placed before the adjective, have the same effect; as, wise, more wise, most wise. 4. Monosyllables are compared by er and est; and dissyllables by more and most; as, wise, wiser, wisest; frugal, more frugal, most frugal. 5. Dissyllables ending in y; as, happy; and in le after a mute; as, ample; or accented on the last syllable; as, discréet; easily admit of er and est. 6. Words of more than two syllables hardly ever admit of those terminations. In some words, the superlative is formed by adding the adverb MOST to the end of them; as, utmost. 7. Some words of very common use are irregularly formed; as, good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; much or many, more, most; and a few others. 8. Adjectives that have in themselves a superlative signification, do not properly admit of the superlative or comparative form superadded: such as, chief, supreme, perfect, right, universal, extreme, &c., which are sometimes improperly written, chiefest, extremest, perfectest, rightest, most universal, most supreme. 9. The phrases, so perfect, so right, so ex treme, so universal, &c. are incorrect, because they imply that one thing is less perfect, less extreme, &c. than another, which is not possible. 10. All qualities are adjectives, and belong to some noun either expressed or understood, which noun they qualify. 1. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. For what purpose is an adjective added to a substantive? Is the English adjective varied on account of gender, number, or case? What variation does the adjective admit? 2. How many degrees of comparison are there? Name them? What does the positive degree express? What does the comparative? What does the superlative? 3. How does the positive become the comparative ? How does the positive become the super lative? What effect have the adverbs more and most, upon the adjectives? 4. How are monosyllables compared? How are dissyllables compared ? 5. How are dissyllables ending in y compared ? How are dissyllables ending in le preceded by a mute compared? How are dissyllables accented on the last syllable compared ? 8. 6. Are words of more than two syllables ever compared by er and est? Is the superlative ever 7. 9. 10. formed by adding most to the end of a word? Are there any adjectives irregularly formed?Name them. Do adjectives that have in themselves a super- Is So PERFECT correct? Is so right correct? What are all qualities? To what do all adjec- the noun. PRONOUNS. 1. A pronoun is a word used to avoid the too frequent repetition of the noun. 2. There are three kinds of pronouns, viz. the personal, the relative, and the adjective pronouns. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 3. There are five personal pronouns; viz. I, THOU, HE, SHE, IT; with their plurals, we, YE, or YOU, THEY. 4. They are called PERSONAL pronouns, be cause they represent the three persons used in conversation or writing. 5. Personal pronouns admit of person, number, gender and case. 6. The first person is the person who speaks of himself; the second person, is the one spoken to, and the third person, is the person or thing spoken of. 7. The persons of pronouns are three in each of the numbers, viz : SINGULAR. 8. I, is the first person, Thou, is the second person, PLURAL. We, is the first person, Ye or you, is the second person, 9. The numbers of pronouns, like those of substantives, are two, the singular and the plural. 10. Gender has respect only to the third person singular of the pronouns, he, she, it. He is masculine; she is feminine; it is neuter. |