PART III.

SYNTAX.

584. SYNTAX is that part of Grammar which treats of the proper arrangement and connexion of words in a sen

tence.

585. A SENTENCE is such an assemblage of words as makes complete sense; as, "Man is mortal."

586. A PHRASE is two or more words rightly put together, but not making complete sense; as,“ In truth"-" In a word"-" To say

the least."

587. Sentences are of different kinds, according to the nature of the thought intended to be expressed. They are

1. Declaratory, or such as declare a thing, as, "God is love." 2. Interrogatory, or such as ask a question; as, "Lovest thou me?" 3. Imperative, or such as express a command; as, "Lazarus, come forth."

4. Exclamatory, or such as contain an exclamation; as, "Behold how he loved him!"

588. All sentences are either simple or compound.

589. A simple sentence contains only a single affirmation; as, "Life is short."

590. A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences connected together; as, Life, which is short, should be well im

proved."

ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES.

SIMPLE SENTENCES.

591. A SIMPLE sentence or proposition consists of two parts-the subject, and the predicate.

592. The subject is that of which something is affirmed.

593. The predicate is that which is affirmed of the subject.

594. The word affirm here is to be understood as applying to all kinds of sentences--declaratory, whether affirmative or negative, interrogatory, imperative, or exclumatory.

595. The name of the person or thing addressed forms no part of the sentence; as, "Lazarus, come forth."

596. The subject is commonly, but not always, a noun or pronoun (614). In imperative sentences, it is always thou, or you, or ye, and is often understood; as, "Come [thou] forth."

597. The predicate properly consists of two parts-the attribute affirmed of the subject, and the copula, by which the affirmation is made.

Thus, in the sentence, "God is love," God is the subject, and is love is the predIcate, in which love is the attribute, and is, the copula.

598. The attribute and copula are often, expressed by one word, which in that case must always be a verb; as, "The fire burns"=" The fire is burning." Hence

599. The predicate may be a noun or pronoun, an adjective, sometimes a preposition with its case, or an adverb-also an infinitive, or clause of a sentence, connected with the subject by a copula (621). Or it may be a verb, which includes in itself both attribute and copula (598).

600. When a verb does not complete the predicate, but is used as a copula only, it is called a copulative verb; when it includes both attribute and copula, it is called an attributive verb.

601. The copulative verbs are such as to be, to become, to seem, to appear; and the passives of deem, style, call, name, consider, &c.

602. The verbs to be, to appear, are sometimes also used as attributives; as, "There are lions in Africa."-" The stars appear." When so used, and the subject is placed after the verb, the sentence is introduced by the word there (529), as in the first example.

EXERCISES.

1. In the following, point out which are sentences, and why-which are phrases, and why.

2. In the sentences, which is the subject, and why?—which is the predicate. and why? Also which predicates are made by copulative verbs, and which by attributives? In both, what is the attribute?

Snow is white. Ice is cold. tree is tall. The fields are green.

To say nothing.

Birds fly. Roses blossom. The
Grass grows.
Home is sweet.
Will James go?

Sweet is home.

Are you tired?

There is hope. Time flies. Go in
Fear not. How tall you are! To

3. Of each of the first ten words following, predicate some act. Of the next ten, predicate some quality. Of the next ten, predicate what each one is.

Trees, birds, horses, a sparrow, the stone, the thunder, the wind, the clouds, time, he.

Snow. grass, the sun, the earth, the house, the field, books, she. they, James.

Gold, grass, bread, clouds, wheat, a chair, a horse, a noun, W: ington, England, Thames, London.

4. Analyze each of the sentences thus made, as directed above (2).

THE SUBJECT.

603.-I. The subject of a proposition is either grammatical or logical.

604. The grammatical subject is the person or thing spoken of, unlimited by other words.

605. The logical subject is the person or thing spoken of, together with all the words or phrases by which it is limited or defined. Thus

In the sentence, "Every man at his best state is vanity," the grammatical subject is man; the logical is, Every man at his best state.

606. When the grammatical subject has no limiting words connected with it, then the grammatical and the logical subject are the same; as, "GOD is good."

EXERCISES.

I. In each of the following sentences, point out the grammatical and the logical subject.

2. Analyze the sentences by pointing out the subject and the predicate in each:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom's ways are pleasantness: all her paths are peace. The love of money is the root of all evil. All things that are durable are slow in growth. Human knowledge is progressive. A mind open to flattery is always in danger. Our knowledge of a future world is imperfect. Time is money. Righteousness exalteth a nation. A soft answer turneth away wrath. He that despiseth his neighbor, sinneth. He that hath mercy on the poor is happy. Do they not err that devise evil?

