When must a noun or pronoun agree in case with another noun or pronoun?

When it is but a repetition of the other, or when it denotes, by way of explanation, the same thing.

Ex.-"I, I am the man." "Friends, false friends, have ruined me." "Smith is a barber." Smith the barber is my neighbor."

How can the different cases of nouns be distinguished?

By their meanings or, the nominative may be found by asking a question with who or what before the verb; the objective, with whom or what after the verb; and the possessive is known by the apostrophe.

Ex.-"Mary plucked flowers for John's sister." Who plucked?-plucked what?-for whom?

e. Having now shown you what properties nouns and pronouns have, I shall next show you, briefly and regularly, how the different nouns and pronouns are written to express these properties. This process is called declension.

What, then, is it, to decline a noun or pronoun?

To decline a noun or pronoun, is to show, in some regular way, what forms it has to express its grammatical properties.

Observe that nouns sometimes remain unchanged, and that pronouns are sometimes wholly changed, to express their properties.

DECLENSION OF NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.

Decline John, man, boy, lady, fox, farmer, Benjamin, city.

Decline I, thou, you, he, she, it, myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, one, other, who, whoever, whosoever, which, what, that, as, none.

Tell me the gender of each of the following words, and why:

Theodore, Theodora, he, hers, she, I, they, it, who, which, what.

Tell me the person of each of the following pronouns, and why:

I, we, my, myself, thou, thyself, she, he, it, its, himself, one, other, that, who. Tell me the number of each of the following pronouns, and why:

I, you, he, me, we, my, us, thee, yourselves, them, herself, themselves, it, she, hers, which, what, others.

Tell me the case of each of the following pronouns :

I, me, we, us, thou, thee, thyself, they, them, who, whom.

Of what gender, person, number, and case is each of the following pronouns ?— Him, his, its, he, them, it, I, you, thy, their, she, thou, me, your, us, they, my, mine, thine, yours, it, hers, theirs, we, thee, our, ours, ye, them, myself, ourself, themselves, ourselves, thyself, yourselves, yourself, himself, itself, herself, one, none, one's, ones', other, others', who, what, which, whatever.

3. ARTICLES.

If I say, "Give me a book," you understand that any book will answer my purpose; but if I say, "Give me the book," you understand that I want some particular book. If I say, "Missouri is north of Arkansas," I mean States; but if I say, "The Missouri is north of the Arkansas," I mean rivers. These little words, a and the, which often have so important an effect on the sense of nouns, are called

articles.

What, then, is an article?

An article is a word placed before a noun, to show how the noun is applied.

Ex.-"Man is made for society; but a man naturally prefers the man whose temper and inclinations best suit his own."

How many articles are there, and what are they?

Two: the, the definite article; and a or an, the indefinite article.

What does the definite article show?

The definite article shows that some particular object or group is meant.

Ex.-"The horse, the horses, the stage, the Connecticut, the lion; the green meadows; the iron-bound bucket; the brave Pulaski."

What does the indefinite article show?

The indefinite article shows that no particular one of the kind is meant.

Ex.-"A bird, a mouse, an apple, a cherry, a carriage; an idle boy."

How do a and an differ

In application only; in meaning, they are the same.

Where is an used?

Before words beginning with a vowel sound.

Ex.-"An article, an enemy, an inch, an urn, an hour; an honest man."

Where is a used?

Before words beginning with a consonant sound.

Ex.-"A banquet, a cucumber, a dunce, a fox, a horse, a jug, a king, a lion, a youth, a university, a eulogy; a one-horse carriage."

Place the proper indefinite article before each of the following words or phrases :— Razor, house, knife, humming-bird, chicken, ounce, insult, unit, ox, ball, hundred, African; interesting story; humble cottage.

4. ADJECTIVES.

The nouns and pronouns, as you remember, denote objects. But our regard for objects depends not a little on their qualities and circumstances; and hence there is a large class of words to express these, for all the various purposes of life. The word river, for instance, denotes something that may be cool, deep, clear, swift, broad, winding. Apple denotes something that may be red, large, ripe, mellow, juicy. And when I say, "that apple, this apple, every apple, four apples, the fourth apple," the slanting words show, without expressing quality, more precisely what I mean. These qualifying and designating-these descriptive and definitive words, which generally add an idea to that of the noun, are therefore called adjectives. What, then, is an adjective?

An adjective is a word used to qualify or limit the meaning of a substantive.

Ex.-White, green, good, lazy, tall, shrill, religious. "A bay horse; a sharp knife; a sharper knife; a bright day; a stormy night; golden clouds; a gold watch; Missouri apples; a quivering aspen; that sun-tipped elm; a boy nine years old." What is a descriptive adjective?

A descriptive adjective describes or qualifies.

Ex.-"A rapid river; the blue sky; a modest woman." "She is beautiful, amiable, and intelligent.' "The rippling brook; the twinkling stars; waving woods; a roaring storm; a broken pitcher." The last five adjectives, and others like them, are usually called participial adjectives.

What is a definitive adjective?

A definitive adjective merely limits or modifies.

Ex.-"Four peaches; all peaches; some peaches; this peach; yonder peaches." Which are the principal definitive adjectives?

All, any, both, certain, each, every, either, eise, few, many, many a, much, neither, no, one, other, own, same, some, such, that, this, very, what, which, and yon or yonder. One, two, three, four, etc.; first, second, third, etc.

