NOUNS.

12. Nouns are names of persons, animals, places, or things; as, man, cow, town, box. The word noun means name.

13. Names of persons, animals, places, or things, by which they are distinguished from others of the same class, are called Nouns Proper, or Proper Names; as, James, Oxford. 14. Nouns, not Proper, are called Common.

EXERCISE IV.

:

Write out the following sentences, and underline all the Nouns, also writing (P) over the Proper Names:The father sent John into the garden. The boys are in school. Where are the girls? In the house. Where is George? In the park. Have you read this book? Where are your grammars? In my pocket. In my box. It is on the table. Where is Samuel? He is living at Tunbridge. ever seen Snowdon? Only once, in very bad weather. Is your brother in London? No, he is at Liverpool. The boats were sunk in the river Thames. The gardener cut down the tree. My cousin lives at Paris.

Have you

To Nouns belong Number, Case, and Gender.

NUMBERS.

15. There are two Numbers, Singular and Plural. The Singular is used in speaking of one; the Plural, in speaking of more than one. 16. The SINGULAR Number is the Noun in its simple form; as, horse, cow, table, book.

EXERCISE V.

Write out the preceding Exercise, and underline all the Singular Nouns :

17. The PLURAL Number is formed from the Singular. There are three ways of forming it.

18. FIRST WAY.-The Plural is formed by adding s; as, book, books; or, where the nunciation requires it, es; as, fox, foxes.

pro

OBS.-Nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant, generally take es; as, hero, heroes.

EXERCISE VI.

Write out the Plurals of the following Nouns :

Boat, Camp, Table, Brooch, Crutch, Boot, Board, Box, Bedstead, Horse, Ditch, Coach, Chair, Hero, Grotto, Desk.

RULE 1.-Nouns ending in y, preceded by a CONSONANT, change the y into ie in the Plural; as, lady, ladies. But if the y is preceded by a vowEL, the y is not changed in the Plural; as boy, boys.

RULE 2.-Nouns ending in ƒ or fe change the ƒ into v in the Plural; as, calf, calves; life, lives: EXCEPT brief, chief, grief, handkerchief; hoof, proof, roof; scarf, wharf, dwarf; turf, gulf; fife, strife, safe Nouns in do not take v; as, stuff, stuffs: EXCEPT staff, which has the Plural staves.

EXERCISE VII.

Write out the Plurals of the following Nouns ::Bay, Galley, Quality, Hoof, Proof, Loaf, Toy, Half, Cuff, Quantity, Donkey, Party, Moiety, Cliff, Wife, Muff, Fly.

19. SECOND WAY.-The Plural is also formed by adding en; as, ox, oxen.

20. OBS. 1.-In brother, brethren, the vowel is changed also; en is added, and o becomes e.

21. OBS. 2.-The Plural of child is children. Children is the only Plural in ren now remaining. Formerly there were more. Wiclif wrote lambren as Plural of lamb.

22. OBS. 3.-Swine is a softened form of sowen, the plural of sow; and kine, of cow-en, the plural of cow.-The plurals in en were once very numerous, and the words eyen, housen, &c., were used as we use eyes, houses, &c. Many such words are still used in Scotland, and some parts of England.

23. THIRD WAY.-The Plural is also made by changing the vowel; as, man, men.

OBS-In woman, women, two vowels are in fact changed; for the o is pronounced differently.

24. RULE.-A is changed to e; oo to ee; ou to i.-Man, woman, foot, tooth, goose, mouse, louse, are made Plural so.

25. OBS. 1.-The c in lice and mice represents the s in the singular, louse and mouse. The plural sign is the change of the vowel (ou to i); the s-sound is part of the root. (178. Obs. 5.)

