professor Blackie, in that vituperative
book of his, " T h e Natural History of Atheism" . . . says . . .' (John
Burroughs, The Light of Day, Ch. V I ) .
F r o m the very start the double genitive has been in use also with nouns,
for it is often desirable to employ here the old terminational genitive
with its strongly pronounced personal force: 'Sertes . . . H a u e we
noght ban (for tan) o pe hinges' (Cursor Mundi, 1. 4907) = ' W e surely
have taken nothing of the King's.' It is also here absolutely necessary to
insert the clear genitive sign of, or otherwise the genitive group would be
felt as an appositional element, not as an attributive genitive. The
double genitive here has come into wide use, but it is still strictly con-
fined to definite reference and, differing from usage with pronouns, can
be used of only a single definite person, for the plural form here is to the
ear usually identical with the singular: ' this remark of Carlyle's,' ' a threat
of my father's,' 'the battered schoolbook of Tom's.' T h e plural form is
quite rare: 'in some old retreat of his or ids friends'' (John Burroughs,
Far and Near, p. 162). T h e apostrophe here makes clear the thought of
the author, but in the spoken language the thought is usually ambiguous
when the double genitive is a c o m m o n class noun unless the context
makes the reference clear. T h e ear, unaided b y the situation, cannot
detect whether the form is singular or plural. Hence, the use of the
double genitive with nouns is largely confined to proper names and such
titles of relationship as have the force of proper names, as in the first
10 II 2 CATEGORIES OF ATTRIBUTIVE GENITIVE 71

three examples. In m a n y cases, however, the double genitive of titles o:'

relationship, as 'the beauty of my sister's,' is not clear to the ear, unless
the situation makes the reference clear. Although the double genitive with
nouns is in general subject to ambiguity, many, desirous of its lively
effect, take their chances with it, trusting to the situation to help them
out: 'It was no fault of the doctor's' (Washington Irving). The o/-geni-
tive is here, as often elsewhere, a clearer form, and is often preferred.
The double genitive and the o/-genitive of nouns are often used side
by side without any differentiation of meaning: 'a play of Shakespeare's'
(or of Shakespeare). But the forms are gradually becoming differen-
tiated. The double genitive is associated with liveliness of feeling, ex-
pressing the idea of approbation, praise, censure, pleasure, displeasure:
'this appropriate remark of Mrs. Smith's,' 'that really beautiful speech of
your wife's,' 'that ugly remark of her father's,' etc.
c. P O S I T I O N O F G E N I T I V E A M O N G O T H E R ATTBIBUTIVE MODIFIEBS.
The genitive usually standsfirstamong the attributive modifiers which fol-
low the governing word: 'The desire of my heart for p6ace.' The genitive
precedes the other modifiers because it is least stressed, but it of course
stands last when it is the most important element: 'this sudden appear-
ance amid m y corrupt, and heartless, and artificial life of so much inno-
cence, and so much I6ve, and so much simplicity they fell upon m y callo
heart like thefirstrains upon a Syrian soil' (Disraeli, Contarini Fleming,
150). Another attributive element sometimes precedes the genitive
because it contains a word which points back to something that precedes
and hence comes as early as possible: 'the presence in such a spot of a
crew of foreign adventurers' (R. L. Stevenson, The Merry Men, 47).
2. The Categories of the Attributive Genitive. The attributive
genitive expresses different classes of ideas briefly described in the
following articles. These categories are not all peculiar to the
attributive use, but several of t h e m are found also in the genitive
which is used in connection with verbs, adjectives, and participles,
and rests upon the s a m e original genitive idea the general idea of
sphere described on page 78 and in 13 3. T h u s D and H (pp. 81, 85)
are often closely related to the genitive after verbs described in 13 3.
See D and H a. Also the c o m m o n genitive of origin and possession
described in A and B and the genitive of characteristic described
in F a are not only used as attributive forms but are employed also
as the predicate complement of the verb be, as illustrated in 7 A e.
In Old English, the genitive after verbs and adjectives w a s the
simple genitive. T h e genitive here survives only in the form of the
o/-genitive. A s w e d o not n o w feel the o/-genitive here as a geni-
tive, but construe it as a prepositional object, w e n o longer have a
live feeling for the old, once c o m m o n , genitive after verbs and
adjectives. W e n o w usually think of the genitive as an attributive
adjective element modifying nouns or pronouns. C o m p a r e 13
78 POSSESSIVE GENITIVE 10 II 2 B

1, 2, 3. T h e attributive genitive categories are treated below at

considerable length.
A. G E N I T I V E O F O R I G I N , representing a person or thing as
associated with another person or thing in the relation of source,
cause, authorship: the sdn of the king, the king's s6n; this woman's
children, the children of this woman; the devastations of the wdr;
this warrior's deeds, the deeds of this warrior; Tacitus' Annals,
the Annals of Tacitus; Dickens's w6rks, the wdrks of Dickens;
Shakespeare's works, the works of Shakespeare; the Oxford Pro-
fessor of Poetry's inaugural lecture. T h e same idea is found in the
genitive used in the predicate with verbs. See 7 A e.
a. This one use of this case form has given to it the name of genitive
(from Latin genitivus, pertaining to generation or birth), which has beco
afixedname not only for this use but also for all the following relations
expressed by the same case form.
b. If two names are connected by and and represent persons that are
joined together in authorship, business, or a c o m m o n activity the second
name alone assumes the genitive ending: 'Steevens and Malone's Shake-
speare,' 'in William and Mary's reign,' but of course Steele's and Addi-
son's works when w e are speaking of the separate sets of two different
authors.
B. POSSESSIVE GENITIVE. This is a broad category that may
have developed out of the general idea of 'sphere,' which in the
prehistoric period and still in oldest English w a s a c o m m o n mean-
ing of the genitive employed with verbs, as described in 13 3, as
well as the source of a n u m b e r of the attributive possessive geni-
tive meanings which have c o m e d o w n to us from this older period,
namely, possession, inherence, a belonging to, association with, or
relation to, indicating various relations between nouns m u c h as
prepositions indicate relations between nouns and verbs: my
brother's house, the house of my brother (literally, the house in the
sphere of m y brother, i.e., the house owned b y m y brother); the
hero's c6urage, the courage of the hero (literally, the courage in the
sphere, the nature of the hero); life's deepest pr6blems, the deep-
est problems of life (literally, the deepest problems in the sphere
of life); Sdcrates' wisdom, the wisdom of Socrates; Mr. Jones's
auto, the auto of Mr. Jones; the King of England's private pr6p-
erty; What do you call him's s6n; the writer's mdther's maiden
n a m e ; last May's st6rms; the leaves of the trees; the streets of the
city; the cdolness of Evening; the snows of winter; the sun's rays,
the rays of the sun; the earth's mighty ones, the mighty ones of
earth; the ship's side; the city's wealth; the nation's prosperity;
the day's w6rk; in The Times's opinion, in the opinion of 'The
Times,' in the opinion of The Times; England's aristocracy, the
10 II 2 B a POSSESSIVE GENITIVE 79

aristocracy of England; the dog's master, the master of the dog (liter-
ally, master in the sphere of the dog, not a master owned by the dog);
the boy's father, the father of the boy (literally, father in the sphere
of, with reference to the boy, not a father owned by the boy); the
chief of police (literally, chief in the sphere of the police); the king
of the land.
This is a very c o m m o n category, to which A, C, F, G are closely
related. T h e same idea is found in the genitive used with verbs.
See 7 A e.
The possessive genitive is often closely related to the partitive
genitive: 'the leg of the table' (possessive or partitive genitive).
The two genitives here have the same form and practically the
same meaning, but in case of personal pronouns there has long
been a tendency to differentiate here form and meaning, namely,
to employ M s , her, etc., in the possessive relation and of him, of
her, etc., in the partitive relation, stressing the idea of an integral
part, as described more fully in H , p. 85: 'His hair, his eyes,'
etc., but 'She was the daughter of a lumberjack and woodcraft
was bred into the veryfiberof her' (Saturday Evening Post, July 29,
1916). 'The m a n had something in the look of him' (Browning,
An Epistle). 'I do it for the honor of it.' A s this differentiation
has not become thoroughly established, w e still more commonly
employ here the old undifferentiated forms M s , her, etc., for either
the possessive or the partitive relation: 'Ms eyes' and 'The
m a n had something in M s look.' B u t w e n o w always use the
form with of w h e n the pronoun is modified b y a relative clause:
'ThenfirstI heard the voice of her to w h o m the Gods Rise up
for reverence' (Tennyson, QZnone, 1. 105). In older English, the
simple possessive genitive, her, his, etc., could be used here. See
23 II 8 a.
In this category descriptive stress with the accent upon the
second m e m b e r prevails, but w e not infrequently find distinguish-
ing stress: nSbody's bdok; somebody Rise's bdok; for peace'
sake; for heaven's sake; for health's sake; for righteousness'sake;
for Jgsus' sake; at death's ddor; F6rtune's tricks, the tricks of
Fortune; William's auto, not J6hn's. Also classifying stress is
c o m m o n , sometimes in connection with the genitive in -s, some-
times with the old uninflected form: bird's-nest; rat's tail or
rat-tail; swan's neck; pigskin; gdose-feather; hSrse-hide, etc.
Compare 63.
The possessive genitive m a y be also a genitive clause, as illus-
trated in 24 I.
a. Adverbs Inflected Like Nouns. Adverbs, or adverbial expressions,
are now often inflected like nouns: 'yesterday's mail,' 'this week's mail,
80 POSSESSIVE GROUP GENITIVE 10 II 2 B <J

'the heavy mail of last week'; 'tomorrow's dinner'; 'yesterday Evening's

newspaper.' Or, of course, to distinguish, 'yesterday evening's news-
paper,' etc.
b. Inflection of Nouns Connected by 'And.' If two or more names
connected by and represent persons that are joined together in posses-
sion, the second or last n a m e alone assumes the genitive ending: 'John
and William's uncle'; ' John, William, and Mary's uncle.' ' W e paid a visit
to Messrs. Pike and White's works.' ' M y father and mother's Bible.'
But w e must give each genitive its genitive -s if there is no joint posses-
sion: 'My father's and my mother's birthdays both fall in June, two days
apart.' In older English, however, even where there was no joint pos-
session the last genitive often alone took the ending, as a firm differenti-
ation of usage had not yet taken place: 'Thou M u s t . . . bear the palm
for having bravely shed T h y wife and children's blood' (Shakespeare,
Coriolanus, V, in, 113), n o w thy wife's and thy children's blood.
c. Omission of Governing Noun. T h e word for house or place of busi-
ness is often omitted: 'I was at Smith's [house or place of business].'
'Go to the baker's.' 'Mary has written to say that she is going to spend
all her Christmas holidays at her dear aunt (compare b) and uncle's.'
The governing noun is regularly omitted when the possessive genitive
points forward or backward to a preceding or following governing noun,
for the genitive here is n o w felt as a possessive pronoun, like mine, hers,
etc., as explained in 57 5a: 'John's auto is larger than William's and
mine.'
d. Group Genitive. It is usually taught that in such expressions as
'the King of England's private property' the inflectional genitive -s is
placed at the end of the group King of England because these words are
felt as a unit with the force of a single word. This conception, however,
cannot here be the compelling force that has brought about this con-
struction, for w e never say ' The king of Englands n o w have less political
power than formerly,' treating the group king of England as one word,
adding the plural -s at the end. T h e real reason for placing the genitive
-s at the end of the group the King of England is simply to avoid ambi-
guity, for if -s were added to King the form would be felt as a plural,
since -s n o w always conveys a plural idea where it is not immediately
followed by the governing noun. T h e oneness of idea in King of England
made it possible to add the -s to the end of the group and the ambiguity
that would otherwise arise suggested this course, but in this same group
of words king, not England, has the plural sign in the nominative plural
in the subject relation: 'The kings of England n o w have less political
power than formerly.'
Until about 1500 it was c o m m o n to say 'the King's property of Eng-
land.' Here and there this old usage fingered on after that date for
a time: 'the Archbishop's grace of York' (Shakespeare, I Henry IV,
III, n, 119). In such expressions as 'the King's property of Eng-
land' the later tendency to bring together the words that naturally
belonged together, i.e., to say the King of England, separated King from
the governing noun property, which m a d e it necessary to add the
 10 II 2 D SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE GENITIVE 81

genitive ending to England, so that the -s might here as elsewhere

stand immediately before the governing noun. In the plural in the
subject relation it was not thus necessary to add the -s to England so
that the old historic form of expression was here not disturbed. Where
there is no ambiguity, the old historic genitive singular with the -s at
the end of the proper word is still found in the language of children: 'It
ain't either's of us revolaver' (Tarkington, Penrod and Sam, Ch. IV).
This compact genitive construction is m u c h more forceful than the
literary form of expression 'The revolver doesn't belong to either of us.'
e. Unclear Old Genitive Forms. There is a force in the compact sim-
ple genitive that appeals to us. T h e loss of distinctive genitive form
here in a number of pronouns and limiting adjectives has weakened
English expression. In older English, a natural fondness for the simple
genitive often led to its use even where the genitives were uninflected
pronouns and limiting adjectives that could not indicate the grammatical
relations: 'Both their (in Middle English bother their or their bother, henc
with a clear genitive form) several talents were excessive' (Fielding, Tom
Jones, III, 45), now the several talents of both of them. This older usage
best preserved in the subjective genitive category in connection with the
gerund: 'Your mother will feel your both going away' (Mrs. Gaskell,
Wives and Daughters, Ch. X V I ) . 'Isn't it dreadful to think of their all
being wrong!' (Sir Harry Johnston, The Man Who Did the Right Thing,
Ch. II).
It is also well preserved in the possessive category in such expressions
as both our lives, both our minds, but w e n o w feel the old genitives
as plural limiting adjectives. This new interpretation early led to put-
ting a following singular governing noun into the plural: 'were you both
our mothers' (Shakespeare, All's Well, I, in, 169), n o w 'were you the
mother of both of us.' This old usage survives in popular speech: 'She is
both their mothers,' i.e., 'the mother of both of them.' 'It is both their faul
In the literary language itfingerson in for both their sakes, for both our
sakes. Similarly, when of is inserted after all, both, none, etc., to give
expression to the partitive idea: 'I'm taking the trouble of writing this
true history for all of your benefits' (Hughes, Tom Brown's School-Days,
I, VI), instead of the correct for the benefit of all of you. ' A painful circum
stance which is attributable to none of our faults' (Thackeray, Pendennis,
II, Ch. X X X V ) , instead of the correct the fault of none of us.
C. SUBJECTIVE GENITIVE, which represents a living being as
associated with a n act in the relation of author: 'Mother's love
for us children.' ' W e have all heard duty's call' (or the call of duty).
'From our house w e can hear the dcean's r6ar' (choice prose or
poetry; or m o r e c o m m o n l y the rdar of the ocean). C o m p a r e 2 0 3
(6th, 7th, and 8th parr.).
T h e old uninflected genitive is c o m m o n here: sun-rise, earth-
quake, heart-throb, snake-bite, etc. C o m p a r e 63.
D . O B J E C T I V E G E N I T I V E , which denotes the object toward
82 GENITIVE OF MATERIAL OR COMPOSITION 10 II 2 E

which the activity is directed: 'devoting m u c h time to the chil-

dren's education' (or the education of the children); 'the city's cap
ture by the Japanese,' 'the capture of the city by the Japanese';
'Cesar's murderers,' 'the murderers of Cifesar.' 'Old Lord
Ancoat's death, which followed within a m o n t h or two, was has-
tened on by the shock of his son's loss' (Mrs. H . W a r d ) = 'the
loss of his son.' 'The feeling of Emily's loss does not diminish as
time wears on' (Mrs. Gaskell). ' W O M A N IS H U N T E D A S MAWS
S L A Y E R ' (headline in The Sun, N e w York, Aug. 7, 1929). 'Costa
Rica, Salvador, and Honduras stoutly objected to the treaty's
ratification' (The Sun, N e w York, Sept. 5, 1929).
T h e objective genitive m a y be a full genitive clause or an
abridged infinitival or gerundial clause, as illustrated in 24 I and
a thereunder.
T h e prepositional genitive is the rule in this category, but, as
can be seen by examples given above, the old simple genitive still
lingers on. T h e prepositional form sometimes differentiates the
objective from the subjective genitive: 'I hate the sight of him'
(objective genitive), but 'His (subjective genitive) sight is failing.'
This genitive is often closely related to the adverbial genitive
of specification described in 13 3: 'They counted on a complete
destruction of the enemy' = with reference, with regard to the enemy
literally, in the sphere of the enemy.
T h e old uninflected genitive is still c o m m o n here in group-
words (63): gate-keeper, money-maker, woman-hater, child-study.
In the case of words not ending in s in the plural, there is a
tendency here to give a formal expression to the plural idea: lice-
exterminator, etc.
A s the possessive adjectives are derived from the genitive of
the personal pronouns they still often have various meanings of
the genitive, hence also sometimes the force of an objective geni-
tive : my (= genitive of origin) son, my ( = a possessive genitive)
book, my ( = a subjective genitive) love of God, my ( = an objec-
tive genitive) punishment.
E. G E N I T I V E O F M A T E R I A L O R C O M P O S I T I O N , denoting that of
which something consists: a cr6wn of thorns; an Idol of gold; rai-
ment of camel's hair; a herd of cattle; a grdup of children; a floc
of birds; a swarm of bees, etc. T h e old uninflected simple genitive
is still in part preserved: stone-heap, or a heap of stones; sand-pile,
or a pile of sdnd; thorn-hedge; dung-hill, etc. T h e old uninflected
genitive was once m u c h more c o m m o n here. In most cases it
has been construed as an adjective, as is indicated b y its loss of
stress: a st6ne bridge (in Old English stanbrycg); an iron pfllar;
a cdpper kettle, etc. Compare 10 I 2 (2nd par.) and 63.
10 II 2 F b GENITIVE OF CHARACTERISTIC AND MEASURE 83

T h e old inflected s-genitive is n o w not used in this category.

This genitive category is closely related to H .
F. D E S C R I P T I V E G E N I T I V E . This genitive is closely related to
the possessive genitive and some of the examples given below
might be classed there. There are two groups:

a. Genitive of Characteristic. With classifying force and stress:

a wdman's voice, or the voice of a wdman; a child's language, or
the language of a child; a man's roughness, or the roughness of a
man; a lady's glove; a wdman's college; a man's shoe; a gentle-
man's shoe; men's shdes; children's clothing; a wdrld's fair. W e
often feel the classifying genitive that precedes its governing noun
as an adjective, as can be seen b y the fact that the preceding
adjective modifies the governing noun, not the genitive: 'obvious
printer's (or printers') errors.' C o m p a r e 10 I 2 (3rd par.).
With descriptive force and stress: a m a n of sterling character;
a newspaper of high rank; things of this sort; a matter of consider-
able importance; the G o d of love; a m a n of action; a spirit of hate.
Sometimes, however, in these descriptive groups thefirstm e m b e r
has such a strong logical force that it is stressed, regularly so
after numerals: 'A m a n of action and a w o m a n 0/ action proceed
in quite different ways.' 'She is worth ten of her daughter, ten of
you.'
If w e employ a prepositional genitive here with classifying
force, w e must stress the second m e m b e r a little more than usual,
or the group will be construed as having descriptive force: the
patience of J6b; the language of a child. Instead of a genitive here,
we often use an adjective with classifying stress: a m a n of high
temper, or a high-tempered m a n ; a w o m a n of kind heart, or a kind-
hearted w o m a n . T h e compound adjective has come into wide
use here both to describe and to classify: 'He lives in a beautiful
fdur-hundred-dollar-a-month house' (descriptive), but 'Every cav-
alry officer must be a good cross-countryrider'(classifying). C o m -
pare I 2, p. 66.
b. Quite similar is the Genitive of Measure: afiveminutes' talk;
an hour or two's delay, or a delay of an hour or two; a three hours'
delay, or a delay of three hours; a month's rent. Instead of the
inflected genitive w e often employ the old uninflected genitive,
especially w h e n the measure is other than that of time: a three-hour
delay; a ten-pound baby; a ten-foot pole; a five-mile walk; the
ten-onile row across the harbor (John Burroughs, Far and Near,
p. 252), etc. W e sometimes feel the inflected genitive here so
strongly as an adjective that w e treat it as an adjective, adding
one in substantive function: 'The higher course is a two years'
g4 APPOSITIVE GENITIVE 10 II "2 G

one' (London Times, Educational Supplement, 8/8, 1918). The

old uninflected genitive is n o w usually felt as a compound ad-
jective: ' A five-minute talk would be more appropriate than a
thirty-minute one.'
A classifying genitive is used in units of measurement a
possessive or an objective genitive with classifying stress: (posses-
sive genitive)' a bdat's length'; ' at a distance of two ship's lengths'
(Sir C. P. Butt in Law Times Rep., LIII, 61/1); 'a h&ir's breadth';
(objective genitive) 'astdne's thrdw'; 'within two sttines' thrdwof
the club' (Galsworthy, The Country House, 263), or better 'within
two stone's throws.' Apart from the genitive relation w e usually
employ compound or group-word (63) form with non-inflection
of thefirstelement in such units of measurement: 'within three
btiwshdts' (Kipling); i.e., 'three shots with the bow' (attributive
prepositional phrase).
G. A P P O S I T I V E G E N I T I V E , explaining the preceding governing
word: the vice of intemperance; the gift of song; the art of printing;
the tdmple of the body; the period of the Reformdtion; the title of
Duke; the D u c h y of Ldncaster; the Republic of Frdnce; the State
of Illinois; the city of Chicago; the n a m e of misanthropist; the
cry of 'Wolf, wolf; a confused cry of 'The King is bleeding!'; a
verdict of 'death from natural causes.'
Except in proper names, as St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Jdmes's
Park, St. Jdmes's Square, often in elliptical form, St. Paul's [Cathe-
dral], All Saints' [Church], St. James's [Theater], St. Bartholo-
mew's [Hospital], etc., the old simple genitive is n o w used here
only in poetic language: treason's charge (Scott, Marmion, II,
VIII); life's journey; life'sfitfulfever; Time'sfleetingriver,etc.
The simple genitive of certain proper names is used only in poetic
language: Albion's Isle; ttrin's Isle; Zion's City; Tweed's fair
river, or more commonly, according to the second paragraph
below, the fair river Tw6ed, etc. Notice that the appositive geni-
tive, whether it follows or precedes the governing noun, usually
has the stress.
T h e possessive genitive is the starting point of this genitive
category, as can be seen in 'the blessing of a good education,'
where the genitive can be construed either as a possessive or as
an appositive genitive.
Alongside of this appositive construction is another. T h e ap-
positive is placed after the governing noun, agreeing with it in
case: the animal mdn; the bird Mr on; the m a m m a l whale; the
preposition with; the d e m o n rum; King H6nry; Cardinal Man-
ning; Lake Michigan, etc. In oldest English, the stressed apposi-
tive, of course, preceded the governing noun: ' Temese streame'
 10 II 2 H PARTITIVE GENITIVE 85
(Bede), n o w often 'the river Thdmes,' since the stressed word in
a normal descriptive group stands last. C o m p a r e III 1 B , p. 91.
The old word-order, however, is still often used here, but the
stress is the n e w descriptive: the Thames River. M a n y groups
still have thus the old English word-order with the n e w stress, as
HUdson River; Bering Sea; St. Gothard Tunnel; Panama Canal,
etc. T h e old word-order has been preserved through a change of
conception and a consequent change of stress. T h e proper n a m e
is n o w felt as a descriptive adjective and has accordingly lost its
strong stress, so that it must stand before the more strongly
stressed governing noun as other descriptive adjectives. B u t
State Street, Wabash Avenue, Drake Hdtel, etc., with distinguishing
stress.
Chaucer sometimes has alongside of the appositive genitive
form the older appositional construction of two nouns agreeing in
case: the citee of Rome (The Nonne Preestes Tale, 549); Thebes
the citee (The Knightes Tale, 76). W e n o w say the river Jordan
or the Jordan River, but in older English, w e find also the river of
Jordan (Mark, I, 5). W e n o w say Lake Erie, etc., but the apposi-
tive genitive form occurs in a few names: the Lake of Tiberias,
the Sea of Galilee, etc.
The appositive genitive m a y be also a genitive clause, as illus-
trated in 23 I.
a. The appositive genitive is often added to a noun, not to define
meaning more accurately, but to indicate a class to which a thing or per-
son belongs that has just been characterized as an individual by the gov-
erning noun: the rdscal of a landlord; a j6wel of a cup; a beast of anight;
a fr&il slip of a wbman; a brute of a husband; his termagant of a wife; a
16ve of a child; a deVil of a hurry, etc. This construction is not known in
Old English. It has come into the language from the French. Origi-
nally, it came from the Latin appositive genitive, which is an outgrowth
of the possessive genitive, as in 'scelus viri' rascal of a man, i.e., a rascal
who belongs to the class represented by man; 'monstrum mulieris' mon-
ster of a woman, i.e., monster w h o belongs to womankind. All feeling
for this origin has been lost, for the common class noun after of can now
be replaced by a proper name: ' Where is that beast of a Fingal?' = ' Where
is that beast Fingal?'
H. PARTITIVE GENITIVE, denoting the whole of which only a
part is taken: a piece of brSad; the half of my property; a glass of
water; 6ne of my friends; tw6 of the boys. 'Have you a copy of
this book?' In these descriptive groups the idea of quantity or
part often becomes logically so important that w e must stress the
first m e m b e r : 'Edward the Confessor was mdre of a mdnk than a
king,' but 'He is n o w more of a hypocrite than ever before.' 'He
86 ATTRIBUTIVE PARTITIVE GENITIVE 10 II 2 H a

isn't much of a linguist.' 'He is something of an adventurer.' 'She

is a bit of a coquette.' ' H e is the head (or the very life, or the sou
of the enterprise.'
In rather poetic language, it has long been c o m m o n to employ
a stressed noun here to denote the part and the unstressed genitive
of a personal pronoun to denote the whole, where the whole is a
person or thing and the part the material body or some part of
it, or, on the other hand, an immaterial part or some characteris-
tic feature: pe sdule of him (Old English Homilies, 1,163, latter half
of twelfth century). 'Fetch thou the corpse of her and bury her
by her husband the noble King Arthur' (Malory, Le Morte d'Ar-
thur, X X I , 2). 'He is tender to impression at the surface, but
there is too m u c h mass of him to be m o v e d ' (Ruskin, Modern
Painters). 'They were his environment, these m e n , and they
were moulding the clay of him into a more ferocious thing than
had been intended b y nature' (Jack London, White Fang). 'She
was the daughter of a lumberjack and woodcraft w a s bred into
the very fiber of her' (Saturday Evening Post, July 29, 1916). 'The
chief quality of Burns is the sincerity of him' (Carlyle). ' The pity
of it all (= the pitiable feature of his life) is that he had to die wi
out seeing the fruits of his work.' ' I do not remember that I then
had any pity for him (the chipmunk). I think I rather enjoyed
the sport of hunting him. That is the boy of it' (John Burroughs,
Field and Study, Ch. I X ) .
In a number of expressions the partitive genitive of personal
pronouns is also c o m m o n in plain prose, usually, however, without
the poetic meaning of the preceding examples, merely stressing
the idea of an integral part: ' That will be the 6nd of it, the last of
it.' In a vague w a y w e feel life and death as parts of us, vital
parts of our h u m a n experience: ' I couldn't do it for the life of me.'
'That will be the death of ydu.' In all the above examples, where
w e think of a whole and some part of it, the partitive genitive is
closely related to the possessive genitive. C o m p a r e B , p. 79.
T h e partitive genitive m a y be also a clause, as illustrated in
23 1.
a. Nature of the Attributive Partitive Genitive. The Old English
tributive partitive genitive was closely related to the adverbial genitive
of specification (13 3): 'Heora heriges bser wses m y eel of slaegen' = With
regard to their army there was a large part slain. This old genitive
early construed also as an attributive genitive, and this conception still
survives: 'Of their army a large part was slain,' or 'A large part oj
their army was slain.' In older English, however, the old genitive of
specification was here often also construed as a partitive genitive subject
or object, and later was replaced by a nominative for the subject relation
 10 II 2 H b ATTRIBUTIVE PARTITIVE GENITIVE 87

and by an accusative for the object relation: 'There is gold and sx7uer
(subject) gret plentee' (pred. appos.) (Mandeville). 'Sound (subject)
there was none (pred. appos.) only that faint stir that never quite dies
of a country evening' (Galsworthy, The Country House, p. 26). 'Silver
and gold (object) have I none' (pred. appos.) (Acts, III. 6). 'Affection
(object) she had none' (pred. appos.) (James Payne, Not Wooed but Won,
I, 68). 'Paternal relatives (object) Goodwin has as good as none' (pred.
appos.) (Gissing, Born in Exile, 41).
O n the other hand, with certain verbs the old use of the genitive as
partitive object or predicate tarried a long while and in poetic and solemn
style still lingers on: 'When the w o m a n saw that the tree was good for
food . . . she took of the fruit thereof (Genesis, III, 6). 'Ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep' (John, X , 26).
6. Partitive Genitive Replaced by the Appositional Construction. In-
stead of the genitive w e often find apposition after certain words: a
little bread; tw6 ddzen 6ggs, d6zens of eggs; a great m a n y children; a
few bdys; tw6 thousand dollars, th6usands of dollars; f6ur million peo-
ple, millions of people; three score years and ten, sc6res of times. In
older English, the appositional construction here was more widely used
than now: 'no morsel bred' (Chaucer); 'a barel ale' (id.), etc. This
construction arose in the period of the decay of older inflection. A sim-
ple genitive often did not have a distinctive form, so that it appeared
to stand in apposition with the governing noun. Later, the true genitive
was restored by replacing the appositive by the clear modern preposi-
tional genitive. T h e old construction, in general, has been retained only
where the governing noun has been construed as an adjective.
Another, quite different, appositional construction, the predicate appo-
sitional construction described in 6 C, has, in a number of cases, been
replaced for the most part by the partitive genitive: 'your broder, the
worthyest knighte of the world one' (Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X V I ,
Ch. X V , fifteenth century), n o w 'one of the worthiest knights of the world';
'the receipt of Two your letters' (Thomas Cromwell, Letter to Sir Thomas
Wyatt, Feb. 13,1539), n o w 'the receipt of two of your letters.' 'He offered
unto him the choise in marriage of eyther the sisters' (Sir Philip Sidney,
Arcadia, Book IV, p. 133, A.D. 1593), n o w either of the sisters. 'His
stature did exceed the height of three the tallest of mortal seed' (Spenser,
The Faerie Queene, I, vn, vni), n o w 'three of the tallest.' ' M y father,
king of Spain, was reckon'd one The wisest prince (now 'one of the wisest
princes') that there had reign'd b y m a n y A year before' (Shakespeare,
Henry the Eighth, II, iv, 48). 'The letters ... Of many our contriving
friends' (id., Antony and Cleopatra, I, n, 188), n o w 'the letters of m a n y
of our contriving friends'; 'the fate of some your servants' (Ben Jonson,
Sejanus, V, i, 59, A.D. 1616), n o w 'the fate of some of your servants.'
'He does not believe any the most Comick Genius (now 'any of the most
comic geniuses') can censure him for talking on such a Subject at such a
Time' (Addison, Spectator, N o . 23, p. 2, A.D. 1711). 'To m e and many more
my countrymen' (William Dunlap, Andre, Act III, A.D. 1798), n o w 'many
more of my countrymen.' Where the noun after the appositive is in the
88 APPOSITION PROPER 10 III 1

plural, this appositional construction survives in colloquial speech: 'Aunt

Fannie saw a newspaper from one the places where Aunt Julia's visiting
her school room-mate' (Tarkington, Gentle Julia, Ch. X V I ) . 'None the
girls are going.' In the case of each w e m a y say: 'She kissed them each'
(or each of them).
In a few cases this old appositive has become an attributive adjective:
'to other my poore kynnesfdikes' (Thomas Cromwell, Testament, A.D. 1529
now 'to m y other poor kinsfolk'; 'with other the great men of Scotland'
(Burton, Scot. Abr., I, i, 18, A.D. 1864), n o w 'with the other great men
of Scotland.' With the original word-order: 'strict adherence to every
the minutest part of their customs and religion' (Mrs. A. M . Bennett,
Juvenile Indiscretions, V, 117, A.D. 1785), n o w 'strict adherence to every
minutest part,' etc.; 'any plainest (from older any the plainest) m a n w
reads this' (Trollope, Framley Parsonage, Ch. X I V ) . After possessive
adjectives every has become a real attributive adjective: 'He watched her
every movement.'
c. Blending. In the partitive category there is a tendency, once
much more common than now, to blend the genitive with some other
construction, resulting in illogical expression: 'His versification is by far
the most perfect of any English poet' (Saintsbury, Nineteenth Century
Literature, 268), a blending of 'His versification is the most perfect of all
English poets' and 'His versification is more perfect than that of any
English poet.' The omission of the word other after any in the last example
is a form of blending still common. In comparisons where there is present
the idea of a group or class, the superlative represents the group as com-
plete, while the comparative represents the separation of one or more
from all the others in the group. Hence w e should say 'is the most
perfect of all English poets,' or 'is more perfect than that of any other
English poet.'
d. Genitive of Gradation. This is n o w felt as a variety of the par-
titive genitive: 'the King of kings and L6rd of lords' (I Timothy, VI, 15),
'the b6ok of books.' 'But it was not enough for Frances, who found her
mind looking for the w6rd of wdrds that would express her own meaning
to her own satisfaction' (May Sinclair, The Tree of Heaven, Ch. XVIII).
This genitive has come from the Hebrew through the medieval Latin of
the church.
III. APPOSITION

1. Apposition Proper. A noun which explains or characterizes

another noun is placed alongside of it, and from its position is
accordingly called an appositive (i.e., placed alongside of): 'Smith,
the banker.'
T h e idea of apposition is expressed also b y the appositive geni-
tive, so that here apposition and the appositive genitive compete
with each other, as illustrated in II 2 G. Another c o m m o n ap-
positional category is that of a sentence or clause explaining a
10 III 1 A LOOSE APPOSITION 89

preceding word, n o w divided into two distinct groups, called at-

tributive substantive clause and attributive adjective clause. T h e
former is still felt as an appositive. Its use is described at length
in 23 I. T h e latter, though n o w felt as an adjective relative
clause, was once an appositive, and traces of its older function are
still to be seen in both literary and popular speech, as described
in 23 II. There is still another c o m m o n appositional category,
the prepositional infinitive, which competes with the appositional
genitive and the appositional clause: 'your plan to go yourself (or
of going yourself, or that you should go yourself) doesn't please me.
Attributive appositives were originally only loosely connected
with the headword; words added b y w a y of explanation or in
oldest English often preceding the headword on account of their
importance. In course of time a close relation has in m a n y cases
developed between headword and appositive, so that they n o w
form a close group with the accent upon the second member.
Hence there are n o w two groups of appositives, namely, those
loosely connected and those closely attached.
A. L O O S E A P P O S I T I O N . W h e r e the appositive noun follows the
headword in a rather loose connection with the force of a descrip-
tive (23 II 6) relative clause, it agrees, if possible, with the head-
word in number and gender, but not always in case: 'Mary, the
belle of the village'; 'the Smiths, the friends of m y youth.' T h e
appositives belle and friends m a y here be regarded as agreeing
with their headword in number, gender, and case.
Often, however, the appositive does not agree with its headword
in case since it is felt as a nominative, the predicate of an abridged
relative clause: 'There was only one close carriage in the place,
and that was old M r . Landor's, [who was] the banker' (George
Eliot). 'And these footsteps dying on the stairs were Charley's
[who was] M s old friend of so m a n y years!' (De Morgan, The
Old Madhouse, Ch. X X I V ) . In Old English, the appositive was
usually in the genitive w h e n the headword was in the genitive: 'on
Isais bee pass witegan' (Luke, III, 4) = 'in the book of the wordis
of I say e the prophete' (Purvey's ed., A.D. 1388) = 'in the book of the
words of Isaiah the prophet' (Revised Version, A.D. 1881). A s can
be seen in these translations, the genitive form of the appositive
has for the most part been replaced b y the nominative, always
so after an o/-genitive, as in these examples. T h e o/-genitive is
never used as an appositive. T h e simple genitive is sometimes
impossible, in which case the nominative must be used: 'These
words were Cicero's, the most eloquent of men.' T h e appositive in
all these examples indicates the identity of a person, but where
it indicates the identity of a place, a shop, or a residence expressed
90 LOOSE APPOSITION 10 III 1 A

by a genitive, it too is in the genitive to m a k e clear that the ref-

erence is to a place, not to a person: ' I bought the book at Smith's,
the bookseller's' (= at Smith's store, the bookseller's store). But
if w e feel the reference is to a person, w e m a y use the nominative,
though it is not so c o m m o n as in older English: ' I bought the book
at Smith's the bookseller.' T h e nominative, however, is the usual
form here where the appositive consists of parts connected by a
conjunction, or is a noun modified by a prepositional phrase: 'at
Smith's, the bookseller and stationer'; 'at Smith's, the bookseller
Main Street' O n the other hand, the headword and the apposi-
tive sometimes form a compound noun, as described below, and
as a compound take the genitive sign at the end: 'I bought the
book at Smith the bookseller's.'
The appositive sometimes stands in rather close relations to
the headword, especially w h e n the latter is a pronoun, but the
headword and the appositive do not entirely fuse, as in B, p. 91,
so that a slight pause separates them: ' w e poor fellows.' 'He died
in 1859, leaving his property to one Ann Duncan.' T h e relation
between one and the following name, however, is sometimes so
close that the two words form a compound, the second component,
the name, assuming the genitive ending: ' W e breakfasted at one
Goldens' (George Washington, Diary, Oct. 14, 1794).
The appositive is often introduced b y as: 'I have thought of
you as your sister might think and spoken to you as my brother'
(Hall C a m e ) . T h e headword is here often a possessive adjective,
which was originally the genitive of a personal pronoun and still
implies a personal pronoun in the genitive case: 'Guildford now
found himself restricted to M s business as a judge in equity'
(Macaulay). T h e appositive is here regularly in the nominative
as in thefirsttwo examples given in the second paragraph of A,
p. 89, where the headword is a noun in the genitive.
The appositional idea often disappears entirely, headword and
appositive merging into a compound, as in B , p. 91, so that the
new unit, like a simple noun, takes inflection at the end, usually
so when the governing noun follows it: Nixon the hatter (Thomas
Hughes, Tom Brown's School-Days). ' W e stopped at Mr. Barton
the clergyman's house for a drink of water.' T h e n a m e and the
following appositive often become so closely associated that both
together blend into one n a m e : Tom the Piper, Peter the Great,
Peler the Hermit, etc. T h e stress in all these cases is descriptive,
i.e., rests upon the last member. If w e desire to classify here,
w e must stress the second m e m b e r a little more than usual to
distinguish it from the usual descriptive stress: 'I have spoken of
Tennyson the pdet, I n o w desire to speak of Tennyson the m&n.'
 10 III 1 B CLOSE APPOSITION 91

Similarly, if w e desire to distinguish: 'Nixon the hatter, not

Nixon the druggist.'
a. Pronouns as Appositives. An appositive pronoun usually agrees
with its headword, noun or pronoun, in case: ' Mother, who should go,
John or I?' 'Mother, w h o m do you want, John or me?' There is a
tendency here in colloquial language to employ the accusative, espe-
cially strong in personal pronouns of thefirstperson: 'Which would you
rather took you over the crossing? Me (instead of I) or Papa?' (May
Sinclair, Mary Olivier, p. 88). 'We're not like ordinary people, us (in-
stead of we) Cardinals' (name) (Hugh Walpole, The Captives, p. 15).
'Will we MS (instead of we) two go to lunch on Sunday to meet
Mr. Snaith?' (De Morgan, The Old Madhouse, Ch. VII). Compare 7 C a.
b. Appositive to a Sentence. A n appositive in the form of an ex-
planatory remark often belongs to the whole sentence: T , like many
another, a m apt to judge m y fellow m e n in comparison with myself, a
wrong and a foolish thing to do.' The appositive m a y be in the plural if
it is felt as referring to two or more ideas in the preceding sentence: 'You
are humane and considerate, things few people can be charged with' (Pope
Letter).
The appositive sometimes precedes the sentence: 'He (the Indian
Chief Logan) had changed, and not for the better, as he grew older,
becoming a sombre, moody man; worse than all, he had succumbed to
thefire-water,the curse of his race' (Theodore Roosevelt, The Winning
of the West, Vol. I, Ch. VIII). Often introduced by as: 'As afirststep, I
secured m y vast property, so that the income would be certain' (Wallace,
Ben Hur, I, Ch. V).
On the other hand, a substantive clause m a y serve as an appositive to
a single substantive: 'Here and there a cleft in the level land occurs,
what they call a "chine" in the Isle of Wight' (Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lo
Ch. IV).
B. CLOSE APPOSITION. The appositive may be a proper name
and enter into such close relations with the preceding headword
that it forms with it a group with the stress upon the last m e m -
ber, i.e., the appositive: King Edward, Jdhn Smith, m y friend
Jones, Uncle Tom, Professor Brown, the apdstle Paul, the Virgin
Mary, the steamer Ocean Bride, M o u n t Etna, Lake Michigan, the
river Thames, Cape Hatter as, Fort Wayne, Port Arthur, etc.
The appositive here assumes the inflection if it precedes a gov-
erning noun: at m y friend Smith's house; at Uncle Tom's house;
at Banker Smith's house.
The stress here is usually descriptive, i.e., rests upon the second
member. Of course, w e must stress thefirstm e m b e r if w e desire
to classify: 'I desire here to speak, not of the pdet Tinnyson, but
of the man.'
In m a n y cases the appositive is not a proper n a m e , but a noun
92 ATTRIBUTIVE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE OR CLAUSE 10 IV a

with a similar force, namely, a word or expression representing a

thing as an individual, not as a m e m b e r of a class: the letter a;
the figure 6; the verb go; the preposition in; demon Rum; the old
saying 'First come,firstserved.' 'On her tombstone stood the
words "Thy will be done.'" T h e close relation here between
the appositive and the headword cannot always be indicated by the
stress, since the appositive is often, as in the last two examples,
not a single word but a thought as a whole, which m a y expand
into an entire clause or sentence.
In oldest English, the appositive here stood before the head-
word: 'Alfred cyning' = 'King Alfred.' Traces of this older
usage are still to be found. See II 2 G.
2. Improper Apposition. T h e appositional construction was
often in older English improperly used instead of the partitive
genitive. This older usage with the traces it has left behind is
described in 10 II 2 H b.

IV. A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE AS MODIFIER OF A NOUN

A noun or pronoun may be modified by a prepositional phrase,;

which usually follows it: (with the force of a descriptive adjective)
'a girl with black hair' (= a black-haired girl); (with the force of a
limiting adjective) 'the book on the table.' After verbal nouns the
attributive phrase is in a formal sense an adjective element, but
logically it is an object, or an adverb: 'a mother's love for her
children' (with the force of an object); 'a walk in the evening'
(with the force of an adverb of time).
In the early stage of language development there were no prepo-
sitions. T h e modifier was simply placed before the governing
noun, the word-order alone indicating that the one noun was de-
pendent upon the other. This primitive type of expression is still
found in group-words (63) and on account of its convenient form
is still widely used: a rartrap = a trap for rats; horsewhip =
whip for the h6rse; toothbrush = brush for the teeth. A s this con-
struction originated in the period before the introduction of in-
flection, the plural idea is usually not formally expressed. In
clotheshdrse, cZd^esbrush, however, the plural idea has found a
formal expression.

a. ATTEIBUTIVE PEEPOSITIONAL CLAUSE. In attributive elements

the preposition may stand not only before a noun, but also before a
clause. There are many prepositions that can stand before a clause intro-
duced by an indefinite relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb: 'He always
has a clear insight into what is needed.' ' I haven't the slightest informat
10 VI OTHER MODIFIERS OF NOUNS 93

as to what plans he has made, as to where he is going.' Compare 23 I

(4th par.).
After, before, and since often seem to stand as prepositions before a
clause not introduced by a pronoun of any kind. Originally the deter-
minative (56 A ) pronoun that stood after the preposition, pointing as with
an index finger to the following explanatory clause: "The day after or
before [that:] he came was very beautiful.' 'The long lonesome period
since (a contraction of sith than + s; see 27 3, 6th par.) we last met has
depressed m e very much' (literally, since that: we last met). Gradually
after that, before that, since came to be felt as conjunctions introducing
attributive clause. Later, that disappeared after after and before, leaving
to after and before the function of conjunction. Compare 27 3 (7th par.).

V. AN INFINITIVE AS MODIFIER OF A NOUN

A noun may be modified by a prepositional infinitive. The

are different categories:
1. T h e infinitive has its original force, i.e., is still a prepositional
phrase with the literal meaning of the preposition to: 'Power to
forgive sin' (literally, power in the direction of forgiving sin); 'a
strong impulse to do it' (literally, toward doing it). See also 50 4 d.
2. T h e attributive infinitive has often developed the force of a
relative clause: ' H e w a s thefirstm a n to come' ( = who came).
'The King has no children to succeed him on the throne' ( = who
can succeed him). 'That's the w a y to do it' ( = in which you
should do it). 'This is the fourth case of lockjaw to occur (= which
has occurred) within a week.' 'This road car is the latest to be
offered to the public' 'They had n o windows to speak of (George
Eliot). A s the relative force here is quite strong the relative pro-
noun is often inserted: ' It is the glory of Trinity that she has an
abundance of famous m e n from whom to select' (or in older sim-
pler form to select from). See also 23 II 11.
3. T h e attributive infinitive often has the force of an appositive.
With loose connection: ' I a m conscious that a duty devolves upon
me, to omit no detail.' W i t h close connection: 'He didn't even do
m e the honor to come in' (or of coming in, the infinitive competing
here with the appositive genitive).
It often takes the place of an appositive clause: 'Your plan that
I should go (or for me to go) doesn't please me.' See also 23 I a.

VI. AN ADVERB AS MODIFIER OF A NOUN

An adverb may modify a noun: (1) as an appositive (1

adjective: 'the r o o m above,' 'the tree yonder,' etc.; (2) as an
adherent (10 I 1) adjective: 'the down stroke.' C o m p a r e 10 I 2.
94 OTHER MODIFIERS OF NOUNS 10 VII a

VII. A C L A U S E AS M O D I F I E R O F A NOUN

A clause may modify a noun: 'The thought that we shall he

him gives him courage.' 'The boy who is standing by the door is
m y son.' For m u c h fuller description of usage here see 23 I and II.
a. LOGICAL RELATION OF ATTRIBUTIVE CLAUSE TO GOVEENING NOUN.
A n attributive clause, though formally connected only with its governing
noun, often has logical relations to the principal verb: 'A boy who would
do a thing like that (with the force of an adverbial conditional clause)
would be laughed at.' ' W e took the dear little fellow, who was daily getting
worse (with the force of an adverbial clause of cause), to the hospital.'
Compare I 5, p. 70.
 C H A P T E R VI

OBJECTIVE MODIFIERS
PAGE
ACCUSATIVE OBJECT 96
Form, position, and stress 96
Meaning and use with verbs 98
Metonymic object 99
'It'and'so'as object 99
Reflexive object 100
Reciprocal object 100
' W h o m ' as object 101
Passive form of statement 102
Object of adjectives and adverbs 103
DATIVE OBJECT, F O E M , U S E 103
After verbs, adjectives, nouns 103
Sentence dative 106
Dative of reference 106
Dative of interest 106
Ethical dative 108
Original meaning 108
GENITIVE OBJECT 109
Functions, form, and meaning 109
PEEPOSITIONAL O B J E C T 112
Growth, development, and present use 112
Prepositional phrase as object or as adverbial element 113
Object of the preposition a gerund 113
Passive form of statement 114
D O U B L E OBJECT 114
Dative and accusative 114
Form, position, stress 115
Passive form of statement 117
Accusative of person and genitive of thing 118
Passive form of statement 119
Double accusative 119
Accusative of person and accusative of thing . . . . 119
Passive form of statement 120
Accusative of direct object and objective predicate . 120
Objective predicate a noun, pronoun, adjective . . 121
Passive form 124
Objective predicate an infinitive 124
Passive form 127
Accusative of person or thing and a prepositional
phrase 127
Dative of person and a prepositional phrase 127
95
96 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF ACCUSATIVE OBJECT 11 1

ACCUSATIVE OBJECT
11 1. Form, Position, and Stress. As explained in 3, page 3,
the old distinctive accusative forms of nouns have disappeared.
The personal pronouns have fuller inflection than nouns, but they,
in part, too, have lost their old accusative and dative forms, as
described in detail in Accidence, 35 6. T h e word-order n o w in
part indicates the accusative and dative functions, as is illus-
trated in detail below, but the function itself, i.e., the peculiar
r61e that the word plays in the sentence, is always important.
Sometimes the function alone distinguishes accusative and dative:
'They chose him (ace.) king,' but 'They chose him (dat.) a
wife.' English is here at its simplest. F o r m disappears entirely.
The position of the noun or pronoun does not reveal its function.
Here function alone distinguishes accusative and dative. The
position, however, of noun or pronoun in connection with function
often helps to distinguish case.
If there is only one object, it is in most cases an accusative
and stands in the position after the verb: 'He broke a glass.'
If it becomes necessary to employ a dative object after the verb,
w e must usually employ the distinctive dative form with to, for
otherwise it would be construed as an accusative: 'Robin Hood
robbed the rich to give to the poor.' W h e r e the function is clear,
however, the older simple dative is sometimes still heard in Eng-
land and is even c o m m o n in America, which is here, as so often
elsewhere, tenacious of older forms of expression: 'The reason
we wired you yesterday' (Pinero, The Thunderbolt, Act I). 'Wire,
write me at once.' 'He has already told me.' 'Ten minutes
suffice me (or to me) to dress.' T h e unaccented simple dative
still often survives in the passive: ' N o consideration was sh6wn
me' (or to me), but 'No consideration was shown to mi.'
If there are two objects, the dative, or indirect object, stands
immediately after the verb, then comes the accusative, or direct
object: 'He loves her' (ace), 'He loves his mother' (ace), but
'He gave her (dat.) a book' (ace), ' H e gave the house (dat.) a
new coat (ace) of paint.' If the dative ever for any reason fol-
lows the accusative, as for instance w h e n it is to be emphasized,
when it is to be modified by a clause, or w h e n it serves as a sen-
tence modifier (12 1 B a b), it n o w usually, as illustrated more
fully in 12 1 A B a b, takes the prepositions to, for, on, or from
before it to indicate the dative relation: 'I will lend it to ydu, but
not to him.' 'He gave his friend (dat.) a book' (ace), but 'He
gave a book (ace) to his friend (dat.) w h o is visiting him.' 'He
held m y horse (ace) for me' (sentence dat.). 'He shut the door
11 1 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF ACCUSATIVE OBJECT 97

on me' (sentence dat.; in older English also to me or the simple

dative). 'He stole a watch (ace) from me' (sentence dat.).
The old simple sentence dative sometimes still follows the verb:
'Kindly cash me this check,' or 'Kindly cash this check for me.'
Compare 15 I 2 (3rd par.). T h e old simple dative also not
infrequently follows the verb when the accusative precedes the
verb: 'What would you recommend me?' 'Everyone is a
moon, and has a dark side which he never shows anybody' (or to
anybody). Compare 15 I 2 (last par.).
The dative form with to must in general be used to mark the
dative relation clearly in cases where doubt might arise: 'I told
him (dat.) that I should come' (a that-clause in the ace relation),
but 'I indicated to him that I should come,' because to indicate
usually takes an accusative object, and hence a dative that
follows it must be clearly marked as such. T h e dative form with
to, however, is sometimes used even where it is not necessary to
make the thought clear, especially in a choice literary style:
'He (Columbus) gave to the world (or simply the world) the knowledge
of a new land' (Elbridge S. Brooks, A Trip to Washington).
Compare 15 I 2 (next to last par.).
Dative before accusative has always been the c o m m o n word-
order in English in normal expression, and, as can be seen from
the preceding examples, this order is still well established. But
this order has never been c o m m o n if there are two personal pro-
nouns as objects, or if there are an accusative of the pronoun
and a dative of the noun. A s the ideas of reference and personal
interest which lie in the dative here are prominent and the stress
is usually a little stronger and hence also a factor, the dative
still as in oldest English stands in the more importantfinalposi-
tion in the group: 'He gave it to me.' 'She asked him for it
and he gave it td her.' 'I gave it to his mother.' In such examples
as the last, where the accusative is a weakly stressed pronoun and
the dative a noun, the dative by reason of its heavier weight in-
variably follows the lighter accusative. T h e placing of the accusa-
tive pronoun in thefinalplace in the group in harmony with the
normal word-order dative before the accusative is still, as in oldest
English, rather u n c o m m o n : ' Officers and m e n Levied a kindly tax
upon themselves. Pitying the lonely m a n , and gave him it'
(Tennyson, Enoch Arden). Sometimes even in colloquial speech:
' If you really have it, show me it' or more commonly ' S h 6 w it
td me,' since the word-order, dative of a personal pronoun after
the accusative of a personal pronoun, has become fixed here, n o w
usually with the modern dative form, but in England very often
still as in older English with the simple dative: 'Show it me'
98 MEANING AND USE OF THE ACCUSATIVE 11 2

(Pinero, Sweet Lavender, Act II). Sometimes also in American

English: 'I give it you beforehand' (Oemler, Slippy McGee,
Ch. V ) . O n the other hand, if the accusative is a stressed demon-
strative it stands in the important final position in the group:
'I told him that.' 'He gave m e this.'
2. Meaning and U s e of the Accusative with Verbs. In an
early stage of our language the accusative could be used with ad-
verbial force after intransitive verbs of motion to indicate a con-
crete goal. This old usage survives only in the case of home:
'He went home.' This old accusative after intransitive verbs
of motion is somewhat better preserved where the idea of goal
appears in an abstractfigurativesense, namely, in the case of the
simple infinitive, an old verbal noun here in the accusative of goal,
employed in Old English, and even still in the colloquial speech
of our time after the imperative and the infinitive of go and come
to indicate the goal, i.e., end, purpose, of the verb of motion:
'Go get it!' (Dr. Bert Emsley in a communication to the au-
thor, July 5, 1930). 'You'd better go lie d o w n ' (Tarkington, The
Magnificent Ambersons, Ch. IV). 'I'll m a k e M a y and Lola and
their partners come sit in this little circle of chairs' (id., Seventeen,
Ch. X X V I I ) . ' W o m e n could go hang (see 46, 7th par.), because
she did not want them' ( W . J. Locke, The Glory of Clementina,
Ch. II). Elsewhere w e n o w usually employ here the prepositional
infinitive: 'She went upstairs to lie down.'
Although the accusative of goal is no longer c o m m o n after
intransitives of motion, it has from the earliest times been com-
m o n after transitives to indicate the goal, the object actually hit
or affected by the activity, or the thing representing the goal,
the real object of the activity, i.e., the result, effect: 'to hit,
reach, or toe a mark,' 'to paint a house,' 'to burn a house,' 'to
build a house' (the goal, the result of the activity), 'to sketch
a house' (the goal, result of the activity). After the analogy of
such transitives that take an accusative of result, the accusative
is used after m a n y verbs usually intransitive to indicate a result
of the activity or something exhibited b y it: 'to weep tears,' 'to
look compassion, daggers, death,' 'to breathe simplicity.'
Out of the idea of the accusative as an object in these more
or less concrete relations has come the more abstract conception
that the accusative is the proper case form of a noun or pronoun
employed to complete the meaning of the verb, i.e., to m a k e its
meaning special: 'I see a bird.' 'I hear the voices of children.'
'I felt the truth of the remark.' 'I guessed the riddle.' A c o m m o n
complement of verbs is the cognate accusative, i.e., an accusa-
tive of a meaning cognate or similar to that of the verb, repeating
11 2 & IT A N D SO AS OBJECT 99

and also explaining more fully the idea expressed b y the verb:
'to sleep the sleep of the righteous,' 'to fight a goodfight,''to
live a sad and lonely life,' 'to sing a song.' Similarly, verbs are
m u c h used with an object that denotes a thing which is closely
associated with the activity expressed b y the verb: 'to play
cards,' 'to talk shop, politics, dogs,' etc., 'to j u m p a fence,' 't
skip the country, two pages,' 'to ride a horse,' 'to flee the country,
'to depart this life.' 'Edgar sits a horse as well as any young
m a n in England' (Mrs. Sherwood, H. Milner, III, V ) . 'She did
not take any instruction herself or go through the evolutions
or maneuvers, but merely sat her horse like a martial little statue
and looked on' (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc, II, C h . IV). 'The
hen will sit seventeen of her own eggs' (Journal R. Agric. Soc,
III, II, 525).
In modern times the list of transitive verbs has been greatly
increased b y the addition of a large n u m b e r of verbs originally
intransitive which took a prepositional object, as 'to depend upon
a man,' 'to laugh at a person,' 'to talk over a matter.' In course
of time the preposition here has become attached to the verb as
an integral part of it, so that the object is no longer a prepositional
object but a direct object of the c o m p o u n d verb. This becomes
apparent in the passive, where the object becomes subject and
the preposition remains with the verb: 'They were laughed at
by everybody.'
A transitive verb, its object, and the preposition attached to
the object are often felt as a unit forming a c o m p o u n d transitive:
' W e lost sight of the boat in the fog,' or in passive form, 'The
boat was lost sight of in the fog.'

a. METONYMIC OBJECT. The object is often metonymic, i.e., indi-

cates not the real object but something which stands in close relation
to it: 'He wiped off the dust' (real object) and 'He wiped off the table'
(metonymic object).
b. 'IT' A N D 'So' A S O B J E C T . In a large number of expressions the
accusative object is it, which originally was in m a n y instances a con-
crete reference to a definite thing or a definite situation, but is now also
often a convenient complement of transitive and intransitive verbs
without definite reference, leaving it to the situation to make the thought
clear: 'You will catch it' (i.e., reproach, punishment). 'We footed (in
slang hoofed) it.' T a m going to rough it.' 'That's going it rather
strong.' T will have it out with him.' 'He tries to lord it over us.'
Where the construction is more or less complicated, it is often used
as an anticipatory object, pointing forward to a following full object
clause or an abridged, infinitival or gerundial, object clause: 'I soon
brought it about that he thought better of it.' 'I found it difficult to
100 RECIPROCAL OBJECT 11 2 d

refuse him his request.' 'Rumor has it he is going to leave town.'

