316. The common gender denotes the names of such animals as may be either male or femalc; as, parent, bird.

317. The neuter gender denotes the names of objects which are neither males nor females; as, chair, table.

318. Some nouns, naturally neuter, do, by a figure of speech, as it is called, become masculine or feminine; as when we say of the sun, "He is setting," and of a ship, "She sails well," &c.

319. The English language has three methods of distinguishing sex, viz:

319-1. By different words; as,

Male.

Female.

Male.

Bachelor,

Female.
Wife.

Boar,

Sow.

Boy,

Girl.

Lad,

Lass.

Brother,

Buck,

Doe.

Man,

Bull,

Cow.

Master,

Bullock or

Milter,

Lady.
Woman.
Mistress.
Spawner.

Heifer.

Steer,

Nephew,

Niece.

Ram,

Ewe.

Drake,

Duck.

Singer.

Madam.

Father,

Friar,

Gander

Goose.

Stag,

Hind.

Uncle,

Aunt.

Horse,*

Mare.

What does the common gender denote? 316. Give an example.

What does neuter mean? 23. What does the neuter gender denote? 317 Give an example.

What is said of nouns naturally neuter, in respect to gender? 318. Give an example.

How many genders do nouns have, and what are they? 30.

How many methods are there in Eng. lish of distinguishing sex? 319.

Which is the first; as, boy? girl? 319-1. til you spell the feminine corresponding to brother? 319-1. to boy? nephew?

wizard? friar? sir? drake? earl? gander? hart? king? lad? man? master? singer? sloven? son? stag? uncle?

Will you spell the masculine corresponding to maid? girl? madam? daughter? niece?

What is the second method of distinguishing sex; as, abbot? abbess ? 319-2.

Will you spell the feminine corre sponding to abbot? actor? administrator? baron? benefactor? bridegroom? conduct. or? czar? duke? emperor? executor ? god? governor? heir? hero? host? hunt. er? instructer? Jew? lion? marquis? pa tron? peer? proprietor? shepherd? sor

319-3. By prefixing a noun, pronoun, or adjective; as,

Male descendants,

A hen-sparrow.

A maid-servant.
A she-goat.
A she-bear.
A female child.

Female descendants.

XXVII. NUMBER.

320. Number shows how many are meant, whether one or

more.

321. Nouns have two numbers, the singular and the plural. 322. The singular number expresses but one; as, boy. 323. The plural number implies more than one; as, boys. 324. Some nouns are used in the singular number only; as, wheat, gold, sloth, pride, dutifulness.

325. Other nouns are used in the plural number only; as, bellows, scissors, lungs, riches, &c.

326. Some nouns are the same in both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine.

327. The plural number of nouns is regularly formed by adding s to the singular; as, sing. dove, plur. doves.

328. The irregular mode of forming the plural is as follows: when the noun singular ends in x, ch, soft, sh, or ss, we add es to form the plural; as, box, boxes; church, churches; lash, lashes; kiss, kisses.

329. Nouns ending in f or fe, change these terminations into ves to form the plural; as, loaf, loaves; wife, wives.

cerer? sultan? tiger? tutor? viscount? votary? widower?

Will you spell the masculine corresponding to abbess? czarina? duchess? ambassadress? heroine? huntress? poetess? prophetess? widow?

What is the third method of distinguishing sex; as, a man-servant? a maidservant? 319-3.

Will you spell the feminine corresponding to male child? male descendants? XXVII. What does the word number mean? 5.

What does the number of nouns show? 320.

What does singular mean? 6.

What does the singular number of nouns imply? 322. Give an example. What does plural mean? 10. What does the plural number of nouns imply? 323. Give an example.

How are wheat, gold, &c. used? 324. How are bellows, lungs, &c. used? 325. What is said of deer, sheep, &c. ? 326. How many numbers do nouns have, and what are they? 321.

How is the plural number regularly formed? 327. Give an example.

When do we add es to form the plural 1 328. Give an example.

What is the plural of loaf? 329.
What is the rule for it? 329.

330. When a noun singular ends in y, with a vowel before it, the plural is formed regularly; as, key, keys; delay, delays; valley, valleys. But if the y does not have a vowel before it, the plural is formed by changing y into ies; as, fly, flies; beauty, beauties.

321. The following nouns form their plurals not according to any general

Brother-in-law, Brothers-in-law.

Pence. (1.) Court-martial, Courts-martial.
Dice. (2.)

