English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 44

Who did they send on that mission?

They who he has most injured, he had the greatest reason to love.

RULE XXI.

The verb _to be_ may have the same case after it as before it; as, "_I_ am the _man_;" "I believe _it_ to have been _them;_" "_He_ is the _thief_."

NOTE 1. When nouns or p.r.o.nouns next preceding and following the verb _to be_, signify the _same thing_, they are _in apposition_, and, therefore, in the _same case_. Rule 21 is predicated on the principle contained in Rule 7.

2. The verb _to be_ is often understood; as, "The Lord made _me man_; He made _him what_ he was;" that is, "The Lord made me _to be_ man; He made him _to be that which_ he was." "They desired me to call _them brethren_;" i.e. _by the name of_ brethren. "They named _him John_;" i.e. _by the name of_ John; or, by the _name_ John; putting these two nouns in _apposition_.

FALSE SYNTAX.

I know it to be they.

Improper, because _it_ is in the objective case before the verb "to be,"

and _they_ is in the nominative after; consequently, Rule 21 is violated. _They_ is in apposition with _it_, therefore _they_ should be _them_, in the objective after to be, according to Rule 21. (Repeat the Rule.)

Be composed, it is me.

I would not act thus, if I were him.

Well may you be afraid; it is him, indeed.

Who do you fancy him to to be?

Whom do men say that I am? Whom say ye that I am?

If it was not him, who do you imagine it to have been?

He supposed it was me; but you knew that it was him.

RULE XXII.

Active-intransitive and pa.s.sive verbs, the verb _to become_, and other neuter verbs, have the same case after them as before them, when both words refer to, and signify, the same thing; as, "_Tom_ struts a _soldier_;" "_Will_ sneaks a _scrivener_;" "_He_ was called _Cesar_;"

"The _general_ was saluted _emperor_;" "_They_ have become _fools_."

NOTE 1. Active-intransitive verbs sometimes a.s.sume a transitive form, and govern the objective case; as, "_To dream_ a _dream; To run_ a _race; To walk_ the _horse; To dance_ the _child; To fly_ the _kite_."

2. According to a usage too common in colloquial style, an agent not literally the correct one, is employed as the nominative to a pa.s.sive verb, which causes the verb to be followed by an _objective_ case without the possibility of supplying before it a preposition: thus, "_Pitticus_ was offered a large _sum_ by the king;" "_She_ was promised _them_ (the _jewels_) by her mother;" "_I_ was asked a _question_." It would be better sense, and more agreeable to the idiom of our language, to say, "A large _sum_ was offered _to Pitticus_;" "_They_ were promised _(to) her_;" "A _question_ was put _to me_."

3. Some pa.s.sive verbs are formed by using the participles of compound active verbs. To _smile_, to _wonder_, to _dream_, are intransitive verbs, for which reason they have no pa.s.sive voice; but, to _smile on_, to _wonder at_, to _dream of_, are compound active-transitive verbs, and, therefore, admit of a pa.s.sive voice; as, "He _was smiled on_ by fortune; The accident is not _to be wondered at_;"

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, "Than _are dreamed of_ in your philosophy."

RULE XXIII.

A verb in the infinitive mood may be governed by a verb, noun, adjective, participle, or p.r.o.noun; as, "_Cease_ to do evil;" "We all have our _talent_ to be improved;" "She is _eager_ to learn;" "They are _preparing_ to go;" "Let _him_ do it."

ILl.u.s.tRATION. The supposed principle of _government_ referred to in this rule, may be thus ill.u.s.trated. In the sentence, "Cease to do evil," the peculiar manner in which _cease_ is introduced, _requires_ or _compels_ us to put the verb _do_ in the infinitive mood; and, according to the genius of our language, we cannot express this act of doing, when thus connected with _cease_, in any other mood, unless we change the construction of the sentence. Hence we say, that _cease_ governs the mood of the verb _do_. Similar remarks may be applied to the words _talent_, _eager_, _preparing_, and _him_, in the respective examples under the rule.

Many respectable grammarians refer the government of this mood invariably to the preposition _to_ prefixed, which word they do not, of course, consider a part of the verb. Others contend, and with some plausibility, that this mood is not governed by any particular word. If we reject the idea of government, as applied to the verb in this mood, the following rule, if subst.i.tuted for the foregoing, might, perhaps, answer all practical purposes.

RULE.

A verb in the infinitive mood, refers to some noun or p.r.o.noun, as its subject or actor.

ILl.u.s.tRATION of the examples under Rule XXIII. "To do" refers to _thou_ understood for its agent; "to be improved" refers to _talent_; "to learn," to _she_; "to go," to _they_; and "to do," refers to _him_.

NOTE 1. The infinitive mood absolute stands independent of the rest of the sentence; as, "_To confess_ the truth, I was in fault."

2. The infinitive mood is sometimes governed by conjunctions or adverbs; as, "An object so high _as to be_ invisible;" "He is wise _enough to deceive_;" "The army is _about to march_."

RULE XXIV.

The infinitive mood, or part of a sentence, is frequently put as the nominative case to a verb, or the object of an active-transitive verb; as, "_To play_ is pleasant;" "Boys love _to play_;" "_That warm climates shorten life_, is reasonable to suppose;" "He does not consider _how near he approaches to his end_."

NOTE. _To_, the sign of the infinitive mood, is sometimes properly omitted; as, "I heard him _say_ it;" instead of, "to _say_ it."

RULE XXV.

The verbs which follow _bid_, _dare_, _need_, _make_, _see_, _hear_, _feel_, _help_, _let_, and their participles, are in the infinitive mood without the sign _to_ prefixed; as, "He bids me _come_;" "I dare _engage_;" "Let me _go_;" "Help me _do it_;" i.e. _to come_, _to go_, _to do_ it, &c. "He is _hearing_ me _recite_."

FALSE SYNTAX.

Bid him to come.

He durst not to do it without permission.

Hear him to read his lesson.

It is the difference in their conduct, which makes us to approve the one, and to reject the other.

It is better live on a little, than outlive a great deal.

I wish him not wrestle with his happiness.

RULE XXVI.

Participles have the same government as the verbs have from which they are derived; as, "I saw the tutor _instructing_ his _pupils_."

NOTE. The present participle with the definite article _the_ before it, becomes a noun, and must have the preposition _of_ after it.

_The_ and _of_ must both be used, or both be omitted; as, "By _the_ observing _of_ truth, you will command respect;" or, "By observing truth," &c.

FALSE SYNTAX.

_Note_. We cannot be wise and good without the taking pains for it.