Omitted Conjunctions.—Careless writers sometimes omit conjunctions that are necessary either to the grammar or to the sense. A common form of this fault is illustrated in "This is as good if not better than that"—a sentence in which "as" is omitted after "as good." The best way to correct the sentence is to recast it, thus: "This is as good as that, if not better."
EXERCISE LXXXVIII.
Correct the faults in these sentences:—
1. Ralph is as young or younger than Harry.2. Cedar is more durable but not so hard as oak.3. I never heard any one speak more fluently or so wittily as he.4. She is fairer but not so amiable as her sister.5. Though not so old, he is wiser than his brother.
Redundant Conjunctions.—[148]Careless writers sometimes insert conjunctions that are useless or worse than useless.A common form of this fault is the use in certain cases of "and" or "but" before the words "who," "which," "when," or "where," which are themselves connectives: as, "The challenge was accepted by Orlando, a young man little known up to that time,buttowhomRosalind had taken a great liking." If the relative clause introduced by "who," "which," "when," or "where" is to be joined to a preceding relative clause, the conjunction is proper: as, "The challenge was accepted by Orlando, a young manwhowas little known at that time,butto whom Rosalind had taken a great liking."
[148]See "Foundations," pp. 208-211.
EXERCISE LXXXIX.
Which conjunctions in these sentences are redundant?—
1. I have again been so fortunate as to obtain the assistance of Dr. Jones, a teacher of great experience, and whose ideas are quite in harmony with my own.2. Franklin had noticed for some time the extreme dirtiness of the streets, and especially of the street that he lived on.3. This animal was considered as irresistible.4. But how to get him there was a problem. But it was decided to convey him on one of the wagons used in carrying the Emperor's men-of-war from the woods, where they were made, to the water.5. He forgot to pay for the wine—a shortness of memory common with such men, and which his host did not presume to correct.6. Next came Louis, Duke of Orleans, the first prince of the blood royal, and to whom the attendants rendered homage as the future king.7. So from all this you can see that such things are not impossible.8. Her expression of countenance induced most persons to address her with a deference inconsistent with her station, and which nevertheless she received with easy composure.9. Our escort consisted of MacGregor, and five or six of the handsomest, best armed, and most athletic mountaineers of his band, and whom he had generally in immediate attendance upon his own person.10. The little town of Lambtos, Mrs. Gardiner's former home, and where she had lately learned that some acquaintance still remained.11. He spoke in a deep and low tone, but which nevertheless was heard from one end of the hall to the other.
Misplaced Correlatives.—When conjunctions are used as correlatives, as "both-and," "either-or," each of the correlated words should be so placed as to indicate clearly what ideas are to be connected in thought. This principle is violated in "Henot onlyvisited Paris,butBerlinalso." In this sentence the position of "not only" before the verb "visited" leads one to expect some corresponding verb in the second part of the sentence; in fact, however, the two connected words are "Paris" and "Berlin;" "visited" applies to both. This meaning is clearly indicated by putting "not only" before "Paris:" thus, "He visitednot onlyParis,butBerlinalso." As a rule the word after the first correlative should be the same part of speech as the word after the second correlative.
EXERCISE XC.
Correct the errors of position in—
1. Few complaints were made either by the men or the women.2. Search-lights are not useful only on ships, but also on land.3. Adversity both teaches to think and to be patient.4. My uncle gave me not only the boat, but also taught me to row it.5. The prisoner was not only accused of robbery, but of treason.6. The wise ruler does not aim at the punishment of offenders, but at the prevention of offences.7. The king was weak both in body and mind.8. He either is stupid or insolent.9. He worked not to provide for the future, but the present.10. Every composition is liable to criticism both in regard to its design and to its execution.11. The gods are either angry or nature is too powerful.12. We are neither acquainted with the Doctor nor with his family.13. In estimating the work of Luther, we must neither forget the temper of the man nor the age in which he lived.14. The wise teacher should not aim to repress, but to encourage his pupils.15. Such rules are useless both for teachers and pupils.16. Her success is neither the result of cleverness nor of studiousness.