T suppose you think it odd m y having gone to church.'
O n the other hand, it often points backward to a preceding dependent
clause or an independent proposition: 'If I get h o m e by eight o'clock,
I call it good luck.'' 'He spoke very sharply to m e . I shall not forget
it soon.' Frequently, however, the adverb so is used instead of it, point-
ing backward, referring to the contents of the preceding proposition,
especially after verbs of saying, thinking, hearing, fearing, hoping, doing,
etc.: 'Did your brother receive the letter?' 'I think so.' 'Will he
keep his promise?' 'I hope so.' 'I'll send it tomorrow if I can arrange
to do so.'
c. R E F L E X I V E O B J E C T . A reflexive pronoun is often added to transi-
tive verbs to indicate that the subject acts upon himself: 'He dressed
himself quickly,' ' W e all love ourselves more and hate ourselves less
than w e ought.' In older English, the personal pronouns were used as
reflexive pronouns. This older usage lingers on in Shakespeare, although
the new forms are more common: 'A ( = he) bears him like a portly
gentleman' (Romeo and Juliet, I, v, 68). Even in plain prose, however,
the older simple accusative is still the rule after prepositions which
express local relations in a literal sense: 'I have no money with me.'
'The two brothers had only a dollar between them.' ' W e see the stars
above us.' 'He shut the door behind him.' 'The horse sprang over
the precipice bearing its rider with it' 'Look about you!' but in a
figurative sense 'Look into yourself!' and 'He asked m e about myself.
Usage sometimesfluctuateshere according as w e feel the force of the
preposition as literal orfigurative:'The teacher took it upon him or
himself to punish the lad.' Compare 56 D (next to last par.).
The reflexive form can refer only to the subject of the proposition or
clause in which it stands. Hence, if the pronoun in a subordinate clause
refers to the subject of the principal proposition, a personal pronoun is
used: 'I believed him to be deceiving me' but 'I believed him to be
deceiving himself.'
After the plural of majesty we and editorial we, it is n o w customary
to employ ourself as the usual reflexive with reference to a single person
in contradistinction to ourselves with reference to more than one: 'We
feel that in this place we lay ourself open to the inquiry whether Mr. Win-
kle was whispering, during this brief conversation, to Arabella Allen'
(Dickens, Pickwick, Ch. X X X ) .
In the headings of newspapers simple self is m u c h used for himself or
herself: 'G. W . Howard, Author, Kills Self (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 21,
1922).
One of the marked characteristics of English is the tendency to drop
the reflexive pronoun: 'He dressed quickly.' 'Oil will not unite with
water.' For fuller discussion see 46.
d. R E C I P R O C A L O B J E C T . The pronouns each other and one another
are placed after the verb to indicate that the relations between or among
the persons designated by the subject are mutual. Although good
writers often use these two forms promiscuously, there is a tendency
11 2 e WHOM AS OBJECT 101

to use the former for reference to two persons and the latter for reference
to two or more: 'These two doctors hate each other.' ' W e all at last
understood one another.' In older English, the components of each of
these compound forms were felt as distinct words and hence were often
separated. This older usage persists: 'Each looked at the other' instead
of 'They looked at each other.' 'The roosters of the neighborhood are
calling one to the other' (or to one another). This older usage is most
common, as in these examples, when the pronoun is the object of a
preposition. For fuller treatment see Accidence, 37 a, b, c.
In older English, the long reflexive pronouns were sometimes used
for reciprocal pronouns: 'Get thee gone; tomorrow We'll hear ourselves
(instead of each other) again' (Shakespeare, Macbeth, III, iv, 31). Al-
though this old usage has in general passed away, it is still often found
after the prepositions among and between, perhaps prevails here: 'They
quarreled among themselves' (but with one another). ' W e are still quarrel-
ing among ourselves.' 'They resolved between themselves to start imme-
diately.'
As in c the pronominal object here is often omitted: 'Our elbows
touched' (or touched each other). ' W e met (or, sometimes, met each
other) at the post office.' ' W e soon came to a place where two roads
crossed' (or crossed each other). See 46.
e. I N T E E R O G A T I V E A N D R E L A T I V E ' W H O M ' A S O B J E C T . T h e inter-
rogative objective whom is used in careful language: 'For what or whom
was she waiting?' (Galsworthy, The Man of Property, p. 302). 'Whom
did you meet?' T asked him whom he met' (an indirect question).
'Whom do you mean?' 'I asked him whom he meant.'
In current colloquial speech, as in older literary English, it is still
quite common to use who as an invariable form for both the subject and
the object relation: 'Who (subject) was there?' 'Who (object) did you
meet?' Likewise in early modern literary English: ' H O E . M y lord,
I think I saw him yesternight. H A M L . Saw? Who?' (Shakespeare,
Hamlet, I, n, 190). 'To who, m y lord?' (id., King Lear, V, in, 248).
This usage is explained in part by a natural tendency to avoid in-
flection here, as the other interrogative words, where, when, whence, etc.,
which stand in the same position as who, are all invariable. The use of
the nominative who here as the invariable form for subject and object
in contrast to the employment of the accusative me, him, her, us, them,
etc., elsewhere as the invariable form, as described in 7 C a, has probably
come from the fact that the accusative whom here in the subjective re-
lation standing immediately before the verb, as in ' Whom came?' would
be unnatural and contrary to all precedent, while the nominative who
before the verb in the object relation, as in 'Who did they meet?' is
not unnatural, since the nominative usually stands before the verb.
Moreover, the use of the nominative who as object is never ambiguous,
since the inverted word-order, as in 'Who did they meet?' indicates
clearly that who, like when, where, etc., as in 'Where did they meet?'
modifies the verb and hence cannot be the subject. T h e c o m m o n use
of who as object in direct questions m a d e it natural to use the same
102 PASSIVE F O R M OF S T A T E M E N T 11 2 /

form in indirect questions: 'Do you know who the property belongs to?'
(Gissing, The House of Cobwebs).
W e sometimes find who for whom in substantive clauses, where in-
definite relative who, which introduces the substantive clause exactly
like interrogative who in indirect questions, has come under the influence
of interrogative who: 'I don't know who you mean' (A. Trollope, Harry
Heathcote, p. 15). In 'It feels like afight,but I don't know who's fighting
who' (Hugh Walpole, The Captives, p. 455), the second who is used after
the analogy of the second who in 'I couldn't see who was who.'
Earlier in the period who for whom is found also when used as a rela-
tive pronoun with an antecedent: 'in company with General Lee, who I
requested to attend m e ' (George Washington, Diary, Oct. 19, 1794).
This older usage still occurs in careless language, as in 'The burthen of
her talk is " m y Collin," who she makes out to be the most angelic babe'
(Mrs. Craik).
In general, however, the use of who for whom is receding in all functions
in the literary language.
/. P A S S I V E F O R M O F S T A T E M E N T . In changing a sentence from the
active to the passive the accusative becomes nominative and the nomina-
tive is put into the accusative after by, in older English of: ' The boy is
beating the dog' (active), but in the passive 'The dog is being beaten
by the boy.' 'Ye shall be hated of all m e n ' (Matthew, X , 22). 'He was
devoured of a long dragon' (Bacon, Essays).
In normal narrative, the modifier of the verb is usually important and
stressed, so that in sentences with an important modifier of the verb the
active is the natural form of statement, since the modifier of the verb
can often be put in the form of an object and placed in the important
end position: 'Last night the frost took all my prettyflowers'O n the
other hand, the passive is often more appropriate when the verbal activity
is prominent, since in this form the verb stands last or near the end:
'Last night m y pretty flowers were all destroyed.' The idea of active
agent or cause is best stressed by employing passive form and putting
the word denoting the agent or the cause at the end: 'The dog was
killed by his 6wn master.' 'I was hurt by his abrupt mdnner.' W h e n
we desire to give especial emphasis to the thing effected, w e employ pas-
sive form and put the subject representing the thing effected at or near
the end: 'From the instant that the lips of the little old lady touched
Jill's there was sealed a bdnd' (Temple Thurston, The City of Beautiful
Nonsense, III, Ch. VIII). But not only the end position is important,
thefirstplace is also used for emphasis, especially in excited language,
where the thing that is on our mind springs [Link] the case of per-
sons or things affected the passive form is here appropriate since w e can
put them into the first place: 'My prettyfldwerswere all destroyed last
night.' W e can use also active form here by putting the person or thing
affected into thefirstplace in the form of an exclamation and referring
to them later by a pronoun with the grammatical form required by the
construction: 'My preliyflowers!the frost destroyed them all last night.'
Compare 3 a.
12 1 A FORM AND USE OF DATIVE OBJECT 103

The speaker or writer often employs the passive expressly to avoid

mention of the participants: 'Some things have been said here tonight
that ought not to have been spoken.'
Passive form is often chosen merely to avoid a change of subject:
'The young couple returned and were pardoned by the baron on the
spot.'
fir. O B J E C T O P A N A D J E C T I V E O R A D V E E B . The object treated above
is in all instances the object of a verb. Worth is the only adjective that
governs the accusative: 'This book is worth reading.'
In 'He sat opposite [to] me,' me is a dative after the adjective oppo-
site, as indicated by the suppressed to. Similarly, in 'He is like (adjective)
his father,' the object is a dative, as can be seen in poetry and in older
English, where the dative form occurs: 'Sweet sleep, were death like to
thee' (Shelley). 'For ye are like unto whited sepulchres' (Matthew, XXIII,
27). Likewise, the seeming accusative after the adverb near, as in near
me, is in fact a dative, for w e say nearer to me and next to me. These
adjectival and adverbial forms that govern the dative are now, however,
often felt as prepositions. Compare 50 4 c bb.
The genitive is the usual construction after worthy, but the accusative
occasionally occurs: 'The Englishman into whose soul these tales have
not sunk is not worthy the name' (Hughes, Tom Brown, II, Ch. II, 226),
usually worthy of the name. In older English, the accusative was more
common: 'It was a thought happy and worthy Ccesar' (Ben Jonson,
Sejanus, V, VIII, 59 A.D. 1603). Adjectives n o w usually take a dative,
genitive, or prepositional object. See 12 1 A, 13 3, 14.
h. A C C U S A T I V E O B J E C T A F U L L O R A B R I D G E D C L A U S E . The accusa-
tive object often has the form of a clause with a finite verb: T demand
that he go at once.' For the different forms that an accusative clause with
a finite verb m a y have see 24 III. T h e accusative clause m a y also have
the form of an infinitival or a gerundial clause, as described in 24 III d.
DATIVE OBJECT
12 1. Form and Use.
A. A F T E R V E R B S , A D J E C T I V E S , A N D N O U N S . The old dative
which is used after transitive verbs as an indirect object in con-
nection with a direct object in the accusative is well preserved.
Its present form and position in the sentence are treated in 11 1.
Old English had alongside of the simple accusative also a simple
dative object, employed not only as an indirect object in con-
nection with a direct accusative object, as at present, but also
m u c h used after m a n y verbs as the only object. A s a single
object it competed with the accusative, but, as described below,
it had a little different meaning, which naturally associated it
with certain verbs where the peculiar dative force came into play.
This old dative used as a single object has been largely displaced
104 FORM AND USE OF DATIVE OBJECT 12 1 A

by the accusative. In Old English, the accusative represents the

object a person or a thing a s affected by an activity, es-
pecially in a literal, material sense. T h e single dative in Old
English represents a person as involved or concerned in an activity
directed toward him and intended to affect him either in a mere
material w a y or more commonly in an inner sense. If the dative
object was a thing, it w a s felt as having interests like a person.
The difference of meaning between dative and accusative was
often not great, since both objects completed the meaning of the
verb. Later, the difference in form between the two cases entirely
disappeared, so that it became difficult to distinguish a dative
object from an accusative. W h e r e an object after verbs governing
the dative, such as thank, help, injure, please, displease, believ
threaten, oppose, serve, advise, etc., was felt as completing the
meaning of the verb, the old dative has been displaced b y the ac-
cusative. T h u s w e say today 'He thanks his friend,' not 'He
thanks to his friend.' 'The teacher helps the beginners,' not 'Th
teacher helps to the beginners.' 'The frost injures the plants,'
not 'The frost injures to the plants.' T h e old dative began to
be treated as an accusative about 1200. B u t the feeling for the
old dative lingered for a long while after the old native English
verbs and the n e w foreign verbs with the same meaning, as is
shown b y the employment of the n e w clear dative form with to,
which was in use elsewhere: 'Yf Y do not the worlds of m y
fadir, nyle 3e bileue to me; but if Y do, thou 3 3e wolen not bileue
to me, bileue 3e to the workis' (John, X 37, John Purvey's ed.,
A.D. 1388) = 'If I do not the works of m y Father, believe me
not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works'
(King James Version). ' T h o u schalt worschipe thi Lord God, and
to hym (now simple him) aloone thou schalt serue' (Luke, IV, 8,
Purvey's ed.). T h e dative disappeared here later because its
function was not at this point as clearly differentiated from the
accusative as it was elsewhere.
In spite, however, of the decided victory of the accusative in
this category of single object the dative maintained itself in a
very large number of words where the idea of a person involved
or concerned in an activity was strongly pronounced: 'A new
thought came to me.' 'Recently m u c h has happened to us.'
'He has yielded to me in this matter.' ' H e apologized to me,
cringed to me, deferred to me, bowed to me, submitted to me, sur-
rendered to me.' 'He got d o w n on his knees to me.' 'Religion
itself is forced to truckle to worldly policy.' 'He read to me,
sang to me, wrote to me, complained to me.' 'He proposed to
her-' 'It never occurred to me before.' ' M u c h genuine pleasure
12 1 A F O R M A N D USE OF DATIVE OBJECT 105

accrued to them from their kindness.' 'It belonged to me.' 'This

is all that remains to me of m y inheritance.' 'The property has
fallen to his son.' The dative has been preserved here because
it is felt not as completing the meaning of the verb but rather
as modifying the statement as a whole. T h e dative as a sen-
tence modifier, or sentence object, does not of course compete
with the accusative and has not been influenced by it. This
c o m m o n dative is treated in detail in B, p. 106.
T o express the dative idea here it became necessary to give it
a new form, for dative and accusative had become identical in
form, and a single object after a verb would be construed as an
accusative. Hence, as in these examples, the preposition to was
placed before the noun to indicate the dative relation. Even in
oldest English, to was thus often placed before a noun denoting
a person, but at this early period it has a more concrete meaning
than the old simple dative, indicating that the person was in-
volved or concerned in the activity in an outward, literal sense, as
in 'I spoke to him,' 'I called to him,' while the simple dative
suggested an inner relation, as in 'I preached to them' (in Old
English, a simple dative). A s in thefirsttwo of these three ex-
amples, to in older English often combined the idea of outward
and inner relations, so that later w h e n the dative and accusative
had become identical in form and it became necessary to create a
new, clear dative, it was easy and natural to employ to also like
the old simple dative to indicate inner relations, as in the m a n y
examples given above.
The dative is well preserved also in other categories where there
is no competition between accusative and dative, as after nouns
and adjectives. After nouns m a d e from verbs which in oldest
English governed the dative or which b y virtue of their meaning
would have governed the dative if they had been in use, the
dative construction is well preserved, and indeed has experi-
enced an extensive development beyond its original boundaries:
'The teacher helps (in Old English, with dative, n o w with accusa-
tive) the beginners,' but 'a help to beginners.' 'The frost injures
the plants,' but 'injury to plants.' T h e dative is also well pre-
served after adjectives: 'He was helpful to me.' 'The frost is
injurious to plants.' 'It lyketh to your fader and to me that I
yow wedde' (Chaucer, The Clerkes Tale, 289), n o w 'It pleases
your father (ace) and me (ace) that I marry you,' but after the
participial adjective the old dative is still in full use: 'It is pleas-
ing to your father and to me,' etc. 'Never wolde he do nothynge
that scholde to hym displese' (Merlin, 123, about A.D. 1440), n o w
'that should displease him' (ace), but after the participial adjec-
106 SENTENCE DATIVE OF REFERENCE A N D INTEREST 12 1 B 6

tive the dative is the c o m m o n construction: 'It is displeasing to

him.' In a few cases w e find the simple dative after adjectives,
as illustrated in 11 2 g.
B. S E N T E N C E D A T I V E . A S explained in A (3rd par.), the dative
is well preserved where it modifies not the verb alone but the
sentence as a whole. This dative, sometimes still with its old
simple form but usually in prepositional form with to, unto, for,
from, or on, falls into three groups:
a. Dative of Reference. This dative denotes the person to
w h o m the statement seems true, or with reference to w h o m it
holds good: 'To me the old house doesn't seem like home any
more.' 'That doesn't seem true to me n o w as it once did.'
'To me she is pretty.' 'What is that to me?' 'He never made
me such excuses.' ' A m I not any more the same m a n to whom
once all doors stood open?' 'The dress is too long for her.' 'I
bet youfivedollars (adv. ace) that you can't do it' (ace clause).
b. Dative of Interest. This dative denotes the person to whose
advantage or disadvantage the action results: ' The umbrella stood
me in good stead.' 'It will last the owner a lifetime.' 'He made
me a whistle.' 'She m a d e her boy a new coat.' 'She looked him
tenderly in the eyes.' 'Ruin seemed to be staring him in the
face.' 'You must not look a gift horse in the mouth.' 'He has
already done me a good deal of harm.' 'He has done a good deal
of harm not only to me but to many others,' where, as often else-
where, the idea of interest mingles with that of reference. 'Please
hand me that book.' 'He lent me his book.' 'He lent a book to
me and also one to John.' 'Inasmuch as you have done it unto (in
plain prose usually to or for) one of the least of these m y breth-
ren, ye have done it unto me' (Matthew, X X V , 40). 'I shall do
all I can for you.' 'I want you to run an errand for me.' 'His
heart beat for all humanity.' T h e use of for here instead of the
simple dative or the dative with to indicates the desire for a
clearer expression of the idea of advantage, for to is used also to
denote disadvantage. Often, however, for itself denotes disad-
vantage: 'I'll break his head for him.' 'She'll turn your head
for you.' 'He's setting a trap for you.' ' W h o digs a pit for others
m a y fall into it himself.'
T o express more clearly the idea of disadvantage, w e sometimes
use from instead of the simple dative or the dative with to: 'He
stole a watch from me,' i.e., from me to my loss, the concrete idea
of from mingling with the abstract idea of loss. ' T h e horse ran
away from me,' i.e., ran away to my loss, discomfiture. In collo-
quial speech w e often find such expressions as 'Thefirehas gone
out on me.' 'He has gone back on me.' 'I found out some-
12 1 B 6 SENTENCE DATIVE OF R E F E R E N C E A N D INTEREST 107

thing about him and I wrote and told him so, and he got m y letter
and just called m e up and tried to m a k e up with m e again, and I
hung up on him' (J. P. M c E v o y , The Potters). 'Every three years
he's raised the rent on us' (Basil King, The Side of the Angels,
Ch. I). 'He shut the door on me' (in older English, also to me
or the simple dative). The development here from the dative to
the preposition on (= against) indicates the desire for a clearer
expression of the idea of disadvantage, injury. O n account of its
distinctive form the on-dative is spreading in this meaning in
colloquial speech. It is especially c o m m o n in popular Irish English,
which at this point is doubtless influencing American colloquial
usage.
The old simple dative is most c o m m o n in connection with a
direct object: 'She m a d e her boy a new coat.' In the case of
reflexive datives here, the old short form (see 11 2 c), i.e., the
personal pronoun instead of the reflexive, is still, especially in
colloquial speech, often used in thefirstand second persons in-
stead of the long literary form: 'I bought me (or myself) a new
hat.' 'Did you buy you (or yourself) a new hat?' Formerly
the short form was m u c h used also in the third person: 'Let
every soldier hew him down a bough' (Macbeth, V, iv, 4). Today
we usually employ here the long form on account of the am-
biguity of the short form: 'He bought himself a new hat.' But
in popular speech the old short form is still c o m m o n : 'Rutheney
here, she never even stops to ax Link m a y she ride in to town
she jest ketches her a nag and lights out' (Lucy Furman, The
Quare Women, Ch. II). In all these cases the reflexive dative is
more c o m m o n in popular speech than in the literary language,
so that in the former it is still often employed where in the
latter it has disappeared: 'I want me a w o m a n [who] can milk'
(ib., Ch. V).
Earlier in the period, a weak, almost pleonastic, dative of
interest was often used after sit, lie, and verbs of motion and
fearing: 'I sit me down a pensive hour to spend' (Goldsmith,
Traveller, 32). 'He walked him forth along the sand' (Byron,
Siege of Corinth, XIII, 17). 'I dread me, if I draw it (i.e., the
lance-head), you will die' (Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine, 511).
'I fear me, tis about faire Abigail' (Marlowe, The Jew of Malta,
I, 904, A.D. 1633). "Faith, for the worst isfilthy;and would not
hold taking, I doubt (= fear) me' (Shakespeare, Timon of Athens,
I, u, 159). After these verbs, especially after to lie down and sit
down, this old dative still lingers: 'He had lost his w a y and lain
him down to die' (Jerome, Three Men in a Boat, Ch. X , 127).
'Nor did his eye lighten with any pleasurable excitement as he
108 ORIGINAL MEANING OF DATIVE 12 2

sat himself (sometimes, as here, the n e w long dative instead of

the old short form) down in a shadowy corner' (Tarkington,
Penrod and Sam, Ch. IV).
Earlier in the period, and sometimes still, there is an old redun-
dant accusative, distinguishable from this old dative by neither
form nor significance, for both dative and accusative have scarcely
an appreciable meaning: ' I remember me of (now simple remember)
that day.' 'I repent me of (now simple repent) m y suspicions.'
The accusative is here sometimes construed as a dative of interest,
so that the of drops out: 'I do not repent me those dairyings in
enchantedfields'(J. M . Barrie, The Little White Bird, Ch. IX).
c. Ethical Dative. In older English, and sometimes still, a simple
dative is employed to denote the person w h o has or is expected to
have an emotional or sympathetic interest in the statement:
'Whip me such honest knaves' (Othello, I, i, 49). 'Why, he would
slip you out of this chocolate-house, just when you had been talk-
ing to him as soon as your back was turned whip he was
gone!' (Congreve, The Way of the World, I, I, 241, A.D. 1700).
'The main things are to be able to stand well, walk well, and
look with an eye at h o m e in its socket: I put you m y hand on
any m a n or w o m a n born of high blood' (Meredith). 'Has any-
thing happened to you?' 'No, Ralph, but something m a y
happen to you if you don't heed me what I say' (Hall Came).
Today there is little feeling for this once c o m m o n construction.
Instead of saying 'That was you a joy!' w e n o w usually say
'That was a joy, I tell you!' and instead of ' N o w heed me
that' w e say ' N o w I want you to heed that!' W e can sometimes,
however, employ the prepositional dative with for: 'There's a
fine fellow for you!'
2. Original Meaning of the Dative. T h e dative seems origi-
nally to have denoted in a literal sense direction toward, which can
often still be felt after transitive verbs and adjectives: 'He sent
me a book,' or 'He sent the book to me.' 'He was kind to me,'
i.e., manifestations of kindness were directed toward me. Thus
originally both accusative and dative indicated a goal or an object
toward which an activity was directed. Even in oldest English,
however, w e find the two forms in general differentiated in mean-
ing as w e k n o w them today, so that the accusative often indicates
that a person or thing is affected in a literal, exterior sense, while
the dative indicates that a person or thing is affected in an inner
sense, or that a person is involved in an act or statement as his
material or higher interests are connected with the act or state-
ment: 'That caused me (dat. indicating that the person is affected
inwardly) pain' (ace of result). 'That gave the cause (dat. in-
13 2 FUNCTIONS AND FORM OF THE GENITIVE 109

dicating vital inner interests) a mortal blow' (ace). ' H e was

unfriendly to me' (indicating direction of feeling toward inner
things, i.e., a personality). 'He sent help to me (dat. indicating
direction toward in a literal, but also an inner, sense) in m y distress.'
In all these cases the present prepositional dative corresponds to
the simple dative in Old English. Wherever the noun after to
is n o w an object in a literal exterior sense w e find also in Old
English to followed b y a dative: ' H e went to town.' 'He sent a
messenger to town.' In Old English, to with the dative w a s e m -
ployed to express the old original concrete idea of direction toward;
the simple dative w a s used to denote the newer derived idea of
direction toward in an inner sense. Later, as the simple dative lost
its distinctive form, the prepositional dative took its place wherever
ambiguity might arise. T h e older distinction in meaning had to
be sacrificed to the obvious necessity of indicating the dative
relation clearly. C o m p a r e 1 A (4th par., p.105) and 14 (3rd par.).

GENITIVE OBJECT
13 1. Functions of the Genitive. Today we usually think of
the genitive as an attributive adjective element modifying nouns
or pronouns, but in Old English it was widely employed also to
modify verbs and adjectives. A s seen in 3, p. 110, the genitive is
still used after verbs and adjectives; but it survives here only in
the form of the of-genitive, which w e here no longer feel as a geni-
tive but n o w construe as a prepositional object, so that the old,
once c o m m o n , conception of the genitive as a modifier of verbs
and adjectives has been lost. T h e fact that the genitive after
verbs and adjectives n o w never takes the simple s-form has dulled
our feeling for it as a genitive and also for its original close relation
to the attributive genitive. T h e older conception of the genitive
as a modifier of nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives indicates
that the genitive in all these different functions had the same
general meaning some shade of the general idea of sphere, as
described in 3, p. 110, and in 10 II 2. T h e fact that w e no longer
have a live feeling for this old meaning has helped to blunt our
feeling for the original close relation between the attributive
genitive and the genitive after verbs and adjectives.
2. F o r m of the Genitive. In Old English, the simple genitive
was used as the object of a large number of verbs and a smaller
number of adjectives. Today, the simple genitive used as object
has been entirely replaced b y the prepositional genitive with of:
'When I felt of his heart, there w a s no beat.' ' H e is worthy of
respect.' 'The glass is full of water.'
110 MEANING OF THE GENITIVE 13 3

3. Meaning of the Genitive. T h e original meaning of the

genitive is unknown, but a study of the older periods where the
genitive was m u c h more used than n o w seems to indicate that
the central idea of this case is in a sphere: 'I a m thinking of my
father, of my duty,' i.e., m y thoughts are in the sphere of m y
father, m y duty. 'They robbed him of his money,' in the sphere
of his money, with respect to his money, or n o w more commonly
felt as containing the idea of separation. 'They complained of
their hard lot,' in the sphere, matter of, with respect to their hard
lot. This shade of the genitive, the genitive of specification, is
still very c o m m o n : 'I reminded him of his promise.' 'He ac-
cused m e of untruths.' 'The glass is full of water,' in the sphere
of water, with respect to water.
In older English, to hope, yearn, thirst, wait took the genitive
of goal, which represents some object or thing as the goal of the
activity, the sphere in which it acts, n o w replaced b y a preposi-
tional object after for: 'Death waites of (now for) no man's will'
(George Whetstone, Life of Gascoigne, I, IV, A.D. 1719). T h e new
accusative is used alongside of the old genitive of goal after admit,
allow, approve, conceive, and sometimes accept, and a little earlier
in the period also remember and recollect: ' T h e scope of this book
does not admit of the discussion of details' (or with the accusative
the discussion of details). 'I remember of (now omitted) detesting
the n a m e of Cumberland' (Sir Walter Scott).
T h e partitive genitive object, n o w replaced b y the accusative,
was not u n c o m m o n earlier in the period: 'She went to it, smelled
of it (now usually simple it or at it), and ate it' (Defoe, Crusoe,
I, IV). In American colloquial speech, however, the old partitive
genitive object is well preserved with a few verbs: 'She tasted
of it, felt of it, smelled of it.' Also in the literary language the
old genitive is sometimes used w h e n it is desired to raise the tone
a little above that of every day: 'Since people give of their time,
will they not give also of their money?'
The prepositional genitives in all these cases correspond to
the Old English simple genitive, but they are not felt today vividly
as genitives. They are mere fragments of a shattered construc-
tion which gives no clear outline of older usage. M a n y older geni-
tives which represented the activity as missing of, desiring of,
coveting of, forgetting of an object are n o w replaced b y accusative
which represent the activity as missing, desiring, coveting, forgetti
an object, since w e today put the single object that completes the
meaning of a verb in the accusative. Just as in 12 1 A, a single
dative object was not able to compete successfully with a single ac-
cusative object, so here a single genitive object is not able to
13 3 MEANING OF THE GENITIVE 111

compete with a single accusative object, since the old habit of

distinguishing between the meaning of the two cases did not prove
as strong as the simpler principle of placing, without regard to
meaning, a single object uniformly in the accusative, the case
most commonly used as object w h e n there is only one. Elsewhere,
where the accusative did not compete with the genitive as object,
namely, after adjectives and participles, the genitive object is
better preserved. Thus, though w e no longer miss of, desire of,
forget of, etc., w e still are desirous of, forgetful of, etc.
S o m e of the old simple genitives after verbs have been replaced
by prepositional objects. T h u s w e today say ' w e yearn for (or after)
sympathy,' 'we long for rest,' 'we laugh at a person' instead of
employing a genitive or an accusative object, since the idea of
an outward direction of an activity toward a person or thing is
strong in our feeling and demands a formal expression by some
preposition with a concrete force. C o m p a r e 14. T h e use of dif-
ferent prepositions in the last three examples indicates a desire
to interpret the genitive object, both the old simple genitive and
the newer form with of. T h e genitive in course of time had taken
on so m a n y shades of meaning that the thought was not always
clear.
Where the genitive has been retained, namely, the genitive of
specification, in all periods of the language the most c o m m o n
category and still deeply rooted in English feeling, as in to com-
plain of, to accuse of, to remind of, etc., also after adjectives, mind
ful of, thoughtful of, sure of, guilty of, etc., the of is n o w felt b y
people as a preposition, not as a sign of the genitive, although
the absolute rigidity of the construction, the impossibility of re-
placing of by another preposition with the same meaning, such as
about, with reference to, with regard to, clearly indicates that the
prepositional genitive is in fact intact. T h e construction with of
has been retained here because of has the same meaning as of
used elsewhere as a preposition, thus making the thought clear
and preserving the old construction at least in external form.
Not a single instance of the old simple genitive object has been
preserved. Thus the genitive as object in both its older and its
newer form has passed out of the vivid consciousness of English-
speaking people. T h e genitive object has become an accusative
object or a prepositional object, the latter at least to the feeling
of most people. T h e dative has been better preserved, in part
because its meaning is simpler, in part because the simple dative
rests upon a simple, clear principle of word-order, deeply rooted
in English feeling, namely, the dative precedes the accusative, as in
'He gave the house a n e w coat of paint.'
112 PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT 14

PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT
14. Growth, Development, and Present Use of the Prepositional
Object. Preposition and noun together form a prepositional object
that serves as the object of a verb or an adjective, i.e., serves to com-
plete the meaning of a verb or an adjective. For m a n y centuries
there has been a steady trend toward the prepositional object.
Verbs and adjectives which once required a simple genitive or
dative object n o w take a prepositional object. This is a trend
toward more concrete expression. T h e Old English words for
thirsty, eager, greedy took a simple genitive, which, as described in
13 3, often meant in the sphere of, with regard to, often also desig-
nated a goal and had still other meanings, so that the thought
was not always clear. But in the three words under consideration
there is always the clear idea of the outward direction of an
activity of the mind toward something. This idea has found a
concrete expression in the language, for w e n o w say thirsty, eager,
greedy for or after. After the decay of the inflections, the old
genitive w a s in part preserved for a while in the form of the
prepositional genitive with of, so that forms like eager of, etc.,
tarried for a time, only, however, to be entirely replaced later by
the more concrete forms eager for, eager after, etc. Similarly, the
Old English words for to yearn, hope, long, strive, thirst, ask, beg,
required a simple genitive, but in modern English these verbs take
a preposition which gives a more concrete expression to the idea
of an outward direction of an activity toward an object: to yearn
for; to hope for; to long for; to strive for, etc. T h efirstevidences
of this n e w trend appear in Old English.
T h e dative as object after adjectives and as indirect object
after transitive verbs is m u c h better preserved than the genitive
object, but the prepositional object has m a d e some inroads also
upon it, since an appropriate preposition sometimes expresses more
concretely the idea of direction toward than to, which not only
denotes direction toward but also indicates inner relations, as de-
scribed in 12 2: 'He is cold, hostile, unfriendly, friendly to me'
(or also toward me). S o m e adjectives do not take to at all but
the more concrete at: ' H e is m a d , angry at me.' Likewise, after
verbs at has a more concrete force than the dative with to or
the simple dative: 'He threw the matter up to me' (in an inner
sense), but 'He threw a stone at m e ' (in a literal exterior sense).
'He threw (or tossed) me a dollar,' but 'He threw a stone at me'
These last sentences show clearly that our ancestors, while they
have destroyed a good deal of the older frame of their language
and rebuilt it, working constructively along n e w lines, have often
14 6 PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT 113

wisely retained features of the old framework,fittingthem into

the n e w structure.
In our English of today, w e m a k e a liberal use of prepositions,
but ours is not by any means entirely a prepositional language, as
has been claimed. T h e seemingly prepositional element of, so
often used in the attributive genitive categories, is in fact at
present not a preposition, but a case sign, and this n e w genitive
with of is just as m u c h a case form as the older simple case forms.
Likewise, the to of the modern dative form is not a preposition
but the dative case sign. Just as modern English has used con-
crete prepositional elements to reconstruct its n e w case forms, so
did prehistoric Indo-European, from which English has sprung,
once use concrete elements to construct its cases. T h e stages of
the English development all lie open to view. O n account of the
loss of its inflections English was forced to employ the concrete
prepositions of and to as the best available forms to m a k e a clear
genitive and a clear dative. This employment to indicate abstract
relations has gradually robbed both of and to of a good deal of
their original concrete force and they are becoming mere case
signs. W e are right in the midst of the development, however,
not at the end of it, for both of and to are still often used as con-
crete prepositions. Similarly, for, on, upon, from, all still felt as
prepositions with concrete force, are not infrequently used to form
the dative case, as illustrated in 12 1 A , B a, b; 15 I 2. Preposi-
tions that have lost their original concrete force and are n o w used
to indicate case relations are called inflectional prepositions.

a. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE AS OBJECT, OR AS ADVERBIAL ELEMENT.

It is difficult to distinguish the prepositional phrase in the object relation
from the prepositional phrase in the adverbial relation, since there is
never a difference in form and no fundamental difference in function.
In general, we call the phrase an object when its relation to the verb,
adjective, or participle is very close, so close that it is necessary to com-
plete its meaning. The relation of the adverbial phrase to the verb, ad-
jective, or participle is less close. For illustrative examples see 24 IV,
24 IV a, 25 1.
b. O B J E C T O F T H E P R E P O S I T I O N A G E R U N D . The object of the prep-
osition may be not only a noun or a pronoun but also a gerundial clause,
one of the tersest and most convenient constructions in the language:
'I a m counting on hisfinishingthe work tomorrow.' This is a short
cut to avoid a clumsy that-cl&use: 'I a m counting on it that hefinishth
work tomorrow.' But the gerundial clause is often replaced by an
infinitive or that-clmse if the idea of a wish is present: 'I a m longing
for a good cheerful letter from him,' or T a m longing for him to writ
a good cheerful letter,' or T a m longing, hoping that he may write
good cheerful letter.' Compare 50 4 d.
114 DATIVE AND ACCUSATIVE DOUBLE OBJECT 15 I 1

c. O B J E C T O F T H E P R E P O S I T I O N A C L A U S E . In modern English the

object of the preposition m a y be also a full clause introduced by an
indefinite relative pronoun or adverb: 'He thanked m e for what I had
done for him.' 'She is sorry for what she said.' Compare 24 IV. Some-
times the full clause has no formal introduction: ' M y head has been
people-tired, I think, but m y heart is just satisfied with being full of
"I'm so glad you're better"' (Clyde Fitch, Letter, 1904). Compare 24
(7th par.).
d. P A S S I V E F O R M . The verb before a prepositional object was origi-
nally intransitive, but in modern English the preposition has in many
cases become so closely attached to the verb that we feel it as a part of
the verb and thus transfer to the new compound verb its function of
governing the object and so convert the old intransitive into a transitive.
Hence such verbs with closely attached prepositions can assume passive
form: The steamer ran into a sailboat; in passive form A sailboat
run into by a steamer.

DOUBLE OBJECT
15. An accusative, dative, genitive, or prepositional object may
not only each be used singly after a verb, but two objects m a y be
employed, one an accusative, to denote the direct object of the
verb, and one a dative, genitive, accusative, or a prepositional
object, which stands in various relations to the verb, or some other
word, or the sentence as a whole, as described below. Sometimes
one object is a dative, the other a prepositional object.

I. DATIVE AND ACCUSATIVE

1. Description of the Construction. This construction is found

after a great m a n y verbs, especially those with the general meaning
of giving, buying, guaranteeing, devoting, dedicating, consecrat-
ing, adapting, pardoning, forgiving, bringing, sending, handing,
throwing, telling, teaching, saying, answering, revealing, mention-
ing, remembering, writing, telephoning, telegraphing, owing,
selling, paying, remitting, refunding, refusing, denying, promis-
ing, allying, betrothing, introducing, doing, making or causing,
explaining, wishing, showing, singing, playing (to play one a
trick), saving (to save one a good deal of trouble), yielding, etc.
T h e accusative denotes the direct object, the person or thing
affected or produced, and the dative the indirect object, the person
or thing to whose advantage or disadvantage the action accrues,
or the person to w h o m the statement seems true or with reference
to w h o m it holds good, or the person w h o has or is expected to
have an emotional or sympathetic interest in the statement,
where, however, often in the case of an indirect object, beneath
15 I 2 FORM, POSITION, STRESS OF DOUBLE OBJECT 115

these, the predominant meanings of the dative, somewhat of the

old original concrete idea of direction toward (12 2), is still felt.
a. In older English, the verb learn belonged to this fist, as it
often used with the force of teach: 'Bob this morning begg'd m e to
learn him lattin' (Philip Vickers Fithian, Journal, March 14, 1774).
This usage survives in popular speech.
2. Form, Position, and Stress. The principal rules for the
form and position of the dative in this construction are given in
11 1, but there are still other points that need attention. W e can
say 'He threw m e not John the ball,' or 'He threw m e the ball,
not John' (dat.). T h e latter form is here m a d e clear only by
the parallelism of the accent, for if w e say 'H6 threw m e the ball
not John' (nom.) the meaning is quite different. W e can either
say: 'He threw me" and John d o w n some apples,' or w e m a y
prefer 'He threw d o w n some apples to m4 and John,' for by
withholding the dative until the end of the sentence w e create
the feeling of suspense and thus m a k e it more prominent. Of
course, for the same reason the accusative often stands in the last
place: 'He threw m e and John d o w n some fine dpples.' T h e
other important position is thefirstplace: 'To a woman the con-
sciousness of being well dressed gives a sense of tranquillity which
religion fails to bestow' (Helen Choate). 'To me" he didn't say
a single word.'
W e can say 'He threw the ball up to me,' or 'He threw me up
the ball,' but w e can only say 'He threw the matter up to me,'
for w e do not feel to me as an indirect object. T h e expression
to throw up a matter is felt as a unit, a set verbal phrase, which as
a whole takes a single dative object. M a n y such set verbal
phrases take a single dative object, usually a prepositional dative,
since a simple dative according to 12 1 A has prepositional form.
The dative of reference (12 1 B a) usually has the prepositional
form, but sometimes the old simple dative occurs: 'He never m a d e
such excuses to me,' or 'To me he never m a d e such excuses,' but
we say also 'He never m a d e me such excuses.' M a n y of the set
verbal phrases referred to above might be classed here: 'They
showed their heels to the enemy.' 'They declared war upon them.'
Verbs of disguising, hiding, withholding take a prepositional da-
tive of reference with from: 'He hid the matter from me.' 'He
withheld from me the truth.' T h e dative of interest (12 1 B b)
usually has the modern prepositional form, but w e sometimes
find the old simple dative: 'He cut off a piece of bread for me,'
or 'He cut me off a piece of bread.' M a n y of the datives found in
the set verbal phrases mentioned above might be classed as da-
116 DATIVE AND ACCUSATIVE OBJECT 15 12

tives of interest: ' W h e n I was down, he turned his back upon

me.' 'He played a m e a n trick on me,' or 'He played me a mean
trick.' Examples of the ethical dative are given in 12 1 B c.
T h e datives of reference and interest and the ethical dative do
not differ in inner meaning from the dative of the indirect object.
They all contain the idea of personal interest or reference and all
contain traces of the original meaning of direction toward. They
all m a y be used in connection with an accusative object as in
these examples, but the dative of indirect object stands in closer
relation to the verb than the other datives, which modify the
verbal phrase, i.e., the verb with all its other modifiers, rather
than the verb alone, or are often felt as sentence modifiers: 'He
sent me (indirect object) a book.' 'She m a d e me (dative of
interest) a cake.' 'He never m a d e me (dative of reference) such
excuses.' Often, however, the line of demarcation is not clear:
'He sent me (dative of reference or indirect object) notice, too.'
The ethical dative is often an out-and-out sentence modifier, but
like an indirect object it is often associated with a direct object,
as in the examples in 12 1 B c.
English feeling demands a clear dative form: 'Give back to
Ireland her nationality, her individual existence, and soothe
thereby the wounded pride,' etc. (Asquith). Here the preposi-
tional dative to Ireland is required because to give back usually
takes as object a single accusative. W e could easily say here:
'Give Ireland (simple dat.) back her nationality,' etc., because
to give is usually found with a dative object followed b y an ac-
cusative. This sensitiveness of English feeling for a clear dative
is a marked feature of the language, which has often been over-
looked by foreign and native English grammarians. In such
expressions as 'Mr. Wells, whom competent critics have given a
niche a m o n g future classics,' the simple dative is c o m m o n as the
proximity of have given makes it clear that the form is a da-
tive, while in 'Tiberius, to whom Christ c o m m a n d e d that tribute
should be given,' the prepositional form is necessary to give clear
expression to the dative idea. E v e n in the former example a
clear expression of the dative relation b y the clear dative form to
whom does not sound unnatural. In choice language, of course,
more care is taken to give the dative a distinctive form than in
loose colloquial speech. With nouns and also pronouns, aside
from the relative pronoun, an initial dative regularly takes the
prepositional form in order that at the very outset the gram-
matical relations m a y become clear: 'To me he owes nothing.'
'To whom did you give the apple?' In older English, the simple
dative could stand in thefirstplace and this older usage lingers on,
 16 I 2 a PASSIVE FORMS OF STATEMENT 117

especially in poetry: ' A n d me that morning Walter show'd the

house' (Tennyson, Princess, Prologue).
If a stressed accusative is put into thefirstplace for emphasis,
or if a relative or interrogative pronoun, which m u s t always in-
troduce the clause or sentence, is in the accusative, the indirect
object is left at or near the end of the sentence or clause separated
from the accusative, which under other circumstances would
follow it. T h e simple dative is still often used here, since the
word-order is quite fixed a n d shows plainly that the form is a
dative: 'This m u c h I m u s t tell you.' ' H e never got back the
m o n e y which he h a d lent them' (or to them). 'I thanked h i m
for the position which he h a d procured me' (or for me). ' W h a t
would it be right to pay the waiterf (or to the waiter). T h e simple
dative is often used at the end of a relative clause even though
the preceding relative pronoun in the accusative has been sup-
pressed: 'a little jacket [which] she w a s knitting m e ' (Anne
Douglas Sedgwick, The Little French Girl, C h . V ) (or for me).
a. Passive Forms of Statement. There are here two forms, the first
a favorite in the literary language, the second, in colloquial speech, but
often also preferred in choice expression. The accusative becomes nom-
inative and the dative is retained, either in its old simple or its new prepo-
sitional form; the latter regularly when the dative is stressed: 'Ample
warning was given them,' but 'Ample warning was given to them, but
not to mS.' Or the dative becomes nominative and the accusative is
retained: 'They were given ample warning.' Only the simple dative
can become nominative, so that w e do not say: 'I was suggested this,'
for in the active we say 'He suggested this to me,' with the prepositional
form.
The use of a nominative in the passive corresponding to a dative in
the active began in early Middle English. In the thirteenth century
we find not only the nominative in the passive corresponding to the
simple dative in the active, but w efindalso the accusative of the active
retained in the passive: He was ileten blood (The Ancren Riwle, 112),
literally, He was let blood, i.e., was bled, corresponding to the active
The phisicien let him (dat.) blood, i.e., The physician bled him. Th
was at this time alongside of this construction an older construction out
of which it had developed: 'Him was ileten blood.' Here him is dative
and blood is nominative, the subject of the sentence. The new construc-
tion arose out of the older one in such sentences as 'The Duke was
ileten blood,' where, as the form was not distinctive, Duke, a dative, was
construed as a nominative, the subject of the verb. This construction
began in such set expressions, where the accusative of the active had
entered into such close relations with the verb that it had formed a com-
pound with it and hence was retained in the passive form of statement.
From such set expressions with a retained accusative object in the passive
it gradually became c o m m o n in colloquial speech to retain in the passive
118 ACCUSATIVE AND GENITIVE OBJECT 15 II

the accusative of the active. This old construction is more widely used
in American and Irish English than in English proper, although it is
also there quite common. Similar to the retained object in this construc-
tion is the retained object found elsewhere in passive constructions: 'He
took no notice of me,' in passive form T was taken no notice of,' where
take no notice of is felt as a compound, so that the accusative object 710
notice of the active is retained in the passive.
In colloquial speech there is another passive form. The subject is
always a person, the verb is an active form of have or get, which has as
object a thing and as objective predicate a perfect participle, which con-
tains the passive force: 'I have (or get) something given m e (or to me) every
birthday.' ' I have just had given m e (or to m e ) afinenew knife.'
b. Accusative Object a Full or Abridged Clause. The accusative object
is often a full clause with afiniteverb: 'I wrote him that he should come.'
For the different forms that an accusative clause with afiniteverb may
have see 24 III. T h e accusative object m a y have also the form of an
infinitival or a gerundial clause, as described in 24 III d.

