The Grammar of English Grammars Part 80

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Some have supposed that both the simple participles denote present _time_; some have supposed that the one denotes present, and the other, past time; some have supposed that the first denotes no time, and the second time past; some have supposed that neither has any regard to time; and some have supposed that both are of _all_ times. In regard to the distinction of _voice_, or the manner of their signification, some have supposed the one to be active, and the other to be pa.s.sive; some have supposed the participle in _ing_ to be active or neuter, and the other active or pa.s.sive; and some have supposed that either of them may be active, pa.s.sive, or neuter. Nor is there any more unanimity among grammarians, in respect to the compounds. Hence several different names have been loosely given to each of the participles: and sometimes with manifest impropriety; as when Buchanan, in his conjugations, calls _being_, "Active,"--and _been, having been, having had_, "Pa.s.sive." Learned men may differ in opinion respecting the nature of words, but grammar can never well deserve the name of _science_, till at least an ordinary share of reason and knowledge appears in the language of those who teach it.

OBS. 2.--The FIRST participle has been called the Present, the Progressive, the Imperfect, the Simple Imperfect, the Indefinite, the Active, the Present Active, the Present Pa.s.sive, the Present Neuter, and, in the pa.s.sive voice, the Preterimperfcct, the Compound Imperfect, the Compound Pa.s.sive, the Pa.s.sive. The SECOND, which, though it is always but _one word_, some authors treat as being _two participles_, or _three_, has been called the Perfect, the Preter, the Preterperfect, the Imperfect, the Simple Perfect, the Past, the Simple Past, the First Past, the Preterit, the Pa.s.sive, the Present Pa.s.sive, the Perfect Active, the Past Active, the Auxiliary Perfect, the Perfect Pa.s.sive, the Perfect Neuter, the Simple Perfect Active, the Simple Perfect Pa.s.sive. The THIRD has been called the Compound, the Compound Active, the Compound Pa.s.sive, the Compound Perfect, the Compound Perfect Active, the Compound Perfect Pa.s.sive, the Compound Preter, the Present, the Present Perfect, the Past, the Second Past, the Past Compound, the Compound Past, the Prior-perfect, the Prior-present, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Preterperfect, the Preperfect.[302]

In teaching others to speak and write well, it becomes us to express our doctrines in the most suitable terms; but the application of a name is of no great consequence, so that the thing itself be rightly understood by the learner. Grammar should be taught in a style at once neat and plain, clear and brief. Upon the choice of his terms, the writer of this work has bestowed much reflection; yet he finds it impossible either to please everybody, or to explain, without intolerable prolixity, all the reasons for preference.

OBS. 3.--The participle in _ing_ represents the action or state as _continuing_ and ever _incomplete_; it is therefore rightly termed the IMPERFECT participle: whereas the participle in _ed_ always, or at least usually, has reference to the action as _done_ and _complete_; and is, by proper contradistinction, called the PERFECT participle. It is hardly necessary to add, that the terms _perfect_ and _imperfect_, as thus applied to the English participles, have no reference to _time_, or to those _tenses_ of the verb which are usually (but not very accurately) named by these epithets. The terms _present_ and _past_, which some still prefer to _imperfect_ and _perfect_, do denote _time_, and are in a kind of oblique contradistinction; but how well they apply to the participles, may be seen by the following texts: "G.o.d _was_ in Christ, _reconciling_ the world unto himself."--"We pray you in Christ's stead, _be_ ye _reconciled_ to G.o.d."--ST. PAUL: _2 Cor._, v, 19, 20. Here _reconciling_ refers to the death of Christ, and _reconciled_, to the desired conversion of the Corinthians; and if we call the former a _present_ participle, and the latter a _past_, (as do Bullions, Burn, Clark, Felton, S. S. Greene, Lennie, Pinneo, and perhaps others,) we nominally reverse the order of time in respect to the events, and egregiously misapply both terms.

OBS. 4.--Though the participle in _ing_ has, by many, been called the _Present_ participle, it is as applicable to past or future, as to present time; otherwise, such expressions as, "I _had been writing_,"--"I _shall be writing_," would be solecisms. It has also been called, almost as frequently, the _Active_ participle. But it is not always active, even when derived from an active verb; for such expressions as, "The goods are _selling_,"--"The s.h.i.+ps are now _building_," are in use, and not without good authority: as, "And hope to allay, by rational discourse, the pains of his joints _tearing_ asunder."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285. "Insensible of the designs now _forming_ by Philip."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, ii, 48. "The improved edition now _publis.h.i.+ng_."--BP. HALIFAX: _Pref. to Butler_. "The present tense expresses an action now _doing_."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 40.

The distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristic of this participle is, that it denotes an unfinished and progressive state of the being, action, or pa.s.sion; it is therefore properly denominated the IMPERFECT participle. If the term were applied with reference to _time_, it would be no more objectionable than the word _present_, and would be equally supported by the usage of the _Greek_ linguists. I am no more inclined to "_innovation_," than are the pedants who, for the choice here made, have ignorantly brought the false charge against me. This name, authorized by Beattie and Pickbourn, is approved by Lindley Murray,[303] and adopted by several of the more recent grammarians. See the works of Dr. Crombie, J. Grant, T. O. Churchill, R.

Hiley, B. H. Smart, M. Harrison, and W. G. Lewis, published in London; and J. M. M'Culloch's Grammar, published in Edinburgh; also some American grammars, as E. Hazen's, N. Butler's, D. B. Tower's, W. H. Wells's, the Sanderses'.

OBS. 5.--The participle in _ed_, as is mentioned above, usually denotes a _completion_ of the being, action, or pa.s.sion, and should therefore be denominated the PERFECT participle. But this completion may be spoken of as present, past, or future; for the participle itself has no tenses, and makes no distinction of time, nor should the name be supposed to refer to the perfect tense. The conjugation of any pa.s.sive verb, is a sufficient proof of all this: nor is the proof invalidated by resolving verbs of this kind into their component parts. Of the participles in _ed_ applied to _present_ time, the following is an example: "Such a course would be less likely to produce injury to health, than the _present course pursued_ at our colleges."--_Literary Convention_, p. 118. Tooke's notion of grammatical time, appears to have been in several respects a strange one: he accords with those who call this a _past_ participle, and denies to the other not only the name and notion of _a tense_, but even the _general idea_ of time. In speaking of the old participial termination _and_ or _ende_,[304] which our Anglo-Saxon ancestors used where we write _ing_, he says, "I do not allow that there are any _present_ participles, or any _present tense_ of the verb." [305]--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p.

41.

OBS. 6.--The _Perfect_ participle of transitive verbs, being used in the formation of pa.s.sive verbs, is sometimes called the _Pa.s.sive_ participle.

It usually has in itself a pa.s.sive signification, except when it is used in forming the compound tenses of the active verb. Hence the difference between the sentences, "I have written a letter," and, "I have a letter written;" the former being equivalent to _Scripsi literas_, and the latter to _Sunt mihi literae scriptae_. But there are many perfect participles which cannot with any propriety be called pa.s.sive. Such are all those which come from intransitive or neuter verbs; and also those which so often occur in the tenses of verbs not pa.s.sive. I have already noticed some instances of this misnomer; and it is better to preclude it altogether, by adhering to the true name of this Participle, THE PERFECT. Nor is that entirely true which some a.s.sert, "that this participle in the _active_ is only found in combination;" that, "Whenever it stands alone to be pa.r.s.ed as a participle, it is pa.s.sive."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 75. See also _Bullions's a.n.a.lyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 77; and _Greene's a.n.a.lysis, or Gram._, p.

225. "Rebelled," in the following examples, cannot with any propriety be called a _pa.s.sive_ participle:

"_Rebelled_, did I not send them terms of peace, Which not my justice, but my mercy asked?"--_Pollok_, x, 253.

"Arm'd with thy might, rid Heav'n of these _rebell'd_, To their prepar'd ill mansion driven down."--_Milton_, vi, 737.

OBS. 7.--The third participle has most generally been called the _Compound_, or the _Compound perfect_. The latter of these terms seems to be rather objectionable on account of its length; and against the former it may be urged that, in the compound forms of conjugation, the first or imperfect participle is a compound: as, _being writing, being seen_. Dr.

Adam calls _having loved_ the _perfect_ participle _active_, which he says must be rendered in Latin by the _pluperfect_ of the subjunctive; as, he having loved, _quum amavisset_; (_Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 140;) but it is manifest that the perfect participle of the verb _to love_, whether active or pa.s.sive, is the simple word _loved_, and not this compound. Dr. Adam, in fact, if he denies this, only contradicts himself; for, in his paradigms of the English Active Voice, he gives the participles as two only, and both simple, thus: "_Present_, Loving; _Perfect_, Loved:"--"_Present_, Having; _Perfect_, Had." So of the Neuter Verb: "_Present_, Being; _Perfect_, Been."--_Ib._, pp. 81 and 82. His scheme of either names or forms is no model of accuracy. On the very next page, unless there is a misprint in several editions, he calls the _Second_ participle the "_imperfect_;"

saying, "The whole of the pa.s.sive voice in English is formed by the auxiliary verb _to be_, and the participle _imperfect_; as, _I am loved, I was loved, &c_." Further: "In many verbs," he adds, "the _present_ participle also is used in a pa.s.sive sense; as, _These things are doing, were doing_, &c.; _The house is building, was building_, &c."--_Ib._, p.

