[Grammar] Sentence grammar - Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

[HeartShape]

Hi,

Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Sentence: Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

I saw this in an exercise. Looks like something out of a bible but can you write capitals like that and is the word order correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

The capitalisation of "He" and "Him" mid-sentence is religious usage. God and all related pronouns are capitalised throughout the Bible. Please give us the source and author of the exercise. It seems like a very strange choice of sentence for helping a learner with their English.

 

[HeartShape]

I think the exercise was written back in the 70's. She an old lady now but was teaching English in her times, and probably still is. Some of her materials seem really archaic with lots of lazy writing styles such as abbreviations. Bless the old lady.

Oh, shouldn't that sentence end with a question mark?

I think she's a devolted christian because she was taught by Nuns.

 

[HeartShape]

Yep. Definately Bible material: Some notes from god:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.—This rendering is almost proverbial; but, to say the least, its accuracy is very doubtful, for the better reading does not warrant it, but runs thus: Behold He will slay me. I have no hope; yet will I maintain my ways before Him. It is true we thus lose a very beautiful and familiar resolve; but the expression of living trust is not less vivid. For though there is, as there can be, no gleam of hope for victory in this conflict, yet, notwithstanding, Job will not forego his conviction of integrity; for the voice of conscience is the voice of God, and if he knows himself to be innocent, he would belie and dishonour God as well as himself in renouncing his innocence.

 

[Rover_KE]

It looks like something out of the Bible ...

I think the exercise was written back in the 70s. She an old lady now but was teaching English in her time, and probably still is. Some of her materials seem really archaic with lots of lazy writing styles such as abbreviations. Bless the old lady.

Oh, shouldn't that sentence end with a question mark? No.

I think she's a devout Christian because she was taught by nuns.

Please don't use this lady's teaching materials exclusively, or you'll end up speaking and writing some very odd English.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think the exercise was written back in the 70's. She is an old lady now but [STRIKE]was teaching[/STRIKE] used to teach English; [STRIKE]in her times,[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]and probably still is[/STRIKE] it's possible she still does. Some of her materials seem really archaic with lots of lazy writing styles such as abbreviations. Bless the old lady.

Oh, shouldn't that sentence end with a question mark? Which sentence are you referring to?

I think she's a [STRIKE]devolted[/STRIKE] devout Christian because she was taught by nuns.

See above.

(Cross-posted with Rover)

 

[jutfrank]

The subject I and auxiliary will following yet are inverted. It's not meant as a question.

 

[HeartShape]

Please don't use this lady's teaching materials exclusively, or you'll end up speaking and writing some very odd English.

It's too late for that. I was taught Shakespeare literature at school so my English is already odd. I'm just holding back.

 

[HeartShape]

See above.

(Cross-posted with Rover)

There is only one sentence: Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. (this one)

 

[Rover_KE]

There is only one sentence: Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

That's definitely not a question.

 

[HeartShape]

That's definitely not a question.

Well, I'm not really familiar with this type of style. The two words that throw me off balance are "Though" and "Yet", which seems to make it subordinates clauses. So I'm left with the question, where is the main clause?

 

[jutfrank]

where is the main clause?

yet will I trust Him

It helps to 'translate' into contemporary English. Although he wants to kill me, I will still trust him.

 

[HeartShape]

yet will I trust Him

It helps to 'translate' into contemporary English. Although he wants to kill me, I will still trust him.

I looked at your earlier post, and I think "will" is preceded by "yet" so that would suggest it's an adverb instead of a conjunction. Am I right?

 

[jutfrank]

I looked at your earlier post, and I think "will" is preceded by "yet" so that would suggest it's an adverb instead of a conjunction. Am I right?

Yes, well, I see it as basically meaning still, in which case it's adverbial.

 

[jutfrank]

'Yet' is a conjunction in that sentence.

Are you sure? Could you show how?

Maybe I'm misreading it. For me, it makes similar sense to reposition yet to the end of the clause, as though it were adverbial.

Though He slay me, I will trust Him yet.

Do you see what I mean?

 

[bubbha]

Remember, this is 400-year-old poetic English.

In modern English, it would be "Though he slays me, I will still trust him."

 

[Phaedrus]

The following quote from the second volume of George Curme's 1931 grammar might be of interest here:

"In older English, there was a marked tendency to employ correlatives in concessive sentences, an adversative, yet, still, nevertheless, etc., in the principal proposition corresponding to the concessive conjunction in the subordinate clause: 'Although all shall be offended, yet will not I' (Mark, XIV, 29). This adversative often seems superfluous to us today, since this idea is suggested by the context, hence we usually suppress it, following the modern drift toward terse, compact expression; but under the stress of strong feeling we still often employ it: 'Although it may seem incredible, it is nevertheless true.'" (Section 32)

I think of a line from the movement of Handel's Messiah following the "Hallelujah" chorus: "And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

Interestingly, Quirk et al. (1985) list "yet" and "nevertheless" as optional conjuncts (a type of adverbial) in "Although," "Even if," and "While" clauses (Sect. 14.13).

 

[HeartShape]

Finally, I have the answer. It makes grammatical sense now.

Here's the run down: The sentence could have a dependent subordinate clause and a main clause, or it could have a dependent subordinate clause and a conjunction but something still doesn't seem right.

Here is the reason:

"Yet" is an adverb so the correct term is calling it a conjunctive adverb.

Let's have a look: "Yet" could be a conjunctive adverb because it seems to behave like a conjunction, but it doesn't qualify the grammar rules given a subordinate exist in the sentence. So what do we do now? We throw it out.

"yet will I trust Him" must be the main clause.

Let's take a closer look:

Adverb can modify any verb so this means "yet" is modifying "will". Now the grammar is perfectly aligned. It works. "yet" modifies the verbs "will" and "trust". There are no more discrepancies.

If you refer to the quoted examples below all of them starts off with a main clause followed by a conjunction. The examples are not similar to the one quoted in the sentence from the lord.

They had plenty of time, yet she felt there was almost none.

The novel is 800 pages long, yet it reads more quickly than many shorter books.

He looks cheerful yet somehow sad at the same time.

Finally, the answer:

"Though He slay me" is the subordinate dependent clause.
"yet will I trust Him" is the main clause (no conjunction).

 

[HeartShape]

'Yet' is a conjunction in your sentence. The meaning is very similar to that of 'but'. You cannot analyse the English of 400 years ago in terms of the grammar of today's language.The sentence Although/Though he slay me, yet/but will I trust him is simply not acceptable in modern English.

Quoting from a source: "Some conjunctive adverbs are also used as coordinating conjunctions, that it not adverbially but to coordinate two independent clauses; they are for, whereas, nor, yet, so."

It would be true but: "Though He slay me" is not an independent clause, but a subordinate clause.

Since "yet" does not satisfy the conjunction rule but as an adverb modifying verb this is the best answer.

Sometimes "yet" can be used as an adverb and in this case it is being used as an adverb to modify "will" and "trust"

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Subordinate, + main clause

Finally, in the answer book, the answer key describe "yet" as a pure adverb. I started to analyse the sentence to understand why and I found it. This is the reason why it is the right answer. You may be right but given my analysis I can't dispute it when I have the answer.

 

[jutfrank]

'Yet' is a conjunction in your sentence. The meaning is very similar to that of 'but'.

Could you say more about this? I can't sense the reasoning here. Do you mean to say that it is not adverbial? Or just that it is a conjunctive adverb?

For me, the meaning is much more similar to still or nevertheless than but. Wouldn't you agree? Is there an alternative reading to be had?