•*!. .s^. v^. '' "°' 4s V] /a /a a W ^ %^ ^ ^'*' .^
t • e PAGE,
Relation of English to other Languages . . , . i
Grammar and its Divisions
• • . • ,7
Sounds and Letters g
Alphabet v . .
10
CHAPTEI IL
l*arts of Speech ....
On Parsing . , ,
On Changes that Words undergo
t» * • • • • 15
CHAPTER in.
Nouns ,
.17
Gender
. . .18
Number
21
Case . , . .
• : : ! 24
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Adjectives .
Compnrison
PACE.
. a8
29
CHAPTER V.
Pronouns , ,
Personal
Demonstrative
Interrogative
Relative
Indefinite .
32
33
36
36
37
39
CHAPTER VI.
Verbs . . .
Voice . .
Mood ••.,,,,
Tense ••••..,,
Strong and Weak Verbs ...,,,
Classification of Strong Verbs . . , , ,
„ „ Weak Verbs . , . , .
Alphabetical List of Strong Verbs ....
u tf some Anomalous Weak Verbs .
Anomalous Verbs ...,,,,
Be
Can ....
Will ...•.,...
Owe, Dare ..,,,.,.
Have, Do
41
42
43
46
49
50
54
58
62
65
65
66
67
68
69
TABLE OF CONTENTS. vil
CHAPTER VII.
Adverbs ....
74
CHAPTER VIII.
Prepositions ^
CHAPTER IX.
Conjunctions ... o
• • 70
CHAPTER X.
Interjections
79
CHAPTER XI.
Word Making
English Suffixes ...
Compounds , ,
Latin and French Suffixes . ' * o^
* * • • • 85
Greek Suffixes .
• • • • fiS
Latin and French Prefixes ....
Greek Prefixes .
90
CHAPTER XIL
syntax . .
• • 9a
yiU
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIIL
Analysis of Sentences
■-r
rAGB.
lOX
! • ■'
Model of Grammatical Parsin^^
X3J
M
I
PRIMER
OP
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
CHAPTER 1/
INTRODUCTION.
Relation of English to other Languages.
§ I Every language has a history of its own,
and it may be made to tell us its own ///V, so to
speak, if we set the right way to work about it.
There are /a/(7 ways of getting at this history. The
first mode is by comparing one language with others
that are well known to us. The second is by study-
ing the literature of a language in order of time, or
chronologically, beginning with the very oldest writ-
ten books, and coming down to *he latest and newest.
The first or comparative method is one that you
have no doubt tried yourselves upon a small scale,
when you have noticed how closely our word house
resembles the German haus, or English thou hast the
German du hast. You may have asked yourselves
too, whether this likeness in words and in grammar
proves that one of the languages is borrowed from the
f .
I i
V i
■
1 I
! i !
J'X/M£X OF ENGLISH GR AMMAR, [chap.
Other as some have innocently supposed, or whether
both have come from one parent, and are, so to speak,
brothers or sisters.
But the English are quite as ancient a people as the
Germans, and their language is as old as German if
not older, so that it would be decidedly wrong to
mfer that .he one language came from or was bor-
rowed from the other. So we are obliged to admit
that English and German are akin, or related to each
other, by having descended from a common parent
^ 2. Scholars have carried out this comparison
wim a large number of languages, and have shown
us ihat lEnglish is related, not only to German, but
more closely to Dutch, Vanish, &c., and more re-
motely to Welsh, Latin, Greek, Russian, Persian,
They have called these kindred tongues the Indo-
iiuropean family of languages.
They have grouped together, too, those lan^ages
that most resemble one another. ^
The chief groups in Europe are—
(1) Keltic, ccntaining the'Welsh, Irish. Gaelic, Manx, and
Armorican languages.
(2) Romanic or Italic, containing Latin and the dialects
sprung from Latin, called the /Romance languages
(Italian, French. Spanish, and Portuguese, &c ).
^^^ ^t^)^ or Grecian, containing Ancient and Modem
(4) Siavonic, containing the Russian. P.lish. and Boh«,
mian languages.
I.J
FAMILIES OF LANGUAGES,
(5) Teutonic, containing (a) English, Dutch, Flemish.
{b) Icelandic, Swedish, Danish,
Norwegian.
{c) Modern German.
§ 3. They have proved —
(i) That our language belongs to a group
called Teutonic.
(2) That English is most like Dutch, Frisian,
and Flemish, These, including English, are
called Low-German languages, because
they were spoken originally along the low-
lying shores of the German Ocean and
Baltic Sea.
(3) That our language closely resembles Ice^
landic, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish,
called Scandinavian languages.
(4) That it is also, as we have seen, much like
the modern German language which was at
first spoken only in the Highlands of Cen-
tral and Southern Germany, and hence
calkd High-German.
§ 4. History confirms the story told us by those
who have studied languages in the way we have
spoken of, for we know that the first Englishmen,
the Angles, came from the land of the Low Ger-
mans on the continent, and settled in Britain during
the fifth century. England means " the land of the
Angles." We know, too, that there were other Z^w-
^erman tribes that came along with them, and spoke
t
M
,!,
1 I ^
4 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRA MMAR, [chaf.
the same language. The Saxons were the most im-
portant of these, and have left their names in their
old settlements of Sussex, Wessex, Essex, and Mid^
diesex,
•
§ 5- The second mode of arriving at the history
of a language by means of its literature is called the
historical method. We have a very long and complete
series of English works, written at different periods
and gomg as far back as the ninth century (to the
time of Alfred). From these written documents of
the language we learn —
(i)^ How English has changed from time to time,
and how many important events in the
history of the English people are bound up
with the changes that have taken place in
the English language.
(2) That we have gradually lost a large number
of grammatical endings or inflexions, which
we have replaced by using distinct words
for them, instead of adopting new endings-
Atone time we could translate Lat. "bib-^r^" by " drinc>a« "
but now by to drink. '
(3) That though we have lost very many of our
old English words, and have replaced them
by others of foreign origin, yet aJl the most
common and useful words, as well as all our
« fiframmar- is tVinrm io-ItIu- t?««.i;,,i, 1 •_ ^„.
borrowed.
V,
i»3 FAMILIES OF LANGUAGES.
(4) That we have greatly added to our stock of
words from various sources, of which the
following are the most important :—
I. Keltic words. We have a few words (^r^^,
glen, pool, mattock, d^c) which the old English settlers
took from the Keltic inhabitants of Britain, just as
our countrymen in America still retain a few words
borrowed from the native Indian tribes that once
peopled that continent.
2. Scandinavian words. 1\i^ Danish Itwasion
mtroduced some few Scandinavian words, as busk
dairy, fellow, fro, gait, ill, same, till, are, &c.