83. N. Butler, in his Practical Grammar, of 1845, names, and counts, and orders, the participles very oddly: "Every verb," he says, "has _two_ participles--the _imperfect_ and the _perfect_."--P. 78. Yet, for the verb _love_, he finds these six: two "IMPERFECT, _Loving_ and _Being loved_;"

two "PERFECT, _Having loved_, and _Having been loved_;" one "AUXILIARY PERFECT, _Loved_," of the "_Active Voice_;" and one "Pa.s.sIVE, _Loved_," of the "_Pa.s.sive Voice_." Many old writers erroneously represent the participle in _ing_ as always active, and the participle in _ed_ or _en_ as always pa.s.sive; and some, among whom is Buchanan, making no distinction between the simple perfect _loved_ and the compound _having loved_, place the latter with the former, and call it pa.s.sive also. The absurdity of this is manifest: for _having loved_ or _having seen_ is active; _having been_ or _having sat_ is neuter; and _having been loved_ or _having been seen_ is pa.s.sive. Again, the triple compound, _having been writing_, is active; and _having been sitting_ is neuter; but if one speak of goods as _having been selling_ low, a similar compound is pa.s.sive.

OBS. 8.--Now all the compound participles which begin with _having_ are essentially alike; and, as a cla.s.s of terms, they ought to have a name adapted to their nature, and expressive of their leading characteristic.

_Having loved_ differs from the simple participle _loved_, in signification as well as in form; and, if this participle is to be named with reference to its _meaning_, there is no more suitable term for it than the epithet PREPERFECT,--a word which explains itself, like _prepaid_ or _prerequisite_. Of the many other names, the most correct one is PLUPERFECT,--which is a term of very nearly the same meaning. Not because this compound is really of the pluperfect _tense_, but because it always denotes being, action, or pa.s.sion, that is, or was, or will be, _completed before_ the doing or being of something else; and, of course, when the latter thing is represented as past, the participle must correspond to the pluperfect tense of its verb; as, "_Having explained_ her views, it was necessary she should expatiate on the vanity and futility of the enjoyments promised by Pleasure."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 181. Here _having explained_ is exactly equivalent to _when she had explained_. Again: "I may say, _He had commanded_, and we obeyed; or, _He having commanded_, we obeyed."--_Fetch's Comprehensive Gram._, p. ix. Here the two phrases in Italics correspond in import, though not in construction.

OBS. 9.--_Pluperfect_ is a derivative contracted from the Latin _plusquam-perfectum_, and literally signifies _more than complete_, or _beyond the perfect_; i. e., (as confirmed by use,) _antecedently finished_, or _completed before_. It is the usual name of our fourth tense; is likewise applicable to a corresponding tense in other tongues; and is a word familiar to every scholar. Yet several grammarians,--too ready, perhaps, for innovation,--have shown their willingness to discard it altogether. Bullions, Butler, Hiley, Perley, Wells, and some others, call the English _pluperfect tense_, the _past-perfect_, and understand either epithet to mean--"_completed at or before_ a certain _past_ time;"

(_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 39;) that is--"_finished or past, at_ some _past_ time."--_Butler's Pract. Gram._, p. 72. The relation of the _tense_ is _before the past_, but the epithet _pluperfect_ is not necessarily limited to this relation, any more than what is _perfect_ is necessarily past. Butler has urged, that, "_Pluperfect_ does not mean _completed before_," but is only "a technical name of a particular tense;" and, arguing from this erroneous a.s.sumption, has convinced himself, "It would be as correct to call this the _second future_ participle, as the _pluperfect_."--_Ib._, p. 79. The technical name, as limited to the past, is _preterpluperfect_, from the older term _praeteritum plusquam perfectum_; so _preterperfect_, from _praeteritum perfectum_, i. e. _past perfect_, is the name of an _other_ tense, now called the _perfect_: wherefore the subst.i.tution of _past-perfect_ for _pluperfect_ is the less to be commended. There may be a convenience in having the name of the tense to differ from that of the participle, and this alone induces me to prefer _preperfect_ to _pluperfect_ for the name of the latter.

