the adjectives prefixed to nouns in the list above, in the comparative form.-Form sentences, each of which shall contain a noun, and its adjective in the comparative degree. SUPERLATIVE DEGREE. When you compare James with several other persons, and find that he exceeds them all in tallness, how would you express it? Ans. I would say, "James is the tallest." What form of the adjective is tallest? What does the superlative express? In how many ways is it formed? When, by annexing est to the positive? When, by prefixing most? What is the superlative of tall, short, old, young, rich, poor, &c.?—of learned, unlearned, beautiful, virtuous, &c.? Put the adjectives prefixed to the nouns, in the list above, in the superlative form. Form sentences, in each of which there shall be one of the above nouns, and its adjective in the superlative degree. EXERCISES. 1. COMPARE-Bright, diligent, thin, noble, bad, pretty, fearful, brave, warm, active, worthy, cold, large, industrious, affable, wise, obedient, gloomy, able, sad, little, strong, near, dutiful, serene, big, good, careless, hot, late, fruitful. Add to each one of these adjectives a noun which it can properly qualify, as, "A bright day," "a diligent student," &c. 2. In what form are the following adjectives?-Mildest, better, high, more, uttermost, happiest, worthless, least, whiter, lowermost, worse, cruel, eldest, gentle, magnificent, best, many, less, gayest, peaceful, virtuous, sweetest, evil, inmost, happier, miserable, temperate, useful, delicate, honorable. Compare each of these adjectives. Add to each, a noun which it can properly qualify. 3. In the following phrases, tell which words are nouns, and which are adjec tives. Parse as directed (182, 194, 225). A good man; a kind heart; a clear sky; the benevolent lady; the highest hill; a skilful artist; an older companion; man's chief concern; a lady's lap-dog; most splendid talents; the liveliest disposition; a pleasant temper; the raging billows; temples magnificent; silent shades; excellent corn; a loftier tower; a happier disposition; the third day; a round ball; a square table; one good book is better than many bad books. 4. Take a paragraph in any book; point out the articles, nouns, and adjectives. Parse them; but, in nouns, omit the case. PRONOUNS. 228. A PRONOUN is a word used instead of a noun; as, "John is a good boy; he is diligent in his studies." 229. The noun which the pronoun represents or designates, is called its antecedent, because, in the third person, it usually stands before the pronoun; and, in the first and second, the person intended is indicated by the pronoun itself. 230. Pronouns of the third person are used in writing and speaking, to prevent the frequent and awkward repetition of the noun. Thus, without the pronoun, the above example would read, "John is a good oy; John is diligent in John's studies" (236). 231. A pronoun is sometimes used instead of another pronoun; as, • You and I must attend to OUR duty." 232. Pronouns may be divided into Personal, Relative Interrogative, and Adjective. I. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 233. Personal Pronouns are those which distinguish the person by their form. They are either Simple or Compound. SIMPLE PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 234. The simple personal pronouns are I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, you, they. 235. Of these, I is of the first person, and denotes the speaker; thou is of the second, and denotes the person addressed; he, she, it, are of the third, and denote the person or thing spoken of (111). 236. The pronouns I and thou denote the speaker, and the person addressed, without previous mention, or even knowledge of their names, the persons intended being sufficiently indicated by their presence, or some other circumstance. The pronouns of the third person refer to some person or thing previously mentioned, or easily understood from the context, or from the nature of the sentence. 237. He, she, and they, are frequently used as general terms in the beginning of a sentence, equivalent to "the person," &c., without reference to a noun going before; as, He [the person] that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man." 66 238. They is also used in a vague sense for "people," in such expressions as "They say," like the French on, or the German man. 239. To personal pronouns, like nouns (110), belong Person, Gender, Number, and Case. They are thus de OBSERVATIONS ON PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 240. In many Grammars, the possessive of all the pronouns, except he and it, has twc forms, as follows: My or mine; thy or thine; her or hers; our or ours; your or yours; their or theirs. According to this arrangement, the first form, my, thy, &c., is always used before a noun denoting the object possessed; the second form, mine, thine, &c., never before that noun, but only referring to it as previously mentioned, or evident from the connexion. The possessive case of nouns, is used in both ways. To this classification, there is no important objection; and such as prefer it may readily adopt it, though, for reasons assigned (289), a different classification is here preferred. Mine and thine are sometimes used as possessives for my and thy (293). 241. Some, again, regard my, thy, &c., as the only forms of the possessive case, and mine, thine, &c., not as a possessive case at all, but as a substitute for the possessive case of the pronoun and the noun referred to together, and that it is in the nominative or objective case, according as the noun referred to would be, in the full expression; thus, "Your book is old, mine is new," is equivalent to "Your book is old, my book is new." Hence it is inferred, that mine is not a possessive case, but a substitute for my book, and the nominative to is. This, though plausible, is obviously incorrect. If, instead of the pronoun mine, we substitute a noun, that noun will have to be in the possessive case; thus, "Your book is old, John's is new." The construction in these two sentences being identical, if "John's" be the possessive case, so also is "mine;" and if in the possessive, it can not be the nominative to "is." The mistake lies in considering mine a substitute for my book, whereas it really is a substitute only for my, including such a reference to the word book in the preceding part of the sentence, as renders its repetition in the second part not only unnecessary, but, according to the usage of the language, improper. The difference between the construction of the noun and the pronoun, in such sentences, is simply this: the possessives mine, thine, &c., according to usage, are never used before a noun, but the possessive of the noun is used both before a noun and after it. When it is deemed proper to express the noun after the pronoun, the form mine, &c., must be changed for my, &c. Thus, we can not say "Mine book," but "My book;" but we can with equal propriety say, "John's book," or "The book is John's.”