Part 3.
SYNTAX.
PRONOUNS.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
I. NOMINATIVE AND OBJECTIVE FORMS.
398. Since most of the personal pronouns, together with the relative who, have separate forms for nominative and objective use, there are two general rules that require attention.General rules.
(1) The nominative use is usually marked by the nominative form of the pronoun.
(2) The objective use is usually marked by the objective form of the pronoun.
These simple rules are sometimes violated in spoken and in literary English. Some of the violations are universally condemned; others are generally, if not universally, sanctioned.
Objective for the nominative.
399. The objective is sometimes found instead of the nominative in the following instances:-
(1) By a common vulgarism of ignorance or carelessness, no notice is taken of the proper form to be used as subject; as,-
He and me once went in the dead of winter in a one-hoss shay out to Boonville. -Whitcher, Bedott Papers.
It seems strange to me that them that preach up the doctrine don't admire one who carrys it out.- Josiah Allens Wife.
(2) By faulty analysis of the sentence, the true relation of the words is misunderstood; for example, "Whom think ye that I am?" (In this, whom is the complement after the verb am, and should be the nominative form, who. ) "The young Harper, whom they agree was rather nice-looking" (whom is the subject of the verb was).
Especially is this fault to be noticed after an ellipsis with than or as, the real thought being forgotten; thus,-
But the consolation coming from devotion did not go far with such a one as her. -Trollope.
This should be "as she," because the full expression would be "such a one as she is."
400. Still, the last expression has the support of many good writers, as shown in the following examples:-
She was neither better bred nor wiser than you or me. -Thackeray.
No mightier than thyself or me. -Shakespeare.
Lin'd with Giants deadlier than 'em all. -Pope.
But he must be a stronger than thee. -Southey.
Not to render up my soul to such as thee. -Byron.
I shall not learn my duty from such as thee. -Fielding.
A safe rule. It will be safer for the student to follow the general rule, as illustrated in the following sentences:-
If so, they are yet holier than we. -Ruskin.
Who would suppose it is the game of such as he? -Dickens.
Do we see The robber and the murd'rer weak as we? -Milton.
I have no other saint than thou to pray to. -Longfellow.
"Than whom."
401. One exception is to be noted. The expression than whom seems to be used universally instead of "than who." There is no special reason for this, but such is the fact; for example,-
One I remember especially,-one than whom I never met a bandit more gallant. -Thackeray.
The camp of Richard of England, than whom none knows better how to do honor to a noble foe. -Scott.
She had a companion who had been ever agreeable, and her estate a steward than whom no one living was supposed to be more competent. -Parton.
"It was he"or"It was him"?
402. And there is one question about which grammarians are not agreed, namely, whether the nominative or the objective form should be used in the predicate after was, is, are, and the other forms of the verb be.
It may be stated with assurance that the literary language prefers the nominative in this instance, as,-
For there was little doubt that it was he. -Kingsley.
But still it is not she. -Macaulay.
And it was he
That made the ship to go.
-Coleridge.
In spoken English, on the other hand, both in England and America, the objective form is regularly found, unless a special, careful effort is made to adopt the standard usage. The following are examples of spoken English from conversations:-
"Rose Satterne, the mayor's daughter?"-"That's her." -Kingsley.
"Who's there?"-"Me, Patrick the Porter." -Winthrop.
"If there is any one embarrassed, it will not be me." -Wm. Black.
The usage is too common to need further examples.
Exercise.
Correct the italicized pronouns in the following sentences, giving reasons from the analysis of the sentence:-
1. Whom they were I really cannot specify.
2. Truth is mightier than us all.
3. If there ever was a rogue in the world, it is me.
4. They were the very two individuals whom we thought were far away.
5. "Seems to me as if them as writes must hev a kinder gift fur it, now."
6. The sign of the Good Samaritan is written on the face of whomsoever opens to the stranger.
7. It is not me you are in love with.
8. You know whom it is that you thus charge.
9. The same affinity will exert its influence on whomsoever is as noble as these men and women.
10. It was him that Horace Walpole called a man who never made a bad figure but as an author.
11. We shall soon see which is the fittest object of scorn, you or me.
Me in exclamations.