332. Mathematics, metaphysics, pneumatics, ethics, politics, &c. are reckoned either as singular or plural nouns. The same is equally true of means, alms, amends. Antipodes, credenda, minutiæ, literati, &c. are always plural. Bandit is now considered the singular of banditti. The noun news is always singular. Many nouns form their plurals according to the laws of the language from which they are derived. The following are of this class.

(1.) Pennies, when the coin is meant. (2.) Dies, for coining. (3.) Pease and fish, meaning quantities; but peas and fishes, when number is meant.

(4.) Genii, when denoting aerial or imaginary spirits; geniuses, when denoting persons of genius. (5.) In deres, when denoting pointers or tables of contents; indices, when referring to algebraic quantities.

XXVIII. CASE.

333. Case means the different state, condition, or relation which nouns have to other words in the same sentence.

334. In English, nouns have three cases the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

335. The nominative case is usually the agent or doer, and always the subject of the verb.

336. The subject is the thing chiefly spoken of; as, 'John assists William:" here, John is the subject spoken of, or the nominative case to the verb assists.

337. The possessive case denotes possession, ownership, property, &c.; as, "William's book." This case may be distinguished from the other cases by the apostrophe or the letter s. 338. A noun in the singular forms its possessive case by taking the apostrophe and the letter s after it; as, " John's hat." 339. Plural nouns usually form their possessive case simply by taking the apostrophe; as, " On eagles' wings."

340. When the plural of nouns does not end in s, they form their possessive case by taking both the apostrophe and the letter s; as, "Men's houses."

341. When the singular ends in ss, the apostrophe only is added; as, "For goodness' sake:" except the noun witness; as, "The witness's deposition." 342. Nouns ending in nce form the possessive by adding the apostrophe only; as, "For conscience' sake:" because an additional s would occasion too much of the hissing sound, or increase the difficulty of pronunciation. 343. The objective case denotes the object of an action or relation.

344. In the sentence, "John strikes him," him is the object of the action denoted by strikes; and in the sentence, "He went from London to York" York is the object of the relation denoted by the preposition to.

XXVIII. What is the meaning of the word case? 47.

What is meant by the case of nouns? 333.

How many cases have nouns, and what are they? 334.

What does nominative mean? 49. What is the nominative case? 335. Give an example.

What do you understand by the subject of a verb? 336. Illustrate it by an example.

What does possessive mean? 59, What does the possessive case denote ? 337. Give an example.

How may this case be distinguished from the other cases? 337.

How do nouns in the singular form their possessive case? 338. Give an example.

Man's, Men's.
Man,

Men.

RULE I.

The possessive case is governed by the following noun.

EXERCISES IN SYNTAX.

“John's wife returned.”

346. John's is a PROPER NOUN, of the MASCULINE GENDER, the THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR NUMBER, POSSESSIVE CASE, and governed by wife, by RULE I.

Wife is a COMMON NOUN, of the FEMININE GENDER, the THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR NUMBER, and NOMINATIVE CASE to returned, by RULE VI.

Returned is an INTRANSITIVE VERB, in the INDICATIVE MOOD, IMPERFECT TENSE .“1. I returned; 2. You returned; 3. He returned, or wife returned"-made in the THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR, and agrees with wife, by RULE VII.

347. If you examine the foregoing example, you will find it difficult to ascertain whether the estate is the property of one brother or more; if of one only, an apostrophe should precede the s, thus; "Brother's estate:" but if it belongs to more than one, an apostrophe should follow the s, thus; "Brothers' estate." Mistakes of this sort often occur; hence you perceive the importance in writing, of attending to the subject of grammar.

"Mans' happiness.”

348. Incorrect, because mans' is in the possessive case, singular number, and, therefore, the apostrophe should be placed before the s, according to the observations above, and Art. 338.

Will you repeat the rule for the possessive case? Rule I.

In the sentence, "John's wife returned," will you parse John's? wife? returned? 346.

Why is John's in the possessive case? 337.

What kind of a verb is returned? 346.
Why? 153.

In what case is wife? 346.
Why? 335.

The pupil may next parse the additional exercises in syntax.

In the phrase, "Brothers estate," does one brother, or more than one, own the estate? 347.

Why cannot you tell?

If only one brother is meant, how should the apostrophe be placed? How, if more than one?

In the phrase," Mans' happiness," why is it incorrect for the apostrophe to follow the s? 348.

What is the rule for forming the pos sessive case of nouns? 338.

Will you now parse man's?

We spell the possessive case of man thus, m-a-n-(apostrophe) s; will you in like manner spell the possessive of John? William? Rufus? women? boys?

The remaining exercises are to be corrected as well as parsed.

(1.) Active-transitive verb. (2.) Adjective, and belongs to reward, by Rule IV.