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M. What is the use of the Article A or Дn?

S. The Article A or An is the fame, only A is used before a Confonant, and An before a Vowel. Thus we fay A man, A Book, &c. but we write or fay An Eye, An Ear.

M. How is the Article The ufed?

S. This article fhews the identity or reality of a thing itself, as The King, The Church, &c. fignifies that very King and Church we are now speaking of.

TABLE III. Of Nouns.

HAT is a Noun?

Mafter. W Scholar. A Noun is the name of a thing; that

is, every thing that can be seen, felt, or conceived, is a Noux. M. How many kinds of Nouns are there?

S. Two: Nouns Subftantive and Nouns Adjective.

M. How may I know a Noun Subftantive from a Noun Adjective.

S. a Noun Subftantive (as was faid before) is the name of any fubftance or thing; as Man, Beaft, Bird, Fifh, Fowl, Church, Horse, Chair, Stool, Knife, Fork, Needle, Pin, &c. are Subftantives. Things also that we cannot fee, but have a conception of, are Subflantives; as Joy, Sorrow, Life, Death, Time, Eternity, &c.

M. Is there but one fort of Nouns Subftantive?

S. No; there are two forts, Nouns Subftantive proper and common.

M. What is a proper Subftantive?

S. Proper names of men, places, &c. as Peter, John, Mary, London, Briftol, &c. are Subftantives proper; for John and Mary is not the name of every man and woman, nor is London the name of every city.

M. Very well: and pray what is a Subftantive Common? S. The name of every thing of the fame fort, kind, or quality; thus, Man, Woman, Spirit, City, Water, Joy, Sorrow, &c. for a man is called a man, be he fmall or great; a fpirit a spirit, be it good or bad; a city a city, be it small or large; and water is water, be it falt or fresh, &c.

OF NOUNS ADJECTIVE.
M. What is a Noun Adjective?

S. Nouns Adjetive ferve to express the nature, manner, and quality of Nouns Subftantives; as good, bad, great, fmall black, blue, red, &c. are Adjectives; but they want fome other word to be joined with them, in order to make the fenfe complete. Thus, a good Boy, a bad Man, a great House, a black Coat, a red Gown. Here you fee, good, bao, great. black, and red, are all Adjectives; and Boy, Man, House, Coat, and Gown, are the Subftantives;

M. Please to name me a few more Adjeslives?

S. I will, and you may foon perceive that the following words, rude, wicked, barbarous, confident, dextrous, fu-, rious, eternal, quarrelfome, confounded, renowned, commanding, everlasting, fanctifying, &c. &c. have no full meaning till joined with Substantives; but when we say, a rude, wicked, confident, barbarous Wretch; a dextrous Fellow; a furious Dog; an eternal, everlasting Being, &c. . we have then a juft idea of the sense of the sentence,

M. Does not the Article the fometimes accompany Adjellives. S. Yes; and then they often become Subftantives in fenfe and meaning, and are wrote with a capital letter: Thus, God ewards the Righteous, and punishes the Wicked: or thus, Constantine the Great; George the renowned; means Con tantine the great Emperor; George the renowned King O Comparison of ADJECTIVES.

M. What do you mean by Comparison of Adjectives? S. The increafing or diminishing the quality, or diftinguishing the different degrees of it: thus we fay, one thing is good, another better, and another beft of all. Alfo, high, higher, highest, and wife, wifeft, &c.

M. Pray how many Degrees of Comparison are there?
S. Three; the Pofitive, the Comparative, & the Superlative.
M. What is the Pofitive Degree.

S. The Pofitive Degree is the Adjective, or quality, in its fimpleft ftate; as (in the foregoing words) good, high, and wile, are Adjectives in the Pofitive Degree.

M. What is the Comparative Degree.

S. The Comparative Degree is that in which the quality is raised one step above the Pofitive: Thus, better, higher, and wifer, (in the foregoing words) are called Adjectives in the Comparative Degree.

M. How may I know the Superlative Degree?

S. The fuperlative raises the quality to the highest, and generally ends in eft; or else the word most comes before the Pofitive: Thus (in the foregoing words) best, higheft, and wifeft, are Superlatives.

M. Give me an example at large.

S.. Suppose I am speaking of three school-boys, Tommy, Sammy, and Charley; I fay,

Sammy is a better;

Tommy is a good Boy;

Charley is the best of all;

Or thus:

pofitive

comparative

fuperiative

Tommy is a tall Boy of his age; pofitive

Sammy is a taller;

But Charley is the tallest;

comparative

superlative.

M. Are there only three Degrees of Comparijon? S. Properly fpeaking there are no more, but then two of them belong to the Comparative.

M. Pray give me an instance ?

S. The word little, when compared, becomes little, lefs, leffer, and leaft: that is, little is Pofitive; lefs is Compara tive; leffer is alfo Comparative in a higher degree, and leaft is the Superlative, being the leaft of all.

M. Are the Comparative and Superlative known only by ending in er and est.

S. No; they are alfo known by the words more and moft; for more before the Pofitive makes the Comparative, as more high is the fame as higher; and moft before the Pofitive makes the Superlative; as moft high is the fame as highest. Of NUMBERS.

M. How many Numbers are there belonging to Nouns? S. Two; the Singular and Plural.

M. How are they used?

S. The Singular Number is ufed when we speak of one thing only; as, a Man, a Tree, a Book; and the Plur. when we speak of more than one Man, one Tree, or one Book; then we fay, Men, Trees, Books, &c.

