How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin
page 45 of 188 (23%)
page 45 of 188 (23%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
With the first person _will_ is used in direct statement to express
determination, as, "I will go to the city to-morrow." With the second and third persons _will_ is used to express simple future action; as, "You _will_ go to the city to-morrow," "He _will_ go to the city to-morrow." A very old rule regarding the uses of _shall_ and _will_ is thus expressed in rhyme: In the first person simply _shall_ foretells, In _will_ a threat or else a promise dwells. _Shall_ in the second and third does threat, _Will_ simply then foretells the future feat. (4) Take special care to distinguish between the nominative and objective case. The pronouns are the only words which retain the ancient distinctive case ending for the objective. Remember that the objective case follows transitive verbs and prepositions. Don't say "The boy who I sent to see you," but "The boy whom I sent to see you." _Whom_ is here the object of the transitive verb sent. Don't say "She bowed to him and I" but "She bowed to him and me" since me is the objective case following the preposition _to_ understood. "Between you and I" is a very common expression. It should be "Between you and me" since _between_ is a preposition calling for the objective case. (5) Be careful in the use of the relative pronouns _who_, _which_ and _that_. Who refers only to persons; which only to things; as, "The boy who was drowned," "The umbrella which I lost." The relative _that_ may refer to both persons and things; as, "The man _that_ I saw." "The hat _that_ I bought." |
|