y, for once,
for ever_. Here the adverb, though an indeclinable word, appears to be made
_the object_ of the preposition. It is in fact used substantively, and
governed by the preposition. The term _forever_ is often written as one
word, and, as such, is obviously an adverb. The rest are what some writers
would call _adverbial phrases_; a term not very consistent with itself, or
with the true idea of _parsing_. If different parts of speech are to be
taken together as having the nature of an adverb, they ought rather to
coalesce and be united; for the verb to _parse_, being derived from the
Latin _pars_, a _part_, implies in general a distinct recognition of the
elements or words of every phrase or sentence.

OBS. 6.--Nouns of _time, measure, distance_, or _value_, have often so
direct a relation to verbs or adjectives, that the prepositions which are
supposed to govern them, are usually suppressed; as, "We rode _sixty miles_
that day." That is,--"_through_ sixty miles _on_ that day." "The country is
not a _farthing_ richer."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 122. That is,--"richer
_by_ a farthing." "The error has been copied _times_ without
number."--_Ib._, p. 281. That is,--"_on_ or _at_ times _innumerable_." "A
row of columns _ten feet_ high, and a row _twice that height_, require
different proportions." _Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 344. That is,--"high
_to_ ten feet," and, "a row _of_ twice that height." "_Altus sex pedes_,
High _on_ or _at_ six feet."--_Dr. Murray's Hist of Europ. Lang._, ii, 150.
All such nouns are in the _objective case_, and, in parsing them, the
learner may supply the ellipsis;[365] or, perhaps it might be as well, to
say, as do B. H. Smart and some others, that the noun is an objective of
time, measure, or value, taken _adverbially_, and relating directly to the
verb or adjective qualified by it. Such expressions as, "A board of six
feet _long_,"--"A boy _of_ twelve years _old_," are wrong. Either strike
out the _of_, or say, "A board of six feet _in length_,"--"A boy of twelve
years _of age_;" because this preposition is not suited to the adjective,
nor is the adjective fit to qualify the time or measure.

OBS. 7.--After the adjectives _like, near_, and _nigh_, the preposition
_to_ or _unto_ is often understood;[366] as, "It is _like_ [_to_ or _unto_]
silver."--_Allen_. "How _like_ the former."--_Dryden_. "_Near_ yonder
copse."--_Goldsmith_. "_Nigh_ this recess."--_Garth_. As similarity and
proximity are