Comparison of Adjectives.

LESSON 20.

102. There are two degrees of comparison; the comparative and superlative.

103. The Positive state or form expresses the simple quality; as, hard, short.

104. The Comparative degree (generally ending in er) expresses a greater degree of the quality than the positive; as, harder, shorter.

105. a. The Superlative degree (generally ending in est) expresses the highest degree of the quality; as, hardest, shortest.

b. The Comparative refers to two persons or things; the Superlative to three or more persons or things.

106. a. The Comparative of words of one syllable is generally formed by adding r or er to the positive; as, wise, wiser; great, greater; and the Superlative by adding st or est; as, wise, wisest; great, greatest.

b. When the Positive ends in e, the Comparative is formed by adding only r, and the Superlative by adding st; as, wise, wiser. wisest. When the Positive ends in a consonant, the Comparative is formed by adding er, and the Superlative by adding est; as, great, greater, greatest.

c. When speaking of the Deity we generally prefix the word most; as, "The most High."

107. a. Adjectives of more than one syllable are generally compared by prefixing more and most to the positive; as, generous, more-generous, most-generous.

b. Adjectives either of one or of two syllables in y after a consonant, change y into i before er and est; as, happy, happier, happiest. But y after a vowel is not changed into i before er and est; as gay, gayer, gayest

c. Dissyllables ending in e are often compared by er and est, as, ample, ampler, amplest; also words accented on the last syllable have sometimes er and est, as, discreet, discreeter, discreetest.

108. a. Diminution of quality, whether the adjective is of one syllable or of more than one, is formed by less and least; as, less-happy, least-happy.

b. The termination ish serves to diminish the quality; as, black, blackish, or tending to blackness. The adverb rather also expresses a small degree of the quality; as rather little.

c. The words more and most, less and least, prefixed to adjectives, may be considered as forming part of the adjective; consequently, more-happy, less-happy, &c., when taken collectively, will be adjectives in the comparative degree, but when considered as separate words, the prefixes more, most, &c. will be adverbs.

b. Further and furthest are the comparative and superlative of forth, and are frequently considered as adverbs. But these words farther and further are often used indiscriminately. Further is used as a verb in the Book of Common Prayer. c. Much is applied to things weighed or measured, as, "much money; many to things that are numbered, as, "many men were present." Much is sometimes joined with collective nouns denoting number in the aggregate; as, "much company."

110. Some adjectives form the Superlative by annexing most to the end of the word; as,

Hind

hinder

Up (prep.)

upper

In (prep.)

inner

Out (prep.) outer or

Fore

former

hindmost or hindermost

upmost or uppermost
inmost or innermost

utter_outmost, utmost, uttermost
foremost (in place)
first (in time or order)

111 a. Prior, superior, ulterior, exterior, inferior, &c., which have the form of Latin comparatives, are not to be considered as comparatives in English, and, consequently, are not followed by than, as English comparatives are.

b. Adjectives, whose signification does not admit extension or diminution, are not compared. Such are, 1. Words expressive of figure; as, round, square, &c. 2. Numeral adjectives; as. first, second, three, four, &c. 3. Words which, in their simple form, denote the highest or lowest degree of the property or quality; as, chief, extreme, supreme, infinite, perfect, &c. 4. Certain words implying matter, time, place, or person; as, wooden, daily. English, Mosaic, &c. 5. Words denoting unity and universality; as, all, sole, alone, universal, &c. The violations of this rule, which occur in Addison and other writers of that age, may safely be attributed to negligence.

c. What is termed the "Superlative of eminence" is expressed by very; as, very excellent man."

a

d. Sometimes an adjective is placed between the Superlative and its noun; as, "The greatest possible injury was inflicted;" that is, the greatest injury which was possible.

e. Adjectives are sometimes used as nouns; as, "Providence rewards the good." Substantives sometimes become adjectives; as, "a wine-vessel;" "a cornfield."

4.-PRONOUNS.

LESSON 21.

112. A Pronoun is used to supply the place of a noun; "When Cæsar had conquered Gaul, he turned his arms against his country.”

as,

There are three kinds of pronouns, the Personal, Relalative, and Adjective.

Personal Pronouns.

113. a. Personal pronouns are employed as substitutes for nouns that denote persons. There are five personal pronouns ; namely, I, thou, he, she, it.

b. The pronoun it, however, is generally applied to things and not to persons.

114. a. Personal pronouns admit of number, person, gender, and case.

b. They have two numbers, like nouns, the singular and plural; and three persons in each number; namely,

I, the first person, represents the speaker. Thou, the second person, represents the person spoken to. He, she, it, the third person, represent the person or thing spoken of

c. Pronouns, like nouns, have three genders, but variety of form to distinguish the sex is confined to the third person. He is masculine, she is feminine, it is

neuter.

d. Pronouns of the first and the second person are either masculine or feminine according to the sex of the speaker, or of the person addressed.

e. As the persons speaking, or spoken to, are supposed to be present, or their sex sufficiently obvions, variety of form in their corresponding pronouns is unnecessary to express distinction of gender. But persons or things spoken of, being considered as absent, it is proper to make a distinction of gender; and accordingly, the third person of the pronoun is distinguished by using he for the masculine, she for the feminine, and it for the neuter.

