Contents -

1. Syntax
2. Figures of Syntax
........................
Syntax treats of the relation, agreement, government, and arrangement, of words in
sentences.
The relation of words is their reference to other words, or their dependence according to
the sense.
The agreement of words is their similarity in person, number, gender, case, mood, tense,
or form.
The government of words is that power which one word has over another, to cause it to
assume some particular modification.
The arrangement of words is their collocation, or relative position, in a sentence.
A sentence is an assemblage of words, making complete sense, and always containing a
nominative and a verb: as,
• "Reward sweetens labour."

The principal parts of a sentence are usually three; namely, the subject, or nominative;
the finite verb; and the object governed by the verb: as,
• "Crimes deserve punishment."

A predicate is the part of the sentence (or clause) which states something about the
subject.
The other or subordinate parts depend on these, either as primary or as
secondary adjuncts: as,
• "High crimes justly deserve very severe punishments."

Sentences are usually said to be of two kinds, simple and compound.

A simple sentence is a sentence which consists of one single assertion, supposition,

command, question, or exclamation: as,
• "David and Jonathan loved each other."
• "If your enemy hunger."
• "Do violence to no man."
• "Am I not an apostle?"—1 Cor., ix, 1.
• "What immortal glory shall I have acquired!"—Hooke: Mur. Seq., p. 71.

A compound sentence is a sentence which consists of two or more simple ones either
expressly or tacitly connected: as,
• "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell you words,
whereby you and all your house shall be saved."—Acts, xi, 13.
• "The more the works of Cowper are read, the more his readers will find reason to admire
the variety and the extent, the graces and the energy, of his literary talents."—Hayley: Mur.
Seq., p. 250.
A clause, or member, is a subdivision of a compound sentence; and is itself a sentence,
either simple or compound: as,
• "If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; if he be thirsty, give him water to drink."—
Prov., xxv, 21.

A phrase is two or more words which express some relation of different ideas, but no
entire proposition: as,
• "By the means appointed."
• "To be plain with you."
• "Having loved his own."

Words that are omitted by ellipsis, and that are necessarily understood in order to
complete the construction, must be supplied in parsing.
The leading principles to be observed in the construction of sentences, are embraced in the
following rules, which are arranged, as nearly as possible, in the order of the parts of
speech.
Articles

Articles relate to the nouns which they limit: as,

• "At a little distance from the ruins of the abbey, stands an aged elm."
• "See the blind beggar dance, the cripple sing, the sot a hero, lunatic a king."—Pope's Essay,
Ep. ii, l. 268.

The comparative or superlative degree

The definite article may relate to an adjective or adverb of the comparative or the
superlative degree: as,

• "A land which was the mightiest."—Byron.

• "The farther they proceeded, the greater appeared their alacrity."—Dr. Johnson.
• "He chooses it the rather."—Cowper.

An unstressed numeral
The indefinite article is sometimes used to give a collective meaning to an unstressed
numeral (a plural adjective of number): as,

• "You have a few names even in Sardis."—Rev., iii, 4.

• "There are a thousand things which crowd into my memory."—Spectator, No. 468.
• "The centurion commanded a hundred men."—Webster.
Nouns
The subject or nominative
A noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the nominative case:
as,

• "The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things; and they derided him."—
Luke, xvi, 14.
• "But where the meekness of self-knowledge veils the front of self-respect, there look you for
the man whom none can know but they will honour."—Book of Thoughts, p. 66.
• "Do you mourn Philander's fate? I know you say it: says your life the same?"—Young, N. ii, l.
22.

The subject, or nominative, is generally placed before the verb: as,

• "Peace dawned on his mind."—Johnson.

• "What is written in the law?"—Bible.

But, in the following nine cases, the subject of the verb is usually placed after it, or after the
first auxiliary:

A question
When a question is asked without an interrogative pronoun in the nominative case: as,

• "Shall mortals be implacable?"—Hooke.

• "What are you doing?"—Id.
• "How many loaves have you?"—Bible.
• "Are they Israelites? So am I."—Ib.

The imperative mood

When the verb is in the imperative mood: as,

• "Go you,"
• "Come you."

But, with this mood, the pronoun is very often omitted and understood: as,

• "Philip said to him, Come and see."—John, i, 46.

• "And he said to them, Be not afraid."—Mark, xvi, 5.

An earnest wish or strong feeling

When an earnest wish, or other strong feeling, is expressed: as,
 • "May she be happy!"
• "How were we struck!"—Young.
• "Not as the world gives, give I to you."—Bible.

A supposition without if
When a supposition is made without the conjunction if: as,

• "Had they known it;" for, "If they had known it."
• "Were it true;" for, "If it were true."
• "Could we draw by the covering of the grave;" for, "If we could draw," etc.

Neither or nor
When neither or nor, signifying and not, precedes the verb: as,

• "This was his fear; nor was his apprehension groundless."

• "You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it."—Gen., iii, 3.

Emphasis
When, for the sake of emphasis, some word or words are placed before the verb, which
more naturally come after it: as,

• "Here am I,"
• "Narrow is the way,"
• "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I you."—Bible.

No regimen
When the verb has no regimen, and is itself emphatical: as,

• "Echo the mountains round."—Thomson.

• "After the light infantry marched the grenadiers, then followed the horse."—Buchanan's
Syntax, p. 71.

A dialogue
When the verbs, say, answer, reply, and the like, introduce the parts of a dialogue: as,

• "'Son of affliction,' said Omar, 'who are you?' 'My name,' replied the stranger, 'is Hassan.'"—
Dr. Johnson.

The adverb there

When the adverb there precedes the verb: as,
• "There lived a man."—Montgomery.
 • "In all worldly joys, there is a secret wound."—Owen.

This use of there, is idiomatic, and somewhat different from the use of the same word in
reference to a particular locality: as,
• "Because there was not much water there."—John, iii, 23.

Apposition or appositive
A noun or a personal pronoun used to explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put,
by apposition, in the same case: as,
• "But it is really I, your old friend and neighbour, Piso, late a dweller on the Coelian hill, who
am now basking in the warm skies of Palmyra."—Zenobia.
• "But he, our gracious Master, kind as just, knowing our frame, remembers we are dust."—
Barbauld.

An apposition or appositive is an interjection into a sentence. Appositive renames, or adds

to the description of another noun. The thought expressed by the sentence will stand fully
on its own without the appositive. In the following sentence, "My best friend's collie" is an
appositive:
• "The dog, my best friend's collie, caught the frisbee every time."

A possessive noun
A noun or a pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the name of the thing
possessed: as,

• "God's mercy prolongs man's life."—Allen.

• "Theirs is the vanity, the learning yours; touched by your hand, again Rome's glories
shine."—Pope.

