Reading Help How to speak and write correctly Ch.VII-XV
`
` The nominative _who_ in the above examples should be the objective `
` _whom_. `
` `
` The plural nominative _ye_ of the pronoun _thou_ is very often `
` used for the objective _you_, as in the following: `
` `
` "His wrath which will one day destroy _ye both_."--_Milton_. `
` `
` "The more shame for _ye_; holy men I thought _ye_."--_Shakespeare_. `
` `
` "I feel the gales that from _ye_ blow."--_Gray_. `
` `
` "Tyrants dread _ye_, lest your just decree Transfer the power and `
` set the people free."--_Prior_. `
` `
` Many of the great writers have played havoc with the adjective in the `
` indiscriminate use of the degrees of comparison. `
` `
` "Of two forms of the same word, use the fittest."--_Morell_. `
` `
` The author here in _trying_ to give good advice sets a bad example. `
` He should have used the comparative degree, "Fitter." `
` `
` Adjectives which have a comparative or superlative signification do not `
` admit the addition of the words _more_, _most_, or the terminations, `
` _er_, _est_, hence the following examples break this rule: `
` `
` "Money is the _most universal_ incitement of human misery."--Gibbon's `
` _Decline and Fall_. `
` `
` "The _chiefest_ of which was known by the name of Archon among the `
` Grecians."--Dryden's _Life of Plutarch_. `
` `
` "The _chiefest_ and largest are removed to certain magazines they call `
` libraries."--Swift's _Battle of the Books_. `
` `
` The two _chiefest_ properties of air, its gravity and elastic force, `
` have been discovered by mechanical experiments.--_Arbuthno_. `
` `
` "From these various causes, which in greater or _lesser_ degree, `
` affected every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people `
` became general."--Robertson's _History of America_. `
` `
` "The _extremest_ parts of the earth were meditating a submission." `
` --Atterbury's _Sermons_. `
` `
` "The last are indeed _more preferable_ because they are founded on some new `
` knowledge or improvement in the mind of man."--Addison, _Spectator_. `
` `
` "This was in reality the _easiest_ manner of the two."--Shaftesbury's `
` _Advice to an Author_. `
` `
` "In every well formed mind this second desire seems to be the _strongest_ `
` of the two."--Smith's _Theory of Moral Sentiments_. `
` `
` In these examples the superlative is wrongly used for the comparative. `
` When only two objects are compared the comparative form must be used. `
` `
` Of impossibility there are no degrees of comparison, yet we find the `
` following: `
` `
` "As it was impossible they should know the words, thoughts and secret `
` actions of all men, so it was _more impossible_ they should pass judgment `
` on them according to these things."--Whitby's _Necessity of the Christian `
` Religion_. `
` `
` A great number of authors employ adjectives for adverbs. Thus we find: `
` `
` "I shall endeavor to live hereafter _suitable_ to a man in my station." `
` --_Addison_. `
` `
` "I can never think so very _mean_ of him."--Bentley's _Dissertation on `
` Phalaris_. `
` `
` "His expectations run high and the fund to supply them is _extreme_ `
` scanty."--_Lancaster's Essay on Delicacy_. `
` `
` The commonest error in the use of the verb is the disregard of the `
` concord between the verb and its subject. This occurs most frequently `
` when the subject and the verb are widely separated, especially if some `
` other noun of a different number immediately precedes the verb. False `
` concords occur very often after _either_, _or_, _neither_, _nor_, and `
` _much_, _more_, _many_, _everyone_, _each_. `
` `
` Here are a few authors' slips:-- `
` `
` "The terms in which the sale of a patent _were_ communicated to the `
` public."--Junius's _Letters_. `
` `
` "The richness of her arms and apparel _were_ conspicuous."--Gibbon's `
` _Decline and Fall_. `
` `
` "Everyone of this grotesque family _were_ the creatures of national `
` genius."--D'Israeli. `
` `
` "He knows not what spleen, languor or listlessness _are_."--Blair's `
` _Sermons_. `
` `
` "Each of these words _imply_, some pursuit or object relinquished." `
` --_Ibid_. `
` `
