PREDICATE. That which is asserted of the Subject (Form I.). COPULA. The word connecting the Subject and the TRANSITIVE VERB. A Verb expressing an action that passes from a Subject to an Object (FORM II.). OBJECT. The name of that to which an action passes (FORM II.). INTRANSITIVE VERB. A Verb expressing an action, condition, or state confined to a Subject (FORM III.). CHAPTER II. Naming Words. NOUNS, AND PERSONAL PRONOUNS. (1.) NOUNS. 13. The Noun names: the Verb asserts. Mark this distinction carefully. Now examine the following examples of the three forms of the Simple Statement :I. Grass is green. II. Bees make wax. Eight words in all of which four are Nouns, three Verbs, and one Adjective. We see from these examples that a Noun is a word that can be the Subject of a statement or the Object of a Transitive Verb. 14. Can a Noun stand as the Predicate of a statement ? Yes, it is sometimes so used, especially in short and pithy maxims; as Knowledge is power. NOMINATIVE AND OBJECTIVE CASES. 15. The same form is used in English for the Noun, whether it stands as Subject or Object in a sentence; thus Man (Subject) is mortal. God made man (Object). Men (Subject) are mortal. God made men (Object). It is, however, found convenient to give distinguishing names to mark the office that a Noun performs as part of a sentence; and so, when it is the Subject it is said to be in the Nominative Case, and when it stands for the Object of a Transitive Verb it is said to be in the Objective Case. (2.) PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 16. We often speak of persons and things not by their own names but by words used instead of those names. For example, every speaker names himself by the word I, the person to whom he speaks by the word thou, or by the word you, and the person of whom he speaks by one of the words he or she; and all these words are called Personal Pronouns, that is, words denoting persons and used instead of Nouns. 17. Most of the Personal Pronouns have distinct forms for the Nominative and Objective Cases; thus Nominative. me thee us him her them. The following are examples of simple statements in which Personal Pronouns are introduced :— These Pronouns are of great use in making a second statement about a person or thing mentioned in a preceding statement; as— I see a boy. He is idle. | I see a girl. She is busy. NOTE.-A more complete account of these Pronouns is given in Part 2, Chap. 2. (3.) CLASSIFICATION OF nouns. 18. Nouns may be divided into five classes : 1. Proper Nouns, or names of particular persons, places, or seasons; as, Solomon, Socrates; London, Europe; Easter, May, Summer. 2. Common Nouns, or names of individual persons or things, regarded as belonging to a sort or kind; as, man, tree, horse, river, mountain. 3. Material Nouns, or names of substances made up of parts like the whole; as, gold, iron, wood. 4. Collective Nouns, or names of gatherings of persons or things into one united body; as, people, parliament, committee, fleet, mob. 5. Abstract Nouns, or names of qualities possessed by persons or things, as wisdom, strength, weakness, beauty; actions, as reading, fishing; and states, as absence, misery. NOTE. The word abstract means taken apart from, and it is applied to nouns expressing qualities, actions, or states, considered apart from the persons or things to which they belong. Take the following illustration : I press my hand against a pillar, and the pillar resists the pressure; I say, "The pillar is hard." I press my hand on a pillow, and the pillow yields to the pressure; I say, "The pillow is soft." The words hard and soft are Adjectives denoting qualities, which we name hardness and softness. Such names of qualities are called Abstract Nouns. (4.) NUMBER OF NOUNS. 19. The form of a Noun, which refers to one person or thing, is called the Singular Number; as, man, tree: the form, which refers to more than one, is called the Plural Number; as, men, trees. 20. The plural is usually formed by adding s to the 21. Exceptions to the usual formation of the plural of Nouns are— 1. es is added to the singular in words ending with s, x, ch (pronounced as in larch), and sh; 2. es is added to the singular of some Nouns ending in o; as— S. negro echo hero potato. P. negroes echoes heroes potatoes. But some are regular; as, grotto, canto, folio, zero. 3. The endings ƒ and fe of the singular are changed into ves; as— S. loaf wolf calf thief wharf wife. P. loaves wolves calves thieves wharves wives. But some are regular; as, roof, cliff, dwarf, reef, and muff. The plural of staff is staves. 4. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant S. body city ally fancy country. |