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man that weaves. Girl was originally in the common gender, being derived from a Saxon word signifying "a little churl." In AngloSaxon, a was a masculine suffix, and e a feminine suffix (nefa, nefe = nephew, niece).

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Gerund. The term gerund is used by a number of authors to name verbal nouns in the participial form and participial verbals used as nouns: A gerund is a substantive formed from a verb by the suffix -ing; as, He escaped by crossing the river. - Mason. A participle may be called a verbal adjective; a gerund may be called a verbal noun. The gerund is formed like the imperfect participle, by adding -ing to the verb. Examples of gerund: Walking is a healthy exercise. I like riding. Tom is fond of chopping wood. Salmon. The infinitive in ing is called by some the gerund.—W. D. Whitney. Bain's view is: "The gerund is not a separate form in English, but a peculiar application of the two infinitive forms, 'to write,' and 'writing.' When those have the sense of purpose or intention, they are called gerunds; 'I come to write,' 'I have work to do,' 'the course to steer by,' 'ready for sailing,' sharpened for cutting."

The infinitive in Anglo-Saxon was formed by adding a suffix to the verb. It was declined like a noun; as nom., writ-an (to write), dative, writ-anne (to write or for writing), etc. In time the case endings were dropped, and to remained as the "sign" of the infinitive. The suffix an changed to en, and finally to ing, and thus was formed the infinitive ending in ing: The present participle in -ende changed to -ing; and in English, noun, participle, adjective, and infinitive (gerund) mix. - March.

The term gerund is not needed in the treatment of infinitives and participles as presented in this work.

Grammar. 1. Grammar shows the logical structure of language. -W. T. Harris. 2. The English language, as made the subject of a grammar, means the English of the present day, as used by good speakers and writers; and English grammar is a description of the English language in this sense. W. D. Whitney. 3. Grammar concerns the forms of words and their dependent relations in the sentence. - Richard Grant White. 4. By Grammar we do not

learn to speak, no, nor even to read and write; but we learn the relations of words to one another in the use of speech. - Earle.

Had. "He had better be careful." (He would have [find] it better to be careful.) "I had rather be a doorkeeper," etc. (had, 704; be, 896; doorkeeper, s..p. n.).

Half. "A half chest"; "Half a chest"; "Half the books"; adj. "Half dead"; adv.

adv.

Hard. "It is hard"; "Hard work"; adj. "She studies hard"; "Hard by yon brook"; adv., modifying by brook. High. "How high it flies!" adj. "The firmament on high"; ph. adj. (815.) "From on high"; noun. However. "However strong"; adv.

conj.

"However, I shall not go ";

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Infinitives. "I am to go"; "He appears to be sick"; vl. adj. I have to go"; vl., d. o. "He ordered the men to go" may mean "He gave orders to the men to go," or "He gave orders that the men should go."

Infinitives. The term infinitive means "unlimited," the words to which the term was originally applied not being limited to any particular person or number, as are ordinary verbs. It is applied by some grammarians to verbal nouns only, as "He desires to go,” ," "Going is easy." When the term is thus limited to verbal nouns, there are said to be two infinitives: (1) one that is the same as the root of the verb, as, "I can go," "He desires to go" (the preposition to being used as its sign; 645); and (2) one that ends in ing; as, "He tried going." The first is called the root infinitive, and the second the participial infinitive. The participial infinitive is called by some grammarians the gerund. This explanation of the term infinitive shows the original use of the word, and may be of some assistance to the student when he begins the study of another language. It is believed, however, that a clear understanding of the use of the "infinitive" in the English of to-day is best obtained by the method of treatment presented in this book. (581, 5, note, etc.)

The following definition is a common one: An infinitive is a form of the verb that generally begins with to, and that expresses the act or state without predicating it. — Kerl.

In order. "In order to lessen the burden, he carried the bag on his shoulder"; ph. adv., mod. carried. To lessen, vl. adj., mod. order. Or, in order to lessen, vl. adv. Or, in, prep., order, noun.

It. "It is you I want” (It, 1.e. the person, whom I want, is you; 348, 1).

Let. "Let me alone"; adj., 272. Let up, on, down, etc.; advs. "Let come what will" what will (come); sub. of come. "Let go." "Let (it) go," or "Let (your hold) go." Little. "Little older"; adv. "A little older"; noun. "A little pudding” = (a small pudding); adj. "A little pudding" = (a little of the pudding); noun used as adj.

"I like honesty”; verb.

Like. "Like begets like“; noun. other day like this," etc.; "He is like a fox”; adj. nightingale"; adv.