403. It is to be remembered that the objective form is used in exclamations which turn the attention upon a person; as,-
Unhappy me! That I cannot risk my own worthless life. -Kingsley
Alas! miserable me! Alas! unhappy Señors!- Id.
Ay me! I fondly dream-had ye been there. -Milton.
Nominative for the objective.
404. The rule for the objective form is wrongly departed from-
(1) When the object is far removed from the verb, verbal, or preposition which governs it; as, "He that can doubt whether he be anything or no, I speak not to" (he should be him, the object of to); "I saw men very like him at each of the places mentioned, but not he" (he should be him, object of saw).
(2) In the case of certain pairs of pronouns, used after verbs, verbals, and prepositions, as this from Shakespeare, "All debts are cleared be tween you and I" (for you and me); or this, "Let thou and I the battle try" (for thee and me, or us).
(3) By forgetting the construction, in the case of words used in apposition with the object; as, "Ask the murderer, he who has steeped his hands in the blood of another" (instead of "him who," the word being in apposition with murderer).405. The interrogative pronoun who may be said to have no objective form in spoken English. We regularly say, "Who did you see?" or, "Who were they talking to?" etc. The more formal "To whom were they talking?" sounds stilted in conversation, and is usually avoided.
In literary English the objective form whom is preferred for objective use; as,-
Knows he now to whom he lies under obligation? -Scott.
What doth she look on? Whom doth she behold? -Wordsworth.
Yet the nominative form is found quite frequently to divide the work of the objective use; for example,-
My son is going to be married to I don't know who. -Goldsmith.
Who have we here?- Id.
Who should I meet the other day but my old friend. -Steele.
He hath given away half his fortune to the Lord knows who. -Kingsley.
Who have we got here? -Smollett.
Who should we find there but Eustache? -Marrvat.
Who the devil is he talking to? -Sheridan.
Exception 2, but he, etc.
406. It is a well-established usage to put the nominative form, as well as the objective, after the preposition but (sometimes save); as,-
All were knocked down but us two. -Kingsley.
Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee.-Byron.
Rich are the sea gods:-who gives gifts but they?-Emerson.
The Chieftains then
Returned rejoicing, all but he.
-Southey
No man strikes him but I. -Kingsley.
None, save thou and thine, I've sworn,
Shall be left upon the morn.
-Byron.
Exercise.
Correct the italicized pronouns in the following, giving reasons from the analysis of the quotation:-
1. Thou, Nature, partial Nature, I arraign.
2. Let you and I look at these, for they say there are none such in the world.
3. "Nonsense!" said Amyas, "we could kill every soul of them in half an hour, and they know that as well as me."
4. Markland, who, with Jortin and Thirlby, Johnson calls three contemporaries of great eminence.
5. They are coming for a visit to she and I.
6. They crowned him long ago;
But who they got to put it on
Nobody seems to know.
7. I experienced little difficulty in distinguishing among the pedestrians they who had business with St. Bartholomew.
8. The great difference lies between the laborer who moves to Yorkshire and he who moves to Canada.
9. Besides my father and Uncle Haddock- he of the silver plates.
10.Ye against whose familiar names not yet
The fatal asterisk of death is set,
Ye I salute.
11. It can't be worth much to they that hasn't larning.
12. To send me away for a whole year- I who had never crept from under the parental wing-was a startling idea.
II. POSSESSIVE FORMS.
407. The possessive forms of personal pronouns and also of nouns are sometimes found as antecedents of relatives. This usage is not frequent. The antecedent is usually nominative or objective, as the use of the possessive is less likely to be clear.We should augur ill of any gentleman's property to whom this happened every other day in his drawing room. -Ruskin.
For their sakes whose distance disabled them from knowing me.- C. B. Brown .
Now by His name that I most reverence in Heaven, and by hers whom I most worship on earth. -Scott.
He saw her smile and slip money into the man's hand who was ordered to ride behind the coach. -Thackeray.
He doubted whether his signature whose expectations were so much more bounded would avail. -De Quincey.
For boys with hearts as boldAs his who kept the bridge so well.
-Macaulay.