The following suggestions are made in answer to many inquiries from teachers who perceive the rare excellence of the "Foundations of Rhetoric," but who do not clearly see, because of the novel method of the book, how to turn its merits to account in their class-rooms. The suggestions outline one way in which the book has been used to great advantage.
It should never be forgotten that the illustrative sentences in the "Foundations" have no value except as they help the student to grasp a principle that he can apply in his own use of language. In every case the emphasis should be laid on the principle which is announced or illustrated. Merely learning the corrected sentences by heart is useless and should not be permitted.
In taking a class over PART I., which treats of words, it is the writer's practice to assign a short lesson—from one to three pages—in connection with every recitation in English. The leading ideas and most typical sentences in each lesson are privately marked in the teacher's book with colored pencil, so that they may readily catch his eye, and from five to twelve minutes of each recitation period are taken up with a rapid questioning on these leading ideas and typical sentences. Corrections or answers unaccompanied by reasons are not accepted. Attention is always fixed, not on the form of the illustrative sentence, but on the principle of usage under discussion. Pupils would rather commit to memory thesentences than trouble themselves about reasons; but they will master reasons when they find they must. After principles have been mastered, exercises in the choice of forms and words are needed in order that knowledge may be converted into habit.
In PARTS II. and III. the lessons are equally short and the emphasis is unceasingly laid on the question "Why?" If the subject is difficult, it is desirable, at the time that the lesson is assigned, to lead the class over the text and some of the illustrative sentences in order to open, as it were, the eyes of the pupils. Since these parts of the book treat not of single words, but of sentences and paragraphs, recitations on them seem to call for the use of pencil or chalk. One successful teacher conducts the recitation with books open, requiring her pupils to cover the correct sentences with a strip of paper while they explain and correct the faults in the incorrect sentences. The writer's practice is to paste the faulty sentences on cards of convenient size and thickness—the arrangement of columns is such that the sentences can all be cut fromoneold book—and to distribute them among eight or ten pupils at the beginning of the recitation hour. While other matters are being attended to, these pupils write the sentences in correct form on the blackboard, and, when the time comes, give their reasons for the changes which they have made. Their work is discussed, if necessary, by the whole class. Reviews and written tests should be frequent. As fast as the various principles explained and illustrated in PARTS II. and III. are studied, the attention of pupils should be immediately turned to their own writing. It will be far more profitable for them to correct their own offences against clearness, force, ease, and unity than to correct similar offences committed by others. For this reason the PRACTICAL EXERCISES IN ENGLISH contains no exercises on the subjects discussed in PARTS II. and III. of the "Foundations."
A, an, orthe,12.Abbot, feminine corresponding to,21.Abbreviations,22.Ability, capacity, distinguished,29.Abundance, plenty, distinguished,32.Accept, except, distinguished,99.Acceptance, acceptation, distinguished,25.Access, accession, distinguished,25.Accredit, credit, distinguished,92.Actor, feminine corresponding to,21.Acts, actions, distinguished,25.Adherence, adhesion, distinguished,29.ADJECTIVES,109-133; defined,109; vulgarisms in the use of,109-113; singular and plural,110; adjective or adverb,113-116; redundant,117-118; misused,119-129; use of the comparative and superlative degrees,129-131; adjectives incapable of comparison,131-132; misplaced,132-133.Admit, confess, distinguished,95.Advance, advancement, distinguished,25.ADVERBS,109-133; defined,109; vulgarisms in the use of,109-113; adverb or adjective,113-116; redundant,117-118; misused,119-129; use of the comparative and superlative degrees,129-131; adverbs incapable of comparison,131-132; misplaced,132-133; betweentoand the infinitive,133.Advisedistinguished