b. They would have us refuse the invitation which has been so courteously given. C. S. THE INFINITIVE MODE. § 516. RULE XXXII.-As the Infinitive Mode is the Noun of the verb, nomen verbi, it generally performs, in construction, the offices of a noun. a. It is used as the Subject or nominative of a verb; as, "To sleep is refreshing." b. It is put in the Objective case after a Transitive verb or a preposition; as, "He loves to fight;""What went ye out for to see ?" c. It can have an Adjective qualifying it; as, "To err is hu man." d. It can be substituted for a Noun; as, "To forgive is divine forgiveness is divine." When we say that a verb in the Infinitive Mode may perform the functions of a noun, we only say that the name of any action may be used without any mention of an agent. Thus we speak of the simple fact of walking or moving, independently of any specification of the walker or the mover. When actions are thus spoken of independently, the idea of Person and Number has no place in the conception; from which it follows that the so-called infinitive mode must be at once impersonal and without the distinction of number. EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXII. RULE XXXII-a. In this life, to suffer is the destiny of man. C. S. a. To reveal its complacence by gifts is one of the native dialects of love. C. S. b. That pupil evidently desires to learn. C. S. b. Not for to hide it in a hedge, Or for a train attendant.-BURNS. C. S. c. To see is delightful. C. S. c. To be blind is calamitous. C. S. d. To think is an attribute of man-thought is an attribute of man. C. S. d. To weep and to mourn may be your destiny=weeping and mourning may be your destiny. C. S. THE IMPERATIVE MODE. § 517. RULE XXXIII.-Forms in the Imperative Mode have in English three peculiarities: 1. They have a simple form for the second person; as, “Love thou;" the third being expressed by a circumlocution; as, "Let him love." 2. They take pronouns after instead of before them; as, in the example given, "Love thou." 3. They often omit the pronoun altogether; as, "Love." Passion goes at once to its object, assuming it as the consequence of an indirect assertion. Thus, if the fact be that I desire that a person should go to any place, it is not necessary for me to state my desire in the indicative mode, and his going in the infinitive, or subjunctive, or potential: "I desire you to go;" or, "I desire that you go;" or, "I desire that you should go;" but, by the natural impulse of my feelings, I say, "Go!" Now this mode, from its frequent use in giving commands to inferiors, has been called the Imperative. Under this general term may be included not only a command; as, "Let there be light,' but also a wish expressed; as, "Let confusion live;" and a prayer offered; as, "Help me, Lysander, help me ;" and a permission given; as, "Go, but be moderate in your food." In all of them the assertion of desire on the part of the speaker is clearly implied. The sense is, "I command that there be light;" "I wish that confusion may prevail;" "I pray you to help me ;" "I permit you to go." EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIII. THE IMPERATIVE MODE. RULE XXXIII.-a. Attend, thou son of earth, to my instructions. C. S. b. But, in order to understand this subject, let us turn the tables on the objector. C. S. c. Read, but do not devour books. Compare your information; digest it. In short, according to the proverb, "Make haste slowly."-JOHN RANDOLPH. C. S. d. Live with your century, but be not its creature; bestow upon your contemporaries not what they praise, but what they need. C. S. e. Let them laugh who win. C. S. f. Rouse not, I beseech you, a peace-loving, but a resolute people; alienate not from your body the affections of a whole empire. C. S. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. § 518. RULE XXXIV.-In conditional expressions, which imply both doubt and futurity, the Subjunctive Mode generally follows the conjunction which expresses the condition; as, “If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him;" "Though he were dead, yet shall he live again." Note I.-The sign of the condition is sometimes omitted; as, "Were he to read hard for the next six months, he would probably be admitted to the bar." It must be remembered, however, that conjunctions like those quoted above do not govern the Subjunctive Mode because they are conditional, but because, in the particular condition which they accompany, there is an element of uncertainty. See § 334. EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIV. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. RULE XXXIV.—a. With whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. C. S. b. Except I be by Silvia in the night, there is no music in the nightingale." C. S. C. Revenge back on itself recoils; Let it; I reck not, so it light well aimed. C. S. d. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not. C. S. e. If this be law (which it is for you this day to decide), such a man has no trial. C. S. Note I.-a. Were he to confess his fault, he would be forgiven. C. S. b. Were he ten times the villain that he is, he would still find supporters. C. S. Were death denied, poor man would live in vain ; Were death denied, to him would not be life; Were death denied, even fools would wish to die.-YOUNG. SYNTAX OF TENSES. 519. RULE XXXV.-To express the different relations of Time, the appropriate tenses of the verb should be carefully employed. See § 325. 1. The Past improperly used for the Present Tense: "A stranger to the poem would not easily discover that this was (is) verse;""He announced to the world that air was (is) elastic." 2. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Past: "The Lord hath given (gave) and the Lord hath taken away;" "I have seen (saw) the coronation at Westminster last summer." 3. The Present improperly used for the Present Perfect: "They continue (have continued) with me three days." 4. The Past improperly used for the Past Perfect: "They arrived (had arrived) before we reached the city." 5. The Future improperly used for the Future Perfect: "The workmen will finish (will have finished) the business at midsummer." 6. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Present: "All the present family have been (are) much indebted to their great and honorable ancestor." 7. The Past improperly used for the Present Perfect: "This curious piece of workmanship was preserved and shown (has been preserved and shown) to strangers for more than fifty years." 8. The auxiliary should is improperly used for would; as, "On the morrow, because he should have known (would know) the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews." 9. The Indicative Present is correctly used after the words. when, till, before, as soon as, after, to express the relative time of a Future action; as, "When the mail arrives he will come." 10. The Infinitive Present Perfect is incorrectly used for the Present; as, "The last work I intended to have written (to write)." 11. When a verb in the Present Perfect tense is preceded by when, as soon as, before, till, or after, it performs the office of the Future Perfect; as, "Before he has been there, I shall arrive." "There is something peculiar in the use of the Preterit tense. Take the following case: A servant calls on me for a book; if I am uncertain whether I have it or not, I answer, 'If the book be in my library, or if I have the book, your master is welcome to it; but if I am certain that I have not the book, I say, 'If the book were in my library, or if I had the book, it should be at master's service.' Here it is obvious that when we use your the Present tense it implies uncertainty of the fact, and when we use the Preterit it implies a negation of its existence. Thus, also, a person at night would say to his friend, 'If it rain you shall not go,' being uncertain at the time whether it did or did not rain; but if, on looking out, he perceived it did not rain, he would then say, 'If it rained you should not go,' intimating that it did not rain."-WEBSTER's Dissertations, p. 263 EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXV. THE TENSES. RULE XXXV.-1. a. If my readers will turn their thoughts back on their old friends, they will find it difficult to call a single man to remembrance who appeared to know that life was short till he was about to lose it. F. S. b. A cursory perusal would not enable you to discover that this was a poem. F. S. 2. I assure you I have seen the king last summer. F. S. 3. I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me three days. F. S. 4. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. F. S. 5. John will earn his wages when his service is completed. F. S. 6. I have now been writing to my friend whom I wish to see. F. S. 7. This relic was carefully preserved these ten years. F. S. 8. Because he should have known the reason of his condemnation, he made the inquiry. F. S. C. S. 9. I shall wait in New York until my friend comes. |