Q. How many persons? 130. Three-the first, second, and third. Q. How many genders? 131. Three-the masculine, feminine, and neuter. How many pronouns are there in all, of the first person? How many of the second, and how many of the third? Q. The pronouns of the nominative case, singular, are called leading pronouns how many of these are there? 133. Five-I, thou or you, he, she, it. Q. Why are not the possessive and objective cases of the singular and plural numbers, also the nominatives plural, reckoned in the number of the leading pronouns ? 134. Because they are all considered as variations of the nominative singular. Q. To which of the pronouns is it customary to apply gender? 135. To the third person singular, he, she, it. Q. Why are not the first and second persons each made always to represent a different gender? 136. The first and second persons being always present, their genders are supposed to be known. Q. If, as we have seen, pronouns stand for nouns, what gender, number, and person ought they to have? 137. The same as the nouns for which they stand. Q. What, then, may be considered a rule for the agreement of the pronouns? RULE V. Pronouns must agree with the nouns for which they stand, in gender, number, and person. QUESTIONS ON PARSING. Q. How many different sorts of words have we now found, and what are they? 138. Four-the NOUN, the ARTICLE, the Adjective, and the PROnoun. Q. The word part, you know, means division; and speech, the power of using words, or language: what, therefore, shall we call these grand divisions of words? 139. PARTS OF SPEECH. Q. When, then, I ask you what part of speech boy is, for instance, what do you understand me to mean? 140. The same as to ask me whether boy is a noun or not. Q. What part of speech, then, is William, and why? (36.) 1. "He went to school." 2. "She went to her task." 3. "William went to his play." 4. "John returned from his school." 5. "I request you to mind your studies." 6. "The book was mine, but now it is yours." Will you name the pronouns in the six foregoing examples? How many are there in all? What is the gender, number, and person of those in the first? second? third? fourth? fifth? sixth ? Q. What is the gender of his, in the fourth sentence? why? (137.) Its number? why? (137.) Its person? why? (137.) Its case? why ? (61.) Q. Will you name the nouns in the first sentence? in the second third ? fourth fifth? sixth ? Q. When I say, James does? 141. Strikes. X. OF THE VERB. "James strikes William," which word tells what Q. The word verb means word; and as the words in all sentences, which tell what the nouns do, are the principal ones, what shall such words be called? 142. VERBS. Q. If, in the phrase, "William strikes James," we leave out the word strikes, you perceive at once that the sense is destroyed: what reason, then, can you give, for calling some words in a sentence verbs, and others by a different name? 143. The words which we call verbs are the most important. Q. "William studies his lesson." Which word is the verb here, and why? 144. Studies, because it tells what William does. Q. When I say, "John dances," which word is the verb, and why? Q. When I say, "James strikes John," which word shows that an action is performed? 145. Strikes. Q. What kind of a verb, then, shall we call strikes ? 146. An active verb. Q. What kind of a verb is walks, in this sentence, "John walks," and why? 147. Walks is an active verb, because it expresses action. .. "He beat William." Which word here is the verb? Is William an agent or an object? 148. An object. Q. When I say, "The child walks," walks, it is true, is an active verb, but it has no noun after it for an object, as beat has, in the phrase above; neither can we supply one; for we cannot say, "The child walks," any thing: what, therefore, is to be inferred from this fact, in regard to the nature of active verbs? 149. That some active verbs will take nouns after them for objects, and others will not. Q. We will next notice this difference. The term transitive means passing over; and when I say, "William whips Charles," the verb whips shows that the action which William performs, passes over to Charles as the object. What kind of a verb, then, shall we call whips? 150. An active-transitive verb. Q. What, then, is an active-transitive verb ? 151. It is one that either has, or may have, an object after it. Q. Walks, we found, would not take an object after it; and, as intransitive means not passing over, what shall we call such verbs as walks ? 152. Active-intransitive verbs. Q. What, then, is an active-intransitive verb? 153. An active-intransitive verb is one that expresses action, but will not take an object after it. Q. When I say, "He eats it," "He beats him," we immediately deter mine that beats and eats are active-transitive verbs by the objects after them how, then, may transitive and intransitive verbs be distinguished? 154. When we can place him or it after any active verb, and make sense, it is transitive; otherwise, it is intransitive. Q: "James remains at home-sleeps at home-is at home." Which words are the verbs here? 155. Remains, sleeps, and is. Q. These verbs do not imply action, like strikes, beats, &c.: what do they imply? 