the word is masculine or feminine, for one cousin may be a male and the other a female.

2. Animals whose sex is unknown, or unnecessary to be regarded, are generally spoken of as neuter; as, "He shot at the deer, and missed it." On the same principle we say of a child, "It is sick."

3. Though in reality no objects except animals have the distinction of sex, yet in figurative language inanimate objects are often regarded as distinguished by sex. Thus we say of the sun, "He is shining;" or of the moon, "She is beautiful."

4. When inanimate objects are represented as having sex, the names of those which are distinguished for strength, power, or other qualities of the male sex are regarded as masculine; and the names of those distinguished for beauty, loveliness, or other femininc qualities are considered as feminine. Thus, the sun, death, time, winter, war, anger, are masculine; and the moon, earth, nature, virtue, spring, peace, health, are feminine.

5. A collective noun, when used properly as such, that is, when it denotes a single collection of objects, or is in the plural number, is neuter; as, "The army destroyed every thing in its course. But when reference is made to the objects composing the collection, it takes the gender of the individuals referred to.

EXERCISES.

1. Name three nouns of the masculine gender;-three of the feminine;-three of the

neuter.

2. Tell the gender of each of the following nouns.

Hero, countess, book, toy, ladies, paper, gold, women, lord, master, candle, scissors, lamp, fire, tongs, Jewess, priestess, goose, watch, clock, wisdom, whiteness, cousin, parent.

8. Tell the gender of each of the nouns in the exercises on pages 15, 16, and 17.

CASE.

Case signifies the relation which nouns have to other words.

There are three cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

How are animals whose sex is unknown, or unnecessary to be regarded, spoken of? Where inanimate objects are represented as having sex, what nouns are of the

masculine gender? What of the femin-
ine?

Of what gender are collective nouns ?
What is case? How many cases?

When a noun is the subject of a verb, it is in the nominative case; as, "John runs ;' was killed."

;"

"The dog

Remarks.-1. The subject of a verb is that of which something is affirmed. It may usually be known by its forming the answer to the question made by putting who or what before the verb. Thus, if we ask, "Who runs?" the answer will be, "John;" if we ask, "What was killed?" the answer will be, "The dog." John and dog, then, are in the nominative case. 2. The nominative case is sometimes used independent of any verb, especially when an object is addressed; as, “June, Mary is industrious." June is said to be in the nominative case independent.

EXERCISES.

Seventeen of the following nouns are in the nominative case: name them. The words in italics are verbs.

The

Peter whistles. Jane sings. Mary sings sweetly. horse gallops. Birds fly in the air. Whales swim in the sea. Josephine is beautiful. Benjamin went to town. Charles is attentive. The traveler killed the robber. George saw a deer. The rabbit jumped into the dog's mouth. dog. The elephant is large. The robber was killed by the traveler. Joseph jumped two inches. Solomon excels Joseph.

POSSESSIVE CASE.

The snake bit the

When a noun denotes the relation of property or possession, it is in the possessive case; as, "John's hat."

The possessive case in the singular number is usually formed by adding s preceded by an apostrophe ['] to the nominative; as, William, William's; boy, boy's.

When the nominative plural ends in s, the possessive plural is formed by adding the apostrophe only; as, boys, boys'.

When is a noun in the nominative case?
What is the subject of a verb?
How may it usually be known?
When is a noun said to be in the nomina-
tive case independent?

When is a noun in the possessive case? How is the possessive case formed in the singular?

How is the possessive case formed in the plural?

When plural nouns do not end in s, they form their possessive by taking both the apostrophe and s; as, "Men's hats."

Remark.-When the nominative singular and nominative plural are alike, some place the apostrophe after the s in the possessive plural, to distinguish it from the possessive singular; as, Singular, deer's: Plural, deers'. Sometimes when a word ends with the sound of S, or 2, the addition of s would create a harshness of sound; in which case the apostrophe alone is added; as, "Goodness' sake;" "Archimedes' screw."

Remark. No definite rule can be given on this subject; the ear must decide. We say, "The witness's oath;" "Clarence's dream;" ."""James's novels."

In compound words, the sign of the possessive case is placed at the end; as, "His father-in-law's horse;" "The knighterrant's adventure."

EXERCISES.

1. Name six nouns in the possessive case.

2. Write or spell the possessive case of each of the following words.

Man, boy, girl, women, men, boys, girls, John, James, Thomas, beauty, ox, master, mistress, councilman, alderman, aldermen, ladies.

OBJECTIVE CASE.

When a noun is the object of a transitive verb, or of a preposition, it is in the objective case; as, "John struck William;" "Thomas jumped over the log."

Here, William is the object of the verb struck; and log is the object of the preposition over.

Remarks.-1. The object may generally be known by its forming the answer to the question made by putting whom or what after the verb or preposition. Thus, "John struck whom?" jumped over what?" Answer. The log.

How is the possessive case plural formed | when the nominative plural does not

end in 8?

When is the possessive singular formed by adding the apostrophe alone to the nominative?

Answer. William. "Thomas

2. The noun is in the objective case when me, us, him, or them will make sense in its place.

EXERCISES.

Thirty of the following nouns are in the objective case; name them. The transitive verbs are in capital letters, and the prepositions in italics.

The snake BIT the dog. The wolf BIT the horse. John THREW a stone. The musician BROKE his violin. Peter SAW his shadow. Benjamin went to Boston. Boys LOVE sport. Mary THREW the book into the fire. Irene CRACKED a walnut with a hammer. George STRUCK a lamp-post with his fist. Edward went from Louisville to New-Orleans. Birds fly in the air. Peter INVITED Theodore. Edmund saw a rabbit. Anne CUT an apple. The frost INJURED the corn. The hurricane DESTROYED the building. The fox ran through the thicket. Julius ADMIRED the brightness of the sun. Rollo ran up the steps, into the house, and fell over a chair into a tub of water. The horses DRAW the wagon.

Remark.—The objective case, with the preposition of, is often used instead of the possessive case. Thus, instead of "God's power," we may say, "The power of God." It is often more correct to employ this construction than to use the possessive.

EXERCISES.

Change the following in the same way.

John's book. The sun's splendor. Beauty's power. Slavery's chains. God's goodness. The comet's tail. For neatness' sake.

PERSON.

Person denotes the character which the noun has, according as the object is represented as 'speaking, spoken to, or spoken of.

A name applied by the speaker to himself is said to be of the first person; as, “I, John, saw it;""I, the governor, make this proclamation;" "We men are sinful."

What is often used instead of the posses- | Define person. When is a noun said to be sive case? of the first person?

A name applied to the object addressed is said to be of the second person; as, "Theodore, give me my knife;" "Children, obey your parents."

A noun denoting the object spoken of is of the third person ; as, "John saw it;" "Men are sinful;" "Theodore gave me my knife."

Remark.-A noun is never the subject of a verb, except when of the third person.

EXERCISES.

Tell the person of each of the following nouns.

I, John Thomson, hereby certify. John Thomson certifies. ConPaul, thou art beside thyself.

Mary, you are a good girl. You, John Thomson, certify. sistency, thou art a jewel.

did

I, Darius, make a decree. Darius made a decree. Darius, you make a decree? Thou art fallen, O Lucifer! Thomas, come to me. Thomas did not come. Boys, you may go home. We boys are going home. The boys have gone home. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. I, James K. Polk, President of the United States. Our Father, who art in heaven!

DECLENSION.

Declension is the regular arrangement of a noun according to its numbers and cases.