LESSON II.

THE SENTENCE -ORDER.

In the English sentence, the meaning as well as the grammatical construction depends upon the arrangement of the parts.

Ambiguity and obscurity result more frequently from disregard or ignorance of the principles of order than from a poor choice of words.

The natural order of words in a sentence is:

I. The subject, preceded by word modifiers and followed by phrase and clause modifiers; as,

The cat in mittens catches no mice.

He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith.

II. The predicate, followed by its object, or complement and modifiers; as,

îne tali surubs bear many large white flowers.

The atmosphere of the world was heavily charged with carbonic acid gas.

The inverted or transposed order is generally used in the construction of the interrogative, the imperative, and the exclamatory sentence.

Departures from the natural order are also made for the purpose of heightening rhetorical effect; as,

1. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? - Henry.

2.

Flashed all their sabres bare.

Tennyson.

3. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate. Pope. 4. Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky.

Milton.

Force of expression requires that emphatic words be placed in emphatic positions, usually at the beginning or end of the sentence.

Suspense of meaning, antithesis, and climax, add not only to the force, but also to the clearness of an expression; as,

1. To him who in the love of nature holds

2.

Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language.-Bryant.

Man!

Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear. — Byron.

3. The stream of literature has swollen into a torrent- -augmented into a river-expanded into a sea.

- Irving.

Clearness of expression demands that closely related words, phrases, and clauses, be so placed as to render their mutual relation unmistakable.

The following sentences are ambiguous or obscure in meaning:

1. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

2. Many citizens came to the assembly distinguished for liberality of thought.

3. Tell him if he is in the house that I do not care to see him.

Such sentences may be corrected by changing the position of the modifying phrase or clause; as,

1. He hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.

2. Many citizens, distinguished for liberality of thought, came to the assembly.

3. If he is in the house, tell him that I do not care to see him.

The adverb is more frequently misplaced than any other part of speech. In the compound tenses it should come between the parts of the verb, but it should not separate the parts of the infinitive.

Only, merely, chiefly, at least, and a few others, which should immediately precede the words which they modify, are commonly misplaced.

EXERCISE.

I. Change the following sentences from the natural to the rhetorical order:

1. The cries of the wounded were heard above the roar of the artillery.

2. The scientific study of man is the most difficult of all branches of knowledge. - Holmes.

3. Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade. - Emerson.

4. All the hearts of men were softened

By the pathos of his music. - Longfellow.

5. The roses and the myrtles bloomed unchilled on the verge of the avalanche. - Macaulay.

6. The setting sun stretched his celestial rods of light across the level landscape. - Hawthorne.

7. It is time that we should strike the blow, when our rights are trampled upon.

8.

The glaciers creep

Like snakes that watch their prey, from their far

9. A waterspout fell upon the mountain side, uprooting trees and devastating farms.

10.

King Richard lies

Within the limit of yon lime and stone.

Shakespeare.

II. Change the following sentences from the rhetorical to the natural order:

1. How long we live, not years but actions tell.

2. On that plain, in rosy youth, they had fed their fathers numerous flocks.

3. A barge across Loch Katrine flew,

High stood the henchman in the bow.

4. Then shook the hills with thunder riven.·

5.

Scott.

Campbell.

The noblest mind the best contentment has.

6. Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower. Longfellow.

7. Happy is the nation that has no history.

8. Beyond all wealth, honor, or even health, is the attachment we form to noble souls.

9.

10.

- Dr. Arnold.

Down swept the chill winds from the mountain peak.

Pleasantly rose, the next morn, the sun, on the village of Grand Prè.

III. Correct errors of arrangement in the following

sentences:

MODIFIERS MISPLACED.

1. People ceased to wonder by degrees.

2. By doing the same thing often it becomes habitual.

3. Some virtues are only seen in adversity.

4.

She was given a book by a friend that she had never read.

5. The editor wished him to carefully reconstruct the article.

6. The first could only be imputed to the just indignation of the gods. Gibbon.

7. We get salt from the ocean which is very useful to man. 8. Theism can only be opposed to polytheism or atheism. 9. Everyone that applies for a position is not given one. 10. All that glitters is not gold.

11. His conduct at times almost verges upon irreverence. 12. The country has been disappointed greatly in its favorite. 13. To man has been given the power of speech only.

14. The pupils were directed to closely observe the development of the plant.

15. He is unworthy of the confidence of a fellow-being that disregards the laws of his Maker.

16. He apologized when he saw his mistake like a gentleman. 17. I do not think the question will become a party issue. 18. We did not see the president; we merely saw his private secretary for a moment.

19. The captain sent an orderly with the message to the general who was but nineteen years of age.

20. The bishop heard the doubts which De Vaux stated with that acuteness of intelligence which distinguishes the Roman Catholic clergy.

21. He examined the specimen of ore which had been given him attentively.

22. Are these designs which any man, who is born a Briton, in any circumstances, in any situation, ought to be ashamed or afraid to own? — Bolingbroke.

23. I have now and then inserted in the text characters of books that I have not read on the faith of my guides. — Hallam.

24. There will still remain much of his poetry that can only perish with the English language.-Macaulay.

25. Nor indeed can those habits be formed with certainty which are to continue during life in a shorter space.

26. Mr. Carlyle has taught us that silence is golden in thirty volumes. Morley.

27. He ought to be, without doubt, given the credit of the great invention.