Читать книгу The Etymology and Syntax of the English Language Explained and Illustrated онлайн

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Other is sometimes used substantively, and has then a plural number, as, “Let others serve whom they will; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The word one has a plural number when an assemblage of units is expressed, not in the aggregate, but individually; and then it is used as a substantive, as, “I saw a great many fine ones.” It is also used indefinitely, in the same sense with the French on, as, “One would imagine these to be expressions of a man blessed with ease.”—Atterbury. And, in using it in this sense, it may be observed, in passing, that an error is often committed by employing the personal pronouns as referring to one; thus, “One is apt to exaggerate his own injuries,” instead of “one’s own injuries.” It is sometimes, though rarely, used as referring to a plural noun. “The Romans and the Carthaginians now took the field; the one ambitious of conquest, and the others in self-defence.” This mode of expression is objectionable. We should rather say, “the former,” and “the latter.”