II. ACCUSATIVE OF THE PERSON AND GENITIVE OF

THE THING
In this construction the accusative denotes the person or thing
directly affected, a n d the genitive expresses the idea of specifica-
tion, which is n o w often felt as denoting separation, deprivation:
'to accuse someone of a crime,' i.e., with respect to a crime; 'to
acquit someone of a charge'; 'to persuade someone of the wisdom
of a course of action'; 'to suspect someone of treason'; 'to possess
one's self of a thing'; 'to assure someone of one's sincerity'; 'to
remind someone of something'; 'to strip a bush of leaves,' literally,
with respect to leaves, but n o w felt as indicating deprivation; 'to
free someone of a burden'; 'to ease someone of a care'; 'to purge
or cleanse one's self of sin'; 'to divest someone of his honor'; 'to
deprive someone of his liberty.'
In Old English, the simple genitive w a s used here in exactly
the s a m e w a y as the prepositional form of today, but the list of
verbs w a s larger. T h e old genitive of specification h a d so m a n y
meanings that the thought w a s often unclear, and this unclearness
finally led to clearer expression. T h u s older ask with the simple
genitive of specification has disappeared a n d is n o w represented
b y ask someone for something, or for somebody, ask someone about
something or somebody, or after somebody. T h e of in the modern
genitive of specification as found in the above examples is n o w
probably felt as a preposition b y most people, so that the con-
struction n o w passes for a prepositional object. T h e construction,
however, corresponds so closely to the Old English accusative and
 15 III 1 DOUBLE ACCUSATIVE OF PERSON AND THING 119

simple genitive and is even today so set and rigid, not admitting
readily of the substitution of another preposition with the same
meaning, as about, with respect to, in the place of of, that it seems
in fact a fragment of the old accusative and genitive category in
modern form.
a. The genitive object may have the form of a clause with a finite
verb: 'This convinces m e of his innocence' (or that he is innocent). F
the different forms that the genitive clause with afiniteverb m a y have
see 24 I. The genitive object m a y have also the form of an infinitival or
a gerundial clause, as described in 24 I a.
b. Passive Form. In the passive form of statement the accusative
becomes nominative, and the genitive object is retained: 'He was robbed
of his money.'

III. DOUBLE ACCUSATIVE

1. Accusative of the Person and Accusative of the Thing.
This construction is n o w in c o m m o n usage reduced to the verbs
ask, lead, take, envy: 'I asked him his name' (or the price, or the
reason, or the way). 'Ask the cabman the fare.' 'He led them a
lively dance' (or chase). 'She leads him a dog's life.' 'I took her
a drive.' 'I envy him his hick.'
Sometimes banish, debar, dismiss, excuse, expel take a double
accusative object, one of the person, one of the thing, which has
arisen through the dropping of the preposition from (or, in older
English, of) which usually stands before the object of the thing:
' W e banish you our territories' (Shakespeare, Richard the Second,
I, in, 139), n o w usually from our territories. 'He debarred himself
every kind of amusement' ( W . Godwin, The Adventures of Caleb
Williams, II, C h . VII, A.D. 1794). 'They dismissed them the
society' (Defoe, Crusoe, II, IV, 72, A.D. 1719), n o w usually from
the society. 'He expelled him the house' (Lytton, The Caxtons, III,
Ch. VII), n o w usually from the house. This type arose under the
temporary influence of the two objects with forbid, thefirstof
which was originally a dative, but w a s sometimes felt as an ac-
cusative: 'I forbade him the house.' 'His mother forbade him
wine.' This construction has disappeared for the most part with
all these verbs except forbid, which still has the original dative
and accusative after it, as can be seen in the passive form of state-
ment: 'To all the children wine has been absolutely forbidden.'
'Wine is forbidden him.' 'He is forbidden wine.'
After hear, kiss, and strike (or hit) there are two objects, prob-
ably a double accusative, but thefirstobject m a y be construed
as a dative of interest (121 B 6): 'I heard the boys their lessons'
120 ACCUSATIVE AND OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 15 III 2

( c o m m o n in England, but little used in America). 'I kissed her

good night.' ' I struck (or hit) him a hard blow.'

a. Passive Form. In the passive, the accusative of the person beco

nominative and the accusative of the thing is retained: 'He was asked
Ms opinion.' 'He is led a dog's life.' 'She was taken a drive.'
was envied his luck.' ' Who, had they dared to imitate him, would have
been banished society' (Disraeli, Vivian Grey, VII, IX, A.D. 1826), now
usually from society. 'You are debarred correspondence for the present1
(Scott, Waverley, Ch. LXII). 'She saw her husband, who was afterwards
dismissed the service (now usually from the service), a strong and powerf
man, pine and waste,' etc. (Lytton, Eugene Aram, Ch. VII). 'He was
excused the entrance-fee' (Oxford Dictionary under Excuse, 7). 'The
were heard their lessons.' 'He was struck a hard blow.'

2. Accusative of the Direct Object and an Objective Predi-

cate. This construction differs from the double object in 1, p. 119,
in that the two accusatives together form logically a clause in
which thefirstaccusative performs the office of subject and the
second accusative the office of predicate: 'The President made
him the head of the navy' ( = that he became the head of the navy).
'The people m a d e him president.' 'They called him a traitor.'
'The parents have n a m e d the baby Thomas, but they of course
call him Tommy.' 'The pastor baptized him Thomas.' 'I have
always found him a true friend.' 'I saw him come.' T h e simple
infinitive here, as in the last example, is the accusative of an old
type of verbal noun which still is, as in the prehistoric period,
without an article before it.
T h e two accusatives in all these and similar examples were
originally the direct objects of the verb. A s the construction is
very old there has gradually come about a close association be-
tween the two accusatives, so that the second one is n o w felt as a
predicate to thefirstone, its subject. T h e predicate is here joined
to its subject without the aid of a copula, since the statement is
n o w felt to be of the old appositional type of sentence described
in 6 B a, where the predicate is placed alongside of the subject
like an appositive without the use of afiniteverb.
W e sometimes insert the copula here between subject and predi-
cate, as in other sentences where a noun, pronoun, or adjective
is predicated of the subject: 'I d e e m h i m an honest man' (or to
be an honest man). 'But what a parcel of fools he would think us
for getting in such a stew about him!' (De Morgan, The Old
Madhouse, Ch. X ) , but with to be w h e n the objective predicate is
a pronoun: 'He thought Richard to be me,' or in the form of a
full clause with finite verb: 'He thought Richard w a s /,' or in
15 III 2 A THE OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 121

loose colloquial speech usually me, as explained in 7 C a. T h e

insertion of to be before the accusative predicate w a s facilitated
by the close relation of the objective predicate construction in
force and meaning to that of the accusative with the infinitive,
described in 24 III d, w h e n the infinitive is the verbfee.O n the
other hand, the construction of the infinitive with the accusative
is often influenced b y the objective predicate construction in that
it is often without to be: 'I ordered m y bill [to be] m a d e out.'
The objective predicate is not only a noun in the accusative,
but it is often also a noun in the genitive of characteristic, an
adjective, participle, adverb, or prepositional phrase. For con-
venience the objective predicate is here treated in two groups.
A. T H E OBJECTIVE PREDICATE A N O U N OR P R O N O U N IN T H E
ACCUSATIVE, A N O U N IN T H E GENITIVE OF CHARACTERISTIC, A N
ADJECTIVE, PARTICIPLE, A D V E R B , OR PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.
'The king dubbed his son a knight.' 'Willersley and I professed
ourselves Socialists' (H. G. Wells, The New Machiavelli, p. 134).
'Mr. Crabfield did his duty b y Lucius M a s o n , and sent him
home at seventeen a handsome, well-mannered lad' (Trollope,
Orley Farm, I, C h . II). 'I thought it a fraud, just, possible.'
'I consider what he did a gratuitous interference.' 'He showed
himself of noble spirit.' 'She boiled the eggs hard.' 'He wore
his coat threadbare.' 'He laughed himself sick.' 'I consider what
he said irrelevant.' 'I found him sleeping.' 'I kept him waiting.'
'I'll stop him circulating (or from circulating) these reports.' '
pictured myself careering into fame.' 'I started the clock going.'
'His (Garfield's) journal shows him constantly going there (i.e.,
the library) for information' (Theodore Clarke Smith, James A.
Garfield, II, p. 752). 'I have some money coming to m e yet.'
'I consider the matter settled.' 'I got my work done before six
o'clock.' 'I at last got the machine running' (or to running, or
to run). 'I shall have the machine running b y the time you get
back.' 'I found him there.' 'Have the children in b y nine
o'clock.' 'I found everything in good condition.' T h e copula is
now often expressed here: ' I have always found him to be a true
friend' (or to be of a friendly disposition). 'I have always found
him to be reliable.' W e employ the same forms after verbal nouns
except that w e use as direct object an objective genitive (10 II2 D )
instead of an accusative: ' T h e y were m e n w h o consecrated their
lives to the preservation intact of what had been wrought out in blood
and sweat by the countless generations of sturdy freemen who had
gone before them' ( W o o d r o w Wilson, D e e , 1902). For the use of
the predicative present participle here see 50 3 (3rd par. from end).
In oldest English, the predicate noun w a s not so often a Dlain
122 THE OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 16 III 2 A

accusative as today. It was usually introduced by to or for.

The to represents the n e w state as the result of a development or
as the purpose of the action, while for represents the new state
as entirely or seemingly identical with the conception of it held
by the person in question. These older conceptions are often
found later and in part still survive: in Old English 'to crown
him to king' (transformation into a n e w state), n o w 'to crown
him king.' 'The seven had her to wife' (Mark, XII, 23), indicat-
ing purpose, n o w 'The seven had her as wife.' For is still used in
a large number of expressions: 'They took him for his brother.'
'Though Helen laughs at m e n o w for a coward, before I've been
in afight,she won't laugh at m e afterwards' (J. T. Trowbridge,
The Drummer Boy, Ch. I). 'The Reverend Hussell Barter was
arrested by the sight of a couple half-hidden by a bushy plant;
he knew them for Mrs. Bellew and George Pendyce' (Galsworthy,
The Country House, p. 46). 'Yet he k n e w himself for a greater
idiot because he had not been able to tell Walter the truth'
(Tarkington, Alice Adams, Ch. X V I ) . 'He gave m e this book
for a Christmas present.' 'You will have Miss Sharp one day for
your relation' (Thackeray, Vanity Fair, I, Ch. X I V ) . 'All the
rest hooted and jeered at her for a witch' (A. R. Hope, Stories
of English Schoolboy Life, p. 8).
T h e modern favorite here, as,firstappeared in Old English, but
did not become c o m m o n until m u c h later. In Old English, the
single determinative swa, i.e., so, later as, or the double deter-
minative swa swa (27 2), i.e., so so, is sometimes used here. The
single or double so points as with a single or double index finger
to the following explanatory noun, thus indicating that this noun
expresses the idea in mind. In Chaucer w e find the single so-form
combined with the old for, i.e., as for: 'Thy doghter wol (will) I
take . . . as for m y wyf' (The Clerkes Tale, 251). In the cor-
responding nominative relation, described in 7 A 6 (3), Chaucer
uses simple as, but long before Chaucer's time w e find an occa-
sional use of simple as also in the accusative relation. N o w for
centuries in both the nominative and the accusative relation as
has been gradually replacing older to and for, while on the other
hand the simple accusative is still quite c o m m o n , especially with
certain verbs. Present usage isfluctuatingand uneven. W e say
'They selected him president' (or more commonly for president,
or to be president), 'I believe the m a n insane' (or to be insane),
while w e prefer 'He turned water into wine' to 'He made the
water wine' (John, IV, 46), and yet inconsistently in the case of
an adjective say 'It turned his hair gray' rather than 'It turned
his hair to gray.'
15 III 2 A THE OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 123

As can be seen by the last example, in the case of nouns w e still

often have a lively feeling for the old idea of transformation. W e
now use to or into: 'His presence will soon melt her resolution
into thin air again.' 'They never put their aims into practice.'
Also at and on m a y be used: ' W e set him at liberty.' 'He'll
never set the Hudson onfire.''It was what put Cit's back u p so
two years ago that set m e on thinking (in popular speech a-thinking)
it' (De Morgan, The Old Madhouse, Ch. X X V ) , or often to think-
ing it, or often simply thinking (present participle used as objec-
tive predicate) it. However, w e n o w often express the idea of
change and transformation also b y a simple accusative: 'They
made, proclaimed, elected, him king.' This is not natural
Germanic expression, but represents Latin and Old French
influence, which in a number of words has become natural m o d -
ern English, but in m a n y other cases Germanic usage has pre-
vailed.
Where the idea of transformation is not involved, the latest
form, the one with as, is spreading at the expense of the simple
accusative as well as the form with for: ' It's no sinne to deceiue
a Christian; For they themselues hold it a principle, Faith is not
to be held with Heretickes' (Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, II,
1074-1075, about A.D. 1590, ed. 1633); but 'It would be almost
impossible to exaggerate the effect which these schools have had
in the gradual process of realizing that ideal of a national speech
which the country holds as its standard' (Krapp, The English
Language in America, I, 29, A.D. 1925). As is most widely used
where the objective predicate is a noun: 'I acknowledge myself
defeated' (or as defeated), but usually 'I acknowledge myself as
an offender.' As has already become established in a large number
of expressions, and is often used in others: ' W e all regard him as
very skilful' (as a very skilful man). 'I regard this as of grea
importance.' 'They represent him as a reliable man' (as reliable
'I consider him still a child' (or less commonly as a child). 'I
think her the most confoundedflirtin London' or 'I regard her as
the most confoundedflirtin London.' Verbs having a preposition
closely attached to them uniformly take as: 'I always think of
him as the most potent force in m y entire life' 'I look upon him
as my best friend.' It is used also after verbal nouns: 'The
selection of Smith (objective genitive) as chairman pleases
everybody.'
Notice the difference of meaning between as, denoting complete
identity, oneness with, and the preposition like, denoting mere
similarity: 'Large minds treat little things as little things and
big things as big things,' but 'He treats bis wife like a child.'
124 AN INFINITIVE AS OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 15 III 2 B

a. Passive Form. In the passive, thefirstaccusative becomes nom-

inative, and the predicate word or phrase is retained as in the active,
with the exception that the predicate accusative becomes nominative:
'He was elected president.' 'He is reputed the best physician in to
(or to be the best physician in town). 'He was called hard names.' 'I
is thought to be a fraud/ ' It was atfirstthought to be he' (or in loose
colloquial speech him, as explained in 7 C a). 'He was found guilty'
(or to be guilty). 'The egg was boiled hard.' ' W e were all set laughing
(or to laughing). 'He is looked upon as a reliable man.' 'Everything
was found in good condition.' ' I have often been taken for my brother
b. Instead of the first accusative w e often employ a full clause or an
abridged, infinitival or gerundial, clause, which, however, is usually
preceded by a formal anticipatory accusative, namely, it: 'You think it
odd that I went to church' (or for me to have gone to church, or my havi
gone to church).

B. AN INFINITIVE AS OBJECTIVE PREDICATE. After the verbs let,

leave (in popular speech = let), bid, make, have, see, behold, noti
look at, observe, perceive, watch,find,feel, hear, overhear, listen t
objective predicate is usually a simple infinitive, but after bid,
make, have, feel, see, observe,find,w e sometimes employ also the in-
finitive with to, indeed regularly except after bid, make, have
if the infinitive is the copulafee,and after help and know w e employ
either the simple infinitive or the prepositional form, the latter
especially in careful language: 'I let him go.' ' H e let (or in pop-
ular speech left) go [his hold] of it.' 'Let (in popular speech leave;
see 43 I A ) him come in.' 'Bid h i m come in.' 'He bade her to take
(usually simple take) courage' (A. Trollope, Dr. Worth's School,
p. 88). 'Thou hast m a d e the earth to ( c o m m o n in early Modern
English) tremble' (Psalms, L X , 2). 'After an exciting subject
which has m a d e the general tongue to (now little used) wag . . .
then start your story' (Meredith, Harrington, C h . X X X I ) . 'I
m a d e him do it.' 'I m a d e himfeequiet.' 'I love your sister as
you'd have one love' (Robert Browning). 'It really grieves m e
to have youfeeso naughty' (Mrs. H . B . Stowe, Uncle Tom's
Cabin, Ch. X X V ) . 'An idiot is a h u m a n being, sir, and has an
immortal soul, I'd have you to (perhaps more c o m m o n l y omitted)
know' (Marion Crawford, Katherine Lauderdale, I, Ch. VI). 'I
shall have (i.e., cause) him do (sometimes to do) it,' differing in
thought from the two following sentences, which have the same
construction but another meaning, expressing not a causing but
a suffering or experiencing: 'I had the gypsies steal m y hens'
and 'I have had m a n y scholars visit m e from time to time.'
'I saw him come.' ' H e saw three figures advancing a r m in arm.
H e waited till they came within the radius of a lamp; then, seeing
 16 III 2 B AN INFINITIVE AS OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 125

them to be those of Miltoun (name) and a footman, he at once has-

tened forward' (Galsworthy, The Patrician, p. 43). ' Look at Glor-
vina enter a room, and compare her with that poor Mrs. Osborne'
(Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Ch. XLIII). 'Oh, look at him run!'
(Frank Norris, The Octopus.) 'I observed, watched, him work.'
'He had perceived one h u m a n being after another reveal quite
nakedly their tumultuous feelings' (Hugh Walpole, The Duchess
of Wrexe, Ch. I X ) . 'I have always found him to be reliable.'
'You'll never find him neglect (or to neglect) his work,' but always
with to in the following entirely different constructions ' I couldn't
find it (anticipatory object) in m y heart to refuse' (accusative
object) and 'Ifindplenty to do' (see 7 D 2). 'Did you ever feel
anything sting like that?' 'I heard him come.' 'I overheard him
tell his mother about it.' 'It was m y privilege a few years ago to
listen to Sir Ernest Shackleton speak of his expedition across the
Antarctic continent' (Irving Babbitt, Rousseau and Romanticism,
p. 277). 'I never k n e w him to be careless with his work.' 'I
never knew anyone do (usually to do) so m u c h in so short a time'
(Mrs. H . Ward, Miss Bretherton, Ch. VII). 'I helped him do (or
especially in careful language to do) it.'
The present participle is often used here instead of the infinitive,
usually, however, with a little different meaning. T h e infinitive
states a fact, while the participle has descriptive force: 'I saw
him do it' (a fact), but 'I saw him working in thefield'(descrip-
tive). T h e participle is regularly used after to catch, as the force
here is always descriptive: 'I caught him doing it.' Compare
48 2 (4th par.).
The subject of infinitive or participle usually precedes, but if
important or long, it often follows: 'I heard come booming up
the river what I suppose was the sound of cannon fired in Lowell
to celebrate the Whig victory' (Thoreau, Journal, V , p. 507).
Passive force is n o w often imparted to the objective predicate
here, although originally this was impossible, since the infinitive
was a noun. T h e verbal force of the infinitive is n o w so strong
that w e give it passive form after let and bid when w e feel it as hav-
ing passive force: ' H e wouldn't let her w o u n d be dressed.' ' In his
busiest days Alfred found time to learn the old songs of his race
by heart, and bade themfeetaught in the palace school' (Green,
Short History, p. 51). After the other verbs w e often employ
a perfect passive participle to state a fact and a present passive
participle to impart descriptive force: 'I have never k n o w n it
done (or to be done) right.' 'I had (in colloquial speech often
got) a n e w coat made.' 'I saw, watched, the net hauled in'
(fact), or' being hauled in' (descriptive). In fact the perfect passive
 126 AN INFINITIVE AS OBJECTIVE PREDICATE 16 III 2 B

participle in this construction is an elliptical present passive in-

finitive with the infinitive be suppressed. T h efee,however, is
actually expressed only after let, bid, and often after know. It is
sometimes found in older English after other verbs in this group:
' W h u c h of 30U seih m e be maad?' (Lyff of Adam and Eve, p. 2,
fourteenth century) = ' W h o of you saw m e made?' 'Mercy,
humanity call loudly that w e m a k e our n o w despised power to be
felt' (William Dunlap, Andre, Act III, A.D. 1798). W e usually
suppress fee here because the copula has not as yet become
established before an objective predicate.
T h e construction with have or get and the perfect passive parti-
ciple which represents the subject as planning the action, as in
'I had (or got) a n e w suit made,' is quite different from the con-
struction with have and get and the perfect passive participle which
represents the subject as suffering from the action of another or
of fate: 'I had (or got) m y right leg hurt in the accident.' Notice
that had or got are stressed in thefirstexample, while they are
only lightly stressed in the second. There is a clear difference of
meaning between stressed and unstressed had and got. Similarly,
there is a difference of meaning between ' T h e y have (or get) then-
work done' ('They employ others to do their work') with
stressed have or get and 'They have their work done' ('Then-
work is done') and 'They get things done' ('They accomplish
a good deal') with unstressed have and get.
In older English, and sometimes still, w e find here instead of
the n e w passive form the old active, a present active infinitive
or participle with passive force: 'I heard say (now it said) your
lordship was sick' (Shakespeare, II Henry IV, I, n, 108). 'I
never heard tell (now usually it said) that w e were put here to get
pleasure out of life' (Conan Doyle, Refugees, 231). 'Annie
seem'd to hear her o w n death-scaffold raising' (Tennyson, Enoch
Arden, 175). 'I caught him (i.e., the lawyer Barclay) palavering
with a juror the other day while w e had a case trying' (William
Allen White, A Certain Rich Man, C h . VI). C o m p a r e 46 (close
of next to last paragraph).
T h e use of to before the active and passive forms of the infinitive
here with certain verbs indicates that the accusative and the
infinitive are felt as abridged infinitive clauses, as in 24 III d,
but in the case of the other verbs of this group the development
in this direction is not yet so complete. T h e abridged clauses
in 24 III d have the full force of a clause with a nominative sub-
ject and afiniteverb, but these infinitive clauses without to before
the infinitive sometimes have a somewhat different force, so that
'I heard the bells ring' is different in meaning from 'I heard
15 V a DATIVE AND A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE 127

that the bells rang.' T h e infinitive ring here is still, as originally,

the object of the verb heard. In m o s t cases, however, the dif-
ference between these clauses is not so great, often indeed is very
slight, as in 'I've never k n o w n h i m to neglect (or neglect) his w o r k '
and 'I've never k n o w n that he has neglected his work.' This
accounts for the tendency to place to before the infinitive here.
Earlier in the period a n d in Middle English, w e often find here
for to instead of to: 'It m a k e t h al m y drede (dread) for to dyen'
(die) (Chaucer, The Nonne Preestes Tale, 342).
a. Passive Form. In the passive statement, the direct object becomes
nominative and the infinitive or the present participle is retained, the in-
finitive usually with its prepositional form, sometimes, however, with its
simple form, especially in set expressions where the simple infinitive, so
closely associated with the active form, is also employed after the passive:
(active) T saw him do it,' but in the passive: 'He was seen to do it.'
But sometimes with simple infinitive after a passive: 'The younger
children were let sleep on' (Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Ch. LII).
'I know it could be made do' (De Morgan, The Old Madhouse, Ch. II).
Compare 7 D 1 b. Of course, to impart descriptive force here w e employ
a present participle: 'A funeral procession was seen approaching.'
b. Instead of employing have with a dependent infinitive to indicate
that a person or thing suffers from an act, w e simply use in the case of
spring the intransitive transitively: 'The boat sprang a leak,' i.e., had a
leak start.
IV. ACCUSATIVE OF THE PERSON OR THING AND A
PREPOSITIONAL P H R A S E
This is a very common type: 'He laid the book upon t
'He wrote a book about his experiences in the war.'
a. P A S S I V E F O R M . In the passive, the accusative becomes nominative,
and the prepositional phrase is retained: 'A long book was written by
him about his experiences in the war.'

V. DATIVE OF THE PERSON AND A PREPOSITIONAL

PHRASE
This is not so common a type as the preceding one:
me about his experiences in the war.' 'He wrote, telegraphe
me (or to me) for help.' ' H e told me about his visit to you.'
a. P A S S I V E F O R M . In the passive the dative becomes nominative
and the prepositional phrase is retained: 'I was told about his visit to
you.' Such verbs as write, telegraph, etc., require a to in the passive to
indicate clearly the idea of direction toward: 'I was written to, telegraphed
to for help.' T h e to in such expressions is n o w felt as a part of the verb,
forming with it a compound.
 CHAPTER VII

ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS
PAGH
F O R M A N D FUNCTION 128
POSITION A N D STRESS 130
Sentence adverbs 130
Distinguishing adverbs 135
Use of 'only' 135
Historical explanation of the position of 'not' . . . 136
Contractions cf unstressed 'not' with preceding auxil-
iary or copula 137
NEGATIVES 138
Double negation and pleonastic expression with nega-
tives 139
Rhetorical question instead of negative statement . 140
F O R M OF SIMPLE A D V E R B S 140
Genitive, dative, and accusative used as adverbs . . 142
'This,' 'that,' 'the' used as adverbs 146
COMPARISON OF A D V E R B S 147
Relative comparison, regular form 147
Irregularities 148
Newer forms of expression 148
Absolute superlative 149
16 1. Form and Function of Adverbial Modifiers. An ad-
verbial modifier may assume the form of an adverb, a prepositional
phrase or clause, or a conjunctional clause: 'He entered quietly.'
'Polish it well.' 'He entered in haste' (prepositional phrase).
'I could see the bird's loaded beak from where I stood' (preposi-
tional clause). In the last example a preposition and its dependent
clause together form an adverbial element. It is very much more
common for a clause to form an adverbial element with the help
of a subordinating conjunction: 'He entered as soon as he had
taken off his overcoat.' The adverbial conjunctional clause
treated in 25-34.
An adverb, as indicated by its literal meaning, joined to a verb
is an appositive to a verb, i.e., is placed before or after a verb to
explain its meaning in the case at hand more clearly, much as an
adjective as an appositive is placed before or after a noun to explain
it: 'The girl is improving remarkably.' The same form is used
as an appositive to an adjective or another adverb and here is
128
 16 1 FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS 129

also called an adverb, although of course it is here not true to its

name: 'The girl is remarkably beautiful.' 'The girl is improving
remarkably fast.' A n adverb, however, modifies not only thus a
single word, but often also a prepositional phrase, a subordinate
clause, or an independent statement as a whole: 'He has traveled
entirely around the world.' 'He is almost across the river.' 'He
lives a mile (adverbial accusative) beyond our house.' 'I arrived
soon after it happened.' 'I did it only because I felt it to be m y
duty.' For sentence adverb see 2 a, p. 130.
Adverbs often occur as the first component of compounds:
uproot, overturn, underdone, outlying, %/ii!-fitting, misjudge, re-
turn, cooperate, etc. T h e adverb not is usually replaced here by
un-\ unable, etc. In m a n y foreign words the negative here is in-
(or im-) or dis-: inconvenient, impossible, disobey. S o m e of
these adverbs, mis-, un-, re-, co-, etc., which are not n o w used
outside of compounds, are called prefixes.
A n adverbial element modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb
by adding to it some circumstance of place, time, manner, degree,
condition, concession, purpose, or means. Though usually dif-
ferent in meaning from a genitive, dative, accusative, or prep-
ositional object, it always performs the same function, i.e.,
modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb. T h e adverbial modifier
differs from an object in that its relation to the modified word is
less close. For illustrative examples see 24 IV, 24 I V a, 25 1.
There is a close relation between adverbs and prepositions. For
explanation see 62.
Adverbs are often used as nouns: 'The ups and downs of life.'
'The ins (the party in power), the outs' (the party out of power).
'He knows the ins and outs (details) of every political move.'
Nouns m a d e from adverbs are very c o m m o n in prepositional
phrases: until tomorrow, after tomorrow, since yesterday, etc.
Compare 62 (3rd par.).
Adverbs are often used as pronouns: 'I saw him a year ago,
but since then (used as demonstrative pronoun) w e haven't met.'
'I saw him a year ago, since when (used as relative pronoun)
I haven't seen anything of him.' Compare 23 II 6 (next to last
par.), 62 (3rd par.). In older English, adverbs were often used as
pronouns in prepositional phrases in which the preposition followed
the adverb, adverb and preposition usually being written together
as parts of a compound: therein, n o w in it; therewith, n o w with
it; wherein, n o w in what (interrogative) or in which (relative);
wherewith, n o w with what (interrogative) or with which (relative);
etc. A few of the old adverbial compounds, however, have sur-
vived in c o m m o n use where they have acquired a special mean-
 130 POSITION AND STRESS OF SENTENCE ADVERBS 16 2 a

ing, such as therefore (19 1 e), whereupon (23 II 6, next to last par.).
In poetical and legal language the old adverbial compounds are
still widely used in their original meaning and function. Compare
Parts of Speech, 7 1feand 7 4 a.
Adverbs are often used as adjectives. See 7 F and 10 I 2.
2. Position and Stress of Adverbs. A n adverb can freely
stand in almost any position except between a verb and its direct
object, where it is m u c h less c o m m o n than elsewhere: 'Yesterday
I met your father,' 'I yesterday m e t your father,' 'I m e t your
father yesterday,' but not 'I m e t yesterday your father.' This
usage rests upon the principle that an adverbial element is usually
more important than a direct object and, like important elements
in general, gravitates toward the end. Sometimes, however, where
the direct object by reason of its bulk or its logical force is heavier
or more important than the adverbial element, it, of course, fol-
lows: 'I read the letter again,' but 'After an absence of fifty
years I have just seen again the dear 61d h 6 m e of m y childhood.'
a. S E N T E N C E A D V E R B S . A n adverbial element is often more
heavily stressed than a verb and then usually follows it: 'He
acted pr6mptly.' 'AH that I have learnt farther is, that the
populace were going to burn the house' (Horace Walpole, Letter
to Miss Mary Berry, July 10, 1789). In m a n y cases, however, the
adverbial element does not modify the verb directly but the sen-
tence as a whole. In this case the adverbial element usually pre-
cedes the verb, verbal phrase, or predicate noun or adjective and
has a weaker stress, for in English, when w e call attention in any
w a y to the thought as a whole, the verb, verbal phrase, or predicate
noun or adjective is strongly stressed, since it is felt as the basic
element of the statement: 'He evidently thought so.' 'He at Ikist
thinks so.' 'He not only believes in such books, but he even reads
them to his children.' 'He absolutely lives from hand to m6uth.'
'She always lets him have his way.' 'The blossoms quite (= en-
tirely) cover the tree.' 'A m a n should be quite (= entirely) certa
what he knows and what he doesn't know.' ' It was quite (= truly)
a disappointment to me.' 'I quite ( = positively) like him' (Conci
Oxford Dictionary). 'I rather (= somewhat) far that he won't
come.' 'The performance was rather good, rather a failure.'
In certain dialects the adverb pure (= absolutely; compare 54 2 a,
last par.) is c o m m o n here: ' Gal, you pure outddnced youself' (Julia
Peterkin, Scarlet Sister Mary). 'What you done pure cuts m y
heartstrings' (ib.).
Under the influence of strong emotion, the sentence adverb is
often strongly stressed; but this stress, resting on an adverb
standing before a strongly stressed verb, indicates that it is a
 16 2 a POSITION AND STRESS OF SENTENCE ADVERBS 131

sentence stress, not a stress upon an adverb belonging to the verb

alone and thus emphasizing some detail of the predicate: 'I
utterly sc6rn your proposition.'
The position of the lightly stressed sentence adverb before a
heavily stressed verb, or, under the influence of strong emotion,
a heavily stressed sentence adverb before a heavily stressed verb,
are marked characteristics of current English, and the distinct
feeling for the meaning of the adverb in this position has helped
bring about the split infinitive (49 2 c): 'I hope to even defeat
him,' after the analogy of 'He even defeated him.' 'She wishes
to utterly forget her past,' after the analogy of 'She would utterly
f6rget her past.'
In a compound form m a d e u p of an infinitive or participle and
an auxiliary, the sentence adverb stands either after or before the
auxiliary, but usually in accordance with the fixed principle that
it stands before the accented form of the compound verb: 'I
have always trusted your judgment' (George Bernard Shaw, You
Never Can Tell, Act III). ' W e shall soon kn6w,' ' W e m a y soon
kn6w.' T h e stress upon the part having the verbal meaning, as
in these examples, is the normal stress; but if w e desire to empha-
size, not the verbal meaning, but the idea of actuality, as described
in 6 A d (1), w e accent strongly the auxiliary: 'I always have
trusted your judgment.' 'Refined policy ever has been the parent
of confusion and ever will be so, as long as the world endures'
(Burke). 'I really must go and stop this' (George Bernard
Shaw, You Never Can Tell, Act III). Similarly, w e usually place
the sentence adverb after or before the copula according to the
stress: 'I a m always careful,' or 'I always a m careful.'
This principle, however, has not become thoroughly established
yet, for after the analogy of usage with the simple tenses w e some-
times without reference to the stress of the compound verbal
forms place the sentence adverb between the subject and the
verbal form having the personal ending: 'He ordered breakfast
as calmly as if he never had (instead of he had never) left his home.'
'He undoubtedly has (instead of he has undoubtedly) worked
hard.' In the passive, however, two participles, the one indicat-
ing the passive idea, the other the verbal meaning, usually form a
unit, so that the sentence adverb cannot stand between them
before the stressed participle, but for the most part stands before
the participial unit: 'I have undoubtedly been deceived,' or, of
course, 'I undoubtedly have been deceived,' for w e can always put
the sentence adverb between subject and verb. B u t even in the
case of these participial units w e must put the adverb between
the participles before the accented verbal form wherever the ad-
132 POSITION AND STRESS OF SENTENCE ADVERBS 16 2 a

verb indicates the manner or degree of the verbal activity: 'I

have undoubtedly been grdssly deceived.' 'She has always been
greatly admired.' A s in these examples, there are often two
adverbs, one standing in the usual position before the passive
auxiliary, the other, an adverb of manner or degree, standing
between the two participles before the accented verbal form.
Although these positions of the sentence adverb are very common,
they are in principal propositions not the only ones. W e some-
times find the sentence adverb at the very beginning of the sen-
tence, or after the verb at or near the end of the sentence; in the
former case followed b y a slight pause and in the latter case pre-
ceded by a pause, which in both cases marks the adverb or adver-
bial element as a sentence modifier: ' Unfortunately (pause), the
message never arrived,' 'The message, unfortunately, never ar-
rived,' or 'The message never arrived (pause), unfortunately.'
'At least (pause) he thinks so,' 'He at least thinks so,' or 'He
thinks so (pause) at least.' 'In my opinion (pause) they are
wise.' 'It is therefore wholly undesirable that the children of
the poor should be laboriously schooled to imitate all its peculiari-
ties its vices as well as its virtues (i.e., the vices and virtues of
the literary language); rather (19 1 c) they should be encouraged to
honor their local dialect' (George Willis, The Philosophy of Speech,
p. 191). 'Please (pause) go and order a cab!' or 'Go and order
a cab (pause), please!' Here please is a subjunctive (may it please
you) used as a sentence adverb. Instead of please w e m a y use if
you please. Thus also in other cases w e m a y use a short sentence
or clause as a sentence adverb: 'He is quite trustworthy, 7 think,'
or 'I think he is quite trustworthy.' 'I dare say things will,
somehow or other, turn out for the best.' 'Maybe (for it may be)
he will come tomorrow.' In popular and colloquial speech we
often find like with the force of the choicer as it were: '[They
(i.e., the rich men's sons) don't k n o w h o w to spend it (i.e., money)
properly. They're like chaps w h o can't carry their drink because
they aren't used to it.] T h e brass gets into their heads, like'
(Stanley Houghton, Hindle Wakes, Act III). T h e use of an if-
clause as sentence adverb is especially frequent: 'Their (i.e., loose
colloquialisms) employment, if high example counts for anything,
is a standard habit of the language' (H. L. Mencken, The Ameri-
can Language, VI). T h e subordinate clause has its sentence
adverb like a principal proposition: 'I do not approve of what
I assume will be the trend of your education.'
The English negative is a sentence adverb and, like other sen-
tence adverbs, is normally weakly stressed and stands between
subject and predicate: 'I never d6 such things.' In case there is
16 2 a POSITION AND STRESS OF SENTENCE ADVERBS 133

an auxiliary of any kind in the sentence the negative not or n't,

like other sentence adverbs, stands before the stressed verbal form:
'He hasn't come yet.' 'He doesn'i do such things.' 'He can't
d6 such things.' T h e perfect infinitive without to is usually con-
sidered as a unit, so that the negative stands before the unaccented
tense auxiliary of the infinitive: 'He can scarcely have arrived by
this time.' 'He can scarcely have bSen there.' 'He had spoken
late, but he need not have spoken at all.' 'You need not have
tdld m e that.' Other sentence adverbs than negatives m a y stand
before the unaccented tense auxiliary, or, as so often elsewhere, be-
fore the accented verbal form, or, as in a simple tense, between
subject and verb: 'He must surely have seen him,' or 'He must
have surely seen him,' or 'He surely must have s6en him.' In
the passive, however, two participles, the one indicating the pas-
sive idea, the other the verbal meaning, usually form a unit, so
that the sentence adverb cannot stand between them before the
accented verbal form, but for the most part stands before the par-
ticipial unit: 'He must surely have been seen,' or 'He surely must
have been seen.' B u t even in the case of these participial units
we must put the adverb between the participles before the stressed
verbal form wherever the adverb indicates the manner or degree
of the verbal activity: 'He must undoubtedly have been grossly
deceived.' 'She must undoubtedly have been severely tried.' A
in these examples, there are often two adverbs, one standing
before the passive auxiliary, the other, an adverb of manner or
degree, standing before the stressed verbal form.
In abridged infinitival or participial clauses the subject is usually
understood, so that the negative stands before the verbal form:
'He promises not to do it again,' or n o w sometimes with split
infinitive (49 2), since there is a tendency here to place the sen-
tence adverb immediately before the stressed verb, as in the
full clause: 'There can be nothing to to not talk about be-
tween you and m e , dear mother' (De Morgan, Alice-for-Short,
Ch. X X X V ) , as in 'There can be nothing between you and m e ,
dear mother, that w e can not talk about.' '[I] Always figured
somebody'd come along with the brains to not leave education
to a lot of bookworms' (Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, C h . II), as in
'I always figured that somebody would come along with enough
brains that he would not leave education to a lot of bookworms.'
The drift of present usage is evidently in this n e w direction,
though it is not yet so strong as in the case of other sentence
adverbs, where it has become very strong. Compare 49 2. In
the compound form of the infinitive the negative usually stands
before to, or n o w sometimes in accordance with the n e w drift,
134 POSITION AND STRESS OF SENTENCE ADVERBS 16 2 a

after the auxiliary, as in the full clause: 'He claims not (or never)
to have seen her before,' or sometimes to have not (or never) seen her
before, as in 'He claims that he has not (or never) seen her before.
Other sentence adverbs than negatives stand either before to or
more commonly after the auxiliary before the accented verbal
form, as so often elsewhere. For examples see 49 2 c.
In abridged participial clauses, not stands before the present
participle: 'Not knowing the road, I lost m y way.' W h e n the
participle is in a compound form, the not regularly stands before
the compound as it does before the simple form, but other sentence
adverbs stand either after or before the auxiliary, as in the full
clause: 'Not having seen him for a long time, I didn't recognize
him,' but either 'Having never seen him before, or less commonly
Never having seen him before, I, of course, didn't recognize him,'
just as w e can say either 'As I had never seen him before, or less
commonly A s I never had seen him before, I, of course, didn't
recognize him.'
Of course, the negative, like other sentence adverbs, is strongly
stressed w h e n the statement as a whole is stressed: 'I niver did
it.' 'I have not done it.' T h e auxiliary takes the stress where
not has merged into it: 'I didn't do it.' 'I can't do it.'
T h e adverb enough w a s originally the adverbial accusative
(16 4 a) of the indefinite pronoun enough and stood, as a sentence
adverb, at the end of the sentence, the most c o m m o n position
of the sentence adverb in oldest English. Although in Old
English it sometimes preceded an adjective or adverb, like an
ordinary adverb, it n o w , as originally, follows it: 'It is hot
enough.'
In questions introduced b y a strongly stressed interrogative
word, the interrogative is often followed b y a sentence adverb,
an expression denoting surprise, impatience, or displeasure, usually
in the world, on earth, and in British colloquial speech often also
ever, which is often improperly written as a part of the preceding
interrogative: 'What in the world did he want?' or in British
English also ' Whatever (or better What ever) did he want?' ' Where
in the world did he go?' or in British English also 'Wherever (or
better Where ever) did he go?' ' W h y on earth didn't you say so?'
or in British English also 'Whyever (or better Why ever) didn't
you say so?' Ever is sometimes used in American English:
'Whatever has got into you?' (Hal G. Evarts, Saturday Evening
Post, M a y 28, 1927, p. 9). ' W h y , there's A b Knuckles! W h a t
next? However did anybody get him to a party?' (C. B . Kelland,
Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 26, 1927, p. 72), or more commonly
' H o w did anybody ever get him to a party?' 'Surely you'll admit
 16 2 c DISTINGUISHING A D V E R B S : U S E O F ONLY 135

that you like having your own bath.' 'Whoever said I didn't?'
(Willa Cather, The Professor's House, p. 34).
6. DISTINGUISHING A D V E R B S . Although the negative is a sen-
tence adverb and as such normally stands before the verbal form,
it is sometimes felt as a distinguishing adverb, i.e., as belonging
to some particular word, phrase, or clause which is prominent in
the situation as a whole, and is then placed immediately before this
word, phrase, or clause: 'He did it, not /.' 'He hit me, not him.'
'He did it for the love of the cause, not for personal gain.' 'I di
it because I felt it to be m y duty, not because I was compelled t
do it.'
A number of sentence adverbs and conjunctive (19 1) adverbs,
namely, only, solely, simply, merely, just, particularly,
even, also, at least, exactly (or precisely), etc., are often,
used as distinguishing adverbs, and are then placed immediately
before the word, phrase, or clause which they distinguish; some-
times, however, differing from not, are placed after a single word
which they distinguish: 'AH were there, only John (or John only)
was missing.' 'If you want it, you have only to say so.' 'I have
been influenced solely by this consideration.' ' I came just
you.' 'I did it simply (or merely) because I felt it to be my d
'Almost all of them arrived on time, even John' (or John even).
'William thinks so, also John' (or John also). 'None of them
will go; at least John (or John at least) will not.' 'What exac
(or Exactly what) paganism was we shall never know.' 'We never
knew precisely why he left.'
Two distinguishing adverbs, alone (= only) and too (= also),
regularly follow the emphatic word: 'John alone knows about it.'
'/, too, have troubles.'
The sentence adverb quite (= truly), like a distinguishing ad-
verb, is often used before another word than a predicate. Here
it indicates that the circumstances are such as to justify the use
of the word before which it stands: 'It took place at quite an
early hour.' 'A ship sailing northwards passes quite suddenly
from cold into hot water' (Herschel, Essays, 342). 'Quite a crowd
had already gathered about him.' 'There were quite a few there'
(ironic popular American = 'There were quite a large number
there'). 'He knows quite a little about it' (ironic popular America
= 'He knows quite a good deal about it').
c. U S E O F 'ONLY.' Of the adverbs discussed here only has the
greatest freedom of position, since as a distinguishing adverb it
may stand before or after any word that is to be distinguished,
and as a sentence adverb it may stand in the usual position of the
sentence adverb, i.e., before a stressed verb or a stressed predicate
138 EXPLANATION OF THE POSITION OF NOT 16 2 d

noun, adjective, participle, or infinitive: 'Only J6hn passed in

Latin.' ' John passed only in Latin.' ' H e only (sentence adverb =
barely) passed in Latin.' 'He stayed only a w6ek' (or a week
only), but to emphasize the predicate, 'He only (sentence adverb)
stayed a week.' 'He is only wdunded, not killed.' ' W e only
believe as deep as w e live' (Emerson, Art). 'The mind that lies
fallow but a single day sprouts up in follies that are only to be
killed by constant and assiduous culture' (Addison). A s in the
last four examples only regularly stands before a stressed verb
or a stressed predicate participle or infinitive. T h e stressing of
the verb or the predicate participle or infinitive indicates that
the attention is called to the basic element in the sentence, not
to some detail, and suggests the placing of only as a sentence
modifier before the basic element of the statement, the verb, or
the predicate participle or infinitive. W h e r e the predicate is a
stressed adjective, w e m a y put only too or all too before it when
w e desire to express our regret at having to acknowledge the truth
of the statement: 'The report proved only too (or all too) true.'
But if w e stress the predicate very heavily, m u c h more heavily
than only too, the form only too is not a sentence adverb but an
intensifying adverb with the force of exceedingly: 'I shall be only
too thankful if you accept m y invitation.'
d. H I S T O R I C A L E X P L A N A T I O N O F T H E POSITION O F 'NOT.' In
oldest English, the negative was ne, which was often strengthened
by not (originally the same as nought, from Old English nowiht,
i.e., not a whit). A s ne was weakly stressed, it later, in the
fifteenth century, dropped out of c o m m o n everyday speech,
leaving to not the office of negative. In poetry ne lingered on in
occasional use into the nineteenth century: 'Whilome in Albion's
isle there dwelt a youth, W h o ne in Virtue's ways did take delight'
(Byron, Childe Harold, I, II, A.D. 1812). Originally, ne stood
before, and not after, the verb, which explains the ocoasional
position of not in poetry and choice prose after the verb, as in
older English: 'pomp that fades not' (Wordsworth). In older
English, of course, ne stood before the verb: ' p o m p that ne fadeth
not.' After ne had dropped out and not had thus become a sentence
adverb, there naturally arose a tendency to place not before the
verb, the usual place for sentence adverbs: 'They sweat, they
blunder, they bounce and plunge in the Pulpit, but all is voyce
and no substance: they deafe men's eares, but not edifie' (Thomas
Nashe, Christs Teares ouer Iervsalem, Works, II, p. 123, A.D. 1593).
'It not appears to m e that,' etc. (Shakespeare, II Henry IV, IV,
i, 107). 'I not doubt t'effect All that you wish' (Ben Jonson,
Catiline, I, i, 418, A.D. 1611). This form of negative statement
16 2 e CONTRACTIONS OF NOT 137

did not spread, since there was something unnatural about it. A s
not usually had followed thefiniteform of the verb, and in the
case of auxiliaries still maintained this position, as in 'He cannot
come,' 'He has not come,' it gradually became usual to employ
instead of a simple verb the periphrastic form with the auxiliary
do, placing not after the auxiliary as in the case of other auxil-
iaries: 'He doesn't work.' T h u s in all these examples not, as in
older English, still in a formal sense stands after thefiniteverb;
but as such auxiliaries are today not felt as true verbs, not in
reality stands before the real verbal element, the part containing
the verbal meaning, i.e., infinitive or participle, just as other
sentence adverbs stand before infinitive or participle and just
as older ne as a sentence adverb stood before the real verb. A s
explained in 6 A d, our ancestors had a free choice between 'He
works' and 'He does work.' In negative statements, they finally
chose for normal expression the auxiliary form, in order that not,
like other sentence adverbs, might stand before the verb.
e. C O N T R A C T I O N S O F ' N O T . ' Since not is usually lightly stressed,
like older ne and sentence adverbs in general, it naturally loses
something of its form and often, thus reduced, becomes attached
to the preceding auxiliary or copula as an enclitic: 'He doesn't
like it,' 'they, I, you don't like it'; in popular and loose colloquial
speech 'he don't like it.' 'He isn't rich,' 'we, you, they aren't
rich.' A s can be seen b y the examples, there is in the literary
language no contraction with n't after am. In the declarative
form, however, w e can contract am to 'm: 'I'm not rich.' In
interrogative form contraction does not take place here in the
literary language at all. In colloquial speech am I not? or am not
I? often becomes ain't I? or aren't I? the latter regarded as
choicer by m a n y in England and by some in America: 'I'm such a
catch, ain't I?' (A. Marshall, Exton Manor, Ch. V ) . 'Weil, m a n
alive, I'm bound to know, aren't I?' (Hutchinson, If Winter
Comes, p. 101). 'Aren't I silly to weep?' (Francis R. Bellamy,
The Balance, Ch. X X ) . T h efirstperson singular form aren't is a
leveled form, after the analogy of we aren't, you aren't, they aren't.
Similarly, thefirstperson singular ain't is after the analogy of we
ain't, you ain't, they ain't, where ain't is corrupted from aren'
As the r in aren't is not pronounced in England before a consonant,
we often find this form written an't, especially a little earlier in
the period, as in Smollett and Dickens. Of course, the r is still
silent in England, but it is n o w usually written. In Ireland the
contraction amn't is sometimes used instead of ain't in the first
person singular: 'Amn't I after telling you she's a great help
to her mother?' (Lennox Robinson, The Whiteheaded Boy, Act I,
138 NEGATIVE ADVERBS 16 3

p. 9). T h e tendency to level, as seen in the case of ain't in col-

loquial speech in thefirstperson singular, is still stronger in popu-
lar speech where the general drift, as described in 8 I 1 h, is to
disregard the grammatical relations and use one form for all
persons and numbers: 'I don't, you don't, he don't, w e don't,'
etc.; 'I ain't (or an't), you ain't (or an't), he ain't (or an't), we
ain't (or an't),' etc. In popular speech ain't is employed also for
contractions of not with forms of have, but it is here a variant of
hain't with the h dropped: ' I ain't (or hain't) got it, he ain't (
hain't) got it, w e ain't (or hain't) got it' = ' I haven't got it,' etc.
Negro dialect ain't is often used instead of don't: 'Mus' be dey
ain't k n o w dis is pay-day' ( D u Bose Heyward, Porgy, p. 184).
Also used instead of won't: ' Stick tuh dem, an' you ain't git into
no trouble' (ib., p. 57). Sometimes ain't is used as a pure negative
adverb = not: 'I might be ain' changed on de outside, but I sho
is changed on de inside' (Julia Peterkin, Scarlet Sister Mary,
Ch. X X V I ) .
As contractions are, in general, so c o m m o n in colloquial speech,
there is a tendency in a choice style to write the full form not
instead of the c o m m o n contractions. This is appropriate where
the tone is dignified and stately. A s not is a sentence adverb and
is naturally weakly stressed, it ought not in ordinary prose to be
inappropriate to write the form as w e speak it, provided w e em-
ploy the correct contractions, but convention often controls us
more than our natural feeling, so that w e often write out not in
full where w e contract it in the spoken language. Of course, we
also in colloquial speech stress not strongly in emphatic state-
ments, for w e always have a keen sense for its meaning: 'I did
n6t do it.' T h e contracted forms first began to appear about
1660 and soon came into wide use.
3. Negatives. T h e usual negative n o w is not. 'He is not
working.' 'He is not strong.' In Scotch and North English this
negative has the form of no or nae (ne), both forms weakened to
na when used enclitically after auxiliaries: 'There's no (= not)
a window in it' (J. M . Barrie, Tommy and Grizel, Ch. V ) . 'But
I'm nae ( = not) sure that ee (he) didna (did not) for a' that'
(G. Macdonald, Alec Forbes, Ch. LXVIII).
Notice the use of not in elliptical expressions: 'I hope [that
it is] not [so].'
There is an older negative, no (Old English na, from the older
negative ne 'not' and a 'ever'), originally an emphatic form
(= not at all, by no means), which w e still use; now, however,
not as an adverb as originally, but as the equivalent of a sen-
tence: 'Are you going tomorrow?' 'No.' It sometimes still
16 3 a DOUBLE NEGATION 139

has its original emphasis, but is normally without stress, as we

now have no feeling for its original meaning.
This old emphatic form, now much reduced in force, is used
also as a common adverb with the meaning of not in one common
category, namely, as a modifier of a comparative: 'Mr. Buck, the
tutor, was no better a scholar than many afifthform boy.' 'He
is no more to be trusted than you are.' 'He is no more an officer
than I am.' 'I have no more to say.' 'The transaction is no less
than a swindle.' 'There were no (or not) less thanfivehundred
people present.'
The negative adverb no also occurs occasionally elsewhere in
a few set expressions, where, however, not is now more common:
'Have I done it or no?' (Hardy, Life's Little Ironies, p. 13
'It was a question of whether or no she were worth it' (Haggard,
She, p. 159). 'She would go to London whether he liked it or no'
(Mrs. H. Ward, Fenwick's Career, p. 172). In older English, also
the form non(e) occurs here, so that it seems probable that no and
none in such set expressions were originally the adjective no used
substantively (57 1): '"Wheper ar bei Cristen," he seide, "or
non?"' (R. Brunne, Chron. Wace, 14909, A.D. 1330). '"I will,"she
sayde, "do as ye councell me: Comforte or no"' (Generydes, 2588,
A.D. 1440).
In poetry and elevated language instead of no we sometimes use
nay, of Danish (i.e., old Norse) origin. It is here employed to
introduce a contradiction to a preceding statement: 'You do not
care for me.' 'Nay, I do care for you.' In this use it often
assumes positive force, since in taking back a preceding word or
statement we often substitute in its stead a stronger expression:
'Hundreds, nay thousands, perished.'
The adverb no should be distinguished from the limiting adjec-
tive no, which is of somewhat different origin, as described in
57 5 6: 'no money, no patience.' No is used also as a noun, and
as such has a plural: "The noes have it.'
Also the accusative singular of the neuter pronoun none is used
as an emphatic negative adverb before a comparative: 'He was
none the worse for his fall.' See also 4 a, p. 144, and 57 5 b (last
par.).
a. D O U B L E N E G A T I O N A N D P L E O N A S T I C E X P R E S S I O N W I T H N E G -
ATIVES. In older literary English, as in current popular speech,
two or three negatives were felt as stronger than a single negative,
on the same principle that we drive in two or three nails instead
of one, feeling that they hold better than one: ' I can't see no wit
in her' (Lamb in a letter to Coleridge in 1797). 'I don't know
nothing about it' (current popular speech). Under Latin influence,
140 FORM OF SIMPLE ADVERBS 16 4

w e have come to feel that two negatives m a k e an affirmative state-

ment, although w e still in an answer say no, no, to strengthen our
negative reply. E v e n in the literary language, however, there is
a survival of older usage after verbs like doubt, wonder, which are
affirmative in form but negative in meaning. W e sometimes still
use the negative but after these words w h e n preceded by a nega-
tive, not feeling that the two negatives m a k e the statement
affirmative without the help of but, so that but is really pleonastic:
'I do not doubt but that (now usually simple that) you are sur-
prised.' ' I wouldn't wonder but (now usually suppressed) Hannah's
up-stairs all the while, splitting her sides' (St. John Ervine, John
Ferguson, Act II). A little earlier in the period the list of these
verbs w a s larger. See 24 III for examples. N o t feeling that but
(= only) is a negative, w e sometimes put not before it, so that
here not is pleonastic: 'It will not take but a few m o m e n t s to dis-
pose of it' (Mr. Blanton, of Texas, in the House, Aug. 12, 1919).
O n the other hand, not feeling that help is negative with the force
of avoid, w e often say, 'I won't do any more than I can (instead
of the correct can't) help,' after the analogy of than I have to or
than I must.
b. R H E T O R I C A L Q U E S T I O N I N S T E A D O F A N E G A T I V E S T A T E M E N T .
A rhetorical question often replaces a negative statement: 'Would
you do better if you were in m y place?' = 'You would not do
better, if you were in m y place.' Compare 23 II 1 (last par.).
4. Form of Simple Adverbs. Adverbs have in part no distinc-
tive form, as in the case of here, there, then, when, where, why,
late, straight, far, near, close, quick, slow, fast, high, low, mu
little, very, right, wrong, cheap, just, well, etc.; in part they have
distinctive suffix -ly, as in rapidly, diligently, hurriedly, powerful
etc.; also often in the case of some of the words in thefirstgroup,
which have a form in -ly alongside of their simple form, as in
slowly, quickly, highly, rightly, cheaply, etc. Sometimes the
forms are differentiated in meaning: 'I'll go as high as a hundred
dollars,' but 'The wood is highly polished.' ' H e aimed higher,'
but ' W e ought to value our privileges more highly.' 'He sat up
late,' but 'He died lately.' 'He works hard,' but 'I could hard
hear him.' 'He lives near us, nearer to us,' but 'It is nearly done.'
'He is real (colloquial for very) good,' but 'He is really (sentence
adverb) good.' 'The bird is n o wflyingquite low,' but 'He bowed
lowly before the duchess,' i.e., bowed humbly and respectfully.
'You k n o w jolly (slang for very) well,' but ' H e smiled jollily.'
'Speak loud and distinctly,' but 'He boasted loudly of his power.'
With certain adverbs w e use the simple form after the modified
word and the form with -ly before it: ' H e guessed right,' but
16 4 FORM OF SIMPLE ADVERBS 141