The possessive case generally comes immediately before the governing noun, expressed or
understood: as,

• "All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace."—Pope.

• "Lady! be yours (i. e., your walk) the Christian's walk."—Chr. Observer.
• "Some of Aeschylus's [plays] and Euripides's plays are opened in this manner."—Blair's
Rhet., p. 459.

And in this order one possessive sometimes governs another: as,

• "Peter's wife's mother,"

• "Paul's sister's son."—Bible.

But, to this general principle of arrangement, there are some exceptions: as,
An adjective
When the governing noun has an adjective, this may intervene: as,

• "Flora's earliest smells."—Milton.

• "Of man's first disobedience."—Id.

In the following phrase from the Spectator,

• "Of Will's last night's lecture,"

it is not very clear, whether Will's is governed by night's or by lecture; yet it violates a
general principle of our grammar, to suppose the latter; because, on this supposition, two
possessives, each having the sign, will be governed by one noun.

The affirmed or denied possessive

When the possessive is affirmed or denied: as,

• "The book is mine, and not John's."

But here the governing noun may be supplied in its proper place; else a pronoun or the
verb will be the only governing word: as,

• "You are Christ's [disciples, or people]; and Christ is God's [son]."—St. Paul.

Whether this phraseology is thus elliptical or not, is questionable.

The case without the sign

When the case occurs without the sign, either by apposition or by connection: as,

• "In her brother Absalom's house."—Bible.

• "David and Jonathan's friendship."—Allen.
• "Adam and Eve's morning hymn."—Dr. Ash.
• "Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's your God."—Deut., x, 14.
• "For peace and quiet's sake."—Cowper.
• "To the beginning of King James the First's reign."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 32.

The object of predicate

A noun or a pronoun made the object of an active transitive verb or participle, is governed
by it in the objective case: as,
• "I found her assisting him,"
• "Having finished the work, I submit it,"
 • "Preventing fame, misfortune lends him wings, and Pompey's self his own sad story brings."
—Rowe's Lucan, B. viii, l. 66.

An intransitive verb
A noun or a pronoun put after an intransitive verb or participle, agrees in case with a
preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing: as,
• "It is I,"
• "These are they,"
• "The child was named John,"
• "It could not be he,"
• "The Lord sits King forever."—Psalms, xxix, 10.
• "What war could ravish, commerce could bestow, and he returned a friend, who came a
foe."—Pope, Ep. iii, l. 206.

An absolute noun
A noun or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case depends on no other
word: as,
• "He failing, who shall meet success?"
• "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?"—Zech., i, 5.
• "Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?"—1 Cor., ix, 6.
• "Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God?"—Rom., ix, 20.
• "O rare we!"—Cowper.
• "Miserable they!"—Thomson.

Adjectives
An adjective relates to nouns
Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns: as,

• "Miserable comforters are you all."—Job, xvi, 2.

• "No worldly enjoyments are adequate to the high desires and powers of an immortal
spirit."—Blair.
• "Whatever faction's partial notions are, no hand is wholly innocent in war."—Rowe's Lucan,
B. vii, l. 191.

An intervening verb
An adjective sometimes relates to a phrase or sentence which is made the subject of an
intervening verb: as,

• "To insult the afflicted, is impious."—Dillwyn.

 • "That he should refuse, is not strange."
• "To err is human."

Combined arithmetical numbers

In combined arithmetical numbers, one adjective often relates to another, and the whole
phrase, to a subsequent noun: as,

• "One thousand four hundred and fifty-six men,"

• "Six dollars and eighty-seven and a half cents for every five days' service,"
• "In the one hundred and twenty-second year,"
• "One seven times more than it was wont to be heated."—Daniel, iii, 19.

A being or action in the abstract

With an infinitive or a participle denoting being or action in the abstract, an adjective is
sometimes also taken abstractly; that is, without reference to any particular noun, pronoun,
or other subject: as,

• "To be sincere, is to be wise, innocent, and safe."—Hawkesworth.

• "Capacity marks the abstract quality of being able to receive or hold."—Crabb's Synonymes.
• "Indeed, the main secret of being sublime, is to say great things in few and plain words."—
Hiley's Gram., p. 215.
• "Concerning being free from sin in heaven, there is no question."—Barclay's Works, iii, 437.
• Better, "Concerning freedom from sin," etc.

Abstract nouns
Adjectives are sometimes substituted for their corresponding abstract nouns; perhaps, in
most instances, elliptically: as,

• "The sensations of sublime and beautiful are not always distinguished by very distant
boundaries."—Blair's Rhet., p. 47.
• "The faults opposite to the sublime are chiefly two: the frigid, and the bombast."—Ib., p. 44.
• Better, "The faults opposite to sublimity, are chiefly two; frigidity and bombast."
• "Yet the ruling character of the nation was that of barbarous and cruel."—Brown's Estimate,
ii, 26.
• "In a word, agreeable and disagreeable are qualities of the objects we perceive."—Kames, El.
of Crit., i, 99.
• "Polished, or refined, was the idea which the author had in view."—Blair's Rhet., p. 219.
An adjective placed before noun
The adjective is generally placed immediately before its noun: as,

• "Vain man! is grandeur given to gay attire?"—Beattie.

Adjectives can also come before the subject:

• "The red dog likes chocolate."

• "The tiny man had a height problem."

In the following instances the adjective is placed after the word to which it relates:

Pronouns
Those adjectives which relate to pronouns, most commonly follow them: as,

• "They left me weary on a grassy turf."—Milton.

But to both these general rules there are many exceptions; for the position of an adjective
may be varied by a variety of circumstances, not excepting the mere convenience of
emphasis: as,

• "And Jehu said, to which of all us?"—2 Kings, ix, 5.

Words which depend on the adjective

When other words depend on the adjective, or stand before it to qualify it: as,

• "A mind conscious of right,"

• "A wall three feet thick,"
• "A body of troops fifty thousand strong."

The quality which results from action

When the quality results from an action, or receives its application through a verb or
participle: as,

• "Virtue renders life happy."

• "He was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza."—1 Kings, xvi, 9.
• "All men agree to call vinegar sour, honey sweet, and aloes bitter."—Burke, on Taste, p. 38.
• "God made you perfect, not immutable."—Milton.

The quality which excites admiration

When the quality excites admiration, and the adjective would thus be more clearly
distinctive: as,
 • "Goodness infinite,"
• "Wisdom unsearchable."—Murray.

A verb
When a verb comes between the adjective and the noun: as,

• "Truth stands independent of all external things."—Burgh.

• "Honour is not seemly for a fool."—Solomon.

The adjective formed by prefix

When the adjective is formed by means of the prefix a: as, afraid, alert, alike, alive, alone,
asleep, awake, aware, averse, ashamed, askew. To these may be added a few other words:
as, else, enough, extant, extinct, fraught, pursuant.

