ADJECTIVES.
AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES WITH NOUNS.
These sort, all manner of,
etc.
427. The statement that
adjectives agree with their nouns in number is restricted to the words
this and that (with these and those), as these are
the only adjectives that have separate forms for singular and plural; and it is
only in one set of expressions that the concord seems to be violated,—in
such as "these sort of books," "those kind of trees," "all
manner of men;" the nouns being singular, the adjectives plural. These
expressions are all but universal in spoken English,
and may be found not infrequently in
literary English; for example,—
These kind of knaves I
know, which in this plainness
Harbor more craft,
etc.
—Shakespeare
All these sort of things.—Sheridan.
I hoped we had done with those sort of
things.—Muloch.
You have been so used to those sort of
impertinences.Sydney Smith.
Whitefield or Wesley, or some other such great man as a
bishop, or those sort of people.—Fielding.
I always delight in overthrowing those kind of
schemes.—Austen.
There are women as well as men who can thoroughly enjoy
those sort of romantic spots.—Saturday Review, London.
The library was open, with all manner of amusing
books.—Ruskin.
According to the approved usage of Modern English, each
one of the above adjectives would have to be changed to the singular, or the
nouns to the plural.
History of this
construction.
The reason for the prevalence of these expressions must be
sought in the history of the language: it cannot be found in the statement that
the adjective is made plural by the attraction of a noun following.
At the source.
In Old and Middle English, in keeping with the custom of
looking at things concretely rather than in the abstract, they said, not "all
kinds of wild animals," but "alles cunnes wilde deor" (wild animals
of-every-kind). This the modern expression reverses.
Later form.
But in early Middle English the modern way of regarding
such expressions also appeared, gradually displacing the old.
The result.
Consequently we have a confused expression.
We keep the form of logical agreement in
standard English, such as, "This sort of trees should be planted;" but
at the same time the noun following kind of is felt to be the real
subject, and the adjective is, in spoken English, made to agree with it, which
accounts for the construction, "These kind of trees are best."
A question.
The inconvenience of the logical construction is seen when
we wish to use a predicate with number forms. Should we say, "This kind of
rules are the best," or "This kind of rules is the best?"
Kind or sort may be treated as a collective noun, and in this way
may take a plural verb; for example, Burke's sentence, "A sort of
uncertain sounds are, when the necessary dispositions concur, more
alarming than a total silence."
COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS.
Use of the comparative
degree.
428. The comparative degree
of the adjective (or adverb) is used when we wish to compare two objects or
sets of objects, or one object with a class of objects, to express a higher
degree of quality; as,—
Which is the better able to defend
himself,—a strong man with nothing but his fists, or a paralytic cripple
encumbered with a sword which he cannot lift?—Macaulay.
Of two such lessons, why
forget
The nobler and the manlier
one?
—Byron.
We may well doubt which has the stronger claim to
civilization, the victor or the vanquished.—Prescott.
A braver ne'er to battle rode.—Scott.
He is taller, by almost the breadth of my nail,
than any of his court.—Swift.
Other after the comparative form.429. When an object is
compared with the class to which it belongs, it is regularly excluded from that
class by the word other; if not, the object would really be compared
with itself: thus,—
The character of Lady Castlewood has required more
delicacy in its manipulation than perhaps any other which Thackeray has
drawn.—Trollope.
I used to watch this patriarchal personage with livelier
curiosity than any other form of humanity.—Hawthorne.
Exercise.
See if the word other should be inserted in the
following sentences:—
1. There was no man who could make a more graceful bow
than Mr. Henry.—Wirt.
2. I am concerned to see that Mr. Gary, to whom Dante
owes more than ever poet owed to translator, has sanctioned, etc.—Macaulay.
3. There is no country in which wealth is so sensible of
its obligations as our own.—Lowell.
4. This is more sincerely done in the Scandinavian than
in any mythology I know.—Carlyle.