Preceding a gerund,-possessive, or objective?
408. Another point on which there is some variance in usage is such a construction as this: "We heard of Brown studying law," or "We heard of Brown's studying law."
That is, should the possessive case of a noun or pronoun always be used with the gerund to indicate the active agent? Closely scrutinizing these two sentences quoted, we might find a difference between them: saying that in the first one studying is a participle, and the meaning is, We heard of Brown, [who was] studying law; and that in the second, studying is a gerund, object of heard of, and modified by the possessive case as any other substantive would be.
But in common use there is no such distinction. Both types of sentences are found; both are gerunds; sometimes the gerund has the possessive form before it, sometimes it has the objective. The use of the objective is older, and in keeping with the old way of regarding the person as the chief object before the mind: the possessive use is more modern, in keeping with the disposition to proceed from the material thing to the abstract idea, and to make the action substantive the chief idea before the mind.
In the examples quoted, it will be noticed that the possessive of the pronoun is more common than that of the noun.
Objective.
The last incident which I recollect, was my learned and worthy patron falling from a chair. -Scott.
He spoke of some one coming to drink tea with him, and asked why it was not made. -Thackeray.
The old sexton even expressed a doubt as to Shakespeare having been born in her house. -Irving.
The fact of the Romans not burying their dead within the city walls proper is a strong reason, etc. -Brewer.
I remember Wordsworth once laughingly reporting to me a little personal anecdote. -De Quincey.
Here I state them only in brief, to prevent the reader casting about in alarm for my ultimate meaning. -Ruskin.
We think with far less pleasure of Cato tearing out his entrails than of Russell saying, as he turned away from his wife, that the bitterness of death was past. -Macaulay.
There is actually a kind of sacredness in the fact of such a man being sent into this earth. -Carlyle.
There is no use for any man's taking up his abode in a house built of glass. -Carlyle.
As to his having good grounds on which to rest an action for life. -Dickens.
The case was made known to me by a man's holding out the little creature dead. -De Quincey.
There may be reason for a savage's preferring many kinds of food which the civilized man rejects. -Thoreau.
It informs me of the previous circumstances of my laying aside my clothes.- C. Brockden Brown .
The two strangers gave me an account of their once having been themselves in a somewhat similar condition. -Audubon.
There was a chance of their being sent to a new school, where there were examinations. -Ruskin
This can only be by his preferring truth to his past apprehension of truth. -Emerson
III. PERSONAL PRONOUNS AND THEIR ANTECEDENTS.
Watch for the real antecedent.
There are two constructions in which the student will need to watch the pronoun,-when the antecedent, in one person, is followed by a phrase containing a pronoun of a different person; and when the antecedent is of such a form that the pronoun following cannot indicate exactly the gender.
Examples of these constructions are,-
Those of us who can only maintain themselves by continuing in some business or salaried office. -Ruskin.
Suppose the life and fortune of every one of us would depend on his winning or losing a game of chess. -Huxley.
If any one did not know it, it was his own fault. -Cable.
Everybody had his own life to think of. -Defoe.
410. In such a case as the last three sentences,-when the antecedent includes both masculine and feminine, or is a distributive word, taking in each of many persons,-the preferred method is to put the pronoun following in the masculine singular; if the antecedent is neuter, preceded by a distributive, the pronoun will be neuter singular.
The following are additional examples:-
The next correspondent wants you to mark out a whole course of life for him. -Holmes.
Every city threw open its gates. -De Quincey.
Every person who turns this page has his own little diary. -Thackeray.
The pale realms of shade, where each shall takeHis chamber in the silent halls of death. -Bryant.
Avoided: By using both pronouns.
Sometimes this is avoided by using both the masculine and the feminine pronoun; for example,-
Not the feeblest grandame, not a mowing idiot, but uses what spark of perception and faculty is left, to chuckle and triumph in his or her opinion. -Emerson.
It is a game which has been played for untold ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players in a game of his or her own. -Huxley.
By using the plural pronoun.
