The following Adjectives are compared irregularly:— Comparative. Superlative. Positive. Bad, evil, or ill worse worst farthest inmost or innermost FEE Little Many or much Near Nigh less more nearer nigher least nearest or next nighest or next older or elder upper uttermost or utmost upmost or uppermost EXERCISES ON ADJECTIVES. Point out the Nouns and Adjectives in the following phrases: A good scholar, a bright sky, deeds unjust and cruel, a sharp knife, an old hat and a new coat, wintry weather, dreary winter. Prefix appropriate Adjectives to the following Nouns :Boy, castle, desk, fig, ghost, grapes, highway, island, lily, memory, navy, passenger, rose, thunder, voice. Compare the following Adjectives, and give the spelling: Able, beautiful, crafty, gay, glad, hardy, little, manly, many, precious, red, severe, testy, worthy, zealous. Point out the Adjectives which cannot be compared:Eternal, external, extreme, holy, human, ill, large, matchless, perpendicular, right, square, supreme, unchangeable, wooden, yearly. Of PRONOUNS. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun; as, John is a good boy; he obeys the master. There are three kinds of pronouns; Personal, Relative, and Adjective. Of PERSONAL PRONOUNS. The Personal Pronouns are I, thou, he, she, it. They have number, gender, and case, and are thus declined : : Exercises on Personal Pronouns. I, thou, we, me, us, thine, he him, she, hers, they, thee, them, its, theirs, you, her, ours, yours, mine, his, I, me, them, us, it, we. OBSERVATIONS. Hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, should never be written, her's, it's, our's, your's, their's; but hers, its, ours, &c. The compound personal pronouns, Myself, thyself, himself, &c. are commonly joined either to the simple pronoun or to any ordinary noun to make it more remarkable.-See K. 80, 96. These pronouns are generally in the same case with the noun or pronoun to which they are joined; as, "She herself said so;" "They themselves acknowledged it to me myself." "The master himself got it." Self, when used alone, is a noun; as, "Our fondness for self is hurtful to others."K. 96. In some respectable grammars the possessive case of the different personal pronouns stands thus: 1st, my or mine, our or ours-2d, thy or thine, your or yours-3d, her or hers, their or theirs. I see no impropriety in this method; the one I have preferred, however, is perhaps less liable to objection. Of RELATIVE PRONOUNS. A Relative Pronoun is a word that relates to a noun or pronoun before it, called the antecedent; as, The master who taught us, &c. The simple relatives are who, which, and that. Who and which are thus declined : Who is applied to persons; as, The boy who. Which is applied to inferior animals, and things without life; as, The dog which barks; the book which was lost. That is often used instead of who or which, and is applied to persons, animals, or things; as, The boy that reads; the book that was lost. What is a compound relative, including both the relative and the antecedent; as, This is what I wanted; that is, the thing which I wanted. OBSERVATIONS. In asking questions, Who, which, and what, are called interrogatives; as, Who said that? What did he do?-K. p. 84. Note. The Relative is always of the same gender, number, and person, as its antecedent, but not always in the same case.-K. p. 43. b.t The Relative sometimes refers to a whole clause as its antecedent; as, The Bill was rejected by the Lords, which excited no small degree of jealousy and discontent; that is, which thing, or circumstance, excited, &c. Who is applied to inferior animals, when they are represented as speaking and acting like rational beings.-K. p. 43.* b. What and which are sometimes used as adjectives; as, "I know not by what fatality the adversaries of the motion are impelled;" which things are an allegory. Which here is equal to these.-Page 69, b. Whoever, whosoever, and whoso, are compound relatives equal to He who; or, The person that.-K. 88, 89. Of ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. There are four sorts of Adjective Pronouns. 1. The Possessive Pronouns, My, thy, his, her, our, your, their, its, own. 2. The Distributive, Each, every, either, neither. 3. The Demonstrative, This, that, with their plurals, these, those. 4. The Indefinite, None, any, all, such, whole, some, both, one, other, another; the last three are declined like nouns. OBSERVATIONS. Mine and thine are sometimes used before a vowel or a silent h; as, "Blot out mine iniquities." "If thine eye offend thee." "Mine hour is not yet come." His and her are possessive pronouns, when placed immediately before nouns; but when they stand by themselves, his is accounted the possessive case of the personal pronoun he, and her the objective of she. Yon, with former and latter, may be called demonstrative pronouns, as well as this and that. See Syntax, R. 28, b. That is sometimes a Relative, sometimes a Demonstrative pronoun, and sometimes a Conjunction.- -K. 90. That is a Relative when it can be turned into who or which, without destroying the sense; as, "The days that (or which) are past are gone for ever." That is a Demonstrative pronoun when it is placed immediately before a noun, expressed or understood; as, "That book is new." "That is not the one I want." That is a Conjunction when it cannot be turned into who or which; but marks a consequence, an indication, or final end; as, "He was so proud, that he was universally despised." "He answered, that he never was so happy as he is now." "Live well, that you may die well." All the indefinite pronouns (except none), and even the demonstrative, distributive, and possessive, are adjectives belonging to nouns either expressed or understood; and in parsing I think they ought to be called adjectives. None is used in both numbers; but it cannot be joined to a noun. The phrase none other should be no other.Another has no plural. EXERCISES ON PRONOUNS. Point out the Pronouns, and tell for what Nouns You are hungry, and I am thirsty. Mary lost her cap, but the maid found it and brought it to her. The soldiers told their officers that they had done as they had ordered them. What kind of a Pronoun is Mine, that, what, whosoever, her, every, both, these, another, whose, either, any, all, themselves, myself?* Tell the person, number, gender, and case of She, its, ours, them, us, hers, they, thine, thou, me, ye, you, thee, yours, theirs, it, him, her. Point out the Relatives and their antecedents: The rain which fell last night. A man whose name is Smith. The book that you sent me was lost by the boy who carried it. The person with the white hat, whom you met yesterday, was the master of the ship that went down in the bay. Put the Relative who, or which, instead of that:The dog that you bought is dead. The maid that he hired is from Wales. The horse that I bought at the fair was much admired by all that saw it there. Is that a Relative or a Demonstrative in the following sentences: I abhor the tongue that flatters. Give me that rose. Tell that boy not to touch the flower that grows on the wall. * The personal pronouns, Himself, herself, themselves, &c., are used in the nominative case as well as in the objective; as, Himself shall come. Mr. Blair, in his Grammar, says, they have only one case, viz., the nominative; but this is a mistake, for they have the objective too.-K. 80. |