3. Latin words. The bulk of our borrowed
words are, however, of Latin origin, and came itito
the language at different times :—
i. The old English invaders adopted the names
which the Romans had left behind in Britain
for a fortified station (r«j/r4 a paved road
(strata), and a rampart (vallum), which we
still retain in Udcti^chester, Bon^caster, &c. •
street and wall, ' '
ii. The Roman priests and monks, who brought
Christianity to our forc^thers in the sixth
century, introduced some Latin words be-
longing to religion, worship, &c, as biskop
I>^^^sly ^onk,mass, minister, Szc, as well as
t..e names of a few things they brought with
them '.—butter, cheese, pease, pepper, &c.
ffi
PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. fcHAP.
iii The Norman Conquest in 1066 was the means,
through French, of introducing fresh Latin
words much altered from their original form,
as caitiff Jrailjeat (cp. captive^ fragile Jact).
iv. Through the Revival of Learning* the Latin
language became familiar to educated
men, and English writers introduced into
the language very many Latin words with
very little change of form. Hence we are
able to distinguish between the French
Latin and the later Latin words : tlius poor^
< poison, come through Norman -French, while
pauper, potion, come straight from the Latin,
and are due to English writers
4. Greek words. We have also borrowed
many scientific and philosophical words from the
Greek language, as archcsology, botany, physics, ethics^
music, &c.
< Miscellaneous words. There are miscel-
laneous words in our vocabulary from numerous
other languages. Our word tea is Chinese; canoe is
American-Indian; yacht is Dutch; and cypher is
Arabic, &c.
♦ This took place in the sixteenth centtiry.
^^^iJf^^ 1 1.] GRAMMAi AND ITS DIVISIONS.
GRAMMAR AND ITS DIVISIONS.
§ 6. Lang^uage is made up of words.
Grammar tells us about the words that make up
I a language : — '
i. If we examine a word as we hear it, we find
that it consists of one or more sounds.
These sounds are represented to the eye
by written signs called letters.
ii. Words may be put into classes, or classified
according to their distinctive uses. Words
sometimes undergo change when combined
with other words, or when they have some-
thing added to them to form new words.
iii. Words are combined according to certain
laws.
Hence Grammar deals with the following subjects :
(i) Sounds and Letters : (Orthography.)
(2) Classification, inflexion and derivation:
(Etymology.)
(3) The relation of words in a sentence, and
the relation of sentences to each other:
(Syntax.)
8
I
■
I
P/^/M£/^ OF ENGU SH^^^MMAf? ^.^.r.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
I. Sounds and Letters.
§ 7. All sounds are not produced exactly in the
same way. Some sounds are produced by means of
the tongue and cavity of the mouth, which modify
the breath before it passes into the air, as a in father
t m machtm, 00 in fool, &c. These simple sounds'
are called vowels.
Vowels were so called because they made distinct voices or
iterances and formed syllables by themselves. (Fr. voyelle
Lat. vocahs) Two vowels sometimes unite to form a Lh,
thong, as 01 m botl, at in aisle^ &c. ^
§ 8. Other sounds are produced by the direct
means of the lips, teeth, &c., which are called the
organs of speech. These sounds are called conso-
nants, as b, d, &c.
Zi>sounds are called Z^3,V,/.; teeth^^oy^r^^s Dentals ; throat-
sounds Gutturals; htsstng-sounds Sibilants.
Consonants (Lat. consonare, to sound along with) were so
called because they could not make a distinct syllable without
bemg sounded along with a vowel.
Some consonant sounds seem to have a little breath
attached to them and may be prolonged. Such
sounds are called spirants (Lat. J//>ar^, to breathe)
as/, /^, &c. "
The other consonants, in sounding which the
breath seems stopped, are called mutes or dumb
sounds.
^ Of the mutes and spirants some seem to have a
Hat sound, and others a sharp sound, as :—
b(flat) p (sharp): z(flat) s (sharp)
^th.
I.]
SOUNDS AND LETTERS.
I. — Consonant Sounds.
MUTES.
SPIRANTS.
Flat
Sharp.
Nasal.
Flat.
Sharp.
Trilled
Gutturals
G
hard
J
\
D
B
K
NG
» • 6
H
« • •
Palatals .
Ch
(soft)
• « •
Y
• ••
• • •
Palatal .
Sibilants
• ■ •
• ••
Zh
(azure)
Sh
(sure)
R
Dental .
Sibilants
• • •
• • •
Z
(pr'ze)
s
(mouse)
L
Dentals .
T
N
Dh
(bathe)
Th
(bath)
• • •
• « «
Labials .
P
M
W (witch)
F
Wh (which)
II.— Vowel Sounds.
a in gnat.
a in pair.
a in fame.
a in all.
a in want.
e in met.
e in meet.
% in knit.
o in not.
o in note.
oo in fool, rude,
u in nut
10
PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
1 1 1.— Diphthongs.
Ill
i in high.
ai in aisle.
oi in boil.
ou in how, bound.
ewvci mew.
The pupil must not confound the sound with the name of
the letter ; ''be*' is only the nxme of the sign b, not the sound
it represents.
The Alphabet.
§ 9. An Alphabet is a collection of written signs
called letters.
The wdrd Alphabet is derived from Alpha, Beta, the names
of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. An old name
for our collection of letters was ABC.
There ought to be as many letters in a perfect
alphabet as there are sounds in the language. We
have forty-three sounds, which ought to be repre-
sented by forty-three letters. Our alphabet is very
imperfect, for it consists of only twenty-six letters.
Three of these (r, q, x) are not wanted, so that we
have really only twenty-three useful letters.
(i) One letter has to stand for more than one sound, as s in
seas ; ch in ch^^ch, rtachine, €CLemistry; g in girl and gin,
(See a, p. 9.)
(2) The same sound is represented by different signs ; as o in
noie, bosLf, /oe, crow, &c.
(3) There are many silent letters, as in psalm, gnat, know,
calf.
\4/ ^f y, •*% are called redundant letters : c may be represented
by / or >$, q by kw, and x by is.
iB. [chap.
I]
SOUNDS AND LETTERS.
XX
md.
the name of
t the sound
tten signs
, the names
n old name
a perfect
age. We
be repre-
2t is very
X letters.
» that we
10. Occasional Change of Sound in English.
Consonants are sometimes combined. If they are
I unlike, one of them assimilates^ or becomes like the
[other. Thus, if the first is a sharp sound, the
I second, if flat^ will become sharp; as weeped^ yvtpt
A y7dr/ consonant must be followed by a flat con-
sonant, and a sharp consonant by a sharp one ; as,
I. — (i) slabsy pronounced siabz.
{2) bathes „ bathz,
(3) ^tigge^^ ,, hugd,
lagged „ lagd,
II. — (1) slap-s.
(2) bath'S (gives a bath).