'He rightly guessed that it w a s safe.' 'He spelled the words

wrong,' but 'the wrongly spelled words.' Earlier in the period the
old simple form was often used where w e n o w employ the form
in -ly: 'to haue him stand in the raine till he was through (or
thorough) wet' (Thomas Nashe, The Vnfortvnate Traveller, Works,
II, p. 246, A.D. 1594), n o w 'thoroughly wet'; but the old simple
form is preserved in thoroughbred, thoroughgoing, etc. 'She is
not near (now nearly) so small as I had expected' (Horace Walpole,
Letter to Miss Mary Berry, Sept. 25, 1793). Scarce was widely
used in early Modern English, but is n o w employed only in rather
choice language, yielding to scarcely in normal speech.
In older English, m a n y adverbs had the suffix -e, which dis-
tinguished them from the corresponding adjectives. In the
fifteenth century, after this ending had disappeared, m a n y adjec-
tives and adverbs had the same form. For a long while there has
been a tendency to distinguish the adverb from the adjective by
giving it the suffix -ly, as indicated above. T h e old simple form,
though often replaced b y the n e w form in -ly, often remains firm
before an adjective or participle: light yellow, dark blue, dead drunk,
previous little, mighty delightful, burning hot, red hdt, stark na
prelty bright; new laid eggs, modern built house, foreign bdrn citizen
etc. These are in large measure modern formations, but they belong
to the old group-word (63) type of expression, for which w e still have
a lively feeling. In the old group-word, the modifying word always
precedes the governing word, so that the word-order of itself
makes the grammatical relations clear and hence the lack of a
distinctive adverbial ending is not keenly felt. B u t here, as also
elsewhere, as described in 63, distinctive grammatical forms are
sometimes introduced: an uncommon or uncommonly fine fellow;
terrible or terribly strong; an exceeding or exceedingly great joy
a newly married pair; the newly appointed chaplain, etc. W e
should distinguish between 'a gdod-ndtured boy,' where the group-
word gdod nature has been converted into a derivative adjective
by means of the suffix -ed, and 'a we'll behaved boy,' where be-
haved is an adjective participle and well the modifying adverb.
Similarly, w e say 'a high-tempered man,' but 'highly seasoned
food.' In m a n y cases w e can construe a group of words according
to either of these two types, hence w e often find a difference of
usage: ill-mannered, 'the most sweetly mannered gentleman alive'
(Disraeli, Endymion, III, III, 25), but also gintle-mdnnered,
simple-mannered. In both constructions the stress shifts to the
second component in the predicate: 'He is gdod-ndtured.' 'He is
well behaved.'
O n the other hand, after verbs, where the word-order is always
142 ADVERBIAL GENITIVE, DATIVE, A N D ACCUSATIVE 16 4 a

different from that required in group-words, the tendency is to

give the adverb its distinctive suffix: 'wide-open,' but 'He
advertises widely'; 'tight-fitting,' but 'He clasped his h
tightly together.'
While in literary and good colloquial language the form with
-ly is becoming ever morefirmlyfixed,loose colloquial and popular
speech still clings tenaciously to the older type of expression with-
out -ly, especially in American and Irish English: 'I wanted to
do it bad (instead of the usual good colloquial form badly) enough,
and if it was to do over again I w6uld' (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc,
Book I, Ch. IV). 'He (a certain dog) isn't anyway near (instead
of literary nearly) as full-blooded as Duke' (Tarkington, Penrod
Jashber, Ch. I). 'I beat them easy' (instead of the literary form
easily), but also in good English with the short form in 'to take
it easy' and 'to let one off easy.' This conservative tendency in
colloquial and popular speech to employ the old type is especially
noticeable in the case of sentence adverbs (see 2 a, p. 130), where
in the literary language the form with -ly is mostfirmlyestab-
lished: 'It sure (in the literary language surely) will help.'
In older English, -ly was often added to adverbs formed from
adjectives in -ly, and this older usage survives in a few adverbs:
holily, jollity (see 4, p. 140), sillily, wilily. In general,
avoided here as awkward, although elsewhere there is a strong
tendency toward it on account of its distinctiveness. The present
tendency in this particular group is to employ the adjective also
as an adverb, as in early, daily, hourly, friendly, kindly, o
In many other words, however, we avoid such adverbs, as we feel
their lack of distinctive form.
It is common to form an adverb out of a compound adjective
provided thefinalelement in the compound is an adjective form:
world-wide, adv. world-widely; high-minded, adv. high-mi
If thefinalelement is a noun we must employ the compound
adjective also as an adverb: 'afirst-rate(adj.) machine.' 'I am
getting alongfirst-rate'(adv.).
a. G E N I T I V E , D A T I V E , A N D A C C U S A T I V E U S E D A D V E R B I A L L Y . In
oldest English, nouns in the genitive, dative, and accusative were
often used adverbially. The old adverbial genitive survives in a
few nouns and adverbs in the literary language and in a much
larger number in popular speech: must needs, nowadays, once
(i.e., ones, from one), twice (formerly twyes), thrice, un
afterward (especially in America) or afterwards, backward or ba
wards, forward or forwards, onward or less commonly onwards
seaward or seawards, sideways, always, etc.; in popular spee
anywheres, somewheres, nowheres, etc., instead of the literary fo
16 4 a ADVERBIAL GENITIVE, DATIVE, AND ACCUSATIVE 143

anywhere, somewhere, nowhere, etc. In colloquial speech it is still

c o m m o n in a few nouns to indicate repeated occurrence, but it
is n o w felt as an accusative plural: 'returning nights to his h o m e '
(F. J. Mather, Chaucer's Prologue, p. vii). 'Farmer Spurrier
could see the plow at work before he got out of bed mornings'
(H. C. O'Neill, Told in the Dimpses, p. 28). After the analogy
of such c o m m o n expressions w e n o w often use this plural accusa-
tive: 'The m u s e u m is open Sundays' (or on Sundays). T h e
modern prepositional genitive is used in 'of a morning,' 'of an
evening,' 'of a Sunday afternoon,' 'of late years,' 'of rainy after-
noons,' etc. In popular speech an excrescent t is often added to
the genitive form once: wunst. While the literary language rejects
the genitive form with excrescent t here, it has adopted it in the
case of amongst and whilst, adverbial genitive forms n o w used
alongside of among and while as preposition and subordinate
conjunction.
The old dative plural survives in whilom (= formerly), n o w only
used in poetry or archaic language. It is the old dative plural
form of the noun while, used adverbially: 'Whilom she was a
daughter of Locrine' (Milton, Comus, 827). It is sometimes,
like certain other adverbs, used also as an adjective: 'his
whilom associates.'
The old adverbial accusative of extent is well preserved in the
case of nouns: 'They remained a long while, three years.' 'It
is a long way off.' 'He went the full length.' 'That went a long
way toward remedying the evil.' 'He walked two miles.' 'He
will not swerve a hair's breadth from the truth.' 'The lake is
three miles wide.' 'He is fourteen years old.' 'The garden is one
hundred and seventy feet long.' 'He towers head and shoulders
above his contemporaries.' 'The sober sense of the community
are heart and soul with the Chief of Police in his crusade.' 'Vivi-
section must be abolished root and branch.' In early Modern
English, the genitive was not infrequently used here instead of
the accusative, and this older usage still lingers in popular speech,
which here, as in thefirstparagraph, is quite fond of the genitive
as a more distinctive form: 'He'd given u p sea-faring A n d moved
quite a way's inland' ( A m y Lowell, East Wind, p. 188, A.D. 1926).
'It seems a long ways off.'
The adverbial accusative of extent is c o m m o n also in the case
of indefinite pronouns, especially a bit, every bit, a lot, lots, a si
(colloquial and popular), and whatever in the meaning at all, also
with other indefinites when used in connection with too or a com-
parative: 'Wait a bit.' 'I a m every bit as good as you.' 'I a m
not a bit tired.' 'I have a lot (or lots) more to tell you.' 'I have
 144 ADVERBIAL ACCUSATIVE 16 4 a

lots more things to show her' (Clyde Fitch, Letter, Feb. 10,1903).
'It is a long sight better' (Concise Oxford Dictionary), or more
commonly 'a darn sight better.' 'There is no doubt whatever.'
'Is there any chance whatever?' 'I cannot see anyone whatever.'
'No one whatever would have anything to do with him.' 'What
(= to what extent or in what way) is he the better for it?' 'The
help came none too soon.' 'It is much too large.' 'The tri-
umphant people haven't any too m u c h food' (Westminster Ga-
zette, N o . 7069, 6a). 'He is none the worse for his fall.' 'The
baby is dying slowly but none the less surely.' 'He is resting all
the better for it.' ' Is he resting any the better for it?' ' Is he rest-
ing any better today?' 'I began to think that it was of no use
crying any more.' 'She is not any less beautiful today than she
has ever been.' 'Isn't it any later than that?' or in American
colloquial speech also: 'Is that all the later it is?' 'Nothing
daunted, he began again.' 'He is a little better.' 'He is much
better, much taller.' Much and little are often used outside of the
comparative: 'I don't care much about it.' 'I care little about it.'
Much is often used sarcastically: 'Much (= not at all) you care
about m y feelings!'
In general, any, some, none, except with too and the compara-
tive, are n o w not so c o m m o n in England as earlier in the period,
but in American colloquial speech there is still a great fondness
for these forms: 'I slept none that night,' or 'I didn't sleep any
that night.' 'If our readers are any like ourselves, w e think they
cannot help laughing' (Analectic Magazine [Phila.], IX, 437,
A.D. 1817). 'A tall fellow . . . stammers some in his speech'
(runaway advertisement in Mass. Spy, April 28, 1785). 'I walk
some every day.' This usage survives also in Scotland: 'You
will quarrel nane with Captain Cleveland' (Scott, Pirate,
Ch. XVIII). 'Having slept scarcely any all the night' (Hugh
Miller, Scenes and Legends, X X X , 450). Scotch influence has
strengthened the conservative American tendency here. It occa-
sionally occurs in English writers after verbs: ' H e m a y walk some,
perhaps n o t m u c h ' (Dickens in Forster's Life, III, IV). In
American slang some often assumes strong intensive force: 'The
papers will m a k e it some hot for you' (Robert Herrick, Memoirs
of an American Citizen, p. 310).
Similarly, the accusative of the comparatives more, less, and
the superlatives most, the most, least, the least are m u c h used
adverbially: 'If indiscretion be a sign of love, you are the most
a lover of anybody that I know' (Congreve, Love for Love, I, n,
354, A.D. 1695); n o w more commonly 'the most a lover of all
that I know,' or 'more a lover than any other person that I know.'
 16 4 a ADVERBIAL ACCUSATIVE 145
The old adverbial accusative of goal (11 2) after verbs of m o -
tion is preserved in home: 'He went home.' 'They brought the
charge home to him.' 'I was home by six.' In the last example
the verb of motion is not expressed, but the idea of motion is
implied. In popular speech home is improperly used where there
is no idea of motion implied: 'Jane was home (for literary at home)
all last week.' In compounds, however, home is used also in the
literary language where there is no idea of motion implied:
home-made, home-grown, home-brewed, etc. Home is here an old
uninflected locative (62, next to last par.) meaning at home. This
type of expression has come d o w n to us from the prehistoric
period.
The accusative of definite and indefinite time is c o m m o n : 'I
go to Europe every two years.' 'The m o n e y was paid the following
day.' 'First thing in the morning he smokes a cigarette' (Krapp,
A Comprehensive Guide to Good English). 'He often goes round
the last thing to m a k e sure that all is right' (Routledge's Every
Boy's Annual). 'I met him one day on the street.' Also the
accusative of w a y : 'Step this way, please!' 'I will take you
another way.' Also the accusative of price: 'This hat cost five
dollars.'
The adverbial accusative construction has replaced others less
c o m m o n and even some once c o m m o n , since w e n o w feel that the
accusative is the natural case form of a noun that completes the
meaning of the verb. It is n o w m u c h used to denote manner:
'He came full speed.' 'The blindfolded m a n ran full tilt into the
fence.' 'Have it your own way.' 'The windows of the tower
face both ways.' 'Having sampled America [in] that way, Europe
believes and trusts America' (Woodrow Wilson, July 4, 1919).
'She ran herfingerscomb fashion through her hair.' 'Let us go
shares, halves!' 'I came in and went to bed the same as usual.'
' Then w h y do you come your frowning high and mighty airs with
me?' (William Heyliger, American Boy, Sept., 1927, p. 34). 'You
can't come it with me.' In colloquial speech sure thing is often used
as an intensive form of colloquial sure (= literary surely): ' N o w
that you boys k n o w what the expedition is going to face are you still
anxious to go along?''Sure thing' (Victor Appleton, Don Sturdy
in Lion Land, Ch. IV). Also to indicate time, where in more careful
language w e find a preposition: 'What (or at what) time do you
go?' Also to indicate place in certain set expressions, but rarely
with a single unmodified noun: 'He struck m e on the head,' but
'He smote them hip and thigh.' 'Bind them hand and foot!' In
the concrete language of popular speech the adverbial accusative
of a modified noun is often used instead of an adverb: 'I looked
 146 ADVERBIAL THIS AND THAT 16 4

every place (instead of literary everywhere) for it.' 'What place

(instead of literary where) would w e run?' (Synge, The Well of
the Saints, Act III).
In m a n y distributive expressions, the noun following a is now
construed as an adverbial accusative of extent, but the a, though
n o w felt as an indefinite article, is in fact the reduced form of
the preposition on: 'I visit him twice a year.' 'A robin frequently
raises two broods a season.' This construction was originally
confined to expressions of time, as in these examples, but it now
has m u c h wider boundaries: 'His terms are a penny a line.' 'She
asksfivedollars a lesson.' 'I paid six dollars a pair for m y shoes.'
The definite article is sometimes used here instead of the indefinite:
'She sold her corn at ten shillings the bushel' (Winthrop, Journal,
April 27, 1631). 'Wheat was at twenty shillings the quarter'
(Macaulay, History, I, C h . III). 'Five cents the copy' (The
Saturday Evening Post, Aug. 8, 1925). ' H o w m u c h is salmon the
can now?' (Zona Gale, Miss Lulu Bett, C h . I). W e n o w feel
can in the last example as an accusative of extent; but, perhaps
originally, it was a nominative, an appositive to salmon. Most
of these expressions, except those indicating time, m a y have origi-
nated in this way.
b. ' T H I S ' A N D ' T H A T ' U S E D A D V E R B I A L L Y . In the fifteenth
century the principle of employing the accusative of indefinite
pronouns adverbially to indicate extent or degree was extended
to the definite pronouns this and that: ' This (or that or thus or so)
m u c h I hold to be true.' This usage is best established in the
case of 'this m u c h ' and 'that much,' but in colloquial language
it has spread m u c h farther: 'I've never been this sick before.'
'He didn't get h o m e until after one o'clock, and his mother told
him if he ever came h o m e that late again she would punish him
severely.' O n account of the accuracy of expression here ad-
verbial this and that are sometimes employed in the literary
language, in spite of the protests of grammarians: 'Oh, Mimo!
h o w could you let him sit on the grass! Zara exclaimed reproach-
fully, when he got this far' (Elinor Glyn, The Reason Why, Ch. X V ) .
'I didn't think he was that young' (Jack London, Martin Eden,
I, Ch. II). Also used like so, pointing to a following clause of
result: 'I'm that hungry, I could eat a dog' (Hall Caine, The
Woman Thou Gavest Me, C h . IV). Quite commonly in popular
speech: 'I was just that pleased I set d o w n an' bust out cryin"
(Alice Hegan Rice, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, Ch. VII).
The demonstrative that is thus often used adverbially, but the
demonstrative such, which has a somewhat similar meaning,
always remains an adjective, although often classed as an adverb.
 16 5 a RELATIVE COMPARISON OF ADVERBS 147

That it is an attributive adjective when it stands before a de-

scriptive adjective is shown by the fact that it can never be used
when there is no noun after the descriptive adjective, i.e., when
the descriptive adjective is used predicatively: 'such severe
weather,' but not 'The weather is such severe.'
c. A D V E R B I A L U S E O F ' T H E . ' T h e old neuter instrumental
case of the determinative and demonstrative that still survives in
the form of the in two c o m m o n constructions: (1) In clauses of
degree expressing proportionate agreement: 'This stone gets the
harder the longer it is exposed to the weather.' See 29 1 A b for
a more detailed description of this construction. (2) A s a de-
terminative adverb of cause standing before a comparative,
indicating cause, however, in only a formal way, pointing forward
to a following clause or phrase of cause which contains the real
cause: ' His unkindness hurt m e all the more because I had been pre-
viously so kind to him' (or because of my previous kindness to him).
'The indications of inward disturbance m o v e d Archer the more
that he too fell that the Mingotts (name) had gone a little too fa
(Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, Ch. V ) . 'I think a little
the worse of him on this account.' 'She clung the morefiercelyto
her father for having lost her lover.' T h e cause is often not thus
formally expressed in a clause or phrase of cause but implied in
something that has preceded: 'Sir Arthur looked sternly at her.
Her head only dropped the lower.' 'If she were silent there was
one listener the more.' Compare 30 a.
5. Comparison of Adverbs:
a. R E L A T I V E C O M P A R I S O N . Adverbs are compared m u c h as
adjectives, as described in 54-55. A few monosyllabic adverbs
add -er in the comparative and -est in the superlative: fast,
faster, fastest. 'He climbed higher.' 'He lives nearer us.' 'Come
up closer to the fire.' 'John worked hardest.' 'He couldn't speak
finer if he wanted to borrow' (George Eliot). 'I can't stay longer.'
'I would sooner die than do it.' Also the dissyllables, often, easy,
early, are compared by means of endings: 'He is absent oftener
than is necessary.' 'Easier said than done.' 'You ought to
have told m e earlier.'
Earlier in the period, terminational comparison was often used
where w e n o w employ more and most: 'There is almost no m a n
but he sees clearlier and sharper (now more clearly and sharply)
the vices in a speaker then (now than) the vertues' (Ben Jonson,
Discoveries, p. 19, A.D. 1641).
Most adverbs are n o w compared by means of more, most and
less, least: rapidly, more rapidly, most rapidly; rapidly, less rap
least rapidly.
148 IRREGULAR COMPARISON OF ADVERBS 16 5 a 66

aa. Irregularities. A few irregularities in the form occur, cor-

responding closely to those found in adjectives:
well better best
ill, illy (obs.), badly worse worst
much more most
little less least
near, nigh (54 a aa) nearer, nigher nearest, nighest, next
far farther, further farthest, furthest
late later latest, last
rather (comparative
of obs. rathe, 'soon')
One of the outstanding features of popular speech is the use of
good for well: 'I don't hear good' (instead of well).
bb. Newer Forms of Expression. Besides the normal usage de-
scribed on page 147 there is another which is quite c o m m o n in col-
loquial speech and occurs sometimes in the literary language. The
superlative is formed by employing the adverbial neuter accusative
of the noun m a d e from the adjective superlative preceded by the
definite article: 'All good and wise M e n certainly take care To
help themselves and families thefirst'(Robert Rogers, Ponteach,
I, rv, A.D. 1776). 'I a m going . . . to Havre, whence I shall
get the quickest to Southampton' (Charlotte Smith, Emmeline,
IV, 55, A.D. 1788). 'Of all m y books I like this the best' (Dickens,
David Copperfield,Preface). 'He was the greatest patriot in their
eyes w h o brawled the loudest and w h o cared the least for decency'
(id., Martin Chuzzlewit, Ch. X V I ) . 'It is impossible to say whose
eyes would be the widest opened' (Henry Arthur Jones, The Divine
Gift, Dedication, p. 49). ' M y father liked this the best' (Alfred,
Lord Tennyson, A Memoir by His Son, 3, 245). ' W e are sure
that those w h o have k n o w n Sommerset the longest will thoroughly
enjoy M r . Hutton's pages' (Athenceum, Dec. 28, 1912). 'Great
souls are they w h o love the most, w h o breathe the deepest of heaven's
air, and give of themselves most freely' (William Allen White,
A Certain Rich Man, Ch. X X I I ) . 'Of all the orders of m e n they
fascinate m e the most' (H. L. Mencken, Prejudices, Series III,
p. 217).
This form is n o w spreading also to the comparative: 'He runs
the faster (instead of the simple faster). 'This led him to consider
which of them could be the better spared' (Dickens, Martin Chuz-
zlewit, Ch. X X X I I I ) . 'I hardly k n o w w h o was the more to blame
for it' (L. M . Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, Ch. X X I I I ) . 'Ruth
could not tell which she liked the better' (Lucy Fitch Perkins, The
Children's Yearbook, p. 17).
 16 5 6 ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE OF ADVERBS 149

In the case of the analytic form with most, least, more, less,
this adverbial neuter accusative cannot be used at all. W e often,
however, add the adverbial ending -ly to the analytic adjective,
superlative or comparative, preceded by the definite article, thus
marking the form clearly as an adverb: 'If it be true that such
meat as is the most dangerously earned is the sweetest' (Goldsmith,
Natural History, VI, 82, A.D. 1774). 'It was difficult to say which
of the young m e n seemed to regard her the most tenderly' (Thack-
eray, Pendennis, II, Ch. X X ) . 'Standing here between you the
Englishman, so clever in your foolishness, and this Irishman, so
foolish in his cleverness, I cannot in m y ignorance be sure which
of you is the more deeply damned' (George Bernard Shaw, John
Bull's Other Island, Act IV).
In the relation of sentence adverbs the adverbial neuter ac-
cusative form of the superlative is replaced by an adverbial phrase,
consisting of the preposition at and the noun m a d e from the ad-
jective superlative preceded by the definite article: 'I cannot
hear from Dick at the earliest before Tuesday' (Mrs. Alexander,
A Life Interest, II, Ch. XVIII), or 'At the earliest I can't hear
from Dick before Tuesday.'
W h e n it is not the actions of different persons that are com-
pared but the actions of one and the same person at different
times and under different circumstances, w e employ the adver-
bial neuter accusative of the noun m a d e from the adjective superla-
tive preceded by a possessive adjective: ' T w o w o m e n shrieked
their loudest' (Thackeray, Pendennis, II, Ch. X X X V I I I ) .
'Carver smiled his pleasantest' (R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone,
Ch. X X V I I I ) . A n adverbial phrase with the preposition at is
sometimes used instead of the adverbial accusative: 'He led m e
in a courtly manner, stepping at his tallest, to an open place beside
the water' (ib., Ch. X X I ) . In the relation of sentence adverb
this prepositional phrase form is quite c o m m o n and freely used
both with the simple and the analytic superlative, especially the
latter: 'Even at his ungainliest and his most wilful, M r . Thompson
sins still in the grand manner' (Academy, April 14, 1894, 303).
'Nature at her most unadorned never takes that air of nakedness
which a great open unabashed window throws upon the land-
scape' (Atlantic Monthly, March, 1887, 324).
b. A B S O L U T E S U P E R L A T I V E . This superlative of the adverb is
formed from the absolute superlative of the adjective (54 2 a):
'Mary's mother is a most beautiful woman' and 'Mary's mother
sings most beautifully.'
The absolute superlative is sometimes formed by employing
the adverbial neuter accusative of the noun m a d e from the adjec-
150 ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE OF ADVERBS 16 5 6

tive superlative preceded b y the definite article: 'I do not the

least mind it' (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, A Memoir by His Son, 4, 72).
'It does not matter the least' (Florence Montgomery, Misunder-
stood, Ch. IV).
Instead of this form w e often use a prepositional phrase con-
taining a simple superlative of an adjective in attributive use,
standing before a noun or the simple superlative used as a noun
and preceded b y the definite article: 'The letter was written in
the kindest spirit.' 'That does not concern m e in the least.' Com
pare 54 2 a (3rd par.).
Instead of a superlative here w e more c o m m o n l y use a positive
modified by very, exceedingly, absolutely, etc.: 'She sings very
beautifully.' In colloquial and popular language, the intensive
adverbs, awfully, dreadfully, terribly, etc., are c o m m o n , sometimes
without the suffix -ly before an adverb: 'The work is moving
awfully slow.' ' I lived mighty comfortably.'
T o express an absolutely high degree of activity in connection
with a verb, w e place very before an adverb of degree, such as
much, greatly, etc.: ' H e is suffering very much.' T o express an
absolutely high degree of a quality, w e place very before the posi-
tive of the adjective: 'very sick, very pleasing, a very distresse
look.' B u t instead of saying 'I was very much pleased, very greatly
distressed,' m a n y incorrectly say 'I w a s very pleased, very dis
tressed,' feeling pleased and distressed as adjective rather than as
verbal forms, which they are. Similarly, w e should use too much,
too greatly before verbal forms, not simple too: 'I w a s too much
(or too greatly) discouraged b y this failure to try again.'
 CHAPTER VIII

INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS
PAGE
INTERJECTIONS 151
DIRECT ADDRESS 152
ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE 152
Adverbial clauses 152
Time 154
Cause 155
Condition and exception 155
Attendant circumstance 156
Manner proper 157
Concession 157
Subject clauses 157
Predicate clauses 158
Appositive clauses 158
A B S O L U T E PARTICIPLE 158
17. Independent elements are words, phrases, or clauses which
are not related grammatically to other parts of the sentence, or
which stand all alone without sustaining any grammatical relation
to some word understood. A historical study of these words
shows that some of them were originally dependent. See 3 A,
p. 152.
1. Interjections. T h e simplest interjections, such as oh! (usu-
ally 0 when not followed by a punctuation mark), ouch! belong
to the oldest forms of spoken language and represent the most
primitive type of sentence. Compare 2 a, p. 1. T h e large number
of interjections n o w in use shows that they are as useful in modern
life as in primitive times; indeed more useful, more needed, for
the range of feeling is wider and the desire for varied expression
greater: ah! (surprise or satisfaction), bah! or pooh! (disdain),
botheration! (vexation), bravo! (approving, encouraging), goody!
(joy), alas! (literary form expressing disappointment, grief) or
dear me! or oh, dear me! (colloquial), gee whillikers! (surprise),
jumping geraniums! (vexation, surprise), why! (expressing dis-
covery, objection, hesitancy, protest at the simplicity of a ques-
tion), well! (expressing astonishment, relief, concession, resumption
of talk), etc.
They are often embodied in modern sentences, without any
grammatical relations to the other words, but imparting a distinct
151
152 NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN ADVERBIAL CLAUSES 17 3 A

shade of meaning to the sentence as a whole: 'Oh, when will he

come?'
T h e accusative is found in a few exclamations: 'Dear me!'
'Unhappy me!' Compare/, p. 6.
2. Direct Address. T h e n a m e of a person w h o is called is often
spoken alone without other words. Like interjections, such names
are independent sentences of a primitive type, which, though a
single word, can in connection with the situation and an appropri-
ate accent convey a thought, as in John! spoken in loud tone and
prolonged vowel to call him into the house, or John! spoken
quickly with a short vowel and angry tone w h e n w e scold him.
They are also often inserted in a modern sentence, without gram-
matical relation to the other words, but serving the useful purpose
of arousing the attention of someone: 'John, I've brought some-
thing h o m e for you.' Originally and still in the classical languages
of antiquity, nouns thus used in direct address stood in a special
case called the vocative. Later, the nominative was used for this
purpose; always so in English.
3. Absolute Nominative. A n absolute nominative, i.e., a
nominative without grammatical relations to the principal propo-
sition, is often used in English. There are four groups:
A. I N A D V E R B I A L C L A U S E S : ' My task completed (= after my task
was completed), I went to bed.' 'Off w e started, he remaining be-
hind' ( = while he remained behind). T h e nominative here forms
with the words with which it is connected a clause in which it is
the subject, and a following participle, adjective, or noun is the
predicate. T h e predicate here n o w usually follows the subject,
but in older English and in poetry it often precedes: 'All loose
her negligent attire, all loose her golden hair, H u n g Margaret o'
her slaughtered sire' (Scott, Last Minstrel, I, 10). This order
is occasionally found in prose. See examples in a, c, and d, pp. 154,
155, 156. In one category, /, it is still employed regularly.
In Old English, the words in the adverbial clause stood in the
dative, employed here in imitation of the Latin ablative. The
Old English dative and the Latin ablative were in fact not used
here absolutely since they stood in an adverbial relation to the
principal verb, in that the words in the dative and ablative formed
an adverbial clause in which the noun was subject, the accompany-
ing participle, adjective, or noun was predicate, and the dative
or ablative was the sign of subordination to the principal verb.
This is the old appositional type of clause described in 6 B a,
where the predicate is placed as an appositive alongside of the
subject without the use of a copula. Later, w h e n the inflections
lost their distinctive case forms, the dative, no longer distinguish-
17 3 A NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN ADVERBIAL CLAUSES 153

able as such, was construed as a nominative, an absolute nomina-

tive, since its form does not indicate any relation to the principal
proposition. In the literary language, irregularly here and there
under foreign influence, the objective case of the personal pro-
nouns continued for a long while to be used here as a nearer
approach to the original constructions than the nominative,
lingering on into the seventeenth century: 'Him destroyed for
w h o m all this was made, all this will soon follow' (Milton, Paradise
Lost, IX, 1. 130). O n the other hand, the nominative of pronouns
was used here in Middle English b y Chaucer, and later this case
gradually became established.
Originally, the adverbial clause was always without a copula,
as was the rule for the old appositional type, but it is n o w often
conformed to the modern type b y the insertion of the copula be-
tween subject and predicate: 'He being absent, nothing could be
done.' ' M y task being completed, I shall go to bed.' 'Mr. Smith
being the toastmaster, I think w e m a y expect an enjoyable time.'
The copula is n o w the rule where the predicate of the clause is an
adjective, noun, adverb, or prepositional clause, but in older
English the copula was lacking here: ' Thou away, the very birds
are mute' (Shakespeare).
The scope of the nominative absolute construction has been
greatly enlarged b y the development of strong verbal force in the
participle. Originally, the perfect participle could be used here
only when it denoted a state, i.e., w h e n it had adjective force, as
in thefirstexample in A , p. 152. T h e perfect participle in this
example has passive force, but with intransitives it had active
force if it denoted a finished state resulting from the action:
'These obstacles removed and the right time come for action, w e
proceeded with energy.' Here w e still have the original condition
of things. T h e two participles, removed, n o w felt as a passive, and
come, felt as an active, are without any formal signs of tense and
voice. They still have their old adjective form. B u t the verbal
force is n o w so strongly felt in participles that w e often give them
forms for tense and voice, and hence w e m a y also say here: 'These
obstacles having been removed and the right time for action having
come, w e proceeded with energy.' Although the old adjective form
without a sign for tense or voice is still c o m m o n w h e n the participle
has passive force, w e n o w usually give it a tense sign w h e n its force
is active: 'Our luggage arrived (or n o w more commonly having
arrived), I was dressed in a few minutes.' 'The clock having
struck, w e had to go.' W e might construe arrived as an adjective,
since it denotes a state, but struck has only verbal force. Thus
we can clearly see that the participle has often developed into a
154 NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN ADVERBIAL CLAUSES 17 3 A a

verb with full verbal meaning, but as yet it has no forms for person,
number, or m o o d , and though it can indicate tense and voice it
hasn't as m a n y tense forms as thefiniteverb. O n the other hand,
it is a terse and convenient construction for all practical purposes.
For the most part, however, it has become established in the
literary language better than in colloquial and popular speech.
Originally, the predicate here was a noun or an adjective, or a
participle with adjective force. A s w e have just seen, the parti-
ciple has often developed into a verb. T h e predicate m a y now
be also an adverb or a prepositional phrase: 'The meal over,
prayers were read b y Miss Miller' (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre,
Ch. V ) . 'John being away, Henry had to do his work.' 'He went
off, gun in hand.' In older English, and sometimes still, w e find
the prepositional infinitive used here as predicate: 'I send you
today three fourths of the s u m agreed upon between us, the rest
to follow within a month.' In popular Irish, the infinitive has
come into wide use here, so that it can be employed in every kind
of subordinate clause, in conditional clauses, temporal clauses,
etc.: (conditional clause) 'It would not be for honor she to go
without that much' (Lady Gregory, McDonough's Wife). As ex-
plained in 19 3, such clauses are often introduced by and: 'Little
it will signify, and we to be making clay (temporal clause = when
we shall be moldering in the grave), who w a s it dug a hole through
the nettles or lifted d o w n the sods over our heads' (ib.).
Instead of the nominative of a personal pronoun w e often find
here in popular and colloquial speech the accusative, as so often
elsewhere in constructions where there is nofiniteverb, as described
in 7 C a: ' It will be a very good match for m e , m ' m , me being an
orphan girl' (H. G. Wells, The Country of the Blind, p. 16). 'You
wouldn't expect anything else, would you, m e (instead of the
choicer I) being here like this, so suddenly, and talking face to
face with you' (Arnold Bennett, Sacred and Profane Love, Act I,
p. 25). 'It is strange he hasn't married with all his money, and
him (instead of the choicer he) so fond of children' (Kate Douglas
Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm). T h e accusative subject here
is, of course, of entirely different origin from the accusative subject
in A (2nd par., p. 153).
The following relations are expressed by this absolute construction:
a. Time: 'My task having beenfinished,I went to bed.' ' Tea over and
the tray removed, she again summoned us to the fire.'
In older English, a preposition was often placed before this construction
to make the time relations clearer: 'I . . . commytted them vnto ward
(prison) where they now do remayne till your gracious pleasure knowen'
(Thomas Cromwell, Letter to Henry VIII, July 23, 1533). 'After my
 17 3 A c NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN ADVERBIAL CLAUSES 155

instructions dispatched, I came away in haste' (Sir William Temple,

Letter, Sept. 6, 1665). 'Upon the peace concluded between the Dutch and
the same Indians, she was restored to the Dutch governor' (Winthrop,
Journal, July 5, 1646). Compare 20 3 (next to last par.).
Sometimes, as often in older English, the predicate precedes the sub-
ject: 'She's to be married, turned Michaelmas' (George Eliot, Silas
Marner, II, Ch. XVII). Compare c.
b. Cause: 'The rain having ruined my hat, I had to get a n e w one.'
Compare 30 6 (4th par.).
The nominative absolute construction is often replaced here by a
prepositional phrase: 'She is lonesome with her husband so much away.'
Compare a (2nd par., p. 154) and 20 3 (next to last par.).
c. Condition and Exception: 'And in a little while you will come back
to me, will you not?' 'Yes, dear, God willing.' 'Family for family, a
group of small-holders will absorb a m u c h greater amount of industrial
produce than the same number of persons, farmer and laborer, in normal
proportions, in the large-farm system' (Noel Skelton, The Quarterly
Review, July, 1925, p. 198). 'As yet few have done their full duty,
present company excepted.'
There were formerly two word-orders in the absolute construction,
not only here in the clause of condition and exception, but also in clauses
of cause, time, concession, etc. T h e predicate could not only, as in the
preceding examples, follow the subject (either a noun or a clause), but
could also precede it. Clause of cause: 'Therefore seene (now seeing; see
4, p. 158) you thinke it not gude to invade, m y councell is that w e campe
still on the bordures' (Holinshed, History of Scotland, 309, A.D. 1577-
1586). Clause of condition: 'It is enough, considered how easy it is to
copy out words from other Dictionaries' (Gentl. Mag., LVIII, 1153, A.D.
1778). It is still preserved in conditional clauses after a few participles,
except (contracted from excepted; see also 31 1 d aa), granted, given,
settled, etc.: 'The whole kingdom, except a small corner (or a small corner
excepted), was subjected to the Turkish yoke.' 'Granted then these cor-
respondences between Spenser on the one hand and Aristotle and his
immediate successors on the other, w e m a y pass to an inquiry into our
poet's indebtedness to the tradition of Christian ethics that derives from
the Greek philosopher' (H. S. V. Jones, The Journal of English and
Germanic Philology, p. 288, July, 1926). 'Given the choice of a fine h o m e
without a car and a modest one with a car, the latter will win' (William
Ashdown in Atlantic Monthly, June, 1925). 'Given such a principle and
such a method, it follows that the function of any textbook is to remain
in the background until needed' (D. D . Farrington, The Essay. Intro-
duction). The subject m a y be a clause: 'Once settled that teachers must
hold the views on all controversial matters that suit the particular commun
what persons of independent thought and action will become and remain
teachers?' (American Federation of Teachers, July 11, 1925). This old
word-order occurs occasionally also in a, p. 154, and d, p.156, and is even
employed regularly in/, p. 157.
This old word-order survives also with the participles during, pending,
156 N O M I N A T I V E A B S O L U T E IN A D V E R B I A L CLAUSES 17 3 A d

notwithstanding and the adjective save (originally with the meaning'safe,'

'intact,' 'excepted'), but the feeling for the original construction has
disappeared, since the old word-order, no longer understood, has ob-
scured the original grammatical relations. Since these words n o w stand
before a noun or a pronoun, except sometimes notwithstanding, as in
this notwithstanding, they are n o w often construed as prepositions; during,
pending, notwithstanding regularly so, save, felt by some as a preposition,
by others as a conjunction introducing an elliptical clause of exception,
as described in 31. Similarly, since the original construction is no longer
understood, except is construed b y some as a preposition, by others as
a conjunction of exception; by still others as the imperative of the
transitive verb except. See 31.
W h e n the subject is a clause, this old word-order is still employed also
with the past participles provided, given, granted as predicate: T will
come provided that I have time.' 'Given that he and they have a common
object, the one test that he must apply to them is as to their ability to
help in achieving that object' (Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life,
p. 74). 'Granted (or granting) that he had the best intentions, his con-
duct was productive of great mischief.' A s past participles do not
n o w usually stand before a clause and hence are not recognized here
as predicate in an absolute nominative construction, provided that, given
that, granted that are for the most part felt as conjunctions introducing a
subordinate clause, provided that and given that introducing a clause of
condition, granted that introducing a clause of concession, as in the last
example, or a clause of condition. Compare 31 and 32.
T h e nominative absolute construction is often replaced in the clause
of condition by a prepositional phrase: 'With conditions in every way
favorable, he might succeed.' Compare 20 3 (next to last par.).
d. Attendant Circumstance: 'He entered upon the n e w enterprise
cautiously, his eyes wide-open,' or here more commonly with a prepo-
sitional phrase with wide-open eyes, or with eyes wide-open.
Instead of an adjective element in the predicate relation w e often find
an adverb or a prepositional phrase or both, for adverbs and prepositional
phrases are n o w quite commonly used as predicates: 'He sat at the table,
collar off, head down, and pen in position, ready to begin the long letter'
(or with collar off, head down, etc.). T h e absolute nominative here before
a prepositional phrase is more c o m m o n and natural than anywhere else:
'He lay on his back, his knees in the air, his hands crossed behind his head'
(or with his knees in the air, etc.). T h e form with with was c o m m o n in
Old English and the older stages of all the Germanic languages and is
still everywhere in c o m m o n use. It is native English. Compare 20 3
(next to last par.).
Especial attention is here called to the frequent use of the prepositional
infinitive as predicate, which is only a particular application of the com-
m o n employment of a prepositional phrase as predicate: 'He made a
will bequeathing all he possessed to his niece, M r s . Joyce, the interest
for her sole use, the principal to revert to her eldest son after her death.'
Sometimes the absolute nominative follows the prepositional phrase,
17 3 B NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 157

i.e., contrary to ordinary usage the predicate of the clause precedes the
subject of the clause: 'She stands before him with the dressing gown
on her arm, in her eyes an odd l6ok' (Francis R. Bellamy, The Balance
Ch. IX). This word-order emphasizes the subject of the clause.
e. Manner Proper: 'He put on his socks wrong side out.' The absolute
construction is often replaced here by a prepositional phrase: 'He put on
his socks with the wrong side out.' Compare 20 3 (next to last par.).
/. Concession, usually with the predicate of the clause before the sub-
ject: 'Granted the very best intentions, his conduct was productive of
mischief.' 'Whatever the immediate outcome of the political and fi
crisis in France, it is certain that sooner or later the French people must
deal with the results of their government's post-war policies in some
drastic way' (Chicago Tribune, April 8, 1925). Compare 32 2 (7th par.,
last example).
The absolute construction is often not possible in this category. It
is then usually replaced by a prepositional phrase: 'Even with conditions
quite unfavorable, he would succeed.' The prepositional construction i
often used even where the absolute construction is possible: 'Art is
always art, poetry is always poetry, in whatever form' (Harold Williams,
Modern English Writers, p. 296), or whatever the form.
B. NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE IN SUBJECT CLAUSES. We often
find, especially in colloquial speech, an absolute nominative in
subject clauses, where the absolute nominative serves as the
logical subject of the clause, and a participle, adjective, or prepo-
sitional phrase as the logical predicate: 'I pray you let m e have
the dayt of the marriage of m y cosyn Hair and your daughter
. . . and ye thus doing bynds m e to doe you as great a pleasure'
(Plumpton Correspondence, p. 215, A.D. 1515). 'I avoided him
. . . m y reasons are that people seeing me speak to him causes a
great deal of teasing' (Swift, J., 493, quoted from Jespersen's
On Some Disputed Points, S. P. E., Tract N o . X X V ) . 'My two
big sisters having now charge of things in the house makes it m u c h
easier for Mother.' ' Three such rascals hanged in one day is good
work for society.' ' These difficulties overcome makes the rest easy.
'But things being as they are makes other things, which would
have been different otherwise, different from what they would
have been' (Sir Walter Raleigh, Letter to John Sampson, M a y 4,
1905). 'She and her sister both being sick makes hard work for
the rest of the family.' 'Women having the vote reduces men's
political power.' 'He saying (present participle) he is sorry
alters the case,' or more commonly 'His saying he is sorry alters
the case.' ' It is vilely unjust, men closing two-thirds of the respect
ble careers to women!' (Sir Harry Johnston, Mrs. Warren's Daughter,
Ch. III). 'John and Henry rough-housing every night is enough to
destroy the strongest nerves.' 'Her hand in his gave him strength
158 ABSOLUTE PARTICIPLES 17 4

to speak' (De Morgan, Somehow Good, Ch. XLVI). The principal

verb here is, of course, always in the singular, since its subject
is a clause. Other examples in 21 e (last 4 parr.). Compare 50 3
(next to last par.).
In older English, the prepositional infinitive often serves here
as predicate: 'If itt happen the rent to be behynde' (Lincoln Dio
Documents, p. 172, M a y 19, 1534). 'It happened immediately
Ferardo to retourne home' (John Lyly, Euphues, Works, I, 242
A.D. 1578). 'I to bear this is some burden' (Shakespeare, Timon,
IV, in, 266). In popular Irish English theto-infinitivehas come
into wide use here as predicate: (speaking to his wife who lies
dead before him) ' It is a bad case you to have gone and to have l
me' (Lady Gregory, McDonough's Wife). 'A great wonder he
not to have come, and this the fair day of Galway' (ib.). Compar
21 e (7th par.).
The subject clause in all these cases is of the old appositional
type found in A and described in 6 B a. The predicate participle,
prepositional phrase, or infinitive lies alongside of the subject,
predicating without the aid of a copula.
C. A B S O L U T E N O M I N A T I V E I N P R E D I C A T E C L A U S E S : 'Cities
are man justifying himself to God' (De Voto, The Crooked Mil
p. 405). '
D. ABSOLUTE NOMINATIVE I N A P P O S I T I V E C L A U S E S : 'Well,
that is just our way, exactly one half of the administratio
always busy getting the family into trouble, the other half bus
getting it out again' (Mark Twain, Letter to Mrs. Grover Clevela
Nov. 6, 1887).
4. Absolute Participles. In English, the predicate appositive
construction with a present participle is a very common type of
abridged adverbial clause: 'Taking all things into consideration,
I must regard m y life as a happy one' = ' If I take all things into
consideration, I must regard m y life as a happy one.' The abridged
participial clause usually has a subject which is identical with
that of the principal proposition and as a predicate appositive
expresses the adverbial relations of condition, cause, etc. A num-
ber of these clauses have in course of time become set adverbial
elements of condition, cause, concession, etc., and are no longer
thought of in connection with a definite subject any more than
is any other adverb: 'Taking all things into consideration
longer an appositive to the subject but an adverbial element of
condition), his life is a happy one.' If we try to analyze such.
clause we can, of course,findno definite subject since it no longer
has relations to the subject of the principal proposition. As it
has no definite subject, we feel that it has an indefinite or general
17 4 ABSOLUTE PARTICIPLES 159

subject = if one takes all things into consideration. 'There are

certain proposals for future educational policy, which, omitting
details ( = if one omits details), m a y be summarized as follows'
(Manchester Guardian, VII, 8, 150). 'Generally speaking (= if
one may speak in a general sense), boys are a nuisance.' 'They
suffered little, considering the exposure' (or that they were badly
exposed). 'Judging from the lengthy notes used by them, the occasion
was deemed of great importance.' T h e absolute present participle
in such clauses of condition has become quite c o m m o n where
the subject is indefinite, as in these examples. W h e r e the reference
is indefinite, infinitive, gerund, and participle are often without
an expressed subject. Compare 31 2.
Because the subject is indefinite, the absolute participle is
c o m m o n in two other categories in clauses of concession and
in clauses of cause: 'Even granting the best intentions on his part
(or that he had the best intentions; concession), his conduct was
productive of mischief.' 'The roads in Guernsey are good, which
is not to be wondered at, seeing the abundance of granite' (or that
there is an abundance of granite; cause). C o m p a r e 32 2 and 30 b
(3rd par.).
Like the present and the past participle in 3 A c, p. 155, the pres-
ent participle here stands before a noun or a clause, but it has not,
as in the case of these participles, developed into a preposition
or a conjunction. There has been no change here in the word-
order. It stands before its object like other present participles,
and w e still feel it as a present participle, only it is used absolutely
without a subject expressed or understood. W e feel that there
is no need of a subject, as the reference is indefinite. Compare
32 2 and 30 b (3rd par.).
In a number of cases an adjective present participle with its
accusative or prepositional object often becomes detached from
nouns and for convenience of expression is attached to a verb,
thus becoming a preposition: ' H e m a d e m e a communication
concerning (adjective participle) m y friend,' but 'He communicated
with m e concerning (preposition) m y friend.' 'A peculiar effect
owing (adjective participle) to the presence of light,' but 'Owing
to (preposition) unfavorable weather I w a s unable to proceed.'
Thus have arisen also the prepositions regarding, touching, in-
cluding, etc. C o m p a r e 62 (5th par.).
Thus the detached, 'dangling' or 'hanging,' participle has
become established here and there in certain categories. It is
found also in a few set expressions: 'The vote of condolence w a s
passed standing.' 'Beginning with the July number, it is intended
materially to widen the scope of this Quarterly' (Oxford and
160 ABSOLUTE PARTICIPLES 17 4

Cambridge Review). ' Talking of subscriptions, here is one to which

your lordship m a y affix your name.' In general, however, al-
though occasionally found in good authors, it is felt as slovenly
English in spite of its frequency in colloquial speech: 'Being not
yet fully grown, his trousers were too long.' In older English,
the dangling participle was more widely used than today. It
was employed even by careful writers where it cannot now be
used: 'In their meals there is great silence and grauitie, vsing wine
rather to ease the stomacke then (now than) to load it' (John Lyly,
Euphues and His England, Works, II, p. 194, A.D. 1580).
 CHAPTER IX
CLASSES OF SENTENCES
18. Sentences are divided according to their structure in
three classes simple, compound, and complex. A simple sen-
tence contains but one independent proposition. A compound
sentence contains two or more independent propositions. A
complex sentence contains one independent proposition and one
or more subordinate clauses. As the simple sentence has already
been discussed there remain only the compound and the complex
sentences to be treated.

