alytical practical grammar - Toronto Public Library

150 ENGLlSII GRAMMAR.
gular; adjectives denoting MORE THAN ONE, qualify nouns
in the plural; as, " This man."-" These men."-" Six
feet. "
677. AJjectives denoting one are tlie ordinals first, second, third, &c.
(206), last-this, that-one, each, every, either, neither, much, and its com·
parative lIlore-all, denoting quantity, enough, whole.
678. When any of these is joined to a plural noun, the whole is reo
garded as ons aggregate; as, "The first two weeks "-" Every ten miles"
-" The last four lines "-" The last days of summer," die. But the verb
after such subjects is usually plural.
679. In such expressions, the cardinal number, if small, may precede
the words .first and last, but not the other cardinal! ; as, .. The two first
weeks "-" The four last lines" (705-3), meaning the two weeks at the
beginni7li;, or preceding all the rest-the four lines at the end, or succeeding
all the rest.
680. 'I'wo 01' more adjectives, expressIng qualities that belong to diffelent
objects of the mme name, and that name expressed only with the last,
should have an article before each; as, "The red and the wltite rose "­
that is, two roses, the one red, and the other white. So," The first and
the second page "-" The first and the second verse "-" The Old and the
New World." It has become common, however, even with good writers,
to drop the second article, and change the singular into the plural, to express
the same idca; thus, U The first and second pages "_U The Ii.rst and
second verses," &c. This mode of expression, though incorrect in itself,
is lcss stiff and formal than the other. (See Appendix IX.) When adjectives
denoting one are connected by or, nor, &c., the noun must be singular.
681. Adjectives denoting more than one are the following, viz.-all cardinal
numbers above one; as, two, three, &c.-few, many, with its compara·
tive more-all, denoting number, both, several, and enow. Enow is nearly
obsolete.
682. Adjectives withont s substantive expressed are often used as
nouns; as, "The rich and the poor meet togcther " (201). This is especially
common with all adjective pronouns except the possessive, and the
distributive every; as, "Of books, some are gOOd, some are bad."-" All
things come alike to all" (289.)
683. A,ljectives are sometimes usell indefinitely after an infinitive or
participle, without reference to any particular substantive, to express an
abstract idea; as, "To be good is to be Itappy."-" Being good is better
than being great."
684. 'When an adjective is a predicate (621), it must qualify its substantive
in the subject; as, " God is good, he is also just."_u To do good
to others is profitable to ourselves."-" That men should lie, is basc."
685. An adjective in the predicate sometimes qualifies the subject, not
considered simply as a substanti ve, but as a substantive affected by the
action of the connecting verb, which, in that ca~e, may be regarded as a
strengthened or modified copula (601); as, "That type stands low."­
" Thisfruit tastes bitter."-" The wind blows cold,"_u The door is painted