I.—SYNTAX OF THE NOUN.

1.—THE NOMINATIVE CASE.

RULE I.—The Subject of a sentence is in the Nominative Case.

Thus we say, I write; John writes: and both I and John—the subjects in these two sentences—are in the nominative case.

RULE II.—When one noun is used to explain or describe another, the two nouns are said to be in Apposition; and they are always in the same case.

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Thus we find in Shakespeare’s Henry V., i. 2. 188 :—

                    “So work the honey-bees,
Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.”

Here bees is the nominative to work; creatures is the apposition with bees, and hence is also in the nominative case. (Of course, two nouns in apposition may be in the objective case, as in the sentence, “We met John the gardener.”)

(i) The words in apposition may be separated from each other, as in Cowper’s well-known line about the postman:—

“He comes, the herald of a noisy world.”

RULE III.—The verb to be, and other verbs of a like nature, take two nominatives—one before and the other after.

Thus we find sentences such as—

(i) General Wolseley is an able soldier.

(ii) The long-remembered beggar was his guest.

In the first sentence Wolseley and soldier refer to the same person; beggar and guest refer to the same person; and all that the verbs is and was do is to connect them. They have no influence whatever upon either word. When is (or are) is so used, it is called the copula.

If we call the previous kind of apposition noun-apposition, this might be called verb-apposition.

RULE IV.—The verbs become, be-called, be-named, live, turn-out, prove, remain, seem, look, and others, are of an appositional character, and take a nominative case after them as well as before them.

Thus we find:—

(i) Tom became an architect.

(ii) The boy is called John.

(iii) He turned out a dull fellow.

(iv) She moves a goddess; and she looks a queen.

On examining the verbs in these sentences, it will be seen that they do not and cannot govern the noun that follows them. The noun before and the noun after designate the same person.

RULE V.— A Noun and an Adjective, or a Noun and a Participle, or a Noun and an Adjective Phrase,—not syntactically

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connected with any other word in the sentence,—are put in the Nominative Absolute.

Thus we have:—

(i) “She earns a scanty pittance, and at night
            Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light.”—Cowper.

(ii) The wind shifting, we sailed slowly.

(iii) “Next Anger rushed, his eyes on fire.”—Collins.

(iv) Dinner over, we went up-stairs.

The word absolutus means freed; and the absolute case has been freed from, and is independent of, the construction of the sentence.

REMARKS.—1. In the oldest English (or Anglo-Saxon), the absolute case was the Dative; and this we find even as late as Milton (1608-1674), who says—

“Him destroyed,
All else will follow.”

2. Caution! In the sentence, “Pompey, having been defeated, fled to Africa,” the phrase having been defeated is an attributive clause to Pompey, which is the noun to fled. But, in the sentence, “Pompey having been defeated, his army broke up,” Pompey—not being the noun to any verb—is in the nominative absolute. Hence, if a noun is the nominative to a verb, it cannot be in the nominative absolute.

Remarks on Exceptions.

1. The pronoun It is often used as a Preparatory Nominative, or—as it may also be called—a Representative Subject. Thus we say, “It is very hard to climb that hill,” where it stands for the true nominative, to-climb-that-hill.

2. In the same way, the demonstrative adjective that is often used as a Representative Subject. “That (he has gone to Paris) is certain.” What is certain? That. What is that? The fact that he has gone to Paris.

3. Still more oddly, we find both it and that used in one sentence as a kind of Joint-Representative Subject. Thus we have: (i) “It now and then happened that (he lost his temper);” and, in Shakespeare’s “Othello”—

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(ii) “That (I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter)
       It is most true.”

What is most true? It. What is it? That. What is that?¹ That (I have taken away, etc.) Here the verb is has really three subjects, all meaning the same thing.

¹ It must be observed that the demonstrative that has by use gained the force, and exercises the function, of a conjunction joining two sentences. It here joins the two sentences “It is most true,” and “I have taken away,” etc.

4. The nominative to a verb in the Imperative Mood is often omitted. Thus Come along! = Come thou (or ye) along!

2.—THE POSSESSIVE CASE.

RULE VI.—When one Noun stands in the relation of an attribute to another Noun, the first of these nouns is put in the Possessive Case.

(i) The Possessive Case originally denoted mere possession, as John’s book; John’s gun. But it has gradually gained a wider reference; and we can say, “The Duke of Portland’s funeral,” etc.

(ii) The objective case with of is = the possessive; and we can say, “The might of England,” instead of “England’s might.”

RULE VII.—When (i) two or more Possessives are in apposition, or (ii) when several nouns connected by and are in the possessive case, the sign of the possessive is affixed to the last only.

(i) Thus we find: (i) For thy servant David’s sake. (ii) Messrs Simpkin & Marshall’s house.

The fact is, that Messrs Simpkin-&-Marshall, and other such phrases, are regarded as one compound phrase.