The nature of a participle

When the adjective has the nature, but not the form, of a participle: as,

• "A queen regnant,"

• "The prince regent,"
• "The heir apparent,"
• "A lion, not rampant, but couchant or dormant,"
• "For the time then present."

Poetry
In some instances, the adjective may either precede or follow its noun; as, in poetry,
provided the sense be obvious: as,

• "Will you to the isles atlantic, to the rich hesperian clime, fly in the train of Autumn?"—
Akenside, P. of I., Book i, p. 27.
• "Will you fly with laughing Autumn to the atlantic isles, and range with him the hesperian
field?"—Id. Bucke's Gram., p. 120.

Technical usage
When technical usage favours one order, and common usage another: as,

• "A notary public," or, "A public notary;"

• "The heir presumptive," or, "The presumptive heir."

An adverb
When an adverb precedes the adjective: as,
 • "A Being infinitely wise," or,
• "An infinitely wise Being."

Murray, Comly, and others, here approve only the former order; but the latter is certainly
not ungrammatical.

Belonging to the same noun

When several adjectives belong to the same noun: as,

• "The red, hungry dog ate the chocolate."

• "The car is red, slow and very old."
• "A woman, modest, sensible, and virtuous," or, "A modest, sensible, and virtuous woman."

An emphatic adjective
When the adjective is emphatic, it may be foremost in the sentence, though the natural
order of the words would bring it last: as,

• "Weighty is the anger of the righteous."—Bible.

• "Blessed are the pure in heart."—Ib.
• "Great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the sun in his course."—1 Esdras, iv, 34.
• "The more laborious the life is, the less populous is the country."—Goldsmith's Essays,
p. 151.

A part of the object or predicate

When the adjective and its noun both follow a verb as parts of the predicate, either may
possibly come before the other, yet the arrangement is fixed by the sense intended. Thus,
there is a great difference between the following assertions:

• "We call the boy good,"

• "We call the good boy."

An equivalent to an adverb
By an ellipsis of the noun, an adjective with a preposition before it, is sometimes equivalent
to an adverb: as,

• "In particular;" that is, "In a particular manner;" equivalent to "Particularly".

• So "In general" is equivalent to "Generally".

Pronoun antecedents
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it represents, in
person, number, and gender: as,
 • "This is the friend of whom I spoke; he has just arrived."
• "This is the book which I bought; it is an excellent work."
• "You, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons to love it too."—Cowper.
• "Speak you, whose thoughts at humble peace repine, shall Wolsey's wealth with Wolsey's
end be yours?"—Dr. Johnson.

Something indefinite
When a pronoun stands for some person or thing indefinite, or unknown to the speaker,
the person, number, and gender, are rather assumed in the pronoun, than regulated by an
antecedent: as,
• "I do not care who knows it."—Steele.
• "Who touched me? Tell me who it was."
• "We have no knowledge how, or by whom, it is inhabited."—Abbot: Joh. Dict.

The neuter pronoun

The neuter pronoun may be applied to a young child, or to other creatures masculine or
feminine by nature, when they are not obviously distinguishable with regard to sex: as,

• "Which is the real friend to the child, the person who gives it the sweetmeats, or the person
who, considering only its health, resists its importunities?"—Opis.
• "He loads the animal he is showing me, with so many trappings and collars, that I cannot
distinctly view it."—Murray's Gram., p. 301.
• "The nightingale sings most sweetly when it sings in the night."—Bucke's Gram., p. 52.

The pronoun it
The pronoun it is often used without a definite reference to any antecedent, and is
sometimes a mere expletive, and sometimes the representative of an action expressed
afterwards by a verb: as,

• "Whether she grapple it with the pride of philosophy."—Chalmers.

• "Seeking to lord it over God's heritage."—The Friend, vii, 253.
• "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong
drink."—Prov., xxxi, 4.
• "Having no temptation to it, God cannot act unjustly without defiling his nature."—Brown's
Divinity, p. 11.
• "Come, and trip it as you go, on the light fantastic toe."—Milton.
The adjective many
A singular antecedent with the adjective many, sometimes admits a plural pronoun, but
never in the same clause: as,

• "Hard has been the fate of many a great genius, that while they have conferred immortality
on others, they have wanted themselves some friend to embalm their names to posterity."—
Welwood's Pref. to Rowe's Lucan.
• "In Hawick twinkled many a light, behind him soon they set in night."—W. Scott.

Enallage
When a plural pronoun is put by enallage for the singular, it does not agree with its noun
in number, because it still requires a plural verb: as,
• "We [Lindley Murray] have followed those authors, who appear to have given them the
most natural and intelligible distribution."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 29.
• "We shall close our remarks on this subject, by introducing the sentiments of Dr. Johnson
respecting it."—Ib.
• "My lord, you know I love you."—Shakespeare.

The antecedent taken in another sense

The pronoun sometimes disagrees with its antecedent in one sense, because it takes it in
another: as,

• "I have perused Mr. Johnson's Grammatical Commentaries, and find it a very laborious,
learned, and useful work."—Tho. Knipe, D. D.
• "Lamps is of the plural number, because it means more than one."—Smith's New Gram., p. 8.
• "Man is of the masculine gender, because it is the name of a male."—Ib.
• "The Utica Sentinel says it has not heard whether the wounds are dangerous."—Evening
Post.
• Better, "The or of the Utica Sentinel says, he has not heard," etc.
• "There is little Benjamin with their ruler."—Psalms, lxviii, 27.
• "Her end when emulation misses, she turns to envy, stings, and hisses."—Swift's Poems,
p. 415.

Nominatives
Nominatives: (i.e., words parsed as nominatives after the verbs, though mostly
transposed:)

• "Who are you?"—Bible.

• "What were we?"—Ib.
 • "Do not tell them who I am."
• "Let him be who he may, he is not the honest fellow that he seemed."
• "The general conduct of mankind is neither what it was designed, nor what it ought to be."

Absolute nominatives
This construction of the relative is a latinism, and very seldom used by the best writers.

• "There are certain bounds to imprudence, which being transgressed, there remains no place
for repentance in the natural course of things."—Bp. Butler.
• "Which being so, it need not be any wonder, why I should."—Walker's Particles, Pref., p. xiv.
• "He offered an apology, which not being admitted, he became submissive."—Murray's Key,
p. 202.

Possessives
• "The chief man of the island, whose name was Publius."—Acts.
• "Despair, a cruel tyrant, from whose prisons none can escape."—Dr. Johnson.
• "To contemplate on Him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light."—Steele.

