Remembering J.C.Nesfield, M.A. and his invaluable contribution to English Grammar

   Remembering J.C.Nesfield, M.A. and his invaluable contribution

                                            to

                              English Grammar

J.C.Nesfield is often referred to as the father of English Grammar. And rightly so. He wrote his famous English Grammar And Composition long way back in 1898. Even after 117 years this book is consulted by the Grammarians of today for guidance and help. English language has gone through dramatic changes in the last 117 years but the basic structure of the language has remained the same  in the core.

Nesfield wrote this book in a very simple, easy to understand language. He wrote it for the common man and not for the pundits. Students generally avoid grammar books of any language because they get more confused because of the complex language in which such books are written. They rather hinder than help understanding the basic rules of grammar. You should try to get hold of Nesfield's book if you want to learn how English language should be analysed and structured. It will give you a clear insight and understanding of the English language. This book was published (or was brought out if you insist .) by Macmillan & Co., Limited in London and by Macmillan Company in New York, the USA. Whether it is available in the market or not I do not know.

We have already discussed how important it is to write sentences in the passive voice. We have discussed about the basic rules for changing active voice into passive voice. We can only write the transitive verbs in the passive voice. A verb that takes an object is called a Transitive verb, Sometimes a transitive verb can take more than one object.So the identification of the object is very important. We have to ask the transitive verb two questions with a) what and b) whom. If we get a positive answer we know there is an object and we will be able to write the sentence in the passive voice. J.C.Nesfield has identified and mentioned the following seven forms of object. Let us study them together. It will definitely help us in understanding the nuances of voice change better.

Forms of objects= There are seven forms at least.

1. Noun-The man killed a snake with a stick.
2.            Shramana treated the patient with the help of proper medicine.
3. Proun-The man lifted me up out of water.
4.              Debabrato invited her to dinner at the Harekorokomba restaurant.
5. Adjective used as noun- Apratim always helps the needy.
6.                                          Do not hate the poor.
7. Infinitive- Sukanya desires to leave us to-morrow.
8. Gerund-  Ranjit dislikes sleeping in the day but Debnath prefers sleeping all the time.
9. Phrase- No one knew how to make a beginning.
10. Clause- We do not know who has done this.

I hope the above examples will help you understand how to recognize and identify an object. Try to write the above sentences in the passive voice. There is a tricky problem there. It will be difficult to write the sentence with the infinitive object in the passive voice. No problem. Skip it.

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Now let us resume our task with the phrasal verbs.

Page no-382

1. He examined the manuscripts. ( The manuscripts was gone through by him. )=go through
2. Dowry system must be abolished.  ( Dowry system must be done away with. )=do away with
3. Shyamal could not conceal his tears. ( Shyamal could not hold back his tears.)= held back
4. No one can tolerate such behavior. ( No one can put up with such behavior. )=put up with

Page no-407

1. The patient will recover soon. ( The patient will come round soon. )=come round
2. The police chased the robber. ( The police ran after the robbers.) =run after
3. One cannot change an old habit easily. ( One cannot give up an old habit easily.)=give up
4. The burglars forcibly entered the house. ( The burglar broke into the house.)=break into

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spk-11/8/15