ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

PART II.

PRINCIPLES OF SYNTHESIS OR CONSTRUCTION.

THE ARTICLES.

1. THE article a is used before words beginning with a consonant, with w or y, or with the long sound of u.

2. The article an is used instead of a, before words beginning with a vowel, with silent h, and with h not silent, when the accent is on the second syllable.

3. The article a or an is joined to nouns of the singular number only.

4. The article the may be joined to nouns in the singular or plural number.

5. The articles must be omitted when the noun stands for all of its kind.

The pupil may correct the errors in the following phrases.

An hand; an heart; a end; a army; an horse; an ewe; an bed; a apple; a hour; a adder; a honourable man; a ingenious device; an high post; an houses; an pen; a ox; a eel; a industrious boys; a aunt; a inches; a eye; an watches; an unicorn; an university; a men; the women; an humble post; a umpire; an useful tool; an honorable situation; an yeoman; an yard; an wardrobe; an unit; an euphony; an year; such an one; a heroic action; a his

* In order to test the knowledge of the pupil, some phrases or sentences which need no correction are inserted in this, and many of the subsequent Exercises.

torical account; an useful implement; an virtuous woman; an humble cottager; a European; a Italian; a bushes; a upper rooms; an higher tree; an taller man; a abler man; such a one; to an historian; an handsome prospect; a habiliment. The gold is corrupting. The money is the root of all evil. Sea is green. Lion is bold animal. Law was

given to the Moses; but the grace and the truth came by a Saviour of the man.

NOUNS.

6. The plural number of nouns is generally formed by adding s to the singular.

7. When the noun ends in x, ch soft, sh, ss, or 'o, the plural is formed by adding es.

8. Nouns ending in io, and ch sounded like k, and the words junto, canto, tyro, grotto, portico, solo, quarto, form the plural by adding s only.

9. Nouns ending with a single f, or fe, form the plural by changing for fe into ves.

10. The words dwarf, scarf, wharf, brief, chief, grief, kerchief, handkerchief, mischief, gulf, turf, surf, fife, strife, proof, hoof, roof, and reproof, have the regular plural by adding s only; and the word staff has staves in the plural.

11. Nouns ending with y, with a consonant before it, form the plural by changing the y into ies.

12. The plural of some nouns is formed in a very irregular manner; as, child, children; foot,feet; ox, oxen; tooth, -teeth; man, men; &c. (See Part I., p. 88, Nos. 21, 22, 23, 24

and 25.)

Tell the plural number of the following nouns.

Boy, girl, pen, table, tax, fish, ass, chair, king, ring, man, body, leaf, fox, field, ox, garden, fly, knife, city, fork, play, day, calf, lamp, wo, cherry, army, coach, child, loaf, hero, berry, peach, wolf," wharf, volcano, lash, thief, branch, hill, sister, duty, penny, foot, inch, queen, wife, dish, witch, buffalo, copy, brush, glass, cargo, sheaf, river, sky, miss, witness, thrush, wish, monarch, gelly, shelf, beauty, potato, dress, sex, study, loss, echo, relay, chimney, attorney, journey, valley, sheep, mouse, aid-de-camp, banditti, court-martial, father-in-law, animalculum, antithesis, ellipsis, arcanum,

automaton, axis, basis, crisis, criterion, datum, desideratum, diæresis, effluvium, erratum, focus, genus, genius, hypothesis, lamina, medium, monsieur, parenthesis, phenomenon, radius, stamen, stimulus, stratum, virtuoso, apparatus, means, species, series, pride, gold, sloth, wheat, ambition, fife, lay, foot, tooth.

Tell the singular of the following plural nouns.

Brothers, men, children, wives, reproofs, buffaloes, crises, criteria, hypotheses, chimneys, courts-martial, effluvia, desiderata, errata, messieurs, species, sheep, wheat, coaches, thrushes, animalcula, stamina, stimuli, boys, girls, virtuosi, apparatus, dishes, teeth. (This exercise may be extended at the discretion of the teacher.)

GENDER.

13. The gender of nouns is distinguished in three different ways;-First, by different words; Second, by a difference of termination; Third, by a noun, pronoun, or adjective, prefixed to the noun.

(A list of the words, the gender of which is thus determined, may be found in Part I., p. 90,)

Tell the feminine of the masculine nouns in the following exer

cise; and the masculine of those which are feminine.