Objectives
• "Those whom she persuaded."—Dr. Johnson.
• "The cloak that I left at Troas."—St. Paul.
• "By the things which he suffered."—Id.
• "A man whom there is reason to suspect."
• "What are we to do?"—Burke.
• "Love refuses nothing that love sends."—Gurnall.
• "The first thing, says he, is, to choose some maxim or point of morality; to inculcate which, is
to be the design of his work."—Blair's Rhet., p. 421.
• "Whomsoever you please to appoint."—Lowth.
• "Whatsoever he does, shall prosper."—Bible.
• "What we are afraid to do before men, we should be afraid to think before God."—Sibs.
• "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?"—Gen., xviii, 32.
• "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am going to do?"
• "Call imperfection what you fancy such."—Pope.

Neuter verbs
Pronouns parsed as objectives after neuter verbs, though they stand before them:
• "He is not the man that I took him to be."
 • "Whom did you suppose me to be?"
• "If the lad ever become what you wish him to be."
• "To whom shall we go?"—Bible.
• "The laws by which the world is governed, are general."—Bp. Butler.
• "Whom he looks on as his defender."—Addison.
• "That secret heaviness of heart which unthinking men are subject to."—Id.
• "I cannot but think the loss of such talents as the man of whom I am speaking was master of,
a more melancholy instance."—Steele.
• "Grammar is the solid foundation on which all other science rests."—Buchanan's Eng. Synt.,
p. xx.

Familiar language
In familiar language, the relative of the objective case is frequently understood: as,

• "The man [whom] I trust."—Cowper.

• "Here is the letter [which] I received."
• "This is the man they hate. These are the goods they bought. Are these the Gods they
worship? Is this the woman you saw?"—Ash's Gram., p. 96.

In grave writing, or deliberate discourse, it is much better to express the relative. The
omission of it is often attended with some obscurity: as,

• "The next error [that] I shall mention [,] is a capital one."—Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 157.
• "It is little [that] we know of the divine perfections."—Scougal, p. 94.
• "The faith [which] we give to memory, may be thought, on a superficial view, to be
resolvable into consciousness, as well as that [which] we give to the immediate impressions
of sense."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 53.
• "We speak that [which] we do know, and testify that [which] we have seen."—John, iii, 11.

A relative in the nominative case

The omission of a relative in the nominative case, is almost always inelegant: as,

• "This is the worst thing [that] could happen."

• "There were several things [which] brought it on me."—Pilgrim's Progress, p. 162.

This ellipsis may occur after but or than, and it is sometimes allowed in poetry: as,

• "[There is] No person of reflection but [who] must be sensible, that an incident makes a
stronger impression on an eyewitness, than when heard at second hand."—Kames, El. of
Crit., ii, 257.
 • "In this it is God directs, in that it is man."—Pope, on Man.
• "Abuse on all he loved, or loved him, spread."—Id., to Arbuthnot.
• "There's nothing blackens like the ink of fools."—Id., to Augustus.

A collective noun
When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the pronoun must
agree with it in the plural number: as,

• "The council were divided in their sentiments."

• "The Christian world are beginning to awake out of their slumber."—C. Simeon.
• "Whatever Adam's posterity lost through him, that and more they gain in Christ."—J.
Phipps.
• "To this, one pathway gently-winding leads, where march a train with baskets on their
heads."—Pope, Iliad, B. xviii, l. 657.

Antecedents connected by or
When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by or or nor, it must agree with
them singly, and not as if taken together: as,

• "James or John will favour us with his company."

• "Neither wealth nor honour can secure the happiness of its votaries."
• "What virtue or what mental grace, but men unqualified and base will boast it their
possession?"—Cowper, on Friendship.

Antecedents connected by and

When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by and, it must agree with them
jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as,

• "Minos and Thales sung to the lyre the laws which they composed."—Strabo: Blair's Rhet.,
p. 379.
• "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not
divided."—2 Sam., i, 23.
• "Rhesus and Rhodius then unite their rills, Caresus roaring down the stony hills."—Pope, Il.,
B. xii, l. 17.

One person or thing

When two or more antecedents connected by and serve merely to describe one person or
thing, they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name, and do not require a plural
pronoun: as,
 • "This great philosopher and statesman continued in public life till his eighty-second year."
• "The same Spirit, light, and life, which enlightens, also sanctifies, and there is not
another."—Penington.
• "My Constantius and Philetus confesses me two years older when I wrote it."—Cowley's
Preface.
• "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel! for you are my servant."—Isaiah, xliv, 21.
• "In that strength and cogency which renders eloquence powerful."—Blair's Rhet., p. 252.

Emphatically distinguished
When two antecedents connected by and are emphatically distinguished, they belong to
different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a plural pronoun: as,

• "The butler, and not the baker, was restored to his office."
• "The good man, and the sinner too, shall have his reward."
• "Truth, and truth only, is worth seeking for its own sake."
• "It is the sense in which the word is used, and not the letters of which it is composed, that
determines what is the part of speech to which it belongs."—Cobbett's Gram., 130.

Each, every, or no
When two or more antecedents connected by and are preceded by the adjective each,
every, or no, they are taken separately, and do not require a plural pronoun: as,

• "Every plant and every tree produces others after its own kind."
• "It is the cause of every reproach and distress which has attended your government."—
Junius, Let. xxxv.

But if the latter be a collective noun, the pronoun may be plural: as,

• "Each minister and each church act according to their own impressions."—Dr. M'Cartee.

The finite verb

Every finite verb must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person and number: as,

• "I know; You know; He knows;"

• "The bird flies; The birds fly."
• "Our fathers' fertile fields by slaves are tilled, and Rome with dregs of foreign lands is
filled."—Rowe's Lucan, B. vii, l. 600.

When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, the verb must
agree with it in the plural number: as,
 • "The council were divided."
• "The college of cardinals are the electors of the pope."—Murray's Key, p. 176.
• "Quintus Curtius relates, that a number of them were drowned in the river Lycus."—Home's
Art of Thinking, p. 125.
• "Yon host come learned in academic rules."—Rowe's Lucan, vii, 401.
• "While heaven's high host on hallelujahs live."—Young's N. Th., iv, 378.

Nominatives connected by and

When a verb has two or more nominatives connected by and, it must agree with them
jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as,

• "True rhetoric and sound logic are very nearly allied."—Blair's Rhet., p. 11.
• "Aggression and injury in no case justify retaliation."—Wayland's Moral Science, p. 406.
• "Judges and senates have been bought for gold, esteem and love were never to be sold."—
Pope.

One person or thing

When two nominatives connected by and serve merely to describe one person or thing,
they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name, and do not require a plural verb:
as,

• "Immediately comes a hue and cry after a gang of thieves."—L'Estrange.