THE COMPOUND SENTENCE

CONNECTIVES
PAGE
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS 161
Copulative 162
Disjunctive 166
Adversative 167
Causal 168
Illative 168
Explanatory 168
P R O N O U N S A N D A D V E R B S U S E D AS CONJUNCTIONS . . 170
PARATAXIS 170
19. The compound sentence consists of different independe
propositions or members. These members may be two or more
simple sentences, or one member may be a simple sentence and
the others complex sentences, or there may be any combination
of simple and complex sentences. These members are usually
connected in the following ways:
1. Coordinating Conjunctions. The members are connected by
coordinating conjunctions. The commonest are and, or, but, for:
' John is in the garden working and Mary is sitting at the window
reading.' The members of a compound sentence, however, are
not always thus complete, each with subject andfiniteverb, for
a natural feeling for the economy of time and effort prompts us,
wherever it is possible, to contract by employing a common verb
for all members, so that the conjunctions connect only parts of
like rank: not 'John is writing and Mary is writing,' but 'John
and Mary are writing,' or 'John and Mary are both writing,'
161
162 COPULATIVE COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS 19 1 a

or 'Both John and M a r y are writing.' 'I bought paper, pen, and
ink.' 'John writes fast but neatly.' Care must be taken in con-
tracting w h e n one subject is used with two different verbs each
of which stands in a different compound tense: 'All the debts
have been or will be paid,' or 'All the debts have been paid or will
be,' but not 'All the debts have or will be paid.' Sentences con-
taining these conjunctions, however, are often not an abridgment
of two or more sentences, but a simple sentence with elements of
equal rank, connected b y a conjunction: 'The King and Queen
are an amiable pair.' 'She mixed wine and oil together.'
Coordinating conjunctions also link together subordinate clauses
of like rank: 'The judge said that the case was a difficult one and
that he would reconsider his decision.'
Besides the pure connectives mentioned in 1, p. 161, there are
m a n y adverbs which perform not only the function of an adverb
but also that of a conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions and
conjunctive adverbs m a y be divided into the following classes:
a. C O P U L A T I V E , connecting t w o m e m b e r s and their meanings,
the second m e m b e r indicating an addition of equal importance,
or, on the other hand, an advance in time and space, or an inten-
sification, often coming in pairs, then called correlatives: and;
both and; equally and; alike and; at once and; not
nor (or neither, or and neither); not (or never) not (or nor) . . .
either (or in older English, and still in popular speech, neither);
a positive or negative proposition and nobody (or not, or nor, \
or in older English, ne instead of nor) . . . either (or in older
English, and still in popular speech, neither, or both words may
be suppressed); in elliptical sentences where the subject or finite
verb is expressed in only one m e m b e r and understood elsewhere
no (or not, or never) or (or often nor w h e n it is desired to call
separate attention to what follows and thus emphasize); not
no more, employed w h e n it is desired to repeat a preceding sentence
with a n e w subject, usually with inverted word-order and a
stressed subject after no more, but with normal word-order and
a stressed verb w h e n it is merely desired to corroborate a pre-
ceding negative statement; neither nor (now replaced after
a negative b y either or, but a little earlier in the period also
found after a negative), but in elliptical sentences where the
subject orfiniteverb is expressed in only one m e m b e r and under-
stood elsewhere w e sometimes still, as in older English, employ
here neither or, especially where there is no emphasis or contrast
involved; instead of neither nor sometimes in poetry a positive
first m e m b e r followed b y a second introduced b y nor, which im-
parts its negative force to thefirstm e m b e r ; neither nor nor
 19 1 a COPULATIVE COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS 163

(with three or m o r e m e m b e r s instead of t w o ) ; in older English

no(u)ther nor instead of neither nor; nor nor in poetic or
older English, n o w usually neither nor; neither neither, in
poetic or older English, n o w usually neither nor; ne ne, in
older English, n o w neither nor; not only but (or m o r e com-
monly but also or but . . . too); too; as well as or and as well;
also, and also, in older English also eke; moreover, and moreover;
and withal (= and moreover); as also or simple as (= moreover,
and likewise), especially in older English; again; later; further,
furthermore; besides; likewise, and likewise; even; indeed; let
alone, to say nothing of, not to say anything of, not to mention;
still more; still less (in older English also simple Zess) or much less;
in thefirstplace;first,firstly,secondly, etc.; finally; then (27 3,
last par.); first then; nownow; sometimes sometimes; at
times at times; partly partly; what with and what with
= somewhat (i.e., in part) on account ofand somewhat (i.e., in
part) on account of, often with elliptical form, what with and,
or instead of this elliptical form others, often what between
and (a loose colloquial a n d popular blending of what with and
and between and) a n d sometimes what of and; on the one
hand on the other (hand); at least, etc.
Examples:
H e can both sing and dance.
i'* H e can sing and dance both.
This he published in 1779, a performance in one so young equally sur-
prising and admirable.
H e went to sleep alike thankless and remorseless.
The book is alike agreeable and instructive.
The Prime Minister was at once detested and despised.
I a m not obliged to tell everybody, nor (or neither) a m I obliged to
keep it a secret.
John was not there; nor was James (or neither was James, or and
neither was James, or and James was not either).
'I a m not fond of parties.' 'I a m not fond of them either' (or Nor I
either).
C L A U D . I did never think that lady would have loved any man.
L E O N . No, nor I neither (Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, II, in,
98) (now nor I either).
You see the little beggar's never been to church before. I don't go in
town neither (now usually either), but I think it's right in the country to
give a good example (Thackeray, Pendennis, I, Ch. X X I I ) .
I a m going and nobody can prevent it either (or nor can anybody prevent
it).
At least, and at last, I was off the sea, nor had I returned thence
empty handed fStevenson, Treasure Island, VIII).
164 COPULATIVE COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS 19 1 a

It hasn't done m e m u c h good, nor anyone else either.

I don't deny it was a good lay and I'll not deny neither (popular language
for either) but what, etc. (Stevenson, Treasure Island, X X ) .
Then shall Cadwalhn die; and then the raine (reign) Of Britons eke
with him attonce shall dye; Ne shall the good Cadwallader, with paine
or powre, be hable it to remedy (Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III, in, XL).
I can get no rest by night or (or nor) by day.
H e is not brilliant or (or nor) attractive.
There was not a cat or (or nor) a dog in town that night that was not
given a w a r m shelter.
I want no promises, nor notes (more emphatic than or notes); I want
money.
I will not do it, nor consider it (more emphatic than or consider it).
I have never spoken or (or more emphatically nor) written to him.
'I can't m a k e out h o w it came about.' 'No more can I' (Mrs. Gaskell,
Wives) (or more commonly Nor can I).
' Harriet, m y dear, you've gone too far w e had no right to pry into
Mr. Preston's private affairs.' 'No more I had' (ib.) (or more commonly
I know I hadn't).
Neither she nor I saw him.
Some evils which neither he or (now nor) she foresaw (Sterne, Tristram
Shandy, III, VII).
I a m suffering neither from one or (now more commonly nor) from the
other (Trollope, The Duke's Children, 2, 140).
Great brother, thou (usually neither thou) nor I have m a d e the world
(Tennyson, Idylls of the King, The Last Tournament, 1. 203).
Neither duty, nor honor, nor gratitude has any possible claim on
him.
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty (Shakespeare,
Measure for Measure, III, i, 27).
There was no respite neither (now either) by day nor (now or) night for
this devoted city (Southey, Peninsular War, II, 131, A.D. 1827).
Nobody knows either him or his family.
Nor sun nor wind will ever strive to kiss you (Shakespeare).
It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world
to come (Matthew, XII, 32).
Ne is thy fate, ne is thy fortune ill (Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III,
HI, xxiv).
Atfifteenhe was not onlyfitfor the university, but carried thither a
classical taste and a stock of learning which would have done honor to
a Master of Arts (Lord Macaulay).
Not only the mother but also the children are sick.
'There is not only concision in these lines but also elegance' (or' but
elegance too') or 'There is not only concision in these lines, there is also
elegance' (or 'there is elegance, too').
I have promised to go. I a m going to do it, too.
It will be m y endeavor to relate the history of the people, as well as
the history of the government.
19 1 ffl COPULATIVE COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS 165

'He must irrevocably lose her as well as the inheritance,' or 'He must
irrevocably lose her and the inheritance as well.'
Some books are still written in Latin, and some scholars speak it.
It is also used in our time as the language of the R o m a n Catholic Church
(West, A Latin Grammar, p. 4).
Take this, and m y very best thanks also.
The wolf is hardy and strong, and withal one of the cleverest of animals
(or and one of the cleverest of animals withal).
Wherefore, that I might show them what kindness I could, as also
that I might have a full opportunity to observe the extraordinary Cir-
cumstances of the Children, and that I might be furnished with Evidence
and Argument as a Critical Eye-Witness, I took the eldest of them home
to m y House (Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences, T h e First Exemple,
Sect. XVII).
W e must abide our opportunity, A n d practise what isfit,as what is
needful (Ben Jonson, Sejanus, I, n, 172, A.D. 1603).
Again (often, as here, at the beginning of a paragraph, continuing the
discussion), m a n is greater by leaning on the greatest (Emerson, Trust).
'The attorney general further holds that,' etc. (Chicago Tribune, March
26,1925), or with greater emphasis, 'Further (or furthermore), the attorney
general holds that,' etc.
John dislikes m e ; he even told m e so.
The birds here are very numerous. Indeed, they often rise in a dense
cloud that hides the sun.
Not even dogs were unkind to him, let alone h u m a n beings.
The house is uninhabitable in summer, let alone in winter.
And the scare (of cholera) has produced a rigid quarantine that has
upset all commercial relations, to say nothing of (or not to say anything of,
or not to mention) the serious interruptions of passenger traffic (Bret
Harte, Letter to His Wife, Sept. 17, 1892).
It is scarcely imaginable h o w great a force is required to stretch, still
more break, this ligament.
I do not even suggest that he is negligent, still less (or much less) that
he is dishonest (Oxford Dictionary).
You never fought with any, Zesse (now still less, or much less) slew any
(Ben Jonson, Magnetic Lady, III, in, A.D. 1632).
W e played a little while longer; then w e went home.
First think, then act.
What with his drinking and what with his jealousy (or what with his
drinking and his jealousy), he wore himself out.
' What between the trenches and alarms w e never have a m o m e n t to
ourselves.' The what should be suppressed here.
What of Excise Laws and Custom Laws and Combination Laws and
Libel Laws, a h u m a n being scarcely knows what he dares do or say
(Corbett, Cott. Econ., 108, A.D. 1823).
M y interests at present are twofold: on the one hand m y flowers
claim m e early in the morning, on the other (hand) I a m absorbed in
language studies the rest of the day.
166 DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTIONS 19 16

H e is very poor, at least he has not the wherewithal to buy proper

clothes for his wife and family.

b. DISJUNCTIVE, connecting two members but disconnecting

their meaning, the meaning in the second m e m b e r excluding that
in thefirst:or, in older English also either or outher ( = or) and
in questions whether or with the force of simple or; or . . .
either; either or; either or or (with three or m o r e members
instead of two); or or, in older English a n d still in poetry, in
older English also other or; other other, outher or, outher
outher else, either either; the disjunctive adverbs else, otherwis
or or, or or else, in older English outher else.
T h e employment of whether here as a conjunction in older Eng-
lish is explained b y its original use as a n interrogative pronoun
with the force of which of the two: ' Whether is greater, the gold
or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?' (Matthew, X X I I I , 17).
Examples of its later use as a conjunction are given a m o n g the
examples below.

Examples:
Is he guilty or innocent?
Can thefigtree, m y brethren, bear olive berries? either (now or) a
vine, figs? (James, III, 12).
Pray, Sir, whether (now suppressed) do you reckon Derrick or Smart
the better poet? (Boswell, Life of Johnson, IV, 159).
Whether then (both words now suppressed or replaced by Say), Master
T o m m y , do you reckon it more honest to use your own faculties or those
of others? (Punch, 1872, Vol. I, III).
If John said so or William either, I could believe it.
Either he or I must go.
A narrative has to do with a narration of events, either past, present,
or to come.
At different times the American government has been carried on without
the cooperation of the Vice-President. Either he has resigned through
ill-health, or has died while in office, or has succeeded to the presidency.
Alike or when or where they shone or shine, or on the Rubicon or on the
Rhine (Pope, Essay on Man, IV, 245-246).
This idle sort . . . which hitherto other (now either) poverty hath
caused to be thieves, or else n o w be other (now either) vagabonds or idle
serving m e n and shortly will be thieves (Sir Thomas More, Utopia, 58).
No, no, Eubulus, but I will yield to more than either I a m bound to
grant, either (now or) thou able to prove (John Lyly, Euphues, 193).
H e cannot be in his right senses, else (or otherwise, or or, or or else
he would not make such wild statements. Compare 31 1 d dd.
Seize the chance, else (or otherwise, or or, or or else) you will regret i
Compare 31 1 d bb.
 19 1 C ADVERSATIVE CONJUNCTIONS 167

Either or often has the force of both and: 'John is as steady as either
Henry or William.'

c. ADVERSATIVE, connecting two members, but contrasting

their meaning: but, but then, only ( = but, but then, it must however
be added that), still, yet, and yet, however (in older English howso-
ever, surviving in dialect as howsumever, howsomdever), on the other
hand, again, on the contrary, conversely, rather, notwithstanding,
nevertheless (replacing older nath(e)less), none the less (replacing
older not the less), all the same, though, after all, for all that, at th
same lime; and withal, yet withal, or but withal ( = at this same
time, for all that, notwithstanding); in the meantime, meanwhile,
etc.; in older English howbeit ( = yet; see Mark, V , 19).
Examples:
H e is small but strong.
The commander-in-chief has not been quite successful, but then he has
essayed a difficult task.
H e wanted to take precedence of all the Lowland gentlemen then
present, only m y father would not suffer it (Scott, Waverley, Ch. X V ) .
H e makes good resolutions, only he never keeps them.
She is devilish like Miss Cutler that I used to meet at D u n d u m , only
fairer (Vanity Fair, I, Ch. IV).
She has wronged me, and yet I wish to do her justice.
' I want to go very much; still (conjunction) I do not care to go through
the rain'; but still is an adverb in 'It is raining still.'
'I miss himyjyet I a m glad he went'; but yet is an adverb in 'It hasn't
quit raining yet.'
'The studio contained some armor and pottery of no special value.
There was, however, afineold cabinet at the end of the room' (or ' There
was a fine old cabinet at the end of the room, however,' or 'However,
there was afineold cabinet at the end of the room').
Miss Raeburn's dress was a cheerful red, verging on crimson. Lady
Winterbourne, on the other hand, was dressed in severe black.
Charles is usually cheerful; sometimes, again, he is very despondent.
I have not nearly done. On the contrary, I have only just begun.
Very free word-order is possible only in inflected languages. Con-
versely, absolutefixedorder occurs only in languages devoid of inflection.
The old m a n is no coward; rather, he is a m a n of high spirit.
I denied myself everything. Notwithstanding, the old skinflint com-
plained without ceasing.
H e is always chin-deep in debt. Nevertheless (or none the less), he is
always jolly.
The expression is ungrammatical; all the same it is a part of the com-
m o n tongue.
The sheep which w e saw behind the house were small and lean; in
the next field though (coordinating conjunction) there were some fine
168 EXPLANATORY CONJUNCTIONS 19 1 /

cows'; but though is a subordinating conjunction in ' Though it never put

a cent of money into m y pocket, I believe it did m e good.'
In coming home w e got caught in the rain and became wet through
and through. After all I don't mind it, as w e had afinetime.
H e often loses his temper and can become unreasonable. For all that
we like him, as he has somefinetraits.
These persons are a moving mass of scarfs and furs and overcoats.
and shivering withal.
It (book) is very stimulating and sound to the core yet difficult
reading withal (James Gibbons Huneker, Letter, Aug. 23, 1900).
' H e confessed that his master was rather severe, but withal a good man'
(or 'but a good m a n withal').
H e was now undergoing many hardships. His brother in the meantime
was having an easy time.
d. CAUSAL, adding an independent proposition explaining the
preceding statement, represented only b y the single conjunction
for: ' T h e brook w a s very high, for a great deal of rain had fallen
over night.' C o m p a r e 30 a (next to last par.).
Although the independent causal proposition usually has de-
clarative form, it sometimes has the form of a direct question:
'I had n o twinge of compunction, for was this not fulfilment?'
(Ray Stannard Baker, Adventures in Contentment, C h . V ) .
e. I L L A T I V E , introducing an inference, conclusion, consequence,
result, namely, therefore (originally the same word as therefor,
but since A.D. 1800 differentiated from it in spelling and stress
in accordance with meaning), on that account, consequently, ac-
cordingly, for that reason, so, then, hence, thence (= hence, but not
so c o m m o n ) , etc.

Examples:
N o m a n will take counsel, but everybody will take money; therefore
money is better than counsel (Swift).
The factory was burned down last night; on that account (or conse-
quently) many workmen are thrown out of employment.
The thing had to be done. Accordingly w e did it.
There was no one there, so I went away.
'I a m here, you see, young and sound and hearty; then, don't let us
despair!' (or 'don't let us despair, then!').
W h e n the blood becomes viscous, it is difficult for the heart to pump
it through the capillaries. Hence the blood pressure increases.
A vast and lofty hall was the great audience-chamber of the Moslem
monarch, thence called the Hall of the Embassadors (Washington Irving).
/. EXPLANATORY, connecting words, phrases, or sentences and
introducing an explanation or a particularization: namely, to wit,
viz. (short for Latin videlicet, the z indicating a contraction, as in
19 1/ EXPLANATORY CONJUNCTIONS 169

oz. for ounce), that is (when it precedes, often written i.e., for
Latin id est), that is to say, or, such as, as, like, for example (often
written e.g., which is for Latin exempli gratia), for instance, say,
let us say.
Examples:
There were only two girls there, namely, M a r y and Ann.
A m o n g the building stones in N e w England three kinds are of especial
value, namely, granite, marble, and slate.
There is but one w a y of solving the difficulty namely, to publish
both articles.
' H e has an enemy to wit, his o w n brother' (or m u c h more commonly
'namely, his o w n brother').
There is now ample accommodation for them here, no less than five
hospital ships being available, viz. (or namely), Maine, Spartan, Nubia,
Lismore, and Avoca.
The play was flung on 'cold' that is, without an out-of-town try-
out.
A great deal of the forest of the West is on government land, and to
prevent it from being wasted, our government has set apart what are
called 'forest preserves.' That is, the forest is kept, or reserved, by the
government, so that no one can cut down the trees without permission.
M y wife suggested m y going alone, i.e., with you and without her.
The N a v y is thefirstline of defence; that is to say, it is not till the
Navy has been beaten that the shores of England can be invaded.
I passed some time in Poet's Corner, which occupies an end of one of
the transepts, or cross aisles, of the Abbey.
She possessed certain definite beauties, such as (or simple as, or like)
her hair.
The mistletoe grows on various trees, such as oaks, poplars, birches.
Michael, who all the time was dreading m a n y unfortunate events, as
for the cabman to get down from his box and quarrel about the fare,
or for the train to be full, or for Stella to be sick during the journey
(Mackenzie, Youth's Encounter, Ch. V ) .
The drama of literary moralizing is growing increasingly, as witness
the plays by M r . Shaw, M r . Barker, M r . Galsworthy (Bookman).
She gave m e a good deal of miscellaneous information, as that William's
real name was M r . Hicking (J. M . Barrie, The Little White Bird, Ch. VIII).
W e designate odors by the objects from which they come, e.g., violet,
orange, etc.
Such changes in the level of the land are even n o w in progress in m a n y
places, though the process is so slow that usually years, and even cen-
turies, must pass before the changes become evident. For instance (or
for example), the land along the coast of N e w Jersey is sinking at the rate
of about two feet a century, while that around Hudson B a y is rising.
I have often heard this pronunciation, for instance in N e w York.
Take a few of them, say a dozen or so.
Any country, let us say Sweden, might do the same.
170 PARATAXIS 19 3

2. Pronouns and Adverbs as Conjunctions. T h e connection

between the members m a y be m a d e b y placing at the beginning
of the sentence a stressed personal pronoun, possessive adjective,
or demonstrative pronoun or adverb referring back to the pre-
ceding proposition: 'In this crisis I have often thought of the old
home, of Father, of Mother. That was a good place to start out
in life from. Their life has always been an inspiration to me,
their example a sure guide. There at least in m e m o r y I shall still
often tarry. Them I shall often consult.' Demonstrative adverbs
are very frequent here. Examples of then so used are given in
1 a, p. 165.
3. Parataxis. Sometimes there is no formal link binding the
members together since the logical connection forms a sufficient
tie. U p o n close investigation, however, it will become clear that
such apparently independent propositions are not absolutely in-
dependent. O n e of the propositions often stands in some gram-
matical relation to the other, such as that of subject or object,
or in an adverbial relation, such as that of cause, purpose, result,
concession, condition: 'The best w a y is you ask the man himself
(subject clause). '"I am not sure of it" (object clause), he re-
plied.' 'Hurry up; it is getting late' (cause). 'They gave him a
large s u m of money; he was to keep still, you know' (purpose).
'The crops were very poor this year; the prices of food are high'
(pure result). '/ could have poisoned him (modal result) I was so
m a d to think I had hired such a turnip' (Mark Twain, Letter to
His Daughter Clara, Sept. 29, 1891). 'Let him talk (concession),
it'll do no harm.' 'Do it (condition), you'll never regret it.'
Such sentences represent an older order of things which was
once more general than now. In the earliest stage of the parent
tongue from which the various Indo-European languages have
come, there were no subordinating conjunctions as now, i.e., no
formal expression had as yet been found for the idea of subordina-
tion of one proposition to another. This placing of a subordinate
proposition alongside of a principal proposition without a formal
sign of subordination is called parataxis. T h e development of a
distinctive formal sign of subordination in the form of conjunc-
tions and relative pronouns hypotaxis, as it is called i s
characteristic of a later stage of language and belongs to the
individual fife of the different languages after the migration of
the different peoples from their original home. It has required
m a n y centuries to develop the present hypotactic forms, but
actual subordination, although without a formal expression, was
present at a very early stage of language growth, as can still be
seen in the old verbless type of sentence preserved in old saws:
19 3 PARATAXIS 171
Out of sight out of mind = ' If something is out of sight, it soon
passes out of mind.'
A n early stage of formal hypotaxis, asyndetic hypotaxis, i.e.,
hypotaxis clearly marked in thought and form but not yet indi-
cated by a separate word such as a conjunction or a relative, is
still quite c o m m o n in English in relative clauses that do not have
a relative pronoun: 'The book i" hold [it] here in my hand is an
English grammar.' In this old construction, of the two originally
independent sentences one of them, lying alongside of the other in
close relation to it, often even as in this example literally em-
bedded in it, is so markedly dependent logically and also formally
dependent by reason of its peculiarly abridged and close-linked
form that it is no longer felt as an independent sentence but as a
relative clause. Compare 23 II. A n imperative sentence that
precedes another sentence is often logically subordinate to it. It
often has the force of a conditional clause: 'Do it, you will never
regret it.' T h e imperative sentence often has the force of a con-
cessive clause: 'Let him be the greatest villain in the world, I shal
never cease to have an interest in him.' Likewise a question is
often degraded to a subordinate conditional clause: 'Is any among
you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms'
(James, V, 13). N o w usually without the question mark: 'Had
I the time, I would go.'
In general, the formal hypotactic stage was preceded by co-
ordination, the connection of sentences by pronouns, adverbs,
and coordinating conjunctions, as described in 1 a, b, c, d, e, 2,
pp. 162-170. Coordination often indicates a close relation between
two words or two propositions, the context frequently showing
clearly that one of these is subordinate to the other: nice and
warm = nicely warm. 'A little farther, and (= when they had gone
a little farther, a clause of time) they turned off to the left in the
direction of an olive orchard' (Wallace, Ben Eur, VIII, Ch. VIII).
'Give him an inch, and ( = if you give him an inch, a clause of con-
dition) he'll take a mile.' ' Y o u should try and be reasonable' (= to
be reasonable, an abridged infinitive clause in the object relation).
'You will come and see us, won't you?' ( = to see us, an abridged
adverbial infinitive clause of purpose). 'Go and fetch them for me'
= 'Go fetch me them' (Genesis, X X V I I , 13), an adverbial infini-
tive clause of purpose containing an old simple infinitive, once
more c o m m o n here. 'You have been and moved my papers!'
{Concise Oxford Dictionary) = 'You have been to move my papers,'
the old infinitive of purpose construction described in 7 D 3 =
'You have been moving m y papers!' 'Can you touch pitch and
not be defiled?' (= without being defiled, a gerundial clause of result
172 PARATAXIS 19 3

Instead of an infinitive clause of result (38 2 b ee, 4th par.), as

in 'If you are not more careful, you are going to lose your knife,'
w e often employ a coordinated proposition: ' W h y did I have to
go and lose my rifle?' (Victor Appleton, Don Sturdy among the
Gorillas, C h . X I X ) . 'I cannot keep these plants alive and I have
watered them well, too' ( = although I have watered them well, an
adverbial concessive clause). In older literary English, an in-
dependent proposition which is coordinated by and to a preceding
independent proposition is often used instead of a dependent
relative clause: 'A good m a n was ther of religioun, And was a
poure persoun of a town' (Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, Prologue, 477)
(= who was a poor parson of a town). Coordination instead of a
dependent relative clause is still widely used in Irish English
dialect, as illustrated below.
A s can be seen by the above examples, coordination with and,
though a very old construction, is still in colloquial and popular
speech often more c o m m o n than the hypotactic form of statement,
which in general is n o w more c o m m o n in accurate literary lan-
guage. In popular Irish English every possible kind of subordina-
tion is expressed by connecting two propositions by and. That
the proposition following and is n o w felt as subordinate is fre-
quently shown by putting it in the old appositional type (6 B o)
without afiniteverb, the regular form in Irish English for every
subordinate clause: 'What w a y wouldn't it be w a r m , and it (i.e.,
the sun) getting high up in the South?' (J. M . Synge, The Well of
the Saints, p. 1) (causal clause). 'I'm told it's a great sight to
see a m a n hanging by his neck; but what joy would that be to
ourselves, and we (an old blind couple) not seeing it at all' (ib.,
p. 10) (conditional clause). 'Is it a niggard you are grown to be,
M c D o n o u g h , and you with riches in your hand?' (Lady Gregory,
McDonough's Wife) (concessive clause). 'Ah, what sort at all
are the people of the fair, to be doing their bargaining and she
being stark (i.e., lying dead) and quiet!' (ib.) (temporal clause).
'Did you not hear his reverence, and he speaking to you now?'
(J. M . Synge, The Well of the Saints, p. 79) (relative clause).
This appositional type of clause after and was a c o m m o n con-
struction in Gaelic. Hence it became thoroughly established in
early Irish English, for Irish expression was influenced here not
only by Gaelic but also b y literary English, which at this time
had the same construction: 'What mortall fools durst raise thee
to this daring, and I alive!' (Beaumont and Fletcher, The Maids
Tragedie, IV, i, 70, A.D. 1622) (= while I am alive). 'Because we
could not free Captain Hawkins and other voluntaries of what
they had done, w e were to send a small present to Monsieur
19 3 PARATAXIS 173

D'Aulnay in satisfaction of that, and so all injuries and demands

to be remitted and so a final peace to be concluded1 (Winthrop,
Journal, Sept. 20, 1646) (= that thus all injuries and demands might
be remitted and a final peace be concluded, purpose clause). It
occurs sometimes still in literary English: 'If it is miserable to
bear when she is here, what would it be, and she away?' (Dickens,
David Copperfield,Ch. X V I ) (= if she were away). 'Think, while
we sit In gorgeous p o m p and state, gaunt poverty Creeps
through their sunless lanes, and with sharp knives Cuts the w a r m
throats of children stealthily And no word said' (Oscar Wilde, The
Duchess of Padua, Act II) (= without a word being said, a gerundial
clause of result).
The older construction of coordination cannot as accurately as
hypotaxis give expression to m a n y fine shades of meaning required
in exact thinking, but it is by reason of its simple directness often
more forceful than the younger, more exact construction of hypo-
taxis, and consequently is still, even in the literary language, widely
used in lively style. A n illustration of this is given in 2, p. 170.
Likewise the oldest construction here, parataxis, still has its dis-
tinct advantage in lively style with quick movement, as in old saws,
imperative sentences, and questions as illustrated by the examples
given on opposite page. In lively description, although the sen-
tences are as elsewhere more or less connected logically, hypotaxis
plays an inconspicuous r61e. O n the one hand, parataxis is the
favorite where the m o v e m e n t is rapid, as in / came, I saw, I
conquered. O n the other hand, coordination is in place where
different objects are presented for the sake of making the picture
more impressive, or different activities are described separately
in their natural sequence in order to depict the march of events
in a stately or impressive w a y : ' W e have ships, and m e n , and
money, and stores' (Webster). 'And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell; and great was the fall of it' (Matthew, VII, 27). Again,
coordination is m u c h more expressive w h e n there is feeling to be
conveyed: ' Three thousand years and! the world so little changed!'
(Thoreau, Journal, I, p. 31); more expressive than hypotactic:
'Although three thousand years have passed since Homer's times,
the world has changed very little.'
O n the other hand, parataxis is often loose and clumsy and for
a long time has been yielding to hypotaxis, which expresses our
thought more compactly and conveniently. In 26 in the descrip-
tion of the development of the clause of place introduced by the
conjunction where w e have an apt illustration of the compactness
of hypotaxis as against the looseness of parataxis.
 CHAPTER X

THE COMPLEX SENTENCE

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
PAGE
THE FULL SUBORDINATE CLAUSE WITH FINITE
VERB 174
Grammatical function 174
Subject clause 175
Predicate clause 175
Attributive adjective clause 175
Object clause 175
Adverbial clause 175
Form 175
Position 175
THE ABRIDGED SUBORDINATE CLAUSE WITHOUT
FINITE V E R B 176
Elliptical clause 180
20 1. Complex Sentence, Function, and Form of Subordi-
nate Clauses. T h e complex sentence consists of a principal clause
and one or more subordinate clauses. This is true, however,
in only a general sense. In an exact sense there is often no
principal clause at all: 'Whoever comes will be welcome.' Here
one of the essential elements of the sentence, the subject, has
the full form of a subordinate clause, but there is no principal
clause in the sentence distinct from the subordinate clause. The
so-called principal clause is merely the predicate. N o t only an
essential element but also a subordinate element can have the
form of a clause: 'I have heard that he has come.' Here the
object has the form of a clause, an object clause. The sub-
ordinate clause m a y also be merely a modification of some word
within one of the component elements of the sentence: 'The
book which I hold in my hand is an English grammar.' Here the
clause is not the subject but only a modifier of it, hence is an
adjective clause.
According to their grammatical function, subordinate clauses
are'1divide^'~tntcr~subject," predioatepadjeetive, object," adverbiaT
clauses. These clauses may_bereduced to three if w e divide them
according to the part ol speech which^hTyl^present: "{Tr^sw^
stantive clauses, i.e., clauses witKthe functions of a substantive,
" TTT ~
 20 2 POSITION OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 175

including subject, predicate, object clauses, and such adjective claus

"as represent a noun in the attributive relation of appositive, geni-
tive, or prepjositicu^"ph1rsLse, as described in 23 I; (2) adjective
clauses; (3) adverbial clauses.
Ttsu^b^cunate clause is usually employed tojndicate dependency
ofjEEoug^ proposition,
' or it modifies it or s o m V w o r d in it. TormaTIyTris' distinguished
by a distinctive conjunction or connective, such as that, when'
while^lvhere, who, which, etc.. or._where there is no conjunction
or connective, b y the slightness of the, pause before it and by the
quicker enunciation, as inJIljzAohijne^h^^ 'Give
mff'fheH5o15k~lLou hoIdUn your hand.' Often, however, the thought
in the subordinate clause is as^n^ejpjndent_as in the. principal
"proposition. l^bordinalSelJause form here is sometimes employed
tplndicate a close association with the act of the principal propo-
sition: 'I had scarceFFstepped out of the houle^^e^Tmdi^'tifig
a ql^fifiL^association of the two acts than then) I heard, a shot
within.' Sometimes it expresses a"~cbn^rastT"3Srie^1s ..diligent,
while (or whereasj~he isTazy? Frequently Jt is [Link]
as~a~convehlent means of joimng_one_independent_statement to
another: 'I handed it lb~~John! who (= and he) passed it on to
~James.' 'T)ne Tost" a leg7 another an arm, whMeJ^ and) a third
wasJMed outright.' WKUe'with the force q F a n d h a s become a
marked feature^ in recent journalistic language, but has not .^t
become establishecTin choice expression.
2. Position of Subordinate Clauses. A s each subordinate
clause which is not merely a modifier of some word within one
of the component elements of the sentence has a definite function
as if it were a simple word, its position in the sentence is regulated
byJfe.,MM^priagiple that determines Jhe position^of a simple
"word with the. same function and logical^ force....For. instance,
just as an emphatic noun subjecTstands at the end of the sentence,
as explained on page 4, ah "emphatic clause subject assumes the
end position: 'The best w a y is you ask the'mlm himself.' A
"subordinate clause m a y follow or precede the principal propo-
"sition: 'He stole m y watch while I was asleep' or 'While I was
asleep he stole m y watch.'
A subordinate clause often modifies, not the principal propo-
sition, but a"preceding subbrdina^cjause^'sbme element"lh~it,
the two subordinate clauses forming a complex~subor3Inate clause.
Tjatejone afternoon when I was in the garden near the end of the
vineyard, where there was a bird box, I suddenly heard the loud,
emphatic note of a bluebird.' In complex subordinate clauses
there is not always a succession of subordinate clauses as here,
176 ABRIDGED CLAUSES 20 3

but often one of the subordinate clauses is embedded in the other,

"ailllustH^" In 21^tast"par.}, 2 3 I I 6 a, 24 irT(iast parjT"
3. Abridged Clauses. T h e various kinds of subordinate clauses
are the result of a long development, and represent the active
efforts of the English mind in its countless practical struggles
for fuller expression to adapt from emergency to emergency the
available historical materials of the language to the more accurate
processes of thought that became necessary in its growing intel-
lectual fife. Alongside of these involved structures are simpler
forms of expressions which in theirfirstbeginnings belong to the
earliest stage of language growth. There is still preserved in
old saws a very primitive type of complex sentence which is verb-
less and conjunctionless and yet as complete in its expression
as a modern complex sentence with its highly developed hypo-
tactical form: 'Right or wrong m y country' = 'Whether the
cause be right or wrong, I shall stand b y m y country.' 'Better
dead!' (Galsworthy, The First and the Last, Scene III) = 'It
would be better if he were dead!' 'Out of sight, out of mind' =
'If something is out of sight, it soon passes out of mind.' These
sentences are forms of the old appositional type of expression
described in 6 B a. Today there is usually afiniteverb in every
principal proposition and in every subordinate clause, and the
latter is introduced b y a conjunction, but in these old sentences
there is no finite verb and no conjunction. T h e grammatical
relations are m a d e clear b y simply placing one part of the sentence
alongside of the other.
The particular forms of the old appositional type given above
are not n o w c o m m o n , but other forms of the old type of predica-
tion without afiniteverb have become general favorites in the
subordinate clause in the style of everyday practical life, where
their vigor and simplicity have a strong appeal. Their great
practical value w a s discovered centuries ago, so that n o w for a
long time they have been developing into convenient terser types
of easy expression alongside of the more intricate clause forma-
tions which w e employ in more formal and exact language. While
these simpler constructions are, in general, characteristic of collo-
quial speech, they are not at all confined to it. Their good qualities
are appreciated in every style. A few of these constructions, as in-
dicated on page 177, are more c o m m o n in literary than in colloquial
style, for their compact form often becomes desirable there in
concise language. These simpler types of expression are treated
in the following articles alongside of the fuller and more precise
clause formations. They are given under the caption of abridg-
ment in the various kinds of clauses treated below and are often
20 3 ABRIDGED CLAUSES 177

elsewhere spoken of as 'abridged' or 'contracted' forms. Al-

though these abridged clauses are in their original form older
than the fuller clause structures and hence in a historical sense
cannot be said to be abridged from them, the terms 'abridged' or
'contracted' are not inappropriate, for the more compact structures
have long been intimately associated with the fuller, more involved
structures, and in contrast to their fuller form are n o w felt as
abridgments or contractions.
English has gone m u c h farther than the other Germanic lan-
guages in preserving these old forms and developing them into
types of expression capable of wide use. Particularly terse is
the predicate appositive participial construction, where the parti-
ciple and its modifiers form a n abridged clause in which the
participle is the logical predicate, and the subject of the principal
proposition is the logical subject, the clause as a whole indicat-
ing some adverbial relation, as time, cause, manner, etc., which
can be determined only from the connection, since this relation
is not formally expressed in the clause itself: 'Going down town
(= when I was going down town), I m e t an old friend.' 'Having
finished my work (= after I had finished my work), I went to
bed.' 'Being sick (= as I was sick), I stayed at home.' This is
the old appositional type of clause described in 6 B a. T h e
thought is not expressed accurately b y means of intricate gram-
matical form, but is merely suggested b y associating the parti-
ciple with the subject of the principal proposition. Compare
48 2 (5th par.).
T w o or more participial clauses can be coordinated, linked by
coordinating conjunctions or unlinked, but one of them cannot
now, as sometimes in older English, be replaced b y a clause with
afiniteverb: 'I haue reade of Themistocles, which (now who)
hauing offended Philip, the king of Macedonia, and could no way
(now being in no way able to) appease his anger, meeting his young
sonne Alexander, tooke him in his armes' (John Lyly, Euphues
and Atheos, Works, I, p. 303, A.D. 1580).
Sometimes the conjunction employed in the full subordinate
clause is used also in the abridged participial clause to indicate
more clearly the different adverbial relations, such as time, place,
cause, concession, condition, restriction an improvement intro-
duced in the sixteenth century: (concession) 'For lovers' hours
are long, though seeming short' (Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis,
842). (concession) 'One hears n o w and then of a serious-minded
Eastern girl who, though having grown up in the Eastern tradition,
distrusts the preponderantly feminine atmosphere of the woman's
college that has been chosen for her' (Olivia H o w a r d Dunbar in
178 ABRIDGED CLAUSES 20 3

Forum for Nov., 1923, p. 2049). (restriction) 'The inquiry, so

far as showing that I have favored my own interests, has failed.'
Such clauses are the result of a blending of the full and the abridged
clause. In the following sentence from T h o m a s Nashe's The
Vnfortvnate Traveller, Works, II, p. 220, A . D . 1594, it can be
seen h o w m u c h clearer the thought often becomes by the in-
sertion of the conjunction used in the full clause: 'The whelpes
of a Beare neuer growe but [when] sleeping.' Further illustrations
are given in 26 a, 27 5, 28 2 b, 28 3 a, 28 5 d, 29 1 A c, 30 b, 312,
32 2. This construction, though useful, has not manifested a
tendency to spread beyond the boundaries indicated by the ref-
erences just given.
A more accurate form of the old appositional type of clause
is the gerundial construction. Often a preceding preposition
indicates clearly the relation to the principal proposition: 'I
a m opposed to John's going to their house.' 'I was mortified by
her (or Mary's) treating him so unkindly.' T h e predicate of the
clause is the verbal noun, the gerund. T h e gerund without verbal
endings of any kind becomes a full verbal predicate, though in
fact a noun, by merely being placed as a noun alongside of its
dependent possessive adjective, or its dependent noun in the
genitive, or n o w often, as explained in 50 3, a dependent noun in
the accusative, which serves as its logical subject. T h e preposition
which precedes the abridged clause is the sign of subordination
to the principal proposition. If the subject of the gerund is the
same as that of the principal verb it is not expressed: 'I a m fond
of doing this.' Likewise if the subject is general or indefinite:
'There is a strong feeling in the ward against making him alder-
man again.' In older English, the subject of the gerund was
often expressed even though it was the same as that of the principal
verb: 'Since her (now suppressed) being at Lambton, she had
heard that Miss Darcy was exceedingly proud' (Jane Austen,
Pride and Prejudice, III, C h . II). Also elsewhere the gerundial
construction is a clear, accurate type of expression. A s subject
the gerundial clause precedes the principal verb; as object it
follows the verb, so that the grammatical relations are always
easily discernible. T h e gerund, as w e use it today, is one of the
tersest and m o s + convenient constructions in the language and
little by little has come into wide use. A n outline of its present
extensive functions is given in 50 3.
Verbal nouns often form with the genitive a clause of the
appositional type: 'After the king's death ( = after the king died)
m a n y changes were m a d e in the government.' 'You can easily
observe the decline of his mental power' ( = that his mental power
20 3 ABRIDGED CLAUSES 179
is declining). Here the genitive is the subject of the clause, and
the verbal noun is the predicate. T h e subject of the clause is
often implied in a noun or pronoun in the principal proposition:
'After the loss of his fortune (= after he lost his fortune) he had
change his manner of living.' This type is chiefly literary.
Abstract nouns often form with a genitive a clause of the
appositional type: 'I recognize the man's ability' ( = that the
man is able). 'I question the truth of the statement' ( = whether
the statement is true). Here the genitive is the subject of the
clause, and the abstract noun is the predicate with the force of
a predicate adjective. Chiefly literary.
A widely used appositional type of clause is the infinitive con-
struction. T h e infinitive without verbal endings of any kind
becomes a full verbal predicate, though originally a noun, b y
merely being associated with some noun or pronoun near it:
'I hope to finish the work this evening' = 'I hope that I may
finish the work this evening.' T h e subject of the infinitive to
finish is implied in I, the subject of the principal proposition.
A brief history of the development of the infinitive construction
into a convenient n e w type of subordinate clause is given in 49 2 a.
Also the form of the subject of the infinitive is discussed there.
A n outline of the present extensive use of the infinitive is given
in 49 4.
Another form of the appositional type of clause is the absolute
nominative construction described in 17 3 A , B , C , D .
Not unlike the preceding forms of the appositional type of
clause is the use of a prepositional phrase as a clause: 'He put
on his socks with the wrong side out' ( = so that the wrong side was
out). 'Even with conditions unfavorable ( = even though the conditions
were unfavorable) he would succeed.' 'He said it with tears in his
eyes' ( = at the same time that tears were in his eyes). T h e first
noun in each prepositional phrase is the subject of the abridged
clause; the adverb, adjective, or prepositional phrase after the
subject is the predicate; and the introductory preposition is the
sign of subordination to the principal verb.
The old objective predicate construction described in 15 III 2
and 15 III 2 A is still a widely used form of the appositional type
of clause: 'He got the machine to running.' = ' H e got the m a -
chine so that it ran.' 'She boiled the egg hard.' = 'She boiled
the egg that it became hard.' 'The President m a d e him a general.'
= 'The President disposed so that he became a general.' Here
the object of the principal verb serves also as the subject of the
subordinate clause. T h e predicate of the clause is a prepositional
phrase, an adjective, a participle, or a noun. Compare 28 5 d
180 ELLIPTICAL CLAUSES 20 3 a

(next to last par.), 4 8 2 (2nd a n d 3rd parr,). T h e construction

is c o m m o n in all styles.
a. E L L I P T I C A L C L A U S E S . In contrast to abridged clauses are elliptical
clauses, which have the same structure as full clauses, only that the finite
verb is suppressed: 'She is regarded more highly than he [is regarded].'
In an abridged clause there is nothing suppressed that belongs to its
structure.
 CHAPTER XI
SUBJECT CLAUSE
PAGE
T H E F U L L C L A U S E W I T H FINITE V E R B 181
Conjunctions 181
Use and meaning 182
Examples 183
Omission of 'that' 186
Position and stress 186
Emphasis and attraction 187
T H E ABRIDGED CLAUSE 191
21. Conjunctions. The subject clause is usually introduced
by: that, in popular speech often replaced by as (27 2, 2nd
par.); sometimes because or in older English for that instead of
that when the subject clause contains a reason for an act or a
state of things; lest, after nouns expressing fear, sometimes still
as in older English used instead of that; after verbs of saying,
telling, relating sometimes how instead of that; but, but that, or
in colloquial speech but what, instead of the more c o m m o n that
after not improbable, not impossible, cannot be doubted; in older
English but, but that after it is odds ( = the chances are), n o w usu-
ally that; since, before, till, see p. 190; the indefinite relative
(23 II1, 2, 3) pronouns who (in older English also who that), that, as
(= who), who(so)ever, whoso (in older English), what (in older
English also what that), what(so)ever, whatso (in older English),
which, whichever; the indefinite relative adjectives which, what,
whichever, whatever; the indefinite relative adverbs where, when,
whither (in a choice literary style, usually replaced by where, or
often, especially in England, the more accurate where . . .to),
whence (in a choice literary style, usually replaced by where . . .
from, from where, or sometimes from whence), why (in older English
also why that), how (in older English also how that), whether (origi-
nally a pronoun meaning which of the two) or if; whether or
whether; whether or, used w h e n the second m e m b e r has its sub-
ject, or its verb, or both, suppressed; in indirect questions in-
troduced by interrogative pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, who,
which, what, where, when, whither, whence, why, how; in indirect
exclamations introduced by what a, how.
In substantive clauses subject, object, and attributive sub-
stantive clauses (23 I) indirect questions are a c o m m o n feature.
181
182 CONJUNCTIONS IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 21

Attention is called here to the examples of indirect questions given

below and in 23 I and 24 III, since their true nature has often
been misunderstood and false impressions have been spread by
the c o m m o n definition that 'an indirect question is a substantive
clause introduced b y an interrogative word.' B y 'interrogative
word' most grammarians m e a n the who, which, what, where, when,
why, how, or whether which stands in a substantive clause. These
words are a very old class of indefinites which have come down to
our time with their original force unimpaired in principal propo-
sitions and substantive clauses. A s pure indefinites they are still
widely used to introduce a substantive clause: 'It is not known
who did it, when he did it, how he did it.' T h e y are here called
indefinite relative (i.e., conjunctive) pronouns or adverbs. They
are interrogatives only w h e n they call for an answer directly or
indirectly. Direct question: 'Wnodidit?' A n indirect question
is an indirect w a y of asking a question, as in 'Tell m e who did it,'
or an indirect report of a question, as in ' I asked who did it.' These
forms never cease being indefinites. Their use as interrogatives
in direct and indirect questions is only a special function which
they often perform. In countless expressions, however, these
words, who, what, when, etc., are not interrogatives and have not
developed out of interrogatives, as is so often claimed. For in-
stance, in a sentence like ' I saw plainly who struck him' who indi-
cates that the identity of the person doing the striking was known
to the speaker but u n k n o w n to the hearer, so that it contains an
element of indefiniteness and is properly called an indefinite. It
is surely not an interrogative, as so often claimed, for there isn't
here the slightest suggestion of an interrogation. Similarly, the
conjunctions whether and if, often used to introduce an indirect
question, are also frequently employed merely to indicate indefi-
niteness, doubt, uncertainty as to the occurrence of an act: Indirect
question: 'I asked him whether (or if) he had seen it.' Mere
indefiniteness, uncertainty: 'I do not k n o w whether (or if) he has
seen it.' 'He has not yet said whether (or if) he will do it.' Til
go see whether (or if) he has returned.' C o m p a r e 23 I.
T h e idea of indefiniteness is also closely associated with inter-
rogative form of any kind and is often the chief element in it, so
that w e often in deliberative and speculative (23 II 1, last par.)
questions employ interrogative form merely to express indefinite-
ness, doubt, without any thought of eliciting an answer: 'Havel
a right to do this?' (deliberative question). 'Is he lying or telling
the truth?' (speculative question). Hence, instead of the usual
form of a substantive clause introduced b y an indefinite w e often
employ interrogative form: 'The thing I want to k n o w is what
21 EXAMPLES OF SUBJECT CLAUSES 183

(relative) I can do to improve my health,' or more graphically in

the form of a deliberative question, What can I do to improve
my condition? or more simply in the form of a noun, a means of
improving my health. ' T h e thing I want to k n o w is what (relative)
the cause of the disturbance really is,' or more graphically in the form
of a speculative question, What is really the cause of the disturb-
ance? Similarly, instead of a clause introduced b y the indefinite
whether or if w e sometimes employ interrogative form: ' She cast
about a m o n g her little ornaments to see could she sell any to procure
the desired novelties,' instead of whether (or if) she could sell an
etc. Often in popular Irish English: 'I stood outside, wondering
would I have a right to walk in and see you, Pegeen Mike' (J. M .
Synge, The Playboy of the Western World, Act I), instead of whether
(or if) I had a right, etc. 'Leave your hand off m e and open the
room door, and you will see am I telling you any lie' (Lady Gregory,
McDonough's Wife), instead of whether (or if) I am telling you any
lie. Compare 24 III c. W e often speak the clause introduced
by the indefinite if or whether with rising intonation, thus combin-
ing the indefinite with question form to emphasize the idea of
indefiniteness: 'He says I secretly do believe, but that I a m
perverse and fight against m y convictions. I wonder if I do?'
(Robert Hichens, Mrs. Marden, C h . V ) .
In substantive clauses indefinites and interrogatives both have
relative (i.e., conjunctive) force, serving as indefinite relatives and
interrogative relatives, but for convenience the t w o groups are
here distinguished as relatives and interrogatives. Relatives: 'It
is not k n o w n who did it, when he did it, how he did it, whether (or
if) he did it.' Interrogatives: 'I asked him who did it, when he
did it, how he did it, whether (or if) he did it.' T h e interrogatives
introduce indirect questions.
The subject clause usually has declarative form, but sometimes
it appears in the form of a c o m m a n d or a question: ' Our thought
has been "Let every man look out for himself" ' (Woodrow Wilson,
March 4, 1913). Examples of question form are given above and
on page 185.

