Practical Grammar and Composition | Page 6

possessive:
1. The ships of Germany and France. 2. The garden of his mother and sister. 3. The credit of Jackson & Jones. 4. The signature of the president of the firm. 5. The coming of my grandfather. 6. The lives of our friends. 7. The dog of both John and William. 8. The dog of John and the dog of William. 9. The act of anybody else. 10. The shortcomings of Alice. 11. The poems of Robert Burns. 12. The wives of Henry the Eighth. 13. The home of Mary and Martha. 14. The novels of Dickens and the novels of Scott. 15. The farm of my mother and of my father. 16. The recommendation of Superintendent Norris.
EXERCISE 7
Correct such of the following expressions as need correction. If apostrophes are omitted, insert them in the proper places:
1. He walked to the precipices edge. 2. Both John and William's books were lost. 3. They sell boy's hats and mens' coats. 4. My friends' umbrella was stolen. 5. I shall buy a hat at Wanamaker's & Brown's. 6. This student's lessons. 7. These students books. 8. My daughters coming. 9. John's wife's cousin. 10. My son's wife's aunt. 11. Five years imprisonment under Texas's law. 12. John's books and Williams. 13. The Democrat's and Republican Convention. 14. France's and England's interests differ widely. 15. The moons' face was hidden. 16. Wine is made from the grape's juice. 17. Morton, the principals, signature. 18. Jones & Smith, the lawyers, office.
16. GENDER. Gender in grammar is the quality of nouns or pronouns that denotes the sex of the person or thing represented. Those nouns or pronouns meaning males are in the MASCULINE GENDER. Those meaning females are in the FEMININE GENDER. Those referring to things without sex are in the NEUTER GENDER.
In nouns gender is of little consequence. The only regular inflection is the addition of the syllable-ess to certain masculine nouns to denote the change to the feminine gender; as, author, authoress; poet, poetess. -Ix is also sometimes added for the same purpose; as, administrator, administratrix.
The feminine forms were formerly much used, but their use is now being discontinued, and the noun of masculine gender used to designate both sexes.
CHAPTER III
PRONOUNS
17. PRONOUN AND ANTECEDENT. A PRONOUN is a word used instead of a noun. The noun in whose stead it stands is called its ANTECEDENT. JOHN took Mary's BOOK and gave IT to HIS friend. In this sentence book is the antecedent of the pronoun it, and John is the antecedent of his.
18. PRONOUNS SHOULD AGREE WITH THEIR ANTECEDENTS IN PERSON, GENDER, AND NUMBER.
19. PERSONAL PRONOUNS are those that by their form indicate the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken about.
Pronouns of the FIRST PERSON indicate the speaker; they are: I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours.
Pronouns of the SECOND PERSON indicate the person or thing spoken to; they are: you, your, yours. There are also the grave or solemn forms in the second person, which are now little used; these are: thou, thee, thy, thine, and ye.
Pronouns of the THIRD PERSON indicate the person or thing spoken of; they are: he, his, him, she, her, hers, they, their, theirs, them, it, its.
Few errors are made in the use of the proper person of the pronoun.
20. GENDER OF PRONOUNS. The following pronouns indicate sex or gender; Masculine: he, his, him. Feminine: she, her, hers. Neuter: it, its.
IN ORDER TO SECURE AGREEMENT IN GENDER IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW THE GENDER OF THE NOUN, EXPRESSED OR UNDERSTOOD, TO WHICH THE PRONOUN REFERS. Gender of nouns is important only so far as it concerns the use of pronouns. Study carefully the following rules in regard to gender. These rules apply to the singular number only, since all plurals of whatever gender are referred to by they, their, theirs, etc.
THE FOLLOWING RULES GOVERN THE GENDER OF PRONOUNS:
MASCULINE; referred to by HE, HIS, and HIM:
1. Nouns denoting males are always masculine.
2. Nouns denoting things remarkable for strength, power, sublimity, or size, when those things are regarded as if they were persons, are masculine; as, WINTER, with HIS chilly army, destroyed them all.
3. Singular nouns denoting persons of both sexes are masculine; as, EVERY ONE brought HIS umbrella.
FEMININE; referred to by SHE, HER, or HERS:
1. Nouns denoting females are always feminine.
2. Nouns denoting objects remarkable for beauty, gentleness, and peace, when spoken of as if they were persons, are feminine; as, SLEEP healed him with HER fostering care.
NEUTER; referred to by IT and ITS:
1. Nouns denoting objects without sex are neuter.
2. Nouns denoting objects whose sex is disregarded are neuter; as, IT is a pretty child, The WOLF is the most savage of ITS race.
3. Collective nouns referring to a group of individuals as a unit are neuter; as, The JURY gives