• "The hue and cry of the country pursues him."—Junius, Letter xxiii.
• "Flesh and blood [i.e. man, or man's nature,] has not revealed it to you."—Matt., xvi, 17.
• "Descent and fall to us is adverse."—Milton, P. L., ii, 76.
• "This philosopher and poet was banished from his country."
• "Such a Saviour and Redeemer is actually provided for us."—Gurney's Essays, p. 386.
• "Let us then declare what great things our God and Saviour has done for us."—Dr. Scott, on
Luke viii.
• "Toll, tribute, and custom, was paid to them."—Ezra, iv, 20.
• "Whose icy current and compulsive course never feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on."—
Shakespeare.

Emphatically distinguished
When two nominatives connected by and, are emphatically distinguished, they belong to
different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a plural verb: as,

• "Ambition, and not the safety of the state, was concerned."—Goldsmith.

 • "Consanguinity, and not affinity, is the ground of the prohibition."—Webster's Essays,
p. 324.
• "But a modification, and oftentimes a total change, takes place."—Maunder.
• "Somewhat, and, in many circumstances, a great deal too, is put on us."—Butler's Analogy,
p. 108.
• "Disgrace, and perhaps ruin, was the certain consequence of attempting the latter."—
Robertson's America, i, 434.
• "Ay, and no too, was no good divinity."—Shakespeare.
• "Love, and love only, is the loan for love."—Young.

Each, every, or no
When two or more nominatives connected by and are preceded by the adjective each,
every, or no, they are taken separately, and do not require a plural verb: as,

• "When no part of their substance, and no one of their properties, is the same."—Bp. Butler.
• "Every limb and feature appears with its respective grace."—Steele.
• "Every person, and every occurrence, is beheld in the most favourable light."—Murray's
Key, p. 190.
• "Each worm, and each insect, is a marvel of creative power."
• "Whose every look and gesture was a joke to clapping theatres and shouting crowds."—
Young.

When the verb separates its nominatives, it agrees with that which precedes it, and is
understood to the rest: as,

• "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof."—Murray's Exercises, p. 36.
• "Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame."—Milton.
• "Forth in the pleasing spring, your beauty walks, your tenderness, and love."—Thomson.

Nominatives connected by or
When a verb has two or more nominatives connected by or or nor, it must agree with them
singly, and not as if taken together: as,

• "Fear or jealousy affects him."—W. Allen's Gram., p. 133.

• "Nor eye, nor listening ear, an object finds: creation sleeps."—Young.
• "Neither character nor dialogue was yet understood."—L. Murray's Gram., p. 151.
• "The wife, where danger or dishonour lurks, safest and seemliest by her husband stays."—
Milton, P. L., ix, 267.
Infinitives
The infinitive mood
The infinitive mood is governed in general by the preposition to, which commonly connects
it to a finite verb: as,

• "I desire to learn."—Dr. Adam.

• "Of me the Roman people have many pledges, which I must strive, with my utmost
endeavours, to preserve, to defend, to confirm, and to redeem."—Duncan's Cicero, p. 41.
• "What if the foot, ordained the dust to tread, or hand to toil, aspired to be the head?"—Pope.

The active verbs, bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see, and their participles, usually take
the infinitive after them without the preposition to: as,

• "If he bade you depart, how dare you stay?"

• "I dare not let my mind be idle as I walk in the streets."—Cotton Mather.
• "Your Hector, wrapt in everlasting sleep, shall neither hear you sigh, nor see you weep." —
Pope's Homer.

Though the infinitive is commonly made an adjunct to some finite verb, yet it may be
connected to almost all the other parts of speech. The preposition to being its only and
almost universal index; unless the word about, in such a situation, is a preposition.

Anciently, the infinitive was sometimes preceded by for as well as to: as,

• "I went up to Jerusalem for to worship."—Acts, xxiv, 11.

• "What went you out for to see?"—Luke, vii, 26.
• "And stood up for to read."—Luke, iv, 16.

It seems practicable to subjoin the infinitive to every one of the ten parts of speech, except
the article: as,

Noun
• "If there is any precept to obtain felicity."—Hawkesworth.
• "It is high time to awake out of sleep."—Rom., xiii, 11.
• "To flee from the wrath to come."—Matt., iii, 7.

Adjective
• "He seemed desirous to speak, yet unwilling to offend."—Hawkesworth.

• "He who is the slowest to promise, is the quickest to perform."—Art of Thinking, p. 35.

Pronoun
• "I discovered him to be a scholar."—W. Allen's Gram., p. 166.
 • "Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar?"—Luke, xx, 22.
• "Let me desire you to reflect impartially."—Blair: Murray's Eng. Reader, p. 77.
• "Whom have you then or what to accuse?"—Milton, P. L., iv, 67.

Finite verb
• "Then Peter began to rebuke him."—Matt., xvi, 22.

• "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."—Luke, xix, 10.

Another infinitive
• "To go to enter into Egypt."—Jer., xli, 17.

• "We are not often willing to wait to consider."—J. Abbott.

• "For what had he to do to chide at me?"—Shak.

Participle
• "Still threatening to devour me."—Milton.

• "Or as a thief bent to unhoard the cash of some rich burgher."—Id.

Adverb
• "She is old enough to go to school."
• "I know not how to act."—Nutting's Gram., p. 106.
• "Tell me when to come, and where to meet you."
• "He has not where to lay his head."

Conjunction
• "He knows better than to trust you."

• "It was so hot as to melt these ornaments."

• "Many who praise virtue, do no more than praise it."—Dr. Johnson.

Preposition
• "I was about to write."—Rev., x, 4.

• "Not for to hide it in a hedge."—Burns's Poems, p. 42.

• "Amatum iri, to be about to be loved."—Adam's Gram., p. 95.

Interjection
• "O to forget her!"—Young's Night Thoughts.

The uses of the infinitive

The infinitive is a verb, without affirmation, without person or number, and therefore
without the agreement peculiar to a finite verb. But, in most instances, it is not without
limitation of the being, action, or passion, to some persons or things, that are said,
supposed, or denied, to be, to act, or to be acted on. Whenever it is not thus limited, it is
taken abstractly, and has some resemblance to a noun. Even then, the active infinitive may
govern the objective case. The uses of the infinitive are many and various. The following
are the chief of the things for which it may stand:

Supplement to another verb

For the supplement to another verb, to complete the sense: as,

• "Loose him, and let him go."—John, xi, 44.

• "They that go to seek mixed wine."—Prov., xxiii, 30.
• "His hands refuse to labour."—Ib., xxi, 25.
• "If you choose to have those terms."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 374.
• "How our old translators first struggled to express this."—Ib., ii, 456.
• "To any one who will please to examine our language."—Ib., ii, 444.
• "They are forced to give up at last."—Ib., ii, 375.
• "Which ought to be done."—Ib., ii, 451.
• "Which came to pass."—Acts, xi, 28.
• "I dare engage to make it out."—Swift.

