Rarely

It is no uncommon thing to see this adverb improperly used in such sentences as, "It is very rarely that the puppets of the romancer a ume," etc.—"Apple tons' Journal," February, 1881, p. 177. "But," says the defender of this phraseology, " rarely qualifies a verb—the verb to be ." Not at all. The sentence, if written out in full, would be, "It is a very rare thing that," etc., or "The circumstance is a very rare one that," etc., or "It is a very rare occurrence that," etc. To those who contend for "It is very rarely that," etc., I would say, It is very sadly that persons of culture will write and then defend—or rather try to defend—such grammar.