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2.

What is the subject in the following sentence?—'It makes no part of my present subject, to detail how the success of a few ballads had the effect of changing all the purpose and tenour of my life.'

3. Are the following exclamations sentences?—'Go.'—‘Hence.”— 'Yes.'

[How much may be left out of a sentence without its ceasing to be a sentence? Make use of your answer to this question as a principle to determine your answers about 'Go' and 'Hence.' As regards 'Yes,' the matter is different. Here we get beyond mere ellipsis. 'Yes' is a substitute for a sentence rather than a sentence from which part has been omitted.]

4. Explain the meaning of subject, predicate, and copula, and point out each of them and their expansions in the following sentence:'Is this a dagger that I see before me?'

[For copula see p. 177, Question 1.]

5. What is the subject in each of the following sentences?

'Who is this?'

'Give me your hand.'

'There is said to have been a battle.'

'His horse being killed, he was taken prisoner.'

6. Define the subject of a sentence, and give one example of each of five different kinds of subjects.

7. In what cases may the subject be omitted in English?

Explain the construction of methought in the sentence-Methought the billows spoke and told me of it.'

[The subject may be omitted (1) With verbs expressing a command: 'Go' (you); or (2) a wish, ‘(I) Would it were so !' (3) The antecedent to the relative is sometimes omitted: '(He) Who breaks, pays.' (4) Impersonal verbs of course have no subject.]

8. Point out the subject, predicate, and object, with their extensions, in the following:

'At once his trusty sword the warlike chieftain drew.'

9. Make use of the words horse, kick, man, as subject, predicate, object, respectively, to form one sentence in which (a) the subject is enlarged by an adjective clause, (b) the predicate is enlarged by an adverbial clause relating to cause.

10. Distinguish between a phrase and a sentence.

'The Saxons invaded England.' Write out this sentence (a) with the predicate extended by a prepositional phrase, (b) with the predicate extended by an adverbial clause relating to time.

a noun.

[A 'prepositional phrase' is a phrase composed of a preposition and As the prepositional phrase here is to extend the predicate, it must have an adverbial force, describing how, why, when, or where, the

Saxons invaded England: e.g. 'in pirate-boats,' 'with a fair wind,' 'from a desire for pillage,' 'after the departure of the Romans,' 'on the coast of Sussex.']

II.

Write a sentence containing two extensions of the predicate, and let one of these contain an object with two enlargements of different kinds.

12. Name the three kinds of subordinate clauses. Explain why an adjective clause is so called. State to which kind each of the subordinate clauses in the three following sentences belongs, and give your

reason:

'I asked where he lived.'

'I have often seen the house where he was born.'

'I shall sit where you wish.'

State and explain the various terms used in the Analysis of

13. Sentences.

14. Write three sentences, introducing in the first a clause equivalent to a noun, in the second a clause equivalent to an adjective, in the third a clause equivalent to an adverb.

15. Construct a complex sentence with two subordinate clauses of different kinds, and state the relation of each to the principal clause.

16. 'The thief avoided the policeman.'

Rewrite the above sentence

(1) enlarging the subject with a noun in apposition,

(2) enlarging the object with an adjectival clause,

(3) extending the predicate with an absolute phrase.

17.

Rewrite the subjoined sentences, supplying in full the words required to make the construction of the subordinate clauses complete, and describe each such clause:

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18. To what Parts of Speech do the following words belong?-fifty, few, kill, cavalry, their, those, sheer, pell-mell, as, why, bravo.

19. Parse the following italicised words:

(i) 'When you are established in the house where you intend to reside, I will call on you, if I may.'

(ii) I had but one house, as you know: since then I have bought another.'

20. Parse the italicised words in the following sentences:-'Have you any?' 'No, I have none.' 'When did you come?' 'Why is he here?' 'He went away rejoicing.' 'This is talking at random.' 'It is not true that he said that.' 'I saw the same as he did.'

