Part 9

Erstens mag ich gern einen vernünftigen Menschen sprechen hören; und zweitens mag ich gern mit einem vernünftigen Menschen reden. —

Wissen ist Macht.]

Daß keine, welche lebt, mit Deutschlands Sprache sich

In den zu kühnen Wettstreit wage!

Sie ist, damit ich’s kurz, mit ihrer Kraft es sage —

An mannigfalt’ger Uranlage

Zu immer neuer und doch deutscher Wendung reich;

Ist, was wir selbst in jenen grauen Jahren,

Da Tacitus uns forschte, waren:

Gesondert, ungemischt und nur sich selber gleich.

Klopstock.]

GERMAN COMPOSITION.

1. Words which, in the English text and in the periphrases of the English text, are printed in Italics, must not be translated.

2. When two words are separated by a dash (—) in the Notes, they represent the first and last word of a whole clause in the English text, and the rendering refers to the clause thus indicated.

3. When two or more words are separated by dots (...) in the Notes, the rendering refers to those words only.

4. The sign = is used in the meaning of: ‘is equivalent to’.

5. As a rule, the periphrases are given in correct English construction.

Section 1.

A GOOD MAXIM.

My maxim is: never to begin a book without finishing it, never to consider it finished without knowing it, and to study it with a whole mind.—SIR THOMAS BUXTON.

+Grundsatz+, m.

to begin, +an´fangen+. When the =Infinitive= is used either subjectively or objectively, it is generally preceded by the preposition +=zu=+, and is called =Supine=. Comp. S. 78, N. 14, 1. To form the =Supine Present= of compound separable verbs, like +an´fangen+, we must place the preposition +zu+ between the separable prefix and the verb. The Supine must be used here. See App. § 1.

to finish, +beendigen+. The =Supine= is generally used for rendering the =English Gerund= (i.e. the verbal in -ing) when the latter is governed by a preposition, though, sometimes, this form may be rendered by the help of the subordinative conjunction +~daß~+ and a finite verb (i.e. one with a personal termination); as—

He judges without understanding anything about the matter.

+Er urteilt, ~ohne~ etwas von der Sache ~zu verstehen~+, or +~ohne daß er~ etwas von der Sache ~versteht~.+

Use the Supine, which is always to be placed at the end of the clause.

To consider a thing finished, +eine Sache ~als~ beendigt betrachten+. The pronoun ‘it’ should begin the clause. See App. § 2.

without — it, +ohne mit dem Inhalt desselben vertraut zu sein+.