607. II. The subject of a proposition is either simple or compound. 608. A simple subject consists of one subject of thought, either unlimited, or modified as in the preceding exercises. It may be a noun or pronoun, an infinitive mood, a participial noun, or a clause of a

sentence.

609. A compound subject consists of two or more simple subjects, to which belongs but one predicate; as, "James and John are broth

ers.

”—“ You and I are friends."—" Two and three are five."-" Good men and bad men are found in all countries."*

EXERCISES.

1. In the following sentences, state what are the subjects-what are the predi

cates.

2. State whether the subjects are simple or compound; limited or unlimited. In each simple subject. point out the grammatical subject-the logical subject-and say what each means:

Paul and Silas sang praises unto God. Peter and John went up into the temple. Gold and silver are precious metals. His food was locusts and wild honey. Socrates and Plato were Grecian philosophers. In unity consist the welfare and security of society. Summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, the heavens and the earth were created.

3. Write predicates to the following compound subjects:

James and John. He and she. You and I. The rich and the poor. Virtue and vice. Heat and cold. France and Spain. The sun and the moon.

MODIFICATIONS OF THE SUBJECT.

610. A grammatical subject may be modified, limited, or described, in various ways; as

1. By a noun in apposition—that is, a noun added in the same case, for the sake of explanation; as, "Milton the poet was blind."

2. By a noun in the possessive case; as, "Aaron's rod budded."

3. By an adjunct; as, "The works of Nature are beautiful."

4. By an adjective word (that is, an article, adjective, adjective pronoun, or participle): as, "A good name is better than riches."-"Your time is precious."-"Lost time can not be recovered."

5. By a relative pronoun and its clause; as, "He who does no good, does harm." 6. By an infinitive mood; as, "A desire to learn is praiseworthy."

7. By a clause of a sentence; as, "The fact that he was a scholar was manifest."

8. Each grammatical subject may have several modifications; as, "Several stars of less magnitude, which we had not observed before, now appeared." 611. Though, for the reason assigned (192), the article is not properly a limiting word, yet, as it shows that the word is limited or modified in some way, it is here ranked among the modifiers (610-4).

*The subject is here considered as compound, whether the predicate can be affirmed of each simple predicate or not. Thus we can say, "Good men are found in all countries, and bad men are found in all countries;" but we can not say, "Two are five, and three are five." Still, the preceding examples-good men and bad men, and two and three-are equally considered as compound subjects because they each consist of more than one object.

EXERCISES.

In the following propositions, point out the grammatical subject-the logical— and state how the grammatical subject is modified :

All men are not wise. Tall oaks from little acorns grow. Mil-. ton's "Paradise Lost" is a work of great merit. Wisdom's ways are pleasantness. The love of money is the root of all evil. Evil communications corrupt good manners. The disposition to do good should be cherished. The walls of Babylon were fifteen miles long. The opinion that republics are ungrateful is disputed. Socrates the philosopher died by poison. Many of the writings of Plato are still extant. A desire to excel will stimulate to exertion. The effort to succeed will be crowned with success. All things come alike to all. Write sentences which have the subject modified by a noun in apposition-or in the possessive case--or by an adjunct-or by an adjective word-or by an infinitive mood-or by a clause of a sentence.

MODIFICATION OF THE MODIFYING WORDS.

612. Mulifying or limiting words may themselves be modified :— 1. A noun modifying another, may itself be modified in all the ways in which a noun as a grammatical subject is modified (610).

2. An adjective, qualifying a noun, may itself be modified :

1. By an adjunct; as, "Be not weary in well-doing."

2. By an adverb; as, "Truly virtuous men often endure reproach."
3. By an infinitive; as, "Be swift to hear, and slow to speak."

3. Again, an adverb may be modified

1. By an adjunct; as, "Agreeably to Nature."

2. By another adverb; as, "Yours very sincerely."

613. A modified grammatical subject, regarded as a complex idea, may itself be modified; as, "The old black horse is dead."-" The first two lines are good, the two last are bad." Here, old, first, two, each modify already modified subjects, viz., black horse, two lines, last (lines).

EXERCISES.

In the following sentences, by what words are the modifying nouns modified?— the adjectives?—the adverbs?

Solomon, the son of David, built the temple at Jerusalem. Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates the destruction of the temple. That picture is a tolerably good copy of the original. Pride, that never-failing vice of fools, is not easily defined. The author of Junius's letters is still unknown. Pride and envy are the first two of the seven sins-gluttony and libidinousness the last two. Truly great men are far above worldly pride. Few men can be said to be truly great in all things. That which is most difficult in performance is most praiseworthy in execution.