How to Speak and Write Correctly | Page 5

the first and second person is obvious, as they represent the person or persons speaking and those who are addressed. The personal pronouns are thus declined:
First Person. M. or F.
Sing. Plural. N. I We P. Mine Ours O. Me Us
Second Person. M. or F.
Sing. Plural. N. Thou You P. Thine Yours O. Thee You
Third Person. M.
Sing. Plural. N. He They P. His Theirs O. Him Them
Third Person. F.
Sing. Plural. N. She They P. Hers Theirs O. Her Them
Third Person. Neuter.
Sing. Plural. N. It They P. Its Theirs O. It Them
N. B.--In colloquial language and ordinary writing Thou, Thine and Thee are seldom used, except by the Society of Friends. The Plural form You is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and Yours is generally used in the possessive in place of Thine.
The Relative Pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or phrase going before; as, "The boy who told the truth;" "He has done well, which gives me great pleasure."
Here who and which are not only used in place of other words, but who refers immediately to boy, and which to the circumstance of his having done well.
The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the Antecedent.
The Relative Pronouns are who, which, that and what.
Who is applied to persons only; as, "The man who was here."
Which is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The horse which I sold." "The hat which I bought."
That is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend that helps." "The bird that sings." "The knife that cuts."
What is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to _that which_; as, "I did what he desired," i. e. "I did that which he desired."
Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.
Who is either masculine or feminine; which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter; what as a relative pronoun is always neuter.
That and what are not inflected.
Who and which are thus declined:
Sing. and Plural Sing. and Plural
N. Who N. Which P. Whose P. Whose O. Whom O. Which
Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called Interrogative Pronouns.
Adjective Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows:
Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns which directly point out the person or object. They are this, that with their plurals these, those, and yon, same and selfsame.
Distributive Adjective Pronouns used distributively. They are each, every, either, neither.
Indefinite Adjective Pronouns used more or less indefinitely. They are any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none.
Possessive Adjective Pronouns denoting possession. They are my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.
N. B.--(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. "Who owns that book?" "It is mine." You cannot say "it is my,"--the word book must be repeated.)
THE VERB
A verb is a word which implies action or the doing of something, or it may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a question.
Thus, the words John the table, contain no assertion, but when the word strikes is introduced, something is affirmed, hence the word strikes is a verb and gives completeness and meaning to the group.
The simple form of the verb without inflection is called the root of the verb; _e. g. love_ is the root of the verb,--"To Love."
Verbs are regular or irregular, transitive or intransitive.
A verb is said to be regular when it forms the past tense by adding ed to the present or d if the verb ends in e. When its past tense does not end in ed it is said to be irregular.
A transitive verb is one the action of which passes over to or affects some object; as "I struck the table." Here the action of striking affected the object table, hence struck is a transitive verb.
An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject; as _"I walk,"_ _"I sit,"_ _"I run."_
Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used transitively; thus, "I walk the horse;" walk is here transitive.
Verbs are inflected by number, person, tense and mood.
Number and person as applied to the verb really belong to the subject; they are used with the verb to denote whether the assertion is made regarding one or more than one and whether it is made in reference to the person speaking, the person spoken to or the person or thing spoken about.
TENSE
In their tenses verbs follow the divisions of time. They have present tense, past tense and future tense with their variations to express the exact time of action as to an event happening, having happened or yet to happen.
MOOD
There are four simple moods,--the Infinitive, the Indicative, the Imperative