156. Existence, rest, or being, in a certain state. Q. These verbs, and others of similar character, have been called neuter (signifying neither) by grammarians, because they are neither active nor passive. On a future occasion, I will make you fully acquainted with a passive verb. It is sufficient for our present purpose, that you perceive the reason of the name of the neuter verb. What is a neuter verb? 157. A neuter verb is one that simply implies being or existence in a certain state. Q. Will you inform me now, in general terms, what is a correct definition of a verb ? 158. A verb is a word which signifies ACTION or being. Q. When I say, "I strike," in what number and person is strike, and why? 159. Strike is of the first person singular, because its agent, I, is of this person and number. Q. Hence you may perceive, that verbs, in themselves considered, do not have person and number: why, then, are they said to have these properties at all? 160. On account of the connection which they have with their agents or nominatives. Q. We say, "I write," and "He writes;" hence you perceive that the ending of the verb varies, as its agent or nominative varies: what, then, will be the rule for the nominative case? RULE VI. The nominative case governs the verb in number and person. Q. If the nominative case governs the verb in number and person, in what respect must the verb agree with its nominative case? RULE VII. A verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person. Q When I say, "James beats him," the pronoun him is the object of the action denoted by beats, and is, therefore, in the objective case: what, then, will be a good rule for the objective case after active verbs? RULE VIII. Active-transitive verbs govern the objective case. Q. I will now give you the different endings of the verb love, in is dif ferent numbers and persons. Will you repeat them? Singular. 161. First person, I love. 162. 1 Pers. I am. 2 Pers. You are. 3 Pers. He is. First person, Plural. Second person, You love. Third person, They love. of am? Plural. 1 Pers. We are. 2 Pers. You are. Q. Will you repeat, in the same manner, the variations of hate? desire? read? EXERCISES IN PARSING. “I study my lesson." 163. I is a PRONOUN, a word used instead of a noun—PERSONAL; it always denotes the same person, (the first) — FIRST PERSON; it denotes the speaker · SINGULAR NUMBER; it means but one "Nom. I"-made in the NOMINATIVE CASE to study, according to RULE VI. The nominative case governs the verb in number and person. Study is a VERB; it expresses action TRANSITIVE; it admits an object after it-"1 Pers. I study"-made in the SINGULAR NUMBER, because its nominative 1 FIRST PERSON is, with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE VII. A verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person. My is a PRONOUN, a word used for a noun PERSONAL; it always represents the same person FIRST PERSON; it represents the person speaking "Nom. I; Poss. my, or mine"made in the POSSESSIVE CASE and governed by the noun lesson, according to RULE I. The possessive case is governed by the following noun. Lesson is a NOUN-COMMON ; it is a general name—NEUTER GENDER; it is neither male nor female· THIRD PERSON; it is spoken of SINGULAR NUMBER; it means but one-and in the OBJECTIVE CASE; it is the object of the verb study, and governed by it, according to RULE VIII. Active-transitive verbs govern the objective case. EXERCISES IN PARSING CONTINUED. "I lament my fate." Transitive Verbs. "You regard your friends." "We desire your improvement." "He found a dollar." "She attends the school." His is a PRONOUN, a word used instead of a noun-PERSONAL; it uniformly stands for the same person MASCULINE GENDER, THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR NUMBER, because the noun John is, with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE V. Pronouns must agree with the nouns for which they stand, in gender, number, and person. "Nom. he; Poss. his"-made in the POSSESSIVE CASE and governed by the noun book, according to RULE I. The possessive case is governed by the following noun. The remaining words, book, reads, and John, are parsed as before. EXERCISES IN PARSING CONTINUED. parents." "Sin deceives its votaries." 3. "Virtue rewards its followers." parents." "The intemperate man loves his dram." In parsing personal pronouns, we do not apply Rule V. unless the nouns for which they stand are expressed. XI. INDICATIVE MOOD-TENSE. Q. When James says, "I will learn," he evidently means, by his manner of speaking, to express his intention to learn; but when he says, "I can learn," what does he mean? (1.) Is is a VERB; it implies being-NEUTER; it is neither active nor passive, but expresses being, merely 1 pers. I am; 2 pers. You are; 3 pers. He or William is"-made in the THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR, because William, its nominative, is, and agrees with William, according to RULE VII. A verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person. (2.) Discreet belongs to William, by Rule IV. |