After that

"After that I have attended to the business I will call upon you." The word that is superfluous.

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But what

"His parents will never believe but what he was enticed away by his uncle." Omit what. The use of but that would be equally objectionable.

But is sufficient.

A reconstruction of the sentence would improve it. "His parents will always believe," or "Will never cease to believe that," etc.

Doubt not but

"I doubt not but your friend will return." Say, "I doubt not that your friend will return."

Not impossible but

"It is not impossible but he may call to-day." Use that instead of but.

Whether, Whether

"Ginevra has not decided whether she will study history or whether she will study philosophy." As there is nothing gained in clearness or in emphasis by the repetition of "whether she will," this shorter sentence would be better: "Ginevra has not decided whether she will study history or philosophy."

As though

"He spoke as though, he had a customer for his house." Say, "as if he had a purchaser," etc.

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Except

"I will not let thee go except thou bless me." This use of the word except occurs frequently in the Scriptures, but it is now regarded as obsolete. The word unless should be used instead.

"Few speakers except Burke could have held their attention." In this sentence, besides should take the place of except.

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CHAPTER IX

Correlatives

Certain adverbs and conjunctions, in comparison or antithesis, require the use of corresponding adverbs and conjunctions. Such corresponding words are called correlatives. The following are the principal ones in use: as, as. not merely, but also.

as, so. not merely, but even.

both, and. so, as.

if, then. so, that.

either, or. such, as.

neither, nor. such, that.

not only, but. though, yet.

not only, but also. when, then.

not only, but even. where, there.

not merely, but. whether, or.

The improper grouping of these correlatives is the cause of many errors in speech and writing.

As... as

"She is as wise as she is good." "Mary is as clever as her brother."

The correlatives as... as are

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employed in expressing equality. Their use in any other connection is considered inelegant. "As far as I am able to judge, he would make a very worthy officer." This is a very common error. The sentence should be, "So far as I am able," etc.

As is often followed by so. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."

So... as

In such negative assertions as, "This is not as fine a tree as that,"

the first as should be changed to so. Say, "She is not so handsome as she once was." "This edition of Tennyson is not so fine as that."

Either, Neither

The correlatives either, or, and neither, nor, are employed when two objects are mentioned; as, "Either you or I must go to town to-day,"

"Neither James nor Henry was proficient in history."

"He neither bought, sold, or exchanged stocks and bonds." The sentence should be, "He neither bought, sold, nor exchanged stocks and bonds."

"That is not true, neither." As we already have one negative in the word not, the word neither should be changed to either, to avoid the double negation.

A negative other than neither may take either or or nor as its correlative, "She was not so handsome as her mother, or so brilliant as her father." "He was never happy nor contented afterward."

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Position of correlatives

The placing of correlatives requires care. "He not only gave me advice, but also money." This is a faulty construction because the first member of the correlative, not only, being placed before the verb gave leads us to expect that the action of giving is to be contrasted with some other action. The close of the sentence reveals the fact that the words advice and money represent the ideas intended for contrast. The first correlative should, therefore, have been placed before advice, and the sentence should read, "He gave me not only advice, but also money."

"I remember that I am not here as a censor either of manners or morals." This sentence from Richard Grant White will be improved by changing the position of the first member of the correlative. "I remember that I am not here as a censor of either manners or morals."

"I neither estimated myself highly nor lowly." It should be, "I estimated myself neither highly nor lowly."

"He neither attempted to excite anger, nor ridicule, nor admiration."

The sentence should be, "He attempted to excite neither anger, nor ridicule, nor admiration." But here we have the correlative neither, nor, used with more than two objects, which is a violation of a principle previously stated. The