(3) sleeped pronounced slept,
lacked „ lackt. '
The original sound of s was sharp, as in mouse
(See Plurals of Nouns, § 22, p. 21.)
md, as s in
/ and gi«.
ns ; as o in
naty Itnow,
epresented
12
PKIAfER OF ENGUSH GRAMMA If \
CHAP.
CHAPTER II.
ETYMOLOGY.
PARTS OF SPEECH.
§ II. Words are arranged in different
Classes, accordino to their use in a Sen-
TENCE.
1. Words used as names are called Nouns • as
John saw a snake in the garden. ' '
2. Words used for Notms are called Pronouns*
as /told John the snake would not hurt him or ml
It he left // alone, to go its own way.
3. Words used with Nouns to distinguish or de-
scribe the thing named are called Adjectives • as
The humble-bees are known by their large size and
they relate. They may easily be found out by askinir " Of
whaisortr ^^ How many ?^^ "JVhichr ^ ^' ^"^
4. Words used for stating what anything ^/^^^ or/>
././/. to, are called Verbs ; as, One day John saw a
rat come out of a hole; he found it wac ^,.w «.^
r^i//// not ^^/i fast. ''*'""
MAK. [chap. III.]
PA UTS OF SPEECH,
13
5. Words used with Verbs to mark the when,w/tere^
and /low of what is done, are called Adverbs/ as'
The lark soars aloft, and aiivays smgs sweetiy.
Adverbs may be used with Adjectives and other Adverbs
to mark how, how much, how often, &c.; as. My father is
\quiu well ; he is very seldom iU ; he does not like to uke (00
much medicine.
6. Words used with JVouns (or Pronouns) to join
them to verbs, adjectives, and other nouns, are called
Prepositions ; as, On Monday last, early in the
linorning, as John was walking along the side of the
river, he saw a snake of a large size, which he
[killed by striking it with his whip.
Prepositions join words together to show their bearing to
I one another ; as, side—river ; side of the river.
The noun ox pronoun with iht preposition depends upon the
word to which it is joined; as, in "a man 0/ wisdom]' ''of
lw/«W,ow" depends on "wa«."
The preposition with its noun is mostly uf the same value as
Ian adjective or an adverb. Thus : "a man of wisdom " = "a
}nuise man" (adj.); "he came on shore" ^ "he came ^ashore'*
|(adv.).
SomQ prepositions cannot well be separated from the words
which they come before ; as, a^loft. in vain, at last, in deed
We must parse these compounds as adverbs, (See r above.)
I 7. Words used to join sentences together are called
Conjunctions; as. Birds fly and fich swim, but
I worms creep along the ground, for they have no
I power to do otherwise or else they would.
8. Words used to express a sudden feeling are
[caiiea interjections. They might be called
I exclamations; as, Ohi Alas/
llil':'
11,1,
I!'!
m
14 /'/^/A/EJf OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. [c ha7
V
There are, as we have seen, eight Parts of
Speech : —
1. Noun.
2. Pronoun.
3. Adjective.
4. Verb,
5. Adverb.
6. Preposition.
7. Conjunction.
8. Interjection.
iiiiin :
On Parsing:.
§ 1 2. When we say to what class ox part of speech
a word belongs, we are said io parse it.
We must bear in mind that we cannot do this off-
hand, by merely looking at a word. We must ask
ourselves what duty it is doing in the sentence to which
It belongs, before we can parse it accurately.
The same word may be a noun in one part of a
sentence,, an adjective in another, a verb in a third
and so on ; as, John exchanged his silver watch for
a lump of silver, with which he meant to silver some
metal coins. The first "silver" is an adjective, the
second a noun, and the third a verb,
Cp. "I cannot second you in trying to get the second place
on the list without thinking a second or two about it."
"I learnt all my lessons hut one, hut tm , v;;-, very harj; had
I had but more time I comd have lear..; :; ver> weU."
The first hut = except, is ^preposition; the second joins two 3
sentences, and is therefore a conjunction; the third = only is I
an adverb. «
The word that may be an adjective, ^pronoun, or a conjunc
Hon. "John said that that word that he had nic.t «.-rc...4 -^^e
a pronoun."
\fMAJi. [chap
II.]
CHANGES OF WORDS,
15
As may be an adverb^ a ccnjuncHon. or a pronoun, " I am
XZIZP " '"''"' "'^ '"^ '"^ ^'^^ --' ^-^»^-g -
It must be recollected that some pronouns can be used as
adjectwes; as. ^^Thafs the boy//,./ took that splendid book
of yours off your table."
Many words that are often used ., advert,, may be used a.
<.njuncu.„s "No^ ,„ ;, „,dy, ,<,„^ „^^_ ^^^ don't d^y"
or a conjunc'
On Changes that Words undergo.
§ 13. Some words alter their form to express a
change of meaning; thus,^/^,X/becomes(i)M,/fl>-^„
to show that more than one is meant; (2) M^fs, to
show that something is possessed by a child.
"We sleep," becomes "we slept," to show that the
action o{ sleeping is not now going on, but took place
m some time gone by or past.
rhf." '\f^^^f Speech do not undergo a
ttp^v" K°™'.°"'y "*" N°"°' Pronoun, A^ec
tive, Verb, and some few Adverbs.
These changes,.called inflexions, are mostly brought
about by putting some additional letter or syllable
o the end of a word. These additions are often
spoki of as endings or suffixes.
I. The addition of a letter or syllable to the end of a woM
^"^■^.^fT ^ -."-S^ - the word' itself; ,s, Zt; wZl!
f
I6
PRIMER OF ENG LISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
III
w\
2. The ending has sometimes disappeared altogether, and
the mternal change does duty for an inflexion. Thus, the word
men (for mannis) has really lost the ending that brought about
the change; cp. Uad, led {onc^ iedde); feed, fed {onct fedde),
3. The loss of a letter in the middle of a word causes change •
cp . .. former. It i. this change that explains made from'
maked; sttle from stigel, &c.
^ § 14. English has lost very many endings, but it
IS not any the worse off on that account. It sup-
phes their place by what we may call relational ^ox^%
(or words that carry us to some other word in the
same sentence). Thus: instead of saying "a bafs
wmg," ^e can say "a wing of a bai^ Here ^/does
dT^^y for the ending 'j.
We say "a lion^ess'' to show that we are naming
the female. We might say "a sheAxox,, just as we
do always speak of "a j/J^-bear." The word she
does exactly the same duty, and marks the same
notion, as the ending ~ess.
In fact, these endings, which now mean little by
themselves, but modify greatly the words to which
they are added, were once independent words; as,
ly m god-ly is only a corruption of the word like in
god-like.
m
III
lit
III.]
NOUNS: CLASSIFICATION.
