3. Construct sentences illustrating some of the principal uses of for and of. 4. In the following quotations from Shakespeare substitute prepositions in accordance with modern idiom1: 5. Express with the aid of a preposition the idea represented by the first part of these compound nouns :—gravy-spoon, steam-ship, warship, land-breeze, sea-captain, Convalescent-Home, ground-swell, playground, life-preserver, wheel-barrow. 6. What idea was originally represented by prepositions in English? [Relations in space. These purely local meanings were then extended to express relations of time and of cause. So, of and off were once the same word; by meant 'close to'; for meant 'before.' See Mason's English Grammar, pp. 116—9.] 7. In the following phrases, is the use of the preposition inconsistent with its definition?—(a) in short, after all, at last, for better, for worse: (b) till now, for ever, since then, from here. [In (a) the preposition is joined to adjectives which are used without the noun which they limit. In (b) the preposition is joined to adverbs employed as nouns: now is equivalent to 'the present time,' ever, to 'all time.' When these words are parsed, the adjectives should be described as adjectives used for nouns, or as adjectives with the ellipsis of nouns, and the adverbs as adverbs used for nouns.] 8. Write down the prepositions in the following lines and make short sentences to illustrate different uses of each : • As when upon a tranced summer night, 1 Selected from Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. 9. Paraphrase the meanings of the prepositions in (a) 'Have it ready by to-morrow.' (b) 'I shall do my duty by him.' (c) 'It lies south by west.' (a) 'He married for love.' (e) 'For all his efforts, he remained poor.' (f) 'The soldiers were under arms: at the word of command they stood at attention.' 10. Give four examples to show that the meaning of a verb may be differently modified by a preposition or an adverb according as the preposition or adverb is attached to the verb as a prefix or written after it. [As, e.g. understand and stand under.] II. Interpret the following pairs of sentences and comment on the idiomatic use of but which they exemplify: :- 1. (a) This specimen is all but perfect.' (b) 2. • This specimen is anything but perfect.' (c) (d) 'I cannot but feel sorry.' [The idiomatic uses of but are full of difficulty. From its literal sense 'outside of' (by-out) the preposition but came to mean 'without,' 'except.' In the first pair of sentences substitute except for but. We can understand how the phrases all but and anything but arose, but it is curious that their meanings should be diametrically opposite. See Abbott's How to Parse, p. 259. In the second pair of sentences the presence or absence of the not leaves the meaning unaffected. In (c) we may substitute only for but, and in (d) we may supply an ellipsis: 'I cannot do anything but (i.e. except) feel sorry.' See Mason's English Grammar, § 538, where however it is maintained that in (c) a negative is improperly omitted.] 192 CHAPTER XX. CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS. 202. A Conjunction is a word, other than a relative pronoun or conjunctive adverb, which joins words and sentences. All conjunctions can join sentences together, but all words which join sentences are not conjunctions. 'This is the man who stole the money' contains two clauses, 'This is the man: (he) stole the money'; the two clauses are united by the relative pronoun who and form one complex sentence. The reader will remember that the distinguishing mark of a relative pronoun is this, that it has the force of a conjunction. But it is not itself a conjunction. Again, 'I know where he lives' contains two clauses, 'I know (the fact) he lives there'; the two clauses are united by the conjunctive adverb where and form one complex sentence. 203. What do Conjunctions join,-Sentences, or Words, or both? Conjunctions usually connect sentences even when they appear to connect only words. 'John and Mary are good players' is an elliptical or abbreviated way of saying 'John is a good player,' 'Mary is a good player.' But in some cases and connects words only, and there is no contraction or abridgement of two separate sentences. 'John and Mary are a handsome couple' cannot be resolved into 'John is a handsome couple,' 'Mary is a handsome couple.' 'Two and two make four' is not a compact way of saying 'Two makes four,' 'Two makes four.' With the exception however of the occasional use of and to join words, conjunctions join sentences. Thus 'He was poor but honest' contains two statements; 'He was poor: he was honest.' 'He is neither a knave nor a fool' means 'He is not a knave: he is not a fool.' 'He is either a knave or a fool' means 'He is either a knave, or he is a fool.' 204 Conjunctions are classified as (1) Coordinating and (2) Subordinating. (1) Co-ordinating Conjunctions join co-ordinate or independent clauses: e.g. and, but, either...or, neither... nor. (2) Subordinating Conjunctions join a dependent clause to the principal clause: eg. that, after, till, because, though, if. 205. The reader must now prepare himself to grapple with a part of the subject which will present greater difficulties and call for the exercise of more intelligence than any of the problems which he has hitherto encountered in the study of grammar. Before going further, we must explain the meaning of the terms co-ordinate, dependent, clause, which have been introduced into the definitions of conjunctions and classes of conjunctions. The discussion of these words belongs indeed to syntax rather than to etymology. But we have reached the threshold of syntax and may cross the threshold without straying far beyond the strict limits of our present subject; for it is only by saying now some of the things which would more properly be said in the concluding chapters of the book, that we can hope to make the treatment of conjunctions intelligible. A Sentence is a collection of words by which we say something about a thing. The word which stands for the 13 W. E. G. thing about which we make the assertion is called the Subject of the sentence.. The word by which we make the assertion about the thing is called the Predicate. If a sentence contains only one subject and one finite verb, it is a Simple sentence: "The general was knighted,' 'He told me this,' 'He gave me a contribution,' are simple sentences. If a sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined by co-ordinating conjunctions, it is a Compound sentence: 'The general was knighted and presented with the freedom of the city,' 'He neither told me this, nor did he hint it,' 'He gave me a contribution but he grudged it,' are compound sentences, each of which contains two parts entirely independent. These two parts might form separate sentences without affecting the sense of the compound sentence. But if a sentence contains two or more clauses, one of which is dependent on the other, it is a Complex sentence: 'The general who won the victory was knighted,' 'He told me that the prisoner had escaped,' 'He gave me a contribution because he approved of the object,' are complex sentences. The groups of words in italics contain, it is true, their own subjects and finite verbs. But they are not independent sentences: they occupy the place of an adjective, a noun, or an adverb, in relation to the rest of the sentence of which they form a part. Hence they are called Subordinate Clauses. Thus in the sentence 'The general who won the victory was knighted,' the clause 'who won the victory' is equivalent to victorious and limits the application of the noun 'general.' It is an adjectival clause. In the sentence 'He told me that the prisoner had escaped,' the clause 'that the prisoner had escaped' occupies the same position as might be occupied by such words as 'the fact,' or 'the rumour.' The fact or the rumour is a |
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