Examples of Subject Clauses:

'It is best that he go' (or more commonly that he should go), but origi-
nally 'The best (predicate) is that: he should go,' where that is subject,
determinative (56 A ) pointing to the following explanatory appositional
clause.
It would seem to look at the m a n as he sat there that he had
grown old before his time (Mrs. Wood, East Lynne, I, Ch. 1).
That he was in error will scarcely be disputed by his warmest friends.
184 EXAMPLES OP SUBJECT CLAUSES 21

It's only natural as (popular form for that) I shudn't git things clea
at fust, seeing as you've kept m e in the dark this two month (Sheila Kaye-
Smith, Green Apple Harvest, p. 49).
The occasion (of his discontent) was, because he had bound himself for
divers years and saw that, if he had been at liberty, he might have had gre
wages (Winthrop, Journal, Aug. 6, 1633).
T h e deputy would not suffer them to come, neither did [he] acquaint
the governor with the cause, which was, for that Salem and Sagus had
not brought in money for their parts (ib., Nov., 1633).
The reason w h y I was alone in the mountains on this occasion was
because, for the only time in all my experience, I had a difficulty with
guide (Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, Ch. II).
M y only terror was lest my father should follow me (George Eliot,
Daniel Deronda, I, III, Ch. X X ) .
'Tis told how ( = that) the good squire gives never less than gold.
Is it probable that he will come today?
It is not impossible that (or n o w less commonly but, but that, or but what
I may alter the complexion of my play.
It could not be doubted that (or n o w less commonly but, but that, or
but what) his life would be aimed at.
It is odds when he spits but that (now usually simple that) all his teeth
fixe in thy face (John Lyly, Midas, III, II, 70, A.D. 1592).
It is odds but (now usually that) you touch somebody or other's sore plac
(Chesterfield, Letters, II, CLVII, 116, A.D. 1748).
T t is odds that he will do it' (Oxford Pocket Dictionary), now usually
'The odds are that he will do it.'
As in the last seven examples, it often points forward to the following
subject clause in both declarative and interrogative sentences, but in
questions which of the two, or in older English whether (as in Matthew,
IX, 5), points forward if the reference is to two clauses: 'Which of the two
is more probable, that he will come himself, or that he will send a substitu
Although that, or its substitutes how, or but, or but that are the most
c o m m o n conjunctions, the other connectives are not infrequent: 'Who
(relative pronoun) goes light travels fast' (proverb).
Who (or n o w more commonly he who, or in colloquial speech still more
commonly a man, fellow, woman who) does a thing like that cannot be
trusted.
Is there who (more commonly any one who) 'mid these awful wilds has
. . . heard . . . Soft music? etc. (Wordsworth, Descriptive Sketches, 340).
'Whom (now more commonly those) the gods love die young/ and in
older English after this model 'When Mm (instead of he whom) we serve's
away' (Shakespeare).
It is he that (or who) did it.
It is he that I am so anxious about (or about whom I am so anxious).
'Handsome is that (= he who; see 23 II 10 a, last par.) handsome
does' (proverb), or sometimes here the relative pronoun as instead
of that: 'Handsome is as handsome does' (De Morgan, Somehow Good,
Ch. VI).
21 EXAMPLES OF SUBJECT CLAUSES 185

There are that (now those that, or those who) dare (Shakespeare, Henry
the Eighth, V, i, 40).
'The question I want to ask is, Who (interrogative) is he?' (direct ques-
tion), or in the form of an indirect question who he is.
'The great mystery n o w is, who (relative) he is,' or more graphically
b the form of a speculative question, Who is he?
It is not k n o w n who (relative) he is.
Whoever (relative) calls must be admitted.
It is not yet k n o w n w!iM (relative) they did.
It has often been asked what (interrogative) I meant (indirect ques-
tion).
What (plural relative) have often been censured as Shakespeare's con-
ceits are completely justifiable (Coleridge).
What he says goes.
Whatever (relative) he talks on will prove interesting.
'Which course we are to take will be announced soon,' but where the
thought is more indefinite w e say ' What (or whatever) changes we make in
our plans will be announced later,' or a little more definitely, 'Whichever
of these three plans he approves will be the one w e adopt' (relatives).
'It is not yet k n o w n which, or what (relatives), road he took,' or 'which
(relative) of the roads he took.' 'It has often been asked which, or what
(interrogatives), road he took,' or 'which (interrogative) of the roads he
took.'
Where (relative adverb) he is weakest is in his facts (Concise Oxford
Dictionary).
'It is immaterial where or when (relatives) he goes,' but w h e n the relative
adverb becomes quite emphatic, the subject clause comes to the front,
so that the relative adverb m a y stand at the beginning of the sentence,
and the anticipatory it, of course, drops out: 'Well, where that rolling-
pin's got to is a mystery' (Compton Mackenzie, The Attar Steps, Ch. III).
It has often been asked where and when (interrogatives) he went.
'The most important question (or thing that concerns us) n o w is when
(relative) he will return,' or more graphically in the form of a speculative
question (23 II 1, last par.), When will he return?
It was a bond of union when I learned that he was friendless as I (Doyle,
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, p. 156).
It is not k n o w n where (relative) he came from.
It has often been asked where (interrogative) he came from.
It is immaterial why (relative) he did it.
It has often been asked why (interrogative) he did it.
It could easily be seen how (relative) he did it.
Is that how (relative) you look at it?
It has often been asked how (interrogative) he did it.
It is doubtful whether, or if (relatives), he is coming.
Thefirstquestion I put to him was whether, or if (interrogatives), he
would do it (indirect question).
It is immaterial whether (relative) he comes himself, or whether he sends
a substitute (or whether he comes himself or sends a substitute).
 186 POSITION AND STBESS IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 21 b

It has often been asked whether (interrogative) he will come himself,

or whether he will send a substitute.
It is not known whether (relative) he did it or not.
It occurred to m e what a nice stroke of business it would be to offer
services to them (Cosset's Magazine, May, 1894, p. 425).
How strong is the hold which universities and public schools toget
upon the English mind, to what an extent their influences dominate the
who in turn are entrusted with the administration of the country, m a y
judged by the following estimate (Escott, England).
The subject clause is sometimes complex, i.e., consists of a
principal and a subordinate clause, the one being embedded in
the other: ' W h a t the South wants above all things is just what
General Grant says let us have, and that is peace' (Henry Watter-
son, Editorial, N o v . 9, 1868). Here the principal clause of the
subject clause, General Grant says, is embedded in the subordinate
clause.
a. O M I S S I O N O F ' T H A T . ' A S in the original paratactic (19 3)
construction, that is still often omitted: 'It w a s natural they
should like each other.' ' There are, it seems, few people present who
are interested in this subject.' 'It is to be hoped nothing serious ha
happened.' T h e omission of that always takes place when the
principal clause is embedded in the subject clause, as in the second
example. Elsewhere, however, the that should not be omitted if it
is needed to keep the thought clear, i.e., to indicate the oneness of
the words in the subject clause and to maintain the integrity of
the group as a distinct grammatical element in contradistinction
to other elements in the sentence. It is especially needed when
the clause stands in the first place, but it is also often useful
elsewhere.
b. P O S I T I O N A N D S T R E S S . If a predicate noun or adjective is
emphatic it is often placed near the beginning of the sentence
after anticipatory it, is stressed, and pronounced with falling in-
tonation here indicated b y a period while the subject clause
stands at the end: ' It is at least a probability., or probable., that he
will come tomorrow.' If the subject clause is emphatic it stands
at the end, while the predicate word or clause is in the first
place, is unstressed, and is followed b y the verb, which is spoken
with rising intonation here indicated b y a raised period: 'The
probability is" that he will come tomorrow.' 'The fact is' he has
already come.' 'As she sat d o w n she took u p her yarn and needles.
It was a sweater, I think. W h a t matters is' that her hands moved
swiftly and deftly' (Meredith Nicholson, Lady Larkspur, Ch. II,
p. 56. T h e emphasis upon the subject clause the full or the
abridged clause is in writing often indicated b y setting the clause
21 C EMPHASIS AND ATTRACTION IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 187

off by a c o m m a or a colon: 'It seems to m e the idea of our civili-

zation, underlying all American life, is, that men do not need any
guardian' (Wendell Phillips, Harper's Ferry). ' Something must be
done to relieve congestion. That something is: widening the gates'
(Editorial in Chicago Tribune, Feb. 27, 1925).
The unemphatic predicate here is often situation it (7 C, last
par.): 'The queer part of it was that Miss Waters didn't seem
to be really mean. It (= the cause of her trouble-making) was
just that she couldn't mind her own business' (Fannie Kilbourne
in American Magazine, Sept., 1925). 'He used to grumble at his
ill-luck and his small bag. It (= the cause of his ill-luck) was not
that he lacked skill with his gun. H e was a good shot, but he
absolutely disregarded caution in stalking' (Ernest Brooks in
McClure's Magazine, Sept., 1925).
There is often an anticipatory this, which is spoken with rising
intonation, thus pointing forward to the following subject clause,
which is then usually without a conjunction: 'But the purpose
of this epistle is this': mother's having a few people in for dinner
before we go over to Lovell's dance; will you come?' (Edwin
Balmer, The Breath of Scandal, Ch. I, p. 6). 'Of course you can
see something has happened. It's this* Captain O r w y n has
been killed in the war' (Robert Hichens, Mrs. Marden, Ch. I X ) .
c. E M P H A S I S A N D A T T R A C T I O N . In accordance with the prin-
ciple described in 4 II C, w e can m a k e any noun or pronoun in a
sentence emphatic by making it formally the predicate of a sen-
tence introduced by anticipatory it. Of course, also a subject
can in this w a y be m a d e emphatic: Instead of '1 a m not marvel-
ous. Y o u are marvelous' w e m a y say: 'It's not 1 that am (in-
stead of the correct is) marvelous. It's y6u that are (instead of
the correct is) marvelous' (Arnold Bennett, Sacred and Profane
Love, Act I). T h e correct third person occurs sometimes: 'It is
not I that does it' (Cameron Mackenzie, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce,
Ch. III). 'Is it you that's going to be married, or is it Edith?'
(Shaw, The Doctor's Dilemma, 229). "Tisn't I that wants to spoil
your home' (Galsworthy, quoted from Jespersen's Modern Eng-
lish Grammar, III, 90, where there are other examples). T h e
correct third person was employed by Chaucer, and has long been
in limited use: 'It a m I that loveth so hote (hotly) Emelye the
brighte' (The Knightes Tale, 878). A s in the example from Ben-
nett, a peculiar attraction n o w usually takes place when the subject
or object of the subordinate clause represents the same person or
thing as the predicate noun or pronoun of the principal proposi-
tion. T h e emphatic subject of the principal proposition here
becomes formally an emphatic predicate, and the subordinate
188 EMPHASIS AND ATTRACTION IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 21 c

clause, which is really a subject clause, is construed as an attribu-

tive relative clause, so that only such relative pronouns can be
used here as are used in the attributive relative clause; and the
verb, if the relative is subject, must agree in person and number
with the false antecedent, the predicate of the principal proposi-
tion. Similarly, ' It is his searching questions that (or which) con-
fuse me,' instead of the correct what confuse me. If there are a
positive and a negative antecedent, the verb usually agrees with
the positive form: 'It is you, not /, w h o are afraid to pursue this
subject further' (Willa Cather, A Gold Slipper).
In questions, of course, the emphatic predicate here stands in
thefirstplace wherever it is an interrogative pronoun or adverb:
' Who is it that needs m e ? ' ' When is it that you need m e ? '
In Old English, a determinative (56 A ) often stood in such
sentences before the subject clause, pointing to it: 'Hwset is se
be be sloh?' (Matthew, X X V I , 68, A.D. 1000); literally, ' W h o is
that one there: [he] struck you?' In the King James Version the
English form of this passage is: ' W h o is he that smote you?'
Here he corresponds closely to Old English se. It is not a personal
pronoun, but a determinative serving as an anticipatory subject,
pointing to the following subject clause. This anticipatory sub-
ject indicates the sex. This type of expression is n o w little used
where it is simply desired to identify. In Old English, there was
another type of expression. T h e anticipatory subject was a neuter
form, and the subject of the subject clause was suppressed: 'Hwa
is past pe slog?' (Rushworth M S . ) = ' W h o w a s that struck you?'
A s can be seen by the translation, this old type of expression is
still c o m m o n in our colloquial language. W e n o w use the old
neuter that or the modern it in interrogative form, but regularly
it in declarative form: ' W h o was that just came in?' 'What's
that you say?' (Cameron Mackenzie, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce,
Ch. VIII). ' W h o was it told you that?' (A. Marshall, Watermeads,
Ch. II). 'What is it moves this body?' (Alfred Noyes, The Torch-
Bearers, p. 240). 'It was this infernal fellow completely upset me'
(Meredith, Rhoda Fleming, C h . X X I ) . 'Prothero (name) had
first set him doubting, but it was Benham's o w n temperament
took him on to denial' (H. G. Wells, The Research Magnificent,
Ch. III). 'But that is not it (now it is not that) I intend to speak o
here' (Hobbes, Leviathan, II, X X V I , 137, A.D. 1651). W h e n the
predicate of the principal proposition is a pronoun in thefirstor
second person, the verb of the subject clause is usually attracted
into the person and the number of the predicate pronoun, as in
the examples in thefirstparagraph, where the relative pronoun
is expressed: 'No, 'tis you dream' (Dryden, All for Love, I, i, 335,
 21 C EMPHASIS AND ATTRACTION IN SUBJECT CLAUSES 189

A.D. 1678). "Tis thou hast dragged M y soul, just rising, down
again to Earth' (Thomas Godfrey, The Prince of Parthia, II, VI,
A.D. 1765). T h e correct third person has long been in limited use:
' 'Tis I, sir, needs a good one' (Middleton-Rowley, The Spanish
Gipsie, III, n, 124, A.D. 1661). It has even become c o m m o n
in popular Irish English: 'Is it yourself has brought the water?'
(Synge, The Well of the Saints, Act I). 'Is it you is M a r y Doul?'
(ib.). 'Isn't it yourself is after playing lies on m e ? ' (ib.).
In the literary language the subject of the subject clause is n o w
usually expressed in this type: ' W h o was it just went out?' or in
literary form ' W h o was it that (or who) just went out?' 'What was
it that caused the disturbance?' 'What was it which Wulf had
recognized in Hypatia which had bowed the old warrior before
her?' (Kingsley, Hypatia, p. 193). 'Assuredly it was a daring
thing which she meant to do' (Marion Crawford, Katherine Lauder-
dale, I, Ch. VI). 'It was m y two brothers that (or who) were hurt.'
W e thus often use it even where w e point to persons, provided
the desire is to identify, as in the last example; but when the
desire is to describe, w e m a y say with Shakespeare 'It is a good
divine that follows his o w n instructions' (Merchant of Venice, I,
n, 15); or more commonly w e replace it here by a personal pro-
noun that indicates gender and number: 'He is a good divine w h o
follows his o w n instructions.'
The emphatic subject that has become a formal predicate for
sake of emphasis is often modified by a relative clause, so that
there are two relative clauses, thefirsta real relative clause, the
second in reality a subject clause: 'It is only w o m e n w h o live
alone that can k n o w what it is to yearn to have a man's strong
arm.'
The predicate noun m a y be m a d e emphatic in the same w a y as
the emphatic subject: 'What you see yonder is m y new hduse,' or
'It is m y n6w house that you see yonder.' Here, as in case of an
emphatic subject, the subject clause assumes the form of a relative
clause. Compare 4 II C and 22 a.
Also dative and prepositional objects and adverbial elements
may be m a d e emphatic in this way, but here the subject clause has
the regular form of a subject clause introduced by the conjunction
that, or without a conjunction: 'It was to you that I gave it,' not
'It was to you to w h o m I gave it,' as w e sometimes hear and read;
but where the predicate is a nominative 'It was you that (relative
pronoun) I gave it to' (or to whom I gave it). 'It is to you [that]
he objects' (Henry James, The Wings of the Dove, Book II, Ch. I).
'It is upon you that I depend.' 'It was Mn that the unexpected
turn in our affairs came,' or to emphasize the subject of the
190 REPEATED SUBJECT 21 d

clause: 'It w a s then [that] came the unexpected turn in our

affairs.' " T w a s then [that] C a m e h6rror, as to the House of
Mirth, again' (William E . Leonard, Two Lives, p. 32). 'It wasn't
this morning, it was yesterday that I saw him.' 'It was with great
difficulty that I got h i m to come along.' 'It was when I was a
mere lad that Ifirstm e t her.' 'Where is it [that] mothers learn
their love?' (John Keble). Instead of using that in the subject
clause, as in these examples, w e use since and before in sentences
containing an adverbial element indicating duration of time:
'It is (or has been) a long time since I have seen him' = 'I haven't
seen him for a long time.' 'It is (or has been) mdny months since
I have seen him.' 'It will be weeks before bis disappearance will
attract attention' = ' His disappearance will not attract attention
for weeks.' That is often employed here instead of since, usually
differentiated in meaning from it; the clause introduced by since
indicating that the action is past, the clause introduced by that
indicating that the action is still continuing: 'It is n o w four years
since I have studied this question,' but 'It is n o w four years that
I have studied (or have been studying) this question.' 'It is now
four years that I have meditated this work' (Byron, Marino Faliero,
Preface). In connection with ago, however, that indicates a point
of time in the past: 'It was four years ago that he died.' 'It is
four years since (simple since, not ago since, as is often spoken and
written) he died' calls attention to a period of time. In older
English, the subject clause w a s sometimes introduced by till or
until instead of before: ' It w a s not 16ng till (in England n o w usu-
ally before) he set about turning this n e w knowledge to account'
(Carlyle, Schiller). In the Oxford Dictionary this usage is repre-
sented as n o w confined, in England, to dialect, but to many
Americans till is still a c o m m o n form, often used alongside of
before. N o t only adverbs and adverbial phrases m a y thus be
stressed but also adverbial clauses, as illustrated in 22 a.
d. R E P E A T E D S U B J E C T . Sometimes still, as in older usage, there
stands in the principal proposition w h e n it is preceded by the
subject clause a personal pronoun, which points to the preceding
subject clause and in a word sums u p its contents, thus binding
the two propositions more firmly together: 'Whoever calls, he
must be admitted.' T o d a y the subject clause b y reason of its
distinctive form is so clearly felt as such that it is usually not con-
sidered necessary to indicate this relation b y the use of a personal
pronoun in the nominative pointing back to it. Where, however,
an emphatic compound subject, consisting of two or more full or
abridged clauses, introduces the sentence, it is customary to place
a that at the beginning of the principal proposition to point back
21 e ABRIDGMENT OF SUBJECT CLAUSE 191

to the preceding compound subject: 'To k n o w h o w others stand,

that w e m a y k n o w h o w w e ourselves stand; to k n o w h o w w e
ourselves stand, that w e m a y correct our mistakes and achieve
our deliverance that is our problem' (Matthew Arnold, The
Modern Element).
e. A B R I D G M E N T O F S U B J E C T C L A U S E . This clause can be
abridged to an infinitive clause with to w h e n there is some word
in the principal proposition which can serve as the subject of the in-
finitive or can indicate it: 'It is stupid of you to say it.' T h e sub-
ject is often implied in a preceding possessive adjective: ' It is my
earnest desire to do it.' 'My w a y is to act and let others do the
talking.' Provided the context makes the reference clear, the
infinitive can be employed even though there is no word in the
principal proposition that can serve as its subject: 'The great
difficulty [for us] n o w is how, or when, or where, to cross the river.
The infinitive with to can be used also w h e n the subject of the
clause is general or indefinite, in which case the subject is usually
understood: 'It is wise to be cautious.'
W h e n the infinitive has a subject of its own, w e introduce the
clause by for . . . to, putting the subject into the accusative and
placing it between for and to: 'For me to back out now would be
to acknowledge that I a m afraid.' 'All that I want is for somebody
to be thinking about me' (Arnold Bennett, The Glimpse). T o em-
phasize the subject of the infinitive w e often withhold it for a time,
placing it after the infinitive and inserting a formal anticipatory
subject, there (4 II C ) , after for: 'It is impossible for there ever
to be a conflict between our two countries.'
Thefo-infinitiveis old, but it was long limited in its develop-
ment since it could only be used w h e n there w a s some word in
the principal proposition which could serve as its subject, or w h e n
its subject was general or indefinite, as described above. Its com-
pact convenient form, however, w o n it favor, so that in the four-
teenth century there arose a desire to extend its boundaries, i.e.,
to use it with a subject of its o w n if there was no word in the
principal proposition to serve as its subject: 'It is no maystrye
for a lord To dampne a man withoute answere or word' (Chaucer,
The Legend of Good Women, 400) = 'It is no great feat for a lord
to condemn a man without answer or word.' T h e for + noun here
represents an older simple dative of reference, which, as illustrated
in 12 1 B a, is still sometimes used. This group of words with
the force of the old simple dative of reference is still widely em-
ployed: 'It was hard for me to understand him.'
Closely related to this dative is the dative of interest, which
was likewise a simple form in Old English, and is even sometimes
192 ABRIDGMENT OF SUBJECT CLAUSE 21 e

still used in its simple form, as illustrated in 12 1 B b. In its

modern form with for + accusative the dative of interest was
c o m m o n with Chaucer and is still m u c h used: 'It is bet for me
T o sleen myself than been defouled thus' (The Frankelyns Tale,
693) = ' It is better for me to slay myself than to be violated thus.'
Both the dative of reference and the dative of interest are sentence
datives and modify the whole sentence, but there is always here a
logical relation between the dative and the following infinitive,
so that the dative is often felt as the subject of the infinitive.
This led in Chaucer's time to the use of the modern dative, i.e.,
for + accusative, as the subject of the infinitive. T h e for + noun
in the quotations from Chaucer is still near a real dative, but
gradually the use of this form became freer, so that in time it
became c o m m o n to use for + noun or pronoun as the subject of
an infinitive w h e n there w a s no word in the principal proposition
which could serve as its subject.
Alongside of the infinitive with for . . . to there thrived in
this early period and for centuries afterwards a competing con-
struction, thefo-infinitivewith an absolute accusative as subject:
'Thanne (then) schal y (I) haue al that [it] is necessarie me to
knowe' (Pecock, The Donet, p. 93, A.D. 1449). This construction
arose under Latin influence, and followed the Latin quite closely:
'Forsothe it is lister heuene and erthe to passe' (Luke, X V I , 17,
Purvey's ed., A.D. 1388), corresponding to the Latin version,
'Facilius est autem coelum et terram praeterire,' later replaced by
'It is easier for heaven and earth to pass' (King James Version).
This construction was used not only b y scholars, but not infre-
quently also by literary m e n : 'It is a greet folye a womman to
haue a fair array outward and in herself [been] foul inward' (Chau-
cer, The Persouns Tale, 935). T h e simple accusative here has
disappeared from the literary language. A n accusative is found
here in popular speech, but it is of quite different origin, resulting
from the popular tendency to employ the accusative instead of
the nominative, which, as described in the next paragraph, was
once c o m m o n here: 'I felt as if it was a great compliment Mm
(for he) to come in friendly like and take a chair and talk to you
and m e ' (M. O. W . Oliphant, The Second Son).
A s the absolute accusative that arose under Latin influence was
foreign to native English expression, it w a s replaced in early
Modern English by the more familiar absolute nominative (17 3 B):
'I to bear this is some burden' (Shakespeare, Timon of Athens,
IV, in, 266), n o w 'For me to bear this is some burden.' This
construction has been supplanted in the literary language by
the competing construction of the infinitive with for ... to
21 e ABRIDGMENT OF SUBJECT CLAUSE 193

described on page 191, but it survives in popular speech. It is espe-

cially c o m m o n in popular Irish English: '[it is] A great wonder he
not to have come and this the fair day of Gal w a y ' (Lady Gregory,
McDonough's Wife). This construction w a s carried to Ireland
by British colonists in the seventeenth century, where it easily
became established in Irish English, as it corresponded closely
to Gaelic expression.
There is another infinitive construction with for to of entirely
different origin, whichfirstappeared in Old English, as described
in 33 2. T h e to of the infinitive originally indicated purpose or
end. A s in the course of time to had lost m u c h of its original
concrete force, for, with the same meaning, was placed before the
to to bring out more clearly in purpose clauses the idea of purpose
or end. But early in the thirteenth century the n e w double
form for to m e t the fate of simple to, i.e., lost its concrete force,
so that from this time on it was long used alongside of to without
the slightest differentiation as a mere parallel form in all the
categories in which simple to could be used, i.e., in subject clauses,
object clauses, etc.: 'And of swich thing were goodly for to telle'
(Chaucer, Prologue of The Nonne Preestes Tale, 13), n o w 'It
would be pleasant to tell such a thing.' A s this old use of for to
instead of simple to had nothing whatever to recommend it and
was even of positive harm since there was another for to with
different function, as described on page 191, it gradually in course
of centuries disappeared from the literary language. It lives on,
however, in popular speech: 'It's not manners for t'help oursel's'
(Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, Ch. X X V I ) .
The simple infinitive was often used here in older English.
See 4 d, p. 5. This older literary usage is still c o m m o n in Irish
English: 'It is best for you give in to their say' (Lady Gregory,
McDonough's Wife). Often also in all parts of the English-speak-
ing territory in colloquial speech: 'All she has to do is come here'
(George Ade, Hand-Made Fables, p. 19). In m a n y cases, however,
the simple infinitive is retained, since it is felt and interpreted as
an imperative. See 4 d, p. 5, for examples.
As in b (2nd par.) the sentence is sometimes introduced b y an
unemphatic predicate, situation it (7 C, last par.). T h e to of the
infinitive is in colloquial speech usually suppressed: 'I was no
match for him, It ( = the thing to do) was just dodge an' run for
me' ( A m y Lowell, Selected Poems, p. 180). This form is often felt
as an imperative, as can be seen b y the punctuation: 'It's tramp!
tramp! tramp! I've covered more mileage than th' mailman look-
ing for the lady in black' (Harold Teen Cartoon in Chicago
Tribune, Feb. 19, 1929).
194 ABRIDGMENT OF SUBJECT CLAUSE 21 e

The infinitive construction is often replaced b y the gerund:

' To have done one's duty (or Having done one's duty) is a great
consolation in misfortune.' ' To live near a large town (or Living
near a large town) is an advantage for a farmer.' T h e sentence
here is often introduced b y an anticipatory it, pointing forward
to the real subject standing at or near the end, which by being
withheld for a time, creating suspense, becomes emphatic: 'It
is dangerous to play with explosives' (or playing with explosives).
'It is no use, or of no use, or useless, to say anything, or for me,
or for you, or for Father, to say anything, or my, or your, or Father's
saying anything.' 'What use (or of what use) is it to say anything?'
' It w a s very strange for me getting a letter from him dated Had-
dington' (Jane Welsh Carlyle, Letter to Jeanie Welsh, Sept. 12,
1843) (or more commonly for me to get). 'My daughter's staying
so late worries me,' or ' The staying of my daughter so late worries
me.' T h e noun predicate in such sentences can become subject
without a change of meaning: 'There is no use (or no good)
(subject of sentence) in saying (or to say) anything' instead of
' It is no use (or no good) (predicate of sentence) saying (or to say)
(subject) anything.' T h e it and there constructions are often
blended: 'There is no use saying (or to say) anything.' Compare
4 IIC.
The regular subject clause with a conjunction followed by a
nominative subject and a finite verb is often replaced by the
old appositional type of clause described in 17 3 B , which here
consists of a subject in the absolute nominative followed by a
predicate in the form of an appositional adjective or participle:
'Things going right is to m e real poetry' (or is to m e poetical).
'It's not a bit of use you talking, I shan't wear it again' (Arnold
Bennett, Old Wives' Tale, II, Ch. II). 'It w a s no use men being
angry with them for damaging the links' (London Times, 1913).
In the last two examples the subject clause stands at the end for
emphasis. Other examples in 17 3 B.
T o m a k e room for an emphatic predicate adjective, noun, or
pronoun near the head of the sentence, this subject clause is
often put at the end with an anticipatory subject it at the begin-
ning: 'It is vilely unjust, men closing two-thirds of the respectabU
careers to women' (Sir Harry Johnston, Mrs. Warren's Daughter,
Ch. III). Often the subject of the participle is not expressed
but merely implied in the emphatic predicate of the principal
proposition: 'I do not say these things for a dollar, or tofillup
the time while I wait for a boat: it is y6u talking ( = who are
talking) just as m u c h as myself I act as the tongue of you'
(Walt W h i t m a n , Leaves of Grass, p. 89). 'It w a s always y6u
21 e ABRIDGMENT OF SUBJECT CLAUSE 195

teasing me' (= who teased me) (Eleanor Carroll Chilton, Shadows

Waiting, p. 57).
As in c, a subject clause here, such as in thefirstexample in
the second paragraph on page 194, m a y be converted into an em-
phatic predicate after it is: 'It is things going right that is poetical'
(Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday, Ch. I).
In the case of impersonal expression the subject clause here
as elsewhere has no real subject, only a mere formal subject it:
'It being Sunday complicates matters,' or in gerundial form 'Its
being Sunday complicates matters.'
 C H A P T E R XII

PREDICATE CLAUSE
PAGE
Conjunctions 196
Examples 196
Position and stress 197
Complex clause 198
Abridged clause 198
22. Conjunctions. The predicate clause performs the function
of a predicate n o u n or adjective: 'Serious trials are to the soul
what storms are to the atmosphere' ( = purifying agents).
T h e predicate clause is introduced b y who (= the man or boy,
woman, etc.), what, why, as, where (a), when (a), before (a), after (a),
because (a), that.
Examples:
'He was not who (now more commonly the man) he seemed to be,' but
regularly in the accusative relation He was not the man I took him to be.
Reputation is what we seem; character is what we are.
W e are not what we ought to be.
They looked what they were the sisters, the wives, the mothers of
strong m e n (Vachell, Quinneys', 42).
And this is why I sojourn here (Keats, La Belle Dame Sans Merci,
XII).
Things are not always as they seem to be.
That was where he failed (Oxford Dictionary).
That is where he lives.
N o w is when I need him most.
'This (or that) is what he meant' 'Is that what he meant?'
That is what we agreed on.
That sometimes introduces a predicate clause which explains a de-
terminative so that stands in the principal proposition: 'Yet so it is,
that people can bear any quality in the world better than beauty' (Stee
Spectator).
There is sometimes a that in the principal proposition, pointing
back as a demonstrative to a what in the preceding predicate
clause, a survival of older usage w h e n the propositions had more
independent force than today a n d needed to be more closely
finked b y demonstratives in order that the relation between the
m e m b e r s might be pointed out. T h e poet is fond of these older
196
22 a POSITION AND STRESS OF PREDICATE CLAUSE 197

more concrete forms of expression: 'What the leaves are to the

forest, That to the world are children' (Longfellow). Compare 26
(2nd par. under Examples).
In all the preceding examples the predicate clause is a nomina-
tive clause, predicated of a subject; but as it can be predicated
of an accusative object, it can be also an accusative clause: 'I
found it to be what I wanted.'
In 8 1 1 c it has been shown h o w difficult it often is to determine
whether the noun before the copula is the subject or the predicate
complement. It is also often difficult to determine whether the
clause before the copula is a subject or a predicate clause. T h e
general rule for determining the grammatical relations given in
8 I 1 c will prove useful also here: ' What he said (subject clause)
was a blessing to us all.' 'It matters little h o w a m a n dies.
What matters (predicate clause) is h o w he lives.'
a. P O S I T I O N A N D S T R E S S . Just as any noun, adverb, or ad-
verbial phrase m a y become an emphatic predicate by being
stressed and put into thefirstpart of the sentence after it is, so
m a y any clause become an emphatic predicate clause b y being
placed at the beginning after it is, followed immediately b y the
subject in the form of a that-clause: 'It was where we now stand
that w e parted.' 'It was when I was a mere lad that Ifirstm e t
her.' 'It was before her mother died that Ifirstm e t her.' 'It was
after her mother died that Ifirstm e t her.' 'It is only because I
regard it as absolutely necessary that I take such harsh measures.'
After a causal clause employed as an emphatic predicate, w e
sometimes instead of a subject clause employ an independent
statement introduced by adversative but, since w e desire to pal-
liate the deed: ' I k n o w it's because one is bad but the minute
one has to be grateful one isn't' (De Morgan, Joseph Vance,
Ch. X ) . Compare 4 II C (6th par.) and 21 c.
The principal verb is stressed b y putting it in an unusual
position, especially by forming a predicate clause in which what
is subject and the emphatic verb is predicate, in accordance with
a principle observable elsewhere that a verb inclines more to
stress in a subordinate than a principal proposition: 'Manners
are what (plural) vex or sdothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase
bdrbarize or refine us' (Burke). 'Truth is what hurts.' 'The
factories are what (plural) blacken up the city so.' This form is
also used to emphasize the subject, since it is a convenient device
to put the subject in an unusual position: 'That is what / think'
instead of '/ think that.' If, however, the emphatic subject is
a thought it can be put into a that-clause and placed at the end
of the sentence while an unemphatic predicate what-clause in-
198 A B R I D G M E N T O F PREDICATE CLAUSE 22 e

troduces the proposition, followed by the verb spoken with rising

intonation, here indicated by a raised period: 'What I a m glad
to hear is ' that he is fond of music'
0. C O M P L E X PREDICATE CLAUSE. The predicate clause is
often complex, i.e., consists of a principal proposition and a sub-
ordinate clause, the one being often embedded in the other:
'But that is not what I sent for you to tell you' (Robert Hichens,
Mrs. Marden, Ch. XII). Here the principal proposition of the
complex predicate clause, I sent for you, is embedded in the sub-
ordinate clause.
c. A B R I D G M E N T O F P R E D I C A T E C L A U S E . W e often use the
gerundial construction instead of a predicate clause with a finite
verb: ' That is hitting the nail on the head.' Prepositional pred
clauses are common: 'He seems about taking the step.' See 7 F
50 4 c dd.
 CHAPTER XIII

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

23. There are two classes the attributive substantive clause
and the attributive relative clause.

ATTRIBUTIVE SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSE

PAGE
PECULIAR N A T U R E O F CONJUNCTIVE P R O N O U N S , A D -
JECTIVES, A N D A D V E R B S I N T R O D U C I N G T H E C L A U S E 199
F O R M OF THE CLAUSE 200
Genitive clause 200
Introduced by 'what a' and indefinite relatives. . 200
Prepositional clause 200
Introduced by 'that' and by indefinite relatives . 200
Appositive clause 201
Introduced by conjunctions, interrogatives, and
indefinite relatives 202
ABRIDGMENT 202
23 I. An understanding of the nature of a direct and an in-
direct question is necessary to appreciate the form and meaning
of some of the examples of this clause given below. A general
description of the nature of an indirect question is presented in
21 and 23 II 1 (last par.). This subject is discussed also in 24 III.
The attributive substantive clause is often a direct or an indirect
question: ' W e hope you will answer in your next letter our oft
repeated question, How did you accomplish it?' (direct question),
or how you accomplished it (indirect question). T h e forms em-
ployed to introduce direct and indirect questions in attributive
substantive clauses are also used to introduce other attributive
substantive clauses, namely, indefinite relative clauses, where
there is not the slightest reference to a question or an answer,
as in 'His explanation of how (indefinite relative adverb) he
accomplished it (indefinite relative clause) is very interesting.'
There is, however, a close relation between these interrogative
and indefinite relative (21, 4th par.) forms. Both groups were
originally indefinites and still retain their original meaning. A n
interrogative is an indefinite that assumes the additional function
of asking information concerning indefinite relations. T h e inter-
rogative, however, never ceases to be an indefinite. Indeed, w e
199
200 ATTRIBUTIVE SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSE 23 1

often, instead of employing an indefinite relative, use the form of a

question, although w e do not expect an answer. Deliberative ques-
tion (23 II1, last par.): ' W h a t shall I say to him w h e n he comes?'
Speculative question (23 II 1, last par.): 'What could he have
meant?' O n the other hand, the question often loses every trace
of a desire for an answer, also every trace of indefiniteness, doubt,
and becomes declarative, expressing the idea of an emphatic
contrary assertion a rhetorical question: 'What's the use of
trying?' = 'There is no use in trying.' S o m e questions, such as
'What is the meaning of life?' are either speculative or rhetorical.
All the above shades of meaning appear in the attributive sub-
stantive clause: 'Next comes the question what you want it
for' (indirect question) or in direct form, What do you want it
for? 'The question often comes u p in m y mind what he wanted
it for' (indirect speculative question), or in direct form, What
did he want it for? 'The question often comes u p in m y mind
what I shall say to him when he comes' (indirect deliberative
question), or in direct form, What shall I say to him when he
comes? 'The question often comes u p in m y mind what the
use is of trying' (indirect rhetorical question), or in direct form,
What's the use of trying?
For the most part, attributive substantive clauses are apposi-
tional or genitive clauses, but a large number are prepositional.
A noun that modifies another noun or a pronoun is usually in
the genitive, but if the modifier is a full clause the most common
construction is the appositional, the clause lying alongside of
the governing noun or pronoun as an appositive: 'The hope of
his recovery is faint,' but 'The hope that he may recover is faint.'
The genitive clause, however, is often used w h e n the clause is
introduced by exclamatory what a or an indefinite relative pronoun,
adjective, or adverb. Objective genitive: ' H e soon gave proof of
what a wonderful leader he was.' ' O n e evening of each week was set
aside for the reception of who(so)ever chose to visit him.' 'I shall
m a k e note of whom copies are to be sent to,' or of to whom copies
are to be sent. ' I a m in favor of the purchase of whatever books you
may need.' ' W e can count on Father's sanction of whichever course
(or whichever of these courses) we may choose.' 'His description
of how he did it is interesting.' Partitive genitive: 'This gave us
a taste of what was to follow.' Possessive genitive: ' T h e force and
clearness of what was said depended so m u c h on h o w it was said.'
Appositive genitive:' W e are not investigating the question (= sub-
ject) of whether he is trustworthy,' or in the form of simple apposi-
tion whether he is trustworthy.
The prepositional clause is sometimes introduced by the
23 I ATTRIBUTIVE SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSE 201

conjunction that preceded b y a preposition and anticipatory it

as its object: 'There was no doubt about it that he took the money.'
Usually, however, prepositional clauses are introduced b y an
indefinite relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb: 'I haven't the
least interest in what he is doing, in what views he holds.' 'I have
little insight into what he is doing, into what motives are swaying
him.' ' W e have no definite information yet as to which route
(or which of these routes) he will take.' 'Can you give m e any in-
formation as to whether he will come, as to when he will come?'
Compare 10 I V a. T h e preposition is often omitted: 'She had
no idea [as to] why she thought of him thus suddenly,' or '[as to]
Why she thought of him thus suddenly she had no idea' (Galsworthy,
Freelands, Ch. VIII). 'I a m in doubt [as to] whether I should
buy or sell.'
The appositional clause is introduced b y different conjunctions,
or is sometimes without such introduction, and can, moreover, be
introduced by both interrogatives and indefinite relatives: 'The
thought that we shall live on after death in another better world
consoles many.' 'I'd a feeling as (popular for literary that) maybe
you cud give me,' etc. (Sheila Kaye-Smith, Green Apple Harvest,
p. 35). 'There can be no question (or doubt) that (or sometimes
but, or but that) she was lovely,' or in the form of a prepositional
clause, 'There can be no doubt about it that she was lovely.' ' W e
ought to discuss carefully the vital question (or problem) whether
(relative) we can do it or not,' or more graphically in the form of
a deliberative question, Can we do it? or more simply in the form of
the appositive genitive of a noun, of our ability to do it. ' I have
often asked myself the question whether (interrogative) I have the
right to do it' (indirect deliberative question), or in direct form,
Have I the right to do it? ' W e n o w come to the two main questions
(or problems), what (relative) the cause of the disturbance is, and
who (relative) the proper person would be to remove it,' or more
graphically in the form of a deliberative question, What is the
cause of the disturbance, and who would be the proper person to
remove it? 'But tell m e one thing n o w : What was that awful
shadow I saw?' (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc, I, C h . VII) (direct
question). 'I n o w put the question to you plainly, Will you come
or not?' (direct question). 'I insisted on an answer to m y question
whether he was coming or not' (indirect question). 'I should like
to say to you one important thing, You should go slow in this
matter' (polite c o m m a n d ) , or in stronger language, Go very slow in
this matter! ' I should like to say to him one important thing, he
should go very slow in this matter' (indirect polite c o m m a n d ) , or
in stronger language, let him go very slow in this matter.
202 ABRIDGMENT OF ATTRIBUTIVE SUBSTANTIVE CLAUSE 23 I o

Appositional clauses, as can be seen by the examples on page 201,

are for the most part introduced by conjunctions, especially the
following: that; after the noun fear sometimes still, as in older
English, lest instead of that; after no doubt usually that, or now
less commonly but, but that, or but what; as, in popular speech
often replacing that; whether, n o w a conjunction, but in older
English a pronoun = which of the two, as in Matthew, IX, 5.
The use of lest after the noun fear, and the use of that, but that,
but what after the noun doubt, and as if after the noun look, shows
that the noun is influenced by the corresponding verb, as also in
the case of most of the other conjunctions employed here, so far
as the nouns are derived from verbs: ' I was in mortal fear lest
(or more commonly that) he should see me.' 'The good people of
the place had no doubt that (or but, or but that, or but what) the end
had really come.' 'I never had a doubt but what you would [do it]'
(Winston Churchill, Coniston, Ch. VII). 'There was in his eye a
look as if he would annihilate me.' T h e appositional clause, how-
ever, often follows the noun directly, as appositive clause without
a connective: 'His fear he might never accomplish anything is
torturing him a good deal.' Also appositional clauses in the form
of direct or indirect questions or in the form of relative clauses
introduced by relative pronouns, adjectives, or adverbs frequently
occur; also appositional commands, as illustrated in the preceding
paragraphs.
There often stands before the that-clause an explanatory co-
ordinating conjunction, as, such as, namely, to wit, etc., thus
indicating that an additional remark is about to be made, a remark
not bearing upon the preceding statement as a whole but upon only
a single noun in it, hence appearing in the form of an attributive
appositional clause: 'She gave m e a good deal of miscellaneous
information, as that William's real name was Mr. Hicking' (J. M.
Barrie, The Little White Bird, Ch. VIII).
a. A B R I D G M E N T O F A T T R I B U T I V E S U B S T A N T I V E C L A U S E . The at-
tributive substantive clause can often be abridged to an infinitive
clause with to when its subject is general or indefinite, or is implied
in some word in the principal proposition: 'The time to do some-
thing has at last come.' ' N o w arises the question of how to do it'
'Then he went out to the sunshine of that morning with the whole
world before him and his choice of what to do with it.' 'Your plan
to go yourself doesn't please me.' 'But one course was open to me
to cut his acquaintance' (Thackeray, Snobs, Ch. I). Compare
50 4 d and 10 V 3. In colloquial speech the to of the infinitive is
often omitted in the appositional relation: 'There was only one
thing for m e to do regain hold of the reins of the government'
23 I a A B R I D G M E N T O F ATTRIBUTIVE S U B S T A N T I V E C L A U S E 203

(Chicago Tribune, Feb. 24, 1929). The absence of to here indicate

in many cases, as in this example, that the form is felt as an
imperative.
When there is no word in the principal proposition that can
serve as the subject of the infinitive, it has a subject of its own
introduced by for: 'Your plan for me to go doesn't please me.'
'The time had come for the parting words to be spoken over the
(Oliver Wendell Holmes, Elsie Venner). Even when there is some
word in the principal proposition that might serve as the subject
of the infinitive, the infinitive often has a subject of its own to
remove all ambiguity and make the thought perfectly clear: 'I
sent him the money in time for it to reach him on Monday.' The
origin of the /or-construction is explained in 21 e. In the apposi-
tive relation the for . . . to clause, just as the full that-clause,
is often introduced by an explanatory conjunction, as, such as,
namely, etc.: 'Michael, who all the time was dreading many un-
fortunate events, as for the cabman to get down from his box an
quarrel about the fare, or for the train to be full, or for Ste
during the journey' (Mackenzie, Youth's Encounter). Compar
50 4 d and 10 V 3.
The infinitive here, except in the cases stated in 50 4 d, can be
replaced by the gerund. The gerund does not have an expressed
subject if the subject of the principal proposition or some word in
it can serve as its subject: 'Your plan of going yourself doesn't
please me.' If there is no word in the principal proposition that
can serve as the subject of the gerund, it has a subject of its own,
usually a genitive of a noun or a possessive adjective (originally a
genitive of a personal pronoun), or now often also the accusative
of a noun or pronoun, as described in 50 3: 'The hope of John's
or his, or John's brother (ace.) coming cheers us.'
The gerund is not only common as an attributive genitive, as
in these examples, but also in an attributive prepositional phrase
after most prepositions: 'He is experiencing much joy on account
of his sister's or her, or his sister's son (ace.) comin
limitations to this usage see 50 4 d (last par.).
The gerundial clause is often used as an appositive: 'That is
just our way, always arriving too late,' or always to arrive to
The appositive is sometimes an absolute nominative clause
(17 3 D ) : 'Well, that is just our way, exactly one half of the
administration always busy getting the family into trouble, th
other half busy getting it out again' (Mark Twain, Letter to Mr
Graver Cleveland, Nov. 6, 1887).
 C H A P T E R XIV

ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE

PAGE
F U L L RELATIVE C L A U S E W I T H FINITE V E R B . . . . 204
Original nature of this clause 204
Older forms of the clause 206
Development of the relative pronoun'who' . . . 208
Development of the relative pronoun 'what'. . . 212
Development of the relative pronoun 'which' . . 215
Other determinative constructions 217
List of relative pronouns n o w used in attributive
relative clauses 218
Examples of attributive relative clauses 220
Descriptive and restrictive relative clauses 223
Complex relative clauses 227
Descriptive relative clauses introduced by 'as' . . 227
'And which,' 'and who,' 'but which,' 'but who' . 228
Personality and form 228
Case of the relative pronoun and its agreement with
its antecedent 230
Antecedent implied in a possessive adjective . . . 231
Verb in agreement with the subject of the principal
proposition 231
Verb in the third person without regard to its ante-
cedent 231
False attraction 232
Position and repetition of the relative 232
Personal pronoun instead of the relative 233
Independent proposition instead of relative clause . 233
Asyndetic relative construction 233
Hypotactic asyndetic clause 234
Paratactic clause 236
ABRIDGMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSE 236
23 II. This clause was originally an appositional construction,
as can still be seen b y the form which it often has: ' The book I
hold [it] in my hand is a n English grammar.' ' I w a n t to show you
m y books, especially those I've recently acquired [them].' Here the
and those each point as a demonstrative, or m o r e accurately a
determinative (56 A ) , to a following explanatory appositional
clause. Such a clause has the full force of a subordinate relative
clause, but there is in it n o relative pronoun. T h e preceding
204
23 II ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE 205

determinative points to it and serves the same purpose as a

relative; only it stands in the principal proposition and points
to the following dependent clause, while a relative pronoun stands
in the dependent clause and points back to the antecedent in the
principal proposition. Such a clause without a relative pronoun
is called an asyndetical (without a connective) relative clause.
As can be seen b y the forms in brackets, the pronoun that belongs
to such a clause is a personal pronoun, not a relative. T h e sup-
pression of the personal pronoun here leads us to look to what
precedes for the connection. This suppression of the pronoun is
the old primitive w a y of indicating that the clause is subordinated
to what precedes. T h e asyndetic relative construction is found
only rarely in Old English and Old German. T h e writers of this
early period, accustomed to the Latin type of clause with an
expressed relative pronoun, carefully avoided a relative clause
without a relative pronoun. T h e construction has disappeared in
Modern German, but it is widely used in present-day English.
As it has long been used in Danish, it seems quite probable that
in the older period the large Scandinavian population of Great
Britain helped establish the construction in English. Its present
wide use is described in 10, page 233.
In Old English, w e often find a double determinative in accord-
ance with older English fondness for double expression, as seen
also in the use of two negatives instead of one and the use of
double determinatives in the adverbial clause constructions de-
scribed in 25, 26, 27 2. Double expression indicates a desire to
make thought and feeling clearer. As, in oldest English, deter-
minatives were only spoken gestures, they were often, like gestures
in general, freely applied, as w e shall see in the course of this dis-
cussion. T h e old double determinative form is still often employed,
but w e no longer feel it as such: 'I'll lend you the pen I write
with [it],' or with double expression of the determinative 'I'll lend
you the pen that I write with [it].' W e do not n o w feel the and that
as a double determinative, pointing as with two indexfingersto
the following explanatory clause, but construe that as a relative
pronoun standing in the relative clause, pointing back to the
antecedent pen in the principal proposition. A s the old determina-
tive that stood immediately before the explanatory remark it
became closely associated with it, gradually forming with it a
subordinate clause and serving as its connective, linking it to the
principal proposition and thus developing into a relative pronoun.
The form of the clause, however, is the old determinative, for the
preposition with stands at the end of the clause with its pronominal
object it suppressed. For the peculiar form that such prepositions
206 OLDER ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE 23 II

used to have see 62 4 (next to last par.). If the clause here were
a real relative construction the preposition would stand before the
relative pronoun, as in 'I'll lend you the pen with which I write.'
W e n o w feel also as (from all so, i.e., quite so) as a relative
pronoun, but it was originally a determinative, like that, with
which it competed and still competes. Though n o w felt as a
relative, it still always has the old determinative construction
with the preposition at the end of the clause: 'Let us discuss only
such things as w e can talk of freely.' This is the old double deter-
minative construction, the determinatives such and so originally
pointing as with two index fingers to the following explanatory
clause: 'Let us discuss only such things, so ( = of this character):
we can talk of [them] freely.' Also our two c o m m o n relative
pronouns who and which have developed out of a determinative
construction, as will be described in detail in 1 and 3, pp. 208-212,
215-217. In choice language they n o w usually take the newer rel-
ative construction after prepositions, especially who, which already
in early Middle English w a s here felt as a relative pronoun, but
in colloquial speech they m a y still have here the old determina-
tive form, especially which, which still as in older English is inti-
mately associated with this form: ' I should like to introduce to
you the gentleman of whom I spoke' (or sometimes whom I spoke
of). 'I'll lend you the pen with which I write' (or often which I
write with). Farther on w e shall see also other traces of the former
determinative character of who and which.
In Old English, the personal pronoun in the subordinate clause
was not always suppressed, as in the examples given above, for
it was sometimes necessary to express it, especially when in the
dative or genitive, to bring out the grammatical relations clearly:
' baet is se A b r a h a m se him engla god n a m a n niwan asceop' (Exodus,
380), literally, 'It w a s that Abraham, that one, the G o d of the
angels gave him a n e w name.' Here the determinative is an
inflected form. After the uninflected determinative be the personal
pronoun was employed still more freely, as it w a s often felt as
helpful to m a k e the grammatical relations clear: 'bam witgum
pe G o d self burh hi spec to hys folce' = 'to the prophets, those:
G o d himself spoke through them to his people.' Also poet was often
used as an uninflected determinative, and could be followed by
a personal pronoun: 'And pssr is m i d E s t u m an msegb P^ hi
m a g o n cyle gewyrcan' (King Alfred, Orosius, 21, 13) = 'There
is a m o n g the Esthonians a tribe, that one ( = such a one): they
can create cold.' In Middle English, invariable that superseded
se and pe, but the old determinative construction remained intact
throughout the period, and w a s still in literary use in Shake-
23 II OLDER ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE 207

speare's time, especially in the genitive relation: 'Therynne

wonep a wy3t that wrong is his n a m e ' (Piers Plowman, C, II, 59,
about A.D. 1362-1395) = 'Therein lives a fellow, that one: W r o n g
is his name.' ' N a m e m e a profest poet that his poetry did ever
afford him so m u c h as a competencie' (Ben Jonson, Poetaster,
I, n, 59, about 1601, ed. 1616). Also which was used here as a
determinative: ' be kynges dere sone, which alwey for to do wel is
his wont' (Chaucer, Troilus, II, 318) = 'the King's dear son,
that one (= such a one): always to act right is his wont,' n o w
'whose wont is always to act right.' This old genitive construction
is preserved in popular speech, both with that and with which:
'There's two fellows that their dads are millionaires' (Sinclair
Lewis, Babbitt, Ch, II, I). 'Mrs. Boffin, which her father's n a m e
is Henery' (Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, I, Ch. V ) . Also with
who: 'The fellow who you don't k n o w his n a m e ' (Sinclair Lewis,
Babbitt, p. 122).
In Middle and early Modern English, however, the old deter-
minative construction, with the personal pronoun in the sub-
ordinate clause expressed, was not confined to use in the genitive
relation, but was sometimes employed also in the nominative
and accusative relations,flourishingespecially in long descriptive
clauses. T h e determinatives were atfirstthat and which, latei
also who: 'A knight ther was and that a worthy m a n , That
(= such a one), fro ( = from) the tyme that hefirstbigan to ryden
(= ride) out, he loved chivalrye' (Chaucer, Prologue, 1. 43).
'bis is he which pat ( = that one) m y n vncle swereth he m o t be
ded' (id., Troilus, II, 654). 'Pyrithian of Thessayle was there
among all other, the whiche (= that one) w h a n he apperceeyuid
that euerich (= everyone) hadde well eten and dronken rayson-
ably, he stood up,' etc. (Caxton, History of Jason, p. 8, A.D. 1477).
'Anger is like A full hot horse, who (= such a one) being allow'd
his way, Selfmettle tires him' (Shakespeare, Henry the Eighth,
I, i, 133). 'It is a massy wheel . . . which (= such a one), when
it falls, Each small annexment, petty consequence, Attends the
boisterous ruin' (id., Hamlet, III, in, 17). 'For charity is that
fire from heaven, which ( = namely such a one), unless it does
enkindle the sacrifice, G o d will never accept it for atonement'
(J. Taylor, Worthy Communicant, London, 1678, IV, I, 197).
In the literary language, this loose old determinative type of
expression disappeared about the close of the eighteenth century,
having been replaced by the compact relative construction with
a relative pronoun pointing back to the antecedent in the principal
proposition. In the transitional period from the old to the new,
the new relative clauses were often construed in accordance with
208 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHO 23 II 1