A purpose
For the purpose, or end, of that to which it is added: as,

• "Each has employed his time and pains to establish a criterion."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 374.
• "I shall not stop now, to assist in their elucidation."—Ib., ii, 75.
• "Our purposes are not endowed with words to make them known."—Ib., ii, 74.
• "A tool is some instrument taken up to work with."—Ib., ii, 145.
• "Labour not to be rich."—Prov., xxiii, 4.
• "I flee to you to hide me."—Ps., cxliii, 9.
• "Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him."—Ib., cxl, 11.

Object of an affection or passion

For the object of an affection or passion: as,

• "He loves to ride."

• "I desire to hear her speak again."—Shale.
• "If we wish to avoid important error."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 3.
• "Who rejoice to do evil."—Prov., ii, 14.
 • "All agreeing in earnestness to see him."—Shak.
• "Our curiosity is raised to know what lies beyond."—Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 335.

Cause of an affection or passion

For the cause of an affection or passion: as,

• "I rejoice to hear it."

• "By which I hope to have laid a foundation."—Blair's Rhet., p. 34.
• "For he made me mad, to see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet."—Beauties of Shak.,
p. 118.
• "You did eat strange flesh, which some did die to look on."—Ib., p. 182.
• "They grieved to see their best allies at variance."—Rev. W. Allen's Gram., p. 165.

Subject of a proposition
For the subject of a proposition, or the chief term in such subject: as,

• "To steal is sinful."

• "To do justice and judgement, is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice."—Prov., xxi, 3.
• "To do right, is, to do that which is ordered to be done."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 7.
• "To go to law to plague a neighbour, has in it more of malice, than of love to justice."—
Seattle's Mor. Sci., i, 177.

Predicate or object of a proposition

For the predicate of a proposition, or the chief term in such predicate: as,

• "To enjoy is to obey."—Pope.

• "The property of rain is to wet, and fire, to burn."—Beauties of Shak., p. 15.
• "To die is to be banished from myself."—Ib., p. 82.
• "The best way is, to slander Valentine."—Ib., p. 83.
• "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil."—Prov., xvi, 17.

A coming event
For a coming event, or what will be: as,

• "A mutilated structure soon to fall."—Cowper.

• "He being dead, and I speedily to follow him."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 111.
• "She shall rejoice in time to come."—Prov., xxxi, 25.
• "Things present, or things to come."—1 Cor., iii, 22.
A necessary event
For a necessary event, or what ought to be: as,

• "It is to be remembered."
• "It is never to be forgotten."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 2.
• "An oversight much to be deplored."—Ib., ii, 460.
• "The sign is not to be used by itself, or to stand alone; but is to be joined to some other
term."—Ib., ii, 372.
• "The Lord's name is to be praised."—Ps., cxiii, 3.

Something previously suggested

For what is previously suggested by another word: as,

• "I have faith to believe."

• "The glossarist did well here not to yield to his inclination."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 329.
• "It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord."—Ps., xcii, 1.
• "It is as sport to a fool to do mischief."—Prov., x, 23.
• "They have the gift to know it."—Shak.
• "We have no remaining occupation but to take care of the public."—Art of Thinking, p. 52.

Term of comparison or measure

For a term of comparison or measure: as,

• "He was so much affected as to weep."

• "Who could do no less than furnish him."—Tooke's D. P., ii, 408.
• "I shall venture no farther than to explain the nature and convenience of these
abbreviations."—Ib., ii, 439.
• "I have already said enough to show what sort of operation that is."—Ib., ii, 358.

Participles

The regular syntax of the participle, is twofold; being sometimes that of simple relation to a
noun or a pronoun that precedes it, and sometimes that of government, or the state of
being governed by a preposition. In the former construction, the participle resembles an
adjective; in the latter, it is more like a noun, or like the infinitive mood. To these
constructions, some add others less regular: using the participle as the subject of a finite
verb, as the object of a transitive verb, or as a nominative after a neuter verb.

Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are governed by prepositions: as,

 • "Elizabeth's tutor, at one time paying her a visit, found her employed in reading Plato."—
Hume.
• "I have no more pleasure in hearing a man attempting wit and failing, than in seeing a man
trying to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it."—Dr. Johnson.
• "Now, raised on Tyre's sad ruins, Pharaoh's pride soared high, his legions threatening far
and wide."—Dryden.

A preceding phrase
A participle sometimes relates to a preceding phrase or sentence, of which it forms no part:
as,

• "I then quit the society; to withdraw and leave them to themselves, appearing to me a duty."
• "It is almost exclusively on the ground we have mentioned, that we have heard his being
continued in office defended."—Professors' Reasons, p. 23.
• Better, "His continuance in office," or, "The continuing of him in office."
• "But ever to do ill our sole delight, as being the contrary to his high will."—Milton.

A being or action in the abstract

With an infinitive denoting being or action in the abstract, a participle is sometimes also
taken abstractly; that is, without reference to any particular noun, pronoun, or other
subject: as,

• "To seem compelled, is disagreeable."

• "To keep always praying aloud, is plainly impossible."
• "It must be disagreeable to be left pausing on a word which does not, by itself, produce any
idea."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 323.
• "To praise him is to serve him, and fulfill, doing and suffering, his unquestioned will."—
Cowper, Vol. i, p. 88.

Substitute for the infinitive mood

The participle is often used irregularly, as a substitute for the infinitive mood, to which it is
sometimes equivalent without irregularity: as,

• "I saw him enter, or entering."—Grant's Lat. Gram., p. 230.

• "He is afraid of trying, or to try."—Ibid.
• "Sir, said I, if the case stands thus, it is dangerous drinking."—Collier's Tablet of Cebes.
• "It will be but ill venturing your soul on that."—Bunyan's Law and Grace, p. 27.
• "Describing a past event as present, has a fine effect in language."—Kames, El. of Crit., i, 93.
• "In English likewise it deserves remarking."—Harris's Hermes, p. 232.
 • "Bishop Atterbury deserves being particularly mentioned."—Blair's Rhet., p. 291.
• "This, however, is in effect no more than enjoying the sweet that predominates."—
Campbell's Rhet., p. 43.
• "Habits are soon assumed; but when we strive to strip them off, it is being flayed alive."—
Cowper, Vol. i, p. 44

A participle which is treated as a noun

Another frequent irregularity in the construction of participles, is the practice of treating
them essentially as nouns, without taking from them the regimen and adjuncts of
participles: as,

• "Your having been well educated will be a great recommendation."—W. Allen's Gram.,
p. 171.
• Better, "Your excellent education," or "That you have been well educated, will be," etc.
• "It arises from sublimity's expressing grandeur in its highest degree."—Blair's Rhet., p. 29.
• "Concerning the separating by a circumstance, words intimately connected."—Kames, El. of
Crit., Vol. ii, p. 104.
• "As long as there is any hope of their keeping pace with them."—Literary Convention,
p. 114.
• "Which could only arise from his knowing the secrets of all hearts."—West's Letters to a
Young Lady, p. 180.
• "But this again is talking quite at random."—Butler's Analogy, p. 146.
• "My being here it is, that holds you hence."—Shak.
• "Such, but by foils, the clearest lustre see, and deem aspersing others, praising you."—
Savage, to Walpole.