Man, bachelor, host, man-servant, beau, abbot, baron, hart, drake, boy, conductor, deacon, father, emperor, ambassador, sister, doe, duck, countess, mother, friar, goose, roe, mare, husband, queen, lass, lady, master, spawner, wizard, nephew, ram, songstress, madam, dam, daughter, hind, uncle, stag, witch, abbess, bride, cateress, chantress, earl, czarina, empress, executor, goddess, governess, heiress, heroine, huntress, inheritrix, instructer, inheritor, Jewess, lioness, marchioness, landgravine, shepherdess, songster, sorcerer, sultana, testatrix, tigress, traitor, tutor, tyranness, victor, viscountess, votary, widow, she-bear, hen-sparrow, female child, man-servant, female descendants.

Correct the following errors.

Mary is a great beau. John is my niece. Charlotte was a bridegroom. Mrs. Quickly was the host at the inn. Mrs. Brown was his uncle. The lady Elizabeth was a prince. Napoleon was the heroine of his age. He is a

witch. She is a traitor. The female of that animal is called a hart, and the male, a roe. She was the heir of her father's estate. She is quite a hunter, as well as a songster. His mother was the administrator of the estate. Your cousin Elizabeth is an excellent instructer.

My brother was the bridesmaid.

CASE.

14. The possessive case of a noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and the letters to the nominative.

15. When the plural ends in s, the possessive is formed by adding only an apostrophe.

16. Some nouns, which end in ss, form the possessive by adding an apostrophe only; as, " for goodness' sake."

"the

17. Some nouns, which end in ss, form the possessive regularly, by adding both the apostrophe and s; as, witness's testimony.'

18. Some nouns, which end in ience, form the possessive by adding an apostrophe only.

19. When terms signifying a name and an office are connected, the apostrophe and s should be annexed to the name of the person only.

20. It is a general rule, that the s should be omitted, especially in poetry, whenever its occurrence occasions an unpleasant hissing sound.

The pupil is required to tell which of the following possessive cases are correct, and which are incorrect, and apply the above rules.

For goodness's sake. For righteousness's sake. This is a mans' hat. These were the mens' reasons. Womens' fears. The childs' book. Roberts' shoe. For conscience's sake. For patience's sake. The witness's testimony. Leap from Eurotas's bank. At Smiths' the bookseller's. General Lymans' the mayors'. The wrath of Peleus' son. Moses's minister. Aaron's the priests' office. Phinehas's wife. Festus came into Felix's room. In that miss's, seat. Bass's compliments. Mr. Francis's seat. The Thames's slow current. The Charles's sluggish stream. James's books. Mr. Van Ness's respects. The victress's renown. The tigress's teeth. The hostess's attention. The priestess's office. Leonidas's band.

Mr.

In phrases like the following, which may be called substantive phrases, the apostrophe with s is generally annexed to the last word; as, "The king of Great Britain's authority."

The duke's of Bridgewater canal. The lord mayor's of London authority. The captain's of the guard house. Presidents' Washington mansion.

Nouns in apposition, when closely connected, usually have the sign of the possessive annexed to the last; as, "The emperor Leopold's reign."

Dionysius's the tyrant's decree. For David's the king's sake. John's the Baptists' head. Paul's the apostle's advice. I went to the mayor's, an officer of great merit. He emulated Cæsar's example, the greatest general's of the age. (In correcting the preceding expressions, the pupil must consider whether the nouns are really in apposition; or whether the sentences are to be considered elliptical, and differently analyzed.)

21. The preposition of, with the objective case, is often used in preference to the possessive case; as, "Give me the head of John the Baptist," instead of " John the Baptist's head."

Change the following possessive cases into the objective with a preposition.

For elegance's sake. For David's my servant's sake. Paul the apostle's advice. Dionysius the tyrant's authority. The king of England's prerogative. Alexander the Great's four generals. Great Britain's king. The emperor Napoleon's decrees.. India's Bishop's Heber's poems. The river's Ganges current. The rainbow's brilliant colors. The river Thames's channel., St. Paul's Church spire. St. Peter's Church's dome. The Tower of London's architecture. The archbishop of York's residence. His grace the archbishop's of Canterbury's robes. Life's calm and noiseless spirit. Trifling for a while in her joy's silence. He fell from the tree's top. Scotland's Highlands are a picturesque, but in general a melancholy country.