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RULES AND CAUTIONS.

CHAPTER V.

NOUNS.

NOMINATIVE.

RELATIONS OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE.

The Nominative and The Verb.

106. 'The Verb agrees with its Nominative case in number and person,' said the old rule.

But as there may be many verbs and many nominatives in a sentence, the rule was somewhat indefinite, and was learned rather by practical application, than from any precision in the terms employed.

'The nominative to the verb' meant the subject-nominative; and the nominative after the verb' meant the predicatenominative.

By the Verb was understood the predicate-verb. The form of analysis, which we propose for simple sentences, is

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107. We shall first consider the relations of the subjectnominative and the predicate-nominative. Then we shall proceed to the relations of the subject-nominative and the predicate-verb.

Relations of the Subject-nominative and the Predicate

nominative.

As the terms themselves imply, the subject-nominative and the predicate-nominative agree in case; but with regard to gender and number, the agreement depends upon several considerations.

If the predicate-nominative be an adjective, it agrees with the subject-nominative in gender and number, as well as in case. And though, in English, adjectives do not vary their ending to show this agreement, the difference must be expressed in translating from English into Latin or any other language, where such variations are necessary. For example,

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108. But if the predicate-nominative be a noun, there may be diversity of gender and number. If, indeed, a noun changes its form to denote difference of gender, we generally make the change; we say, for example,

John Kemble was an actor.

Mrs. Siddons was an actress.

However, we do not always follow the rule exactly. For though, in strictness, we ought to say Sims Reeves is a singer' and 'Jenny Lind is a songstress; still, in ordinary conversation, we commonly call Jenny Lind a 'singer.' And yet, during the height of her popularity, when admiring critics rose into enthusiasm, she was sometimes styled 'this gifted songstress,' this divine songstress.'

109. Greater latitude is allowed, with regard to number. We say,

or,

or,

Dutiful children are great blessings,

Dutiful children are a great blessing.
The fine arts are sources of delight,

The fine arts are a source of delight.

But when the number is not the same on both sides, a difficulty sometimes arises in the use of the verb, which might agree with either, but cannot possibly agree with both.

Very often the verb agrees with the nominative which comes first, as in the examples just given: and so here, This convention was really the two Houses of Parliament. Kerr's Blackstone, i. 138.

But not always; as,

His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.-Psalm xviii. 11.

The wages of sin is death. Rom. vi. 23.

We

A similar question occurs, when the subject-nominative and the predicate-nominative differ in person, as we shall see more particularly in considering the use of pronouns. commonly say, It is I,' but Chaucer says 'It am I;' and instead of 'It is the sheriff's men,' he has 'It ben the sherrefes men.'

Relations of the Subject-nominative and the Predicate-verb.

110. Generally speaking, the form must be our guide; singular follows singular, and plural follows plural. Sometimes, however, the meaning overrides the form; and we have to enquire whether the idea of unity, or of plurality is intended.

When the subject-nominative is in the singular, the predicate-verb is in the singular; as, 'Time flies.'

No matter how many singular or plural nouns, dependent on prepositions, or under any other government, may intervene between the subject-nominative and the predicate-verb, they cannot affect this rule.

But even the best writers are liable to trip, in such instances; as

The right to recall the governor-general and to declare war are vested in the court of directors.

Kerr's Blackstone, i. 96. As when the excellence of the Church, of the House of Lords and Commons, of the procedure of law courts, &c., are inferred from the mere fact that the country has prospered under them.

Mill, Logic, i. 422.

Here the &c. must depend on the preposition of: and then we have the excellence. are.' If it be replied that &c. stands in the place of a second subject-nominative, what are we to understand by 'the excellence . . . &c.?'

I recently observed the following passages in the reviews and magazines:

The discovery of gold, however, brought a greatly increased population to the adjacent colony of Victoria, and the superior richness of its gold-fields have since maintained it at the head of the group.

Edinburgh Review, April 1865. No. 248, p. 357. Our fancy to speak of books, and their writers, and sellers, have led us aside from the area marked out by Mr. Thornbury for his own explorations, so we must return to bounds, within which we find Lincoln'sInn Fields.

Dublin University Magazine, July 1865. 111. These are mere slips of the pen, and without constant care anyone may fall into similar errors. But some persons are guided almost entirely by the ear. In the ship sails,' and the ships sail,' 'the boy walks,' and' the boys walk,' there is an alternation of the letters which catches the ear, and is the chief guide which many people follow. Hence, in examining a written sentence, they will ask how it reads, often meaning nothing more than how it sounds. And thus, if several dependent nouns, in the plural, occur between the subject-nominative and the predicate-verb, the notion of plurality takes possession of the mind, and the verb follows in the plural. But it is evident that this is a very unsafe method of judging; for we ought to be guided by the sense, and not by the sound alone. Here, therefore, we should always keep the subject-nominative distinctly in view.

112. If the subject-nominative has a plural form, but is still regarded as one thing, the predicate-verb is generally in the singular; as "The "Pleasures of Hope" was written by Campbell;' because we mean to assert that the poem called 'The Pleasures of Hope,' was written by Campbell. And yet, Dr. Johnson, speaking about his 'Lives of the Poets,' says, 'My "Lives" are reprinting,' where the Lives are regarded as plural. In these instances, the intention of the writer, and not the form, must be the guide.

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113. Some nouns, which have a plural form, are often used as singular; for example, 'news,' 'pains,' 'means,' summons,' and the names of sciences, as, mathematics,' ' ethics,' ' optics.'

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Older writers vary considerably in the employment of these

some

words. For example, Shakespeare employs 'news' times in the singular, at other times in the plural: as, Gonzalo. What is the news? Boatswain. The best news is, that we have safely found the king and company.

Tempest, v. 1.

This news is old enough; yet it is every day's news.

Measure for Measure, iii. 2.

Thus answer I in name of Benedick,

But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio.

Much Ado, ii. 1.

But wherefore do I tell these news to thee.

1st Hen. IV. iii. 2.

These news are everywhere; every tongue speaks them.
Hen. VIII. ii. 2.

Wolsey. What more?

Cromwell. That Cranmer is returned with welcome,
Installed Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.

Wolsey. That's news, indeed.

Ibid. iii. 2.

114. So in the use of ' means,' we observe variety. Occasionally we find the singular form 'mean : as,

Yet nature is made better by no mean,

But nature makes that mean; so, o'er that art,
Which, you say, adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes.—Winter's Tale, iv. 3.

But we also find 'means' used in the singular: as;

I am courted now with a double occasion; gold, and a means to do the prince my master good.—Ibid. iv. 3.

By this means shall we sound what skill she hath.

1st Hen. VI. i. 2. But it occurs just as often in the plural, and this is the more usual construction in modern English :

Chief Justice. Your means are very slender, and your waste is great.

Falstaff. I would it were otherwise; I would my means were greater, and my waist slenderer.

2nd Hen. IV. i. 2.

With all appliances and means to boot.-Ibid. iii. 1.

115. It is more usual to find 'pains' in the plural; but even this word is found in the singular: as,

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