411. Another way of referring to an antecedent which is a distributive pronoun or a noun modified by a distributive adjective, is to use the plural of the pronoun following. This is not considered the best usage, the logical analysis requiring the singular pronoun in each case; but the construction is frequently found when the antecedent includes or implies both genders. The masculine does not really represent a feminine antecedent, and the expression his or her is avoided as being cumbrous.
Notice the following examples of the plural:-
Neither of the sisters were very much deceived. -Thackeray.
Every one must judge of their own feelings. -Byron.
Had the doctor been contented to take my dining tables, as anybody in their senses would have done. -Austen.
If the part deserve any comment, every considering Christian will make it themselves as they go. -Defoe.
Every person's happiness depends in part upon the respect they meet in the world. -Paley.
Every nation have their refinements -Sterne.
Neither gave vent to their feelings in words. -Scott.
Each of the nations acted according to their national custom. -Palgrave.
The sun, which pleases everybody with it and with themselves. -Ruskin.
Urging every one within reach of your influence to be neat, and giving them means of being so.- Id.
Everybody will become of use in their own fittest way.- Id.
Everybody said they thought it was the newest thing there. -Wendell Phillips.
Struggling for life, each almost bursting their sinews to force the other off. -Paulding.
Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.- Bible.
Nobody knows what it is to lose a friend, till they have lost him. -Fielding.
Where she was gone, or what was become of her, no one could take upon them to say. -Sheridan.
I do not mean that I think any one to blame for taking due care of their health. -Addison.
Exercise.
In the above sentences, unless both genders are implied, change the pronoun to agree with its antecedent.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
I. RESTRICTIVE AND UNRESTRICTIVE RELATIVES.
412. As to their conjunctive use, the definite relatives who, which, and that may be coördinating or restrictive.
A relative, when coördinating, or unrestrictive, is equivalent to a conjunction (and, but, because, etc.) and a personal pronoun. It adds a new statement to what precedes, that being considered already clear; as, "I gave it to the beggar, who went away." This means, "I gave it to the beggar [we know which one], and he went away."
A relative, when restrictive, introduces a clause to limit and make clear some preceding word. The clause is restricted to the antecedent, and does not add a new statement; it merely couples a thought necessary to define the antecedent: as, "I gave it to a beggar who stood at the gate." It defines beggar.
413. It is sometimes contended that who and which should always be coördinating, and that always restrictive; but, according to the practice of every modern writer, the usage must be stated as follows:-
A loose rule the only one to be formulated. Who and which are either coördinating or restrictive, the taste of the writer and regard for euphony being the guide.
That is in most cases restrictive, the coördinating use not being often found among careful writers.
Exercise.
In the following examples, tell whether who, which, and that are restrictive or not, in each instance:-
Who.
1. "Here he is now!" cried those who stood near Ernest. -Hawthorne.
2. He could overhear the remarks of various individuals, who were comparing the features with the face on the mountain side.- Id.
3. The particular recording angel who heard it pretended not to understand, or it might have gone hard with the tutor. -Holmes.
4. Yet how many are there who up, down, and over England are saying, etc. -H. W. Beecher
5. A grizzly-looking man appeared, whom we took to be sixty or seventy years old. -Thoreau.
Which.
6. The volume which I am just about terminating is almost as much English history as Dutch. -Motley.
7. On hearing their plan, which was to go over the Cordilleras, she agreed to join the party. -De Quincey.
8. Even the wild story of the incident which had immediately occasioned the explosion of this madness fell in with the universal prostration of mind.- Id.
9. Their colloquies are all gone to the fire except this first, which Mr. Hare has printed. -Carlyle.
10. There is a particular science which takes these matters in hand, and it is called logic. -Newman.
That.
11. So different from the wild, hard-mouthed horses at Westport, that were often vicious. -De Quincey.
12. He was often tempted to pluck the flowers that rose everywhere about him in the greatest variety. -Addison.
13. He felt a gale of perfumes breathing upon him, that grew stronger and sweeter in proportion as he advanced.- Id.
14. With narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves. -Irving.
II. RELATIVE AND ANTECEDENT.
414. The general rule is, that the relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person and number.
This cannot be true as to the form of the pronoun, as that does not vary for person or number. We say I, you, he, they, etc., who; these or that which, etc. However, the relative carries over the agreement from the antecedent before to the verb following, so far as the verb has forms to show its agreement with a substantive. For example, in the sentence, "He that writes to himself writes to an eternal public,"that is invariable as to person and number, but, because of its antecedent, it makes the verb third person singular.