fromadvertise,99; frompersuade,100.Affect, effect, distinguished,99.Affirm, claim, maintain, distinguished,94-95.Afraid, scared, distinguished,124.Aggravating, irritating, distinguished,119.Ain't,71.Alienisms, defined,10.Alight, light, distinguished,62.Alldistinguished fromthe whole,23; fromeach,56; after comparatives,129.Allege, affirm, assert, etc., distinguished,94.Alleviate, relieve, distinguished,99.Allow, admit, think, distinguished,99.Alludeto,referto,mention, distinguished,99.Allusion, illusion, delusion, distinguished,25.Almost, most, distinguished,109.Alone, only, distinguished,116.Alumnus, alumna, plural of,20.Americanisms, defined,10.Among, between, distinguished,134.Amount, quantity, number, distinguished,29.Analysis, plural of,20.And,143.Anglicisms, defined,10.Angry, mad, distinguished,123.Antagonize, oppose, distinguished,94.Anticipate, expect, suspect, distinguished,101.Any, with comparatives and superlatives,129.Any one, number of,58; distinguished fromeither,55-56.Apparently, evidently, manifestly, distinguished,122.Appear, materialize, distinguished,95.Apt, likely, liable, distinguished,119.Archaic, defined,10.Aren't,71.Argue, augur, distinguished,99.Argument, plea, distinguished,29.Arise, rise, distinguished,92.ARTICLES,12-15; meaning of,12; generic,12; superfluous and omitted,13.As, clause after, often omitted in part,45note 2; a relative pronoun,54; distinguished fromthataftersame,54; from so when correlative with as,119-120; fromlike,142.As ifpreferred toas though,144.As well as, words joined to the subject by,89.Ask, demand, distinguished,95.Assert, allege, declare, etc., distinguished,94-95.Assertion, statement, distinguished,23.At, in, before names of places, distinguished,134.Augur, argue, distinguished,99.Auxiliary verbs, defined,72.Average, ordinary, distinguished,122.Avocation, vocation, distinguished,25.Awake, principal parts of,61.Awful,124.
Bachelor, feminine corresponding to,21.Back of,134.Bacterium, plural of,20.Balance, rest, remainder, distinguished,29.Barbarism, defined,10.Barge, foromnibus,4.Beau, plural of,21.Because, for, since, distinguished,143.Began, begun, distinguished,61.Begin, principal parts of,61; distinguished fromcommence, start,100-101.Beseech, principal parts of,61.Beside, besides, distinguished,134.Between, among, distinguished,134.BIBLE, quoted,3.Bid, principal parts of,61.Blow, principal parts of,61.Bound, determined, distinguished,122.Both, each, every, distinguished,119.Break, principal parts of,61.Bring, fetch, carry, distinguished,94.Broke, broken, distinguished,61.Buck, feminine corresponding to,21.Bullock, feminine corresponding to,21.Burglarize,10.Burst, principal parts of,61.But,143.By, with, distinguished,134.
Calculate, intend, distinguished,94.Canormay,71.Can't,71.Canto, plural of,18.Capacity, ability, distinguished,29.Captivate, capture, distinguished,92.Carry, fetch, bring, distinguished,94.Case, possessive, of nouns,17; of pronouns,43; nominative or objective,43-50.Centre, middle, distinguished,30.CENTURY DICTIONARY, quoted,25,26,32,54,92,99,116.Champion, support, distinguished,94.Change of pronoun,56-58.Character, reputation, distinguished,30.CHAUCER, quoted,72.Cherub, plural of,21.Choose, principal parts of,61.Claim, assert, allege, etc., distinguished,94-95.COLERIDGE, S.T., quoted,143.Colloquialisms, defined,10.Come, principal parts of,61.Commence, begin, start, distinguished,100-101.Common, mutual, distinguished,119.Compare with, compare to, contrast, distinguished,99.Comparative and superlative, use of the,129-131.Comparison, adjectives and adverbs incapable of,131-132.Complement, compliment, distinguished,30.Completion, completeness, distinguished,26.Compound nouns, possessive of,16; plural of,18.Conditional mood,85; sentences,85-86.Confess, admit, distinguished,95.CONJUNCTIONS,142-149; vulgarisms in the use of,142—143; misused,143-146; omitted,146.; redundant,146-148; misplaced correlatives,148-149.Conscience, consciousness, distinguished,30.Construe, construct, distinguished,99.Continual, continuous, distinguished,122.Contractions,43,71.Contrast, compare to, compare with, distinguished,99.Conversation and good use,7.Convince, convict, distinguished,99.Could, distinguished frommight,71-72; tense of the infinitive with,79.Council, counsel, distinguished,30.Countess, masculine corresponding to,21.Credit, accredit, distinguished,92.Crisis, plural of,21.Curriculum, plural of,21.Custom, habit, distinguished,30.Czar, feminine corresponding to,21.