17
CHAPTER III.
NOUNS,
I.-DEFINITION.
§ 15. A Noun is a word used as a name.
The word Noun comes from Fr no»i T of
I that by which anything is known ' ^^"^ '"'"''• ^ "^"^^
II.— CLASSIFICATION .
§ 16. There are two kinds of nouns:—
1. Proper.
2. Common.
«^ng m the same sense; as, Henry, London,
(«) When a noun stands for a number (or collections .f „„.
i ■ . -f
1 8 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. [cHAP.
! i
J /
II (1
(2) When a noun is the name of a quality, property, or
action, it is called an Abstract NQun; as whiteness,
honesty, love, reading. The word abstract means drawn
off. Abstract nouns are so called because they are the
names of qualities or states considered apart from the
objects to which they belong. We see and speak of a
white flower, but we may think and speak of the white'
ness aloDe.
The form of the verb with to before it is used as an abstract
noun; as '' to play cricket is pleasanter than to ham
grammar."
III.— INFLEXIONS.
§ 1^7. Nouns and Pronouns have inflexions to
mark Gender, Number, and Case.
1. Gender of Nouns.
§ 18. Gender is that form of the noun which
shows whether we are speaking of living beings
(males or females), or lifeless things. The names of
males are called Masculine nouns. The names of
females are called Feminine nouns.
The word gender (Fr. genre, Lat. genus) means kind or class.
It belongs only to words r thus the person man is of the male
sex, but the word man is masculine or of the masculine gender.
The names of things without life are called
Neuter nouns, because they are of neither gender.
A noun that is either masculine or feminine is
said to be of the Common gender; as parent
When the masculine and feminine have each a
I'll I
\v:
TMAR. [chap.
inflexions to
have each ai
III.]
GENDER OF NOUNS.
19
distinct ending, then we have what is strictly termed
grammatical gender^ as —
Masc. Fem.
murder-er and murder-ess.
sorcer-er „ sorcer-ess.
But such words are now very few, and the masculine
noun occurs most often without any ending to mark
gender, as —
Masc. Fern.
giant and giant-ess.
peer „ peer-ess.
We have chiefly to consider then the endings of
feminine nouns.
The feminine is formed from the masculine by
the suffix -ess.
^asc. Fern.
^^cir heir-ess.
founder foundr-ess.
^ctor actr-ess.
cater-er cater-ess.
This suffix comes to us from the Norman-French -esse
(Lat. ,tssa) It is not found in the language before the twelfth
century. It is now the only common mode of forming the
femmme. Its present use is restricted; it cannot be put to
every masculine noun. •
In some few borrowed words we have feminine endings of
foreign origm, as— **
Masc. Fern.'
^ - ^ execu-trix,
hero-ine.
executor
hero
sultan
suhan-a.
)l l!f
iliiii:;
20
PRIMER OF ENGLISH GR AMMAR, [chap.
§ 19. Remains of Older Modes of Marking
THE Feminine.
1. By the suffix -Ster.
Spin.^/^r, the name of an unmarried woman,
once signified a female spinner.
^ In O. E. many masculines in ^r had a corresponding feminine
m 'Ster; as,
Masc. Yttti
O. E. bcBc.ere=.hik^x, bcBc-estre=haxter,
san^.ere=smg^er, san^.,stre=song.stre3S.
In the 14th century the N.-Fr. .... took the place of the
older .ster as a feminine ending. After a time. -./.. merely
marked tKe agent, as in songster and semester; then, to mark
the femmme, .... was tacked on to -ster, as in son^.str-ess, and
semp-str-ess.
2. By the suffix -en.
Vix-^//, the old feminine of fox (once pro-
nounced vox m some parts of England).
Irregular Forms.
Bridegroom (= the bride's man) is formed from
the femmme bride. The word groom once meant
man.
Gander is formed from an old root, gans, a goose.
Drake (= duck-king) is formed from the old roots,
end, a duck, and rake, a king.
Lady is the feminine of lord.
Lass (= lad-ess 'i is thf> fi^mi*r.,'«^ ^c r^ j
Woman is a compound of wife and man.
i m
MAI^. [chap.
>F Marking
m.]
NUMBER OF NOUNS.
21
§ 20 As a substitute for suffixes of gender we
can make a compound term by putting a masculine
or femmme word to a noun of the common gender;
/?^-goat, J/5^-goat,
OTa«-servant, maia-seivant.
We have many distinct words for the masculine
and the feminine, the use of which does not belong
to grammar. ^
ii. Number.
§ 2 r Number is that form of the noun or pro-
noun wh.ch marks whether we are speaking of o.^
thmg or more than one. ^
When a noun or pronoun signifies one thine it i,
sa.d to be of the Singular number.
When a noun or pronoun denotes more than on^
of^^^e .me kind, it is said to be Of tL'X;;;
§ ". Formation op the Plural of Nouns.
GM J!u/,.~.The plural is formed by adding s
to the smgular; as, book-., bag-., boy. ''"'■'
sou?;it'L;T:';/?Vr° f 7' -->- (r) for the sharp
(See § 10, p xr.) '^ '"' "" ""' ^°™'' ' '" -^'S-. boy.
Our Dlurnl e I'c « „!._..._ , -
I , , ' " " " "■ siiurtcnea form of O P ae tu .1
plural of smia was firsf c«,.-/a .u ^^"^ *^®
l^i^Jks. '''"'^-'''^ ^^^» •'"''''^-^^. and finally
■(■ :i
22
r/
■
.,"1 1
11
iliJ
iii'i
mt
■
I,
•' .■
• ! '!.
1;
; : i
1
i
!
■
i
i:
PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
Modifi(fations of the General hide,
1. Singular nouns ending in s, z, x, sh, soft ch,
j (all containing an s sound), form the plural by the
syllable es (pronounced ez); as gas-^j, box-^j",
brush-^j, church-^a/ before the verb, and the answer will be the Nominative.
11, V\ ^''^"'P^^ above, if we ask "Who sings?" "Who
Inalives ^^^'^ ^"^ ^' ^''''' ""^ ^V^^^^^ "^^^^ ^«^-
§ 28. When a noun stands for the person spoken
to or addressed, it is said to be in the Vocative
case. It has the same form as the Nominative, and
IS sometimes called the Nominative of Address; as.
Father come and look here ! O Sir, do not be angry.
§ 29.^ When a noun stands for the object of an
action It is said to be in the Objective case; as,
John killed a rat.
^^ The Objective case of nouns is now like the Nominative, but
K-^-as not always so, and is not now so in the case of pronouns.
The Objective in English includes—
^MAJ^. [chap. H „,.]
CASES OF NOUNS.
