This book treats of the general principles of English expression. The attention is directed, not to words, but to the grammatical categories — the case forms, the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, the prepositional phrase, the indicative, the subjunctive, the active, the passive, the word order, the clause formations, clauses with finite verb, and the newer, terser participial, gerundival, and infinitival clauses, etc. These categories are the means by which we present our thought in orderly fashion and with precision, and are intimately associated with the expression of our inner feeling.
The story of the development of these categories constitutes the oldest and most reliable chapters in the history of the inner life of the English people. Serious efforts have been made everywhere throughout this book to penetrate into the original concrete meaning of these categories, in order to throw light upon the interesting early struggles of our people for a fuller expression of their inner life and to gain suggestions for their present struggles in this direction.
In these excursions into older English the author in his quotations from the original sources always preserves the older form, usually in the original spelling, but in the case of writings still widely read, as the Bible and Shakespeare, the spelling has been modernized in conformity to present usage.
Author(s): George O. Curme
Edition: New
Publisher: D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY
Year: 1931
Language: English
Pages: 640
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTORY; THE SIMPLE SENTENCE, ITS FORMS, FUNCTIONS, AND ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
II THE SUBJECT
Case and Position
Forms
Omission ok Subject
III THE PREDICATE
A Finite Verb of Complete Predication
A Verb ok Incomplete Predication and Complement
Predicate Appositive
Predicate Complement
A Noun
An Adjective or Participle
A Pronoun
An Infinitive
A Gerund
An Adverb and Prepositional Phrase
IV AGREEMENT BETWEEN SUBJECT AND PREDICATE
Number
Person
Gender
Case
V SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE
Attributive Adjective Modifiers
(I) Adherent and Appositive Adjective and Participle
(II) Attributive Genitive
(III) Apposition
(IV) Prepositional Phrase as Modifier of Noun
(V)Infinitive as Modifier of Noun
(VI) Adverb as Modifier of Noun
(VII) Clause as Modifier of Noun
VI OBJECTIVE MODIFIERS
Accusative Object
Dative Object, Form, Use
Genitive Object
Prepositional Object
Double Object
VII ADVERBIAL MODIFIERS
Form and Function
Position and Stress
Negatives
Form of Simple Adverbs
‘This/ ‘That/ ‘The’ Used Adverbially
Comparison of Adverbs
VIII INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS
Interjections
Direct Address
Absolute Nominative
Absolute Participles
IX CLASSES OF SENTENCES
The Compound Sentence
X THE COMPLEX SENTENCE: SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE
XI SUBJECT CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS
XII PREDICATE CLAUSE AND ITS CONJUNCTIONS
XIII ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
Attributive Substantive Clause
XIV ATTRIBUTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE
Development of the Relative Pronoun ‘Who'
Development of the Relative Pronoun ‘What'
Development of the Relative Pronoun ‘Which'
Other Determinative Constructions
Descriptive and Restrictive Relative Clauses
Personality and Form
Case of Relative; Its Agreement with Antecedent
Position and Repetition of Relatives
Asyndetic Relative Clause
Abridgment of Relative Clause
XV OBJECT CLAUSE
Genitive Clause and Its Conjunctions
Dative Clause
Accusative Clause and Its Conjunctions
Prepositional Clause and Its Conjunctions
XVI ADVERBIAL CLAUSE
Clause of Place and Its Conjunctions
Clause of Time and Its Conjunctions
Clause of Manner
Clause of Degree
Clause of Cause and Its Conjunctions
Clause of Condition or Exception
Clause of Concession and Its Conjunctions
Clause of Purpose and Its Conjunctions
Clause of Means
XVII WORD-ORDER
XVIII TENSES AND THEIR SEQUENCE
Present Tense
Past Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Future Tense
Future Perfect Tense
XIX ASPECT
Durative Aspect
Point-Action Aspects
Terminate Aspect
Iterative Aspect
XX MOOD
Indicative
Subjunctive
Optative
Potential
Imperative
XXI VOICE
Active
Passive
XXII INFINITE FORMS OF THE VERBS
Participle
XXIII THE INFINITIVE
XXIV THE GERUND
XXV ADJECTIVES
Functions and Classes
Inflection of Descriptive Adjectives
Inflection and Use of Limiting Adjectives
Substantive Function of Adjectives
Adjectives and Participles Used as Nouns
XXVI NUMBER IN NOUNS
Collective Nouns
Plural Used as Singular
Plural Nouns with Form of Singular
Plural of Names of Materials
Plural of Abstract Nouns
Nouns without a Singular
Plural of ‘Kind/ ‘Sort’
Number in Titles
XXVII GENDER
XXVIII PRONOUNS
XXIX PREPOSITIONS
XXX GROUPS AND GROUP-WORDS
INDEX
