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Год написания книги
2018
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Being discovered seems to be the real crime.
His having joined his comrades was a brave act.
Your remaining here will be dangerous.
Note that when the participle is used as a noun, the possessive form of the pronoun is always used with it, as in the sentence above:
Your remaining here will be dangerous.
Notice that in some of these sentences the participle has an object; as, making shoes, his having joined his comrades. The participle still retains some of its verb nature in that it may take an object. The entire phrases, His having joined his comrades, and, Making shoes, are the subjects of the sentences.
419.The infinitive may also be used as a noun, the subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences the use of the infinitive as the subject of the sentence:
To err is human; to forgive is divine.
To be or not to be is the question.
To toil all day is wearisome.
To aim is one thing; to hit the mark is another.
To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.
420.An adjective can also be used as the subject. You remember in our study of adjectives we found that an adjective may be used as a noun, as for example:
The strong enslave the weak.
Here the adjective strong is used as a noun, subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences, the use of the adjectives as subjects:
The wise instruct the ignorant.
The dead were left upon the battlefields.
The rich look down upon the poor.
The mighty of the earth have forced this war upon us.
The poor are enslaved by their ignorance.
The wounded were carried to the hospitals.
PLACE OF THE SUBJECT IN A SENTENCE
The subject usually comes first in the sentence. If it has any modifiers, they alone precede the subject, as for example:
A wonderful, inspiring lecture was given.
The weary army slept in the trenches.
But occasionally we find the subject after the verb.
421.By simple inversion.
We will often find this use in poetry or in poetic prose, as for example:
Never have I heard one word to the contrary.
In this sentence I is the subject of the sentence, have heard is the verb, and never is an adverb modifying the verb phrase, have heard. But in order to place emphasis upon the word never, which is the emphatic word in the sentence, never is placed first, and the verb phrase inverted so that the subject I comes in between the two words which form the verb phrase. The sentence expressed in its usual order would be:
I have never heard one word to the contrary.
You will note that this statement does not carry the same emphasis upon the word never as the inverted statement.
422.In interrogative sentences, the subject comes after the helping verb or after the interrogative used to introduce the sentence. As for example:
Have you heard the news?
When will we hear from you?
How have the people been managing?
What will the children do then?
Will the students come later?
Can the work be accomplished quickly?
Must our youth end so quickly?
423.The real subject comes after the verb when we use the introductory word it. As for example:
It will not be safe to go.
To go is really the subject of the sentence. To go will not be safe.
It is sometimes the real subject of a sentence, as in the sentence; It is a wonderful story.
Here it is the subject of the sentence and a wonderful story is the predicate complement. But in the sentence:
It is wonderful to hear him tell the story.
To hear him tell the story is the real subject of the sentence. The first sentence, It is a wonderful story, could not be rewritten, but the second sentence could be rewritten, as follows:
To hear him tell the story is wonderful.
424.The introductory word there reverses the order of the sentence, just as the introductory word it. The real subject is used later in the sentence. As for example:
There were a great many people present.
His having joined his comrades was a brave act.
Your remaining here will be dangerous.
Note that when the participle is used as a noun, the possessive form of the pronoun is always used with it, as in the sentence above:
Your remaining here will be dangerous.
Notice that in some of these sentences the participle has an object; as, making shoes, his having joined his comrades. The participle still retains some of its verb nature in that it may take an object. The entire phrases, His having joined his comrades, and, Making shoes, are the subjects of the sentences.
419.The infinitive may also be used as a noun, the subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences the use of the infinitive as the subject of the sentence:
To err is human; to forgive is divine.
To be or not to be is the question.
To toil all day is wearisome.
To aim is one thing; to hit the mark is another.
To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.
420.An adjective can also be used as the subject. You remember in our study of adjectives we found that an adjective may be used as a noun, as for example:
The strong enslave the weak.
Here the adjective strong is used as a noun, subject of the sentence. Note in the following sentences, the use of the adjectives as subjects:
The wise instruct the ignorant.
The dead were left upon the battlefields.
The rich look down upon the poor.
The mighty of the earth have forced this war upon us.
The poor are enslaved by their ignorance.
The wounded were carried to the hospitals.
PLACE OF THE SUBJECT IN A SENTENCE
The subject usually comes first in the sentence. If it has any modifiers, they alone precede the subject, as for example:
A wonderful, inspiring lecture was given.
The weary army slept in the trenches.
But occasionally we find the subject after the verb.
421.By simple inversion.
We will often find this use in poetry or in poetic prose, as for example:
Never have I heard one word to the contrary.
In this sentence I is the subject of the sentence, have heard is the verb, and never is an adverb modifying the verb phrase, have heard. But in order to place emphasis upon the word never, which is the emphatic word in the sentence, never is placed first, and the verb phrase inverted so that the subject I comes in between the two words which form the verb phrase. The sentence expressed in its usual order would be:
I have never heard one word to the contrary.
You will note that this statement does not carry the same emphasis upon the word never as the inverted statement.
422.In interrogative sentences, the subject comes after the helping verb or after the interrogative used to introduce the sentence. As for example:
Have you heard the news?
When will we hear from you?
How have the people been managing?
What will the children do then?
Will the students come later?
Can the work be accomplished quickly?
Must our youth end so quickly?
423.The real subject comes after the verb when we use the introductory word it. As for example:
It will not be safe to go.
To go is really the subject of the sentence. To go will not be safe.
It is sometimes the real subject of a sentence, as in the sentence; It is a wonderful story.
Here it is the subject of the sentence and a wonderful story is the predicate complement. But in the sentence:
It is wonderful to hear him tell the story.
To hear him tell the story is the real subject of the sentence. The first sentence, It is a wonderful story, could not be rewritten, but the second sentence could be rewritten, as follows:
To hear him tell the story is wonderful.
424.The introductory word there reverses the order of the sentence, just as the introductory word it. The real subject is used later in the sentence. As for example:
There were a great many people present.
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