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THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



LESSONS IN ENGLISH. LIV. 



VARIOUS FORMS OP THE SUBJECT OF A PROPOSITION. 

 WE now come to the noun man in our model sentence 

 The sick man copiously drinks. 



The noun man is the subject to the verb drinks. We thus see 

 that a noun may be the subject of a proposition. Is there any 

 ither part of speech that may be the subject of a proposition ? 



1. An adjective may be the subject of a proposition ; as 



The sick drink. 



But here it must be observed that for drinks I have substituted 

 drink, the plural for the singular form of the verb. The rule 

 then is, that adjectives when used in the plural, and preceded by 

 the definite article, may be the subject of a proposition. 



2. A pronoun may be the subject of a proposition ; as 



I, the sick man, drink. 



Here I is the subject to the verb drink, as I drink ; so we 

 may say 



You, the sick man, drink. 

 I, you, we, they drink. 



These additions to the subject modify the signification, and 

 offer instances of what is called apposition. Apposition (from 

 ad, to, and pono, I place) exists when a noun is added to a 

 pronoun or a noun in order to explain the intended meaning. 

 Thus here it is not I merely that drinks, but J, the sick man. 

 Instead of a pronoun, you may have a noun ; as 



Alexander, the son of Philip, conquered Darius. 



Apposition takes place in the object as well as in the subject ; 

 as in this sentence : 



Wine overcame Alexander, the son of Philip. 



3. An infinitive mood may bo the subject of a proposition ; as 



To labour is pleasant. 

 Other words may bo connected with the infinitive mood ; as 



.4 Noun. To drink u-afor is pleasant. 



A No\m and Adjective. To drink goad water is wholesome. 

 A Noun, Adjective, and Adverb. To driuk gooet water copiously is 

 wholesome. 



4. A present participle may be the subject of a proposition ; as, 



Drinking is bad. 



Drinking has here the force of a noun, while it retains also its 

 participial force. That it is a noun is clear from its being the 

 subject to the verb is. That it has also the force of a participle 

 is clear from its power to govern an object ; as 

 Drinking spirits is bad. 



As a noun, drinking may be qualified by an article, an adjec- 

 tive, and a personal pronoun ; as 



Article. The drinking was injurious. 



Adjective. Much drinking is very injurious. 



Pers. Pron. His drinking has been injurious to him. 



Equally may the participial force carry with it words qualify- 

 ing the object; as 



Drinking pure teoter is wholesome. 

 Drinking even a glass of wine may be blamed. 



This last sentence presents a subject compounded of several 

 words, for the subject to the verb may is the clause drinking 

 ~.even a glass of wine. 



' Here is a clear and striking instance of the advantage of the 

 term subject over the term nominative or nominative case. , These 

 words are the subject, but they are not the nominative of the 

 verb may. The nominative case must be restricted to drinking. 

 A past participle may be added to a present participle, so as 

 to form the subject of a proposition ; as 



Being involved in debt drove him from his country. 

 Here, too, qualifying words may be introduced ; as 

 Being greatly involved in debt, etc. 



The past participle itself cannot, however, be a subject to a 

 proposition. We may indeed say 



Driven is a past participle ; 



but here driven is used in a general sense as a noun, and may 

 have prefixed to it these terms, the word; as, " the word driven 

 is a noun." 



When this participial noun has the article connected with it, 

 it in a measure loses its participial force, and, becoming a noun, 

 is connected with a second noun by means of a preposition ; as 



The driving of the cattle was blamed. 

 With the noun, however, adverbs may be joined ; as 

 The driving off of cattle is a crime at law. 



The subject of a sentence is sometimes a proposition, or 

 several words introduced by an adverb or a preposition. Such 

 subjects are likely to give the learner trouble ; I therefore 

 give specimens, marking the words which form the several 

 subjects. 



COMPOUND OB ADVERBIAL SUBJECTS. 



Subject. 



That too much care can injure 

 By what means I may serve you 

 For a prince to be reduced 



Predicate. 



is a dangerous doctrine, 

 is unknown to me. 

 is a great calamity. 



AGREEMENT. 



The compound subjects I have now laid before you contain 

 instances of both agreement and government. They contain 

 instances of agreement in 



1. Much drinking is very injurious. 



2. Drinking pure water is wholesome. 



In 1, much is an adjective agreeing with the participial noun 

 drinking, whose meaning it qualifies. In 2, pure is an adjective 

 agreeing with water, whose meaning it qualifies. 



The instances of government which it is chiefly important to 

 notice are found in these propositions : 



1. Drinking spirits is bad. 



2. Drinking a glass of wine is not necessary. 



3. Disturbing t?ie peace of the Queen's subjects. 



In 1, we have the simple case of the object depending on the 

 verb, and the rule may be given as the object of a proposition 

 depends on or is governed by its verb. 



In 2, we find the Norman or false genitive in the words a 

 glass of wine, where the two nouna are connected by of, and the 

 latter, namely, wine, depends on or is governed by the pre- 

 position. 



In the third sentence the words queen's subjects present an 

 instance of the Saxon genitive, in which the former term, queen's, 

 depends on r is governed by the term subjects. The rule may 

 be laid down thus : 



Of two nouns in immediate dependence, the former is in the 

 genitive case. 



This last example contains an instance of both the Norman 

 and the Saxon genitive, and that too in combination, as in the 

 words 



The peace of the Queen's subjects. 



These two genitives may be indicated thus : 



THE SAXON GENITIVE. THE NORMAN GENITIVE. 



Queen's subjects. The peace of the subjects. 



For the Saxon genitive, the rule is that when two nouns come 

 together the dependent noun is in the genitive case. Observe 

 that the dependence is merely structural, as in " queen's sub- 

 jects," the form queen becomes the form queen's by being de- 

 pendent on subjects. You may state the rule thus, also, the 

 possessiwe case is the case of the possessor, as John's books. Thus 

 stated the relation is more than structural, for possession is a 

 fact. 



Instead of a noun, a clause, or several words, may govern the 

 genitive case. Instances of this kind involve idioms that may 

 be called peculiarly English, though similar constructions appear 

 in Greek : 



What is the reason of t7iis person's hasty dismissal of his servants ? 

 What is the reason of this person's dismissing his servant so hastily ? 

 He prevented his army's being enclosed. 



Possessive pronouns may hold the place of the genitive ; as 

 This is the last time of my acting so imprudently. 



In this instance the pronoun agrees with the participle as if it 

 were a noun. 



Sometimes the idea of possession is wholly dropped, and the 

 participle stands alone, either simply agreeing with a noun, or 

 with a gerundial force ; as 



