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Macaroon Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
From Jane Eyre
'It contained a bookcase: I soon possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored with pictures.'
I'm having trouble understanding this sentence. I get the gist of it. But why is there a word 'of' after myself? Couldn't she just have phrased without of, 'I soon possessed myself a volume'? If not, what does 'of' play in this sentence?
Also, 'taking care' from the second phrase, I think it means making sure. So Jane made sure that the book she picked had pictures.
If my assumption is correct, I still feel it's slightly awkward using 'taking care'.
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Also, is it correct to say 'made sure'??
Some of the usage of present 'make sure' that I can think of...
command: 'Make sure you finish your hw before noon!'
'I always make sure everything's working before I purchase an item.'
Past tense 'made sure'??
'Jane made sure that she invited everyone to her party.'
---------made sure just sounds very awkward but I don't know how I can use 'make sure' in past tense.
What is the structural definition of make sure in a sentence?
is 'make' the verb of the sentence?
Then what about 'sure'? I don't think its a preposition...
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Couldn't she just have phrased it without 'of', 'I soon possessed myself a volume'?
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
It sounds correct to me but is it correct to use 'have' instead of 'has'? If yes, why?
Thank you so much for taking your time to read my questions and answering them! Please correct me if I'm making any other grammatical mistakes throughout this post!
I'm having trouble understanding this sentence. I get the gist of it. But why is there a word 'of' after myself? Couldn't she just have phrased without of, 'I soon possessed myself a volume'? If not, what does 'of' play in this sentence?
Also, 'taking care' from the second phrase, I think it means making sure. So Jane made sure that the book she picked had pictures.
If my assumption is correct, I still feel it's slightly awkward using 'taking care'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, is it correct to say 'made sure'??
Some of the usage of present 'make sure' that I can think of...
command: 'Make sure you finish your hw before noon!'
'I always make sure everything's working before I purchase an item.'
Past tense 'made sure'??
'Jane made sure that she invited everyone to her party.'
---------made sure just sounds very awkward but I don't know how I can use 'make sure' in past tense.
What is the structural definition of make sure in a sentence?
is 'make' the verb of the sentence?
Then what about 'sure'? I don't think its a preposition...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Couldn't she just have phrased it without 'of', 'I soon possessed myself a volume'?
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
It sounds correct to me but is it correct to use 'have' instead of 'has'? If yes, why?
Thank you so much for taking your time to read my questions and answering them! Please correct me if I'm making any other grammatical mistakes throughout this post!
Top answer
Macaroon I still feel it's slightly awkward using 'taking care' This is a good lesson in how language changes. This was published in 1847, more than 150 years ago. We no longer have any feel for the expressions that were used at that time, and it is pointless to critique them as "awkward" just because we don't use them any more today.
- Macaroon I still feel it's slightly awkward using 'taking care' This is a good lesson in how language changes.
- This was published in 1847, more than 150 years ago.
- We no longer have any feel for the expressions that were used at that time, and it is pointless to critique them as "awkward" just because we don't use them any more today.
- I'm sure that everything was completely grammatical and that nothing was awkward for the people of 1847.
- With that in mind, I soon possessed myself of a volume (1847) = I soon took a volume (2013) taking care (1847) = being careful (2013) = taking care (2013) Macaroon why is there a word 'of' after myself?
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2 Answers
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MacaroonI still feel it's slightly awkward using 'taking care'This is a good lesson in how language changes. This was published in 1847, more than 150 years ago. We no longer have any feel for the expressions that were used at that time, and it is pointless to critique them as "awkward" just because we don't use them any more today. I'm sure that everythin
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The quote is perfectly grammatical. You still hear contructions similar this today, like, for example:
"I sneaked into the armory and furnished myself with a pistol, taking care that it was loaded with bullets."
The words "possessed," "of a," and, especially,"stored," in the quote, are not used in the same way today. To say: "I sneaked into the armory and possessed myself of
"I sneaked into the armory and furnished myself with a pistol, taking care that it was loaded with bullets."
The words "possessed," "of a," and, especially,"stored," in the quote, are not used in the same way today. To say: "I sneaked into the armory and possessed myself of
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