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7. Wise as you are, you don't know this.

8. I could not help laughing, though I tried hard not to. 9. You must not be proud, although you wear such fine clothes.

10. Honesty is the best policy, though trickery often seems to succeed.

QUESTIONS.

Answer, about each sentence, these two questions: (1) What is conceded in it? (2) and what is opposed to this concession? and do this very definitely.

Further: Write out, for each sentence which admits of it, an expansion of the concessive clause; e. g., the second sentence = this event may turn out in any manner, and for all this, etc.

LESSON XLIX.

COMPLEX SENTENCES: CLAUSES DENOTING

COMPARISON.

1. SOME clauses are added to the principal clause of the sentence to express a comparison of two actions, qualities, or circumstances. These clauses, through their connectives, correspond with some word or group of words in the prin cipal clause, and sometimes the entire clauses correspond with each other.

2. There are three cases.

(a) Some sentences assert that two qualities, manners, etc., are equal to each other. They do this by a clause introduced by as, and corresponding with the word or words

expressing that with reference to which the comparison is made, also introduced by as.

For example; He did his duty as well as he could. How did he do his duty? Well. How well? As well. How well is as well? As well as he could; that is, his ability to do well and his doing well are asserted to be equal.

(b) Again: He is as good as he can be. How good is he? The sentence does not assert any degree of goodness, but by the word as before good leads us to expect some comparison by which we can estimate its degree. Then, how good is he? as good as he can be; that is, his goodness = his ability to be good.

Notice here that no absolute degree of goodness is asserted; a comparison is made between ability to be, and being, good.

(c) Again: James is as good as Charles. Here James and Charles are compared as to goodness, and they are asserted to be equal in that respect.

(d) If the negative form were used in the first clause, so would generally be used in place of as; thus, he is not so tall as I.

(e) How is the first as to be disposed of? It is an adverb of indefinite degree, modifying the following word or words. How is the second as to be disposed of? It is a conjunction, corresponding with the first as, and connecting its clause to the word or words which the first as modifies.

(f) Two qualities or circumstances belonging to the same person or thing may also be compared in this way; as, he is as foolish as he is young.

This is called comparison of equality.

3. Some sentences assert inequality of the manners, qualities, etc., which are compared in the two clauses. This

comparison is made by the conjunction than, which corresponds with the sign-the suffix er, or the word more-of the comparative degree, accompanying the word or words expressing that with reference to which the comparison is made. As the correspondence is expressed in the preceding case by the correlatives as, as, it is expressed in this case by the correlatives er, or more, than.

For example: He is taller than his brother; he and his brother are compared with reference to tallness; that they are unequal in this respect is shown by the suffix er, followed by the than-clause.

Again; he acted more wisely than he knew; his acting and knowing are compared, and are unequal; this is shown by the comparative word more and the than-clause following.

There is

4. This is to be noticed about both these cases: really a word of quality, manner, etc., in each clause, accompanied by a sign-suffix or word-of degree. Thus to expand each example given: (1) he did his duty as well AS he could (do it well); (2) he is as good as he can be (good); (3) James is as good AS Charles (is good); (4) he is tall-ER THAN his brother (is tall); (5) he acted MORE wisely THAN he knew (that he acted wisely).

5. How shall than be disposed of? It is a conjunction, which brings the statement of its clause into comparison with something in the principal clause; it thus connects its clause to the word, suffix, or group of words, to which the corresponding sign of degree is joined.

This is called comparison of inequality.

6. Some sentences assert that one quality, manner, etc., varies as another quality or manner does. For example; he is as much wiser as he is older. To what degree is he wiser? Much wiser. How much? AS much As he is

older. Here two qualities of the same person vary in the same degree, and this equality of variation is shown by the corresponding terms as, as.

This is called proportionate equality.

7. Another mode of expressing this form of comparison is this the older he grows, the wiser he becomes. The comparison here is made by the word the: this, however, is not the article, but the dative case of the Saxon demonstrative, and is equivalent to the phrase by that. For example: The = by that = by as much as, he grows older, the = by that

he becomes wiser.

For the classification of such sentences as wholes, see Lesson LXI.

8. Sometimes an infinitive phrase is used instead of a clause; as, I was not so foolish as to believe all his story.

9. Clauses of comparison are very often elliptical in structure, and in order to a full analysis it is necessary to supply omitted parts. It is not best to do this, however, unless it is really necessary.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the office of some added clauses? What is the grammatical relation of these? How many cases are there? 2. (a) State the first. Illustrate by the examples given. (b) Give and explair another example. Are the assertions of such clauses absolute? (c) Give another example. (d) What change does the negative form generally take? (e) How is the word as in each clause to be disposed of? (f) What further variety of this kind of comparison ? What is it called? 3. State the second case. Illustrate by examples and find others. 4. What is to be noticed about both of these cases? 5. How is than to be disposed of in these constructions? What is this kind of comparison called? 6. State the third case. Give ex

amples. What is this called? 7. What is another form of this? Explain this use of the word the. 8. What is sometimes used in these sentences? 9. What must sometimes be supplied?

SENTENCES

FOR

PRACTICE.

NOTE. The correspondence will be sufficiently presented in thẻ notation by writing the signs of both parts; thus, more, than; as, as; over the sign of connection, as in Lesson XLVI.

1. She went through the halls with as much caution as the fear of death could inspire. A b.2

as as

= >

2. Any boy would rather hoe corn all day than weed the garden for an hour.

NOTE. Rather is a proper comparative degree.

3. Ed. May is as jolly as he used to be.

4. Self-denial is just as good for grown up people as it is

for children.

5. There is more nonsense talked about culture than there is about any thing else.

6. A boy can stand on one foot as well as a Holland stork

can.

7. There is as much difference between praise and flattery as there is between praise and blame.

8. I have never seen any girls so lovely as those were who used to sing in the gallery of that bare old meeting-house.

9. No play ever seemed so sweet to a boy as that between sundown and dark on Sunday. This is on the supposition that he had conscientiously kept Sunday and hadn't gone in swimming.

10. I take thy courtesy as freely as 'tis nobly given. Soon as the evening shades prevail,

11.

The moon takes up the wondrous tale.

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