Subject pronoun after verb
"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab [an uncle of the Prophet], and perish he!"
Perish is verb and he is a subject pronoun, so why is "perish he!" used here?
optative-mood
New contributor
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"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab [an uncle of the Prophet], and perish he!"
Perish is verb and he is a subject pronoun, so why is "perish he!" used here?
optative-mood
New contributor
It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago
add a comment |
"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab [an uncle of the Prophet], and perish he!"
Perish is verb and he is a subject pronoun, so why is "perish he!" used here?
optative-mood
New contributor
"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab [an uncle of the Prophet], and perish he!"
Perish is verb and he is a subject pronoun, so why is "perish he!" used here?
optative-mood
optative-mood
New contributor
New contributor
edited 10 hours ago
TrevorD
10.6k22257
10.6k22257
New contributor
asked 10 hours ago
Mohammed hafiz ullahMohammed hafiz ullah
1
1
New contributor
New contributor
It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago
add a comment |
It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago
It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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"perish the thought" is a common idiom, meaning ca. "forget it". It has subjunctive grammatical mood. It appears like an imperative, but imperatives do not use pronouns.
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"perish the thought" is a common idiom, meaning ca. "forget it". It has subjunctive grammatical mood. It appears like an imperative, but imperatives do not use pronouns.
add a comment |
"perish the thought" is a common idiom, meaning ca. "forget it". It has subjunctive grammatical mood. It appears like an imperative, but imperatives do not use pronouns.
add a comment |
"perish the thought" is a common idiom, meaning ca. "forget it". It has subjunctive grammatical mood. It appears like an imperative, but imperatives do not use pronouns.
"perish the thought" is a common idiom, meaning ca. "forget it". It has subjunctive grammatical mood. It appears like an imperative, but imperatives do not use pronouns.
answered 10 hours ago
vectoryvectory
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Mohammed hafiz ullah is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammed hafiz ullah is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammed hafiz ullah is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Mohammed hafiz ullah is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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It's archaic English word order. (As is the subjunctive mood of perish.) EIther this was written long ago, or it was written to sound as if it were written long ago.
– Peter Shor
10 hours ago
Welcome to EL&U. It appears that you are quoting a sentence from a publication. Please provide the name & other details of the publication, and preferably a web-link to the relevant part of the publication: context can be important in answering Qs like this.
– TrevorD
10 hours ago
It first part refers to perishing the hands and the latter refers to the person.
– Karlomanio
9 hours ago
This sounds as though it might be a translation from Arabic. If that's the case how old is the translation, and is the word order similar in the Arabic?
– BoldBen
2 hours ago