21. Parse the italicised words:-'Which is which?' 'He was forgiven the fault.' 'The lady protests too much, methinks.' • Perish the thought!' 'The ship is building.' 'Sit thee down.' 'I saw him taken.' 'So be it.'

22. Parse these sentences:-'In the front of the eye is a clear transparent window, exactly like the glass of a watch.'

'When a man falls from his horse, he is often seriously hurt.' 'He rushed into the field, and foremost fighting fell.'

'Life has passed

'With me but roughly since I heard thee last.'

23. To what parts of speech would you refer the following words?— next, no, the, together, past, else, but, ere.

[Else is an adverb signifying 'besides.' In the compound phrases anybody else or somebody else it takes the possessive inflexion, anybody else's, somebody else's.]

24. Parse the italicised words in the following sentences:- 'Please write clearly.' 'Thank you.' 'Thanks.' 'You can if you like.' 'Get you gone.' 'He was accused of cheating.' 'He was accused of having cheated.'

[The construction of please was formerly impersonal, but 'It pleases me' has become 'I please,' as 'It likes me' has become 'I like.' We may regard write as infinitive dependent on Please,—' May you please (i.e. May it please you) to write clearly,''—or we may regard it as an imperative,—' Write clearly, if you please, (i.. if it please you').

The construction in the last sentence, though in common use, has been condemned by some writers as grammatically indefensible, on the ground that of should be followed by the gerund, whilst having cheated is the past participle. The objection would be valid if having cheated were indeed a past participle here, but it is not: it is a compound gerund form. (See § 162, 6.) Just as we say 'He was supposed to have (Infinitive) cheated,' so we may say 'He was accused of having (Gerund) cheated,' 'He was rejected for having cheated.']

230

CHAPTER XXIII.

SYNTAX OF NOUNS.

232. SYNTAX deals with the relations of words when they are arranged so as to form sentences. Most of these relations come under the heads of Concord and Government. By Concord we mean the agreement of two or more connected words, as regards their gender, number, case, or person. By Government we mean the influence exercised upon the case of a noun or pronoun by another word: thus a transitive verb or a preposition is said to 'govern' a noun. Owing to the scanty supply of inflexions in modern English, the relation of a word to other words in the sentence is often indicated by its position. Hence we may say that syntax has to do with the Order or Arrangement of words, as well as with their Concord and Government.

The principles of Syntax might be enumerated under these three heads, but the student will obtain a clearer view of the subject, if we deal with the Syntax of the different parts of speech in succession, as we have already dealt with their Etymology. In our treatment of the meaning and use of words, we discussed many points which belong strictly to Syntax. What remains to be done in this section of the book is to give a short summary of these and to supply others which have been omitted.

Syntax of Nouns. Our remarks on the Syntax of Nouns may be grouped most conveniently under the different cases.

Nominative Case.

233 The Nominative case is used

(1) When a noun stands as the Subject of a sentence, whether the verb of which it is the subject be active or passive: 'He works,' 'I have been wounded.' The concord of the verb with its subject is discussed under the Syntax of Verbs.

(2) As a Vocative, or Nominative of Address: 'Milton thou shouldst be living at this hour.'

(3) To complete the predicate after certain intransitive verbs of incomplete predication: such verbs as to be, become, continue, seem, feel, often require a complement: 'He became prime minister,' 'I continued secretary,' 'He seemed and felt a hero.'

(4) With certain transitive verbs in the passive to complete the meaning: 'He was made secretary,' 'I was appointed treasurer,' ' You were called John.' Such transitive verbs are called factitive or 'making' verbs, because the verb 'to make' (Lat. facio) is a type of the class.

(5)

When a noun is in apposition with another noun in the nominative.

(6) When the noun or pronoun, combined with a participle, is in the absolute construction. Thus, 'The door being open, the steed was stolen,' 'My partner having returned, I shall go for my holiday.'

(Absolutus means in Latin 'set free' or 'untied': an absolute phrase can be detached without affecting the construction of the sentence.)

It is disputed whether the case of the noun in the absolute construction is really the nominative in modern

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