The Grammar of English Grammars Part 43

Thus:--

EXAMPLE I.--FRIEND.

Sing. Nom. friend, Plur. Nom. friends, Poss. friend's, Poss. friends', Obj. friend; Obj. friends.

EXAMPLE II.--MAN.

Sing. Nom. man, Plur. Nom. men, Poss. man's, Poss. men's, Obj. man; Obj. men.

EXAMPLE III.--FOX.

Sing. Nom. fox, Plur. Nom. foxes, Poss. fox's, Poss. foxes', Obj. fox; Obj. foxes.

EXAMPLE IV.--FLY.

Sing. Nom. fly, Plur. Nom. flies, Poss. fly's, Poss. flies', Obj. fly; Obj. flies.

EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS III.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Third Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and define the different parts of speech, and the cla.s.ses and modifications of the ARTICLES and NOUNS.

The definitions to be given in the Third Praxis, are two for an article, six for a noun, and one for an adjective, a p.r.o.noun, a verb, a participle, an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE Pa.r.s.eD.

"The writings of Hannah More appear to me more praiseworthy than Scott's."

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Writings_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or cla.s.s, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a p.r.o.noun.

_Hannah More_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, feminine gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The feminine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the female kind. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.

_Appear_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_.

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a p.r.o.noun.

_Me_ is a p.r.o.noun. 1. A p.r.o.noun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_More_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner.

_Praiseworthy_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or p.r.o.noun, and generally expresses quality.

_Than_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected.

_Scott's_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine gender, and possessive case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or p.r.o.noun, which usually denotes the relation of property.

LESSON I.--PARSING.

"The virtue of Alexander appears to me less vigorous than that of Socrates.

Socrates in Alexander's place I can readily conceive: Alexander in that of Socrates I cannot. Alexander will tell you, he can subdue the world: it was a greater work in Socrates to fulfill the duties of life. Worth consists most, not in great, but in good actions."--_Kames's Art of Thinking_, p.

70.

"No one should ever rise to speak in public, without forming to himself a just and strict idea of what suits his own age and character; what suits the subject, the hearers, the place, the occasion."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p.

260.

"In the short s.p.a.ce of little more than a century, the Greeks became such statesmen, warriors, orators, historians, physicians, poets, critics, painters, sculptors, architects, and, last of all, philosophers, that one can hardly help considering that golden period, as a providential event in honour of human nature, to show to what perfection the species might ascend."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 417.

"Is genius yours? Be yours a glorious end, Be your king's, country's, truth's, religion's friend."--_Young_.

LESSON II.--PARSING.

"He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also, he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant."--_1 Cor._, vii, 22.

"What will remain to the Alexanders, and the Caesars, and the Jenghizes, and the Louises, and the Charleses, and the Napoleons, with whose 'glories' the idle voice of fame is filled?"--_J. Dymond_. "Good sense, clear ideas, perspicuity of language, and proper arrangement of words and thoughts, will always command attention."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 174.

"A mother's tenderness and a father's care are nature's gifts for man's advantage.--Wisdom's precepts form the good man's interest and happiness."--_Murray's Key_, p. 194.

"A dancing-school among the Tuscaroras, is not a greater absurdity than a masquerade in America. A theatre, under the best regulations, is not essential to our happiness. It may afford entertainment to individuals; but it is at the expense of private taste and public morals."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 86.

"Where dancing sunbeams on the waters played, And verdant alders form'd a quivering shade."--_Pope_.

LESSON III.--PARSING.

"I have ever thought that advice to the young, unaccompanied by the routine of honest employments, is like an attempt to make a shrub grow in a certain direction, by blowing it with a bellows."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 247.

"The Arabic characters for the writing of numbers, were introduced into Europe by Pope Sylvester II, in the eleventh century."--_Constable's Miscellany_.

"Emotions raised by inanimate objects, trees, rivers, buildings, pictures, arrive at perfection almost instantaneously; and they have a long endurance, a second view producing nearly the same pleasure with the first."--_Kames's Elements_, i, 108.

"There is great variety in the same plant, by the different appearances of its stem, branches, leaves, blossoms, fruit, size, and colour; and yet, when we trace that variety through different plants, especially of the same kind, there is discovered a surprising uniformity."--_Ib._, i, 273.

"Att.i.tude, action, air, pause, start, sigh, groan, He borrow'd, and made use of as his own."--_Churchill_.

"I dread thee, fate, relentless and severe, With all a poet's, husband's, father's fear!"--_Burns_.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF NOUNS.