unctive should be used, as _If the
book were here, I should show you_--but the book is not here; _If it
were true, you would long ago have heard it_--but it is not true. But if
one is referring to past time, the imperfect indicative must be used,
as, _If he was here yesterday, I did not know it_.

Be careful to distinguish between _lay_ and _lie_, _raise_ and _rise_,
_set_ and _sit_. The first of each pair is transitive, and always
requires an object; the second is intransitive and never takes an
object. (The only exception is _sit_ used of a rider, as, _He sits his
horse well_.) One _lays_ or _sets_ a thing down and _raises_ it up. One
_lies_ or _sits_ down and _rises_ from one's place. Land _lies_ this way
or that. (But we speak of the _lay_ of the land.)

Especially pains must be taken to keep straight the past tenses and
past participles of _lay_ and _lie_. Of _lay_ past tense and participle
are alike _laid_. _He laid_ or _he has laid the case before the
authorities_. The past tense of _lie_ is _lay_ (the same as the present
tense of the transitive verb), the past participle is _lain_. These
forms are seldom if ever used for parts of _lay_; but for them _laid_ is
very often used, as, _He laid_ or _he has laid down to take a nap_,
where the correct usage is _He lay_ or _he has lain down_, etc.

Prices _rise_, wages _rise_, bread _rises_, bread is _set_ to _rise_;
men _raise_ prices or wages; _He rose and raised his hand_. Clothing of
every sort _sits_ well or ill, it does not _set_. The corresponding
noun, however, is _set_; _He admired the set of the garment_. You _set_
a hen, but the hen _sits_ and is a _sitting_ hen. The heavenly bodies
_set_, but that is another word, which means to _sink_ or to _settle_.

Inanimate objects are not _injured_ but _damaged_.

Use _wish_ to mean simple desire, as, _I wish to see him_. Use _want_ to
mean acute need, as, _I want food_.

Only moving objects _collide_. Two automobiles may _collide_, but an
automobile does not _collide_ with a fence.

PREFER:

_lend_ to _loan_
_lives_ to _resides_
_leaves_ to _departs_
_obtain_ or _procure_ to _secure_
_turn over_ to _turn turtle_
_bought_ to _purchased_
_live at hotel_ to _stop at hotel_
_robbed of_ to _relieved of_

Things of a general class are compared _with_ each other to bring out
points of similarity or dissimilarity. One thing is compared _to_
another of a different class. He compared