Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/787



RULE XVI.&mdash;WORDS REPEATED.
A word emphatically repeated, is generally set off by the comma; as, "Happy, happy, happy pair!"&mdash;Dryden. "Ay, ay, there is some comfort in that."&mdash;Shak. "Ah! no, no, no."&mdash;Dryden. "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,   The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well!"&mdash;Woodworth.

RULE XVII.&mdash;DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.
A quotation, observation, or description, when it is introduced in close dependence on a verb, (as, say, reply, cry, or the like,) is generally separated from the rest of the sentence by the comma; as, "'The book of nature,' said he, 'is before thee.'"&mdash;Hawkesworth. "I say unto all, Watch."&mdash;Mark. "'The boy has become a man,' means, 'he has grown to be a man.' 'Such conduct becomes a man,' means, 'such conduct befits him.'"&mdash;Hart's Gram., p. 116. "While man exclaims, 'See all things for my use!'   'See man for mine!' replies a pamper'd goose."&mdash;Pope.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE PUNCTUATION.&mdash;ERRORS CONCERNING THE COMMA.

UNDER RULE I.&mdash;OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.
"Short, simple sentences should not be separated by a comma."&mdash;Felton's Gram., 1st Ed., p. 135; 3d Ed., Stereotyped, p. 137.

[.&mdash;Not proper, because a needless comma is put after short, the sentence being simple. But, according to Rule 1st for the Comma, "A simple sentence does not, in general, admit the comma." Therefore, this comma should be omitted; thus, "Short simple sentences should not be separated by a comma." Or, much better: "A short simple sentence should rarely be divided by the comma." For such sentences, combined to form a period, should generally be separated; and even a single one may have some phrase that must be set off.]

"A regular and virtuous education, is an inestimable blessing."&mdash;Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 174. "Such equivocal expressions, mark an intention to deceive."&mdash;Ib., p. 256. "They are, This and that, with their plurals these and those."&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 26; Practical Lessons, p. 3. "A nominative case and a verb, sometimes make a complete sentence; as, He sleeps."&mdash;Felton's Gram., p. 78. "Tense, expresses the action connected with certain relations of time; mood, represents it as farther modified by circumstances of contingency, conditionally, &c."&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 37. "The word Noun, means name."&mdash;Ingersoll's Gram., p. 14. "The present, or active participle, I explained then."&mdash;Ib., p. 97. "Are some verbs used, both transitively and intransitively?"&mdash;''Cooper's Pt. and Pract. Gram.'', p. 54. "Blank verse, is verse without rhyme."&mdash;Hallock's Gram., p. 242. "A distributive adjective, denotes each one of a number considered separately."&mdash;Ib., p. 51. "And may at last my weary age,   Find out the peaceful hermitage." &mdash;Murray's Gr., 12mo, p. 205; 8vo, 255.

UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.
"'A noun without an Article to limit it is taken in its widest sense.'&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 8; Practical Lessons, p. 10." [.&mdash;Not proper, because no comma is here set before the verb is taken. But, according to the Exception to Rule 1st for the Comma, "When the nominative in a long simple sentence is accompanied by inseparable adjuncts, or when several words together are used in stead of a nominative, a comma should be placed immediately before the verb." Therefore, a comma should be here inserted; thus, "A noun without an article to limit it, is taken in its widest sense."&mdash;Lennie's Gram., p. 6.]

"To maintain a steady course amid all the adversities of life marks a great mind."&mdash;Day's District School Gram., p. 84. "To love our Maker supremely and our neighbor as ourselves comprehends the whole moral law."&mdash;Ibid. "To be afraid to do wrong is true courage."&mdash;Ib., p. 85. "A great fortune in the hands of a fool is a great misfortune."&mdash;Bullions, Practical Lessons, p. 89. "That he should make such a remark is indeed strange."&mdash;Farnum, Practical Gram., p. 30. "To walk in the fields and groves is delightful."&mdash;Id., ib. "That he committed the fault is most certain."&mdash;Id., ib. "Names common to all things of the same sort or class are called Common nouns; as, man, woman, day."&mdash;''Bullions, Pract. Les.'', p. 12. "That it is our duty to be pious admits not of any doubt."&mdash;Id., E. Gram., p. 118. "To endure misfortune with resignation is the characteristic of a great mind,"&mdash;Id., ib., p. 81. "The assisting of a friend in such circumstances was certainly a duty."&mdash;Id., ib., 81. "That a life of virtue is the safest is certain."&mdash;Hallock's Gram., p. 169. "A collective noun denoting the idea of unity should be represented by a pronoun of the singular number."&mdash;Ib., p. 167.