1. Babylon has fallen. (The act.)

Babylon is fallen. THE BIBLE. (The condition or state.) 2. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. — - LINCOLN. 3. The guests are gone.

4. The children are all grown up.

238. Adjective or adverb after verb. After certain verbs (mostly intransitive) it is sometimes puzzling to know whether to use a predicate adjective (§ 158) or an adverb (§ 252). The rule is this to express quality or state, use the adjective; to express manner, use the adverb (but see § 239):

a. Adjective and adverb:

1. The ground felt soft; he felt softly about him.
2. He grew great; he grew greatly in stature.
3. She looked shy; she looked shyly round her.

4. The knife looks sharp; he looked sharply at me.

5. I feel warm; I feel warmly on that subject.

6. He saw us safe across the downs; you can go safely.

7. The flag waved triumphant over the old fort; he waved the flag triumphantly.

8. The rule held good (adj.); the rope held well (adv.).

9. The meat kept good (adj.); meat keeps well (adv.) here.

10. He did well (adv.; 'He did good' means he did what was right or helpful, good being a noun, § 13).

11. He came (spoke, sang) first (second, last; adj.); he spoke first (secondly, lastly; adv.) of his hope. See § 275.

b. Adjective:

1. The sky looks dull; the weather looks unpromising. 2. The air feels damp and cold; the child looks unhappy. 3. The cream tastes sour; the egg smells good (= like a good egg); the meat looks bad; the man looks ill (do not use bad of a person unless you mean a bad person; Sir James Murray, late Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, would not use bad or badly with look when speaking of a person's health).

239. Well and badly after feel, look, etc. As an exception to the rule set forth in § 238, the adverbs of manner well (not the adjective 'good') and badly (not the adjective 'bad') follow the intransitive verbs feel, look, smell, sound, and taste to denote the feeling, look, and so forth, which the subject has or takes on:

1. The garden looks well (or badly) after the rain.

2. He looks well (or badly) in this suit. -SIR JAMES Murray. 3. I have never felt so well (badly). (Not 'good', 'bad'.)

4. I can't eat today; everything looks badly and tastes badly. (Not 'bad'; it is not a question of the quality of the food, but of how the food looks and tastes.)

5. Things began to look well (or badly) for all concerned.
6. She feels badly about the whole affair.

7. The feast smells well. SHAKESPEARE.

8. It [a trout] looks well, and tastes well. IZAAK WALTON. 9. Fields of Swedish turnips, all looking extremely well. 10. The archbishop and his colleagues feel very strongly on the subject of the attack upon the Welsh Church. THE SPEAKER. 11. A moderate party had always felt kindly towards the Protestant Dissenters. MACAULAY. (Exercise XXVI, b, c, § 571.)

240. Ask, teach. The verb ask takes two objects, one of the person and the other of the thing; the verb teach takes an indirect object of the person and a direct object of the thing (this is made plain in Old English, in which the indirect object and the direct object had different forms; see §§ 604, 606): 1. He asked me my name.

2. She taught him (= to him) many things.

241. Bid, forbid. The verb bid, except before a negative or in the passive voice, takes the infinitive without to; forbid takes the infinitive with to:

1. They bade me go in; they bade me not to go in.

2. They forbade me to go in ; I was bidden (forbidden) to go in.

242. Come, go. The verbs come and go are followed by the infinitive (with to) to express purpose, or by a coördinate verb (connected by and) to express the result of the purpose, but care should be taken not to use a coördinate verb when the infinitive conveys the meaning intended (compare send, try, § 251); in the older language come and go often took the infinitive without to, but this is now archaic or dialectal (§ 380):

1. When will you come to see me? - DICKENS. (Purpose.) 2. Come and see us in our new home. (Result.)

3. She went to dress for dinner; she went and dressed for dinner. 4. I did not go to see him. (Not 'go and see '.)

243. Dare. The verb dare may take, as originally, the infinitive without to, and in the third person singular of the present indicative may have the form dare (instead of dares; § 622); when dare takes the infinitive with to, the form of the third person singular of the present indicative is dares:

1. I (You, He) dare not go. Dare I (you, he) go? 2. If he dares to go, I don't dare to follow.

244. Had better, etc. The past subjunctive had is used with the comparative, superlative, or positive of certain adjectives and adverbs (such as better, sooner, rather, best, as lief, as soon, as well) to express preference or choice. For example, he had better go' means 'he would have or hold it better to go'; better is an adjective, and go an infinitive. This idiom has had the sanction of good usage for centuries:

1. You had better leave your folly. - MARLOWE.

2. I had as lief be hanged. SHAKESPEARE.

3. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. THE BIBLE.

NOTE. Would rather and would sooner may be used like had rather (see § 193): 'I (You, He) would rather comfort them'. But 'would better' is not sanctioned by good usage, and should be avoided.

215. Have been to, etc. The verb phrase have been or had been may be followed by the preposition to, or a noun denoting motion, to express motion to and from a person or place (this idiom has been in good use for nearly three hundred years):

1. We have been to Paris (to dinner, to mother's).

2. I had been to see Irving that night.

3. He has been the rounds.

246. Help to. An infinitive used as the object of the verb help has the preposition to (the omission of to is now dialectal or vulgar, says the Oxford English Dictionary):

1. They helped to plant the trees. (Do not omit to.)

2. She will help you to secure employment.

3. He wished to help me to plant the trees.

4. The hereditary enemies of his house had helped him to mount a throne. MACAULAY.

247. It may be. The sentence it may be, meaning possibly, is often shortened to may be or (adverbially) maybe; but these uses are now archaic or dialectal (§ 380):

This, it may be, was the reason for the change.

248. Need. The verb need takes the infinitive with to unless the sentence is (actually or virtually) negative or interrogative; when the infinitive does not have to, the third person singular of the present indicative is need (instead of 'needs'; § 622):

1. He says he needs to find more men. (In 'Does he need to go?' need is an infinitive, object of does; § 174.)

2. I (You, He) need not ask; I (You, He) hardly need ask. Need he do this? Why need she say so?

249. Please. In such expressions as 'please to open the door' the verb please is for 'please it you' (that is, 'may it please you'), a subjunctive of wish (§ 162):

1. Please to stop the carriage. — DICKENS. (To is often omitted.)

2. Please not to forget that we want you.

3. Please your honor, there's a man at the door.

4. Please, may I come in? Give me my hat, please.

5. Will you, please, take a message for me?

250. Pray, prithee. In such expressions as 'pray do so the verb pray is for 'I pray you' (§ 350); prithee is an archaic colloquialism (§ 380) for 'I pray thee':

1. Pray tell me what I shall do.

2. Prithee, friend, exhibit thy wisdom.

251. Send, try. The verb send is followed by and with a coördinate verb, or by an infinitive with to (like come and go, 242); try is properly followed by the infinitive with to:

1. Send and find him; send somebody to find him.

2. Try to get a little rest. (Not 'try and get'.) (Exercise XXV, d-g, § 570.)

THE ADVERB

252. Adverb. An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb (see § 255 also):

1. He walked slowly; she sings well.

2. Rather cheerful; unusually kind; broiling hot.

3. More slowly; almost never; hardly ever.

253. Adverb phrase and clause. A phrase or a clause (§§ 6, 7) may be used as an adverb; such a phrase is called an adverb phrase, and such a clause an adverb clause (§§ 268–270): 1. The animal leaped blindly. (Adverb.)

2. He leaped without looking. (Adverb phrase; § 282, 2.)

3. He leaped before he looked. (Adverb clause.)

254. Adverb modifying phrase or clause. An adverb may modify an adverb phrase or an adverb clause: