Early Modern Grammar
exercises from Millward: thematic key
Personal
pronoun (Crystal 210)
§
in
PDE the neuter possessive is its
o Gunpowder that has lost its
strength ( 7.9.8)
§
possessive
my, her, etc: used as a determiner / adjective
o my eyes... (7.9.4)
§
possessive
mine, hers, etc.: used as a pronoun, on its own
o That book is mine.
§
I, she,
etc.: used as subject / before the verb
o I am the son of the King of
Naples. ( 7.9.4)
Reflexive
pronoun (Crystal 210)
§
used
when the direct or indirect object in a sentence refers to the same person or
thing as the subject of the sentence
o We must present ourselves
to him. ( 7.9.15)
§
in
PDE, formed by adding –self/-selves to the pronoun
§
verbs
can change with respect to this
o I endeavoured myself
to prove ... (7.11.1)
o for which I now repent me
(7.11.15)
Emphatic
pronoun
§
gives
additional emphasis to/draws attention to a noun phrase
o I myself cooked the
dinner.
o We spoke to the president herself.
§
formed
by adding –self/-selves to the pronoun
Transitive
verbs take a direct object (Crystal 212)
§
He
kissed me on the nose.
§
Verbs
can change with respect to this
o He whispered me in the Ear.
(7.9.11)
Imperative
verbs (Crystal 219)
§
in
PDE don’t have subject expressed ( 7.9.3)
o Sit thou by my bed!
Present
tense indicative
§
primary
verbs have –s in the present tense with a 3rd person singular
subject
o praise consists in
interlacing pleasure with profit (7.11.2)
o until the quaking prologue has
... got color into his cheeks (7.11.9)
The
inflected subjunctive is uncommon in PDE, which uses the indicative or modal
auxiliaries (7.11.5, 14)
§
He
that can tell to ten, if he recites them out of order, will lose
himself...
§
It
is dangerous for the feeble brain of man to wade far into the doings of
the Most High
§
It
would be dangerous ...
The
past participle of regular verbs
o takes –ed (7.11.10)
o Wadley in Berkshire is situated
in a vale.
The
auxiliary DO in PDE
§
is
no longer used for the simple present tense (7.11.1)
o according as they do
excel in ... understanding
§
is
no longer used for the simple past tense (7.11.7,8)
o The sheeted dead did
squeak and gibber squeaked and gibbered in the Roman streets.
o Never did had the
English nation beheld so much black worn as there was at her funeral.
§
is
used for negation
o Do not present yourself on the stage
(7.11.9)
o The bell that rings to a
sermon does not call upon the preacher only (7.11.11)
Modal
auxiliaries (can, will, etc.)
o require a following
infinitive
o They will continue
on in sinne... (7.11.13)
The
progressive aspect
§
is
constructed with BE and the –ING
form
§
is
used to express an event in progress at a given time
o Thy horse is standing
behind the hedge. (7.11.6)
The
perfective aspect (Crystal 225)
§
is
constructed with HAVE and the past participle
o The spoil of the church had
now become the only resource of all their operations (7.11.18)
§
PDE
uses the perfective with since:
o You haven’t seen her since
she was deform’d (7.11.4)
§
the
past perfect expresses ‘anterior time’ in an earlier time frame (7.11.17)
o There was but one small
objection ... that she had been married three months before to Mr
Shrimp.
PDE
only employs used to ‘was accustomed to’ in the past tense
o I use in my thoughts to
compare it to something -> (7.11.12)
o I am accustomed to compare
it to something
o I compare it to something...
o and it’s followed by a verbal
noun, not an infinitive
o I am so used to considering
myself as Creditor and Debtor...