5. In "Thaddeus of Warsaw" there is more crying than in
any novel I remember to have read.—Thackeray.
6. The heroes of another writer [Cooper] are quite the
equals of Scott's men; perhaps Leather-stocking is better than any one in
"Scott's lot."—Id.
Use of the superlative
degree.
430. The superlative
degree of the adjective (or adverb) is used regularly in comparing more
than two things, but is also frequently used in comparing only two things.
Examples of superlative with several objects:—
It is a case of which the simplest statement is
the strongest.—Macaulay.
Even Dodd himself, who was one of the greatest
humbugs who ever lived, would not have had the face.—Thackeray.
To the man who plays well, the highest stakes are
paid.—Huxley.
Superlative with two objects.
Compare the first three sentences in Sec. 428 with the
following:—
Which do you love best to behold, the lamb or the
lion? —Thackeray.
Which of these methods has the best effect? Both
of them are the same to the sense, and differ only in form.—Dr Blair.
Rip was one of those ... who eat white bread or brown,
whichever can be got easiest.—Irving.
It is hard to say whether the man of wisdom or the man
of folly contributed most to the amusement of the party.—Scott.
There was an interval of three years between Mary and
Anne. The eldest, Mary, was like the Stuarts—the younger
was a fair English child.—Mrs. Oliphant.
Of the two great parties which at this hour almost share
the nation between them, I should say that one has the best cause, and
the other contains the best men.—Emerson.
In all disputes between States, though the
strongest is nearly always mainly in the wrong, the weaker is
often so in a minor degree.—Ruskin.
She thought him and Olivia extremely of a size, and
would bid both to stand up to see which was the tallest.—Goldsmith.
These two properties seem essential to wit, more
particularly the last of them.—Addison.
"Ha, ha, ha!" roared Goodman Brown when the wind laughed
at him. "Let us see which will laugh loudest."—Hawthorne.
Double comparative and
superlative.
431. In Shakespeare's time it was quite common to use a
double comparative and superlative by using more or most before
the word already having -er or -est. Examples from Shakespeare
are,—
How much more elder art thou than thy
looks!—Merchant of Venice.
Nor that I am more better than
Prospero.—Tempest.
Come you more nearer.—Hamlet.
With the most boldest and best hearts of
Rome.—J. Cæsar.
Also from the same
period,—
Imitating the manner of the most ancientest and
finest Grecians.—Ben Jonson.
After the most straitest sect of our
religion.—Bible, 1611.
Such expressions are now heard only in vulgar English. The
following examples are used purposely, to represent the characters as ignorant
persons:—
The artful saddler persuaded the young traveler to look
at "the most convenientest and handsomest saddle that ever was
seen."—Bulwer.
"There's nothing comes out but the most lowest
stuff in nature; not a bit of high life among them."—Goldsmith.
THREE FIRST OR FIRST THREE?
432. As to these two
expressions, over which a little war has so long been buzzing, we think it not
necessary to say more than that both are in good use; not only so in popular
speech, but in literary English. Instances of both are given below.
The meaning intended is the same, and the reader gets the
same idea from both: hence there is properly a perfect liberty in the use of
either or both.
First three, etc.
For Carlyle, and Secretary Walsingham also, have been
helping them heart and soul for the last two years.—Kingsley.
The delay in the first three lines, and conceit
in the last, jar upon us constantly.—Ruskin.
The last dozen miles before you reach the
suburbs.—De Quincey.
Mankind for the first seventy thousand ages ate
their meat raw.—Lamb.
The first twenty numbers were expressed by a
corresponding number of dots. The first five had specific names.—Prescott.
Three first, etc.
These are the three first needs of civilized
life.—Ruskin.
He has already finished the three first sticks of
it.—Addison.
In my two last you had so much of Lismahago that
I suppose you are glad he is gone.—Smollett.
I have not numbered the lines except of the four
first books. —Cowper.
The seven first centuries were filled with a
succession of triumphs.—Gibbon.
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