ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

1. Grammar is the science of Speech; and Speech is thought expressed in words.

(a) The system of words used by a particular nation to express thought constitutes the Language of that nation.

2. English Grammar treats of the words in the English Language, as they are combined in expressing thought. Words so arranged as to express a complete thought form a Sentence. Grammar therefore deals with words as they are arranged in

sentences.

3. If in the sentence "Mammon led them on," we select the word them, there are three things which Grammar tells us about it: first, what kind of word it is; second, what form it is in; third, why it is in that form. To these we may add a fourth particular, what is its origin; but this refers to the word as it is in itself, not as a part of the sentence, and therefore belongs properly, not to Grammar, but to Language.

4. Hence arise the three great divisions of Grammar :

:

I. Classification; or the arrangement of words in classes, according to their kinds:

II. Inflection; or the changes which words undergo, to express different relations:

III. Syntax; or the laws which determine what forms of words are required in certain relations:

To these we may add, as a supplementary division,

IV. Etymology; or the origin of words.

PART I.-CLASSIFICATION.

5. Words are arranged in classes, according to the functions they perform, or the work they do, in sentences.

(a) Thus all words used to assert are put in one class; all words used to name things, in another; all words used to describe things, in a third, etc., etc.; and as the same word may be used to perform different functions in different sentences, it may at one time belong to one class, at another time to another.

6. There are eight separate classes, or kinds of words. And as every word must belong to one or other of these classes, they are called The Parts of Speech.

8. DEFINITION I. Verbs make statements; as, Horses run. Sugar is (sweet).

(a) The word Verb means "word" (Latin, verbum); and this part of speech is so called because it is the word, the most important word in every sentence. There can be no sentence without a verb. The verb always asserts that something does (so and so), or that something is (so and so). Hence we may extend the definition and say that " Verbs make statements about doing and being."

Exercise 1.

Add verbs, telling what the following things DO.

Exercise 2.

Add verbs, telling about the jollowing things BEING (something).

3. The knife is red

1. Tom cut his finger. 2. The wound bleeds freely. with blood. 4. The gardener fell from a high tree. 5. He lay on the ground for an hour. 6. They took him to the house. 7. He slept for three hours. 8. When he awoke, he was in great pain. 9. The coachman struck the horse, and it kicked him. 10. The sky became clear, and the moon was bright. 11. The flowers were beautiful. 12. He prayeth best who loveth best all things both great and small.

9. DEFINITION II. Nouns name things; as, The gardener shot a hare in the garden.

(a) The word Noun means "name" (Latin, nomen). Everything we think or speak about-whether it be a person, a place, an animal, a substance, or a thought-must have a name. The words used to indicate the things we are speaking about, are called Nouns, or names.

Exercise 4.

Mention the NAMES of things:

1. In the schoolroom. 2. In the playground. 3. In the street. 4. In the house. 5. In the farmyard. 6. In the fields. 7. Name persons you know. 8. Places you have seen, or heard about. 9. Animals you know, or have read about. 10. Things you have felt. 11. Days in the week. 12. Months in the year.

Exercise 5.

Pick out the NOUNS.

1. The sun rises in the morning, and sets in the evening. 2. The moon and stars shine by night. 3. I went to London in April, and returned on

the first Tuesday in May. 4. The boy has gone to catch fish in the river. 5. The snow was deep on the hills last week. 6. The wind was very keen on Thursday. 7. Two shepherds, caught in the storm, died from the cold. 8. Last Sunday, the clergyman preached a sermon on charity. 9. George is going to spend his holidays at Dresden, a town in Saxony. 10. Wellington finally defeated Bonaparte in the battle of Waterloo. 11. The Emperor fled from the field as fast as his horse could carry him. 12. His nephew-the son of his brother Louis, King of Holland-now occupies the throne of France.

10. DEFINITION III. Pronouns stand for nouns; as, Charles went to Paris with his mother, and he came back without her.

(a) The word Pronoun means "for, or instead of, a noun" (Lat., pro and nomen). In such a sentence as the example, the main use of the pronoun is to prevent the too frequent repetition of the same noun.

(b) Certain pronouns are used to indicate the relation between the speaker and the doer of an action; thus, "I write," means that the person who makes the statement, and the person who does the action of writing, are the same. "You draw," indicates that the person to whom the statement is made, and the person who does the action of drawing, are the same.

(c) Other pronouns, besides standing for nouns, also connect statements; as, I have seen the man whom we met yesterday.

Exercise 7.

Write PRONOUNS for the NOUNS printed in Italics.

1. James lent Mary James's book, and James told Mary that Mary must not lose the book. 2. But Mary's cousin hid the book from Mary, so Mary could not return James's book to James. 3. George says that George has hurt George. 4. As John and Charles were walking by the river, John and Charles both fell into the river. 5. As George was catching a cricket-ball, George missed the ball; and the ball struck George on George's