48. In the phrase, a white horse, the word white is an adjective. It denotes a certain quality of the horse.

In the sentence, I saw two men, the word two is an adjective. It points out a fact respecting the men, that they were two in number.

In the sentence, I love this child, the word this is an adjective. It points out, with regard to the child spoken of, the fact that it answers to a certain designation made either by words or by pointing.

49. There are three sorts of adjectives:

i. Adjectives which denote some quality or attribute of that which the noun stands for, such as high, large, big, virtuous, black, beautiful, sweet. These are called Adjectives of Quality, or Qualitative Adjectives.

ii. Adjectives which denote how much or how many of that for which the noun stands we have in our thoughts :-such as the Cardinal Numerals, one, two, three, &c., the Indefinite Article, an or a, and the words all, some, half, many, few, little, less, least, enough, much, more, most, both, several, whole, no (not any), none. These adjectives are called Adjectives of Quantity, or Quantitative Adjectives.

iii. Adjectives which point out which thing or things we are speaking of out of several for which the noun might stand. These adjectives are called Definitive or Demonstrative Adjectives. To this class belong

a. The Definite Article, the.

b. The so-called Adjective Pronouns, or Pronominal Adjectives, comprising the following classes :—

1. The Demonstrative Pronouns this, these, that, those.
2. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun which.
3. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun what.

4. The Distributive Pronouns each, every, either, neither.

5. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun whether. 6. The Indefinite Pronouns any, other, another.

7. The Possessive Pronouns, hers, ours, yours, theirs, own. 8. The Reflective Pronoun self.

c. The Ordinal Numerals, first, second, third, &c.

50. A word is known to be an adjective when it can be put before a noun so as to denote some attribute or fact

The beginner must be careful not to fall into the mistake of calling great, tall, high, large, big, small, &c., adjectives of quantity. They do not denote how much or how many of the thing referred to we are speaking of. The great or small size is a quality of the thing in question.

respecting that for which the noun stands. What and which are adjectives, for we can say, what man? which child? Who is not an adjective, for we cannot say who man? or whom woman?

51. In speaking we do not always express all that we have in our thoughts, when what is expressed shows clearly enough what is to be understood as meant, though not expressed. Adjectives are very often used without having the nouns to which they relate expressed. Thus, 'The good are happy;' i.e. good people. Blessed are the meek;' i.e. meek persons. This is good, but that is better;' i.e. this thing is good, but that thing is better. 'He has this character in common with his neighbours.' In general he avoids such mistakes;' 'He recommended this in particular; At least;' 'At random ;' 'In future.'

'Many (persons) are called, but few (persons) are chosen;" 'All (men, or persons) heard, and some obeyed;' 'I know that; I heard what you said.'

52. In ancient English adjectives were inflected (that is, had various terminations added to them) to mark distinctions of gender, number, and case, like adjectives in Latin. The plurals these, those, and others are the only inflected forms that now remain.

Comparison of Adjectives.

53. Adjectives admit of three varieties of form, called Degrees of Comparison. These are the Positive Degree, the Comparative Degree, and the Superlative Degree.

54. The Positive Degree of an adjective is the adjective in its simple form, used to point out some quality or attribute of that which we speak about, as 'A black cat,' 'A fine day.'

55. When we wish to show that one person or thing possesses the same quality or attribute as another, but in a greater degree, a change is made in the form of the adjective to mark this. The syllable er (or r only when the adjective ends in mute e) is added; as 'My knife is sharper than yours;' 'John's book is pretty, but mine is prettier Your parents are richer than mine;' 'This soldier is taller than those;' These books are larger than that

one.'

56. The Comparative Degree of an adjective is that form of it by means of which we show that one person or thing possesses a certain quality or attribute in a greater degree

than another. The word Comparative is derived from the Latin comparo, 'I put together, I compare.'

57. The Comparative Degree does not always denote more of a certain quality than the positive degree does. If we say, 'William is a clever boy,' and 'John is cleverer than Thomas,' we are not to infer that cleverer in the second case implies the existence of more cleverness in John than the adjective clever implies in the case of William. The fact may be that William is cleverer than John. The positive degree is used in the one case simply because William is not compared with any one else; and the comparative degree is used in the second case because John is compared with Thomas. A thing may be compared not only with another thing, but with itself at another time, or under other circumstances, as, 'The weather is brighter to-day than yesterday;' John is stouter than he was last year.'

58. The Superlative Degree of an adjective is that form of it which shows that a certain person or thing possesses some quality or attribute in a greater degree than any other of the class to which it belongs. It is formed by adding st or est to the simple adjective, or the adjective in the positive degree; as, greatest, tallest, largest. Thus, of several boys in a group, we may say, 'John is the tallest. Of the countries of Europe we may say, 'England is the wealthiest.' The word Superlative is derived from the Latin superlatus, lifted up above.' It means lifting up above.' The superlative degree of an adjective, as it were, 'lifts' the thing that it is applied to above all the rest of the things with which it is compared.

59. In the case of some adjectives, the degrees of comparison are marked by irregular forms. These are the following::

60. Adjectives of more than two syllables, and most

adjectives of two syllables, do not allow of the formation of comparative and superlative degrees. But the same ideas are denoted by prefixing the adverbs more and most to the simple adjective. Thus we say, Virtuous, more virtuous, most virtuous; Learned, more learned, most learned. The disyllabic adjectives which do admit of degrees of comparison are those ending in -y (merry, merrier, merriest; holy, holier, holiest); in -er (as tender, tenderer, tenderest); and those in -ble (as able, abler, ablest).

ARTICLE.

61. The Articles are often classed as a separate part of speech, but they belong in reality to the class of adjectives. 62. There are two Articles, the Indefinite Article an or a, and the Definite Article the.

63. The indefinite article an is a Quantitative Adjective. It is the same in origin as the word one. When placed before a noun it indicates that we are speaking of some one of the things for each of which the noun is a name, as, 'A dog bit me;' 'I saw an old man.'

The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound or mute h, as an apple, an heir.

An drops then and becomes a before words beginning with a consonant, the aspirate h, or the letter u when the sound of y is put before the u in pronunciation, as A man, a horse, a yellow ball, a useful book.

64. The definite article the is a Demonstrative Adjective. It is used before a noun to define or mark out the particular individual or individuals that we are speaking of out of the class named by the noun, or to show that a common noun is used to denote the whole of the class which it names, as, 'The dog is a most sagacious animal.' 'The stars shine.'

PRONOUN.

65. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, as when we say, 'John has come in: he is very tired,' instead of 'John has come in: John is very tired.'

Pronouns are divided into two classes, Substantive Pronouns and Adjective Pronouns.

66. The Substantive Pronouns are the following:A. The Personal Pronouns, I, thou, we, you or ye.

B. The Demonstrative Pronoun of the Third Person, he,

she, it, they.

C. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun who.

D. The Relative Pronoun that.

E. The Indefinite Pronoun one.

67. The Adjective Pronouns are the following

F. The Demonstrative Pronouns this (plural these), tha (plural those).

G. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun which.
H. The Relative and Interrogative Pronoun what.
I. The Interrogative Pronoun whether.

J. The Distributive and Indefinite Pronouns each, every, either, neither, any, other (plural others).

K. The Possessive Pronouns mine, thine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.

L. The Reflective Pronoun self.

I.-Personal Pronouns.

69. The Pronoun which is used when a person speaks of himself singly, or of himself in conjunction with one or inore others, without mentioning any names, is called the Personal Pronoun of the First Person. It is declinable, and has the following forms :