Latin models and were often quite un-English. Since the old
determinative was now, under the influence of Latin idiom, con-
strued as a relative pronoun, the following personal pronoun or
pronouns were felt as superfluous and were simply dropped without
any attempt to recast the clause, resulting frequently, as in Latin,
in bringing together in the same subordinate clause a relative
pronoun and an adverbial conjunction or another relative pronoun,
a construction still unknown in natural English, as it has always
been, but in this earlier time in learned language under Latin
influence quite c o m m o n and in archaic style stillfingeringon:
'And this m a n began to do tristily (boldly) in the synagoge,
whom whanne Priscille and Aquila herden, they token hym'
(Acts, XVIII, 26, John Purvey's edition, A.D. 1388). 'And he
began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and
Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them' (King James
Version), corresponding to the older type 'who when Aquila and
Priscilla had heard him, they took him unto them.' 'Captain Neal
sent a packet of letters to the governor, which when the governor
had opened [it] he found it came from Sir Ferdinando Georges'
(Winthrop, Journal, June 25, 1631). 'And you are to know that
in Hampshire they use to catch Trouts in the night by the light
of a Torch or straw, which when they have discovered [them]
they strike [them] with a Trout spear' (Izaak Walton, Compleat
Angler, p. 128, A.D. 1653). 'To send for a Comission, which if
[it] could or could not be Obteyned by a certain day, they would
proceed Comission or no Comission' (Thomas Mathew, Bacon's
Rebellion, p. 7, July 13, 1705). 'These were works which, though
I often inspected [them], I did not accurately study [them]'
(H. F. Clinton, Literary Reminiscences, 24, A.D. 1818). 'Now
the third joy of making, the sweetflowerOf blessed work, bloometh
in godlike spirit; Which whoso plucketh [it] holdeth for an hour
The shriveling vanity of mortal merit' (Bridges, The Growth oj
Love, 26, A.D. 1913).
O n the other hand, the old determinative construction survives
in popular speech: 'He'd been a-making a tremendous row the
night afore a-drinking, and a-singing, and wanting tofightTom
and the post-boy; Which I'm thinking he'd have had the worst
of it' (Thackeray, Pendennis, Ch. V ) . 'Brer Rabbit 'spond'
(responded) dat he smell sump'n' which it don't smell like ripe
peaches' (Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus, p. 125).
'The road from Nice to Monte Carlo is called the Grand Corniche,
which I don't k n o w what it means' (Ring Lardner, The Riviera).
1. Development of the Relative Pronoun' Who.' Out of the
double determinative construction with indefinite who, in its
23 II 1 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHO 209

original form swa hwa swa, i.e., so who so, literally, that somebody
that one, has developed our c o m m o n relative pronoun who, which
in accord with its original meaning refers only to persons: 'Swa
hwozne swa ic cysse se hyt is' (Matthew, X X V I , 48, tenth century)
= Modern English 'It is he whom I kiss,' but literally, in the
spirit of the old determinative construction = 'That somebody
that one I kiss [him], he it is.' T h e two determinatives point to
the following explanatory clause ' I kiss.' T h e speaker here chooses
for a relative the indefinite so who so since the person in question
is as yet unknown to the m e n addressed, but the speaker has a
definite person in mind, namely, Jesus, so that the sense is quite
different from the vague general meaning usually found in so who
so. T h e indefinite determinative who, which here replaces older
definite that, suggests in a general indefinite w a y the idea of a
person, but at the same time points to the following explanatory
clause, so that in fact the reference becomes definite. This passing
from the u n k n o w n to the k n o w n w a s a n e w means of expression
here that soon found favor. Compare 26 (6th par.) and 27 1. T h e
old indefinite form so who so was later reduced to who so. Along-
side of who so with the determinative so there was another indefinite
form in use, who that with the determinative that: ' A3aines kinde
G a b hwa pat swuche kinsemon ne luueS' (Old English Homilies,
p. 275) = 'Who ever does not love such a kinsman goes against
nature.' Gradually the two forms became differentiated, so that
who so was used for indefinite reference and who that for definite
reference. In archaic language whoso is still used for indefinite
reference. In normal speech it is n o w replaced here b y whoever.
Although who that was in early M o d e r n English sometimes still
used for indefinite reference, it was already in Middle English more
commonly employed for definite reference, referring to a definite
antecedent: 'the sighte of hir whom that I serve' (Chaucer, The
Knightes Tale, 373). Here who that points to a definite person
just as our modern who. Who that differs from who in the retention
of the old determinative that. T h e retention of the determinative
shows that there was still some feeling left for the old determinative
construction. While, on the one hand, the relative who pointed
backward to the antecedent, the determinative that, on the other
hand, indicated that the relative was also associated with the
following clause, linking it to the antecedent. B u t as who here
soon developed more fully in the direction of a true relative pro-
noun, closely associated with both the antecedent and the fol-
lowing clause, linking the latter to the former, the that, no longer
having a real function, disappeared. B u t even in Shakespeare's
day, who had not entirely lost its old determinative nature, as
210 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHO 23 II l

clearly seen in the quotation from Henry the Eighth, I, i, 133,

given on page 207.
In Old English, alongside of the indefinite so who so was a
simple indefinite who with the same meaning, which will be dis-
cussed below at more length. This simple indefinite who, in ex-
actly the same manner as so who so, developed definite meaning,
so that w e find it in Middle English after a definite antecedent
as a parallel form to the who that described in the preceding
paragraph: ' H e nadde ( = ne hadde) bote an dorter wo mi3te is
eir be' (Robert of Gloucester, Chronicle, Rolls, 1977, A.D. 1297),
literally, 'He had but a daughter w h o could be his heir.' 'My
lady whom I love and serve' (Chaucer, The Knightes Tale, 285).
'And thei camen, not oonli for Jhesu, but to se Lazarus, whom he
hadde reisid fro deth' (John, XII, 9, John Purvey's ed., A.D. 1388).
Our present relative pronoun who has come in part from this
who and in part from who that b y the suppression of that.
The definite relative who first appeared in the thirteenth cen-
tury, but was comparatively little used before the sixteenth. Its
use was atfirstlargely confined to the objective form whom, as
in all the examples given above, except in the one from Robert
of Gloucester. It was not m u c h used in the nominative relation,
for in this earlier period indefinite who w a s here still quite com-
m o n . T h e usual relatives were that and which; but after who
had acquired definite force it rapidly came into favor, for it had
a great advantage over its competitors it referred only to
persons hence for reference to persons w a s a clearer form.
O n the other hand, the old determinative construction so who
so, out of which the relative who developed, did not disappear,
but in modified form, n o w whoso, or more commonly who(so)ever
instead of so who so, is still widely used, not like relative who
pointing backward to an antecedent, but still a determinative
pointing to the following explanatory remark, forming with it a
substantive or a concessive clause (21, 32, 8th par.) and serving as
its connective, binding it to the principal proposition, hence a real
relative pronoun, though having no antecedent an indefinite rel-
ative pronoun: 'He welcomed whoever (with stronger indefinite
force whosoever) came.' 'He stopped whom(so)ever he met.' 'Whose-
ever it is, I m e a n to have it.' In older English, the determinative
that is sometimes used here instead of so: 'Play who that can that
part' (Sir T h o m a s Wyatt, Poems, 18 (3), sixteenth century).
Compare first paragraph.
Alongside of this compound determinative there is the simple
determinative who, which now, as in Old English, has the same
indefinite force, only not so general and vague, often approaching
23 II 1 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHO 211

definiteness, but on the other hand with the same determinative

force, pointing to the following explanatory remark, forming with
it a substantive clause and serving as its connective, binding
it to the principal proposition, hence a real relative pronoun,
though having no antecedent an indefinite relative pronoun:
'Who (or more indefinitely whoever) goes light travels fast'; liter-
ally, ' That somebody: [he] goes light travels fast.' ' I always felt
that, talk with whom I would, I left something unsaid which
was precisely what 1 most wished to say.' '"Really" replied
Mr. Povey with loftiness as who should say " W h a t an extraor-
dinary thing that a reasonable creature can have such fancies!'"
(Arnold Bennett, Old Wives' Tale, Ch. I). 'It is not k n o w n who
did it,' i.e., the identity of the author of the act is not known.
In 'I saw whom he struck' and 'I saw who struck him' the identity
of the person struck and the person w h o did the striking is k n o w n
to the speaker but not to his hearers. In the preceding examples
the indefinite who stands within the relative clause, serving as its
relative, i.e., conjunctive, pronoun, binding the subordinate clause
to the principal proposition, but in the following example it
stands in the principal proposition as an indefinite determinative
with the force of that one only that the reference is indefinite:
'Vengeance is his or whose he sole appoints' (Milton, Paradise
Lost, V, 808), n o w usually that one's. Compare 56 A (3rd par.).
This indefinite who often has an indefinite antecedent: 'He
makes no friend who never m a d e a foe' (Tennyson). This usage
occasionally occurs in older English: 'A h w a m mai he luue tre-
weliche h w a ne luues his brother?' (Old English Homilies of the
Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, I, 274) = 'Ah, w h o m can he truly
love who does not love his brother?' In older English, who that
was often used instead of simple who: 'Repreve he dredeth never
a del Who that beset his wordis wel' (Chaucer, The Romaunt of
the Rose, 5261) = 'He dreads not reproof at all who sets his words
well.' A s can be seen by the translation of this example w e n o w
drop the determinative that here. In plain prose w e today avoid
the indefinite antecedents he, she, they. Thus instead of he who,
she who, they who, w e usually say in plain prose a man who, a boy
who, a woman who, a girl who, those who. W e especially avoid here
she who. He who, she who, they who are still used in choice
literary English. Compare 5, p. 220, Examples, 2nd par.
Closely related with this indefinite who and developed out of
it is interrogative who. It was quite natural that in asking
questions in primitive Germanic a word w a s employed which
indicated that the relations of the person in question were in-
definite, u n k n o w n to the speaker. Interrogatives, however, have
212 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHAT 23 II 2

never ceased to be indefinites. These indefinites often assume

the special function of calling for an answer in an indefinite situa-
tion: 'Who did it?' T h e interrogative is used also in indirect
questions, i.e., to ask a question in an indirect way, as in 'Tell
m e who did it,' or to report a question indirectly, as in 'He asked
m e who did it.' O u r grammarians, however, often regard as an
indirect question the subordinate clause of such sentences as ' I saw
who did it' and ' W e shall soon k n o w who did it.' In the former
example who indicates that the identity of the person doing the
act is k n o w n to the speaker but not to the hearer. In the latter
example who indicates that the identity of the person doing the
act is u n k n o w n to both the speaker and the hearer. In both
examples there is in who an element of indefiniteness, but not
the slightest suggestion of an interrogation. A n interrogative
is an intensive indefinite indicating that the indefiniteness has
impressed the mind so strongly that an intellectual reaction has
set in which has demanded an explanation. Interrogative form,
however, is often employed not to elicit an answer but merely
to express doubt a deliberative or speculative question. De-
liberative: 'What shall I (or a m I to) do?' 'To our son there
are only two courses open, both connected with great difficulties.
Which shall he take?' (a question not calling for a categorical
answer but introducing a deliberation). Speculative: 'What
can it mean?' 'Will he come?' T h e question often loses every
trace of a desire for an answer, also every trace of doubt, and
becomes declarative, expressing the idea of an emphatic contrary
assertion a rhetorical question: ' Who could have foreseen it?'
= 'No one could have foreseen it.' ' W h e n doctors disagree who
shall decide?' = 'No one can decide.' Rhetorical questions are
often charged with different kinds of feeling. Disapproval:
' W h o told you to do that?' Indignation aroused by inconsiderate
treatment: ' W h o do you think I a m ? ' C o m p a r e 21 (2nd and
3rd parr.) and 23 I.
2. Development of the Relative Pronoun ' What.' In exactly the
same w a y as the relative who developed out of the indefinite double
determinative so who so, as described in 1 above, relative what
has developed out of the double determinative construction with
indefinite what, in its original form swa hwozt swa, i.e., so what so,
literally, that something that. A s in the case of so who so, described
above, the determinatives so so have disappeared: ' N o w this
was not all what G. B. wanted' ( W . Black, Sunrise, I, 302). Also
as in the case of the tu/io-construction there are two types: the
older one with a relative what pointing not backward to an ante-
cedent but forward to a following explanatory clause; the youngei
23 II 2 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHAT 213

one with a relative what pointing backward to an antecedent, as

in the example from Black just given. T h e older form is still a
very c o m m o n construction, n o w with -so or more commonly
-(so)ever instead of older so so, pointing to the following ex-
planatory remark, forming with it a substantive clause (21, 24 III,
IV) and serving as its connective, binding it to the principal
proposition, hence a real relative pronoun, though having no
antecedent an indefinite relative pronoun: 'His mother gives
him whatever (or archaically whatso, or with stronger indefinite
force whatsoever) he asks for.' T h e accusative of this indefinite,
like the accusative of other indefinites, as described in 16 4 a,
is often used adverbially, with the force of at all: 'There is no
doubt whatever about it.' ' N o one whatever would have anything
to do with him.' 'I cannot see anyone whatever.'
What(so)ever is used also adjectively, standing before its gov-
erning noun and pointing as a determinative to the following
explanatory remark, forming with it and its governing noun a
substantive clause and serving as its connective, binding it to
the principal proposition, hence a real relative, though having
no antecedent an indefinite relative adjective: 'Even the fisher-
men armed themselves with whatever weapons they could procure.'
Whatever, whether pronoun or adjective, is very c o m m o n in
substantive clauses, but it is often used also in adverbial conces-
sive clauses (32): 'I a m going to pursue this course, whatever it
may cost, whatever sacrifice it may demand.' It is sometimes em-
ployed also in adjective clauses. See 6 below, 5th and last parr.
Alongside of this compound determinative there is the simple
determinative what, which now, as in Old English, has the same
indefinite force, only not so general and vague, often approaching
definiteness, but with the same determinative force, pointing to
the following remark, forming with it a substantive clause and
serving as its connective, binding it to the principal proposition,
hence a real relative pronoun, though having no antecedent
an indefinite relative pronoun: 'His mother gives him what
(or more indefinitely whatever) he asks for.' ' I saw what (something
seen by the speaker but as yet u n k n o w n to the persons addressed)
he held in his hand.' This what is often used elliptically: 'Some-
thing is the matter, but I don't k n o w what [it is].' 'I'll tell you
what [the thing to do is]. W e should take that fellow d o w n a peg.'
What is widely used in substantive clauses, also as an indefinite
adjective with the same determinative and relative force: 'I
gave him what m o n e y I had with me.' ' C o m e yourself and bring
along with you what m e n you can induce to come.' What, or
what a, often expresses a high degree of some quality or a large
214 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHAT 23 II 2

amount: 'I want to tell you what a time w e had.' ' W e all know
what a liar he is, what liars they are.' ' Y o u can't realize what trou-
ble w e have had.' Whatever is more indefinite than what: 'I'll see
to it that you get whatever m o n e y you m a y need.' Adjective what
was originally a pronoun. T h e noun following it was a genitive,
so that the form was: 'I gave him what of money I had with me.'
Since the genitive in older English was often an indistinctive sim-
ple form, the grammatical relations became obscured, so that the
genitive was construed as the c o m m o n case, and what was taken
for an adjective.
The substantive (57 1) forms of the adjectives what, what a, and
whatever are often used in substantive clauses as indefinite relative
pronouns, always with a definite antecedent but with only an
indefinite reference to it: 'I have only a little money with me,
but what I have is at your disposal.' ' I a m short of them and what
I have are bad.' ' H e is always making costly blunders, but we can-
not foresee just what ones he will m a k e next.' ' Each time he makes
a new excuse. It will be interesting to hear what one he will offer
next.' ' W e surely needed friends, and w e n o w realize what a om
we have found in M r . Benton.' 'His mother has overlooked all
the mistakes he has m a d e in the past, and will probably overlook
whatever ones he will m a k e in the future.' Whatever is used also
in concessive clauses: 'Whatever the defects of American universi-
ties m a y be, they disseminate no prejudices' (AmericanNotes, III,
A.D. 1842).
What is used also in principal propositions as an interrogative
or exclamatory pronoun or adjective: 'What did he say?' 'What
impression did he make?' ' What weather!' ' What a day!' ' Oh,
what trouble w e have had!' Also what one(s) is used as an in-
terrogative or exclamatory pronoun. 'You have read many
interesting G e r m a n books. What ones would you recommend
as the best twenty-five?' 'To be sure w e have found a house for
rent, but what a one!' Also indirect questions are common:
'I asked him what he was doing.'
Who and what were originally singulars, but who is now used
in all its functions also as a plural: 'Who were there?' 'I do not
know who were there.' Sometimes also what: 'What have been
censured as Shakespeare's conceits are completely justifiable'
(Coleridge, Lectures on Shakespeare). 'What appear, from the
point of view expressed in these pages, to be its shortcomings
are emphatically the shortcomings of its type' (Olivia Howard
Dunbar in Forum for Nov., 1923, p. 2049). 'I outlined whai
seem to be the seven dominant fears that have inspired and have
been inspired by this literature of despair' (Glenn Frank in Cen-
 23 II 3 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHICH 215

tury, for Sept., 1925, p. 626). Less frequently whoever: 'Whoever

allow themselves m u c h of that indulgence, incur the risk of some-
thing worse' (J. S. Mill, On Liberty). Often, however, in the
predicate: 'I a m not afraid of them, whoever they are.'
What in the old so what so construction had such pronounced
determinative force, usually pointing forward to something fol-
lowing, that it did not develop relative force, pointing backward
to an antecedent, as in the case of who. T h e same conditions,
however, were present, as in the case of who, so that w e have a
few traces of a development in the direction of a pure relative
pointing backward, both in the case of simple what and what ac-
companied by a determinative: 'Til she had herd al what the
frere sayde' (Chaucer, The Somnours Tale, 493). 'Every lover
thoughte, That al was wel what so he seyde and wroughte' (id.,
Troilus and Criseyde, III, 1799). Later, the determinative so
here was always dropped: 'anything what (now that) thou wilt'
(Ben Jonson, Euery Man out of His Humour, V, in, A.D. 1600).
'That what (now usually which) w e falsely call a religious cry is
easily raised by m e n w h o have no religion' (Dickens, Barnaby
Rudge, Preface). 'To peruse everything what went into the
"Post"' (H. Sydnor Harrison, Queed, Ch. VII). That which
leads to the use of what here instead of which is a tendency to
differentiate which and what by employing what when the reference
is general or indefinite. This employment of indefinite what as a
relative, pointing backward to an antecedent, though not wide-
spread or c o m m o n , is old, for it is found in late Old English; but
its strong determinative force, its normal use to point forward to
something following, prevented its c o m m o n use and its final
establishment in the language as a relative pointing backward to
an antecedent. Thus while who is usually a relative pointing back
to an antecedent, what is rarely so. It is usually a different kind
of relative, a form pointing forward to something following and
at the same time as a relative binding it to the principal proposi-
tion. In popular speech, however, what m a y point back to a
definite antecedent, even to one representing a person or persons:
'I can't see that the man what's willing to remain poor all his life
has any pride at all' (George Moore, Esther Waters, Ch. VI).
'This is them two sisters what tied themselves together with a
handkercher' (Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, I, Ch. III).
3. Development of the Relative Pronoun 'Which.' In the
same manner in which who developed out of the indefinite double
construction with swa hwa swa, i.e., so who so, the relative which
developed out of the indefinite double determinative construction
with swa hwilk swa, i.e., so which so, the determinatives so so
216 DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN WHICH 23 II 3

pointing, as the double determinatives described above, to the

following explanatory clause. Instead of the determinatives so
so w e often find others in older English, especially the and that,
as in the which, which that, the which that, the usual forms in Middle
English, referring to either persons or things. The which began
to appear in Old English: 'an of bsem gebundenum, pone sum
huozlcne hia gigiuudon' (Mark, X V , 6, Lindisfarne M S . ) , literally,
'one of the prisoners, that one, the one they desired.' This is the
oldest example of the which. In this oldest form the so after which
has disappeared. This passage in the Corpus M S . reads: 'aenne
gebundenne swa hwylcne swa hi baedon.' In Middle English this
form appears as which that, where thefirstdeterminative so has
dropped out and the second has been replaced by the determina-
tive that. In both of these old examples there is an antecedent,
an indefinite one, but yet an antecedent, so that which, the which,
which that, standing as they do between antecedent and subordi-
nate clause, can n o w easily develop into a relative pronoun binding
the subordinate clause to the antecedent. A s the meaning here
often became more definite these forms were later frequently used
with the force of our modern which or who: 'this wyde world
which that m e n seye is round' (Chaucer, The Frankelyns Tale,
500); 'felawes the whiche that he had knowe in olde dawes' (id.,
452) = 'fellows whom he had k n o w n in former days.' A s which
from n o w on usually followed a noun or pronoun, it gradually
developed into a relative pronoun, pointing back to the preceding
noun or pronoun; hence the determinatives the and that used in
connection with which disappeared, since they lost their original
function and had thus become useless. W h e r e the reference was
to definite persons which w a s gradually replaced by who or that.
In early M o d e r n English which was still lingering on here.
T h e old indefinite force of which, however, survives in adjective
function in substantive clauses (21, 24 III, IV), where there is not
a reference to a definite antecedent but only a general or indefinite
reference: 'I do not k n o w which w a y he went.' Whichever is still
more indefinite: 'You m a y take whichever book you like.' As in
the case of the adjectives what and whatever described in 2, p. 212,
the adjectives which and whichever, though referring to no definite
antecedent, have become true relative adjectives, binding the
clause in which they stand to the principal proposition. Which
and whichever differ from what and whatever only in indicating a
little less degree of indefiniteness. T h e indefiniteness of which is
also preserved in questions, direct and indirect: 'Which book did
you take?' 'I asked him which book he took.'
T h e substantive (57 1) forms of the adjectives which and which-
23 II 4 OTHER DETERMINATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS 217

ever are often used in substantive clauses (21, 24 III, IV) as in-
definite relative pronouns, frequently with a definite antecedent
but with only an indefinite reference to it: 'As I have not read
all the n e w books, I cannot tell which one (or which ones) I like
best.' 'Here are some n e w books. Y o u m a y have whichever one
(or whichever ones) you choose.' 'Several Smiths live here. I
don't k n o w which one you refer to.' These forms often point
forward to a following noun or pronoun: 'I don't k n o w which of
these books he would rather have.' 'You m a y have whichever of
these books you choose.' 'I don't k n o w which 6ne of them did it,
but s6me 6ne of them did it.' Which and which one(s) are used
also as interrogatives: ' Which of you did it?' ' Which (or which
one) of these b6oks is yours?' 'Which of these books are yours?'
Other examples in 57 3 (last par.). Indirect question: 'I asked
him which of the books he wanted.' 'I asked him which one
of the m e n he meant.' In all of these cases which m a y refer to
persons or things. Originally, which could always refer to persons
or things.
Indefinite relative whichever, whether pronoun or adjective, is
used also in adverbial concessive clauses (32): 'He willfinddiffi-
culties, whichever w a y (or whichever of these ways) he m a y take.'
It is sometimes employed also in adjective clauses, as illustrated
in 6 below, 5th and last parr.
While adjective which is, in general, indefinite and without an
antecedent, it is sometimes definite, referring back to a definite
antecedent, where it is a definite relative adjective: ' W e traveled
together as far as Paris, at which place w e parted company.'
4. Other Determinative Constructions. Out of the determina-
tives just described have developed not only our relative pro-
nouns but also other connectives, a m o n g them the most c o m m o n
conjunctions, that, as, and what: 'I k n o w that he is faithful';
originally 'I k n o w that: he is faithful,' the that pointing forward to
the following explanatory appositional clause. In colloquial and
popular speech, what with the same determinative force as that is
often used instead of that after but: 'Not a day passes but what
(or in the literary language but that, or simple but) it rains.' 'I
cannot say but what (or but that, or simple but) you m a y be right.'
In popular speech w e often find as here instead of that, just as w e
often in popular speech find as instead of relative that: 'He told
us as (for that) "Gospel" meant "good news'" (George Eliot,
Adam Bede, C h . II). Although this little word as is frequently
used in popular speech where it is not employed in the literary
language, itsfieldin colloquial and literary English is an exceed-
ingly wide one, altogether too wide, embracing so m a n y meanings
218 LIST OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS 23 II 5

that the thought is not always apparent at a glance. A bird's-eye

view of its uses is given in 27 2. This wide range of meanings
indicated by as is explained b y its original determinative nature,
which w a s simply to point, leaving it to the connection to make
the thought clear. This is also true of the conjunction that, ex-
determinative, like as. Just as the indefinite who, as described
in 1, p. 208, developed into a determinative and then into a relative
pronoun with the force of that, so the indefinite how from the
same stem as who developed into a determinative and then
into a conjunction with the force of that, attaining to itsfinalstage
of development very early, even in Old English, m u c h earlier than
who: 'I saw how ( = that) he was falling behind in the race.'
In Middle English, the determinative that was so often associated
with a preceding word, as in the who that, which that described
above, linking this word to the following subordinate clause, that
it w a s construed as a sign of subordination and was attached to
other words which originally were not followed b y a determina-
tive, such as interrogatives: 'If m e n wolde axe (ask) m e why
that god suffred m e n to do y o w (you) this vileinye' (Chaucer,
Melibeus, 38).
5. List of Relative Pronouns Used in Attributive Relative
Clauses: that for persons and things, except after that where we
n o w usually say that which, thus avoiding the repetition of that,
although that that was quite c o m m o n a little earlier in the period;
at, the worn-down form of that, once widely used in the literary
language of Scotland and North England, still surviving in north-
ern English dialect, where it is n o w often written ut; who for
persons; in older English sometimes the who (as in Shakespeare's
Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 538) instead of simple who; which for things,
referring to some definite thing or things, or to something indefi-
nite; in older literary English and current popular speech also
referring to persons; the which, once a c o m m o n form competing
with which without a difference of meaning, n o w only rarely used
and then restricted largely to descriptive clauses, both when used as
a relative pronoun and as a relative adjective; whichever (see 6 be-
low, 5th and last parr.); what, earlier in the period sometimes refer-
ring to an indefinite pronoun, nothing, all, everything, that, etc., an
sometimes still so used, but far less c o m m o n l y than that and which,
the latter the usual form after the indefinite pronoun that; what,
widely used w h e n the reference is to a following statement or the
thought contained in a following adjective, as illustrated in 6 be-
low; whatever (see 6 below, 5th and last parr.); but (or sometimes but
he, but she, etc., instead of simple but) or in colloquial speech bid
what, both forms with the meaning of that not, which not, who not,
23 II 5 LIST OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS 219

but usually only employed after a negative or a question in the

subject relation, m u c h less commonly in the object relation; as,
in older English more widely used as a relative than now, still
the regular form after such, although also that, which, and who
are still, as in older English, used here occasionally; as, n o w the
regular form after the same in elliptical clauses without a finite
verb, in older English, however, also that, while in the full clause
withfiniteverb w e employ that, which, who, or m u c h less com-
monly as; as, sometimes elsewhere in elliptical clauses; as, still
much used in descriptive clauses where the reference is to the
thought contained in some preceding or following proposition or
word; as, still c o m m o n in the predicate relation where the refer-
ence is to a preceding noun; moreover, a number of adverbs or
conjunctions, where (in older English also there, there as, there that,
where as, where that), whence, or sometimes from whence (both
restricted to poetry and choice prose, elsewhere replaced b y from
which), thence that (in older English = whence), whither (in poetry
and choice prose, elsewhere replaced by to which), when, while,
why, also a large number of others, once c o m m o n but n o w little
used except in poetry or in exact, especially legal, language, such
as whereby, wherein, whereof, etc. In popular speech as (27 2) or
what often replace that or who: 'They've got a friend as (or what)
will help 'em.' In older English, w efindas here also in the literary
language, after determinatives, not only after such and the same,
as described above for present usage, but also after that, those,
the: 'I have not from your eyes that gentleness A n d show of love
as I was wont to have' (Shakespeare, Julius Cossar, I, n, 33).
'Those as sleep and think not on their sins' (id., The Merry Wives,
V, v, 57). 'I did not imagine these little coquetries could have
the ill consequences as I find they have' (The Spectator, 87). Of
all the above relatives only who is declined: nominative who,
genitive whose, dative and accusative whom, the same form in each
case serving as singular and plural.
But and but what originated in adverbial clauses of pure result
(28 5, 28 5 6) in sentences where the meaning permitted the clause
to be construed either as a clause of result or as a relative clause:
'Nobody k n e w him but (or but that, or but what) he loved him'
(adverbial clause of pure result), or 'but (or but what, relative pro-
nouns used as subject) loved him' (relative clause). 'Nobody
read the book through but (or but that, or but what) it impressed him
favorably' (adverbial clause of pure result), or 'but (or but what,
relative pronouns used as object) it impressed favorably' (relative
clause). T h e relative clause is n o w differentiated in form from
the adverbial clause of result b y the suppression of the personal
220 E X A M P L E S O F ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 23 II 5

pronoun, he, she, it, the relative pronoun but or but what serving
as subject or object. T h e differentiation of the t w o clauses was not
so complete in older English as it is n o w .
Examples:
'The boy who is standing by the door'; 'a boy that will do such a thing'
'the boy whose father died yesterday'; 'the two little boys whose parents
are dead'; ' the boy with whom you play,' or' the boy you play with'; ' a bo
that you should play with,' or 'a boy you should play with'; 'the boy whom
you struck,' or 'the boy you struck'; 'the m a n to whom you referred' (or
whom you referred to, or that you referred to, or you referred to); 'the bo
that (or which) is lying on the table'; 'Dumas the Elder, than whom there
never was a kinder heart,' where in harmony withfixedusage whom stands
after than instead of the correct who, in accordance with a general tend-
ency, not sofirmlyfixedin the literary language elsewhere, to employ the
accusative of a pronoun instead of the nominative in clauses and phrases
which do not contain afiniteverb, as illustrated in 7 C a.
'You could scarcely have told from the peace that dwelt upon them
which was she that (choice language) had sinned' (Bret Harte, The Outcasts
of Poker Flat); likewise ' he that had sinned,' or in plainer language nearer
colloquial speech ' he, or she, who had sinned,' but in colloquial speech for
both he who and she who usually the one who, since there is a strong tendency
here to avoid the use of he or she as a definite determinative: 'this gentle-
m a n and the one who is standing by the window'; 'this lady and the one
who is standing by the window.' But w e cannot use the one where there
isn't a preceding noun to which it can refer. Here, in colloquial speech,
we usually employ a noun preceded by the definite article, which together
serve as a definite determinative instead of he or she: ' the gentleman, or
lady, w h o is standing by the window.' Of course, w e can freely use he or
she before who when they are not determinatives: ' W e were speaking last
night of a m a n w h o has been asking for us here. His visits have alarmed
the servants, but there is nothing to fear from him. Y o u know it is
rather he (not a determinative but a predicate pronoun) who seems to
fear us' (subject clause). Where he (she, or they) is an indefinite deter-
minative pointing forward to something following, w e say in the singular,
'He who (she who, or in choice poetic language he that, she that, but in
colloquial speech usually one who, a man who, a woman who, a fellow who,
a girl who) would do such a thing would not deserve respect,' but in the
plural w e usually prefer ' Those who (now largely replacing in plain prose
older, once common, those that, they that, such as) would do such a thing
would not deserve respect,' although they who (now largely replacing
older they that) still occasionally occurs, especially in choice, poetic
language: 'They who had most admiringly begged Percy Bresnahan for
his opinions were least interested in her facts' (Sinclair Lewis, Main
Street, p. 448), but especially in beautiful language, as in 'Great souls
are they who love the most, w h o breathe the deepest of heaven's air, and
give of themselves most freely' (William Allen White, A Certain Rich
Man, Ch. X X I I ) . 'Those have most power to hurt us that (now usually
23 II 5 EXAMPLES OF ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 221

whom) w e love' (Beaumont and Fletcher, The Maids Tragedie, V, in,

129, A.D. 1622). 'They that (now those who or they who) seek immortality
are not onely worthy of leave but of praise' (Ben Jonson, Discoveries,
p. 11, A.D. 1641). 'Poetry in this latter age hath prov'd but a meane
mistresse to such as (or those who) have wholly addicted themselves to
her. They who (now more commonly those who) have but saluted her
on the by, and now and then tendred their visits, she hath done m u c h
for' (ib., p. 27). T o express the idea of kind or quality w e often employ
the qualitative determinative such: 'Let such teach others who (now
usually as) themselves excel' (Pope, Essay on Criticism, 15). W h e n a
restrictive clause follows such, as in this example, those is often used in
colloquial speech as a qualitative determinative instead of such, since
the restrictive clause is felt as indicating with sufficient clearness the
idea of quality, and such is avoided as a literary word: 'Mention es-
pecially the intelligent and those who (or in more exact formal language
such as) want to study literature as an end, not a means' (Sir Walter
Raleigh, Letter to Percy Simpson, Dec. 13, 1913). The singular qualitative
determinative such a one is c o m m o n when there is a preceding noun to
which it can refer: T have had some good teachers but never such a one
as [is] Professor Jones.' W h e n there is no such preceding noun to which
it can refer, the qualitative determinative such a one is a literary form,
replaced in simple prose by someone or a man (woman, boy, girl): 'Asso-
ciate with such a one as you can look up to,' or 'Associate with someone,
or a man (woman, boy, girl), you can look up to.'
In every society, however seemingly corrupt, there are those ( = some)
who have not bowed the knee to Baal (Hughes, Tom Brown's School-
Days, 193).
The book which I hold in m y hand is an English grammar.
Our Father which art in heaven (Matthew, VI, 9).
(She) had been told it herself by Mrs. Mudberry, which kept a mangle
(Dickens, Pickwick, Ch. X X X I V ) .
U h m a n w'ich steal is uh m a n w'ich enter anodduh man' house een de
dead ub night (Gonzales, The Black Border, p. 72).
All that I have is at your disposal.
It was that (something definite, just referred to) which killed him.
H e always does that (determinative) which the hour demands, not
that which he would fain do.
There was that ( = that indefinite something) about him that (now
more commonly which) did not please her (Julia Kavanagh, Queen Mob,
I, 105).
There was that in Lady Jane's innocence which rendered light talking
impertinence before her (Thackeray, Vanity Fair).
I fear nothing what (now usually that or which) can be said against m e
(Shakespeare, Henry the Eighth, V, i, 125).
N o w this was not all what (usually that) G. B. wanted (W. Black,
Sunrise, I, 302).
That what (usually which) w e falsely call a religious cry is easily raised
by men w h o have no religion (Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Preface).
222 E X A M P L E S OF ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 23 II 5

... to peruse everything what (usually that or which) went into the
'Post' (H. Sydnor Harrison, Queed, Ch. VII).
N o leader worthy of the n a m e ever existed but (or but what) was an
optimist.
There is almost no m a n but hee (old nominative of but, now more
commonly simple but or but what) sees clearlier (16 5 a) and sharper the
vices in a speaker then (now than) the vertues (Ben Jonson, Discoveries,
p. 19, A.D. 1641).
Not one great m a n of them, but he (old nominative form of but, but now
more commonly simple but) will puzzle you, if you look close, to know
what he means (Ruskin, Selections, I, 172).
There is not a touch of Vandyck's pencil but (used as relative pronoun
in the object relation) he seems to have reveled on (ib., I, 261).
N o ill luck stirring but what lights on m y shoulders (Shakespeare,
Merchant of Venice, III, i, 98).
Not that I think M r . M . would ever marry anybody but what had
some education (Jane Austen, Emma, 29).
Not a soul in the auditorium or on the stage but what lived consum-
mately during those minutes (Arnold Bennett, Leonora, Ch. VI).
N o words but what seemed to him violent and extreme would have
fulfilled his conception of the danger he had escaped (Galsworthy, The
Country House, 71).
I have not from your eyes that (now such) gentleness as I was wont
to have (Shakespeare, Julius Ccesar, I, i, 33).
I can't serve with that (now such) cheerfulness as formerly (Addison
and Steele, Spectator, 366) (or the same cheerfulness as formerly).
Such books as (predicate) this [is], or such men as he, are rare.
I made such alterations as occurred to m e .
Such only who (usually as) have been in parishes that have been for
generations squireless and also in those where a resident family has been
planted for centuries can appreciate the difference in general tone among
the people (S. Baring-Gould, Old Country Life, Ch. I).
Only such intellectual pursuits which (or that, but usually as) are pleasant
(Sarah Grand, Ideala, 229).
Tony turned his eager attention to such pleasures that (or more com-
monly as) could be obtained in that sociable place (A. Marshall, Anthony
Dare, Ch. I).
The children get the same food as I [get].
I really couldn't put up with living in the same place as that fellow
after what had happened.
Such was thy zeal to Israel then, the same that (now as) now to me
(Milton, Paradise Regained, III, 413).
H e sits in the same row that (or as) w e do.
W h e n w e saw the engine enter the tunnel on the same track that (or as)
we were on, w e believed our last hour had come.
H e is entangled in the same meshes that (or which) held m e .
H e is the same m a n that (or whom) w e met yesterday.
His air as [was that] of not having to account for his o w n place in the
 23 II 6 DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 223

social scale was probably irritating to Urbain (Henry James, The American,
Ch. XIII).
Between her eyes was a driven look as [was] of one w h o walks always a
little ahead of herself in her haste (Edna Ferber, So Big, Ch. I).
H e granted her wish, good fellow as (or that) he was.
The place where I saw him last; this delightful country whither (still
a favorite in choice, poetic language, but in plain prose usually replaced
by to which) w e should like to m a k e a tour; a corner whence (or from
whence; in choice, poetic language, but in plain prose usually replaced
by from which) there was no escape; the day when I was there; the pauses
while we are thinking of the right word.
It is a gentil pasture ther (now where) thou goost (Chaucer, The Prologe
of the Monkes Tale, 45).
. . . this Tartre king, this Cambinskan, Roos fro his bord, ther that
(now simple where) he sat ful hye. Toforn him gooth the loude min-
stralcye, Til he cam to his chambre of parements, There as (now simple
where) they sownen diverse instruments (Chaucer, The Squires Tale,
258-262).
T o Engelond been they come the righte wey, wher as (now simple
where) they live in joye and in quiete (Chaucer, The Tale of the Man
ofLawe, 1032).
I shall show you the chambre where as (now simple where) he slepeth
(Lord Berners, Huon, I, p. 102, A.D. 1534).
'Tis his Highness' pleasure Y o u do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's,
Where as (now simple where or at which place) the King and Queen do
mean to hawk (Shakespeare, II Henry VI, I, u, 56).
Y must [go back] to the erthe thennes that y come fro (Knight de La
Tour, 36, A.D. 1450).
That is the reason why (or that) he cannot succeed.
Is there a certain test whereby words of native English origin can be
known from others?
6. Descriptive and Restrictive Relative Clauses. There is a
tendency in English at present to distinguish between descriptive
relatives, introducing a descriptive, independent fact, and re-
strictive relatives, introducing a clause confining or limiting the
application of the antecedent. Descriptive clauses stand in a loose
relation to the antecedent and hence are separated b y a pause,
indicated in print by a c o m m a , while restrictive clauses are quite
closely linked to the antecedent in thought, so that they follow
immediately without pause, and hence are not usually cut off b y a
comma: 'I like to chat with John, who is a clever fellow,' but
'What is the n a m e of the boy that brought us the letter?' 'Next
winter, which you will spend in town, you know, will give you a
good opportunity to work in the library,' but 'The next winter
that you spend in town will give you a good opportunity to work
in the library.' There is often a double restriction, the second
224 DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 23 II 6

relative clause restricting the antecedent as restricted by the first

relative clause: ' H o w seldom do w e find a m a n that has stirred up
some vast commotion who does not himself perish, swept away in it'
(Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-worship, 127). T h e descriptive relative
clause is in a formal sense a dependent clause; but it does not in
any w a y limit the application of the antecedent, so that it is
logically an independent proposition. Compare 20 1 (3rd par.).
In a descriptive relative clause the relative pronoun must be ex-
pressed, for its suppression might change the thought or obscure
the expression: 'This fact, which you admit, condemns you,' not
'This fact, you admit, condemns you,' which is another thought.
Who, that, and which are all used in restrictive clauses; who
with reference to persons, that with reference to persons and things,
which n o w usually with reference to things. A number of gram-
marians, however, recommend here the exclusive use of that, both
for persons and for things: 'Here is the boy that did it.' 'Here is
the book that he lost.' B u t there is another tendency here, which
has been growing for centuries and is n o w often stronger than the
tendency to distinguish the restrictive relative clause by the use
of that. It is the tendency to express the idea of personality by
the use of who and the idea of lack of life or personality by the use
of which. T h e tendency to express personality is n o w strong even
in restrictive clauses: 'He w a s not a m a n who allowed his taste
to be warped w h e n he k n e w for solid reasons that it was sound'
(Galsworthy, The Man of Property, p. 304). It was not possible
in Old English, with all its wealth of form, to express this fine
shade of meaning. T h e tendency in restrictive clauses to use
which to express lack of life or personality is not so strong as the
tendency to employ who to express personality, but it is growing:
'There is m u c h which will be unpleasing to the English reader;
m u c h which the Indian will dislike; but there is nothing which
can be seriously questioned' (Cambridge Review). O n the other
hand, the choice of pronoun here is often determined by formal
considerations. After the interrogative who w e always employ
that on merely formal ground, to prevent the repetition of who:
' Who that has the spirit of a m a n would suffer himself to be thus
degraded?' That being impossible, w e must employ whom or
which in prepositional constructions wherever the preposition is
placed at the beginning of the clause: 'There is no m a n for whom
I have sincerer respect.' 'He bitterly regretted that the little
estate on which he had set his heart had slipped out of his hand.'
That can also not be used in the genitive and must be replaced
here b y whose, the genitive of who. In popular speech, however,
as a survival of older usage, explained on page 207, that and which
 23 II 6 DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 225

are used in the genitive relation by placing a possessive adjective

after that or which, that or which together with the possessive
adjective having the force of whose: 'There's two fellows that
their (= whose) dads are millionaires' (Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt,
Ch. II, I). 'Mrs. Boffin, which her ( = whose) father's n a m e was
Henery' (Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, I, 75). In the literary
language where the reference is to things, which is replaced in
the genitive relation by whose, or w e m a y employ the prepositional
genitive, of which, as described in 7 (last par.) below.
Who, that, and which have until recently been used also in
descriptive clauses, but at present there is a tendency, not yet
fixed usage but a growing tendency, to replace that here by who
for persons and by which for things: 'He is with his youngest
son, who is accompanying him on his walk.' 'This book, which
only appeared about a year ago, has already gone through several
editions.' This n e w usage is m u c h more c o m m o n with reference
to persons than to animals and things, where w e still often find
that: 'For thefirstfew weeks she spoke only to the goat, that
was her chiefest friend on earth and lived in the back garden'
(Rudyard Kipling, The Light That Failed, Ch. I, 5). 'Once he
piped up a kind of country love-song, that he must have learned
in his youth' (Stevenson, Treasure Island, Ch. Ill, 28). Which
is usually employed when an attributive relative adjective in
connection with a governing noun is used instead of a relative
pronoun: ' W e traveled together as far as Paris, at which place
we parted company.' W e n o w only rarely use here the which,
once, however, a c o m m o n form, competing with which in all its
uses: 'He brought him unaccountable presents of knives, pencil-
cases, gold-seals, the which tokens of homage George received
graciously, as became his superior merit' (Thackeray, Vanity
Fair, I, Ch. V ) .
In early M o d e r n English the who was sometimes used in descrip-
tive clauses instead of simple who: 'Where you m a y Enjoy your
mistress, from the whom, I see, There's no disjunction to be m a d e '
(Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 537).
In descriptive clauses where the reference is indefinite some
indefinite relative pronoun in -ever must be used; whatever with
vague indefinite force and whichever with m u c h less indefinite
meaning: 'Someone in the crowd, whoever it was, demanded fair
play.' 'I'll send you one of m y boys, whichever of them (or which-
ever one) you prefer.' 'He stumbled over something, whatever it
was, and fell.' 'You m a y use either of the expressions, whichever
sounds best to you.'
In descriptive clauses that refer to a thought, an idea, whether
226 DESCRIPTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES 23 II 6

contained in a proposition, a group of words, or a single noun or

adjective, which is used with reference to a preceding statement
or a single noun or adjective, while with reference to a following
statement or a single noun or adjective w e n o w usually employ
what, though in older English, and sometimes still, which occurs:
' I a m getting gray and wrinkled, which is not particularly cheering
Only rarely n o w with the which instead of simple which: 'She
said with thin lips, " W h y , even all this time you have been
deceiving m e ! " the which egged on, in that vile w a y in which
exchanges of a quarrel are as knives sharpening one against the
other, Keggo's inflamed retort, " T h e more fool you! Little fool!"'
(A. S. M . Hutchinson, This Freedom, p. 167). ' W e talked a
long while about our boyhood days, after which we had a good
dinner.' ' M y brother is a good business m a n , which I am not'
' M y brother is a millionaire, which I am not.' ' W h e n overwrought,
which he often was, he became acutely irritable' (Charlotte Bronte,
Villette, Ch. X X X ) . 'I've seen their Capital, their Troops and
Stores, Their Ships, their Magazines of Death and Vengeance,
And, what is more, I've seen their potent King' (Robert Rogers,
Ponteach, III, in, A.D. 1766). 'He praised the wine of the country
and what was more to the purpose, gave us the opportunity of
tasting it.' 'And, which (now usually what) is worse, all you have
done Hath been but for a wayward son' (Shakespeare). 'I found
also, which (now usually what) appeared to me to be an unlucky
measure, that the former had issued his warrants against one
H e r m a n Husbands' (George Washington, Diary, Oct. 20, 1794).
' (I was) also abused, and taken amiss, and, which (now usually
what) vexed me most of all, unknown' (Blackmore, Lorna Doone,
Ch. L X I V ) . Adjective which in connection with an appropriate
governing noun can refer to the thought contained in a preceding
proposition: 'She had forgotten to wind it up, which omission
indicated that the grocer had perturbed her more than she thought'
(Arnold Bennett, Old Wives' Tale, II, 133).
O n the other hand, that is the usual form in restrictive clauses
where the reference is to the thought contained in a preceding
adjective: 'On that day she looked the happiest that I had ever
seen her.' T h e that m a y be suppressed: 'Louise was sitting in a
deep chair, looking the happiest [that] I had ever seen her' (Mary
Roberts Rinehart, The Circular Staircase, Ch. X X X I V ) .
The adverbs when, as (17 2), whereupon, and whereat are used
as relative pronouns in descriptive clauses where the reference is
to a preceding statement or the idea contained in a preceding
word, thefirsttwo forms often, the other two not n o w so com-
monly as formerly, as also where the reference is to a following
 23 II 6 b RELATIVE CLAUSE INTRODUCED B Y AS 227

statement: 'The whole nation was jubilant, when, like a bolt from
the blue, news arrived of a serious reverse.' 'I m e t h i m a m o n t h
ago, since when I haven't seen anything of him.' 'He w a s an
Englishman, as (or which) they perceived by his accent.' 'You
behave like a m a d m a n , as (or which) you are.' 'Nor w a s the
testimony of Lord Justice Rigby less important, showing, as (in
such a parenthetical remark more c o m m o n than which) it did,
that the officers of the a r m y are not visionary philanthropists.'
'Robin H o o d replied that he had some two or three hundred
head of cattle, whereupon (or after which) the sheriff said that he
should like to ride over and look at them.' 'The inventor . . .
said that ... he would demonstrate b y his o w n model that
some day navigation would be b y steam: whereat (or at which)
they all kindly laughed at him for a dreamer' (J. L. Allen, Choir
Invisible, II).
W h e n the reference in descriptive clauses is indefinite, whatever
and whichever (less indefinite than whatever) must be used to refer
to a thought contained in some preceding word or words: 'He is
one of the moderns, whatever that may mean.' 'The leper looked
or listened, whichever he was really doing, for some seconds.'

a. COMPLEX RELATIVE CLAUSES. Both restrictive and descriptive

clauses m a y be complex, i.e., m a y consist of a principal proposition and a
subordinate clause, the one sometimes being embedded in the other: 'It
is afineopportunity, which I would seize if I were not otherwise engaged
'Shakespeare's mind m a y be likened to that modern machine into which
if a thousand voices speak it will treasure up and redeliver the words.'
uel Dale was a typical farmer of that part of the country with his fifty
or sixty acres of land, the capital to work which had come fromfish'(Comp-
ton Mackenzie, The Altar Steps, Ch. VII). In this example the relative
which stands as an object in the attributive infinitive clause that modifies
capital, which is the subject of the principal proposition of the complex
clause. The relative often stands in a substantive clause which is the
subject, predicate, or object of the verb or predicate adjective in the
principal proposition of the complex clause: 'I now desire to speak of
Pericles, whose aim was, it has been said, "to realize in Athens the idea w
he had conceived of human greatness."' 'That is a statement which I
believe I can prove' (or which I am sure I can prove). In this sentence and
many similar ones the clause is only in a formal sense complex, for we
feel such expressions as I believe, I am sure as sentence adverbs, as ex-
plained in 16 2 a (p. 132).
b. D E S C R I P T I V E R E L A T I V E C L A U S E I N T R O D U C E D B Y 'As.' In older
English, as with the force of as being often stood before the relative pro-
noun introducing a descriptive clause: ' That which is of itselfe is the thing
which we cal God, beyond w h o m e nothing can bee imagined and by w h o m e
all things both are and have bene, as which (= as being things which)
228 PERSONALITY A N D F O R M I N R E L A T I V E CLAUSES 23 II 7

could have no beeing of themselves' (Sir Philip Sidney, Trewnesse of the

Christian Religion, Ch. II, A.D. 1587). As who was similarly used.
c. ' A N D W H I C H , ' ' A N D W H O , ' ' B U T W H I C H / ' B U T W H O . ' These
forms now usually follow only a noun modified by a relative clause, but
sometimes, especially earlier in the present period, they follow a noun
modified in other ways: 'the sign of the Bell, an excellent house indeed,
and which (now usually simple which) I do most seriously recommend'
(Swift). 'A m a n well looking for his years, and who W a s neither much
beloved, nor yet abhorr'd' (Byron, Don Juan, I, 65), now usually 'a
m a n who was well looking for his years, and was neither much beloved
nor yet abhorred.' 'In the case of calls within the London area, but
which require more than three pennies, the same procedure is followed'
(recent writer), now usually 'In the case of calls which are within the
London area but require more than three pennies, the same procedure
is followed.'

