An English Grammar

Chapter 71

(_b_) Copulative, after _not only_.

Then arose not only tears, _but_ piercing cries, on all sides.

--CARLYLE.

(2) _Subordinate conjunction_: (_a_) Result, equivalent to _that_ ...

_not_.

Nor is Nature so hard _but_ she gives me this joy several times.--EMERSON.

(_b_) Substantive, meaning _otherwise_ ... _than_.

Who knows _but_, like the dog, it will at length be no longer traceable to its wild original--Th.o.r.eAU.

(3) _Preposition_, meaning _except_.

Now there was nothing to be seen _but_ fires in every direction.--LAMB.

(4) _Relative p.r.o.noun_, after a negative, stands for _that_ ... _not_, or _who_ ... _not_.

There is not a man in them _but_ is impelled withal, at all moments, towards order.--CARLYLE.

(5) _Adverb_, meaning _only_.

The whole twenty years had been to him _but_ as one night.--IRVING.

To lead _but_ one measure.--SCOTT.

AS.

332. (1) _Subordinate conjunction_: (_a_) Of time.

Rip beheld a precise counterpart of himself _as_ he went up the mountain.--IRVING.

(_b_) Of manner.

_As_ orphans yearn on to their mothers, He yearned to our patriot bands.--MRS BROWNING.

(_c_) Of degree.

His wan eyes Gaze on the empty scene _as_ vacantly _As_ ocean"s moon looks on the moon in heaven.

--Sh.e.l.lEY.

(_d_) Of reason.

I shall see but little of it, _as_ I could neither bear walking nor riding in a carriage.--FRANKLIN.

(_e_) Introducing an appositive word.

Reverenced _as_ one of the patriarchs of the village.--IRVING.

Doing duty _as_ a guard.--HAWTHORNE.

(2) _Relative p.r.o.noun_, after _such_, sometimes _same_.

And was there such a resemblance _as_ the crowd had testified?--HAWTHORNE.

LIKE.

[Sidenote: _Modifier of a noun or p.r.o.noun._]

333. (1) _An adjective._

The aforesaid general had been exceedingly _like_ the majestic image.--HAWTHORNE.

They look, indeed, _liker_ a lion"s mane than a Christian man"s locks.-SCOTT.

No Emperor, this, _like_ him awhile ago.--ALDRICH.

There is no statue _like_ this living man.--EMERSON.

That face, _like_ summer ocean"s.--HALLECK.

In each case, _like_ clearly modifies a noun or p.r.o.noun, and is followed by a dative-objective.

[Sidenote: _Introduces a clause, but its verb is omitted._]

(2) _A subordinate conjunction_ of manner. This follows a verb or a verbal, but the verb of the clause introduced by _like_ is _regularly omitted_. Note the difference between these two uses. In Old English _gelic_ (like) was followed by the dative, and was clearly an adjective. In this second use, _like_ introduces a shortened clause modifying a verb or a verbal, as shown in the following sentences:--

Goodman Brown came into the street of Salem village, staring _like_ a bewildered man.--HAWTHORNE.

Give Ruskin s.p.a.ce enough, and he grows frantic and beats the air _like_ Carlyle.--HIGGINSON.

They conducted themselves much _like_ the crew of a man-of-war.

--PARKMAN.

[The sound] rang in his ears _like_ the iron hoofs of the steeds of Time.--LONGFELLOW.

Stirring it vigorously, _like_ a cook beating eggs.--ALDRICH.

If the verb is expressed, _like_ drops out, and _as_ or _as if_ takes its place.

The st.u.r.dy English moralist may talk of a Scotch supper _as_ he pleases.--Ca.s.s.

Mankind for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw, just _as_ they do in Abyssinia to this day.--LAMB.

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