LESSON II. RELATION AND PLACING OF WORDS (Continued). NOUNS AND PRONOUNS. I. Relation of pronoun and antecedent. Be sure that the antecedent of a pronoun1 is clearly indicated. In the incorrect form above, notice that it is not clear when "they," "their," refer to critics, and when to "poets." In the correct form one noun is used in the plural, the other in the singular; so there is no question as to the antecedent of the pronoun. Mr. James refers . . . to a little book about a quest for hidden treasure. He cannot criticise the author as he goes, because he says . . . he has been a "Mr. James refers to a little book about a quest for hidden treasure. He cannot criticise the author as he goes, "because," says he . . . "I have been 1 Be sure, also, that it is clear to which word in the sentence a possessive adjective refers. child, but he has never been on a quest for buried treas ure. a child, but I have never Memories and Portraits, In the incorrect form above, notice that it is not clear when "he" refers to "Mr. James," when to "the author." This confusion is avoided by using direct discourse in the second part of the passage. II. Position of noun or pronoun in a sentence. 1 a. A noun or pronoun used as subject of a verb naturally precedes it, and may be emphasised by being placed after it; a noun or pronoun used as object or supplement naturally follows its verb, and may be emphasised by being placed before it. EXAMPLES. 1. "This laughing colloquy took place in the hall of Walcote House, in the midst of which is a staircase that leads from an open gallery, where are the doors of the sleeping-chambers; and from one of these, a wax candle in her hand, and illuminating her, came Mistress Beatrix.” Henry Esmond. 2. "Foremost among these models for the English writer stands Shakespeare." Prefaces to Poems. 1 We have grown so accustomed to the position of the subject after the verb "to be" following a preparatory "it" or 66 there," that we do not always feel special emphasis in it; but a little thought will show that this change in order has really had the desired effect of drawing the accent away from the unimportant verb "to be," and of fixing it upon the noun; e.g. "It was an Ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three." The Ancient Mariner. 3. "Here was I, a yeoman's boy, a yeoman every inch of me; and there was she, a lady born." Lorna Doone. 4. "After the Snowes came Jasper Kelby, with his wife new-married; and a very honest pair they were upon only a hundred acres and a right of common." Ibid. 5. "Two kinds of dilettanti,' says Goethe, 'there are in poetry: he who neglects the indispensable mechanical part and thinks he has done enough if he shows spirituality and feeling, and he who seeks to arrive at poetry merely by mechanism and without soul."" Prefaces to Poems. 6. "I am going to-night to speak only of the industrious. The idle people we will put out of our thoughts at once." RUSKIN, The Crown of Wild Olive. 7. "Such a life as this I call heaven upon earth.” 1 Essay on Eugénie de Guérin. 8. "Men are helpful through the intellect and the affections; other help I find a false appearance." EMERSON, Representative Men. b. The infinitive used as a subject naturally follows its verb after a preparatory "it", and is made emphatic by being placed before the verb. EXAMPLES. 1. Jaques. "Why, 'tis good to be sad and say nothing. Rosalind. Why, then, 'tis good to be a post." As You Like It, IV. 1. 1 When they are used as objects, demonstrative pronouns, or nouns modified by adjectives which are connecting words (see Examples 7,8), are often placed before their verbs, at the beginning of a sentence, in order to emphasise the connection with what has gone before. 2. "For to do the wrong and leave the right undone, was, night and day, this wicked Loki's one unwearied aim." A. and E. KEARY, The Heroes of Asgard. c. A change of the natural order in subject, supplement, object, and predicate, sometimes serves to emphasise the verb.1 EXAMPLES. 1. "Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, And shook his very frame for ire.” Marmion. 2. "Fools you are; be fools forever,' said Sir Ensor Doone, at last." Lorna Doone. 3. "Evil he had done without doubt, as evil had been done to him; but how many have done evil, while receiving only good!". Ibid. LESSON III. RELATION AND PLACING OF WORDS (Continued). ADVERBS. I. Adverbs are usually placed next to the words, phrases, or clauses they modify.. Be sure not to place an adverb in a sentence so that it may be taken with any word, phrase, or clause other than the one with which it belongs. 1 A verb naturally follows its subject and precedes its object; it does not necessarily follow its subject directly, but care should be taken not to interpose too long a modifier between the subject and predicate in a sentence. I think, however, if I now say what I meant my hearers to understand briefly and clearly, . . . there may afterwards be found some better service in the passionately written text. Here the adverbs "briefly" and "clearly," are so placed that they may be incorrectly taken with "to understand." It was while all the other young people were dancing, and she sitting among the chaperones at the fire most unwillingly longing for the reëntrance of her elder cousin. Correct Form. "What!' a wayward youth might perhaps answer incredulously, 'no one ever gets wiser by doing wrong?"" Queen of the Air. |