gold, sloth, pride, &c. ; others, only in the plural form; as, bellows, scissors, lungs, riches, &c.

Some words are the same in both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine, &c.

The plural number of nouns is generally formed by adding s to the singular: as, dove, doves; face, faces; thought, thoughts. But when the substantive singular ends in x, ch soft, sh, ss, or s, we add es in the plural: as, box, boxes; church, churches; lash, lashes; kiss, kisses; rebus, rebusses. If the singular ends in ch hard, the plural is formed by adding s; as, monarch, monarchs; distich, distichs.

Nouns which end in o, have sometimes es, added to the plural; as, cargo, echo, hero, negro, manifesto, potato, volcano, wo and sometimes only s; as, folio, nuncio, punctilio, seraglio.

Nouns ending in f, or fe, are rendered plural by the change of those terminations into ves : as, loaf, loaves; half, halves; wife, wives: except grief, relief, reproof, and several others, which form the plural by the addition of s. Those which end in ff, have the regular plural: as, ruff, ruffs; except, staff, staves.

Nouns which have y in the singular, with no other vowel in the same syllable, change it into ies in the plural: as, beauty, beauties; fly, flies. But the y is not changed, when there is another vowel in the syllable: as, key, keys; delay, delays; attorney, attorneys.

Some nouns become plural by changing the a of the singular into e as, man, men; woman, women; alderman aldermen. The words, ox and child, form oxen and children; brother, makes either brothers, or brethren. Sometimes the diphthong oo is changed into ce in the plural: as, foot, feet; goose, geese; tooth teeth. Louse and mouse make lice and mice. Penny makes pence, or pennies, when the coin is meant: die, dice (for play ;) die, dies (for coining.)

It is agreeable to analogy, and the practice of the generality of correct writers, to construe the following words as plural nouns; pains, riches, alms: and also, mathematics, metaphysics, politics, ethics, optics, pneumatics, with other simi ilar names of sciences.

Dr. Johnson says that the adjective much is sometimes a term of number, as well as of quantity. This may account for the instances we meet with of its associating with pains as a plural noun: as, "much pains." The connexion, however, is not to be recommended.

The word news is how almost universally considered as belonging to the sing 'lar number.

The noun means is used both in the singular and the plural number.

The following words, which have been adopted from the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, are thus distinguished, with respect to number.

Some words, derived from the learned languages, are confined to the plural number; as, antipodes, credenda, literati, minutiæ.

The following nouns being, in Latin, both singular and plural, are used in the same manner when adopted into our tongue: hiatus, apparatus, series, species.

SECTION 4. Of Case.

In English, substantives have three cases, the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.q

The nominative case simply expresses the name of a thing, or the subject of the verb: as, "The boy plays;" "The girls learn."

The possessive case expresses the relation of property or possession; and has an apostrophe with the letter s coming after it as, "The scholar's duty;" "My father's house.

When the plural ends in s, the other s is omitted, but the * Genii, when denoting aerial spirits: Gentuses, when signifying persons o genius.

tIndexes, when it signifies pointers, or Tables of contents: Indices, when referring to Algebraic quantities.

The possessive is sometimes called the genitive case; and the objective the accusative.

apostrophe is retained: as, " On eagles' wings;" "The drapers' company."

Sometimes, also, when the singular terminates in ss, the apostrophic s is not added: as, "For goodness' sake;" For righteousness' sake."

66

The objective case expresses the object of an action, or of a relation; and generally follows a verb active, or a preposition: as, "John assists Charles ;" "They live in London."

English substantives are declined in the following man

The English language, to express different connexions and relations of one thing to another, uses, for the most part, prepositions. The Greek and Latin among the ancient, and some too among the modern languages, as the German, vary the termination or ending of the substantive, to answer the same purpose; an example of which, in the Latin, is inserted, as explanatory of the nature and use of cases, viz.

