every thing that you see, derive instruction.' That, in the above sentences, can be changed into who or which, without violating the sense; as, ' He who gave us life.' 'From every thing which you see,' &c. The word that is a demonstrative adjective pronoun when it joins a noun; as, that man, that horse, that house; meaning a particular man, horse or house. In this situation, it has no case, but is parsed by the rule for an adjective. When that cannot be changed into who or which, and is not joined to a noun, it is a conjunction; as, 'I am glad that you have come. I am glad that you are well.' It would not make good sense to say, I am glad who you have come.' 'I am glad which you are well.' The pronoun that should always be used after an adjective of the superlative degree; as, He is the best preacher that I ever heard. It should be used after the adjective same; as, 'He is the same man that I saw in Boston.' It should be used after the antecedent who; as, 'who that is any wise fearful, had better stay behind.' Nouns of multitude should be represented by that; as, "The family that I boarded with were very kind.' Sentences are often connected by relative pronouns; as, 'All is not gold that shines.' The word what, is called a compound relative pronoun, including both the antecedent and the relative, and is equivalent to that which. The sentence, 'Give me what I want,' has the same meaning as, 'Give me that which I want.' What, is therefore called the compound relative pronoun. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule. In the following sentences that which cannot be admitted, but those which. Examples-"These are what 1 wanted; that is, these are those which I wanted. 'One of the worst faults a speaker can have, is to make no other pauses, but what he finds barely necessary for breathing.' That is, 'One of the worst faults a speaker can have, is to make no other pauses but those, or but those pauses,' &c. What, is sometimes an interrogative relative pronoun; as, 'What avails the taking so much medicine, when you are so careless about taking cold?' What, is here in the objective case, the object of the action of the active verb avails. Transposed, it would read thus: The taking so much medicine avails what? What, is an adjective pronoun, when it precedes and joins a noun; as, 'What ship did you sail in?' What, is frequently an interjection; as, 'What! do you intend to insult me?' The pronoun what, should not be used for the conjunction that; as, 'He would not believe but what I was there.' It should read, 'but that I was there.' What, is sometimes used adverbially; as, "Though I forbear, what am I eased?' Job xvi. 6. The conjunction as is often used in the nature of a pronoun relative. For example: I hate such people as love idleness. Such actions as you speak of, are very degrading.' As, however, is never used in the nature of a relative, except after the pronoun such, and the adjectives much and many. 'He did as much for them as he was able. He accommodated as many of them as he possibly could.' The objective case of the personal pronouns, and the relatives who, which, what, and that, when used in the objective, are placed before the words that govern them; as, 'Whom ye ignorantly worship, him I declare Which he said. That he mentioned. unto you. What he wanted.' Who, which, and what, when used in asking questions, are called interrogative pronouns, relating to a word or phrase, which is not antecedent, but subsequent to them. The relative pronoun who is thus declined: Nom. Poss. Obj. Singular. Plural. Whose, Whom. Whose is sometimes used as the possessive case of which; as, 'Philosophy, whose end is to instruct us in the knowledge of nature. This is one of the clearest characteristics of its being a religion whose origin is divine.' Who, which, and what, have sometimes the words soever, and ever, annexed to them; as, whosoever, or whoever; whichsoever, or whichever; whatsoever, or whatever; but they are seldom used in modern style. The relative is the nominative case to the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the verb; as, 'The master who taught us.' 'The trees which are planted.' When a nominative comes between the relative and the verb, the relative is governed by some word in its own member of the sentence; as, He who preserves me, to whom I owe my being, whose I am, and whom I serve, is eternal.' 'I am he, whom ye seek.' When the relative is preceded by two nominatives of different persons, the relative and the verb may agree in person with either, according to the sense; as, ‘ I am the man who command you;' or, 'I am the man who commands you.' Sometimes the infinitive mode or part of a sentence stands as an antecedent to a relative; as, To lie, which is natural to some men, is always sinful. ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. Adjective pronouns are such as are sometimes added to nouns like adjectives; and which are therefore called adjective pronouns, or pronouns adjectived. In the sentence, Judas betrayed his master,' his is called a pronoun adjective; because it is added to the noun master, like an adjective. Adjective pronouns are therefore said to be of a mixed nature, participating of the properties both of pronouns and of adjectives. Adjective pronouns are divided into four sorts, viz:-Possessive, Distributive, Demonstrative, and Indefinite. The possessive adjective pronouns are those, which relate to possession or property. They are always followed by a noun, expressed or understood. They are my, thy, their, your, our, his, her, it or its. Own and self, (plural selves) are sometimes annexed to the adjective pronouns, to mark their meaning more strongly; as, 'My own hand; our own house.' 'I did this my own self.' 'We hurt ourselves by improper conduct.' When the noun is not expressed, but only understood, my, becomes mine, thy, thine, &c. as, 'This is my pen, that is thine.' Mine and thine are sometimes used in poetry instead of my and thy; and in prose, when the noun or adjective to which they are united, begins with a vowel, or silent h; as, 'Thine eyes behold the things that are right.' The distributive adjective pronouns are those, which denote the persons or things, that make up a number, taken separately and singly. They are each, every, either, neither. Each relates to two or more persons or things, and signifies either of the two, or every one of any number taken separately; as, 'Each of the men escaped uninjured.' Every relates to several persons or things, and signifies each one of them all taken separately; as, 'Every man must shift for himself.' Either relates to two persons or things taken separately, and signifies the one or the other; as, 'You may take either of these two apples. To say, ' either of the three,' is therefore improper. We can say, 'either the dog or the cat ;' but not, ' either the dog, the cat, or the pig.' Neither imports not either; that is, not one nor the other; as, Neither of my brothers was there.' 6 Each, every, and either, when used as pronouns, agree with verbs in the singular number only; as, 'Each of them was fined twenty dollars.' 'Every one of the books is carried away.' 'Either of the two is sufficient for my purpose.' The demonstrative adjective pronouns are those, which precisely point out the subjects to which they relate. They are this, that, these, those, former, latter. This refers to the nearest person or thing, and that to the most distant; as, · This man is more intelligent than that.' Wealth and poverty are both temptations; that tends to excite pride, this discontent.' The words former and latter, in many of their applications, may be properly ranked amongst the demonstrative pronouns. Example: 'It was happy for the state, that Fabius continued in the command with Mi nucius; the former's phlegm was a check upon the latter's vivacity.' The Indefinite adjective pronouns are those, which express their subjects in a general or indefinite manner. They are all, any, one, none, another, some, such. Of the indefinite pronouns, only the words one and other are varied. One has a possessive case; as, one, one's. This word has a general signification, meaning people at large; and sometimes also a peculiar reference to the person, who is speaking; as, • One ought to pity the distresses of mankind.' One is apt to love one's self.' This word is often used, by good writers, in the plural number; as, 'The great ones of the world.' My wife and the little ones are in good health.' The plural, others, is only used when apart from the noun to which it refers, whether expressed or understood; as, 'When you have read these papers, I will send you the others.' He pleases some, but he disgusts others.' When this pronoun is joined to nouns, either singular or plural, it has no variation; as, other man. The other men.' 'The The word another is composed of the indefinite article prefixed to the word other. None is used in both numbers; as, 'None is so deaf as he that will not hear." 'None of those are equal to these.' 'None that go unto her, return again.' None is by some called a negative pronoun. It signifies no one of a particular person or thing of a collective number. Adjective pronouns belong to nouns; as, My book, each letter. EXPLANATION OF VERBS. A Verb is a word that is used to express the different actions of creatures and things, and no sentence can be complete without it, for it always informs us what the noun does; as, Industrious scholars learn.' Lions |