3) When denoting a relation of time it occurs in two meanings, viz. 1o. no longer ago than (Dutch nog), 2o. not before (Dutch eerst). In the first sense its ordinary place is before the adverbial adjunct, in the second before the verb. Compare: I saw him only yesterday and I only saw him yesterday. This nicety of word-order, however, is not always observed. STOF., INTENS. AND DOWN-TON., 42. You know as well as I do that on this account only last quarter I wouldn't buy myself a new parasol. CoP., CH. II, 11a. Gibson is doing the very best thing, both for himself and for her, that he can do. I told him so only yesterday. WIV. AND DAUGHT., CH. XI, 121. i. ii. I thought you were in London. So I was yesterday. I only came down last night. SWEET. The white-haired Miss Hunt had left only last week, she was told. Note. For only in the first meaning we also find but. Among constellations she outshone but yesterday, she is still the So. 1) As a conjunctive adverb it has front-position. (64, a.) 2) Also when it refers to a previous as, front-position is regularly observed. 3) This is also its regular place in sentences corroborative of a previous statement, or in such as are expressive of the fact that a person or thing is in the same predicament as that mentioned in a previous sentence (8, f.) I thought you were in London. So I was yesterday. SWEET. 4) When so is used to replace a subordinate statement, a nominal, or together with the verb to do a previous verb with its modifiers, it mostly has back-position. Only when replacing a subordinate statement, or a nominal that is a predicative adnom. adjunct, do we occasionally find it at the head or in the body of the sentence. i. He had been away, I know, for two months before it happened; Doctor Brown says it is a hopeless case, has been so for long. 1) MURRAY. I did not want to be proud but I was forced to be so. LIFE OF CH. BRONTË, 362. Durban lives simply on the up-country trade - the trade of the ii. "I am leaving Rose Cottage to-day, Mr. Halifax." "So I have heard." JOHN HAL., CH. XV, 149. This is a pretty view. So I had always thought it; more so than ever now. ib., Ca. II, 17. iii. The examples sometimes cited of such irregularities in Milton do not prove that they are beauties or that Milton himself so regarded them. NOT. AND QUER. 5) The position of so as an ordinary adverb of quality, i. e. when it has the sense of in this manner, is that of other qualitative modifiers. (52.) So he called his old aunt Marchioness, but with an air as if he Nothing, at any rate, could be more certain than that Becky Sharp 6) For the placing of so when an adverb of degree. See 45 and 51. Well. 1) As a pure adverb of quality it has the same place assigned to it as adverbs of quality generally, barring front-position. You have acted well. It had been very well done. 2) When it denotes a relation of degree with an admixture of a relation of quality, it is placed now before, now after the verb, in the same way as this is done with the adverbs mentioned in 48. i. I well believe that. JOHN HAL., CH. XII, 122. She possessed talents which well fitted her to partake his cares. Esmond well remembered the day. HENRY ESM., I, CH. IX, 81. ii. She knew the archway well. CON. DOYLE, SIEGE OF SUNDA GUNGE. "Do you remember the last time we stood there John?" well." JOHN HAL., CH. XIX, 186. "I do, 3) In the sense of a weak much it mostly stands after the verb (49), and, of course, before the adjective. I would like well to see you married. JOHN HAL., XIX, 194. Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in years. GEN. XVIII, 11. 4) In the sense of to the end, completely, Dutch goed en wel, it stands immediately before the word it modifies, which is always a past participle. Ere he had well told his story, the troop rode into the court-yard. 5) When it is a kind of modal adverb in the sense of surely, it stands after may, the only verb with which it occurs. You may well look astonished. HYP., CH. X, 536. FINAL OBSERVATIONS. 71. In conclusion we make some observations about adverbial adjuncts of place and time. a) Adverbial adjuncts of time, as a rule, stand after those of place, when neither can be said to be subservient to the other. He remained standing in the same place for a few moments. ALL SORTS. He had resided in China for some years previously. ACAD. But it is easy to cite instances in which this order is not observed. She comes every day into the kitchen. JOHN HAL., CH. XIX, 192. b) When two adverbial adjuncts both expressing adverbial relations either of place or time occur together, that denoting the most special sense mostly takes precedence of the other. They lie on the table in the library. MID., CH. IV, 24. They did not reach Kensington until five o'clock in the morning. SH. HIST., CH. I, 2. About five o'clock in the afternoon, a group of several persons were standing in the shelter of an archway. CON. DOYLE, SIEGE OF SUNDA GUNGE. POSITION OF OBJECTS WITH VERBALS. 72. a) Objects are almost regularly placed after the verbals they belong to. i. I have reason to feel great respect for his knowledge. CONF., CH. III, 41. The primary effects of opium are always to excite and stimulate the system. ib., Cн. III, 41. ii. Arrived at my lodgings, I lost not a moment in taking the quantity prescribed. CONF., CH. III, 37. His enemies had charged him with talking nonsense on politics. ib., iii. I cannot imagine anybody disliking Jack. BANKR. HEART. A row of spacious houses, belonging to the chief factors of the b) When objects occur together with adverbial adjuncts, they mostly take precedence of the latter, subject to the same principles and restrictions as govern the relative position of objects and adverbial adjuncts in sentences and full clauses. i. He resolved to write the letter without delay. Sybil ventured to open her eyes again. FALL. ID., CH. XVII, 227. ii. I had a great wish to see again that fresh young face. JOHN HAL., CH. X, 109. This seemed to be dealing more tenderly with Granvelle's self-respect. He made himself generally pleasant, falling in kindly to the Jessops' 73. Obs. I. An instance of the object being placed before the infinitive is afforded by the saying truth to tell. II. Truth to tell, good looks are the exception, not the rule, in Naples. The ordinary practice, however, is to say: to tell (speak) (the) truth. To tell the truth, he did not care to venture there in the dark. To speak truth, if I thought I had a chance to better myself where Occasionally objects are found before gerunds, but then they form a kind of sense-unit with them. He gave up cigar smoking. PEND., I, CH. XXI, 219. For shoe-making or house-building, for the management of a ship or locomotive engine, a long apprenticeship is needful. SPENCER, EDUC., CH. I, 266 One advantage claimed for that devotion to language-learning which forms so prominent a feature in the ordinary curriculum, is, that the memory is thereby strengthened. ib., CH. I, 36α. III. In such a word-group as all things considered, the word-group all things does not represent the object, but the subject of the verbal the whole being equivalent to all things being (having been) considered. (CH. XX, 9, IV.) POSITION OF ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS WITH VERBALS. 74. The position of adverbial adjuncts with infinitives tallies, in the main, with the place which is given to them when they stand with finite predicates. This will become apparent from the following quotations, containing for the most part the same adverb. adjuncts as those mentioned in the preceding $$. a) Before a simple infinitive. The squire seemed hardly to credit his senses. JOHN HAL., CH. XIX, 180. I do not know how to find words adequately to thank you for the It may perhaps be as well succinctly to summarize the chief heads. It seemed, however, to be dealing more tenderly with Granvelle's England is resolved not only to maintain her position in South- In an hour the forces of Surajah Dowlah were dispersed, never to I hope never to see his face again. N. E. GR., § 1846. The Cabinet are compelled soon to revise their legislative programme. b) After a simple infinitive. We are not able to concur fully in his views on the subject of naval education and training. TIMES. |