Notice the agreement in the following sentences:-
There is not one of the company, but myself, who rarely speak at all, but speaks of him as that sort, etc. -Addison.
O Time! who know'st a lenient hand to lay Softest on sorrow's wound. -Bowles.
Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come.-Lowell.
A disputed point.
415. This prepares the way for the consideration of one of the vexed questions,-whether we should say, "one of the finest books that has been published," or, "one of the finest books that have been published."
One of ... [ plural] that who, or which ... [ singular or plural. ]
Both constructions are frequently found, the reason being a difference of opinion as to the antecedent. Some consider it to be one [book] of the finest books, with one as the principal word, the true antecedent; others regard books as the antecedent, and write the verb in the plural. The latter is rather more frequent, but the former has good authority.
The following quotations show both sides:-
Plural.
He was one of the very few commanders who appear to have shown equal skill in directing a campaign, in winning a battle, and in improving a victory. -Lecky.
He was one of the most distinguished scientists who have ever lived. -J. T. Morse, Jr ., Franklin.
It is one of those periods which shine with an unnatural and delusive splendor. -Macaulay.
A very little encouragement brought back one of those overflows which make one more ashamed, etc. -Holmes.
I am one of those who believe that the real will never find an irremovable basis till it rests on the ideal. -Lowell.
French literature of the eighteenth century, one of the most powerful agencies that have ever existed.- M. Arnold .
What man's life is not overtaken by one or more of those tornadoes that send us out of our course? -Thackeray.
He is one of those that deserve very well. -Addison.
Singular.
The fiery youth ... struck down one of those who was pressing hardest. -Scott.
He appeared to me one of the noblest creatures that ever was, when he derided the shams of society. -Howells.
A rare Roundabout performance,-one of the very best that has ever appeared in this series. -Thackeray.
Valancourt was the hero of one of the most famous romances which ever was published in this country.- Id.
It is one of the errors which has been diligently propagated by designing writers. -Irving.
"I am going to breakfast with one of these fellows who is at the Piazza Hotel." -Dickens.
The "Economy of the Animal Kingdom" is one of those books which is an honor to the human race. -Emerson.
Tom Puzzle is one of the most eminent immethodical disputants of any that has fallen under my observation. -Addison.
The richly canopied monument of one of the most earnest souls that ever gave itself to the arts. -Ruskin.
III. OMISSION OF THE RELATIVE.
416. Although the omission of the relative is common when it would be the object of the verb or preposition expressed, there is an omission which is not frequently found in careful writers; that is, when the relative word is a pronoun, object of a preposition understood, or is equivalent to the conjunction when, where, whence, and such like: as, "He returned by the same route [by which] he came;" "India is the place [in which, or where] he died." Notice these sentences:-
In the posture I lay, I could see nothing except the sky. -Swift.
This is he that should marshal us the way we were going. -Emerson.
But I by backward steps would move;
And, when this dust falls to the urn,
In that same state I came, return.-Vaughan.
Welcome the hour my aged limbs
Are laid with thee to rest. -Burns.
The night was concluded in the manner we began the morning. -Goldsmith.
The same day I went aboard we set sail. -Defoe.
The vulgar historian of a Cromwell fancies that he had determined on being Protector of England, at the time he was plowing the marsh lands of Cambridgeshire. -Carlyle.
To pass under the canvas in the manner he had entered required time and attention. -Scott.
Exercise.
-In the above sentences, insert the omitted conjunction or phrase, and see if the sentence is made clearer.
IV. THE RELATIVE AS AFTER SAME.
417. It is very rarely that we find such sentences as,-
He considered...me as his apprentice, and accordingly expected the same service from me as he would from another. -Franklin.
This has the same effect in natural faults as maiming and mutilation produce from accidents. -Burke.
The regular construction. Caution.
The usual way is to use the relative as after same if no verb follows as; but, if same is followed by a complete clause, as is not used, but we find the relative who, which, or that. Remember this applies only to as when used as a relative.
