ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

Evening Star, Issue 4045, 12 February 1876, Page 2

ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

. Atfbr AETtEAir Dunedin; February 9." Vi

To the Editor, ' Sir,-I feel quite sure that public with me m ass- rting' thfatm Hie eotnfSSZS o f ds-ngliah grammar there should be infect agtemenicfiiuoag teacher.. Too tanQfc cannot br given to the teaching of Enclkh sßfiws-’wsiS!* frair 1 ,|je r to: .-“That* ibor «houi«i be able to read and-write hie own £atiye>. guage aa it ought to be spoken end wnt wi, and lastingimportance than that be should excel in the oom'positbn of Sf e tt L * tl ? ve . raee ; •*?* *sa* do the latter who is utterly mcomreteUtnto.' the former. Of all the languages Er ghsh is, perhaps, the Worst spoken I.te tense of style, beeaqae they are arueion *1 peocle, and they shun grammatical errors aa they shun errors ,of pronunciation, mainly ■ becauoß they have an exquisite sty e.” i.if n P® Public schools in Otago,an Attempt is bemg jmade to revolutionise the wile of i uglisb grammar relating to preposition*. In of this I refer to the “ EtttluhMGhn'm. ■ mar: by T. Mon’ison. M.A.,”usedm fhh Hlsb' sphoi>l and district 66nods. It'tfeach^lh^fS-. Ihwiug:— ic nv _ i . «>« « •

}}i *' **« captured Thetjuef with ms associates' were #s&s&.* ■ main idea Sn.tte forfiarten. tenoe >s the captue of N»ptfedn, f faenoVtbe ve.b snsular.- In the. next fi£ Mf y of. thb Jffi SSSftSfS* b *<*«?ority • I belted? «f the Board.of Education,., wul, I emvW Bam,i who, *&i£tK^

»ar:" says"— "lusteacf of3anoT the' preposition 'with' is the party of an-aggregate" sabj ect, uridlflreir itris* a disputed point be lingular or plural. Thus C.the captain with his men were taken, prisoners.' requires trie but gVamatically the subject is singular. The trae solutftftfrbf the difficulty is to employ ' ancf' if)the* Sense &'plural.'. The phrase 'with- his jmeti, is ;en,adjunct of 'pap? tain,' htingair much' as.lo/saSy with liis men,' and 'Should be used] only when the attention is concentrated upon hiou' V If the men aie also to.be takea.noljioei of, w.e should say 'the car tain and, hip men, were,' : br : 'the captain was taken with his men'.!*' -'.*_ , The" Kev; «F. hunter's ' Text of English Grammar" has the following proper to make. the,preppsition 'with prelate two or more nouns as one plural subject'; thus it would be wrong to say, * '.I he side o with the,, sides 6 and £ compose the triangle;' But in this instance, while grammar demand the singular verb demand*" a Verb'plural,! therefore grammar mast yieM; that i 3, the sentence must be recast thesense may be expre-sed grammatically;' 'andi;wb can -aay, "ihe sidesi*«i.- :^f and « compose* t.h>» triangle. ' This is "the propar method of resolving such difficulties" ,:T- '- '

The,p).incd,ple of -JMjpg; the right: word in ; the right place wouldt-lea<i a teacher t,> us* the conjunctiqn ''and*' instead., ot the proposition " with* in the sentence*:." ,»he 'thief with his associates were put in prispij; x '~and in such teaching neither grammar nor sense would be ' :<r :> -■' '■■ "-'■-'* :: -' ' v: :v ; t A. 'BABBETT. Dunedin, Februaty 10. ; ;./•>. >'■■•■ •■*-•