alytical practical grammar - Toronto Public Library

2·18
ENG LISH GRAMMAR.
Thus, 'I saw the man I wnnted to see.' Here, man should be reprcsented
as equivalent to the own ,,110m. .
.. Tbe cause of tbe error in respect to lI'hal, is, tbat t~e a.ntecedent IS
IlPver exprcssc,\ with it, It is not like the ,:or~ who., whICb IS usell u?th
when tbe antecedent is expressed, and wben It IS omItted. The relative
Ih"t, however, was furmerly used in many cases where ~e u~e what, that
is with tbe antecedent omitted. A few examples of thIS Will help uS,to
,,;certain the nature of what; ',r e speak that we do know.'-ElIgI1slt
Biblc.-' I am that I am.'-liJ.
," Who had been seen imagine mot~ thereby,
That wbylome of Hercules bath been told:-Spcnser.
" 'Escbe\ve that wicked is.'-GOll'fr.
'" T, it po~si1,le he should not know what he is, and be that he is.'-Sltaks.
" 'Gather the sequel by that went beforc.'-Ib.
"In the,e examples, that is a relative, and is exac!ly synonY!li0us with
".hat. " .. one would contend, that that stands for Ibclf and. I~S ante.ce·
dent at the snme time. The anteced~nt is omitted because it IS IDdefimte,
or easily supplied."-Butler's Grammar, p. 48.
These rl'lllm \;s appeal' to me just, and conclnsive on tbis point,
APPENDIX IV.
IS as EVER A REL,\TlVE?
Tl>at the word AS should not be considered a relative in any circum·
stances, I think is plain from tbe following considerations:-
1. It bU3 neither the meaning nor the use of U relative, Its office is
simply to connect things compared, and, together with its antecedent
word, to express the idea of equality, likenes." &c., between them; thus,
"James is as tall as his father."-u Your bat is such as mine,"
~. It does not, like a relative, relate to a noun or pronoun before it,
called tbe antecedent, nor stand instead of it, or of any other word, but
is related only to the comparative word, as, Bueh, so, &c., in the preceding
clause. Thus, in the sentence, "As many 3S received him," the second
as relates to the first, and the two convey tbe idea of equality. Again,
"Send such books as you have." Here, as refers not to books, but to sue",
Take away such, and as can not be used.
3. As can never be used as a substitute for another relative pronoun,
nor another relative pronoun as a substitute for it.
4. 10 sentences in which as is said to be a relative, it evidently has the
same meaning and use as those in which it is allowed to be ouly [\ con·
junction. Compare tbe following examples: "As many as five men received
a reward."-u As many as received bim,"-" As many a.~ they can
give." In all these, the phrase " as many as" menns, anel is felt to mean
th~ san;re thi~g-equality of number. There .mely, then, caD be no pro~
prlct,Y Ill. callJng the second as a conjunction in the first sentence, flnll a
relatIve In the other two. Tbe same thing will be evident if we chan"e
the antecedent word. Thus," Such books as tbese are useful."-" Slt~"
books as are useful."-" Such books as you can give."