Adverbs

The syntax of an adverb consists in its simple relation to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or
whatever else it qualifies.

Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs: as,

• "Any passion that habitually discomposes our temper, or unfits us for properly discharging
the duties of life, has most certainly gained a very dangerous ascendency."—Blair.
• "How blessed this happy hour, should he appear, dear to us all, to me supremely dear!"—
Pope's Homer.
Independent adverbs
The adverbs yes, ay, and yea, expressing a simple affirmation, and the adverbs no and nay,
expressing a simple negation, are always independent. They generally answer a question,
and are equivalent to a whole sentence. Is it clear, that they ought to be called adverbs? No.

• "Can honour set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour
has no skill in surgery then? No."—Shak.: First Part of Hen. IV, Act v, 1.

The word amen

The word amen, which is commonly called an adverb, is often used independently at the
beginning or end of a declaration or a prayer: as,

• "Surely, I come quickly. Amen: even so, come Lord Jesus."—Rev., xxii, 20.

When it does not stand thus alone, it seems in general to be used substantively: as,

• "The strangers among them stood on Gerizim, and echoed amen to the blessings."—Wood's
Dict.
• "These things say the amen."—Rev., iii, 14

An adverb before a preposition

An adverb before a preposition seems sometimes to relate to the latter, rather than to the
verb or participle to which the preposition connects its object: as,

• "This mode of pronunciation runs considerably beyond ordinary discourse."—Blair's Rhet.,

p. 334.
• "Yea, all along the times of the apostasy, this was the thing that preserved the witnesses."—
Penington's Works, Vol. iv, p. 12.
• "Right against the eastern gate, where the great sun begins his state."—Milton, L'Allegro.

Much, little, far, and all

The words much, little, far, and all, being originally adjectives, are sometimes preceded by
the negative not, or (except the last) by such an adverb as too, how, thus, so, or as, when
they are taken substantively: as,

• "Not all that glitters, is gold."

• "Too much should not be offered at once."—Murray's Gram., p. 140.
• "Thus far is consistent."—Ib., p. 161.
• "Thus far is right."—Lowth's Gram., p. 101.
Conjunctions

The syntax of conjunctions consists in the simple fact, that they link together such and such
terms, and thus "Mark the connections of human thought."—Beattie.

Conjunctions connect words, sentences, or parts of sentences: as,

• "Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdmen and your
herdmen; for we are brethren."—Gen., xiii, 8.
• "Ah! if she lend not arms as well as rules. What can she more than tell us we are fools?"—
Pope.

Introducing a sentence
The conjunction that sometimes serves merely to introduce a sentence which is made the
subject or the object of a finite verb: as,

• "That mind is not matter, is certain."

• "That you have wronged me, does appear in this."—Shak.
• "That time is mine, O Mead! to you, I owe."—Young.

Two corresponding conjunctions

When two corresponding conjunctions occur, in their usual order, the former should
generally be parsed as referring to the latter, which is more properly the connecting word:
as,

• "Neither sun nor stars in many days appeared."—Acts, xxvii, 20.

• "Whether that evidence has been afforded [or not,] is a matter of investigation."—Keith's
Evidences, p. 18.

Either and neither

Either, corresponding to or, and neither, corresponding to nor or not, are sometimes
transposed, so as to repeat the disjunction or negation at the end of the sentence: as,

• "Where then was their capacity of standing, or his either?"—Barclay's Works, iii, 359.
• "It is not dangerous neither."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 135.
• "He is very tall, but not too tall neither."—Spect., No. 475.

Prepositions

The syntax of prepositions consists, not solely or mainly in their power of governing the
objective case, but in their adaptation to the other terms between which they express
certain relations.
Prepositions show the relations of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them:
as,

• "He came from Rome to Paris, in the company of many eminent men, and passed with them
through many cities."—Analectic Magazine.
• "Ah! who can tell the triumphs of the mind, by truth illumined, and by taste refined?"—
Rogers.

The object
A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in the objective
case: as,

• "The temple of fame stands on the grave: the flame that burns on its altars, is kindled from
the ashes of great men."—Hazlitt.
• "Life is his gift, from whom whatever life needs, with every good and perfect gift,
proceeds."—Cowper, Vol. i, p. 95.

The preposition to
The preposition to, before an abstract infinitive, and at the head of a phrase which is made
the subject of a verb, has no proper antecedent term of relation: as,

• "To learn to die, is the great business of life."—Dillwyn.

• "Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh, is more needful for you."—St. Paul: Phil., i, 24.
• "To be reduced to poverty, is a great affliction."
• "Too much to know, is, to know nought but fame; and every godfather can give a name."—
Shakespeare.

The preposition for

The preposition for, when it introduces its object before an infinitive, and the whole phrase
is made the subject of a verb, has properly no antecedent term of relation: as,

• "For us to learn to die, is the great business of life."

• "Nevertheless, for me to abide in the flesh, is more needful for you."
• "For an old man to be reduced to poverty is a very great affliction."
• "For man to tell how human life began, is hard; for who himself beginning knew?"—Milton.

Interjections

Interjections have no dependent construction; they are put absolute, either alone, or with
other words: as,
 • "O! let not your heart despise me."—Dr. Johnson.
• "O cruel you!"—Pope, Odys., B. xii, l. 333.
• "Ah wretched we, poets of earth!"—Cowley,
• "Ah Dennis! Gildon ah! what ill-starred rage divides a friendship long confirmed by age?"—
Pope, Dunciad, B. iii,

General rules
In the formation of sentences, the consistency and adaptation of all the words should be
observed; and a regular, clear, and correspondent construction should be preserved
throughout.
Words that may constitute different parts of speech, must not be left doubtful as to their
classification.
The reference of words to other words, or their syntactical relation according to the sense,
should never be left doubtful.
A definition must include the whole class of things, which it pretends to define, and
exclude everything which comes not under the name.
A comparison is a form of speech which requires some similarity or common property in
the things compared; without which, it becomes a solecism.
Sentences that convey a meaning manifestly false, should be changed, rejected, or
contradicted. They distort language from its only worthy use; which is, to state facts, and to
tell the truth.
Every writer should be careful not to contradict himself; for what is self-contradictory, is
both null in argument, and bad in style.
Words that are entirely needless, and especially such as encumber the expression, ought in
general to be omitted.
Words necessary to the sense, or even to the melody or beauty of a sentence, ought
seldom, if ever, to be omitted.
.............................................