(ii) The sentence, “This is a picture of Turner’s,” is = “This is a picture (one) of Turner’s pictures.” The of governs, not Turner’s, but pictures. Hence it is not a double possessive, though it looks like it.

The phrase, “a friend of mine,” contains the same idiom; only mine is used in place of my, because the word friend has been suppressed.

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3.—THE OBJECTIVE CASE.

1. The Objective Case is that case of a noun or pronoun that is “governed by” a transitive verb or by a preposition.

It is only the pronoun that has a special form for this case. The English noun formerly had it, but lost it between the years 1066 and 1300.

2. The Objective Case is the case of the Direct Object; the Dative Case is the case of the Indirect Object—and something more.

(i) The Direct Object answers to the question Whom? or What?

(ii) The Indirect Object answers to the question To whom? To what? or For whom? For what?

3. The object of an active-transitive verb must always be a Noun or the Equivalent of a Noun.

RULE VIII.—The Direct Object of an Active-Transitive Verb is put in the Objective Case.

Thus we read: (i) We met the man (Noun). (ii) We met him (Pronoun). (iii) We saw the fighting (Verbal Noun). (iv) I like to work (Infinitive). (v) I heard that he had left (Noun sentence).

RULE IX.—Verbs of teaching, asking, making, appointing, etc., take two objects.

Thus we say: (i) He teaches me grammar. (ii) He asked me a question. (iii) They made him manager. (iv) The Queen appointed him Treasurer.

In the last two instances the objects are sometimes called factitive objects.

RULE X.—Some Intransitive Verbs take an objective case after them, if the objective has a similar or cognate meaning to that of the verb itself.

Thus we find: (i) To die the death. (ii) To sleep a sleep. (iii) To go one’s way. To wend one’s way. (iv) To run a race. (v) Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

Such objects are called cognate objects.

RULE XI.—The limitations of a Verb by words or phrases expressing space, time, measure, etc., are said to be in the

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objective case; as (i) he walked three miles; (ii) he travelled all night; (iii) the stone weighed three pounds.

1. Because these words limit or modify the verbs to which they are attached, they are sometimes called Adverbial Objects.

2. The following phrases are adverbial objects of the same kind: (i) They bound him hand and foot. (ii) They fell upon him tooth and nail. (iii) They turned out the Turks, bag and baggage. Such phrases are rightly called adverbial, because they modify bound, fell, and turned; and show how he was bound, how they fell upon him, etc.

Remarks on Exceptions.

1. The same verb may be either Intransitive or Transitive, according to its use. Thus—

2. An Intransitive verb performs the function of a Transitive verb when a preposition is added to it. Thus—

3. The preposition may continue to adhere to such a verb, so that it remains even when the verb has been made passive.

Thus we can say: (i) He was laughed-at. (ii) Whales were spoken-of. (iii) Prosecution was hinted-at. And this is an enormous convenience in the use of the English language.

4.—THE DATIVE CASE.

1. The Dative is the case of the Indirect Object.

Thus we say: He handed her a chair. She gave it me.

2. The Dative is also the case of the Direct Object, with

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Such verbs as be, worth, seem, please, think (= seem); and with the adjectives like and near.

Thus we have the phrases, meseems; if you please (= if it please you); methought (= it seemed to me); woe is me! and, she is like him; he was near us.

“Woe worth the chase! woe worth the day
That cost thy life, my gallant grey!”
                            —“Lady of the Lake.”

“When in Salamanca’s cave
Him listed his magic wand to wave,
The bells would  ring in Notre-Dame.”
                            —“Lay of the Last Minstrel.”

3. The Dative is sometimes the case of possession or of benefit.

As in, Woe is me! Well is thee!
                        “Convey me Salisbury into his tent.”

RULE XII.—Verbs of giving, promising, telling, showing, etc., take two objects; and the indirect object is put in the dative case.

Thus we say: He gave her a fan. She promised me a book. Tell us a story. Show me the picture-book.

RULE XIII.—When such verbs are turned into the passive voice, either the Direct or the Indirect Object may be turned into the Subject of the Passive Verb. Thus we can say either—

¹ This has sometimes been called the Retained Object. The words fan, etc., are in the objective case, not because they are governed by the passive verbs was given, etc., but because they still retain, in a latent form, the influence or government exercised upon them by the active verbs, give, promise, etc.

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Remarks on Exceptions.

1. The Dative of the Personal Pronoun was in frequent use in the time of Shakespeare, to add a certain liveliness and interest to the statement.

Thus we find, in several of his plays, such sentences as—

(i) “He plucked me ope his doublet.”

(ii) “Villain, I say, knock me at this gate, and rap me well.”

(iii) “Your tanner will last you nine year.”

Grammarians call this kind of dative the ethical dative.

2. The Dative was once the Absolute Case.

“This said, they both betook them several ways.”
                                                            —Milton.

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