` "Magnus, with four thousand of his supposed accomplices _were_ put `
` to death."--_Gibbon_. `
` `
` "No nation gives greater encouragements to learning than we do; yet at `
` the same time _none are_ so injudicious in the application." `
` --_Goldsmith_. `
` `
` "_There's two_ or _three_ of us have seen strange sights."--_Shakespeare_. `
` `
` The past participle should not be used for the past tense, yet the `
` learned Byron overlooked this fact. He thus writes in the _Lament of `
` Tasso_:-- `
` `
` "And with my years my soul _begun to pant_ With feelings of strange `
` tumult and soft pain." `
` `
` Here is another example from Savage's _Wanderer_ in which there is `
` double sinning: `
` `
` "From liberty each nobler science _sprung_, A Bacon brighten'd and a `
` Spenser _sung_." `
` `
` Other breaches in regard to the participles occur in the following:-- `
` `
` "Every book ought to be read with the same spirit and in the same manner `
` as it is _writ_"--Fielding's _Tom Jones_. `
` `
` "The Court of Augustus had not _wore_ off the manners of the republic" `
` --Hume's _Essays_. `
` `
` Moses tells us that the fountains of the earth were _broke_ open or `
` clove asunder."--Burnet. `
` `
` "A free constitution when it has been _shook_ by the iniquity of `
` former administrations."--_Bolingbroke_. `
` `
` "In this respect the seeds of future divisions were _sowed_ abundantly." `
` --_Ibid_. `
` `
` In the following example the present participle is used for the infinitive `
` mood: `
` `
` "It is easy _distinguishing_ the rude fragment of a rock from the splinter `
` of a statue."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_. `
` `
` _Distinguishing_ here should be replaced by _to distinguish_. `
` `
` The rules regarding _shall_ and _will_ are violated in the following: `
` `
` "If we look within the rough and awkward outside, we _will_ be `
` richly rewarded by its perusal."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_. `
` `
` "If I _should_ declare them and speak of them, they should be more `
` than I am able to express."--_Prayer Book Revision of Psalms XI_. `
` `
` "If I _would_ declare them and speak of them, they are more than can `
` be numbered."--_Ibid_. `
` `
` "Without having attended to this, we _will_ be at a loss, in understanding `
` several passages in the classics."--Blair's _Lectures_. `
` `
` "We know to what cause our past reverses have been owing and _we_ `
` will have ourselves to blame, if they are again incurred."--Alison's `
` _History of Europe_. `
` `
` Adverbial mistakes often occur in the best writers. The adverb _rather_ is `
` a word very frequently misplaced. Archbishop Trench in his "English Past `
` and Present" writes, "It _rather_ modified the structure of our sentences `
` than the elements of our vocabulary." This should have been written,--" It `
` modified the structure of our sentences _rather than_ the elements of our `
` vocabulary." `
` `
` "So far as his mode of teaching goes he is _rather_ a disciple of `
` Socrates than of St. Paul or Wesley." Thus writes Leslie Stephens of Dr. `
` Johnson. He should have written,--" So far as his mode of teaching goes `
` he is a disciple of Socrates _rather_ than of St. Paul or Wesley." `
` `
` The preposition is a part of speech which is often wrongly used by some `
` of the best writers. Certain nouns, adjectives and verbs require `
` particular prepositions after them, for instance, the word _different_ `
` always takes the preposition _from_ after it; _prevail_ takes _upon_; `
` _averse_ takes _to_; _accord_ takes _with_, and so on. `
` `
` In the following examples the prepositions in parentheses are the ones `
` that should have been used: `
` `
` "He found the greatest difficulty _of_ (in) writing."--Hume's `
` _History of England_. `
` `
` "If policy can prevail _upon_ (over) force."--_Addison_. `
` `
` "He made the discovery and communicated _to_ (with) his friends." `
` --Swift's _Tale of a Tub_. `
` `
` "Every office of command should be intrusted to persons _on_ (in) `
` whom the parliament shall confide."--_Macaulay_. `
` `
` Several of the most celebrated writers infringe the canons of style by `
