Chapter II: Articles

CORRECTIONS RESPECTING A, AN, AND THE.

LESSON I.--ARTICLES ADAPTED.

"Honour is _a_ useful distinction in life."--_Milnes cor._ "No writer, therefore, ought to foment _a_ humour of innovation."--_Jamieson cor._ "Conjunctions [generally] require a situation between the things of which they form _a_ union."--_Id._ "Nothing is more easy than to mistake _a u_ for an _a_."--_Tooke cor._ "From making so ill _a_ use of our innocent expressions."--_Penn cor._ "To grant thee _a_ heavenly and incorruptible crown of glory."--_Sewel cor._ "It in no wise follows, that such _a_ one was able to predict."--_Id._ "With _a_ harmless patience, they have borne most heavy oppressions."--_Id._ "My attendance was to make me _a_ happier man."--_Spect. cor._ "On the wonderful nature of _a_ human mind."--_Id._ "I have got _a_ hussy of a maid, who is most craftily given to this."--_Id._ "Argus is said to have had _a_ hundred eyes, some of which were always awake."--_Stories cor._ "Centiped, having _a_ hundred feet; centennial, consisting of a hundred years."--_Town cor._ "No good man, he thought, could be _a_ heretic."--_Gilpin cor._ "As, a Christian, an infidel, _a_ heathen."--_Ash cor._ "Of two or more words, usually joined by _a_ hyphen."--_Blair cor._ "We may consider the whole space of _a_ hundred years as time present."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 138. "In guarding against such _a_ use of meats and drinks."--_Ash cor._ "Worship is _a_ homage due from man to his Creator."--_Monitor cor._ "Then _a_ eulogium on the deceased was pronounced."--_Grimshaw cor._ "But for Adam there was not found _a_ help meet for him."--_Bible cor._ "My days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as _a_ hearth."--_Id._ "A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof."--_Id._ "The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; _a_ high hill, as the hill of Bashan."--_Id._ "But I do declare it to have been _a_ holy offering, and such _a_ one too as was to be once for all."--_Penn cor._ "A hope that does not make ashamed those that have it."--_Barclay cor._ "Where there is not _a_ unity, we may exercise true charity."--_Id._ "Tell me, if in any of these such _a_ union can be found?"--_Dr. Brown cor._

"Such holy drops her tresses steeped,
Though 'twas _a_ hero's eye that weeped."--_Sir W. Scott cor._

LESSON II.--ARTICLES INSERTED.

"This veil of flesh parts the visible and _the_ invisible world."--_Sherlock cor._ "The copulative and _the_ disjunctive conjunctions operate differently on the verb."--_L. Murray cor._ "Every combination of a preposition and _an_ article with the noun."--_Id._ "_Either_ signifies, 'the one or the other:' _neither_ imports, 'not either;' that is, 'not _the_ one nor the other.'"--_Id._ "A noun of multitude may have a pronoun or _a_ verb agreeing with it, either of the singular number or _of the_ plural."--_Bucke cor._ "_The principal_ copulative conjunctions are, _and, as, both, because, for, if, that, then, since_."--_Id._ "The two real genders are the masculine and _the_ feminine."--_Id._ "In which a mute and _a_ liquid are represented by the same character, _th_."--_Gardiner cor._ "They said, John _the_ Baptist hath sent us unto thee."--_Bible cor._ "They indeed remember the names of _an_ abundance of places."--_Spect. cor._ "Which created a great dispute between the young and _the_ old men."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Then shall be read the Apostles' or _the_ Nicene Creed."--_Com. Prayer cor._ "The rules concerning the perfect tenses and _the_ supines of verbs are Lily's."--_K. Henry's Gr. cor._ "It was read by the high and the low, the learned and _the_ illiterate."--_Dr. Johnson cor._ "Most commonly, both the pronoun and _the_ verb are understood."--_Buchanan cor._ "To signify the thick and _the_ slender enunciation of tone."--_Knight cor._ "The difference between a palatial and _a_ guttural aspirate is very small."--_Id._ "Leaving it to waver between the figurative and _the_ literal sense."--_Jamieson cor._ "Whatever verb will not admit of both an active and _a_ passive signification."--_Alex. Murray cor._ "_The_ is often set before adverbs in the comparative or _the_ superlative degree."--_Id. and Kirkham cor._ "Lest any should fear the effect of such a change, upon the present or _the_ succeeding age of writers."--_Fowle cor._ "In all these measures, the accents are to be placed on _the_ even syllables; and every line is, in general, _the_ more melodious, as this rule is _the_ more strictly observed."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "How many numbers do nouns appear to have? Two: the singular and _the_ plural."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "How many persons? Three; the first, _the_ second, and _the_ third."--_Id._ "How many cases? Three; the nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_ objective."--_Id._

