175. When two Subjects in the singular number, and of the third person, are connected by or or nor, the Verb is in the singular :

When tribulation or persecution ariseth.

S. Matt. xiii. 21.

Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.

S. Matt. vi. 20.

176. When Subjects of different persons are connected by or or nor, the Verb usually agrees with the Subject nearest to it :

He or I am expected.

Neither I nor he is expected.

But there is no fixed usage in these cases, and the combinations are so awkward that they should be avoided; thus

One of us, he or I, is expected.

I am not expected, nor is he.

177. When an affirmative statement is connected with a negative statement, and a Verb refers to both, it is in the singular :

My poverty, but not my will, consents.-Rom. 5, 1, 75.

178. Collective Nouns, such as Nation, People, Senate, Herd, Army, and many others, have a plural Verb when the speaker has in view the units that make up the whole, and a singular Verb when the speaker calls attention to the collection as a whole.

For example, we might say with correctness

A party was sent (from the ship) to an island.

But Southey writes

A party were sent to an island.

So, again, in the following examples, the number of the words in italics might be changed without any grammatical error being made :—

The infantry were brought up to the attack.—Macaulay. The infantry was driven back.—Macaulay.

The cavalry were fifteen thousand.-Macaulay.

The army took up its quarters in a grove.—Macaulay.
When day broke the enemy were no more to be seen.
Macaulay.

The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.—Gray.
As when a mighty people rejoice.—Tennyson.

How great a part of mankind bear poverty with cheerfulness, because they have been bred in it, and are accustomed to it.-Bolingbroke.

A passage in S. John vii. 49 is noteworthy, because it gives, by a literal translation from the Greek, both usages:This people, who knoweth not the law, are cursed.

179. Many a is followed by a singular or plural Verb according as the speaker has in view one of the individuals that make up the collection, or a number of them :—

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

And waste its sweetness on the desert air.-Gray. Their name, their years, spelt by the unlettered muse, The place of fame and elegy supply;

And many a holy text around she strews,

That teach the rustic moralist to die.—Gray.

II. The Predicate.

180. The word Predicate is used throughout this book for that part of a Simple Sentence which is connected with the Subject of the sentence by the Copula.

The ordinary Copula is some finite part of the Verb BE, as in the sentences, I am happy; thou art wretched; he is poor; we are rich; ye are foolish; they are wise.

181. The employment of the Verb BE as a mere symbol to form the Copula must be carefully distinguished from its use to imply existence; as—

I think; therefore I am :

where I am means I exist.

In Dryden's line

Whatever is, is in its causes just,

the first is stands for exists, the second is stands for the Copula.

And similarly with the Past tense :

Alas! alas!

Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once;
And He that might the vantage best have took
Found out the remedy.—Meas. 2, 2, 72.

182. The Predicate may be

1. An Adjective.

2. A Noun.

Snow is white.

Knowledge is power.

I am Achilles.—Tro. 4, 5, 234.

3. A Pronoun.

Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.

4. A Numeral.

R. 3.; 5, 3, 183.

The grounds on which he rests the case are two.

5. A combination of words.

Macaulay.

I am a very foolish fond old man.—Lear, 4, 7, 60.
Want of decency is want of sense.-Roscommon.
Here is my hand, the deed is worthy doing.

H. 6. B.; 3, 1, 278.

COPULATIVE VERBS.

183. There are many Verbs in English of which the meaning is sometimes completed by an Adjective, Participle, or Noun, in the same case as the Subject. Such Verbs, occupying the position and having the effect of the Copula, are called Copulative Verbs. Such are— They stand idle.

Stand.

Lie.

Come.

His other parts besides

Prone on the flood, extended long and large,
Lay floating many a rood.-Milton.

All these and more came flocking.-Milton. Grow. Mine eyes grow dim.-H. 8. ; 4, 2, 164.

OMISSION OF THE VERB.

184. Completeness of grammatical construction is often neglected that brevity of speech or vividness of expression may be obtained. For example, the Copula and the Verb are often omitted in quick and animated speech :

What news abroad?—John, 5, 6, 16.

Upon them! Victory sits on our helms.

R. 3.; 5, 3, 351.

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

R. 3.; 5, 4, 7.

Strike up the drum; cry, "Courage!" and away.

H. 6. C.; 5, 3, 24.

Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it.—Macb. 5, 3, 47.

Should God create another Eve, and I
Another rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart.-Milton.

Slain is the Pontiff Camers,

Who spake the words of doom, "The children to the Tiber,

The mother to the tomb."-Macaulay.

Sorrow on thee and all the pack of you

That triumph thus upon my misery!—Shrew, 4, 3, 33.

Water, water everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink,-Coleridge.