0
Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The analyses of a text #3
The narrator recalls his adolescence.
He was an apprentice for Mr. Spenlow.
He and Mr. Spenlow's only daughter Dora fell in love with each other, but after Mr. Spenlow's sudden death, she moved in with her two aunts.
..............
I feel as if it were not for me to record, even though this manuscript is intended for no eyes but mine, how hard I worked at that tremendous short-hand, and all improvement appertaining to it, in my sense of responsibility to Dora and her aunts. I will only add, to what I have already written of my perseverance at this time of my life, and of a patient and continuous energy which then began to be matured within me, and which I know to be the strong part of my character, if it have any strength at all, that there, on looking back, I find the source of my success. I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time, no matter how quickly its successor should come upon its heels, which I then formed. Heaven knows I write this, in no spirit of self-laudation. The man who reviews his own life, as I do mine, in going on here, from page to page, had need to have been a good man indeed, if he would be spared the sharp consciousness of many talents neglected, many opportunities wasted, many erratic and perverted feelings constantly at war within his breast, and defeating him. I do not hold one natural gift, I dare say, that I have not abused.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
1. I'd like to know if "it" refers to "to record."
2. I'd like to know if "in going on here" modifies "mine."
3. I think "if he would be spared" should be conditional 3.
So I was wondering why it is "if he would be spared," not "if he had been spared."
4. And I'd like to know if "be spared" means "got."
Thank you in advance for your help.
He was an apprentice for Mr. Spenlow.
He and Mr. Spenlow's only daughter Dora fell in love with each other, but after Mr. Spenlow's sudden death, she moved in with her two aunts.
..............
I feel as if it were not for me to record, even though this manuscript is intended for no eyes but mine, how hard I worked at that tremendous short-hand, and all improvement appertaining to it, in my sense of responsibility to Dora and her aunts. I will only add, to what I have already written of my perseverance at this time of my life, and of a patient and continuous energy which then began to be matured within me, and which I know to be the strong part of my character, if it have any strength at all, that there, on looking back, I find the source of my success. I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time, no matter how quickly its successor should come upon its heels, which I then formed. Heaven knows I write this, in no spirit of self-laudation. The man who reviews his own life, as I do mine, in going on here, from page to page, had need to have been a good man indeed, if he would be spared the sharp consciousness of many talents neglected, many opportunities wasted, many erratic and perverted feelings constantly at war within his breast, and defeating him. I do not hold one natural gift, I dare say, that I have not abused.
[David Copperfield by Charles Dickens]
1. I'd like to know if "it" refers to "to record."
2. I'd like to know if "in going on here" modifies "mine."
3. I think "if he would be spared" should be conditional 3.
So I was wondering why it is "if he would be spared," not "if he had been spared."
4. And I'd like to know if "be spared" means "got."
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
1. In the sense that the logical meaning is "I feel as if to record (how hard ... ) were not for me", yes, but that phrasing is strained.
- 1.
- In the sense that the logical meaning is "I feel as if to record (how hard ...
- ) were not for me", yes, but that phrasing is strained.
- This is another case of dummy/anticipatory "it", similar to cases that you have asked about before, where the native speaker would recognise a set pattern of usage, here "it was not for ~ to ~", rather than consciously seek a referent for "it".
- 2.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
1. In the sense that the logical meaning is "I feel as if to record (how hard ... etc.) were not for me", yes, but that phrasing is strained. This is another case of dummy/anticipatory "it", similar to cases that you have asked about before, where the native speaker would recognise a set pattern of usage, here "it was not for ~ to ~", rather than consciously seek a referent for "it".
2. "
2. "
0
Related Questions