` placing prepositions at the end of sentences. For instance Carlyle, in `
`
` The nominative _who_ in the above examples should be the objective `
` _whom_. `
` `
` The plural nominative _ye_ of the pronoun _thou_ is very often `
` used for the objective _you_, as in the following: `
` `
` "His wrath which will one day destroy _ye both_."--_Milton_. `
` `
` "The more shame for _ye_; holy men I thought _ye_."--_Shakespeare_. `
` `
` "I feel the gales that from _ye_ blow."--_Gray_. `
` `
` "Tyrants dread _ye_, lest your just decree Transfer the power and `
` set the people free."--_Prior_. `
` `
` Many of the great writers have played havoc with the adjective in the `
` indiscriminate use of the degrees of comparison. `
` `
` "Of two forms of the same word, use the fittest."--_Morell_. `
` `
` The author here in _trying_ to give good advice sets a bad example. `
` He should have used the comparative degree, "Fitter." `
` `
` Adjectives which have a comparative or superlative signification do not `
` admit the addition of the words _more_, _most_, or the terminations, `
` _er_, _est_, hence the following examples break this rule: `
` `
` "Money is the _most universal_ incitement of human misery."--Gibbon's `
` _Decline and Fall_. `
` `
` "The _chiefest_ of which was known by the name of Archon among the `
` Grecians."--Dryden's _Life of Plutarch_. `
` `
` "The _chiefest_ and largest are removed to certain magazines they call `
` libraries."--Swift's _Battle of the Books_. `
` `
` The two _chiefest_ properties of air, its gravity and elastic force, `
` have been discovered by mechanical experiments.--_Arbuthno_. `
` `
` "From these various causes, which in greater or _lesser_ degree, `
` affected every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people `
` became general."--Robertson's _History of America_. `
` `
` "The _extremest_ parts of the earth were meditating a submission." `
` --Atterbury's _Sermons_. `
` `
` "The last are indeed _more preferable_ because they are founded on some new `
` knowledge or improvement in the mind of man."--Addison, _Spectator_. `
` `
` "This was in reality the _easiest_ manner of the two."--Shaftesbury's `
` _Advice to an Author_. `
` `
` "In every well formed mind this second desire seems to be the _strongest_ `
` of the two."--Smith's _Theory of Moral Sentiments_. `
` `
` In these examples the superlative is wrongly used for the comparative. `
` When only two objects are compared the comparative form must be used. `
` `
` Of impossibility there are no degrees of comparison, yet we find the `
` following: `
` `
` "As it was impossible they should know the words, thoughts and secret `
` actions of all men, so it was _more impossible_ they should pass judgment `
` on them according to these things."--Whitby's _Necessity of the Christian `
` Religion_. `
` `
` A great number of authors employ adjectives for adverbs. Thus we find: `
` `
` "I shall endeavor to live hereafter _suitable_ to a man in my station." `
` --_Addison_. `
` `
` "I can never think so very _mean_ of him."--Bentley's _Dissertation on `
` Phalaris_. `
` `
` "His expectations run high and the fund to supply them is _extreme_ `
` scanty."--_Lancaster's Essay on Delicacy_. `
` `
` The commonest error in the use of the verb is the disregard of the `
` concord between the verb and its subject. This occurs most frequently `
` when the subject and the verb are widely separated, especially if some `
` other noun of a different number immediately precedes the verb. False `
` concords occur very often after _either_, _or_, _neither_, _nor_, and `
` _much_, _more_, _many_, _everyone_, _each_. `
` `
` Here are a few authors' slips:-- `
` `
` "The terms in which the sale of a patent _were_ communicated to the `
` public."--Junius's _Letters_. `
` `
` "The richness of her arms and apparel _were_ conspicuous."--Gibbon's `
` _Decline and Fall_. `
` `
` "Everyone of this grotesque family _were_ the creatures of national `
` genius."--D'Israeli. `
` `
` "He knows not what spleen, languor or listlessness _are_."--Blair's `
` _Sermons_. `
` `
` "Each of these words _imply_, some pursuit or object relinquished." `
` --_Ibid_. `
` `
` "Magnus, with four thousand of his supposed accomplices _were_ put `