"An

"It sings like a

"To lie low"; adj. (When the lowness

Low. "To become low"; "To fall low"; adj. or adv. "To speak low"; “To buy low"; adv. is in the object low is an adj.; when it is in the action, low is an adv.) Make. “To make free with"; adj. "He made sure of it” = He "They made much of her";

made (himself to be) sure of it; adj.

noun.

"She was made much of“; a kind of compound verb. Methinks. (703, note.) In " Methinks the lady doth protest too much," the clause in italics is the subject.

Modifying elements. The modifying elements of a sentence (143) may be divided into subștantive elements (10), adjective elements, and adverbial elements.

More.

"He more

"More money"; adj. "There is some more wine in the bottle" (adj. = additional). "The more part" (adj. = greater). “Say no more"; adj. pron. "Strive no more"; adv., or a. o. than hesitated" (He (did) more than (he) hesitated, or more than hesitated); a verb phrase. “It is more than good" (than (it is) good, or more than good); an adjective phrase.

In "

some more pudding," Abbott calls more an adverb = besides. Some more pudding = some pudding more.

Near. “The near approach of day"; "It is near“; “It is near me"; "The man near me"; adj. “Remain near"; "Remain near me"; adv. "The ship nears the land"; verb.

LYTE'S ADV. GR. AND COMP.-21

Nearly. "We went nearly through the cave"; adv., modifying the phrase through cave. So also, just in "It was seen just below the falls"; only in "Some birds sing only in the evening," etc.

Some grammarians say that nearly and just modify the prepositions by which they are followed.

Needs. "His needs are great"; noun. "He needs me"; "He needs to go"; verb. "He must needs go"; adv.

No. "No person"; adj. "No more"; "No nearer"; adv. Non-finite verbs and verbals. To distinguish between the non-finite and the verbal is sometimes very difficult, if not impossible—

1. Because the infinitive and participial forms may be used to express all the various shades of thought lying between direct predication and simple modification, and consequently many terms will be found on the border line between the two extremes.

2. Because many speakers and writers do not have a clear conception of the proper use of these flexible words, and consequently they are frequently used loosely or indefinitely, and not seldom wholly misused.

Once. "This once"; "For once"; noun.

Only. "The only man"; adj. "The man only"; "I sing only"; adv. Participles. The term participle means “participating," the words to which the term was originally applied being adjectives and at the same time partaking of the nature of verbs. It is applied by some leading grammarians to verbal adjectives only; as, "He is running." When the term is thus limited to verbal adjectives, there are said to be two participles: (1) one that ends in ing; as, "He is going"; and (2) one that ends in ed, t, or that has no distinctive ending; as, "The man seen yesterday was my brother." The first is called the present participle, because it often denotes present time, and the second is called the perfect participle or the passive participle, because it usually denotes past time or a completed action. This explanation of the term participle shows the original use of the word, and may be of some assistance to the student when he begins the study of a foreign language. It is believed, however, that a clear understanding of the use of the participle in the English of to-day is best obtained by the method of treatment presented in this book. (581, 5, note, etc.)

In using definite verbals in the participial form (or present and perfect participles, as called by many grammarians), care must be taken that the nouns to which they refer are manifest. In other words, definite verbals should not be used indefinitely. (862, 864.) The following sentence illustrates a somewhat common error: “Attached to the brewery is a blacksmith's shop, thereby enabling repairs to be executed on the premises." Earle says of this sentence: "Here we see the present participle on the loose."

The following definition is a common one: A participle is a form of the verb that expresses the act or state without predicating it, and generally resembles an adjective. — Kerl.

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Position. The great importance of the position of words in English is strikingly seen by comparing the Latin "Johannes et Carolus Gulielmum audiverunt,” with the same words in English. The Latin words can have but one meaning, no matter how they are arranged; but in English the words may be arranged to make six different statements: "John and Charles heard William"; "John and William heard Charles"; "Charles and William heard John"; "John heard Charles and William"; "Charles heard John and William"; "William heard John and Charles."

Potential mood. The potential mood can be dispensed with by regarding the auxiliaries as principal verbs in the indicative or the subjunctive mood, and the principal verbs as infinites, depending upon them. Thus, in "I can go," can may be said to be in the indicative mood, and go a verbal noun depending upon can. This method of disposing of "composite" verbs (or "verb phrases") would in most cases explain the original significance of the words that form them. It is the method suggested by some leading grammarians. But although most of the words of these groups retain to a certain extent their earlier meaning, and can be construed separately, the signification of the verb phrases taken as a whole usually differs from that of the individual words combined to form the phrase. It is therefore thought best, both for this reason and on account of its simplicity, to retain the potential mood. It must be remembered, however, that there are objections to its use, and that it can be dispensed with in the manner indicated above.

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