COMPARATIVE DEGREE.

Are all men equally tall? Ans. No; some men are taller than others. When you say, "James is taller than John," in what form or degree is the adjective taller? What does the comparative degree express (211)? How is the comparative degree formed? When is the comparative formed by annexing er? When, by prefixing more? What is the comparative form of tall, short, old, young, etc.? What is the comparative form of learned, unlearned, foolish, virtuous, etc.? Put 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, etc.?—of learned, unlearned, beautiful, virtuous, etc.? 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, lovely, gentle, pleasant, sagacious, prudent.

99 66

Add to each one of these adjectives a noun which it can properly qualify; as, "A bright day," a diligent student," etc. 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, meek, proud, amiable, morose.

Compare each of these adjectives.

To each of these add a noun which the adjectives can properly qualify.

3. In the following phrases, tell which words are nouns, and which are adjectives. Parse as directed (182, 194, 225).

A good man; a kind heart; a clear sky; the benevolent lady; the highest hill; a skillful 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 instead of which a pronoun is used, is called its antecedent, because the pronoun refers to it as previously mentioned, or in some way understood (236).

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 boy; John is diligent in John's studies."

231. A pronoun is sometimes used instead of another pronoun; as, "You and I must attend to our duty." See 730.

232. Pronouns may be divided into Personal, Relative, Interrogative, and Adjective.

9

SI, thou, he, she, it, one.

We, you,

they.

Myself, thyself, himself,

herself, itself.

Ourselves, yourselves,

themselves.

Who.

Which.

That.
What.

Who(so)ever.

Which(so)ever.
What(so)ever.

Who?

Which?

What?

My, thy, his, her, its,

one's.

Our, your, their.

PRONOUNS.

1. Personal Pronouns.

233. Personal Pronouns are those which distinguish the person by their form. They are either Simple or Compound.

Personal pronouns, or pronouns substantive, are simple substitutes for the names of persons or things, and have the same person, gender, and number as the nouns for which they stand.

Every personal pronoun has a possessive pronoun answering to it, which is joined to a noun in the same way as an adjective (291.)

Simple Personal Pronouns.

234. The simple personal pronouns are I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, you, they.

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).

235. The word one, standing for a person not named, may be regarded as a kind of indefinite personal pronoun; as, "One can never know," etc.

The plural form, ones, is used in a more definite sense; as, “The great ones of the earth."

236. 1. 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.

2. 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, it, and they, are frequently used as general terms in the beginning of a sentence, equivalent to "the person," etc., without reference to a noun going before; as, “He [the person] that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man." "How far is it [the distance] to the city." 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. The accidents of personal pronouns, like those of nouns (110), are Person, Gender, Number, and Case. They are thus inflected :

Observations on Personal Pronouns.

240. In many Grammars, the possessive of all the pronouns, except he and it, has two 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, etc., is always used before a noun denoting the object possessed; the second form, mine, thine, etc., as referring to a noun previously mentioned, or evident from the connection. Both adjectives and possessive cases of nouns are used either before nouns, or standing alone after the verb, thus :

This is my house; or, This house is mine.
This is a good house; or, This house is good.

This is John's house; or, This house is John's.

To this classification there is no important objection; and such as prefer it may readily adopt it, though, for reasons assigned (290), 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, etc., as the only form of the possessive case, and mine, thine, etc., 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 subject of is. This, though plausible, is obviously incorrect. If, instead of the pronoun mine, we substitute a noun, that noun must be in the possessive