Nearly all the adjectives of the first class are usually called pronominal adjectives, some of them being occasionally used as pronouns; and those of the second class are called numeral adjectives. Since we may refer to objects definitely, indefinitely, or distributively, the pronominal adjectives are accordingly, some of them, definite or demonstrative, as this, that, yonder; some, indefinite, as any, some, other; and some, distributive, as each, every, either, neither, many a. And since we may either count or number, some of the numeral adjectives are called cardinal, as oni, troo, three; and the others, ordinal, as first, second, third,

Since the same quality may exist in different objects, and in the same degree or in different degrees,-as, "red cheeks, red roses, red hair, redder cheeks, the reddest roses,"-adjectives have what grammarians call the degrees of comparison; the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.

How does the positive degree describe an object?

The positive degree ascribes to an object the quality simply, or an equal degree of it.

Ex.-High, strong, rocky, polite, black, prudent; "as white as snow."

How does the comparative degree describe an object?

The comparative degree ascribes to an object the quality in a higher or a lower degree.

Ex.-Higher, stronger, rockier, politer, better, more prudent, less prudent. How does the superlative degree describe an object?

The superlative degree ascribes to an object the quality in the highest or the lowest degree.

Ex.-Highest, strongest, rockiest, politest, best, most prudent, least prudent. How are adjectives of one syllable, and some of two syllables, compared, when we wish to express increase of the quality?

By adding er or est to the word in the positive degree.

Ex.-Pos. wise, comp. wiser, superl. wisest; great, greater, greatest; lovely, lovelier, loveliest; serene, serener, serenest; thin, thinner, thinnest.

Final y is often changed to i, final e is always omitted, and a single final consonant is often doubled, before the ending er or est. See pp. 108, 109.

How are all adjectives of more than two syllables, and ɛome of two syllables, compared?

By more and most.

Ex.-Pos. beautiful, comp. more beautiful, superl. most beautiful; active, more active, most active; unlucky, more unlucky, most unlucky.

How are adjectives compared when we wish to express decrease of the quality?

By less and least.

Ex.-Wise, less wise, least wise; arrogant, less arrogant, least arrogant.

Some adjectives are not compared according to the foregoing rules, and are therefore said to be irregular. The following a list:

Less.

Some can not be compared with propriety.

Ex.-Eternal, straight, dead, equal, square, perpendicular, two-edged, speech

Is the word which the adjective qualifies or limits, always expressed?

It is not; but, in parsing, it must be supplied.

Ex.-"These apples are better than those" [apples]. "The idle [persons] are generally mischievous."

5. VERBS.

If we look into the world, we shall find, that, to the many different beings and things denoted by nouns and pronouns, belong not only many different qualities, denoted by adjectives, but also many different motions, actions, and states of ex istence, which are expressed by certain words called verbs; as, John reads, writes, runs, and plays.

What, then, is a verb, or what is its chief use in language?

A verb is a word used to affirm something of a subject.

Ex.-"The wind blows." "The rose blooms." "There is an endless world." dead." "If I should go." "Brutus stabbed Cæsar." "Cæsar was "Do you not study?" "Do (you) study diligently."

"The tree
stubbed by Brutus."

Verb means word, or, pre-eminently, the word. Grammarians have called this part of speech so, because it makes the chief part of every grammar, or because it is the chief word of language. Every verb denotes some kind of action or state. And affirmations, with grammarians, mean all kinds of assertions; also commands and questions.

Tell which are the verbs in the following sentences, and why:

Birds sing. Mother sews, knits, and spins. Columbus discovered America.
Jesus wept. The dew glistens. Go where the men are reaping.
The problems should have been solved. The water is frozen.

When verbs are actually used to express affirmations, they are called finite verbs; but there are two forms of the verb which do not express affirmations, and are called the participle and the infinitive: as, Writing, written, being written, having written, having been written; to write, to have written, to be written, to have been written.

What, then, is a participle?

A participle is a form of the verb, that merely assumes the act or state, and is construed like an adjective. Ex.-"A tree, FULL of fruit He said few things indicating wisdom.” "A tree, bending with fruit." "He said few things INDICATIVE of wisdom;"

man was found DEAD;" "The man was found murdered."

Construed like an adjective-arranged in the same way with other words of the sentence.
What is an infinitive?

"The

An infinitive is a form of the verb that begins generally with to, and expressing no affirmation.

Ex.-" An opportunity to study." "He is obliged to sell." "He seems to have been disappointed."

Of how many words may a verb consist?

Of as many as four.

Ex.-"Eagles soar." "The house was built." "The mail may have arrived." "These lessons should have been learned." "Having written." "To have been writing.

Almost every verb may be expressed in a great variety of ways or forms; thus, from WRITE we have writing, wrote, written, writes, writeth, writest, to write, to have written, to be written, to have been written, to be writing, to have been writing, having written, having been written, is written, was written, should be written, is writing, was writing, can write, must write, will write, shall write, would write, should write, could write, may write, might write, may be written, may be writing, may have been writing, might have been written, might have been writing, mightst have been writing, &c., &c.

Now, that we may be enabled to master all these different forms,-understand their meaning, and thus be enabled to use them correctly,-grammarians have found it best to divide verbs into certain classes, and also to regard them as having certain properties.