body of persons of noble birth; youth, the whole class of young people, and so on.

32. Common Nouns are significant; they always denote the combination of marks or attributes, through the possession of which the various things named by the common noun are grouped in one class. Proper Nouns, as such, are not significant. They may originally have had a meaning, as Snowdon, Blackwater, Margaret (i.e. Pearl), Peter (rock), but they are not necessarily applied to the objects named by them in consequence of these meanings. If names like Mont Blanc, Blackwater, &c., are used in virtue of their meaning, they cease to be Proper Names, and become descriptive names.

33. Nouns are altered in form to express differences of gender, number, and case. These changes of form are called inflections.

Gender.

34. Living beings are divided into two classes or sexes, the male sex and the female sex, the individuals in the one sex corresponding to those in the other. Things without life are not of either sex. Thus all things are arranged in three classes-things of the male sex, things of the female sex, and things of neither sex.

In like manner, nouns and pronouns are divided into three classes (called Genders), which correspond to the three classes of things just mentioned. These are the Masculine Gender, the Feminine Gender, and the Neuter Gender.

The name of anything of the male sex is called a masculine noun, or a noun of the masculine gender.

The name of anything of the female sex is called a feminine noun, or a noun of the feminine gender.

The name of anything of neither sex is called a neuter noun, or a noun of the neuter gender.

Man, king, father, horse, cock, bull, James, Henry, are masculine nouns.

Woman, queen, mother, mare, hen, cow, Mary, Jane, are feminine nouns.

Stone, tree, house, London, are neuter nouns.

The names of animals sometimes do not indicate their sex, as sheep, bird, parent. Such nouns are said to be of common gender.

35. The genders of masculine and feminine nouns which stand for pairs of males and females, are denoted in three ways.

First Mode.-Quite different words are used: as

girl
sister
COW

heifer

Dog

bitch

Drake

daughter

Stag

hind

Gentleman lady

Second Mode.-Different endings are used:

The termination ess is derived (through French) from the Latin ix.

Third Mode.-Masculine and feminine words are prefixed or affixed to nouns of common gender.

36. Number is a variation in the form of nouns, by means of which we show whether we are speaking of one of the things for which the noun stands, or of more than

one.

There are two numbers, the singular and the plural.

That form which is used when we speak of one of the things for which the noun stands, is called the singular number, as ship, horse.

That form of the noun which is used when we speak of more than one of the things for which the noun stands, is called the plural number, as ships, horses.

37. The plural is derived from the singular in the following ways:

First Mode.-By simply adding the letter s, as book, books; table, tables; mother, mothers.

Second Mode.-By adding es to the singular. This termination is added after the consonants s, sh, ch (soft), x and z; as gas, gases; lash, lashes; witch, witches; box, boxes; topaz, topazes; after some words ending in the vowel o, as hero, heroes; potato, potatoes; cargo, cargoes; and after the letter y, when it is preceded by a consonant. When es is added, the y is changed into i, as lady, ladies. When the y is preceded by a vowel, s only is added, and the y is not changed into i, as valley, valleys.

In some words f becomes v before es. makes loaves; leaf, leaves; knife, knives.

Thus: Loaf

Third Mode.-By adding en, as ox, oxen; brother, brethren ; child, children.

Fourth Mode. By changing the vowel sound of the word, as tooth, teeth; mouse, mice; foot, feet; goose, geese. The nouns deer, sheep, fish (meaning the race of fishes), are the same in the plural as in the singular.

Case.

38. Case is the form in which a noun or pronoun is used, in order to show the relation in which it stands to other words.

39. In English there are three cases, the Nominative Case, the Possessive Case, and the Objective Case.

40. The nominative case is that form in which a noun or pronoun is used when it is the subject of a verb; that is, when it stands for that about which something is said by means of a verb. In the sentence, "Men build houses," the noun men stands for that about which something is said by means of the verb build. The noun men, therefore, is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the verb build. In the sentence, "The boy was struck by his brother," the noun boy stands for that about which something is said by means of the verb was struck, and therefore the noun boy is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the verb was struck. If the verb of the sentence be in the active voice, the subject of the verb stands for the doer of the action described by the verb. If the verb be in the passive voice, the subject of the verb stands for the object of the action described by the verb.

The noun in the nominative case is the answer to the question made by putting who or what before the verb. Thus in the above sentences: Who build houses?' Ans. 6 Men.' 'Who was struck? Ans. The Boy.'

41. The possessive case is that form in which a noun is used in order to show that something belongs to the person or thing for which it stands. Thus, in the sentence, 'I saw John's book,' the noun John's is in the possessive case, to denote that John possesses something (namely, a book). John's, then, is the possessive case of the noun John.

42. The noun in the possessive case is in the attributive relation to the noun which stands for that which is possessed. In the above sentence the noun John's is in the attributive relation to the noun book.

43. The possessive case, in the singular number, and in those plurals which end in any other letter than s, is formed by adding the letter s with an apostrophe before it (thus, 's) to the nominative case; as John's, men's, geese's. In those plurals which end in s the possessive case is indicated in writing by placing the apostrophe after the s, as, 'the birds' feathers.'

44. The Objective Case is that form in which a noun or

pronoun is used when it stands for the object of the action spoken of in some verb, or when it comes after a preposition. In the sentence, 'The stone struck the boy,' the act of striking is spoken of as being directed to a certain object, namely, boy. The word boy, which stands for the object of the action, is called the object of the verb, and is in the objective case. In the sentence, John was riding in a coach, the noun coach, which comes after the preposition in, is in the objective case.

The objective case is often used, like the Latin dative, to denote the indirect object of a verb, that is to say, it stands for some person or thing indirectly affected by the action, but not the direct object of it; as, 'Tell me a tale;' 'Tell John the news;' Rob me the exchequer.' In old English there was a dative case as well as an objective case.

45. The following are examples of the declension of nouns in English :

46. When we think or speak of anything, we often have in mind not only the thing itself, but some quality or attribute of it, or some circumstance respecting it. We may think of a rose, and at the same time have in our minds the idea that it is red, and so speak of it as a red rose. We may be speaking about a child, and at the same time think that it is a child just spoken of or pointed to, and so speak of it as this child. We may speak of some birds, and at the same time point out that there are three of them, and so speak of them as three birds. The words that are used in this way with nouns are called Adjectives.

47. Definition. An adjective is a word used with a noun to denote some quality, attribute, or fact, which we connect in thought with that for which the noun stands. The adjective (Lat. adjectivum) means that may be added.' It is derived from the Latin adjicio, I add or join to.'