25
(i) The direct object after a transitive verb ; as, *' He
struck James," " He hurt his footr To find the
direct object, ask a question with whom or what before
the verb, and the answer will give it, e. g. " Whom
did he strike ?" " What did he hurt ?" James, foot,
which are the direct objects.
In Latin we should call the direct object the Accusative case,
(2) The indirect object, which is equivalent to a noun
with the preposition to or for before it ; as, " Give
John his book." "He bears li^illiam a grudge."
" Build me a house." William — to William, John =
to John, me = for me.
The indirect object answers to the Dative in Latin and
other languages. In O. E. there was a suffix to distinguish
this case (in the singular and plural) from the direct object {or
accusative).
The form of the verb with ta before it, when it denotes purpose, is an
indirect object, "What went ye out to see f" to see -/or seeing,
(3) A noun after a preposition ; as, " He put his foot
on the ground" " He came from London," &c.
It must be recollected, that in English the preposition along
with a following noun is equal to a case form in Latin.
§ 30. When a noun by its form denotes the pos-
sessor, it is said to be in the Possessive case • as,
" the %'j book," "the r^r/V tail," "the sun's rays."
{a) The Possessive case is the only form of the noun that
expresses a relation by means of an ending or sujix.
The difference between the Norrfinaiive and 0bjetii7je
must be thought out, the sense and position being our
guides in determining which is used.
36
■ i;
ml'
W We use the />.„„„•., case simply ,o m.rk possession.
It .s chiefly used wUh reference to /,«„^ things. Tha
preposition ./is used instead of -he inflexion in other
.nstances, as. "The roof of the house;" not. as we
could once say, " The /5WX/., roof."
sup,! " " ' ; ■ ■ "".f' ''"" ^"" ''"P " ■• «?• "»«""'>
•uppiy , a <&j/ s journey,"
§ 31. Formation of the Possessive Case.
»l, '^M ^.°^"SS'^« '^^'se is formed by adding 's to
the Nopmative. 6 - lu
Singular man-'s
Plural men-'s
£^^eJ^f/.n.-Noum forming their plural by s take
the apostrophe only. ^
Singular boy-'s sweep-'s
Plural boys' sweeps'
In the spoken language the possessive singular
does not differ from the possessive plural, i^fflnl
ioys being pronounced alike. • .^'•f ana
tmg^shing the possessive case from the plural number
of the noun, n came into use about the 17th century
Apos,ropA> means " turned away," and is so callS
because ,. shows that something has been omitt d.
r/lrS. lit :-'.-•-•- ^'-e letter .;
hrd^s,' """'' ""'''' '^'""^" *"^ pronounced
fMAR . [chap.
nark possession.
ng things. The
iflexion in other
se;" not, as we
the Genitive in
t ; as, " a week's
II.]
CASES OF NOUNS,
27
{b) At one time it was supposed that *s meant his, and we
actually find some writers using such expressions as
" the king his crown."
The apostrophe is sometimes used to mark the loss of the
possessive sign in the singular, as " Moses* law," " for
justice' sake." The sign ' is no real case form.
§ 32. Declension of a Noun.
Nominative )
Singular.
Plural.
Singular. Plural.
and [•
man men
child children
Vocative )
Possessive
man's men's
child's children's
Objective
man men
child children
Nominative \
Sing. Plural.
Smg.
Plural.
Sing. Plural.
and V
Vocative )
boy boys
fox
foxes
thief thieves
Possessive
boy's boys'
fox's
foxes'
thiefs thieves'
Objective
boy boys
fox
foxes
thief thieves
.'»
^^-^^^^:^21ii«2^75r^JZS;j;r5^
!i:':
t
w
CHAPTER IV
ADJECTIVES.
I.— DEFINITION.
§ 33' The Adjective is a w^r^ j . ,
distinguish or describe fhe I "^'^ ' "°"" ^^
"•-CLASSIFICATION.
/'>//', Z.^-..^.,^.,^, others a^ln """"'■'''• '^''""^^'
the thing spoken of a "T.r..''"''"'^ '''"''
Hence there are thr« i, ^ °°''' ^^" ""an."
inere are three kinds of Adjectives .—
I. Adjectives of Quantity.
*■ " » Quality.
3. Demonstrative Adjectives.
Many of the pronouns are useH ..a- ■
tiies calld'ArtcIes" '"• "' ^""^ *^^ - ---
^:^J:^' ''' ^«'^':^«/^^^M^.and the
An or a is u.spH t^oA^-^ ^
^^^^^i!^i^'B^J ADJECTIVES: COMPAK/SON.
29
An drops n and becomes a before a consonant ;
IS, "j book," "tf history," "a yew-tree. "
An is another form of the word om, Cp. "all
)f a size = all of one size."
No, meaning not one, is used for " not a; " as, " he
is no dunce."
The is used before a noun to show that some
[particular person or thing is spoken of; as, ''the
|man," ''the boy."
Parse the as an adverb in '« so much the more," 'Uhe more
\t}u merrier:" here the = by that.
IIL—INFLEXIONS.
§ 7'5. The Adjective once had inflexions to
I mark gender, number, and case. I. now only changes
I its form to mark comparison.
Comparison of Adjectives
§ 37. The Adjective has three forms to express
\ Degrees of Comparison, the Positive, Compara-
tive, and Superlative.
The Positive is the adjective in its simple form;
as, "a small boat," "a tall man."
The Comparative is formed by adding -er to
the Positive; as, '*a small-er boat," "a tall-er man."
It is used when two things or two sets of things
are compared, to show that one of them possesses
the quality in a greater or less degree than the other
.•*•
•man." ' ' "'^ ''"^"-"t boat,""th. tall-est?
otHe?ortt:aZs;.^'-:f ''jr-'i -''' ^"
boy in his class." ' ^°^'^ '' "^« '«»-«'
W Whan the Positive ends in a silent « , ^ ^
padded ; ,s. ,a.ge, la^^.^:!^' ■'' '"<• "'' -'^^
W When the Positive *»n^. • ,
vowel),,, cr;:^^:^^^^^^^^^^^
Wo7dSt:osXble''' '"' ^^"^'^^^^ -^ -ost
--. and Z;'t .^^^^^^ ^y the adverbs
are mostl, /Jl^^^Z^Z^' ^^ ^he inflexions (. and .^
§ 38. Irregular Comparisons.
Positive. Comparative.
'• iate» latter, later,
^'Sh, Higher (near),*
nearer,
elder, older,
near,
old.
2. good,
bad,
ill,
evil,
little,
much,
manyj
■:l
better,
worse,
less,
more.
(I) Late has two comparatives
*Archaic
Superlative.
last, latest,
nigbest, next,
nearest,
eldest, oldest,
best.
worst.
least,
most.
and superlatives ; of these.
h
4AfMA/^. [chap I IV.] ADJECTIVES: COMPARISONS.