"Ah! what avails it me, the flocks to keep,
Who lost my heart while I preserv'd _the_ sheep:"--or, "_my_ sheep."

LESSON III.--ARTICLES OMITTED.

"The negroes are all _descendants_ of Africans."--_Morse cor._ "_Sybarite_ was applied as a term of reproach to a man of dissolute manners."--_Id._ "The original signification of _knave_ was _boy_."--_Webster cor._ "The meaning of these will be explained, for greater clearness and precision."--_Bucke cor._ "What sort of _noun_ is _man_? A noun substantive, common."--_Buchanan cor._ "Is _what_ ever used as three kinds of _pronoun_?"_--Kirkham's Question cor._ [Answer: "No; as a pronoun, it is either relative or interrogative."--_G. Brown_.] "They delighted in _having done it_, as well as in the doing of it."--_R. Johnson cor._ "_Both parts_ of this rule are exemplified in the following sentences."--_Murray cor._ "He has taught them to hope for _an other and better_ world."--_Knapp cor._ "It was itself only preparatory to a future, _better_, and perfect revelation."--_Keith cor._ "_Es_ then makes _an other and distinct_ syllable."--_Brightland cor._ "The eternal clamours of a _selfish and factious_ people."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "To those whose taste in elocution is _but little_ cultivated."--_Kirkham cor._ "They considered they had but a _sort of gourd_ to rejoice in."--_Bennet cor._ "Now there was _but one such bough_, in a spacious and shady grove."--_Bacon cor._ "Now the absurdity of this latter supposition will go a great way _towards making_ a man easy."--_Collier cor._ "This is true of _mathematics, with which taste_ has but little to do."--_Todd cor._ "To stand prompter to a _pausing yet ready_ comprehension."--_Rush cor._ "Such an obedience as the _yoked and tortured_ negro is compelled to yield to the whip of the overseer."--_Chalmers cor._ "For the gratification of a _momentary and unholy_ desire."--_Wayland cor._ "The body is slenderly put together; the mind, a rambling _sort of thing_."--_Collier cor._ "The only nominative to the verb, is _officer_."--_Murray cor._ "And though _in general_ it ought to be admitted, &c."--_Blair cor._ "Philosophical writing admits of a polished, _neat_, and elegant style."--_Id._ "But notwithstanding this defect, Thomson is a strong _and beautiful_ describer."--_Id._ "So should he be sure to be ransomed, _and many_ poor men's lives _should be_ saved."--_Shak. cor._

"Who felt the wrong, or feared it, _took alarm_,
Appealed to law, and Justice lent her arm."--_Pope cor._

LESSON IV.--ARTICLES CHANGED.

