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Adjectives and participles qualify their nouns; as, He is a wise man. The scholar is reading Cicero.' The adjective like never governs an objective case; but the objective case that follows it is governed by some preposition understood.

Those adjectives which denote number, are called numeral adjectives; as, one, two, three, &c.; those denoting order, are termed ordinal adjectives; as, first, second, third, &c., which adjectives, are not compared.

Care must be taken, not to use such adjectives as are improper to be applied to the nouns along with which they are used; as, Good virtues; bad vices; painful tooth-achs; pleasing pleasures.'

The following are compound adjectives: God-like, heaven-born, self-existent, bold-faced, blood-thirsty, seagreen, dark-red. 'We live in New-England.' Here New-England is a compound proper noun. The NewEngland States.' Here New-England is a compound adjective:

'The raven's coat is shining black,

Or rather raven grey.'

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Here shining black, and raven grey, are compound adjectives.

Although adjectives, when they relate to number, are said to agree with their nouns in number, yet, there are some exceptions, for the following pronominal adjectives of possession do not always agree with their nouns in number; namely, my, thy, his, her, our, their. Examples- My horses; thy mules; his books; her letters; our house; their garden.' Here they do not agree with their nouns in number; for my, thy, his, and her, are singular, and their respective nouns, horses, mules, books, and letters, are plural; and our and their are plural; but their respective nouns, house and garden, are singular. Here this rule must be given— 'The adjective and participle agree with their nouns. My horse; thy mule; his book; her letter; our houses; their gardens.' Here they agree with their nouns in number;' and this rule must be given—' Adjectives, when they have relation to number, agree with their nouns in number.

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The possessive pronominal adjective your, familiar

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style, referring to an individual, is always of the singular number; and when it agrees with a singular noun, as, your book,' this rule must be given-Adjectives when they have relation to number, agree with their nouns in number.' But when it agrees with a plural noun, as, 'your books,' this rule must be given The adjective and participle agree with their nouns.

EXPLANATION OF PRONOUNS.

Pro, signifies for. Pro-noun, is a word used for, or instead of a noun. Pronomen, the Latin word from which pronoun is derived, signifies a word which is used instead of the proper name. Thus, when speaking of another, we say, 'John is a good boy, he goes to school, and he is at the head of the class." The word he which is twice used in this sentence, stands for John. The word he must then be a pronoun, because it is used for the noun John, to avoid a repetition of that name. 'Charlotte cries because her mother has been correcting her. The young lady whom he admires. The words her and whom in these sentences, are pronouns.

The use and importance of pronouns are well exemplified in the following sentence: 'A woman went to a man, and told him that he was in danger of being murdered by a gang of robbers, who had made preparations for attacking him. He thanked her for her kindness; and as he was unable to defend himself, he left his house, and went to a neighbor's.'

Now if there were no pronouns, we should be obliged to say 'A woman went to a man and told the man that the man was in danger of being murdered by a gang of robbers; as a gang of robbers had made preparations for attacking the man. The man thanked the woman for the woman's kindness, and as the man was unable to defend the man's self, the man left the man's house, and went to a neighbor's.'

Besides nouns, the

pronoun

is also used to represent

.

an adjective, a sentence, or part of a sentence, and sometimes even a series of propositions; as, They supposed him to be innocent, which he certainly was not. His friend bore the abuse very patiently, which served to increase his rudeness; it produced, at length, contempt and insolence.'

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Pronouns are of three kinds, Personal, Relative, and Adjective.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

There are five personal pronouns, namely, I, Thou, He, She, and It.

I, is the first person singular, and is used when one speaks of himself, as, 'I love her, I am tired, I do not love it.'

Thou, is the second person singular, the one who is spoken to; as, 'Thou art very generous.' Thou, is mostly used by Friends or Quakers, but among other classes of people, the word you is used in addressing another; as, 'You are very kind and obliging.'

He, is the third person masculine, or male person spoken of; as, 'He is very good.'

She, is the third person feminine, or female spoken of; as, 'She is very handsome.'

It, is the third person neuter, and represents a noun of the neuter gender spoken of; as, 'It is a fine picture.' The neuter pronoun it, is sometimes omitted and understood; as, May be, for, It may be; As appears, for, As it appears; As follows, for, As it follows.

The pronoun it, though a personal pronoun, does not always stand for, or, at least, appear to stand for, any noun whatever; but is used in order to point out a state of things, or the cause of something produced. For instance; 'It freezed hard last night, and it was so cold that it was with great difficulty the travellers kept on their journey.' Now, what was it that freezed so hard? Not the frost; because frost is the effect, and not the cause, of freezing. We cannot say, that it was the weather that froze; because the freezing constituted in part the weather itself. The pronoun it stands, in this place, for a state of things, or circumstances. Take

two or three other examples. 'It is a frost this morning. It will rain to-night. It will be pleasant to-morrow.' That is to say, 'A state of things called frost exists this morning; a state of things called rain will exist to-night; and to-morrow, a state of things called. pleasant weather.' It, may be called an impersonal pronoun.

The personal pronouns are thus declined:

First person singular.
Nom. I,
Poss.

Second person singular.

Nom. Thou, or You,

Mine, Poss. Thine or Yours, Obj. Me. Obj. Thee or You,

flural.

Plural.

Third person singular.

Nom. He or She,
Poss. His or Hers,
Obj. Him or Her.

Plural.

Neuter.

Nom. We, Nom. Ye or You, Nom. They, Nom. It, Poss. Ours, Poss. Yours,

Obj. Us. Obj. You.

Poss. Theirs, Poss. Its,
Obj. Them. Obj. It.

The pronoun you, even when applied but to one person, is plural, and should never be connected with a singular verb. 'Was you there ? I heard, that you was sick.' Such expressions are as ungrammatical as, 'Is you there? I heard, that you is sick.'

The personal pronoun them, should never be used for the demonstrative pronoun those; as, 'I bought them books; instead of those books."

The Compound Personal Pronouns are formed by adding self in the singular, and selves in the plural, to the personal or possessive adjective pronouns; and are thus declined:

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There are three simple Relative Pronouns, namely, who, which, and that. The word relative, signifies a relation to something else. The use of Relative Pronouns is to connect thoughts and sentences. They always refer to some preceding noun or sentence, which on this account is called the antecedent; as, The Captain who commands the infantry, is an accomplished officer.' In this sentence, Captain is the antecedent, and who is the relative pronoun, because it relates to the noun Captain. Antecedent, in grammar, signifies the noun, to which the relative pronoun is added or subjoined. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents, or the nouns which they represent, in gender, number, and person; as, 'The man whom I respect.' 'Thou, who lovest wisdom.'

Who, is used when speaking of persons, and is both of the masculine and feminine gender.

Which, is used when speaking of brutes or inanimate things, and is therefore of the neuter gender; as, 'Which horse do you like best?' 'Which seat do you generally take?' Sometimes which is made use of when we wish to point out some particular person; as, 'Which of them do you mean?'

Which, cannot be used after an adjective of the superlative degree; for example: 'She is the prettiest girl which I ever saw.' It should read thus: 'She is the prettiest girl that I ever saw.'

Which, when it precedes and joins a noun, is always an adjective; as, 'Which book do you want?' But when it joins a noun that it follows after, it must be a relative pronoun; as, "The book which I wrote.' Here which relates to the noun book, its antecedent.

That, is a relative pronoun when it can be changed into who or which, without destroying the sense; as. 'He that gave us life, is ever nigh to protect us.' 'From

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