Daresn't,71.Datum, plural of,21.Deadly, deathly, distinguished,122.Deception, deceit, distinguished,30.Declare, assert, claim, etc., distinguished,94-95.Decided, decisive, distinguished,122.Delusion, illusion, allusion, distinguished,25.Demand, ask, distinguished,95.Dependent clauses,willorshallin, 73; tenses in,78.Depreciate, deprecate, distinguished,92-93.Detect, discriminate, distinguished,99.Determined, bound, distinguished,122.Dictionaries, usefulness of,9; quoted, see CENTURY and MURRAY.Die(noun), plurals of,19.Different from, different to,134.Disclose, discover, distinguished,99.Discover, invent, distinguished,31.Discriminate, detect, distinguished,99.Dive, principal parts of,61.Do, principal parts of,61.Doe, masculine corresponding to,21.Doesn't,71.Dominate, domineer, distinguished,99.Don't,71.Drake, feminine corresponding to,21.Drank, drunk, distinguished,62.Drive, principal parts of,61; distinguished fromride,99.Duck, masculine corresponding to,21.Duke, feminine corresponding to,21.Dumb, stupid, distinguished,122.Duodecimo, plural of,18.
Each, distinguished fromall,56; fromevery and both,119; number of,58,89.Earl, feminine corresponding to,21.EARLE, JOHN, quoted,82.Eat, principal parts of,61.Effect, affect, distinguished,99.Egoists, egotists; egoism, egotism, distinguished,30.Either, distinguished fromany one,55-56; number of,58,89.Either—or, number of the verb with singular subjects connected by,89.Electrocute,10.Elegant,124.Elicit, eliminate, distinguished,100.EMERSON, R.W., quoted,124.Emigration, immigration, distinguished,30.Eminent, prominent, distinguished,123.Enormity, enormousness, distinguished,30.Enthuse,10.Esteem, estimate, estimation, distinguished, nouns,30; verbs,100.Every, number of,58,89; distinguished fromeachandboth,119.Everywheres,110.Evidently, apparently, manifestly, distinguished,122.Ewe, masculine corresponding to,21.Except, accept, distinguished,99.Except, without, unless, distinguished,142.Existing, extant, distinguished,122.Expect, suspect, anticipate, distinguished,101.Expose, expound, distinguished,100.Extant, existing, distinguished,122.
Falsity, falseness, distinguished,31.Fetch, bring, carry, distinguished,94.Fewer, less, smaller, distinguished,109.Figures, plural of,19.Find, locate, distinguished,100.Fish, plurals of,19.Flee, principal parts of,61.Fled, flew, flown, distinguished,61.Fly, principal parts of,61.For, because, since, distinguished,143-144.For, on, afterwait, distinguished,135.Foreign origin, plural of nouns of,20-21.Foreignisms, defined,10.Forget, principal parts of,61.FOUNDATIONS OF RHETORIC, A.S. Hill's,9; quoted,6,17,54,67,61,62,113,119,133,134,135,136,143,144.Frances, Francis, distinguished,21.Freeze, principal parts of,61.Frighten,100.Froze, frozen, distinguished,61.Funny, odd, distinguished,122.
Gallicisms, defined,10.Gander, feminine corresponding to,21.Gender, nouns of different,21.Genius, plural of,21.Genus, plural of,21.Gerunds,50-51.Get, principal parts of,61.Go, principal parts of,61.Good reading, the foundation of good writing and speaking,8.GOOD USE,3-11; defined,6; conversation and,7; newspapers and,7; not to be learned from any one book or writer,7; to be learned from good reading,8; and from dictionaries,9; and from books like the "Foundations of Rhetoric,"9.Good, well, distinguished,109.Goose, masculine corresponding to,21.Gorgeous,124.Gottenforgot,61.Grand,124.Gumsforovershoes,4.
