"William tain little words in stead of the names. If I say, promised Mary that William would lend Mary William's grammar, that Mary might study the grammar," you can easily see that the sentence is clumsy and disagreeable, because I have repeated the words William, Mary, and grammar. But if I say, "William promised Mary that he would lend her his grammar, that she might study it," you notice that the sentence is much more simple and agreeable, because I have used the little words he, she, and it, for the nouns William, Mary, and grammar, in stead of repeating these nouns. Pronoun means for a noun; and pronouns are so called because they are used for nouns, or in stead of nouns. 11. A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun. The most common pronouns are I, my, myself, mine, me, we, our, ourselves, ours, us, you, your, yourself, yours, ye, thou, thy, thyself, thine, thee, he, his, him, himself, she, her, herself, hers, it, itself, its, they, theirs, them, themselves, who, whose, whom, which, and that. The easiest way in which you can generally distinguish a pronoun from a noun, is to consider whether the word denotes an object, without being itself the name of the object. "I saw you." Here I denotes me, without being my name; and you denotes the person spoken to, without being his name. Put suitable pronouns for the words in Italic letters: John has learned John's lesson. Mary has torn Mary's book. The apple lay under the apple's tree. The apples lay under the apples' tree. Thomas has come home, and Thomas is well. Lucy is pretty, and Lucy knows it. The gun was brought, but the gun was out of order. Laura was disobedient, and therefore Laura's teacher punished Laura. Julia will buy you a basket, if Julia can buy the basket cheap. Joseph and Mary went to meet Joseph and Mary's father, but Joseph and Mary's father came another way. ARTICLES. Most objects exist in classes; and when we use merely the ordinary name of something, we generally mean the class or object at large or indefinitely; as, tree, apples, water. To show that we mean only one object of a kind, and no particular one, or that we mean some particular object or objects, we generally place the word a or an, or the, before the name; as, a tree, the tree, the trees. If I say, "Give me a book, an apple," you understand that any book or apple will answer my purpose; but if I say, "Give me the book, the books," you understand that I want some particular book or books. These words, a or an and the, which are very often used before nouns, and which generally show how we select the objects of which we are speaking, are called articles. 12. An Article is the word the, a, or an, placed before a noun to limit its meaning. Place A before each of the following nouns; then THE: — Man, book, pen, boy, parrot, pink, school-house, newspaper. Place AN before each of the following nouns; then THE: — VERBS. We can not think of an object, without thinking something of it. Therefore every thought or saying implies at least two things; something of which we think or speak, and something that we think or say of it: the former is called the subject, and the latter the predicate. "Rivers flow"; here rivers is the subject, and flow is the predicate. "Deep rivers flow smoothly"; here deep rivers is the subject, and flow smoothly is the predicate. 13. A Subject is a word or phrase denoting that of which something is said. 14. A Predicate is a word or phrase denoting what is said of the subject. 15. A Proposition is a subject combined with its predicate. When we speak of any object, we generally tell either what it is, what it does, or what is done to it. 1. Flowers are beautiful. The ant is an insect. Carpenters build houses. 3. Fields are ploughed. The corn was ground. The words are, is, sing, play, build, etc., by means of which we say things of the subjects, are called verbs. 16. A Verb is a word used to express the act or state of a subject. "The river washes away the soil"; here washes is a verb, because it tells what the river does. "The river is deep "; here is is a verb, because it tells something of the river, or helps to show in what state it is. Sometimes we say that the verb affirms or predicates something of its subject. This is nearly the same as to tell you that it says something of that about which we are talking. We are sometimes obliged to use hard words in books, for the sake of greater accuracy or exactness. By dressing soldiers in a different style from that in which citizens are dressed, we can easily distinguish them from citizens. So every science has generally, in its words, a dress of its own. Mention the subjects, the predicates, the verbs of the predicates, and why: Frogs leap. Fishes swim. The wind whistles. The thunder rolls. The lightning flashed. Clouds were moving. He recited his lesson. The door creaked. the grass. Out flew the partridges. blooming together. The snake crept into Lilies and roses were Put a suitable subject to each of the following predicates: Is happy; knows nothing; am sick; art released; grew rapidly; was neglected; were neglected; went away; spoke sensibly; replied; stepped forth; retreated; should obey their parents; was a great man. Say something of each of the following objects, by telling what they are:Street, grass, hay, ice, stars, mountains, room, table. Say something of each of the following objects, by telling what they do: Horse, farmers, trees, servant, hogs, tailor, teacher, scholar. Say something of each of the following objects, by telling what is done to them: Lesson, bonnet, bridge, yard, window, John, newspaper. ADJECTIVES. We notice every day that objects are not all alike, even when of the same general kind. Some roses, for instance, are red; some are white; and some are yellow. An apple may be large or small; red, green, or yellow; hard or mellow; mealy or juicy. Sometimes we notice several things of interest in the same object. A river, for instance, may be deep, broad, clear, and swift. The value of objects, or the regard we have for them, depends not a little on their qualities; and hence it is necessary for us to have words that will show the qualities of objects, or describe the objects. These words are called adjectives. Sometimes we use words that do not express the qualities of objects, but that still serve to show what objects are meant. Such words are this, that, each, every, either, first, second, one, two, three, etc. These words are also called adjectives. The word adjective means throwing or joining to; an adjective generally modifies the idea of an object, by joining to it that of some quality. 17. An Adjective is a word used to qualify or limit the meaning of a noun or pronoun. "A good pupil will be industrious." Good and industrious are adjectives, because they describe the pupil; that is, they describe the object meant by the word pupil. "This tree bore five bushels of apples." This is an adjective, because it makes the indefinite word tree mean a particular one; and five is an adjective, because it makes the indefinite word bushels mean a particular number. Tell which are the adjectives, and why : Warm weather; dark clouds; shady lawns; tall trees; a white cloud; yonder house; a hollow tree; a steep bluff. Put suitable adjectives to each of the following nouns; and then tell what each of the objects is, by using the same adjective:· Man, boy, workman, star, rose, river, book, day, crow, swan, pink, winter, snow, wood, stones, lead. ADVERBS. People do not Hence we often Not only are objects different, but their actions are also different, even when of the same general kind. all walk alike, nor talk alike, nor write alike. use such words as well, badly, fast, slowly, gracefully, awkwardly, sweetly, harshly, hastily, etc., to describe the actions of persons, or to distinguish their actions from one another. These words are called adverbs, because they are generally added to verbs. Sometimes we distinguish actions by telling simply where or when they are done; as, "It rained everywhere"; "It rained seldom." We not only use words to describe objects and their actions, but we often use words to show in what degrees objects or actions have their qualities; as, very good; tolerably fast; more rapidly; most rapidly. And these words, which express degree, and are joined to adjectives and adverbs, are also called adverbs. 18. An Adverb is a word used to modify the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. |