Some writers think, that the relations signified by the addition of articles and prepositions to the noun, may properly be denominated cases, in English; and that, on this principle, there are, in our language, as many cases as in the Latin tongue. But to this mode of forming cases for our substantives, there are strong objections. It would, indeed, be a formal and useless arrangement of nou is, articles, and pre

positions. If an arrangement of this nature were to be considered as constituting cases, the English language would have a much greater number of them than the Greek and Latin tongues: for, as every preposition has its distinct meaning and effect, every combination of a preposition and article with the noun, would form a different relation, and would constitute a distinct case. This would encumber our language with many new terms, and a heavy and useless load of distinctions.*

On the principle of imitating other languages in names and forms, without a correspondence in nature and idiom, we might adopt a number of declensions, as well as a variety of cases, for English substantives. Thus, five or six declensions, distinguished according to the various modes of forming the plural of substantives, with at least half a dozen cases to each declension, would furnish a complete arrange.nent of English nouns, in all their trappings. See on this subject, the fifth and ninth sections of the sixth chapter of etymology.

But though this variety of cases does not at all correspond with the idiom of our language, there seems to be great propriety in admitting a case in English substantives, which shall serve to denote the objects of active verbs and of prepositions; and which is, therefore, properly termed the objective case. The general idea of case doubtless has a reference to the termination of the noun: but there are many instances, both in Greek and Latin, in which the nominative and accusative cases have precisely the same form, and are distinguished only by the relation they bear to other words in the sentence. We are therefore warranted, by analogy, in applying this principle to our own language, as far as utility, and the idiom of it, will admit. Now it is obvious, that in English, a noun governed by an active verb, or a preposition, is very differently circumstanced, from a noun in the nominative, or in the possessive case; and that a comprehensive case, correspondent to that difference, must be useful and proper. The business of parsing, and of showing the connexion and dependence of words, will be most conveniently accomplished, by the adoption of such a case; and the irregularity of having our nouns sometimes placed in a situation, in which they cannot be said to be in any case at all, will be avoided.

* If cases are to be distinguished by the different significations of the noun, or by the different relations it may bear to the governing word, then we have in our language as many cases almost, as there are prepositions: and above a man, beneath a man, beyond a man, round about a man, within a man, withaut a man, &c. shall be cases. as well as, of a man, to a man, and with a man." Dr. Beattie.

The author of this work long doubted the propriety of assigning to English substantives an objective case: but a renewed, critical examination of the subject; an examination to which he was prompted by the extensive and increasing demand for the grammar, has produced in his mind a full persuasion, that the nouns of our language are entitled to this comprehensive objective case.

When the thing to which another is said to belong, is expressed by a circumlocution, or by many terms, the sign of the possessive case is commonly added to the last term: as, "The king of Great Britain's dominions."

Sometimes, though rarely, two nouns in the possessive case immediately succeed each other, in the following form: "My friend's wife's sister;" a sense which would be better expressed by saying, "the sister of my friend's wife;" or, "my friend's sister-in-law." Some grammarians say, that in each of the following phrases, viz. "A book of my brother's," "A servant of the queen's" "A soldier of the king's," there are two genitive cases; the first phrase implying, "one of the books of my brother," the next, "one of the servants of the queen;" and the last, ". one of the soldiers of the king.” But as the preposition governs the objective case; and as there are not, in each of these sentences, two apostrophes with the letters coming after them, we cannot with propriety say, that there are two genitive cases.

CHAPTER IV.

Of Adjectives.

SECTION 1. Of the nature of Adjectives, and the degrees of comparison.

AN Adjective is a word added to a substantive, to express its quality; as, "An industrious man ;" "A virtuous woman;" .99 66 A benevolent mind."

In English, the adjective is not varied on account of gender, number, or case. Thus we say, "A careless boy;

careless girls."

The only variation which it admits, is that of the degrees of comparison.

There are commonly reckoned three degrees of comparison; the POSITIVE, the COMPARATIVE, and the SUPER

LATIVE.

Grammarians have generally enumerated these three degrees of comparison; but the first of them has been thought