Examples of the use of as in a contracted clause:-
Looking to the same end as Turner, and working in the same spirit, he, with Turner, was a discoverer, etc.- R. W. Church .
They believe the same of all the works of art, as of knives, boats, looking-glasses. -Addison.
Examples of relatives following same in full clauses:-
Who.
This is the very same rogue who sold us the spectacles. -Goldsmith.
The same person who had clapped his thrilling hands at the first representation of the Tempest. -Macaulay.
That.
I rubbed on some of the same ointment that was given me at my first arrival. -Swift.
Which. For the same sound is in my ears
Which in those days I heard.
-Wordsworth.
With the same minuteness which her predecessor had exhibited, she passed the lamp over her face and person. -Scott.
V. MISUSE OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
Anacoluthic use of which.
418. There is now and then found in the pages of literature a construction which imitates the Latin, but which is usually carefully avoided. It is a use of the relative which so as to make an anacoluthon, or lack of proper connection between the clauses; for example,-
Which, if I had resolved to go on with, I might as well have staid at home. -Defoe
Which if he attempted to do, Mr. Billings vowed that he would follow him to Jerusalem. -Thackeray.
We know not the incantation of the heart that would wake them;- which if they once heard, they would start up to meet us in the power of long ago. -Ruskin.
He delivered the letter, which when Mr. Thornhill had read, he said that all submission was now too late. -Goldsmith.
But still the house affairs would draw her thence;
Which ever as she could with haste dispatch,
She'd come again.
-Shakespeare.
As the sentences stand, which really has no office in the sentence: it should be changed to a demonstrative or a personal pronoun, and this be placed in the proper clause.
Exercise.
Rewrite the above five sentences so as to make the proper grammatical connection in each.
And who, and which, etc.
419. There is another kind of expression which slips into the lines of even standard authors, but which is always regarded as an oversight and a blemish.
The following sentence affords an example: "The rich are now engaged in distributing what remains among the poorer sort, and who are now thrown upon their compassion." The trouble is that such conjunctions as and, but, or, etc., should connect expressions of the same kind: and who makes us look for a preceding who, but none is expressed. There are three ways to remedy the sentence quoted: thus, (1) "Among those who are poor, and who are now," etc.; (2) "Among the poorer sort, who are now thrown," etc.; (3) "Among the poorer sort, now thrown upon their," etc. That is,-
Direction for rewriting.
Express both relatives, or omit the conjunction, or leave out both connective and relative.
Exercise.
Rewrite the following examples according to the direction just given:-
And who.
1. Hester bestowed all her means on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not unfrequently insulted the hand that fed them. -Hawthorne.
2. With an albatross perched on his shoulder, and who might be introduced to the congregation as the immediate organ of his conversion. -De Quincey.
3. After this came Elizabeth herself, then in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty, and who would in the lowest walk of life have been truly judged to possess a noble figure. -Scott.
4. This was a gentleman, once a great favorite of M. le Conte, and in whom I myself was not a little interested. -Thackeray.
But who.
5. Yonder woman was the wife of a certain learned man, English by name, but who had long dwelt in Amsterdam. -Hawthorne.
6. Dr. Ferguson considered him as a man of a powerful capacity, but whose mind was thrown off its just bias. -Scott.
Or who.
7. "What knight so craven, then," exclaims the chivalrous Venetian, "that he would not have been more than a match for the stoutest adversary; or who would not have lost his life a thousand times sooner than return dishonored by the lady of his love?" -Prescott.
And which.
8. There are peculiar quavers still to be heard in that church, and which may even be heard a mile off. -Irving.
9. The old British tongue was replaced by a debased Latin, like that spoken in the towns, and in which inscriptions are found in the western counties. -Pearson.
10. I shall have complete copies, one of signal interest, and which has never been described. -Motley.
But which.
11. "A mockery, indeed, but in which the soul trifled with itself!" -Hawthorne.
12. I saw upon the left a scene far different, but which yet the power of dreams had reconciled into harmony. -De Quincey.
Or which.