M. How do words that end in for fe, make their Plurals? S. By changing for fe into ves: thus, Calf, Half, will be Calves, Halves; & Life, Knife, will be Lives, Knives, &c. . M. Do all words make their Plurals by thefe rules?

S. No; for Man in the Singular becomes Men in the Plu val; Moufe is Mice, Foot is Feet, Tooth is Teeth, &c. M. Pray are the words a Flock, a Multitude, in the Singular or Plural Number?

S. In the Singular Number.

M. How can that be, fince a Flock or a Multitude confifts of hundreds?

S. No matter how many they confift of, for ftill they are but one Flock or one Multitude.

M. Very well; but pray have all Nouns the Plural and Singular Numbers?

5. No, fir; for the names of kingdoms and towns, as England, France, Spain, London, York, &c. as allo Juftice, Mercy, Truth, &c. have no Plural: and Sheep, Deer, Fern, Swine, Ashes, Bellows, Tongs, &c. aie alike both in Singular and Plural.

· Of CASE.

M. What does the word Cafe imply in Grammar?

S. The different terminations, or endings of a Noun in

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atin tongue, or in several other languages į..

M. You fay in the Latin, and in feveral other languages; pray is it not the fame in the English language?

S. No; for the Latin, &c. have fix Cafes, but the English no more than one.

M. I'ray let me know the names of the Cafes in Latin? S. They are called the Nominative, the Genitive, the Dative, the Accufative, the Vocative, and the Ablative, and are known by the different endings of the word.

As Deus, God-Der, of God-Deo, to God, &c.

M. As the English tongue has but one Cafe, what is it? S. The Genitive.

M. How is it known in English?

S. By the word of, or by putting s to the Singular Nun ber, with an Apoftrophe or Comma over it; thus, God's Glory, the King's Right, John's Houfe, the Mafter's Book, are the fame as the Glory of God, the Right of the King, the House of John, and the Book of the Mafter, &c. &c. M. As the English has but one Cafe, how do they fupply all the Cafes?

S. They fupply them by the help of thefe little words, of, to, from, by, &c. as the Cathedral of Canterbury; I gave a Book to Peter; they came from France, &c.

Of GINDER.

M. What do you mean by the word Gender?

S. Gender is the difference of fex, and distinguishes the Male from the Female.

M. How many Genders are there?

S. Three; the Mafculine, the Feminine, and the Neuter. M. How are these three Genders known?

S. By thele words, be, fhe, and it. He is the Male, or Mafculine Gender; he is the Female, or Feminine Gender; and it is the Neuter; that is neither male nor female.Nouns, however, of the Neuter Gender, are fometimes used as if they were Mafculine or Feminine. Thus we fay of the sun, he is a glorious body; and we say also, it fhines: fo alfo of a church or fhip, we fay She, and at another time, it is a fine church, &c.

M. Are there no other words to distinguish the Genders? S. Yes; for the word Child is both Masculine and Feminine; a boy is a male, and a girl a female: but when a child cries, we fay, it cries, without regard to sex or Gender.

TABLE IV. Új PRONOUNS.

Maiter. WHAT is a Pronoun?

Scholar. Pronouns are words that supply place of Nouns, and fave the repeating them twice ov

M. Which are the Pronouns Subftantive?

S. They are thefe, I, thou, thee (or you), he, she, it; whofe Plurals are we, ye (or you), and they.

M. Which are the Pronouns Adjective?

S. My, mine, thy, thine, our, ours, you, yours, who, whom, whofe, which, what, this, that, fame, himself, herself, yourfelf, itfelf, themselves, &c.

M. How many perfons belong to a Pronoun?
S. Three Singular and three Plural, as follow,

SINGULAR.

I, is the 1ft perfon

Thou or you, the 2d perfon

PLURAL.

We, the 1st person

Ye or you, the 2d person He, fhe, or it, the 3d perfon | They, the 3d. perfon. M. What is the difference between I and me, he and him, fhe and her, we and us, they and them?

S. I, he, she, we, and they, begin a fentence, but feldom end it. And me, he, her, them, and us, feldom or ever begin a sentence, but often end it. Thus, I went for him; he came to me: She followed him; they both dined with me; I asked them to drink tea; we took a walk; my brother came after us.

M. What difference is there between my, mine, thy and thine, her and her's, you and your's, their and their's?

S. My, thy, her, your, and their, are ufed as Adjectives, and are always placed clofe to the Subftantives; as my book, tby father, her fan, your hat, their goods. But mine, thine, her's, our's, your's, and their's, are used when they are separated from the Subftantive by a Verb, or to answer a ques tion, as, Whose book is this? mine, (i.e.) it is my book. Whole gloves are these? her's, our's, your's, their's. His is always the fame; as, his Pen, this Pen is his.

M. What is the difference between who, which, & what? S. Who is used when we fpeak of perfons only; which is ufed when we speak both of perfons and things; and what is mostly used in asking a question. Thus, the man who commits murder fhall die. This is the book which I bought; or this is the child which I faw. What must I give for this thing? M. Are not fome Pronouns contracted?

S. Yes; as, hereby for by this, thereby for by that, whereby for by which, or what, herein for in this, therein for in that, wherein for in which, or what, hereof for of this, thereof for of that, whereof for of which or what, herewith for with this, therewith for with that, wherewith for with which or what; hereabouts for about this place, thereabouts for about that place, whereabouts for about which or what place, hereupon for upon this, thereupon for upon that, whereupon for upon which or what

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