Habit, custom, distinguished,30.Halo, plural of,18.Hang, principal parts of,61.Happen, transpire, distinguished,96.Hart, feminine of,21.He, him, himself, proper choice among,43-45.He, his, him, for mankind in general,58.Healthy, healthful, wholesome, distinguished,122-123.Heifer, masculine corresponding to,21.Her, herself, she, proper choice among,43-45.Hero, feminine corresponding to,21.HILL, A.S., quoted,6,8,17,25,26,29,30,31,32,33,54,61,62,74,89,92,95,99,100,113,119,122,123,133,134,135,140,143,144.Him, his, before verbal nouns,61.Him, himself, he, proper choice among,43-45.Hind, masculine corresponding to,21.Hire, let, lease, distinguished,95.His, him, before verbal nouns,51.Home, distinguished fromhouse,23; preposition before,140.How,144.Human, humane, distinguished,123.Hung, hanged, distinguished,61.Hypothesis, plural of,21.
I, me, myself, proper choice among,43-45.Identity, identification, distinguished,31.Illusion, allusion, delusion, distinguished,25.Illy,110.Immigration, emigration, distinguished,30.Import, importance, distinguished,81.Improprieties, defined,10.Impugn, impute, distinguished,93.In, at, into, on, distinguished,134-135.In addition to, words joined to the subject by,89.Index, plurals of,19.Indicative, use of the perfect,78; indicative or subjunctive,82-89.Infinitive, tenses of the,78-79; adverbs betweentoand the,133.Inquire, investigate, distinguished,100.Insure, secure, distinguished,100.Intend, calculate, distinguished,94.Invent, discover, distinguished,31.Investigate, inquire, distinguished,100.It, its, before verbal nouns,51.
Junto, plural of,18.
Laid, lay, lain, distinguished,61-62.Lasso, plural of,18.Last, latest, distinguished,123.Lay, lie, laid, lain, distinguished,61-62.Learn, teach, distinguished,95.Lease, let, hire, distinguished,95.Leave, let, distinguished,100.Lend, loan, distinguished,93.Lengthy, long, distinguished,123.Less, fewer, smaller, distinguished,109.Lesser,110.Let, leave, distinguished,100.Let, lease, hire, distinguished,95.Letters, plural of,19.Liable, likely, apt, distinguished,119.Lie, lay, distinguished,61-62; principal parts of,62.Light, alight, distinguished,62.Light-complected,110.Lighted, lit, distinguished,62.Like, as, distinguished,142.Like, likely, probably, distinguished,109.Like, love, distinguished,95.Likely, liable, apt, distinguished,119.Limit, limitation, distinguished,31.Lion, feminine of,21.Loan, lend, distinguished,93.Locate, find, distinguished,100.Long, lengthy, distinguished,123.Lot, number, distinguished,31.Love, like, distinguished,95.Lovely,124.
Mad, angry, distinguished,128.Magnificent,124.Manifestly, evidently, apparently, distinguished,122.Maintain, assert, allege, etc., distinguished,94-95.Majority, plurality, distinguished,31.Man after man, number of,58.Many, much, distinguished,119.Many a, number of,89.Marquis, feminine of,21.Materialize, appear, distinguished,95.May, can, distinguished,71.Me, myself, I, proper choice among,43-45.Me, my, before verbal nouns,51.Memento, plural of,18.Mention, referto,alludeto, distinguished,99.Middle, centre, distinguished,30.Might, distinguished fromcould,71; tense of the infinitive with,79.Misplaced adjectives and adverbs,132-133; correlatives,148-149.Misused nouns,22-42; verbs,92-108; adjectives and adverbs,119-129; prepositions,134-139; conjunctions,143-146.Monk, feminine corresponding to,21.Most, almost, distinguished,109.Much, many, distinguished,119.Muchly,110.MURRAY'S DICTIONARY, quoted,54,94,101,119.Must, tense of the infinitive with,78-79.Mutual, common, distinguished,119.My, me, before verbal nouns,51,52.Myself, me, I, proper choice among,43-45.