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which signify action, effect, termination, to act, &c.; as, Figs come from Turkey to England: that is, Figs come-beginning Turkey-termination England.

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It is highly probable that the system of the acute grammarian, from whose work these Saxon derivations are borrowed, is founded on truth; and that adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, are corruptions or abbreviations of other parts of speech. But as many of them are derived from obsolete words in our own language, or from words in kindred tongues the radical meaning of which is either obscure, or generally unknown; and as by long prescription, whatever may have been their origin, the words in question appear to have acquired a title to the rank of distinct species; it seems proper to consider them as such, in an elementary treatise of grammar; especially as this plan coincides with that by which other languages must be taught; and will render the study of them less intricate. It is of small moment, by what name and classification we distinguish these words, provided their meaning and use are well understood.

SYNTAX.

The third part of Grammar is Syntax, which treats of the agreement and construction of words in a sentence.

A sentence is an assemblage of words, forming complete sense.

Sentences are of two kinds, simple and compound.

A simple sentence has in it but one subject, and one finite* verb: as, Life is short.

A compound sentence contains two or more simple sentences, joined by one or more connective words: as, Life is short; and art is long,

As sentences themselves are divided into simple and compound, so the members of sentences may be divided likewise into simple and compound members, for whole sentences, whether simple or compounded, may become members of other sentences, by means of some additional connexion; as, in the following example: The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people do not consider. This sentence consists of two compound members, each of which is subdivided into two simple members, which are properly called clauses.

There are three sorts of simple sentences; the explicative, or explaining: the interrogative, or asking; the imperative, or commanding.

*Finite verbs are those to which number and person appertain. Verbs in the infinitive magd have no respect to number or person

An explicative sentence is one in which a thing is said to be, or not to be; to do, or not to do; to suffer, or not to suffer,-in a direct manner; as, I am; thou writest; Thomas is loved. If the sentence is negative, the adverb not is placed after the auxiliary, or after the verb itself when it has no auxiliary; as, I did not touch him; or I touched him not.

In an interrogative sentence, or when a question is asked, the nominative case follows the principal verb or the auxiliary; as, Was it he? Did Alexander conquer the Persians?

In an imperative sentence, when a thing is commanded to be, to do, or to suffer, or not, the nominative case likewise follows the verb or the auxiliary; as, Go, thou traitor! Do thou go: Haste ye away; unless the verb let be used; as, Let us be gone.

A phrase is two or more words rightly put together, making sometimes part of a sentence, and sometimes a whole sentence.

The principal parts of a simple sentence are the subject, the attribute, and the object.

The subject is the thing chiefly spoken of; the attribute is the thing or action affirmed or denied of it; and the object is the thing affected by such action.

The nominative denotes the subject, and usually goes before the verb or attribute; and the word or phrase denoting the object, follows the verb; as, A wise man governs his passions. Here, man is the subject; governs, the attribute, or thing affirmed; and passions, the object.

Syntax principally consists of two parts, Concord and Government.

Concord is the agreement which one word has with another, in gender, number, case, or person. Government is that power, which one part of speech has over another in directing its mood, tense,

or case.

To produce the agreement and right disposition of words in a sentence, the following rules and observations should be carefully studied.

Of the Nominative Case.

RULE I.

The nominative case, except the case absolute, or when an address is made, relates to some verb expressed or understood; as,

The man walks; the birds sing; the sun shines. The nominative case governs, or determines, the number and person of the verb to which it relates; i. e. if the nominative is singular, the verb is singular: if the nominative is plural, the verb is plural. If the nominative is the first person, the verb is so; or if it is the second or third person, the verb is the same.

RULE II.

A verb agrees with its nominative in number and person; as,

I love; thou readest; he learns; we are; ye run; they sleep. In these examples, love is in the first person singular and agrees with the proncun 1. Readest is in the second person singular and agrees with thou. Learns is in the third person singular and agrees with he. Are is in the first person plural and agrees with ye.-Sleep is the third person plural and agrees with they.

The following are a few instances of the violation of the above rule: What signifies good opinions, when our practice is bad? It ought to be, what signify. I have considered what have been

said on both sides in this controversy; what has been said. Thou sees how little has been done; thou seest. In piety and virtue consist the happiness of man; consists. To these precepts are subjoined a copious selection of rules and maxims; is subjoined.

The pronoun you, whether applied to a single person or to more than one, always requires the verb to be in the plural form; as, You are my friend: You have placed me under great obligations: The subject was discussed when you were absent. We however often hear this pronoun used in a different manner. The following are a few examples: Was you there? I heard you was unwell: You was gone before I arrived. In all these cases were should be substituted for was.It should be recollected, that you is of both numbers; i. e. sometimes singular and sometimes plural; to be determined from the manner of its application. When applied to a single individual, as, You are my friend, it is in the singular number: when applied to more than one individual, as, You are my friends, it is in the plural number.

And since number and person, as ascribed to the verb, is merely a figurative application; since the verb has not these properties independently of the noun or pronoun with which it is connected, it also varies its number and person in the same manner as the pronoun you, above mentioned; that is when the pronoun with which it agrees refers to one individual only, the verb, although in the plural form, is of the singular number; and when more than one individual is referred to, the verb is of the plural number.

to say,

Every verb except in the infinitive mood or the

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