26. OBS. 2.-In pence and dice the c represents the plural s in pennies and dies, which are the regular plurals. (178. OBS. 5.) 27. OBS. 3.-Some words have the plural in two forms; as pennies, pence; dies, dice; brothers, brethren. Then they are differently used; pennies, for penny-pieces separately, as coins; pence, when spoken of together as money: dies, for coining; dice, for gaming. Brothers, is applied to those of a family; brethren, generally to those of a society or other body.

28. OBS. 4.-Some words have the Plural the same as the Singular; as, sheep, deer. So fish, cod, salmon, &c., are used.

EXERCISE VIII.

Write out the Plurals of the following Nouns:Man, Foot, Child, Ox, Brother, Goose, Mouse, Tooth, Louse, Penny, Sow, Woman, Die.

29. Nouns purely Latin, Greek, French, &c., generally retain their original plurals.

CASES.

30. There are three Cases: the Nominative, the Possessive, and the Objective.

31. In Nouns the Nominative and Objective agree in form. They differ only in use.

32. The Singular Possessive is made by adding 8 with an apostrophe ('s); as, man, man's.

EXERCISE IX.

Write out the Cases of the Nouns in Ex. vI., thus:Singular. Nom. Book. Poss. Book's. Obj. Book. 33. The Plural Possessive is made like the Singular, by adding s with an apostrophe to the Plural Nominative; as, men, men's.

34. But when the Plural ends in s, the Possessive s is omitted, and only the apostrophe remains; as, horses' teeth, that is, the teeth of

horses.

EXERCISE X.

Write the Plural of Nouns in Ex. vi. like the Sing :

35. OBS.-In the Singular also, when a word ends in es, the é being sounded, the possessive s is sometimes omitted; but the apostrophe (') is kept to show that there should be an s. Thus we say, Moses' writings. We may also say, Moses's writings. On the contrary, we do not say, James' book; but always James's book, because the e in James is not sounded. Again, if the word ends in s, ce, or even x, the possessive s is often not added. Thus we say, for quietness' sake, Felix' room. But this chiefly occurs in phrases with sake; for we say, the duchess's carriage, &c., and do not omit the s.

EXERCISE XI.

Put the following phrases into the Possessive form :The books of Moses. The wife of Phinehas. The wife of James. The house of Mr. Jacob. The house of Mr. Jacobs. For the sake of conscience. The gardens of Mr. Loddiges. The church of St. Stephen. The beauty of the Jewess. For the sake of peace. The carriage of the Empress.

THE CASES EXPLAINED.

NOMINATIVE.

36. The Nominative answers the question who or what. (1.) The boy broke the window. Who broke the window?

The boy broke the window. Boy is in the Nominative.

(2.) The dog was sagacious. What was sagacious? The dog was sagacious. Dog is in the Nominative.

The Nominative, then, is the Case of the WHO OF WHAT.

OBJECTIVE.

37. The Objective answers the question whom or what. (1.) The boy struck the girl. Whom did the boy strike? The boy struck the girl. Girl is in the Objective.

(2.) The boy struck the window. What did the boy strike? The boy struck the window. Window is in the Objective. The Objective, then, is the Case of the WHOM or WHAT.

POSSESSIVE.

He

38. The Possessive answers the question whose or of what. (1.) He killed William's dog. Whose dog did he kill? killed William's dog. William's is in the Possessive.

(2.) The horse's foot is hurt. The foot of what is hurt? The horse's foot is hurt, Horse's is in the Possessive.

The Possessive, then, is the Case of the WHOSE or of what. 39. The following sentence shows the three Cases :James broke the cobbler's window.

Underline all the Nominatives, doubly underline the Objectives, and enclose the Possessives in brackets :

The dog guards the house. The master teaches the boy. The horse's hoof is hard. The boy respects his master. God's goodness is great. The shepherd watches the sheep. The raven's wings are black. The father protects the children. Wellington's victories cannot be forgotten. The boys' books are here. The cat scratches the girl. The girl drowns the cat. The fire burns down the house. The house contains treasures. The owner loses the treasures. Where are the girls' bonnets? The bat has wings. Bees make honey.