§30. AGREEMENT IN CASE.

REMARK 1.-It has been noticed, (19.) that a substantive signify ing the same thing as another, may be added to the first, for the sake of explaining it, and hence performing the office of an adjective. It should now be observed, that the explanatory substantive must be in the same case as the substantive explained. Hence the following

RULE:

A srbstantive explanatory of another substantive, and signifying the same thing, must agree with it in case.

EXAMPLES.

Man, the creature of a day, often trifles with his best interests. The committee made him chairman.

Citizens, friends of humanity, look at the withered hopes of your country.

Mr. Davis, the music teacher, has called to see us.

This has made us friends.

Death, our common destroyer, often comes when we least expect him.

Modesty, the becoming virtue of youth, is often sought in vain. "Where are ye with whom in life I started,

Dear companions of my golden days?"

Washington, the father of his country, was respected and loved by all.

Winter, melancholy season, fly and yield the year to spring. Circumstances made us acquaintances, and acquaiutauce made us companions.

May you, my friends, be friends to all.

Youth, the morning of life, is often misspent.

EXERCISES.

ORAL.-1. Parse each explanatory substantive; thus, creature is a common noun, of the third person, singular, masculine gender, and in the nominative case, explanatory of man.

(Repeat the rule.)

2. Analyze and parse the other substantives and verbs.

REMARK 2.-A very common construction places the explanatory substantive after an intransitive verb, or verb of the passive voice, thus rendering it a part of the predicate. A little attention will en able the scholar to distinguish the intransitive verb, or verb of the passive voice, followed by an explanatory substantive, from the verb of the active voice, followed by its recipient.

The rule already given for parsing the explanatory substantive, may be deemed sufficient for this particular construction; yet, as this is peculiar, the following rule, which applies to the verb, and not to the explanatory word, may be used when the substantive follows the verb.

RULE.

Most intransitive verbs, and some verbs of the passive voice, may take the same case after them as before, when the latter substantive is explanatory of the former.

EXAMPLES.

He is a good boy.

She is an industrious woman.
He was chosen chairman.
They are intimate associates.
His philosophy is poor trash.
They were called Jews.

They are friends of humanity.
We had been companions in iniquity.
She was a very good scholar.

He was a poor writer.

He has been a useful man.

We shall be teachers.

Adams was a great statesman.

Van Buren is an artful manager.

Albany is the capital of New-York.

EXERCISES.

ORAL.-Parse each explanatory substantive; thus, boy is a common noun, of the third person, singular, masculine gender, and in the nominative case, explanatory of he, with an intervening verb. Give the last rule.

WRITTEN AND ORAL.-Write ten examples like the last list, and parse as before.

REMARK 3.-It should be observed, that agreement in case does not necessarily imply agreement in person, number, and gender. Substantives that agree in case, usually do agree in person, number, and gender; but this is not a uniform principle.

It is Joseph. It is I.

EXAMPLES.

It was you. It was the girls.

It, in each of the examples here given, refers to the person or persons as mere objects of thought, and does not designate their perSonality. ( 28. REM. 3.) The substantive, after the verb, refers to the person or persons as individuals.

$31. DECLENSION.

DEFINITION. By declension is meant the changes in form that a noun or pronoun undergoes in order to indicate its case.

REMARK 1.-The nominative, objective, and absolute cases of nouns in our language, are all of the same form. The possessive case of nouns, is of the same form as the others with the addition of the apostrophe, and the apostrophic s, when it is necessary, by which means it is distinguished. The other three cases must be distinguished by the position they occupy in a proposition; that is, by the office they perform.

The following is the arrangement of the cases of a noun:

REMARK 2.-Most pronouns have a particular form by which the nominative, possessive, and objective cases, may be distinguished from each other; but the absolute case of pronouns is usually of the same form as the nominative, though occasionally it is the same form as the objective.

REMARK 3.-The possessives mine, thine, hers, ours, yours and theirs, are used when the nouns to which they refer are omitted. If the nouns are expressed, the possessives my, thy, her, our, your, and their, must be used. Formerly mine and thine were used before nouns expressed, commencing with a vowel, but present usage requires my and thy.

That book is mine.

EXAMPLES.

I gave Jane my pencil, and she gave hers to Eliza.
All mine is thine, and thine is mine.

We have good wheat, but yours is better.

He took ours, and gave us his.

We refused theirs upon any other condition.

She asked for mine, but finally kept hers.

Our fate was severe, but yours was more so.

The committee received our proposal, but rejected theirs.

REMARK 4.-These pronouns contain within themselves two cases, and are to be parsed, first, as pronouns in the possessive case, indicating possession expressed in themselves; and, second, as pronouns in the nominative or objective case, according to their relation to other words. Thus, hers is a personal pronoun representing two nouns, first, Eliza, with which it must agree in the third person, singular, feminine gender, and in the possessive case, indicating possession expressed within itself; second, it represents pencil, with which it must agree in the third person, singular, and in the objective case, and governed by gave.

REMARK 5.-The pronoun you is strictly plural; but, by custom, it is used in ordinary discourse or conversation, to represent a single person, as well as a plurality of persons. It is always plural in form, and if in the nominative case, requires a plural verb. Where it represents a single person, it is to be parsed, agreeing with its noun in the singular, but of the plural form; and, if a verb agrees with it, the verb must be parsed plural, as it is. If in any proposition

when you occurs, it is found impossible to tell whether it refers to one or more than one, it is always to be regarded plural. That is, since it is plural in form, it must be regarded plural in signification, unless the contrary can be shown from the context.

REMARK 6.-Pronouns of the first or second person, may be either masculine or feminine; or, if in the plural, they may represent nouns embracing both sexes. When both sexes are included, it will be sufficiently accurate to call the pronoun masculine. (§ 27. REM. 2.) He, his, and him, are always masculine; she, her, and hers, feminine; it and its, neuter; and they, their or theirs, and them, mascu line, feminine, or neuter.

$32. CLASSIFICATION OF PREDICATES.

REMARK.-We can easily make the division of verbs into intransitive and transitive, the basis of a classification of predicates.

SPECIFICATION.-Predicates are divided into seven kinds: intransitive, intransitive post adjective, intransitive post substantive, transitive of the active voice, transitive of the passive voice, transitive post adjective of the passive voice, and transitive post substantive of the passive voice.

DEFINITION 1.-An intransitive predication is an intransitive verb, with or without modifiers.