Figures of Syntax
A figure of syntax is an intentional deviation from the ordinary construction of words. The
principal figures of syntax are five; namely, el-lip'-sis, ple'-o-nasm, syl-lep'-sis, en-al'-la-ge,
and hy-per'-ba-ton.
Ellipsis

Ellipsis is the omission of some word or words which are necessary to complete the
construction, but not necessary to convey the meaning. Such words are said, in technical
phrase, to be understood.
Of compound sentences, a vast many are more or less elliptical. Sometimes, for brevity's
sake, even the most essential parts of a simple sentence, are suppressed: as,

• "But more of this hereafter."—Harris's Hermes, p. 77.

• This means, "But I shall say more of this hereafter."
• "Prythee, peace."—Shak.
• That is, "I pray you, hold you your peace."

There may be an omission of any of the parts of speech, or even of a whole clause, when
this repeats what precedes. But the omission of mere articles or interjections can scarcely
constitute a proper ellipsis, because these parts of speech ought to be expressed.

Of the article
• "A man and [a] woman."
• "The day, [the] month, and [the] year."
• "She gave me an apple and [a] pear, for a fig and [an] orange."—Jaudon's Gram., p. 170.

Of the noun
• "The common [law] and the statute law."
• "The twelve [apostles]."
• "The same [man] is he."
• "One [book] of my books."
• "A dozen [bottles] of wine."
• "Conscience, I say; not your own [conscience], but [the conscience] of the other."—1 Cor., x,
29.
• "Every moment subtracts from [our lives] what it adds to our lives."—Dillwyn's Ref., p. 8.
• "Bad actions mostly lead to worse" [actions].—Ib., p. 5.

Of the adjective
• "There are subjects proper for the one, and not [proper] for the other."—Kames.
• "A just weight and [a just] balance are the Lord's."—Prov., xvi, 11.

True ellipses of the adjective alone, are but seldom met with.

Of the pronoun
• "Leave [you] there your gift before the altar, and go [you] your way; first be [you] reconciled
to your brother, and then come [you] and offer [you] your gift,"—Matt., v, 24.
• "Love [you] your enemies, bless [you] them that curse you, do [you] good to them that hate
you."—Ib., v. 44.
 • "Chastisement does not always immediately follow error, but [it] sometimes comes when [it
is] least expected."— Dillwyn, Ref., p. 31.
• "Men generally put a greater value upon the favours [which] they bestow, than upon those
[which] they receive."—Art of Thinking, p. 48.
• "Wisdom and worth were all [that] he had."—Allen's Gram., p. 294.

Of the verb
• "The world is crucified to me, and I [am crucified] to the world."—Gal., vi, 14.
• "Hearts should not [differ], though heads may, differ."—Dillwyn, p. 11.
• "Are you not much better than they" [are]?—Matt., vi, 26.
• "Tribulation works patience; and patience [works] experience; and experience [works]
hope."—Romans, v, 4.
• "Wrongs are engraved on marble; benefits [are engraved] on sand."—Art of Thinking, p. 41.
• "To whom thus Eve, yet sinless" [spoke].—Milton.

Of the participle
• "That [being] over, they part."
• "Animals of various natures, some adapted to the wood, and some [adapted] to the wave."—
Melmoth, on Scripture, p. 13.
• "His knowledge [being] measured to his state and place, His time [being] a moment, and a
point [being] his space."—Pope.

Of the adverb
• "He can do this independently of me, if not [independently] of you."
• "She shows a body rather than a life; a statue, [rather] than a breather."—Shak., Ant. and
Cleo., iii, 3.

Of the conjunction
• "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, [and] joy, [and] peace, [and] long suffering, [and]
gentleness, [and] goodness, [and] faith, [and] meekness, [and] temperance."—Gal., v, 22.

The repetition of the conjunction is called polysyndeton; and the omission of it, asyndeton.

Of the preposition
• "It shall be done [on] this very day."
• "We shall set off [at] some time [in] next month."
• "He departed [from] this life."
• "He gave [to] me a book."
• "We walked [through] a mile."
 • "He was banished [from] the kingdom."—W. Allen.
• "He lived like [to] a prince."—Wells.

Of the interjection
• "Oh! the frailty, [oh!] the wickedness of men."
• "Alas for Mexico! and [alas] for many of her invaders!"

Of phrases or clauses
• "The active commonly do more than they are bound to do; the indolent [commonly do] less"
[than they are bound to do].
• "Young men, angry, mean less than they say; old men, [angry, mean] more" [than they say].
• "It is the duty of justice, not to injure men; [it is the duty] of modesty, not to offend them."—
W. Allen.

Pleonasm

Pleonasm is the introduction of superfluous words: as,

• "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it."—Gen., ii, 17.

This figure is allowable only, when it abruptly introduces an emphatic word, or repeats an
idea to impress it more strongly: as,

• "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."—Bible.

• "All you inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth."—Id.
• "There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."—Id.
• "I know you who you are."—Id.

A pleonasm is sometimes impressive and elegant; but an unemphatic repetition of the same
idea, is one of the worst faults of bad writing.

Syllepsis

Syllepsis is agreement formed according to the figurative sense of a word, or the mental
conception of the thing spoken of, and not according to the literal or common use of the
term: as,

• "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory."—John, i, 14.
• "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them."—Acts, viii,
5.
• "The city of London have expressed their sentiments with freedom and firmness."—Junius,
p. 159.
 • "And I said [to backsliding Israel,] after she had done all these things, turn you to me; but
she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it."—Jer., iii, 7.
• "And he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder."—Mark, iii, 17.
• "While Evening draws her crimson curtains round."—Thomson, p. 63.
• "The Thunder raises his tremendous voice."—Id., p. 113.

Enallage

Enallage is the use of one part of speech, or of one modification, for another. This figure
borders closely on solecism. There are, however, several forms of it which can appeal to
good authority: as,

• "You know that you are Brutus, that say this."—Shak.

• "They fall successive[ly], and successive[ly] rise."—Pope.
• "Than whom [who] a fiend more fell is nowhere found."—Thomson.
• "Sure some disaster has befell" [befallen].—Gay.
• "So furious was that onset's shock, destruction's gates at once unlock" [unlocked].—Hogg.

Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is the transposition of words: as,

• "He wanders earth around."—Cowper

• "Rings the world with the vain stir."—Id.
• "Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him declare I to you."—Acts, xvii, 23.
• "'Happy', says Montesquieu, 'is that nation whose annals are tiresome.'"—Corwin, in
Congress, 1847.

This figure is much employed in poetry, but care should be taken lest it produce ambiguity
or solecism.