A Dictionary of Cont..

subjective pronouns 482
1. The word there can be used without any
real meaning in order to place the subject after
the verb, as in there is a pleasure in the pathless
woods. Today this construction is archaic except
with the verb to be and a few other linking
verbs such as come, seem, appear; but it was
once used freely with verbs of any kind, as in
there lived a wife at Usher’s well. (See there.)
The word it is also used in order to place a true
subject later in the sentence. But if is a pronoun,
or substitute subject, and sentences of this kind
therefore still have the normal word order of
subject, verb. (See it.)
2. In a clause introduced by nor an auxiliary
verb must precede the subject, as in you do not
know, nor do 1. This is also true for the word
neither when it is used in place of nor, as in
they toil not, neither do they spin.
3. Ordinarily the word so does not affect the
order of subject and verb; but it can be used in
the sense of also with to be or an auxiliary verb
standing alone, and in that case the verb must
precede the subject, as in the final statement in:
He can tell you. So he can. But so can you.
4. When a negative adverb, or an adverb that
is restrictive, is placed before the subject for
emphasis, it usually brings the verb forward
with it, as in never will I forget, scarcely had he
spoken, only now do I realize.
5. The words here and there, used with their
full meaning, when placed before the subject
may bring the verb forward too, as in here are
the letters, there goes an umbulance. This wnstruction
is not obligatory even when the subject
is a noun and is never used with the pronouns
he, she, it, they. We say here they are and there
it goes.
6. Verbs such as say, reply, think, when interpolated
into a narrative may stand before
their subject, as in said he, thought 1. There
is a theory that the normal word order, he said,
should be used when only the substance of what
was said is being reported and that the inverted
order, said he, indicates that the exact words
have been repeated. This distinction is not observed
in the United States, where the normal
order, he said, I thought, and so on, is generally
preferred.
7. The words had, were, could, and should,
may be placed before the subject in a conditional
clause in order to avoid using the word
if, as in had he known, were I you. This construction
is extremely bookish. In ordinary
speech we are more likely to use if and the
normal word order of subject, verb.
8. In Old English the normal position for
the verb in a declarative sentence was immediately
after the first significant element, rather
than immediately after the subject. This meant
that the object of the verb, or any adverb, standing
in the first position might bring the verb
ahead of the subject. The old word order, as
seen in the boar’s head in hand bear I and up
jumped the swagman, is still understood by US.
But except in the seven cases listed above, it is
no longer normal English. It is used in poetry
and in stylized prose but is uncommon in matter-
of-fact speech. If one wants the old-fashioned
quality of a yarn one might say in 1603 died
good Queen Bess but a serious historian would
be more likely to say in 1603 Queen Elizabeth
died.
9. In Old English the verb was sometimes
made the first element in a declarative sentence
in order to emphasize the action and add a
sense of speed to the narrative. Chaucer uses
this device in ran cow and calf and eek the
verray hogges, but the construction was archaic
even in his time. Today it is no longer archaic;
it is simply unnatural English. And when it is
used where no sense of speed is intended, as
in came the dawn, it is ridiculous.
10. The verb to be is more likely to be
brought ahead of its subject than other verbs
are and when it is standing between its complement
and its subject, as in a strange bird is the
owl, it is sometimes difficult to say which is
which. Logically,the subject is the less inclusive
of the two terms. That is, a statement of this
kind says that the subject belongs in the class
of things named in the complement, and this
must therefore be the larger class. Owl is a less
inclusive term than strange bird and it is therefore
the subject of the verb is in the sentence
just given. But today there is a strong tendency
to treat any noun or noun equivalent standing
before a verb as the subject of the verb. We say
his greatest worry is taxes and taxes are his
greatest worry. Obviously, in these sentences we
are treating whatever precedes the verb as the
subject, without going into the question of
which class of things includes the other. Some
grammarians believe that this tendency is decisive
in contemporary English and define the
subject of a verb as any noun or noun equivalent
standing in the subject position.
However it is defined, the subject determines
the form of a present tense verb. For example,
worry requires the singular is, and taxes the
plural are. (See agreement: verbs.) An objective
pronoun cannot be used in a subject position.
(See objective pronouns and subjective pronouns.)
The subject of the verb includes the
noun or noun equivalent and all its qualifiers.
As a rule, these have the order: adjective qualifiers,
noun or noun equivalent, qualifying phrase
or clause. (See adjectives, position of adjectives,
phrases, and clauses.)
subjective pronouns. There are six subjective pronouns,
I, we, he, she, they, and who.
The formal rules of grammar require these
subjective forms (and not their objective counterparts)
whenever the word is:
(1) The subject of a verb. (He was there.)
(2) Joined to the subject by a linking verb.
(That is he.)
(3) Joined to the subject by and, or, nor, but,
than, or as. (I work harder than he.)
(4) In an independent or “absolute” construction.
(He having no coot. we gave
him one.)
These rules do not represent standard English
practice. In the speech of well educated people,