OBS. 10.--From the participle in _ed_ or _en_, we form three tenses, which the above-named authors call _perfect_;--"the _present-perfect_, the _past-perfect_, and the _future-perfect_;"--as, _have seen, had seen, will have seen_. Now it is, doubtless, the _participle_, that gives to these their _perfectness_; while diversity in the auxiliaries makes their difference of time. Yet it is a.s.sumed by Butler, that, in general, the simple participle in _ed_ or _en_, "does not denote an action _done_ and _completed_," and is not to be called _perfect_; (p. 80;)--that, "If we wish to express by a participle, an action _completed at any time_, we use the compound form, and _this is_ THE _perfect participle_;" (p. 79;)--that, "_The characteristic_ of the participle in _ed_ is, that it implies the _reception_ of an action;" (p. 79;)--that, hence, it should be called _the pa.s.sive_, though it "is _usually_ called the _perfect_ participle;" (p.

79;)--that, "The use of _this participle_ in the _perfect tenses_ of the active voice should not be taken into consideration in giving it a name or a definition;" (p. 80;)--that its _active, neuter_, or _intransitive_ use is not a primitive idiom of the language, but the result of a gradual _change_ of the term from the pa.s.sive to the active voice; (p. 80;)--that, "the participle _has changed_ its mode of signification, so that, instead of being pa.s.sive, it is now active in sense;" (p. 105;)--that, "having changed its original meaning so entirely, it should not be considered _the same_ participle;" (p. 78;)--that, "in such cases, it is a _perfect_ participle," and, "for the sake of distinction [,] this may be called the _auxiliary perfect_ participle."--_Ib._ These speculations I briefly throw before the reader, without designing much comment upon them. It will be perceived that they are, in several respects, contradictory one to an other. The author himself names the participle in reference to a usage which he says, "should not be taken into consideration;" and names it absurdly too; for he calls that "the _auxiliary_," which is manifestly the _princ.i.p.al_ term. He also identifies as one what he professes to distinguish as two.

OBS. 11.--Participles often become _adjectives_, and are construed before nouns to denote quality. The terms so converted form the cla.s.s of _participial adjectives_. Words of a participial form may be regarded as adjectives, under the following circ.u.mstances: 1. When they reject the idea of time, and denote something customary or habitual, rather than a transient act or state; as, "A _lying_ rogue,"--i.e., one that is addicted to lying. 2. When they admit adverbs of comparison; as, "A _more learned_ man." 3. When they are compounded with something that does not belong to the verb; as, "_unfeeling, unfelt_:" there is no verb _to unfeel_, therefore these words cannot be participles. Adjectives are generally placed before their nouns; participles, after them. The words beginning with _un_, in the following lines may be cla.s.sed with participial adjectives:

"No king, no subject was; unscutcheoned all; Uncrowned, unplumed, unhelmed, unpedigreed; Unlaced, uncoroneted, unbestarred."

--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. viii, l. 89.

OBS. 12.--Participles in _ing_ often become _nouns_. When preceded by an article, an adjective or a noun or p.r.o.noun of the possessive case, they are construed as nouns; and, if wholly such, have neither adverbs nor active regimen: as, "He laugheth at the _shaking_ of a spear."--_Job_, xli, 29.

"There is _no searching_ of _his understanding_."--_Isaiah_, xl, 28. "In _their setting_ of their threshold by ray threshold."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 8.

"That any man should make _my glorying_ void."--_1 Cor._, ix, 15. The terms so converted form the cla.s.s of _verbal_ or _participial_ nouns. But some late authors--(J. S. Hart, S. S. Greene, W. H. Wells, and others--) have given the name of participial nouns to many _participles_,--such participles, often, as retain all their verbal properties and adjuncts, and merely partake of some syntactical resemblance to nouns. Now, since the chief characteristics of such words are from the verb, and are incompatible with the specific nature of a noun, it is clearly improper to call them _nouns_. There are, in the popular use of participles, certain mixed constructions which are reprehensible; yet it is the peculiar nature of a _participle_, to partic.i.p.ate the properties of other parts of speech,--of the verb and adjective,--of the verb and noun,--or sometimes, perhaps, of all three. A participle immediately preceded by a preposition, is not converted into a noun, but remains a participle, and therefore retains its adverb, and also its government of the objective case; as, "I thank you _for helping him so seasonably_." Participles in this construction correspond with the Latin gerund, and are sometimes called _gerundives_.

