46 Inflexion of the Adjective and Adverb. § 66. Only very few adverbs are inflected to express variations in degrees of comparison; e.g. soon, sooner, soonest. The greater number are limited by more and most, or less and least. PART III. SYNTAX. ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX SENTENCES. CHAPTER I. Elementary Rules and Cautions. § 64. RULE (1) The subject of a verb must be in the nominative case. False Syntax. (1) Him and me are going. me. Corrected. He and I are going. $65. (2) Verbs must agree with their subjects in number and person. False Syntax. (1) Away, we goes. There's two eggs in the nest. (3) Yes, says I. Neither of us were ill. § 66. (3) Pronouns agree with the nouns for which they stand in gender, number, and person. False Syntax. (1) The boy which speaks Corrected. The boy who speaks the truth. $67. (4) Copulative verbs take the same case after them as before them. Nouns and pronouns in apposition agree in case. False Syntax. (1) That's him. (2) I took it to be he. Corrected. That's he. I took it to be him. $68. (5) Transitive verbs and prepositions govern the objective case. False Syntax. (1) Let you and I the battle (2) Who should I meet but (3) All debts are cleared Corrected. Let you and me the battle try. Whom should I meet but my old friend. All debts are cleared between you and me. $69. (6) One verb governs another that follows it in one of its infinite forms. False Syntax. | Corrected. Cider and perry are drank § 70. (7) Adjectives, and Cider and perry are drunk in England. nouns and pronouns in the possessive case, qualify nouns expressed or understood. Examples. (1) Anchors of rusty fluke. (2) The moon is constant to her time. § 71. (8) Adverbs qualify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. $73. CAUTION (1) Do not use a pronoun for an adjective. (See §§ 14, 15.) Improper. (1) Bring me them books Correct. Bring me those books. (2) Such I created all ethereal Powers And Spirits, both them who stood and them who fell. § 74. (2) Do not use an intransitive verb for a transitive, nor a transitive for an intransitive. Improper. (1) Rise the window, if you (2) There let him lay. Correct. Raise the window. There let him lie. $75. (3) In converting statements into the passive voice, when there are two objective cases, be careful to choose that which is governed by the verb (§ 41, note) as the one which is to be changed into the nominative for the subject of the passive verb. (See also $84.) e.g. I paid the man a shilling (=I paid a shilling to the man). Wrongly converted—The man was paid a shilling by me. Correctly converted—A shilling was paid to the man by me. § 76. (4) Avoid redundant nominatives. "The wind, it blew so cold." D § 77. (5) Avoid ambiguous constructions. e.g. "Johnson knew him well, indeed better than any one else." Either-Johnson knew him well, indeed, better than any one else knew him. Or-Johnson knew him well, indeed better than he knew any one else. Naught we know dies. Either-We know that naught dies. Or-Naught, that we know, dies. § 78. (6) Two negatives in one and the same sentence make it affirmative. e.g. I was not unwilling to go = I was willing to go. |