Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

about it. Words of this sort are to be regarded as weak forms of the interjections. The frequent use of them should be discouraged, as it tends to develop into a bad habit of beginning almost every sentence with Why, or Well, or Say, or some similar unnecessary word.

224. Interjectional Phrases or Clauses.—A phrase like Good heavens!, Heaven and earth!, Mercy on us!, or a clause like What a day it was!, If I could only see him!, may be used with the value of an interjection. For the close relation between the interjection and the exclamatory sentence, see 7-8.

Numerals.

225. Numerals.-Numerals, as the name indicates (from Latin numerus, "number") are words which express ideas of number. They differ from words of indefinite quantity or number, like much, many, great, etc., in that they indicate number exactly, as in ten men, the tenth man, a million dollars. According to their function, numerals are adjectives, nouns, or adverbs.

EXAMPLES:

Numerals as adjectives:

(1) We found two large planks on the beach.

(2) Twenty-five years we have been waiting for this day.

(3) The third trial was successful.

(4) We were given a double allowance that day.

(5) There is talk of a triple alliance.

Numerals as nouns:

(1) Two of the candidates were disqualified.

(2) We can take only ten with us.

(3) Five and seven make twelve.

Numerals as adverbs:

(1) He tried twice to reach the float.
(2) The cock crew thrice.

(3) Try it once and you will try it often.

226. Classification of Numerals.-Numerals are classified as (a) Cardinals and (b) Ordinals.

(a) Cardinal numerals give the number of persons or things spoken about.

EXAMPLES:

(1) There are twenty boys in the class.

(2) Five houses on this street are empty.

(3) One day will not be long enough.

(b) Ordinal numerals indicate the place or position of a person or thing in a series.

EXAMPLES:

(1) Ask the third boy from the end.

(2) This is the twentieth day of January.

(3) They are on the fourth lap.

227. Both cardinals and ordinals may be used as nouns, as in the following examples:

(1) There are twenty in the class.

(2) One will not be enough.
(3) Ask the third from the end.

(4) This is the twentieth of January.

In these instances, however, the numerals combine in themselves the characteristics of the pronoun, in that they indicate persons or objects without naming them, and of the adjective, in that they limit in some degree the person or object implied by the numeral.

Cardinal numerals when used merely as the name of a number are pure nouns. As such they are also capable

of receiving a plural form.

EXAMPLES:

(1) Ten comes after nine.

(2) A billion is an inconceivable number.

(3) Nine tens make ninety.

(4) The strikers gathered by twos and threes.

228. Distributive Numerals.-The correlative numerals one . . . another, the one . . . the other are used with distributive value, as in the sentences, Some went in one direction, some in another; I shall take neither the one nor the other.

229. Form of the Numerals.-Cardinal numerals are represented either by words written out, as one, two, three, etc., or the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, etc., or Roman numerals, I, II, III, etc.

Ordinal numerals are either written out first, second, third, etc., or are represented by the Arabic symbols with abbreviation, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., or less frequently by the Roman symbols, Ist, IInd, IIIrd, etc.

Whether written out or represented by symbols the function of the numeral in its relation to other words remains the same.

CHAPTER IV.-INDEPENDENT AND

ELLIPTICAL ELEMENTS.

230. Independent and Parenthetical Sentence Elements. Although in general every word in the sentence has close and immediate connection with some other word in the sentence, and the fabric of the sentence is thus a closely knit and interdependent whole, there are nevertheless a number of instances in which words and phrases are introduced into the structure of the sentence in a loose and independent way, modifying the thought of the sentence as a whole rather than any specific part of it. We have already spoken of sentence-modifying adverbs (206 (5)) and expletive conjunctions (220) from this point of view. There are, besides, several other ways in which independent elements may be introduced into the body of the sentence, the most important of which are the following:

(1) The Parenthesis.-When the progress of a thought in the sentence is interrupted for a moment in order to introduce a related, but somewhat remote, thought, the interrupting part of the sentence is often enclosed within parentheses, as in the following example:

Such of my readers as may not be familiar with Scottish history (though the manner in which it has of late been woven with captivating fiction has made it a universal study), may be curious to learn something of the subsequent history of James.

A parenthetical sentence or phrase, as in the above example, may usually be set off from the rest of the sentence merely by commas, but the parentheses serve to separate it more sharply and distinctly from the main body of the sentence. The extent to which the parenthetical sentence is used varies greatly in different writers, being used so frequently by some as to constitute a distinct mannerism of style. In the following examples the italicized words are parenthetical in thought, but are separated from the body of the sentence only by commas:

(1) This house, as I have heard, was the first bank established

in the city.

(2) The bill, thanks to the minority leader, was easily passed.
(3) Dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs, it seems,
had been growing for a long time.

In general one should avoid a too frequent use of paren theses.

(2) The Independent Infinitive Phrase.-An infinitive phrase may be inserted into the body of the sentence, modifying thus the thought of the sentence as a whole.

EXAMPLES:

(1) We didn't know, to tell the truth, whether you were coming or

not.

(2) This, to repeat, is the most serious cause of discontent.

(3) The Independent Participial Phrase. Similar to the independent infinitive phrase is the independent participial phrase, used in the same way and with the same value.

EXAMPLE:

Speaking of investigations, there is no reason to suppose that this one will result differently from the rest.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »