In that year Jack was stroke on the Freshman crew.

Mr. Jackson was asked to act

as umpire.

In that year Jack stroked the Freshman crew.

Mr. Jackson was asked to umpire the game.

To railroad belongs to legislative slang; to referee, to stroke (in boating), and to umpire (in games) belong to the dialect of athletics.

Avoid verbs that have not been admitted to good use.

EXERCISE XCVII

In place of each italicized word, substitute an expression that is in good use as a verb:

1. I admit that I began to enthuse a little.

2. The desire to resurrect our merchant service prevails.

3. He is now clerking in New York.

4. That chord seems to discord with the one you struck last.

5. We neighbored once out in Chicago.

6. Will you loan me your white tie for to-night?

7. I am glad that murderers are going to be electrocuted in future. 8. Do you like breaking on this road as well as on the Boston and Albany road?

9. Stewart was asked to stroke the crew to-day and to umpire the game to-morrow.

10. Jack is summonsed before the faculty.

11. Don't forget to wire me as soon as you reach Buffalo.

12. Their mothers earned their livings by laundrying.

13. He is said to orate eloquently.

14. I suspicioned that they had sent for you.

Redundant Verbs. A verb required by neither the sense nor the construction encumbers a sentence.

I

If it has [or is] to be done [or If it must be done], I will do it. I can't buy it; I haven't a dollar.

II

If it has got to be done, I will do it.

I can't buy it; I haven't got a dollar.

Got is redundant when it expresses an idea already expressed in "have"; it is not redundant when it means secured, as in "I haven't yet got the book.”

I

If Gladstone had not lived, England would not be what it is.

If it had not been for Dunstan, Godfrey would not have been wild.

For the use of have in the

If Gladstone had not have lived, England would not be what it is. If it had not have been for Dunstan, Godfrey would not have been wild.

sentences under II there is no

excuse; "had lived" and "had been " are the complete forms of the past-perfect tenses of "live" and "be.

The sentences under II illustrate a form of redundancy which is common in America even among the educated, but which is rarely heard in England.

I

I cannot but feel [or cannot help feeling] that something is wrong.

II

I cannot help but feel that something is wrong.

In the sentence under II, help is redundant: the meaning is fully expressed by either of the forms under I.

Avoid as a hindrance any verb that is not a help to the sense or to the construction.

EXERCISE XCVIII

Strike out any redundant verbs; make other changes if necessary:

1. What objection have you got to seeing him here?

2. I should like to have her see the best things in the city.

3. He could not help but speak his thought.

4. If you had have tried gold beads, you would never have had all this trouble.

5. I have got a sore throat, but I don't know where I got it.

Omitted Verbs.

- Verbs necessary to the sense, or to the

construction, or to both, are sometimes omitted.

I

Thackeray gives Swift a much better character than Johnson

does.

II

Thackeray gives Swift a much better character than Johnson.

The sentence under II is ambiguous, for "than Johnson may mean either "than he gives to Johnson " or "than Johnson does."

I forgot to do something I I forgot to do something I ought to do [or to have done]. ought to.

Sentences ending with the sign of the infinitive, though common in colloquial language, should, as a rule, be avoided in formal writing, partly because the construction is clumsy and gives an unfinished appearance to the sentence, and partly because it is, by the strict rules of grammar, incorrect.

In each of these examples, the choice between the two forms is a choice between the colloquial and the formal : in conversation the form given under II would be proper; in serious writing that given under I would be more appropriate. In some cases it is better to omit a verb, or a part of a verb, than to be too formal; such cases must be learned by observation.

"Had better," as has already been said,1 is an established idiom; but "you better" without "had," as in the sentence under II, is not English.

I

The Confederates had better have lost the battle than this commander of genius.

II

The Confederates had better lost the battle than this commander of genius.

In this example, the verb coupled with "had better" is an infinitive, even though "to" is not expressed. Speaking of the future we say "had better lose," speaking of the past we say "had better have lost.

I

At that moment he was no neglected contributor, but was, to his own consciousness, putting a powerful shoulder to the wheel.

II

At that moment he was no neglected contributor, but, to his own consciousness, putting a powerful shoulder to the wheel.

The omission of "was" before "putting" is especially objectionable; for this "was" is an auxiliary, whereas the first "was" is an independent verb.

The omission of a part of a verb makes each of the sentences under II incorrect; for the form omitted is not the same as that expressed.

1 See pages 15-16.

I

Our pessimists forget how much more complex are the thought and feeling, and how much deeper and fuller is the life, of to-day.

II

Our pessimists forget how

much
more complex are the
thought and feeling and how

much deeper and fuller the life
of to-day.

The omission of the verb from the second dependent clause of the sentence under II may be excused, for more freedom is permissible with "be" than with other verbs. Were the verb omitted of the same number as the verb in the first dependent clause, the omission would be unobjectionable in any but the most formal writing

In formal writing, do not omit a verb or a part of a verb that is needed to make the meaning clear or the sentence grammatical.

EXERCISE XCIX

Supply any verbs or parts of verbs needed to make the meaning clear or the grammatical construction correct :

1. If you have not already written, you ought to.

2. Portia begins by telling Shylock that he better receive the money instead of the forfeit.

3. Albert Lee, the son of Sir Henry, was as devoted to his king as his father.

4. They would not have done so much as I have.

5. Captain Mahan was a native of New York, and appointed to the Naval Academy in 1856.

6. It is as pretty a dress as she ever has or will wear.

7. Buck said his father and brothers ought to waited for their relatives.1

1 See page 74.