OBS. 13.--To distinguish the participle from the participial noun, the learner should observe the following four things: 1. Nouns take articles and adjectives before them; participles, as such, do not. 2. Nouns may govern the possessive case before them, but not the objective after them; participles may govern the objective case, but not so properly the possessive. 3. Nouns, if they have adverbs, require the hyphen; participles take adverbs separately, as do their verbs. 4. Participial nouns express actions as things, and are sometimes declined like other nouns; participles usually refer actions to their agents or recipients, and have in English no grammatical modifications of any kind.

OBS. 14.--To distinguish the perfect participle from the preterit of the same form, observe _the sense_, and see which of the auxiliary forms will express it: thus, _loved_ for _being loved_, is a participle; but _loved_ for _did love_, is a preterit verb. So _held_ for _did hold, stung_ for _did sting, taught_ for _did teach_, and the like, are irregular verbs; but _held_ for _being held, stung_ for _being stung, taught_ for _being taught_, and the like, are perfect participles.

OBS. 15.--Though the English participles have no inflections, and are consequently incapable of any grammatical agreement or disagreement, those which are simple, are sometimes elegantly taken in a plural sense, with the apparent construction of _nouns_; but, under these circ.u.mstances, they are in reality neither nouns nor participles, but participial adjectives construed elliptically, as other adjectives often are, and relating to plural nouns understood. The ellipsis is sometimes of a singular noun, though very rarely, and much less properly. Examples: "To them who are _the called_ according to his purpose."--_Rom._, x, 28. That is--"the called _ones_ or _persons_." "G.o.d is not the G.o.d of _the dead_, but of _the living_."--_Matt._, xxii, 32. "Neither is it found in the land of _the living_."--_Job_, xxviii, 13. "_The living, the living, he_ shall praise thee, as I do this day."--_Isaiah_, x.x.xviii, 19. "Till we are made fit to live and reign with him and _all his redeemed_, in the heavenly glory forever."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 18.

"_Ye blessed_ of my Father, come, _ye just_, Enter the joy eternal of your Lord."--_Pollok_, B. x, l. 591.

"Depart from me, _ye cursed_, into the fire Prepared eternal in the gulf of h.e.l.l."--_Id._, B. x, l. 449.

EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS VII.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Seventh 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, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, p.r.o.nOUNS, VERBS, and PARTICIPLES.

_The definitions to be given in the Seventh Praxis, are two for an article, six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a p.r.o.noun, seven for a verb finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle,--and one for an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE Pa.r.s.eD.

"Religion, rightly understood and practised, has the purest of all joys attending it."

_Religion_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular 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 singular number is that which denotes but 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.

_Rightly_ 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.

_Understood_ is a perfect participle, from the irregular active-transitive verb, _understand, understood, understanding, understood_. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb, partic.i.p.ating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb. 2. The perfect participle is that which ends commonly in _ed_ or _en_, and implies a completion of the being, action, or pa.s.sion.

_And_ 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.

_Practised_ is a perfect participle, from the regular active-transitive verb, _practise, practised, practising, practised_. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb, partic.i.p.ating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb. 2. The perfect participle is that which ends commonly in _ed_ or _en_, and implies a completion of the being, action, or pa.s.sion.

_Has_ is an irregular active-transitive verb, from _have, had, having, had_; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect participle by a.s.suming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An active-transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has some person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5.

The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

_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.

_Purest_ is a common adjective, of the superlative degree; compared regularly, _pure, purer, purest_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or p.r.o.noun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The superlative degree is that which is _most_ or _least_ of all included with it.

_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.

_All_ is a p.r.o.nominal adjective, not compared. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or p.r.o.noun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A p.r.o.nominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its noun or represent it understood. 3. Those adjectives whose signification does not admit of different degrees, cannot be compared.

_Joys_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter gender, and objective 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 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.

_Attending_ is an imperfect participle, from the regular active-transitive verb, _attend, attended, attending, attended_. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb, partic.i.p.ating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb. 2. The imperfect participle is that which ends commonly in _ing_, and implies a continuance of the being, action, or pa.s.sion.

_It_ is a personal p.r.o.noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and objective case. 1. A p.r.o.noun is a word used in stead of a noun.

2. A personal p.r.o.noun is a p.r.o.noun that shows, by its form, of what person it is. 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 neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 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.