(6) _Gerunds_: "They shrink from _inflicting_ what they threaten;" "He is not content with _shining_ on great occasions."
"Each soldier eye shall brightly turn To _where thy sky-born glories burn_."
[Sidenote: _Object usually objective case, if noun or pronoun_.]
309. The object of a preposition, if a noun or pronoun, is usually in the objective case. In pronouns, this is shown by the form of the word, as in Sec. 308 (1).
In the double-possessive idiom, however, the object is in the possessive case after _of_; for example,--
There was also a book _of Defoe's_,... and another _of_ _Mather's_.--FRANKLIN.
See also numerous examples in Secs. 68 and 87.
And the prepositions _but_ and _save_ are found with the nominative form of the pronoun following; as,--
Nobody knows _but_ my mate and _I_ Where our nest and our nestlings lie. --BRYANT.
310. Prepositions are used in three ways:--
(1) _Compounded with verbs_, _adverbs_, or _conjunctions_; as, for example, with verbs, _with_draw, _under_stand, _over_look, _over_take, _over_flow, _under_go, _out_stay, _out_number, _over_run, _over_grow, etc.; with adverbs, there_at_, there_in_, there_from_, there_by_, there_with_, etc.; with conjunctions, where_at_, where_in_, where_on_, where_through_, where_upon_, etc.
(2) _Following a verb_, and being really a part of the verb. This use needs to be watched closely, to see whether the preposition belongs to the verb or has a separate prepositional function. For example, in the sentences, (_a_) "He broke a pane _from_ the window," (_b_) "He broke _into_ the bank," in (_a_), the verb _broke_ is a predicate, modified by the phrase introduced by _from_; in (_b_), the predicate is not _broke_, modified by _into the bank_, but _broke into_--the object, _bank_.
Study carefully the following prepositions with verbs:--
Considering the space they _took up_.--SWIFT.
I loved, _laughed at_, and pitied him.--GOLDSMITH.
The sun _breaks through_ the darkest clouds.--SHAKESPEARE.
They will _root up_ the whole ground.--SWIFT.
A friend _prevailed upon_ one of the interpreters.--ADDISON
The robber who _broke into_ them.--LANDOR.
This period is not obscurely _hinted at_.--LAMB.
The judge _winked at_ the iniquity of the decision.--_Id._