13. He accounted the fair-spoken courtesy, which the Scotch had learned, either from imitation of their frequent allies, the French, or which might have arisen from their own proud and reserved character, as a false and astucious mark, etc. -Scott.
That ... and which, etc.
420. Akin to the above is another fault, which is likewise a variation from the best usage. Two different relatives are sometimes found referring back to the same antecedent in one sentence; whereas the better practice is to choose one relative, and repeat this for any further reference.
Exercise.
Rewrite the following quotations by repeating one relative instead of using two for the same antecedent:-
That ... who.
1. Still in the confidence of children that tread without fear every chamber in their father's house, and to whom no door is closed. -De Quincey.
2. Those renowned men that were our ancestors as much as yours, and whose examples and principles we inherit. -Beecher.
3. The Tree Igdrasil, that has its roots down in the kingdoms of Hela and Death, and whose boughs overspread the highest heaven! -Carlyle.
That ... which.
4. Christianity is a religion that reveals men as the object of God's infinite love, and which commends him to the unbounded love of his brethren.- W. E. Channing .
5. He flung into literature, in his Mephistopheles, the first organic figure that has been added for some ages, and which will remain as long as the Prometheus. -Emerson.
6. Gutenburg might also have struck out an idea that surely did not require any extraordinary ingenuity, and which left the most important difficulties to be surmounted. -Hallam.
7. Do me the justice to tell me what I have a title to be acquainted with, and which I am certain to know more truly from you than from others. -Scott.
8. He will do this amiable little service out of what one may say old civilization has established in place of goodness of heart, but which is perhaps not so different from it. -Howells.
9. In my native town of Salem, at the head of what, half a century ago, was a bustling wharf,-but which is now burdened with decayed wooden warehouses. -Hawthorne.
10. His recollection of what he considered as extreme presumption in the Knight of the Leopard, even when he stood high in the roles of chivalry, but which, in his present condition, appeared an insult sufficient to drive the fiery monarch into a frenzy of passion. -Scott
That which ... what.
11. He, now without any effort but that which he derived from the sill, and what little his feet could secure the irregular crevices, was hung in air.- W. G. Simms .
Such as ... which.
12. It rose into a thrilling passion, such as my heart had always dimly craved and hungered after, but which now first interpreted itself to my ear. -De Quincey.
13. I recommend some honest manual calling, such as they have very probably been bred to, and which will at least give them a chance of becoming President. -Holmes.
Such as ... whom.
14. I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me, and to whom I do not belong. -Emerson.
Which ... that ... that.
15. That evil influence which carried me first away from my father's house, that hurried me into the wild and undigested notion of making my fortune, and that impressed these conceits so forcibly upon me. -Defoe.
ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS.
421. The student is sometimes troubled whether to use each other or one another in expressing reciprocal relation or action. Whether either one refers to a certain number of persons or objects, whether or not the two are equivalent, may be gathered from a study of the following sentences:-
They [Ernest and the poet] led one another, as it were, into the high pavilion of their thoughts. -Hawthorne.
Men take each other's measure when they meet for the first time. -Emerson.
You ruffian! do you fancy I forget that we were fond of each other? -Thackeray.
England was then divided between kings and Druids, always at war with one another, carrying off each other's cattle and wives. -Brewer
The topics follow each other in the happiest order. -Macaulay.
The Peers at a conference begin to pommel each other. - Id.
We call ourselves a rich nation, and we are filthy and foolish enough to thumb each other's books out of circulating libraries. -Ruskin.
The real hardships of life are now coming fast upon us; let us not increase them by dissension among each other. -Goldsmith.
In a moment we were all shaking hands with one another. -Dickens.
The unjust purchaser forces the two to bid against each other.-Ruskin.
Distributives either and neither.
422. By their original meaning, either and neither refer to only two persons or objects; as, for example,-
Some one must be poor, and in want of his gold-or his corn. Assume that no one is in want of either. -Ruskin
Their [Ernest's and the poet's] minds accorded into one strain, and made delightful music which neither could have claimed as all his own. -Hawthorne.
Use of any.
Sometimes these are made to refer to several objects, in which case any should be used instead; as,-
Was it the winter's storm? was it hard labor and spare meals? was it disease? was it the tomahawk? Is it possible that neither of these causes, that not all combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? -Everett.