31
adding -est to
>""th(. tall-cst
pared with all
is the iaXUst
e, -r and -j/ only
t.
: preceded by a
the endings ; as,
-s, and most
y the adverbs
nosf valiant/'
ions {er and €s{)
>NS.
lative.
itest.
t» next,
t.
oldest.
I
latter and last (the ones most changed) are the oldest, cp. near^
next; elder^ eldest.
Last is a contraction of an old form lat-st-=. lat-est.
Next is a contraction of nighest (cp. O. E. nih-st^ in which
the h was a sharp guttural, sounded as ch in locK),
Near was once comparative.
Elder, eldest have vowel change^ as well as inflexion.
(2) The comparatives and superlatives in group (2) are all
formed from positives no longer in use.
Better comes from a root, bat = good (cp. our " to booV'\
with change of vowel, as in elder.
Best = bet'St = bet-esi, cp. last
Wor-se comes from a root, v^reor = bad. The suffix -se
is another form of the comparative ending -^r. Worst
is shortened from wortest.
Less is formed from a root, las, meaning weak, infirm.
The suffix -s (= -se) is another form of the com-
parative -r.
Much once meant large, great.
The mo in mo-re and mo-st also meant ^^«/.
3. Farther and farthest are slightly irregular, a th having
crept in through a confusion with further (the comparative of
the adverb forth).
Rather is now an adverb ; it was once an adjective. Its
positive was rathe, meaning early.
Former is a corruption of an old forme^ meaning first
(superlative of fore). The m is an old superlative
endiftg, still found in for-m-ost.
Most superlatives ending in -most contain two superla-
tive suffixes, -m and -ost (= -est).
First is a superlative oifore — front ; cp. fore leg, forehead.
U-tber contains the numeral one (from which the n has
gone), and a comparative ending -ther, cp. ivhe-ther.
Other once meant second; cp. every other day.
u
~f —
3=
/'J!/M£X OF E.YGLISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
I Hi! I
! I i
m%
1 1 Iff i3l .
■ I i,„ii i . •
r ■ ■ H !
CHAPTER V.
PRONOUNS.
I — DEFINITION.
§ 39- The Pronoun is a word used for a noun.
A Projloun can stand for an "equivalent to a noun." whether
.t be a phrase or sentence: "// mattered not to him ;hrher i
a.:^ itirc-eraLS"-^ "°"- " ^'^^^' -^- '° —
Many Pronouns are used as adjectives : (i) the Possessive
ro!::,' (^^^"-"^ Demonstratives; (3) some Relative and l""
rogative Pronouns : (4) some Indefinite Pronouns
II.— CLASSIFICATION OF PRONOUNS.
40. There are five kinds of Pronouns :—
' I. Personal Pronouns.
2. Demonstrative Pronouns.
3. Interrogative Pronouns.
5' Indefinite Pronouns.
,^:^-j.ms:-^z ■■ -:.^-*
PRONOUNS: PERSONAL,
33
I. Personal Pronouns.
§ 41. The Personal Pronouns are so called be
I cause they name the person speaking, spoken to, or
spoken of. There are then three Persons :—
I. The First, which denotes the person ^peaking;
I as, /, wcy &c.
\fn ';71?/ ^^^^"^' r^^^h dei^otes the person spoken
yoj as, thou, ye, you, &c. ^
3. The Third, which relates to the person or
[thing spoken of; as, he, she, it, that, one. ,
Strictly speaking, the pronouns of the third person are not
personal pronouns; thus he is demonstrative und has gender
For convenience sake we may call it the pronoun of the third
person, not a personal pronoun ; one is an indefinite pronoun.
Declension of Personal Pronouns.
§ 42. Pronouns have more inflexions than nouns
[for number and case.
The First Person.
Singular.
Nominativ-; \
Possessive snirs^. m-v
Objective (direct) me
Objective (indirect) me
Plural.
we
our, ours
us
us
34 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, [cHAP.
The Second Person.
Hiiii'
III i
Nom. and ) -,
Vocative f ^^^^
Possessive thine, thy
Objective (direct) thee
Objective (indirect) thee
ye, you
your, yours
you
you
For the explanation of indirect object see § 29, p. 25.
(i) I was once written ic and ich,
(2) Mine and thine (O. E. min and thin) were once the!
only possessives of the first and second person in use.]
The loss of the letter n brought my and thy into use.
^The older forms are now only used when no noun I
follows. In poetry they are sometimes used before
words beginning with a vowel or silent h, Cp. thej
double forms an and a.
(3) The second person singular has gone out of common use. i
(4) You, once only objective, has taken the place of the oldj
nominative ye.
The Third Person,
Masc.
Nominative he
Possessive his
Objeclive (direct) him
Objective (indirect) him
I. Tlie Pronouns contain endings marking: —
(i) Case: s in his; n in mi~ne, ////-« (all genitive) ; mini
tive); r In otf-r,you.-r;jhei-ri
Singular,
Plural.
Fern.
Neuter.
she
it
they
her, hers
its
their, theirs
her
it
them
her
it
them
/,.■
r. . /t
nr-r iDOtn
(gen. pi.) ; n in the-m (dat. pi.). Ours, you-rs, &p.
double genitives.
are
IMAR, [chap. H v.]
PRONOUNS: REFLEXIVE.
35
(2) Gender: t in U (O. E. hU\ once marked the neuter
as in wha-t and tha-t. She was once the feminine of
the definite article. The Old English for she was he-o
from which he-r is formed. *
Its is quite a modern form. The O. E, was his, which
we find in the authorised version of the Scriptures
(a. d. i6ii.)
They (with its cases) was once the plural of the,' and
meant the and those,
§ 43. The Possessive cases of the Pronouns of the
three persons are now used as adjectives.
Singular: my, mine; thy, thine; his. her
hers, its. '
Plural: Our, ours; your, yours; their, theirs.
(1) Notice the use of mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs,
without a following noun; as. It is mine, not yours.
(2) Notice that my, thy = Latin meus, tuus, not mei, tui,
which must be expressed by o/me, of thee,
% 44. Self is added to the pronouns of the three
persons (i) to form Reflexive Pronouns, (2) to
express emphasis,
^Singular: myself, thyself, yourself, himself,
herself, itself, oneself.
Plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
(I) The Reflexives are used when a person does something
to himself; as. "I laid myself ^o^r^r -he hurt hinL
seif." In some old expressions the objective case of
the snnple pronoun
slept," " ])e ilat /nm d
ised , as. "I laid me down and
ovv
mm
36 ^ PRIMER OR^'EMuSH GRAMMAR, [chap.
"~~~~" ~~ ~ 'j^ ' * — _______
(2) The compounds of self are emphatic in "I saw it my.
self/', '^YiQ himself has done it," &c.
