CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



therefore two separate facts, requiring a plural 

 verb. But can we say, ' That he had begun life 

 in obscure poverty, was a subject of just pride ? ' 

 No, neither the beginning nor the end of his career 

 was, in itself, a subject of just pride ; but the fact 

 of the relation between the two. As they stand, 

 the two facts are put on a level, the sentences being 

 co-ordinate with each other, though both subor- 

 dinate to the principal sentence, was. But strictly 

 the one should be subordinate to the other : ' That 

 he was now an important man in the state, though 

 he had begun life in poverty, was, &c. ;' or, 'That 

 from a poor obscure lad he had become, &c. was, 

 &c.' 



After the anatomy of sentences, the other parts 

 of syntax fall under the heads of (i) Concord and 

 Government, and (2) Order of words, or Colloca- 

 tion. 



RULES OF CONCORD AND GOVERNMENT. 



These teach us how to employ the inflections 

 and other distinctions learned in Etymology ; and 

 also how to arrange related words with regard to 

 one another. 



CONCORD. 



Words agree when they take corresponding 

 variations. Thus, in the conjugation of the verb, 

 it is seen that with a singular subject, he (or she, 

 it, John), the verb has one form, writes, and with 

 a plural subject, they (or men, scholars), a different 

 form, write; and so with regard to person. What 

 we learn in Etymology as to the different persons 

 and numbers of the verb, expresses the law of the 

 English language on this point, as established by 

 the use and wont of those who are allowed to 

 be good speakers and writers ; and if we would 

 speak and write correct English, we must comply 

 with the law. This seems to be what gram- 

 marians mean though they have not expressed 

 it very happily when they lay down the rule, ' A 

 verb must agree with its nominative (subject) in 

 number and person.' The rule is seldom trans- 

 gressed in short easy sentences, except by the 

 altogether ignorant and uncultivated ; and even 

 by them it is transgressed only in particular forms 

 of speech ; as, ' Says I.' Most of the errors that 

 occur under this head arise either (i) from there 

 being several names in the sentence, and the 

 speaker mistaking which is the subject of the verb 

 errors of inadvertence ; or (2) from its being 

 doubtful whether the subject is to be considered 

 singular or plural. 



Errors of mistaking the Subject. Ex., 'His 

 reputation was great, and somewhat more durable 

 than that of similar poets have been' (Hallam). 

 The grammatical subject is that, used as a pro- 

 noun for the reputation; the verb should therefore 

 have been sing. has. The error arose from 

 thinking of the plural noun poets as the subject. 

 The following, from Gibbon, is correct : ' The 

 momentary junction of several tribes produces an 

 army ; ' but, the plural word tribes coming 

 immediately before the verb, although it is not 

 the nominative to it, an inadvertent writer might 

 very readily have written produce. 



Errors from the Nttmber of the Subject being 

 doubtful. i. This often occurs with Collective 

 nouns. Collective nouns, though singular in form, 

 often take plural verbs, because the idea is plural ; 



590 



but as they do not do so always, it is ofter 

 puzzling to determine which it ought to be. The 

 rules given by grammarians throw no light on tl 

 subject. They tell us that when the collecti\ 

 name suggests the idea of number prominentlj 

 the verb should be plural ; and when the idea 

 unity is prominent in it, the verb should be 

 singular. But unfortunately the same noun 

 requires a singular verb at one time and a plural 

 verb at another. Ex., ' The British nation has 

 not sprung up in a generation.' 'The British 

 nation are of that opinion to a man.' The usual 

 rule altogether fails to point out the ground of this 

 difference ; and for this reason, that it bids us 

 look in the wrong direction. The light that is to 

 guide us, comes, not from the noun, but from 

 what is said about it. In the second of the two 

 sentences, the predicate is true, and is meant to 

 be affirmed of, the individual persons composing 

 the British nation ; therefore the verb is plural. 

 In the first, the predicate the not springing up 

 in a generation is not applicable to the individual 

 persons, but to the organised body of which they 

 are only atoms ; hence the verb is singular. 



This way of looking at the subject removes all 

 doubt and difficulty from by far the greater num- 

 ber of instances. Take, in the first place, the 

 following : ' The army is composed of infantry and 

 cavalry. The army was disorganised. That body 

 of men contains several convicts. The nation is 

 powerful. The meeting was large.' In none of 

 these instances is the thing affirmed applicable to 

 the individuals composing the body, but only to 

 the body itself as a whole ; and in all such cases 

 the verb must be singular. To make it plural 

 would destroy or alter the sense. To say, for 

 instance, 'The meeting were large,' would mean 

 that the men composing it were large men. Not 

 unlike this is a blunder made by Hume : ' Stephen's 

 party were entirely broken up ' not on the wheel, 

 let us hope ! 



With regard to cases in which the thing affirmed 

 is true of the individuals composing the collection, 

 the rule is not so simple. In the great majority 

 of instances, logic overrules grammar, and makes 

 a plural verb more natural than a singular. Ex., 

 ' My people do not consider. Mankind pride them- 

 selves on the advantages they enjoy.' 



The only exceptions to this rule are of the nature 

 of the following : ' The whole nation mourns the 

 loss. Society has an instinctive dread of innova- 

 tion.' The words nation, society, differ from man- 

 kind and people, in indicating an organic unity, 

 having a kind of life and feeling and functions as 

 a whole. The individuals composing the nation, 

 then, are represented as mourning, not each for 

 himself, but as a nation. It is only in speaking of 

 such collective action that the singular verb can 

 be used ; but even then the plural would not be 

 positively wrong. Nay, with several nouns of this 

 nature, the plural is by far the more common. 

 Ex., ' The committee resolve. The board are of 

 opinion.' 



A large number of collective nouns indicate 

 mere aggregates or numbers destitute of all unity ; 

 and assertions made as to the individuals compos- 

 ing them are always made with a plural verb. 

 Ex., ' The peasantry go barefooted. The one half 

 of men do not know how the other half live. A 

 number found their (not its) way into the country.' 



It may then be laid down as a rule, that when 