Once I took such delight in Montaigne ...; before that, in Shakespeare; then in Plutarch; then in Plotinus; at one time in Bacon; afterwards in Goethe; even in Bettine; but now I turn the pages of either of them languidly, whilst I still cherish their genius. -Emerson.
Any usually plural.
423. The adjective pronoun any is nearly always regarded as plural, as shown in the following sentences:-
If any of you have been accustomed to look upon these hours as mere visionary hours, I beseech you, etc. -Beecher
Whenever, during his stay at Yuste, any of his friends had died, he had been punctual in doing honor to their memory. -Stirling.
But I enjoy the company and conversation of its inhabitants, when any of them are so good as to visit me. -Franklin.
Do you think, when I spoke anon of the ghosts of Pryor's children, I mean that any of them are dead? -Thackeray.
In earlier Modern English, any was often singular; as,-
If any, speak; for him have I offended. -Shakespeare.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.- Bible.
Very rarely the singular is met with in later times; as,-
Here is a poet doubtless as much affected by his own descriptions as any that reads them can be. -Burke.
Caution.
The above instances are to be distinguished from the adjective any, which is plural as often as singular.
None usually plural.
424. The adjective pronoun none is, in the prose of the present day, usually plural, although it is historically a contraction of ne an (not one). Examples of its use are,-
In earnest, if ever man was; as none of the French philosophers were. -Carlyle.
None of Nature's powers do better service. -Prof. Dana
One man answers some question which none of his contemporaries put, and is isolated. -Emerson.
None obey the command of duty so well as those who are free from the observance of slavish bondage. -Scott.
Do you think, when I spoke anon of the ghosts of Pryor's children, I mean that any of them are dead? None are, that I know of. -Thackeray.
Early apples begin to be ripe about the first of August; but I think none of them are so good to eat as some to smell. -Thoreau.
The singular use of none is often found in the Bible; as,-
None of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. -Luke iv 27
Also the singular is sometimes found in present-day English in prose, and less rarely in poetry; for example,-
Perhaps none of our Presidents since Washington has stood so firm in the confidence of the people. -Lowell
In signal none his steed should spare. -Scott
Like the use of any, the pronoun none should be distinguished from the adjective none, which is used absolutely, and hence is more likely to confuse the student.
Compare with the above the following sentences having the adjective none:-
Reflecting a summer evening sky in its bosom, though none [no sky] was visible overhead. -
Thoreau
The holy fires were suffered to go out in the temples, and none [no fires] were lighted in their own dwellings. -Prescott
All singular and plural.
425. The pronoun all has the singular construction when it means everything; the plural, when it means all persons: for example,-
Singular.
The light troops thought ... that all was lost. -Palgrave
All was won on the one side, and all was lost on the other. -Bayne
Having done all that was just toward others. -Napier
Plural.
But the King's treatment of the great lords will be judged leniently by all who remember, etc. -Pearson.
When all were gone, fixing his eyes on the mace, etc. -Lingard
All who did not understand French were compelled, etc.-Mc master.
Somebody's else, or somebody else's?
426. The compounds somebody else, any one else, nobody else, etc., are treated as units, and the apostrophe is regularly added to the final word else instead of the first. Thackeray has the expression somebody's else, and Ford has nobody's else, but the regular usage is shown in the following selections:-
A boy who is fond of somebody else's pencil case.- G. Eliot .
A suit of clothes like somebody else's. -Thackeray.
Drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire as benevolently as if they were somebody else's. -Dickens.
Certainly not! nor any one else's ropes. -Ruskin.
Again, my pronunciation-like everyone else's-is in some cases more archaic. -Sweet.
Then everybody wanted some of somebody else's. -Ruskin.
His hair...curled once all over it in long tendrils, unlike anybody else's in the world.- N. P. Willis .
"Ye see, there ain't nothin' wakes folks up like somebody else's wantin' what you've got." -Mrs. Stowe.
Reference
An English Grammar 1896 by W. M. Baskervill & J. W. Sewell
Written by NativeEnglish
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