Formerly the datiztf was always joined to self; as him If
not the posisessive, as in myself which used to be me.
self
(3) Self is sometimes a noun ; as, "your innocent self;"
"he thinks much >f relf**
2. Demonstrative Pronouns.
§45. The Demonstratives are used in speaking
definitely of the thing nance's: as, ''this is the book
I want, but I should like //5^/ which is on yonder
table, if it is not the same. I have never seen such
books as these"
§ 46. The Demonstrati^ Pronouns are this,
that (with their plurals, these and those), same,
such, yon, self-same.
That was originally the neuter of the.
Such means "so-like:" /has been lost.
Yon has now become a mere adjective. The Scotch use
yon as a pronoun ; as, yon's a grand house."
Self-same : self once meant same.
When such (= so) comes before an adjective, followed by
the conjunction thai, it is used as an adverb. He has
sttch great confidence that he will be sure to succeed.
= He has confidence sd great that he will, &c. The
use of such in this way is a late usage.
3. Interrogative Pronouns.
§ 47. ihe Interrogative Pronouns are used
asking questions :— Who ? which ? whafe?
in
MMAR. [chap.
: in " I saw it my^
^]
PRONOUNS: RELATIVE,
yi
Who is thus declined : —
Nom. who \
Poss. whose ( Masc. and Fem.
Obj. (direct) whom j Sing, and Plural.
„ (indirect) whom ^
Who relates \o persons; which to things; what
[always refers to things, unless it is used as an adjec-
tive : What book do you want ? What boy has
[got my book ?
For the s in tuhose und the m in tohom, see p. 34.
Which is made up of who and like, meaning wko~Kke, or
what'like. It onee related to persons; as, "Our
Father, which art in Heaven." It is also used for the
old word whether ^ which of two.
Wha-t was originally the neuter of who. See p» 35.
Who-se is the possessive of what as well as of who; cp,
his once the possessive of he and //.
§ 48. Compound Relatives are formed by
adding -ever; as, whoever, whatever, whichever.
4. Relative Pronouns.
§ 49- The Relative Pronoun is so called because
it ^^latf^s or carries us back to some noun of pronoun
going before (and already stated), called the antece^
dent. This is the house that I hav . built. Happy
is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man who
getteth understanding.
i ii^ xxciaii ve riunouns are wiio, what, which,
that, as.
m
mi
lit rill
Who refers to persons; which to animals and
lifeless things; that to person and things.
What is used when the antecedent is omitted
It means thct which (or /^^ //J/;^^ which). " ^/J^/ j
have you are welcome to."
Do not call what a compound pronoun.
Who could be used for he who. " IVho steals
my purse steals trash."
^«^^; A^ '^ "'^^ ^^ ^ relative after j^«.^ and such;
as, This is the same as that ;" " These apples are
very g9od, you may eat such as are ripe.''
That was sometimes equivalent to that which; as " We
speak that we do know."
That never follows the preposition that governs it ; as, " I
know the person that you speak of."
§51. Compound Relatives are formed by
adding -ever and -soever to who, what, and
wnicn i as, whosoever, whatsoever, whichsoever.
Some adverbs (originally cases of pronouns) can be com-
bmed with a preposition to do duty for relatives,
though they are not usually called such :
where-of = of which, of what,
where-to = to which, to what,
where-by = by which, by what,
there-of = of that.
8 52. The Relatives- wifii f!-./a -a,,^^^*.* _/• ^^t^j.
ana as, were once Interrogatives only.
'MAH. [chap. Hv.]
PRONOUNS: INDEFINII E.
39
They are strictly sa in all indirect questions ; as, " Tell me
•wJw has hurt you." " Ask him what is going on."
§ 53. The Relative who is declined like the
I«iterrogative who ; see p. 37.
5. Indefinite Pronouns.
§ 54. The Indefinite Pronouns do not point out
and particularize like the Demonstratives. To this
class belong one, none, any, some, each, every,
either, neither, other, another (all of which
may be used as adjectives) ; aught, naug^ht, some-
body, something, nothing, anything.
One is the same word as the numeral one. The Fr. on is
the Latin homo.
None is made up of ne = not^ and one.
Any contains the original irm of one^ seen in the article
an.
Some once meant one^ a,
£a-ch originally meant any one like (of two or more
things). The -ch stands for -lich = like ; cp. which,
such.
Ever-y is a corruption of ever each, that is, " each and all**
(of two or more things).
Ei-ther means any one of two. It can be used as a coiu
junction. Neither is the negative of either.
For the meaning of -ther, see § 38, p. 31.
O-ther, one of two, see § 38, p. 31.
Aught means any whit or any wight. ( Wight = person,
thing ; cp. " an unlucky wight^)
Naught, nought is the negative of aught = no whit.
The adverb not is a worn-down form of nought or naught.
I I H
If Mi
40
jP^^iV O^ £ArcZ/S/f cramma£~^.
Else in «'A»/./x..nd..«,Mm^ ,/„;,.„ i„d.fi„i,, ^
noun, bcng .he genitive of an old roo. .!, ™eaLg
When il» means ollurwis, it i, , conjunction.
SomMing ( ^ ^^^^^. anything (=^, .11); „,m,»,
(= not at all), are used as adverbs. . ■
Cerimn and tevtralm sometimes used as pronouns.
fMAR, [chap. Hvi.]
VERBS: CLASSIFICATION,
41
CHAPTER VL
VERBS.
I.— DEFINITION.
§ s^. The Verb is a word that states or asserts
what a thing ^^j or is done to; as, " the fire burns **
[" the child sieep;' " John is beatenr
II.— CLASSIFICATION.
§ 56. Verbs are classified, according to their
neantng^ into Transitive and Intransitive.
Transitive Verbs state an action that is not
confined to the doer; as, "he locks the gate."
Intransitive Verbs express an action that does
lot go beyond the doer; as, "the child sleeps;' "he
hehaves well.**
Trandtive means passing over (Lat. trans4i.t.s\ because in
sentence containing a transitive verb the sense is not complete
inte the object t- which the action passes over is stated-
as, the boy tore his coat." '
When a verb that is usually transitive takes no objecL it is
Some intransitive verbs may be mad^ transitivt by means of
f/
II '!i|-^N
.' I
iii
I
iiii 1
iiii
43 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
?i. preposition; as, "he laughs" "he laughs-at me;" "the
river JlowsJ" ' the river y/<;z
\
iMAH. [chap.
as, "he turned
ri.]
VERBS: MOOD.
43
The sentences quoted above show t»".t the voice is deter-
lined by the subject. If it is active, as in (i), the verb is active ;
lif it is passive, i, e, suffers the action, as in (2), the verb is
[passive.