— See App. I. 242. In the same manner, may be explained, the use of the possessive after transitive verbs in the active voice, and after prepositions; thus, "James lost his books, and I gave him mine," meaning my books.—“A picture of the king's," is a picture of (i. e., from) the king's pictures. So "A book of mine," is a book of (from) my books. "A friend of yours," is a friend of (from) your friends. It is worthy of notice, that though this use of the possessive after of, originally and strictly implies selection, or a part only, it has insensibly come to be used when no such selection is, or ever can be, intended. Thus we may say, "That house of yours," "that farm of yours," without intending to imply that any other houses or farms belong to you; and when we say, "That head of yours," selection is obviously excluded by the sense. 243. In proclamations, charters, editorial articles, and the like, we is frequently applied to one person. 244 Thou is now used only in the solemn style, in addresses to the Deity, ur to some important object in nature, or to mark special emphasis, or in the language of contempt. Ye, the plural of thou, is seldom used (except as the subject of the imperative), and only in the solemn style. It is sometimes used as the objective for you; as, "Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye !"—Shaks. 245. You, the common plural of thou, is now used also to denote one person, but, even when it does so, it always takes a plural verb. This usage has become so fixed and uniform, that some eminent grammarians contend for its being regarded as singular. No advantage, however, would be gained by adopting this proposal, and it seems to accord much more with simplicity, as well as with fact, to regard it as a plural which has come by use to be applied in this manner. In certain kinds of writing (243), we is used in the same way, and so also is the corresponding pronoun in French, and some other modern languages, in which, however, it is always regarded as a plural form.* 246. The pronoun it is used in a variety of ways:- 1. Properly it is used instead of a neuter noun, word, or substantive phrase; as, "Life is short; it should be well improved.” "Man is a noun; it is irregular in the plural." "James is a good scholar, and he knows it,” viz., that he is a good scholar. "And the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the Lord hath spoken it.”—Is. xxii. 25. 2. It is used as an indefinite subject of the verb to be, followed by a predicate in any person or number; as, "It is I;" "It is you;" ;" "It is they," &c. *"The pronoun you, though originally and properly plural, is now generally applied alike to one person or to more. This usage, however it may seem to involve a solecism, is established by that authority against which the mere gramma rian has scarcely a right to remonstrate. We do not, however, think it necessary or advisable to encumber the conjugations, as some have done, by introducing this pronoun and the corresponding form of the verb, as singular. It is manifestly better to say that the plural is used for the singular, by the figure enallagé."-Goold Brown, p. 137. 3. It is used in the same manner after the verb to be, in interrogative sentences; as, "Who is it?" "What is it?" &c. 4. It is prefixed as an introductory subject to such words as to be, to happen, to become, and the like, referring to an infinitive mood, or substantive phrase which follows the verb, and is its true subject; as, "It is an honor for man to cease from strife;" i. e., To cease from strife is an honor for man. " It has been proved, that the earth revolves on its axis ;" i. e., It, namely, that the earth revolves on its axis, has been proved. 5. It is used indefinitely before certain verbs, to denote some cause unknown, or general, or well known, whose action is expressed by the verb; as, "It rains;" "It snows;" "It thunders;" "It is cold;""It is hot," &c. Verbs before which it is thus used, are said to be impersonal (520). 6. It is sometimes used as a mere expletive; as, “Come and trip it as you go." 247. The possessives, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, should never be written her's, it's, our's, your's, their's. 248. His and its, before a noun, are possessive pronouns; without a noun following, they are the possessive case (292). Her, before a noun, is the possessive pronoun; without a noun, it is the objective case. COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 249. Myself (ourself), thyself (yourself), himself, herself, itself, with their plurals, ourselves, yourselves, themselves, are called Compound personal pronouns. They are used in two cases-the nominative, and the objective. In the nominative they are emphatic, and are added to their respective personal pronouns, or are used instead of them; as, "I myself did it.” "Himself shall come." In the objective they are reflexive, showing that the agent is also the object of his own act; as, "Judas went and hanged himself." 250. The simple pronouns, also, are sometimes used in a reflexive sense: as, "Thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high."-Bible. 251. Ourself and yourself are used as compounds, corresponding to we and you, applied to an individual; as, "We ourself will follow." -Shaks. You must do it yourself.” 252. The possessive emphatic or reflexive, is made by adding the word own to the possessives my, thy, his her, &c. (295); as, “God created man in his own image |