Explanation

TABULAR SCHEME OF PARSING.

Derivation

der, nominative case

εις: A.-Sax. 'is' (ys)

Agreeing with nom. A.-Sax. 'yfel' of 'is

1. Definition.

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL LAWS OF SYNTAX.

CONCORD is the agreement of one word with another in gender, number, case, or person.

2. Government is the power one word has to regulate another. 3. The fundamental laws of Syntax are five.

(a) The verb must agree with its subject in number and person.'

(b) Active verbs and prepositions take nouns or their equiva lents after them as their object.'

(c) Every adjective, or word so used, qualifies a noun expressed or understood."

(d) Adverbs modify the meaning of words which convey idea of action or attribute, but not existence.'

(e) Copulative and disjunctive particles unite together notions and assertions which hold the same relation to any given sentence.'-Morell.

CHAPTER V.

SPECIAL RULES.

§ 1.

1. THERE are three Concords.

1. The concord of verb and its subject.
2. The concord of adjective and noun.

3. The concord of relative and antecedent.

2. The verb agrees with its subject in number and person; as,

3. If two or more nominatives be connected conjunctively, the verb is put in the plural; as,

'Andrew and he were schoolfellows.'

Except these nominatives refer to the same subject, when the verb is in the singular; as, 'Flesh and blood hath not revealed to thee.› 4. If two or more singular nominatives be connected disjunctively, the verb is put in the singular; as,

'Neither the man nor his wife was summoned.'

5. If one of the nominatives be in the plural, it must be placed next the verb, which must also be in the plural; as,

'Neither the Emperor nor his generals were convinced.'

6. If the nominatives connected by or, or nor, be of different persons, the verb agrees with the nearest; as,

'Neither you nor I am concerned.'

Since all nominatives that require different forms of the verb virtually produce separate clauses or propositions, it is better to complete the concord by expressing the verb or its auxiliary in connection with each of them; as,

'Either thou art to blame, or I am.'

7. When two nominatives are connected, the one affirmative, the other negative, they make two propositions, and the verb agrees with the affirmative; as,

'Not a loud voice, but strong proofs, bring conviction.'

8. When two nominatives are connected by as well as, or but, they belong to different propositions; as,

'Veracity, as well as justice, is to be our rule.'

9. * A collective noun (in which the idea of unity is prominent) takes the verb in the singular; as, 'The mob was riotous.'

The reason for this seems very natural. Collective nouns have plurals; thus, we say mob, mobs; crowd, crowds; army, armies, &c. Therefore being singulars, as it were, they require the verb in the singular.

Nouns of multitude, on the other hand, have no plural forms, because they

10. A noun of multitude (in which the idea of plurality is promi nent) takes the verb in the plural; as, 'The nobility were alarmed.'

11. Substantive verbs; passive verbs of calling, naming; the verbs to seem, to appear, to grow, to look, to become; certain reflective verbs, and passive factitive verbs, take the same case after them as before them; and these cases may be considered cases in apposition; as, 'Wellington was a general.'

The verb in such cases may agree either with the nominative before it or behind it.

12. The absolute construction, which is ablative in Latin, genitive in Greek, was dative in Anglo-Saxon and Early English, and is now nominative: thus we say, 'He alone excepted,' where formerly we should have said, 'Him alone excepted.'

§ 2. The Genitive or Possessive Case.

Vide chap. III. § 6, 10, p. 34.

1. The Possessive case ('s) precedes the noun on which it depends; as, 'John's horse;' otherwise the noun refers to one of many; as, 'The horse of John's,' i. e. 'Of John's horses.'

2. When two genitives are in apposition, the apostrophe is used with only one of them (the principal noun); as, 'A book of Virgil's, the Roman poet.'

3. Several genitive relations expressed by of are appended to adjectives, such as mindful, desirous, certain, guilty, conscious, innocent, fearful, &c., to complete the sense. In Anglo-Saxon these adjectives governed a genitive. (Compare the Lat. rules.)

4. Certain verbs, also expressing accusation, acquittal, shame, repentance, deprivation, emptying, &c., admit the same construction.

5. Vide § 5 note, with reference to the adjectives, worth, old, high, long, broad, &c.

involve the notion of plurality: thus, we do not talk of clergies, nobilities (where we do so, the word must be considered a collective noun). Hence they take the verb in the plural.

§ 3. The Dative.

1. The Dative case is sometimes called indirect object.

2. The constructions which may be best considered as dative constructions are seven.

(a) The dative follows the adjective like; as,

'He is like him,' i. e. 'to him.'

(b) Verbs of telling, bringing, giving, offering, lending, sending, showing, promising, which may be termed generally verbs of advantage or disadvantage, govern a dative of the person and an accusative of the thing; as,

'Give sorrow words,' i. e. 'to sorrow.'

(c) The absolute construction in O. English; as,
'Him alone excepted.'

(d) Me in connection with seems, thinks, lists, in meseems, methinks (mihi videtur), melists.

(e) The dative follows certain interjections; as,

'Woe is me,' i. e. 'to me.'

(f) Him in himself is a dative governed by self.
Vide chap. V. § 2 (d), p. 48.

(g) The verbs please and obey, also thank and resemble, govern a dative; as,

'Please it, your honours,' i. e. 'to your honours.'

'Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.'— Romans vi. 16.

§ 4. The Accusative (Objective) Case.

1. Transitive verbs and prepositions take after them an accusa

tive; as,

'God made the world.'