In some languages this is shown by the T^rm of the verb •
[as, Lat. amatUr, he is loved.
In English the forms of the verb in -en and -cd are a rem-
[nant of the passive voice, and are always used along with the
[verb be, to form the passive voice ; as, " the cup which was
\broken has been mended"
We have other roundabout ways of expressing \ ,e Passive ;
las, "the house is being built," or by the old phrase, "the
house is a-buiiding/* a-building =z on building,
2. Mood.
§ 60. Mood is that form or modification of the
[verb which marks the mode in which an action is
[viewed or stated.
61. There are three principal moods: (i) Indie-
[ative, (2) Subjunctive, (3) Imperative.
When a verb is in any of these moods it requires a subject.
land is said to be iijinite verb, i. e, limited by the conditions of
I time, person, &c.
These are the only moods in English that have distinct forms
[ or are inflexional.
62. The Indicative Mood is that form of the
jverb that indicates or makes a direct assertion, or
asks some direct question ; as, He talks. Who talks?
8 61 The* QiiKi«iMo4-:.
-J
TVT-i^J ^ _£_ __ •
Wlity, doubt, dependency; as, " If he but blench I know
44 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, [chap.
>>
my course." "For murder, though it have no
tongue, will speak."
This mood is called Subjunctive, because of its use in a' sub-
joined or dependent sentence ; as, •' Love not sleep, lest it brimr
thee to poverty." "If thou keep promise, I shall end thil
strife."
Here we see that bring and keep in the dependent sentences
are distinguished from the Indicative brings and keepest by
their want of inflexion. But the subjunctive once had its own
endings, as in Latin. The subjunctive form of the verb is now
seldom employed. Its place is sometimes supplied by the use
of the verb should or would.
The conjunctions which vere formerly followed by the sub- I
functive enable up to express doubt, condition, &c., without
employing the old inflexional form of the verb. These Con-
junctions are if, whether, provided, though, that, so that, lest,
until, till, ere, unless, except, which, however, are no parts of I
the subjunctive mood. I
The verb to be has very distinct forms for the I
subjunctive. See p. 6$. I
§ 64. The Imperative Mood is that form of the I
verb that expresses a command or entreaty. " Call I
him back." ^^ Pardon my fault." I
The Imperative contains the simplest form or root of the verb. I
The plural imperative once had the suffix th to distinguish I
it from the singular j as, loveth — love ye. I
The Imperative is only used in the second person. I
In such expressions as ♦* let me sing," « let him sjng," parse |
let as an independent verb, in the imperative mood. Do not I
parse let sing as one verb. I
§ 65. Other forms, not finite (see p. 43). are some-
times called Moods. These are — *
>t ^
fMAR, [chap.
it have no
VI.]
Drms for the
VERBS: INFINITIVE MOOD,
45
I. The form of the verb with to before it, called
the Infinitive ; as, to sing.
The Infinitive once had no to before it, but was expressed
by the suffix -an^ as, drinc^an, to drink. The Infinitive
without to cones after the verbs may, can, shall, will, dare,
must, &c. ; as, " he may df," " he will de," &c.
The Simple Infinitive is a noun in the nominative or objec-
tive (direct) case ; " to see is to believe:' " he wants to seer
There is another kind of Infinitive called the Dative Infin-
itive, because it was originally the dative of the simple infinitive.
It is now often an indirect object. A house to let = ti house
for letting; easy to /ind= ea^y /7r finding; the cup I have to
drink {=/or drinking). It sometimes marks purpose, and is
equivalent to an Adverb ; as, he came to see me = he came for
the purpose of seeing me. {See, p. 98.)
2. The forms of the verb in -ed, -en, -ing, are
called Participles, and they are also used as adjectives.
" Then rode Geraint into the castle court.
His charger trampling many a prickly star
Of sprouted thistle on the broken stones.
He look'd, and saw that all was ruinous.
Here stood a shattered zrchwiiy plumed with fern.
And here had falPn a great part of a tower."
These forms in ^ed, -en, 4ng, were called participles because
they participate of the nature of adjectives (in qualifying a noun)
and of verbs (in governing an objective case). The participle
in -ing once ended in -end, -and, or 4nde.
Be careful to distinguish a noun in 4ng from a participle in
'ing; this is a fine building (noun) ; he is building a house
(participle).
The form in 4ng (O. E. .ung) is a noun in the follov^'ing
passages : The house is bui:dlng = the house is a-building;
,46 PRIMER OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. fcHAP.
he is fond of building ( = of the building of) houses ; he talked
of your coming here to-day ; he took to hunting. See Syntax,
p. 92.
The form in 4ng is called the Present participle;
the forms in -^^/and -en are 0,2X1^^. Passive participles.]
3. Tense.
§ (id. The form or modification of the verb used
to indicate time is called Tensc (Fr. temps, Lat.|
tempHs^,
Tiipae may be considered as
1. Present
2. Past.
3. Future.
There are three Tenses.
I. Present
2. Past
3. Future
I speak.
I spoke.
I shall speak,
You will speak,
He will speui,.
The state of the action may be considered as
(i) Indefinite; as, I write.
(2) Progressive; as, I atn writing.
(3) Completed or perfect; as, I have written.
The words be, have, shall, will, which help to form tenses.,
are called auxiliary verbs.
Each tense then has three forms, according to the
following scheme :
MMAR. fcHAP.
louses ; he talked I
ing. See Syntax,
ent participle;
ive participles.
the verb used
r. temps ^ Lat.
VI.]
VERBS: 7ENSES,
47
W
H
O
? written,
to form tenses]
ording to the I
a
£9
!i> uo
^H
4)
4}
^ fl
^^^^^H
•a «•
•sa-
^W
Id
^H
(1 --^
__ 'V-*
• «■«
have
prais
had
prais
shall
en pr
■
Pn Pk
^4
*-*
~JS
■^B
^.i^
,„^
^, ^
^^^^H
M
M
M
^^^^^^^^H
'
N— '
' '
•
4>
^^^^1
raised
been
d
aised
been
d
have
d
have
aised
■
44
I have p
I have
praise
I had pr
I had
praise
I shall
praise
I shall
been pt
• 1-4
p^
>2.
■
>:i^ sSi-
M W
M CI
^H
perfect and
regressive.
&m praising
am being
praised
was prais-
ing
was being
praised
shall be
praising
1
►H 1-4
ll KN
»-4
m
/—N /— V
^-N -—^
/— N
4I
^^^^^^1
M a
M N
M
^■^^^^^^^H
■^-^- --^
^^^^^1
•d
•a
4)
^HR
4)
«
2 4)
a>
ife'
,
01
•3
(d ^
>
i^H < '
U
cd
tJ Vh
fe "^
■»>>
^K
• P4
4) Ij
« _« 4)