"To enable us to avoid too frequent _a_ repetition of the same word."--_Bucke cor._ "The former is commonly acquired in _a_ third part of the time."--_Burn cor._ "Sometimes _an_ adjective becomes a substantive; and, _like other substantives, it may have an_ adjective _relating_ to it: as, '_The chief good_.'"--_L. Murray cor._ "An articulate sound is _a_ sound of the human voice, formed by the organs of speech."--_Id. "A tense_ is _a_ distinction of time: there are six tenses."--_Maunder cor._ "In this case, _an_ ellipsis of the last article would be improper."--_L. Hurray cor._ "Contrast _always_ has the effect to make each of the contrasted objects appear in _a_ stronger light."--_Id. et al_. "These remarks may serve to _show_ the great importance of _a_ proper use of the _articles_."--_Lowth et al. cor._ "'Archbishop Tillotson,' says _the_ author of _a_ history of England, 'died in this year.'"--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Pronouns are used in stead of substantives, to prevent too frequent _a_ repetition of them."--_A. Murray cor._ "THAT, as a relative, seems to be introduced to _prevent_ too frequent _a_ repetition of WHO and WHICH."--_Id._ "A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun, to _prevent_ too frequent _a_ repetition of it."--_L. Murray cor._ "THAT is often used as a relative, to prevent too frequent _a_ repetition of WHO and WHICH."--_Id. et al. cor._ "His knees smote one against _the_ other."--_Logan cor._ "They stand now on one foot, then on _the_ other."--_W. Walker cor._ "The Lord watch between thee and me, when we are absent one from _the_ other."--_Bible cor._ "Some have enumerated ten parts of speech, making _the_ participle a distinct part."--_L. Murray cor._ "Nemesis rides upon _a_ hart because _the_ hart is a most lively creature."--_Bacon cor._ "The transition of the voice from one vowel of the diphthong to _the_ other."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "So difficult it is, to separate these two things one from _the_ other."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Without _a_ material breach of any rule."--_Id._ "The great source of _looseness_ of style, in opposition to precision, is _an_ injudicious use of _what_ are termed _synonymous words_."--_Blair cor._; also _Murray_. "Sometimes one article is improperly used for _the_ other."--_Sanborn cor._

"Satire of sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon _the_ wheel?"--_Pope cor._

LESSON V.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"He hath no delight in the strength of _a_ horse."--_Maturin cor._ "The head of it would be _a_ universal monarch."--_Butler cor._ "Here they confound the material and _the_ formal object of faith."--_Barclay cor._ "The Irish [Celtic] and _the Scottish_ Celtic are one language; the Welsh, _the_ Cornish, and _the_ Armorican, are _an_ other."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "In _a_ uniform and perspicuous manner."--_Id._ "SCRIPTURE, _n._ Appropriately, and by way of distinction, the books of the Old and _the_ New Testament; the Bible."--_Webster cor._ "In two separate volumes, entitled, 'The Old and New Testaments.'"--_Wayland cor._ "The Scriptures of the Old and _the_ New Testament, contain a revelation from God."--_Id._ "Q has _always a_ u after it; which, in words of French origin, is not sounded."--_Wilson cor._ "What should we say of such _a_ one? that he is regenerate? No."--_Hopkins cor._ "Some grammarians subdivide _the_ vowels into simple and compound."--_L. Murray cor._ "Emphasis has been _divided_ into the weaker and _the_ stronger emphasis."--_Id._ "Emphasis has also been divided into _the_ superior and the inferior emphasis."--_Id._ "Pronouns must agree with their antecedents, or _the_ nouns which they represent, in gender, number, and person."--_Merchant cor._ "The adverb _where_ is often used improperly, for _a_ relative pronoun and _a_ preposition": as, "Words _where_ [in which] the _h_ is not silent."--_Murray_, p. 31. "The termination _ish_ imports diminution, or _a_ lessening _of_ the quality."--_Merchant cor._ "In this train, all their verses proceed: one half of _a_ line always answering to the other."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "To _a_ height of prosperity and glory, unknown to any former age."--_L. Murray cor._ "_Hwilc_, who, which, such as, such _a_ one, is declined as follows."--_Gwilt cor._ "When a vowel precedes _the y, s_ only is required to form _the_ plural; as, _day, days_."--_Bucke cor._ "He is asked what sort _of word_ each is; whether a primitive, _a_ derivative, or _a_ compound."--_British Gram. cor._ "It is obvious, that neither the second, _the_ third, nor _the_ fourth chapter of Matthew, is the first; consequently, there are not '_four first_ chapters.'"--_Churchill cor._ "Some thought, which a writer wants _the_ art to introduce in its proper place."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Groves and meadows are _the_ most pleasing in the spring."--_Id._ "The conflict between the carnal and _the_ spiritual mind, is often long."--_Gurney cor._ "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and _the_ Beautiful"--_Burke cor._

"Silence, my muse! make not these jewels cheap,
Exposing to the world too large _a_ heap."--_Waller cor._