Q. How do nouns in y form their plural ?

A. Nouns ending in y, change y into ies in the plural; as, lady, ladies; fly, flies; but if a vowel come immediately before the y, it is not changed; as key, keys; day, days.

Exercises on Number.—Write, tell, or spell the plural of— Genius, village, rush, woe, brush, lynx, reproach, witness, leaf, fox, city, breach, echo, heresy, flux, half, cargo, body, garden, herb, equinox, arch, booty, day, glory, peach, glass, chimney, valley, church, wife, success, lady, attorney, wretch. On the Exceptions.-Patriarch, canto, staff, grief, nuncio, roof, distich, handkerchief, portico, wharf, stomach, fife.

Q. Are not some nouns irregular in the formation of their plurals?

A. The following form their plurals irregularly:

Q. Do not some nouns remain the same in both numbers?

A. The words deer, sheep, swine, are the same in both numbers; but the singular is distinguished by the prefix a; as a sheep, a swine.

Q. Are not some nouns used only in the singular, or in the plural, form?

A. Some nouns are conceived to have no singular; as, ashes, riches, victuals, lungs, thanks, tidings,

bellows. Others to have no plural; as wheat, pitch, gold, sloth, pride, &c.

Exercise.-Correct the following errors: Renowned heros; two father-in-laws; a drove of oxes and calfs; mouses, rats, and foxs, are great nuisances; certain prooves; he bought two loafs with six pennies; a broken teeth; we counted fifty sheeps in the vallies; a dice; three staffs; he kicked with his foots against the postes; the historys of Rome and Greece; the room is ten foot high; two spoonful; several journies.

OF THE CASES OF NOUNS.

Q. What is Case?

A. Case is the relation which one noun bears to another, to a verb, or to a preposition.

Q. How many cases have nouns?

A. Nouns have three cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

Q. What does the nominative case denote?

A. The nominative case simply expresses the name of a thing.

Q. What does the possessive case express?

A. The possessive case expresses property or possession.

Q. How is it formed?

A. The possessive is formed, by adding an apostrophe with the letter s, to the nominative: as, John's hat; my father's house.

Q. How is the possessive plural formed?

A. When the plural ends in 8, the possessive is formed by adding only the apostrophe; as, the drapers' company.

Q. What does the objective case denote?

A. The objective case denotes the object of an action, or of a relation expressed by a preposition.

Q. Which of these cases are alike?

A. The nominative and odjective are always alike in spelling and form.

T. Decline through its cases the word lady.

Exercise. Spell the possessive singular of lady.-Spell the possessive plural.--Spell the nominative plural.-What is the difference between it and the possessive?-Where is the apostrophe put in the possessive singular?—Where is it put in the possessive plural ?

Exercise.Write or spell the possessive case singular of boy, girl, lake, sea, sister, branch.

Exercise.-Write or spell the possessive case plural of garden, woman, horse, lass, foot, goose.

Exercise.—Decline the following nouns: father, husband, lion, king, judge, box, arch, hero, city, wife, dwarf, child, ox, penny, sheep, William, James.

Exercise. Correct these errors.-A parents' love; John Clark his book; the ladie's fan; the Lords day; the soldier's banner; (plu.) the mens' industry; my live's end; these noble hero's courage; St. James palace; the horses's stables; a calves head; a ladys school. (plu.) his wives' fortune. (sin.)

OF ADJECTIVES.

Q. What is an Adjective?

A. An Adjective is a word which expresses the quality of a noun; as a sweet apple.

Exercise.-Point out the adjectives in the following phrases: A pretty bird; a lofty tower; a beautiful flower; a swift horse; glittering streams; the sea was calm; three nightingales; sultry weather; a new edition of a book; James is remarkably diligent; this is an easy lesson; we have not read this curious story; relieve him of his heavy burden; we have got an industrious servant; a look serene and cheerful.

Q. In what way do adjectives express the qualities of a noun ?

A. By naming some distinguishing feature which it possesses. Thus, sweetness is the distinguishing feature which marks a sweet apple from a sour one.

Q. Is the meaning of an adjective as distinct and clear as is the meaning of a noun?

A. It is not. The full meaning of an adjective often only becomes clear when it is joined to a noun. Thus, a hard nut means something quite different from a hard blow.

Q. Do adjectives express anything else besides distinguishing quality?

A. Some adjectives express quantity, rather than quality.

Q. Give instances of adjectives expressing quantity?

A. Such adjective words as one, two, twenty, first, second-express definite number. Such adjectives as some, many, few, all express indefinite, or nonexact, number; such adjectives as each, every, either, express an individual number of objects. Such as much, little, some, express the quantity of some material substance.

Q. What is meant by a "distinguishing adjective?"

A. A "distinguishing adjective" is a word which marks some particular thing out from the rest of its kind, as in the phrase, this apple, or that apple. Q. Are all distinguishing adjectives equally definite?

A. Some distinguishing adjectives mark indefinitely one object of a class; as a man, an apple. Some mark definitely one particular thing, as the man, the apple. Some indicate a particular thing that is present, as this man, that apple.

Q. What were distinguishing adjectives called in old grammars?

A. They were called "articles," and were considered to be distinct parts of speech. A and an were called "indefinite articles," and the was called the "definite article." An is simply a changed for convenience of sound, when it has to be used before a noun beginning with a vowel.

Q. For what purpose are adjectives inflected? A. Adjectives are inflected to express degrees of comparison.

Q. How many degrees of comparison do adjectives express?

A. Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative. Q. What does the positive express?

A. The positive state expresses the simple quality of an object, without increasing or lessening it; as, good, wise, great.

Q. What does the comparative express?

A. The comparative degree expresses the quality in a higher or lower degree; as, wiser, greater, less wise.