` to death."--_Gibbon_. `
` `
` "No nation gives greater encouragements to learning than we do; yet at `
` the same time _none are_ so injudicious in the application." `
` --_Goldsmith_. `
` `
` "_There's two_ or _three_ of us have seen strange sights."--_Shakespeare_. `
` `
` The past participle should not be used for the past tense, yet the `
` learned Byron overlooked this fact. He thus writes in the _Lament of `
` Tasso_:-- `
` `
` "And with my years my soul _begun to pant_ With feelings of strange `
` tumult and soft pain." `
` `
` Here is another example from Savage's _Wanderer_ in which there is `
` double sinning: `
` `
` "From liberty each nobler science _sprung_, A Bacon brighten'd and a `
` Spenser _sung_." `
` `
` Other breaches in regard to the participles occur in the following:-- `
` `
` "Every book ought to be read with the same spirit and in the same manner `
` as it is _writ_"--Fielding's _Tom Jones_. `
` `
` "The Court of Augustus had not _wore_ off the manners of the republic" `
` --Hume's _Essays_. `
` `
` Moses tells us that the fountains of the earth were _broke_ open or `
` clove asunder."--Burnet. `
` `
` "A free constitution when it has been _shook_ by the iniquity of `
` former administrations."--_Bolingbroke_. `
` `
` "In this respect the seeds of future divisions were _sowed_ abundantly." `
` --_Ibid_. `
` `
` In the following example the present participle is used for the infinitive `
` mood: `
` `
` "It is easy _distinguishing_ the rude fragment of a rock from the splinter `
` of a statue."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_. `
` `
` _Distinguishing_ here should be replaced by _to distinguish_. `
` `
` The rules regarding _shall_ and _will_ are violated in the following: `
` `
` "If we look within the rough and awkward outside, we _will_ be `
` richly rewarded by its perusal."--Gilfillan's _Literary Portraits_. `
` `
` "If I _should_ declare them and speak of them, they should be more `
` than I am able to express."--_Prayer Book Revision of Psalms XI_. `
` `
` "If I _would_ declare them and speak of them, they are more than can `
` be numbered."--_Ibid_. `
` `
` "Without having attended to this, we _will_ be at a loss, in understanding `
` several passages in the classics."--Blair's _Lectures_. `
` `
` "We know to what cause our past reverses have been owing and _we_ `
` will have ourselves to blame, if they are again incurred."--Alison's `
` _History of Europe_. `
` `
` Adverbial mistakes often occur in the best writers. The adverb _rather_ is `
` a word very frequently misplaced. Archbishop Trench in his "English Past `
` and Present" writes, "It _rather_ modified the structure of our sentences `
` than the elements of our vocabulary." This should have been written,--" It `
` modified the structure of our sentences _rather than_ the elements of our `
` vocabulary." `
` `
` "So far as his mode of teaching goes he is _rather_ a disciple of `
` Socrates than of St. Paul or Wesley." Thus writes Leslie Stephens of Dr. `
` Johnson. He should have written,--" So far as his mode of teaching goes `
` he is a disciple of Socrates _rather_ than of St. Paul or Wesley." `
` `
` The preposition is a part of speech which is often wrongly used by some `
` of the best writers. Certain nouns, adjectives and verbs require `
` particular prepositions after them, for instance, the word _different_ `
` always takes the preposition _from_ after it; _prevail_ takes _upon_; `
` _averse_ takes _to_; _accord_ takes _with_, and so on. `
` `
` In the following examples the prepositions in parentheses are the ones `
` that should have been used: `
` `
` "He found the greatest difficulty _of_ (in) writing."--Hume's `
` _History of England_. `
` `
` "If policy can prevail _upon_ (over) force."--_Addison_. `
` `
` "He made the discovery and communicated _to_ (with) his friends." `
` --Swift's _Tale of a Tub_. `
` `
` "Every office of command should be intrusted to persons _on_ (in) `
` whom the parliament shall confide."--_Macaulay_. `
` `
` Several of the most celebrated writers infringe the canons of style by `
` placing prepositions at the end of sentences. For instance Carlyle, in `
`