115. a. Pronouns have also three cases, the Nominative, the Possessive, and the Objective.

b. Personal pronouns are thus declined:

They,

They,

Obj. Us.

You.

Them.

Them.

Them.

Thee,
You or ye, They,

Poss. Our or ours, Your or yours, Their, theirs, Their, theirs, Their, theirs,

116. a. My, thy, her, our, your, their, are put before nouns; mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs, are used

without nouns; as, my house, this is mine. His and its are used either with or without a noun.

b. Mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs (though not complete substitutes for nouns), are, perhaps, the true possessive cases of the personal pronouns; while, My, thy, her, our, your, their, abbreviations of the preceding, may be regarded as Adjective Pronouns Possessive. As the import of these words is nearly, though not exactly synonymous, it is of little practical importance, whether or not this distinction is regarded, or whether they are all denominated Adjective Pronouns. In translation, the Latin scholar knows that a Possessive Pronoun would be employed in both instances; thus, "My brother is diligent, but yours is idle." Meus frater diligens est, tuus piger.

c. That mine and thine, &c. are not always (though frequently) equivalent to of me, of thee, &c. will become evident, when we consider that the former denote possession, and the latter the object; thus, "The mind is a part of me "- Mens est pars mei; but certainly not "mea pars."

d. When Mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, serve as nominatives or objectives, they may be considered Personal Pronouns Possessive (nominative or objective as the case may be); thus," John's pens are good, but ours (nominative) are better." "Mend yours," here yours may be regarded as the objective.

e. Mine and thine are sometimes, for the sake of euphony, used instead of my and thy before a substantive or adjective, beginning with a vowel or silent h; as, "Blot out all mine iniquities."

f. Own and self (plural selves) are used in conjunction with pronouns to render them emphatical; as, " This house is my own." Self is frequently called a reflective pronoun, because, when used after verbs, it denotes that the agent and the object of an action are the same; as, " He injures himself." Self, when used alone, is a noun; as, "The love of self is predominant."

g. Myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, with their plurals, ourselves, yourselves, &c., are used only in the nominative and objective cases, having the same form in both.

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns.

LESSON 22.

117. The Relative pronouns are who, which, that, and what. They are called relative, because they refer to some noun, pronoun, or phrase, going before, which is called the antecedent; as, “He, who wishes to become learned, must be studious."

In the sentence," He, who wishes to become learned, must be studious," who is the relative pronoun, and he is its antecedent. The word as is sometimes employed as a relative.

118. a. Who is applied to persons, which to infants, irrational animals, and things without life.

b. That is used for who or which, and is applied to both persons and things.

c. What is a compound relative; that is, it includes both the antecedent and relative, and is mostly equivalent to that which or those which; as, "Give me what I want," namely, that which I want.

119. a. Who and which are the same in both numbers, and are thus declined:

-

b. What and which are sometimes used as adjectives; as," By what means will you become clever?""For which reason." What is sometimes used adverbially; as," The country having been wasted, what by this misfortune, and what by that, has nothing left,"-here what is equivalent to partly.

c. That and what are used in the nominative and objective cases in both numbers, without varying their termination.

d. Who, which, and what, have sometimes the words soever and ever annexed to them; as, whosoever or whoever, whichsoever or whichever, whatsoever or whatever. But whosoever is now seldom used, and whoever and whatever, are more common than the others. These words may be termed a kind of compound relatives, as they are equivalent to he who, the person who, that which, &c.

e. That is sometimes a relative, sometimes a definitive, and sometimes a conjunction.

That is a relative when it can be turned into who or which, without altering the sense; as, "They that (who) reprove us may be our best friends." That is an adjective pronoun when it is immediately followed by a substantive, expressed or understood, which it defines or limits; as, "That boy is industrious." That is a conjunction when it cannot be turned into who or which, but merely joins sentences together, and denotes a consequence or indication; as, "He is studious, that he may become learned.' "He answered, that he was happier now than he had been before."

120. a. Who, which, and what, are called Interrogatives, when they are used in asking questions; as, "Who was there?" "Which is the book?" "What are you doing?"

b. Who, used interrogatively, is applied to persons only; which and what to both persons and things. Who also inquires for a person's name, and what for his occupation or character; as, "Who is he?" "What is he?"

c. Whether, signifying which of the two, was formerly used as an interrogative, but it is now obsolete in this sense, its place being supplied by which. Whether is, at present, principally employed as a conjunction.

d. A relative refers to a subject that is antecedent; an interrogative to one that is subsequent.

Adjective Pronouns.

LESSON 23.

121. Adjective Pronouns are such as are sometimes joined to nouns, and sometimes used alone. In the former position, they partake of the property of Definitive or limiting Adjectives; in the latter, of Pronouns. They are usually divided into four classes: 1. The Possessive; 2. The Distributive; 3. The Demonstrative; 4. The Indefinite.

122.-1. The Possessive Pronouns (usually so considered) are My, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their, which are placed before nouns. These may be regarded either