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Bechtel, John Hendricks, 1841-

"Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking"

" "He was never happy nor contented afterward."
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164
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.


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