7. Personality and Form. Current English stresses the idea of

personality m u c h more than older English. E v e n a little earlier
in the period who was used of animals, while w e today usually
employ that or which here since w e feel the absence of personality:
'Though the weather is raw and wintry and the ground covered
with snow, I noticed a solitary robin, who (now that) looked as if
he needed to have his services to the Babes in the W o o d s speedily
requited' (Thoreau, Journal, I, p. 21). T h e relative is always
near the antecedent, hence the incongruity of placing a personify-
ing form alongside of a noun designating a being without person-
ality is more keenly felt than in the case of personal pronouns,
which stand farther away: ' W e have one cow that (or which)
w e highly prize. She is a Jersey.' With children the idea of
individuality increases with their age. W e say 'the last child
which was born,' but 'our only child who is n o w at college.'
T h e idea of personality varies considerably in collective nouns
denoting persons. W e employ which here wherever the idea of
oneness or a mass or masses is more prominent than that of a
number of independent individuals: 'The Garth family, which
was a large one,' etc. (George Eliot, Middlemarch, 217). 'His
mother had ten children, of which he was the oldest' (Scribner's
Magazine, X X X V , 114), but 'Every faction is attended by a
crowd of camp-followers, an useless and heartless rabble who prowl
round its line of march' (Macaulay). 'He instructed the crowds
which surrounded him,' but 'People who have enjoyed good edu-
cational opportunities ought to show it in their conduct and
language.'
In older English, after the names of cities, countries, and other
organizations implying persons, who was often used as relative,
23 II 7 PERSONALITY AND FORM IN RELATIVE CLAUSES 229

but it has been entirely replaced here by which, since the idea of
organization is n o w uppermost in the mind: 'France, which is
in alliance with England; that party in England which,' etc.
Similarly, w e often employ which after a noun denoting a person
where we desire to express the idea of estate, rank, dignity rather
than to speak of a person: 'He is exactly the m a n which such an
education was likely to form' (Trollope, The Warden, Ch. II).
'He was surprised to find that he had come out upon quite a
different Clark from the one to which he had been accustomed'
(Barry Pain, The Culminating Point). 'He did not understand,
and could not without giving up his o w n idea of her, the M a y
Gaston which, as she said, he had m a d e for himself (A. Hope).
'Most of the critics have been kind. I only saw one which was
not' (Sir Henry Jones, Letter, M a y 29, 1919). Which is especially
common here in the predicate relation: 'Like the clever girl
which she undoubtedly was' (Benson, Relentless City, 84). 'He
is not the m a n which his father wants him to be.' That might
be used instead of which in all of these examples. Although
which and that are both used here, which is the more distinctive
form and is, in general, winning out, but in the predicate relation
that and also as are still quite c o m m o n : 'But Hilda, like the
angel of mercy that she was, whispered,' etc. (Grant Allen, Hilda
Wade, Ch. I, 19). 'I will do m y best to stop you, m a d m a n as
you are' (Thackeray, Newcomes, I, Ch. X X I X ) . W e often omit
the relative here where it would not impair the thought: 'It is a
part of Torrence's business to counsel widows, which he does
like the honorable m a n [that] he is' (Meredith Nicholson, Lady
Larkspur, Ch. II, p. 69).
W h e n the relative refers to both persons and things w e cannot,
of course, in one word indicate both personality and lack of it,
hence w e here choose the colorless that, which can refer both to
living beings and lifeless things: 'He spoke largely of the m e n
and the things that he had seen.' Of course w e cannot use that
after prepositions, where w e must use which. See 8, p. 230.
In sharp contrast to the principle of indicating personality or
the lack of it, which n o w prevails in the use of the nominative
and objective cases of the relative, as described above, is the
employment of the genitive whose for reference to persons, animals,
and living and lifeless things: 'the m a n whose watch was stolen,'
'a dog whose n a m e is Carlo,' 'the tree whose top was trimmed,'
'the house in whose shade (or in the shade of which) w e sit.' Where
the reference is to lifeless things, colloquial language prefers the
new prepositional genitive of which, although the convenient old
form whose is still not infrequent. In poetry and choice prose
230 CASE AND AGREEMENT OF RELATIVE PRONOUN 23 II 8

the old form is still the favorite: 'a little white building whose
small windows were overgrown with creepers' (Galsworthy, The
Patrician, p. 40). T h e use of whose for persons and things is the
survival of older usage, which k n e w nothing of the differentiation
described above. In the genitive the convenient agreeable form
has thus far proved stronger in our feeling than the logical dis-
tinctions which sway us in the nominative and objective relations.
Even in choice language, however, the genitive is only in limited
use, for it cannot be used at all in the relation of an objective
genitive: 'In its sensuous purity this woman's face reminded
him of Titian's "Heavenly Love," a reproduction of which (not
whose reproduction) hung over the sideboard' (Galsworthy, The
Man of Property, p. 301).
8. Case of Relative and Its Agreement with Its Antecedent.
The relative pronoun performs a double function: It is a pronoun
in the clause in which it stands and is also a connective joining the
clause in which it stands to the governing noun. A s a pronoun
it has the case required b y its function in the relative clause,
i.e., is subject, direct or indirect object, or a genitive limiting some
noun in the clause: 'The m a n who (subject) was sick is n o w well.'
'The boy whom (object of the verb of the clause) I trusted has
proved worthy of m y confidence.' 'The boy of whom (object of
the preposition of) I spoke yesterday will soon be here.' 'The
boy to whom (indirect object) I gave a knife has lost it.' 'The
boy whose (genitive limiting knife) knife was lost has bought
another.' In loose colloquial speech w e sometimes hear who as
accusative instead of the correct whom. See 11 2 e.
A s a connective or conjunctive pronoun the relative has rela-
tions to its antecedent, with which it agrees in gender, number,
and person. Gender: 'The boy who is standing by the gate is
m y brother,' but 'The book which lies upon the table is a history.'
For the use of whose with reference to both persons and things
see 7 (last par.) above. That is the appropriate form where the
reference is to two or more antecedents representing both persons
and things: 'The cabmen and cabs that are found in London.'
However, w e use also which here and this form must be used
where a preposition stands before the relative: 'The Company
had indeed to procure in the main for themselves the money and
the m e n by which India was conquered.'
A s relative pronouns have the same form for both numbers and
all three persons, their number and person can be gathered only
from the number and the person of the antecedent. This becomes
important wherever the relative is the subject of its clause, for
it then controls the number and person of the verb: '/, who am
23 II 8 c VERB IN THIRD PERSON 231

your friend, tell you so,' where am is in thefirstperson singular

agreeing with its subject who, which agrees with its antecedent J.
'For help I look u p to thee who art all-powerful and able to help.'
'The road that leads to the shore is sandy,' 'The roads that lead
to the shore are sandy.' A n antecedent which is in the vocative,
i.e., in the case of direct address, is felt as being in the second
person: 'Dark anthracite, that reddenest on m y hearth!'
The relative often in loose colloquial speech, sometimes even in
the literary language, agrees incorrectly with some word closely
connected with the antecedent instead of agreeing with the ante-
cedent itself, since this word lies nearer the thought of the speaker
or writer than the grammatical antecedent, with especial fre-
quency in the case of a plural partitive genitive that is dependent
upon the numeral one, which is erroneously felt as the antecedent:
'That is one of the most valuable books (true antecedent but here
not felt as such) that has (instead of the correct have) appeared in
recent years.' 'Tyranny is one of those evils which tends (instead
of tend) to perpetuate itself (instead of themselves) (Bryce, Ameri-
can Commonwealth, Second Edition, II, 344). T h e singular form
of the verb here is quite old: 'Thauriso, bat is a full fair cytee and
a gret and on (one) of the beste bat is in the world for marchandise'
(Mandeville, Travels, C h . X V I I , fourteenth century, M S . Cotton,
A.D. 1410-1420).

a. ANTECEDENT IMPLIED IN A POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE. The ante-

cedent of the relative pronoun is usually a noun or a pronoun, but it
is sometimes, especially in older English or in poetry, a person implied
in a possessive adjective, which is explained by the fact that the possessive
adjective was originally a personal pronoun in the genitive and still
always represents a definite person: 'Would you have m e . . . Put m y
sick cause into his hand that (now usually into the hand of him who) hates
me?' (Shakespeare, Henry the Eighth, III, i, 115).
6. V E R B I N A G R E E M E N T W I T H S U B J E C T O F P R I N C I P A L PROPOSITION.
Where the antecedent is a predicate noun in the principal proposition,
the verb of the relative clause sometimes, especially in older English,
agrees in person and number with the subject of the principal proposition
if it be a personal pronoun: T a m no orator, as Brutus is, But, as you
know m e all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend' (Shakespeare,
Julius Caesar, III, II, 221), now usually that loves his friend.
c. V E R B I N T H I R D P E R S O N W I T H O U T R E G A R D T O A N T E C E D E N T . In
older English, the verb of the relative clause was sometimes in the third
person without regard to the antecedent of the relative: ' M y Lord of
Burgundy, W efirstaddress toward you, who with this king Hath (now
have) rival'd for our daughter' (Shakespeare, King Lear, I, i, 192). This
usage still lingers: 'To me, who knows the capacity of human muscle,
these men are a miracle' (Norman Douglas, South Wind, Ch. X ) . 'Above
 232 POSITION AND REPETITION OF THE RELATIVE 23 II 9

all, no compulsion is offered to yourself, dear Elizabeth, who rightly

resents anything of the sort' (Hugh Walpole, Wintersmoon, A.D. 1928).
d. F A L S E A T T R A C T I O N . Writers and speakers not infrequently place
the relative pronoun in the accusative under the false impression that it
is the object of the following verb, while in reality its grammatical function
demands the nominative form: 'Instinctively apprehensive of her father,
whom she supposed it was, she stopped in the dark' (Dickens). Here
whom is incorrectly used for who, the predicate of the relative clause
who it was, which is the object of the verb supposed. This incorrect
usage was very common in Shakespeare's time: 'Arthur, whom they say
is kill'd tonight O n your suggestion' (King John, IV, u, 165).
9. Position and Repetition of the Relative. To avoid ambiguity
the relative should be placed as near as possible to the antecedent:
'The figs which w e ate were in wooden boxes,' not 'Thefigswere
in wooden boxes which w e ate.' If this cannot be done, the sen-
tence must be altered so that the thought becomes clear: not
'Solomon, the son of David, who built the temple,' but 'David's
son Solomon, who built the temple.' In older English, an ante-
cedent in the genitive might precede its governing noun, but today
it follows the governing noun and stands immediately before the
relative: 'I shall not confine myself to any man's rules (now the
rules of any man) that ever lived' (Sterne, Tristram Shandy,
I, p. 10).
Though in general the relative pronoun introduces the clause,
w e sometimes for the sake of emphasis put some other word in
thefirstplace: 'So w e get this charming little book, the newest
thing about which is, perhaps, its method' (London Times, Literary
Supplement, 29/10, 1914). 'It amounts to this that they are
ready to undertake work the results of which they can visualize'
(ib., 19/10, 1916). 'A deeply interesting book is this ancestor of
the modern dictionary, to describe which adequately would take
far more time than the Unfits of this lecture afford' (Sir J. Murray,
Evolution of English Lexicography). If the relative is the object
of a preposition the latter frequently precedes: ' H e is the m a n
upon whom I a m depending.' T h e preposition often stands at
the end of the clause. See 62 4.
W h e r e the construction in two or more successive relative
clauses is the same, and there is n o particular reason to contrast
them or emphasize each statement, the relative pronoun need not
be repeated: 'John Jones, w h o w a s born and buried in London.'
In older English, the relative pronoun w a s often not repeated
even where the construction in the different relative clauses was
different: "Tis like a Potion that a m a n should drinke, But turnes
his stomacke with the sight of it' (Ben Jonson, Euery Man out of
23 II 10 ASYNDETIC RELATIVE CONSTRUCTION 233

His Humour, I, i, 9, A.D. 1600). T h e relative is n o w repeated w h e n

the case or government is changed: 'Originality in politics, as in
everyfieldof art, consists in the use and application of the ideas
which w e get or which are given to us.' 'Nor do I, either in or out
of Cambridge, k n o w any one with whom I can converse more
pleasantly, or whom I should prefer as m y companion.' A s in
these examples, w e should always use the same relative w h e n w e
repeat a relative. There is a natural hesitancy, however, to
repeat restrictive that w h e n widely separated from its antecedent,
as it usually follows its antecedent immediately, not even sepa-
rated b y a pause, so that some prefer which where the pronoun
is widely separated from its antecedent: 'all the toys that infatuate
m e n and which they play for' (Emerson). W e m a y avoid this
difficulty b y using which in both cases. O n the other hand, if
there are two relative clauses in the sentence a n d one of them is
subordinate to the other, a change of relative is helpful to keep
the grammatical relations clear: ' H e enjoyed a lucrative practise,
which enabled h i m to educate his family with all the advantages
that m o n e y can give.'

a. PERSONAL PRONOUN INSTEAD OF RELATIVE. Sometimes, especially

in older English, where the grammatical conscience was not so sensitive
as today, w e find in the second of two coordinated relative clauses a
personal pronoun instead of a relative, usually, however, only where the
construction in the two clauses is different, which clearly indicates that
the personal pronoun has been chosen as a convenient means of avoiding
the reconstruction of the second clause: 'Fortune shall cull forth out of
one side her happy minion, T o w h o m in favour she shall give the day, And
kiss him (instead of whom she shall kiss) with a glorious victory' (Shake-
speare, King John, II, I, 391).
b. I N D E P E N D E N T P R O P O S I T I O N I N S T E A D O F R E L A T I V E C L A U S E . In
older English, we often find a relative in one clause, but do not find in
the following clause, which in a formal sense is coordinate with it, a
relative expressed or understood: 'At last they were forced into a harbor,
where (= in which) lay a French man-of-war with his prize, and had
surely made prize of them also, but that the providence of God,' etc.
(Winthrop, Journal, June 15, 1637). In such sentences the second sub-
ordinate clause has a subject in common with thefirstsubordinate clause,
but there is no relative pronoun that finks it to thefirstsubordinate
clause, so that it appears to be an independent proposition. Instead of
the conjunction and the relative pronoun which should have been used:
'a man-of-war with his prize, which had,' etc.
10. Asyndetic Relative Construction. There is in English
fairly well preserved the most primitive type of relative con-
struction, the asyndetic relative clause, i.e., a clause without a
234 HYPOTACTIC ASYNDETIC CLAUSE 23 1110 a

connective, without a formal link joining the clause to the govern-

ing noun. In a strict sense this is not a relative clause since it does
not contain a word which points back to an antecedent. It simply
lies alongside of it as an appositive clause explaining it. The usual
custom of saying that the relative is omitted suggests carelessness
and has in fact brought the construction into bad repute with
m a n y w h o are wont to attach value to form. A careful study,
however, of the true nature of this favorite old construction, as
given at the beginning of II, p. 204, and also in 19 3, will show at
once that it is a good natural English expression, not a mutilated
grammatical m e m b e r but perfect and neatlyfittedinto the struc-
ture of the sentence, performing its function tersely, yet clearly
and forcefully, often even with elegant simplicity.
There are two groups:
a. H Y P O T A C T I C A S Y N D E T I C C L A U S E . In this, the more common
of the two types, the clause is always restrictive, closely linked
to its antecedent; in fact so closely that it is indispensable to the
thought, hence though not connected with the antecedent by a
formal link, it is yet bound to it b y such a strong logical tie that
the dependent relation is distinctly felt. In most cases there is
in the governing proposition a formal indication of subordination,
a demonstrative or, more accurately, an adjective or pronominal
determinative (56 A ) , namely, the (definite article), that, the one, or
some other word with determinative force, the indefinites a, any,
etc., and the qualitative determinatives a, one, ones, like that, or
in colloquial language simple like (56 A ) , pointing to the following
asyndetic relative clause. T h e following groups of examples of
this c o m m o n construction are arranged upon the basis of the
function that the relative pronoun would perform if it were
expressed.
Direct object of the verb: 'the book I hold in my hand'; 'the
books J am holding and those (or the ones) you gave me'; 'thai
lovely w a y Father has, that even course he always pursues'; 'a
m a n we met yesterday'; ' any course you may pursue'; ' the need of
a m a n we can trust'; 'not such a m a n , but one we can trust.' 'She
makes pies like those Mother used to make,' or in loose colloquial
speech like Mother used to make.
Instead of an indefinite determinative w e often simply omit
the determinative altogether, since the absence of an article or
other determinative imparts indefinite force: 'certain books (or
simply books) w e should all read.'
Although the asyndetic relative clause is most c o m m o n in the
relation of direct object, as discussed above, it not infrequently
occurs elsewhere: Cognate (11 2) accusative: ' H e went back the
23 II 10 a HYPOTACTIC ASYNDETIC CLAUSE 235

way he had come.' Accusative of length of time: 'The length of

time Eskimo dogs can go without food seems beyond belief.' In-
direct object: 'the m a n I wrote to,' 'the boy / gave the knife to.
Object of a preposition (62 4): 'the pen / write with,' 'the car I
rode on,' 'the book I spoke of,' 'the table the ball rolled under
'the fence he jumped over'; 'the place I am going to,' or to which
am going, or whither (in a choice literary style) I am going, col-
loquially, where I am going, usually only in popular speech where
I am going to, although outside of relative clauses this form is
much more widely used; 'the place / came from,' or from which
I came, or whence (in a choice literary style, or sometimes from
whence) I came, usually only in popular speech where I came from,
although outside of relative clauses this form is m u c h more widely
used. On (or in) which in expressions of time: 'the day he ar-
rived,' 'the year you came back.' Every (or each) time that: 'ever
(or each) time he came.' While: 'all the time I was there.' Why:
'the reason I did it.' In which in expressions of manner: 'the
way he does things.' Predicate: 'He is not the m a n he once was.'
'She is not the cheerful w o m a n she used to be.'
Earlier in the period, this construction was not infrequent in
the subject relation: 'I haue a neece is a merchants wife' (Ben
Jonson, Euery Man out of His Humour, I, n, A.D. 1600). 'Truth
is mans proper good and the onely immortal thing was given to
our mortality to use' (id., Discoveries, p. 4, A.D. 1641). 'I bring
him news will raise his drooping spirits' (Dryden, All for Love, I,
113, A.D. 1678). Though this construction is in general not n o w
used so m u c h in the subject relation as formerly, it is still quite
common here in a large number of expressions: ' M y children have
had every complaint there is to be had.' 'There's nothing makes
me so wild as that continual bawling.' 'Mrs. Jones came to
borrow some butter and I gave her all there was (or the little
there was) in the house.' ' I lent to Mrs. Jones all the butter (or
the little butter) there was in the house.' 'You m a y keep the
money there is left after buying your hat.' 'There isn't one of us
really knows -what she's doing it for' ( W . D. Howells, A Hazard
of New Fortunes, II, C h . I). 'There's going to be several folks
talk too much, shortly' (H. W . Morrow, Forever Free, Ch. XII).
Still widely used in popular Irish English, which here, as often
also elsewhere, preserves older English idiom: ' It's the like of that
talk you'd hear from a m a n would be losing his mind' (J. M . Synge,
The Well of the Saints, p. 55). Also still quite c o m m o n in the
language of educated Irishmen: 'There's no investment in the
world would give you a return like that' (Lennox Robinson, Harvest,
Act I). Also c o m m o n in the mountain dialect of Kentucky:
236 ABRIDGMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSE 23 II 11

'Any m a n can'tfightfor his friends [had] better be dead' (Lucy

Furman, Mothering on Perilous, Ch. X V ) .
T h e old asyndetic clause is still not infrequent in subject
clauses which are n o w felt and treated as relative clauses: 'Who
was it told you that ?' Other examples in 21 c.
T h e old asyndetic clause was once c o m m o n after the determina-
tive that, but as the form was early interpreted as a relative
pronoun it was later replaced b y what and he who, those who,
the original construction n o w only lingering on, seldom recog-
nized, in poetry or poetic prose or old saws: ' W e speak that
(now what) w e do k n o w and testify that (now what) w e have seen'
(John, III, 11). 'A m a n passes for that (now what) he is worth'
(Emerson). 'Handsome is that handsome does,' n o w in plain
modern form 'Handsome is he who,' etc. 'Of her ancestors there
have been that (now those who) have exalted and pulled down
Kings' (Digby, Private Memoirs, 272, A.D. 1665).
6. P A R A T A C T I C C L A U S E . Here the clause is descriptive, often
quite loosely linked: 'There is a m a n at the door [, he] wants
to see you.' 'Here is a little book [, it] will tell you how to raise
roses.' 'I knew an Irish lady [, she] was married at fourteen'
(Meredith, Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Ch. X X V I I I , 226). 'I have
discovered something [, it] Concerns you nearly' (Bridges, Humour
of the Court, III, 2, 2583). In this old paratactic (19 3) type two
sentences he side by side, each with enough independence that
it might stand alone, and yet the second is connected in thought
with the first. In older English, w h e n two such sentences came
into relations with each other, there was often no personal pronoun
in the second sentence referring to a noun in [Link]
context m a d e the thought clear. T h e suppression of the pronoun
is a primitive means of suggesting subordination. In our present
hypotactic (19 3) stage of development w e prefer to indicate this
subordination by a relative pronoun, hence this old type is now
little used.
11. Abridgment of Relative Clause. T h e relative clause can
often be abridged. Its contracted form is frequently that of an
appositive noun, adjective, or participle, which, alone or modi-
fied, might theoretically be construed as an elliptical clause, as
indicated by the square brackets, but in reality is an abridged
clause (20 3), as often becomes evident in clauses containing a
present participle which, as in the examples from B e n Jonson and
M a r k Twain, cannot be construed as standing in an elliptical
clause. T h e subject of the abridged clause is usually some noun
or pronoun in the principal proposition: 'The English, [who are]
a practical and energetic people, have spread beyond their islands
23 II 11 ABRIDGMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSE 237

and n o w hold territory in all parts of the world.' 'His companions

led Henry V to do m a n y deeds [that were] quite unworthy of a
prince.' 'Opinion is a light, vaine, crude, and imperfect thing,
settled in the imagination, but never arriving ( = which never ar-
rives) at the understanding, there to attain the tincture of reason'
(Ben Jonson, Discoveries, p. 6, A.D. 1641). 'It (i.e., the circus)
was all one family parents and five children performing
(= who performed) in the open air' (Mark Twain, Letter to His
Wife, Sept. 28, 1891). 'Pride [which is] joined with many virtues
chokes them all.' 'Geoffrey says his speech on the Poor L a w was
head and shoulders the best [that was] made' (Galsworthy, The
Patrician, p. 338). 'Well, Father, there's Rocket (name) [who
has] come for you' (Hugh Walpole, The Green Mirror, p. 29).
'First (58, 6th par.) [who has] come, first [who will be] served.'
'First [who has] come,first[who will be let] in.'
There is also another kind of abridged relative clause which
has come into wide use. Wherever there is a modal idea involved,
a relative clause, in accordance with 7 D 2, can be abridged to
an infinitive clause w h e n the infinitive serves as the predicate and
some noun or pronoun in the principal proposition as subject:
'He is not a m a n to trifle with' ( = who is to be trifled with, can be
trifled with). 'That isn't anything to censure' ( = that should be
censured). 'The sights to be seen ( = which can be seen) are not
impressive.' A s explained in 7 D 2, the infinitive here is often
active in form but passive in meaning. In oldest English, active
meaning was quite rare in this construction, but it is n o w quite
common: 'John is the boy to do it' (= who should do it). 'Did
you ever see anything to beat it?' ( = that could beat it). 'It is the
glory of Trinity that she has an abundance of famous m e n from
whom to select' (= from whom she can select, or in simpler form
to select from). 'He is a poor old m a n soon to become ( = who
must soon become) a burden to his family.' There is often here a
future force in connection with the modal. See 7 D 2 (2nd par.).
W h e n the reference is general or indefinite, the infinitive here
has no subject: ' It is not a night to turn a dog from the door' ( = in
which one should turn a dog from the door). 'He has no following
to speak of.' 'What is there to do?'
Not infrequently, the subject is indicated by the context:
'Clearly the minute had come at which to speak plainly' (Basil
King, The Side of the Angels, Ch. XIII) (or in simpler form to speak \
plainly = at which he should speak plainly). f
Where the subject of the infinitive is not general or indefinite,
or is not implied in some word in the principal proposition, or
is not indicated b y the context, the infinitive has a subject of its
238 ABRIDGMENT OF RELATIVE CLAUSE 23 II 11

o w n introduced by for, as explained in 21 c: 'She wasn't terrible,

she wasn't really anything except a kind of peg for all sorts of
traditions to hang on to' (Hugh Walpole, The Duchess"of Wrexe,
Ch. XII). 'The thing for you to do is to go to bed.' 'What is
there for us to do?'
 CHAPTER XV
OBJECT CLAUSE
PAGE
GENITIVE C L A U S E A N D CONJUNCTIONS 239
Abridgment 240
DATIVE CLAUSE 240
Abridgment 241
ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE, O B J E C T O F A V E R B 241
Conjunctions and conjunctive pronouns, adjectives,
and adverbs 241
Use and meaning 243
Anticipatory object or object pointing back 246
Omission of 'that' 247
Accusative clause in the form of a question 247
Abridgment 249
PREPOSITIONAL C L A U S E , O B J E C T O F V E R B O R A D J E C T I V E 253
Distinction between prepositional object clause and
prepositional adverbial clause 254
Abridgment 256
24. Object clauses are divided into genitive, dative, accusative,
and prepositional clauses. In the prepositional clause the prepo-
sition and the following clause form a unit called a prepositional
clause, which as a whole serves as the object of some verb or
adjective.
GENITIVE CLAUSE
24 I. A genitive clause performs the function of a noun i
genitive, used as the object of a verb or an adjective: 'I reminded
him that he had promised it' ( = of his promise). 'I a m sure that he
will support me' ( = of his support).
The genitive clause is introduced by: that; but, but that, or in
colloquial speech but what, after a negative proposition instead
of that not; the indefinite relative (23 II 1, 2, 3) pronouns
and adverbs who, what, whether, how, etc. T h e genitive clause
does not usually have a distinctive form. W e recognize it by the
fact that a corresponding noun or pronoun object is in the genitive,
as in the two examples given above. If, however, it is introduced
by an indefinite relative other than whether, it has the genitive
sign of: 'I reminded him of what he said.' 'Are you sure of what
you say ?' 'Are you sure of who he is ?'
239
240 DATIVE CLAUSE 24 II

Examples:
I a m not sure that he will come.
I a m not sure that he may not decline (or but that, or but what, he ma
decline).
I cannot convince myself that she isn't alive (or but that, or but wha
she is still alive).
I cannot persuade myself that she does not still love me (or but that,
but what, she still loves me).
They robbed him of what he had on his person.
H e was not sure whether he had left his umbrella at school or on the p
grounds.
H e was mindful of how kindly they had treated him.
As many people feel the genitive clause now as a prepositional
clause, these examples might all be classed under IV, p. 253.
a. A B R I D G M E N T O F G E N I T I V E C L A U S E . A i/iai-clause m a y
sometimes be abridged to an infinitive clause, but it is much
more freely abridged to a gerundial clause, since the gerund can
naturally assume the genitive form: ' H e is worthy to receive such
honor' (or to be thus honored). 'I reminded h i m of his having
promised it.' 'I convinced h i m of his (or my) being able to do it.'
'He is not convinced of being defeated.' 'I a m not quite sure of
his having said it.'

DATIVE CLAUSE
24 II. The dative clause performs the function of a noun which
is in the dative after a verb or an adjective:
He told the story to whoever would listen.
H e told the story to whomever he met.
H e was unkind to whoever opposed him.
This is like what we saw yesterday.
The explosion took place near where we stood.
The relative pronoun in the subject relation is sometimes in-
correctly put into the dative after the dative sign to, the writer
or speaker for the m o m e n t not noticing that the pronoun is subject
of the dative clause: ' T h e original papers . . . are in m y posses-
sion and shall be freely exhibited to whomsoever (instead of the
correct whosoever) m a y desire a sight of t h e m ' (Hawthorne,
Scarlet Letter, T h e C u s t o m House).
A s like and near m a y be construed also as prepositions, the clause
following them m a y be construed as the object of a preposition,
preposition and clause together forming a prepositional clause:
'This cloth does not wear like what we bought of him before.'
24 III CONJUNCTIONS IN ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 241

'The bridge crosses the river near where we live.' Compare 50

4 c 66 and 24 IV.
a. A B R I D G M E N T O F D A T I V E C L A U S E . This clause is some-
times replaced by a participle: 'He is unkind to all opposing
him,' instead of to whoever opposes (sometimes oppose) him.

ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE, OBJECT OF A VERB

24 III. Conjunctions. This clause performs the function
a noun in the accusative used as the object of a verb: 'I saw
what he did' (= his deed). There are sometimes two direct ob-
jects one a noun or pronoun, the other a clause: ' I entreated
him that he spare me this humiliation.' As the double accusat
is not now a common construction, we prefer a prepositional
object instead of the accusative of the noun or pronoun, wherever
this is possible: 'Pas straight desired all the company they would
beare witnes' (Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadia, Book III, p. 65,
A.D. 1593), now usually of all the company. But the accusative of
the noun or pronoun is the more common form when the clause is
an infinitive clause: 'I desire all the company to bear witness.'
This clause is introduced by: that, in popular speech still often
replaced by as (27 2, 2nd par.), as sometimes in older literary
English; in older literary English sometimes as that instead of
the usual that; lest, from older thy (old instrumental case of tha
less the, literally, on that account that with the negative less (
inserted to indicate that the person in question wishes that the
action may not take place; sometimes still, as in older English,
used after verbs of fearing instead of that; but, but that, or i
colloquial speech but what, often used instead of that not after a
negative or interrogative proposition containing a verb of know-
ing, thinking, believing, expecting, fearing, or saying; an illogical
but, but that, or in colloquial speech but what, sometimes use
instead of the more common that after a negative or interrogative
proposition containing a verb of doubting, wondering, earlier in
the period also a verb of denying and gainsaying, in all four cases
verbs which though positive in form are negative in meaning;
an illogical but or but that instead of that after a negative or inter
rogative proposition containing a verb of hindering or preventing,
verbs which though positive in form are negative in meaning, a
construction once common but now replaced by a positive gerun-
dial clause after the preposition from; in older English, an illogical
that not instead of that after such verbs as to forbid, hinder,
which though positive in form are negative in meaning; after
verbs of remembering, recalling, thinking, knowing, learning,
242 CONJUNCTIONS IN ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 24 III

perceiving, hearing, and relating often how instead of that, or,

especially earlier in the period, with double expression, how that,
in popular speech often replaced b y as how or that how; often
introduced b y the indefinite relative (23 II 1, 2, 3) pronouns
who (in older English also who that), what (in older English also
what that), that (in older English, n o w replaced b y what), which,
whichever, what(so)ever, whatso (in older English); the indefinite
relative adjectives which, whichever, what (more indefinite than
which), whatever; the indefinite relative adverbs where, when,
whence (in a choice literary style, usually replaced by where
from, from where) or sometimes from whence, whither (in a choice
literary style, usually replaced b y where, or often in colloquial
speech b y the more accurate where to), why (in older English
also why that), how (in older English also how that), whether (origi-
nally a pronoun meaning which of the two) or if, or in older English
sometimes and or an; whether or whether, in older English also
if or, also if or whether, also if or whether that; whether
or, used w h e n the second m e m b e r has its subject, or verb, or both
suppressed, but in older English w e find here also whether or
whether; in indirect questions introduced b y whether or if, or in
older English sometimes and or an; whether or whether, in older
English also if or whether, whether (or if) or whether that;
whether or, in older English also if or; in indirect questions
also introduced b y the interrogative adverbs why (in older Eng-
lish why that), how (in older English how that), whence, where
from, whither, when, where, etc., or the interrogative pronouns and
adjectives, who, what, which, etc.; in indirect exclamations intro-
duced b y what a. Examples illustrating the use of these conjunc-
tions are given below. O n e of these conjunctions if needs
a historical explanation. In older English, it w a s used in both
substantive and conditional clauses. Its original meaning of
doubt or uncertainty w a s felt as appropriate for both categories.
T o d a y in the literary language w e usually distinguish the two
categories b y a distinctive form, preferring whether to if in sub-
stantive clauses and reserving if for use in conditions. T h e old
usage of employing if also in substantive clauses is still wide-
spread in colloquial speech. B u t even here if is not used if the
substantive clause precedes the principal proposition or if the
substantive clause stands in the attributive relation, i.e., is an
attributive substantive clause (23 I): 'Whether (not if) he comes
himself or sends a substitute is immaterial to me.' 'The question
whether (not if) he should come himself or send a substitute must be
decided soon.'
A n understanding of the nature of a direct a n d an indirect
 24 III EXAMPLES OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSES 243

question is necessary to appreciate the form and meaning of

some of the examples given below. T h e nature of a n indirect
question is discussed in 21 and 23 II 1 (last par.). T h e forms
employed to introduce direct a n d indirect questions are used
also to introduce other object clauses where there is not the
slightest reference to a question or a n answer, as in 'I told him
how (relative adverb) he should do it.' There is, however, a
close relation between these interrogative and indefinite relative
forms. Both groups were originally indefinites a n d still retain
their original meaning. A n interrogative is a n indefinite that
assumes the additional function of asking information concerning
indefinite relations. T h e interrogative, however, never ceases to
be an indefinite. C o m p a r e c, p. 247, and 23 I and II 1 (last par.).
For the use of the terms relative and interrogative see 21 (4th par.).
Although the accusative clause usually has declarative form, it
sometimes has the form of a direct c o m m a n d or a direct question:
' A n d I say to mankind, Be not curious about God!' (Walt W h i t m a n ,
Leaves of Grass, p. 90). For examples of interrogative form see c,
p. 247.

Examples of Accusative Clauses after Verbs:

T know that he has come,' originally T know that: he has come,' where
the that is a determinative pronoun pointing to the following explanatory
appositional sentence.
Is it sufferable that the Fop of w h o m I complain should say as (now that)
he would rather have such-a-one without a Groat than me with the Indies?
(Steele, Spectator, No. 508, p. 6, A.D. 1712).
Miss O P H E L I A . Y o u ought to be ashamed of yourselves. M R . S T .
CLAIRE. I don't know as (now that) I am (Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle
Tom's Cabin, Ch. XVIII).
I don't know as (now that) it would be proper for me to mention the
grown-up people over the way (Louisa Alcott, Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, 197).
I don't know as (in popular speech replacing, as here, literary that) I
should want you should marry for money (W. D. Howells, The Minister's
Charge, Ch. X X ) .
Pray let her know as that (instead of the usual simple that) I will present
her . . . my Lancashire Seat (Richardson, Clarissa, IV, 259, A.D. 1748).
I feared that it might anger him (or lest it should, or might, anger him)
I don't know but (or but that, or but what) it is all true (= that it is
all true).
W h o knows but (but that, or but what) it is all true ? (= that it isn't
true?).
I could hardly believe but (but that, or but what) it was all real (= th
it wasn't all real).
Take the money there is no saying but (but that, or but what) you will
need it.
244 E X A M P L E S O F ACCUSATIVE CLAUSES 24 III

That wouldn't say but what I'd be foolish (= that I shouldn't be foolish
to feel that w a y (Victor Appleton, Don Sturdy in Lion Land, Ch. IV).
Thus w e lived several years in a state of m u c h happiness; [I will] not
[say] but that we sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends t
enhance the value of its favors.
Also, he did a big piece of work in his clean-up of camps all over Cali-
fornia, and in awakening, through countless talks up and down the state,
some understanding of the I. W . W . and his problem. (Not but what it
seems now to have been almost forgotten.) (Cornelia Stratton Parker in
Atlantic Monthly, April, 1919.)
W h o doubts that (or n o w less commonly but, but that, or but what) he
will win.
'I do not doubt that (or n o w less commonly but, or but that, or but what)
the catastrophe is over,' but with the indefinite whether to bring out the
idea of doubt, uncertainty: T doubt whether (or if) the catastrophe is over
'What hinders then but that thoufindher out?' (Addison, Cato, III, vn,
18), now, 'What hinders you then from finding her out?'
H e forbade that not (now simple that without not) anybody should use a
silver drinking cup (W. Burton, Comment. Itin. Antonin., 121, A.D. 1658).
'I saw how ( = that) he was gradually falling behind in the race,' quite
different from T asked him how he did it' (indirect question).
Tell John what (relative adjective) things ye have seen and heard;
how that (= simple how or that) the blind see, the lame walk (Luke, VII, 22)
Seeing as how (for literary that) the captain had been hauling him over
the coals (Marryat, Peter Simple, XIII).
Miss Dorritt came here one afternoon with a bit of writing, telling
that how (in popular speech for literary that) she wished for needle work
(Dickens, Little Dorritt).
I should like to ask who (interrogative pronoun) did it (indirect question).
I told him who (relative pronoun) did it.
H e told m e whom (relative) he blamed for it.
I asked him whom (interrogative) he blamed for it (indirect question).
I asked him who (interrogative; see 11 2 e; better whom) he plays with
(indirect question).
'I m a y neither choose who (now one whom) I would nor refuse who
(now one whom) I dislike' (Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, I, n, 24).
Today w e avoid simple indefinite who where w e desire to describe rather
than to point out.
Give m e what (relative) you have in your hand.
Tell m e what (interrogative) you have in your hand.
That (relative; n o w what) thou doest, do quickly (John, XIII, 27).
Whatever he threatens he performs.
'I'll tell you soon which (relative) plan, or which (relative) of the plans,
wefinallysettle on,' or where the thought is more indefinite 'I'll report to
you later what (or whatever) changes we make in our plans,' or a little more
definitely ' W e are ready to adopt whichever of these plans you recommend.'
I asked him which (interrogative) plan he had settled on, or which
(interrogative) of the plans he had settled on.
 24 III EXAMPLES OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSES 245

I told him why (relative) / did it.

I asked him why (interrogative) he did it.
I wonder why he doesn't come! (indirect speculative question; see 21,
3rd par.).
I wonder what he is going to do now! (indirect speculative question).
I told him when (relative) / was going.
I asked him when (interrogative) he was going.
I have seen, When (now a case, or cases in which), after execution, judge-
ment hath Repented o'er his doom (Shakespeare, Measure for Measure,
II, n, 10).
I see whither (relative; in poetry and choice prose not infrequent)
your question tends (Concise Oxford Dictionary).
I told laimwhere (relative; in poetry and choice prose whither) I was going.
I asked him where (interrogative; in poetry and choice prose whither)
he was going.
I told her where (relative) I came from (or in poetry or choice prose
whence I came).
'Nobody knew where (relative) he came from,' or to emphasize where
by withholding it until the end: 'He came from nobody knew where'
(George Eliot, Silas Marner, Ch. II).
T should like to k n o w where (interrogative) she came from' (or in poetry
and choice prose whence she came), a polite indirect w a y of asking a ques-
tion ; but in a direct question w e often for emphasis bring the interrogative,
who, what, where, wherefrom, etc., forward from the subordinate clause
and put it at the beginning of the sentence: ' Who did she say wrote it?',
'Who do you think it is?', 'What do you think has happened?', 'Where
did she say she put it?', ' Where did she say she came from?'; instead of:
'Did she say w h o wrote it?', 'Do you think w h o it is?', 'Do you think
what has happened?', 'Did she say where she put it?', 'Did she say
where she came from?'
'I have heard, Where (now conversations in which) many of the best
respect (rank) in Rome, Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes' (Shake-
speare, Julius Ccesar, I, u, 59). This old use of where with the force of a
noun + in which is still heard in colloquial speech: 'This morning I read
in the Tribune where (in the literary language an account in which) a
boy killed his father.'
Of m a n y things that have been taken for granted m e n are beginning
to ask, Are they true? (direct question), or whether they are true (indirect
question).
H e decided that he would go and see whether (relative) Rachel were in
(Hugh Walpole, The Duchess of Wrexe, p. 261).
I asked him whether (or if; interrogatives) he was coming.
In 'She found herself wondering at the breath she drew, doubting that
another would follow' (Meredith), the writer employs that to indicate
that, though there was doubt in the mind of the person described, there
is really no doubt about the fact in question; but it is more natural here
to use whether (or if) to portray vividly the doubt in the mind of the person
described.
246 ANTICIPATORY OBJECT IN ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 24 III a

T doubt whether (or colloquially if) he was there,' but 'I do not doubt
that (or sometimes but, or but that, or colloquially but what) he was there'
and 'Do you doubt that (or but, or but that, or but what) he was there?'
Good sirs, looke and (now whether or if; relative) the coast be cleere,
I'ld faine be going (Ben Jonson, Euery Man out of His Humour, V, in,
A.D. 1600).
Aske him an (now whether or if; interrogatives) he will clem (starve)
me (Ben Jonson, Poetaster, I, n, A.D. 1601).
I do not k n o w whether (relative) he will come himself, or whether he will
send a substitute (or whether he will come himself or send a substitute).
K n o w of the D u k e if (now usually whether) his last purpose hold, Or
whether since he is advis'd by aught To change the course (Shakespeare,
King Lear, V , i, 1).
I do not k n o w whether (relative) he is better or worse.
' W e m a y choose whether we will take the hint or not' (or sometimes as in
older English also no), or ' W e m a y choose whether or not (or no) we will
take the hint.'
'Confessing not to k n o w whether there were gods, or whether not' (Milton,
Areopagitica, 7), n o w simply or not.
Then while the king debated with himself If (now usually whether)
Arthur were the child of shamefulness, O r born the son of Gorlois, etc,
(Tennyson, Idylls of the King, 237).
I asked him whether (interrogative) he would come himself, or whether
he would send a substitute (or whether he would come himself or send a sub-
stitute).
'And hark thee, villain, observe if his cheek loses color or his eye falter
(Scott, Talisman, C h . X V ) . This ifor is still c o m m o n in colloquial
American English, but in the literary language whether or is the usual
form.
Then judge, great lords, if (now usually whether) I have done amiss,
Or whether (relatives) that such cowards ought to wear this ornament of
knighthood (Shakespeare, J Henry VI, IV, i, 27).
Every one knows what a scene takes place when a Ministry is defeated
in the House of Commons.
Little did she foresee what a difference this would make.
T h e object clause is often complex, i.e., consists of a principal
and a subordinate clause, the one being often embedded in the
other: 'Let us n o w consider what we said was the supreme character-
istic of a highly developed age the manifestation of a critical spir
the endeavor after a rational arrangement and appreciation of facts.
Here the principal proposition of the complex clause, we said,
is embedded in the subordinate. T h e clause is often only in a
formal sense complex since the principal proposition has the force
of a sentence adverb, as described in 16 2 a (p. 132): 'I n o w desire
to discuss what I feel is the main issue.'
a. A N T I C I P A T O R Y O B J E C T O R O B J E C T P O I N T I N G B A C K . There
is often an anticipatory word such as this, it, one thing, etc., in the
24 III C ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE IN FORM OF A QUESTION 247

principal proposition, pointing to the following object clause:

'I know this, one thing, that he will never do that again.'
If the principal proposition is placed at the end for emphasis,
it often contains a pronominal object which points back to the
object clause, which is the real object: ' W h o m I honor, him I
trust.' 'What the light of your mind pronounces incredible, that
in God's name leave uncredited' (Carlyle).
6. O M I S S I O N O F ' T H A T . ' A S in 21 a, that is often omitted: 'He
always answers us he is well.' This always takes place when
the principal proposition is embedded in the accusative clause ;
'God himself, they devoutly trusted, would shelter his servants*
in the day of battle against the impious m e n w h o were less their
enemies than his' (Gardiner). Sometimes the principal proposi-
tion follows the accusative clause, which has been placedfirstfor
emphasis: 'You've an appointment at the tailor's, remember'
(Pinero, The Thunderbolt, Act I).
It is a characteristic of American popular and dialectic speech
to employ a full clause after want ( = desire), usually with sup-
pressed that, while in the literary language the abridged form of
the clause, according to d, p. 249, is always used: 'He wanted
Luke should go with him' ( A m y Lowell, East Wind, p. 110), but
in the literary language always: 'He wanted Luke to go with him.'
c. A C C U S A T I V E C L A U S E I N T H E F O R M O F A Q U E S T I O N . In collo-
quial and popular speech it is c o m m o n to employ here a blending
of direct and indirect discourse the form of a direct question
instead of the usual literary accusative clause introduced by the
interrogatory conjunction whether or if, with the important modi-
fication, however, that a present tense form under the influence
of a past tense is changed to a past tense form: 'He spoke of
Pen's triumphs as an orator at Oxbridge, and asked was he coming
into Parliament' (Thackeray, Pendennis, p. 286). 'He had asked
the boy Micky had any one gone to see them' (De Morgan, When
Ghost Meets Ghost, Ch. X X I X ) . 'He wants to k n o w is the news-
paper man here' (George Bernard Shaw, The Doctor's Dilemma,
Act IV). 'Mr. M a n up'n ax' 'im is (= has) he got a bad cole' (Joel
Chandler Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus, p. 125). This con-
struction is spreading from popular speech. It is especially
common in popular Irish English. It is used there even when the
principal proposition is a question, so that both propositions have
question form: 'Would you say would that lad grow too high in
himself to go into the kitchen to oblige me?' (Lady Gregory, The
Dragon, p. 91).
As explained in 21 (3rd par.), question form here sometimes de-
notes not a formal question but mere doubt, uncertainty: 'She
248 ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE IN F O R M O F A QUESTION 24 III c

cast about a m o n g her little ornaments to see could she sell any to
procure the desired novelties,' instead of the usual if (or whether
she could sell any, etc. Very often in popular Irish English:
'Mad, a m I? Bit by a dog, a m I? You'll see am I mad!' (Lady
Gregory, The Full Moon), instead of the usual if (or whether) I
am mad. In the literary language w e often find here a question
followed by the formal principal proposition I wonder, which in
reality, however, is not the governing proposition but a sentence
adverb (16 2 a, p. 132) which gives the sentence the coloring of
uncertainty: ' A m I getting deaf, I wonder?' (Edith Wharton,
The Glimpses of the Moon, Ch. X X I ) .
In all these cases there is sometimes not only a change of tense
but also a change of person: (direct) 'Will you call again?'
(indirect) 'Would I call again? she asked.' 'Ned put hisflatand
final question, would she marry him, then and there' (Hardy,
Life's Little Ironies).
Similarly, after the interrogatives when, where, what, why, etc.,
we sometimes find here question form instead of the usual word-
order of the accusative clause: 'Then he asked where was King
Phillip' (M. H . Hewlett, Richard Yea-and-Nay, 228), instead
of where King Phillip was. 'Dey ax' 'im, dey did, wharbouts
wuz Brer Fox' (Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus). ' M y sister
asked m e what was the matter' (Doyle, Sherlock Holmes). As
above, question form here sometimes denotes not a formal ques-
tion but mere doubt, uncertainty: 'I wonder what way did that
lad make his way into this place' (Lady Gregory). 'He realized
that it would be best to see what was the matter' (Robert Herrick,
The Common Lot, Ch. X X V I ) (or more commonly what the matter
was). A s above, w e often find here in the literary language a
question followed by the formal principal proposition I wonder,
which in reality is not the governing proposition but a sentence
adverb which gives the sentence the coloring of uncertainty:
' W h y do you dislike having servants and being waited upon so
much, / wonder' (Mrs. H . W a r d , Lady Rose's Daughter, Ch. XII).
Furthermore, question form is often employed where there is
no desire either to report indirectly actual questions or to express
doubt, uncertainty. W h e n a speaker or writer presents a topic
for consideration, he frequentlyfirstputs it in the form of a ques-
tion and then proceeds to discuss it: 'To come to closer quarters
w e m a y ask, W h a t are the chief general characteristics of sixteenth-
century English?' (H. C. Wyld, History of Modern Colloquial
English, p. 100).
Of course, question form is used when a direct question is quoted:
'"Where are you going?" she asked.'
24 III d ABRIDGMENT OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 249

d. A B R I D G M E N T O F A C C U S A T I V E C L A U S E . This accusative
clause can be abridged to an infinitive clause w h e n its subject is
identical with the subject or an accusative, prepositional, or dative
object in the principal proposition: 'I hope to see him today.' 'I
don't k n o w how to do it'; but in older English sometimes without
how: 'since I knew to love' (Thomas Godfrey, The Prince of Par-
thia, I, III, A.D. 1765). 'I didn't k n o w whether to laugh or cry.' 'I
beg you (ace.) to go.' 'I beg of you (prepositional object) to go at
once.' 'I showed him (dat.) how to do it.' 'Tell him (dat.) to come
at once.' 'I told him (dat.) where tofindit.' 'I taught him (dat.)
to swim' (or swimming, or how to swim). 'I have taught how to
swim to m a n y boys' (dat.). 'I taught him (dat.) what to say'
(or what he should say). 'He allows (or permits) m e (dat.) to do
it.' 'That makes it hard for m e (dat. of reference; see 12 1 B a)
to do it.' A s explained in 7 D 2 (3rd par.), theto-infinitivehere
often has modal force: 'I do not k n o w what to do' (= I am to do,
or I should do). 'I should be happy if I k n e w h o w to accomplish
(= I might accomplish) this.'
Originally, the infinitive w a s only a modifier of the verb, but
in course of time a close relation developed between it and the
subject or the object of the principal verb, so that the infinitive
and the subject or object of the principal proposition came to be
felt as an abridged clause, in which the subject or object of the
principal proposition was the logical subject and the infinitive
the logical predicate. This construction has become thoroughly
established where the subject of the infinitive is the subject of the
principal proposition or the accusative, dative, or prepositional
object of the principal verb; indeed in m a n y cases it has spread
beyond these early limits of the construction, for the infinitive is
often used with an accusative subject after the verbs want, wish,
desire, like, order, request, know, think, believe, suppose, take (=
pose), image, expect, report, represent, reveal, cause, enable, perm
grant, etc., where the accusative is- felt as the subject of the
infinitive rather than as the object of the principal yerbr^Twant
you to go away and stay away.' 'I want you to wait for me until
six o'clock,' but with descriptive force, 'I want you to be waiting
for me with the car when my train arrives.' 'I expect, desire him
to go.' 'I desire the rubbish to be removed.' 'He ordered the house
to be pulled down.' 'I k n o w him to be an honest man.' 'I k n o w
it all to be true.' 'I thought, supposed him to be the owner of the
house.' 'I thought, supposed it to be him' (7 A a (1)), or more
commonly with a clause with afiniteverb, ' I thought, supposed
it was he,' or in loose colloquial speech him, as explained in
7 C a. 'He thought, supposed Richard to be me' (or that Richard
250 ABRIDGMENT OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 24 III d

was I, or in loose colloquial speech me). 'I took him to be nearer

sixty than fifty.' 'The big table enables maps and documents to
be laid out with ease' (Strand Magazine, N o . 325, 16a). 'He
doesn't allow (or permit) the books to be taken out of the library.'
In Middle English and early M o d e r n English, the list of these
verbs was longer, including to say, tell, allege, fear, promise, do
etc. This usage with the last of these verbs survives in archaic
' W e do you to wit' ( = know); i.e., ' W e give you to understand,
inform you.' In the passive form of statement, however, the old
construction is generally preserved: 'Nobody could be said to
understand the heath w h o had not been there at such a time'
(Hardy, The Return of the Native, I, C h . I). Though the old
active form with say has gone out of use, the old passive form of
the same construction survives. Compare 7 D 1 b.
Except with the list of verbs given above w e n o w follow the
simple rule that the to-form of the infinitive is used when its sub-
ject is the subject or object of the principal verb, and that else-
where, according to 21 e, the infinitive has a subject of its own
introduced by for; sometimes also in the case of some of the verbs
in the abovefist,as the simplicity and clearness of this newer
usage has a strong appeal and is gaining favor: 'I planned to go
myself,' but 'I planned for him to go.' 'I hope for the book to make
its mark' (Meredith, Letters, 550). 'I beg for dear little Molly to
stay on here' (Mrs. Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, I, Ch. VII).
'Harry, Mrs. Roosevelt would like for you to lunch at the White
House today' (Archie Butt, Letter, Dec. 7, 1908), or also as in
older English with the simple accusative as subject of the infini-
tive : ' Y o u m e a n you would like Captain Lay to lunch at the White
House today' (ib.). 'I hate for them to whine like that,' or some-
times still as in older English with a simple accusative as subject
of the infinitive: 'I had rather they would whine though I
hate them to whine, too' (Mary Johnston, Hagar, Ch. II); but we
usually prefer to construct the clause so that the subject of the
infinitive is the subject of the principal proposition: 'I hate to
hear them whine like that.' In older English, there was another
kind of for to used, as explained in 21 e, a mere substitute for simple
to: 'The markis (marquis) c a m (came) and gan (began) hirforto
(now in the literary language simple to) calle' (Chaucer, The
Clerkes Tale, 233). This old usage lives on in popular speech.
Just as in principal propositions an emphatic subject follows
there is, as in 'There is here some mistake,' so in abridged clauses
the emphatic subject follows there to be: 'I don't want there to be
any mistake' (Stanley Houghton, Hindle Wakes, Act III). Simi-
larly, an emphatic subject especially w h e n modified by a phrase
24 III d ABRIDGMENT OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 251

or clause follows a passive infinitive: 'Little did the fathers of

the town anticipate this brilliant success w h e n they caused to be
imported from further in the country some straight poles with the
tops cut off, which they called sugar maple trees' (Thoreau, Journa
X I , p. 218).
The to be of the passive infinitive is often omitted, especially
in American English: 'I want these letters [to be] stamped and
mailed at once.' 'He ordered a family in Shanty T o w n [to be]
quarantined' (Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith). T h e fact that to be
is often omitted here indicates that this construction is influenced
by the objective predicate construction in 15 III 2.
In older English, an infinitive with modal force could stand
after doubt not but: ' H e doubted not but to subvert any villainous
design' (Fielding), n o w 'He didn't doubt that he could subvert,'
etc.
With the group of verbs in 15 III 2 B the simple infinitive
without to is the usual form, n o w as well as in older English,
although there is a tendency to use here the form with to, or in
older English also for to.
In early Modern English, the old simple infinitive is occasionally
still used here as in the case of the verbs in 15 III 2 B. This old
usage lingered longest where there was present in the mind some
analogy of meaning with the verbs in 15 III 2 B : 'ButfirstI
forc'd him lay his weapons downe' (Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy,
I, n, 158, A.D. 1585), after the analogy of 'I made him lay his
weapons down.' Sometimes where there is at present no verb
in the list to serve as an analogy, for in older English this list was
larger and the feeling for the old simple infinitive was livelier than
today: 'And yesternight [she] sent her Coach twise to m y lodging
to entreat m e accompanie her' (Ben Jonson, Euery Man out of
His Humour, II, in, A.D. 1600). This old usage still lingers where
there is some analogy in mind: 'Elementary humanity forbade
him leave (after the analogy of the simple infinitive after bade,
which is here associated with forbade) his lame old godmother one
moment unattended' (Agnes and Egerton Castle, The Lost
Iphigenia, C h . I). T h e simple infinitive is n o w most c o m m o n
here where it is felt as an imperative: 'And you, Quentin, I com-
mand you be silent' (Scott, Quentin Durward, II, 193) (or more
commonly to be silent). 'I was going to say wait for us, and then
we could all have been married together' (De Morgan, When
Ghost Meets Ghost, Ch. X I ) .
The gerund clause is often used here instead of the infinitive,
almost regularly so w h e n the verbal idea is felt as the direct object
of the verb, while the infinitive is more c o m m o n w h e n its expressed
252 ABRIDGMENT OF ACCUSATIVE CLAUSE 24 III d

subject is felt as having relations with the principal proposition:

'I don't remember ever being scolded by her' (or ever having been
scolded by her). 'I shall not tolerate your talking so to Mother,'
but' I shall not allow you to talk so to Mother.' T h e verb to tolerate
in this meaning usually takes a single object of the thing, while
to allow usually takes an indirect object of the person and a
direct object of the thing, and hence m a y take an infinitive, since
its indirect object can serve also as the subject of the infinitive.
W e can either say, ' M y convictions do not permit my taking
part in this' or ' M y convictions do not permit me to take part in
this,' for to permit admits of either a single object of the thing or
an indirect object of the person and a direct object of the thing.
W e can say, 'I planned going myself or 'I planned to go myself,'
since w e feel that the subject of the infinitive, though unexpressed,
has close relations with the principal proposition, for it is the sub-
ject of the principal proposition. W e can either say 'I don't
like the boy to come here so often,' or better with the newer form of
the infinitive construction, for the boy to come here so often, or
with the gerundial construction, the boy's (or often, the boy; see
50 3) coming here so often. 'I aim to be (American), or at being
(British), brief.'