ADJECTIVES. AN ADJECTIVE is a word which describes or qualifies a noun, as a long stick, a beautiful garden. Adjectives have three degrees of comparison, viz., the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative, as A PRONOUN is a word used instead of a noun; as, the boy was disobedient, and he was punished. There are three kinds of pronouns, viz., Personal, Relative, and Adjective. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. Pronouns are of the first, second, or third person. The person speaking is the first person. The person spoken to is the second person. The person spoken of is the third person. The personal pronouns are thus declined : A RELATIVE PRONOUN is a word that relates to some noun or pronoun going before it called its antecedent; as, the young lady who was here yesterday is my sister. The relative pronouns are who, which, and that. Nom., who; Poss., whose; Obj., whom. What, whosoever, and whichsoever are called compound relative pronouns. When who, what, and which are used in asking questions, they are called interrogative pronouns. ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. AN ADJECTIVE PRONOUN partakes of the character of an adjective and of a pronoun, and always has a noun following it; as, this stick belongs to my brother. There are four kinds of adjective pronouns, viz., Possessive, Demonstrative, Distributive, and Îndefinite. THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS are my, thy, his, her, our, your, their, its. THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS are this and that, with their plurals these and those. THE DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS are each, every, either, and neither. THE INDEFINITE PRONOUNS are all, any, both, few, some, other, another, several, some, such, and a few more. VERBS. A VERB is a word which denotes being or doing; as, the man is in the room; the man runs; the man obeys the laws; the laws are obeyed by the man. When the verb expresses an action which is not confined to the actor or doer of it, but which passes over to an object, it is called a transitive verb; as, the man obeys the law. When the verb expresses simple existence, or an action which is confined to the doer, it is called a neuter or intransitive verb; as, the man is in the room; the man runs. When the verb expresses suffering, and its nominative case is the name of the sufferer, the verb is said to be passive. Moods of Verbs. By mood is meant the mode or manner in which an action or state of being is represented. There are six moods, viz., the Indicative, Potential, Subjunctive, Imperative, Infinitive, and Participial, The Indicative Mood asserts, or asks a question; as, The bird sings sweetly; Does the bird sing sweetly? The Potential Mood expresses power, possibility, or necessity; as, The girl can come; The girl may come; The girl must come. The Subjunctive Mood denotes condition or supposition; as, Charles will leave home to-morrow, if his brothers arrive. The Imperative Mood commands or entreats; as, Run for the doctor; Forgive us our trespasses. The Infinitive Mood is the action or state of the verb expressed without limitation of person or number; as, to forgive is divine. The Participial Mood expresses the meaning of the verb after the manner of an adjective; as, Disguised as a minstrel the king entered the enemy's camp. Tenses of Verbs. Tense is the modification of the verb to express the time of an action, or of a state of being. There are three main tenses, viz., Present, Past, and Future. Each of these main tenses (except the Future) has four subdivisions, viz., the Indefinite, the Incomplete, the Complete and the Emphatic. Number and Person of Verbs. Like pronouns, verbs have two numbers, Singular and Plural, and three persons. REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS. Verbs are Regular or Irregular.* A regular verb is one that forms its past tense by adding d or ed to the present; as, deceive, deceived; flatter, flattered. An irregular verb is one that does not form its past tense by adding d or ed to the present; as, speak, spoke; shake, shook. Besides regular and irregular verbs, there are Auxiliary Verbs. These are so called because they are joined to other verbs to help to mark their distinctions of mood and tense. The auxiliary verbs are do, be, have, shall, will, may, must, can, and let. *Call also weak or strong. |