How to Speak and Write Correctly | Page 5

prefixing more and most.
Many adjectives are irregular in comparison; as, Bad, worse, worst; Good, better, best.
PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun; as, "John gave his pen to James and he lent
it to Jane to write
her copy with it." Without the pronouns we would have to write this
sentence,--"John gave John's pen to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's
copy with the pen."
There are three kinds of pronouns--Personal, Relative and Adjective Pronouns.
Personal Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the names of persons,

places and things. The Personal Pronouns are I, Thou, He, She, and It, with their plurals,
We, Ye or You and They.
I is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person speaking.
Thou is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the person spoken to.
He, She, It are the pronouns of the third person because they represent the persons or
things of whom we are speaking.
Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of 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,