5. Select the nouns in the following example; tell the class, person, num◄ ber, and gender of each noun : "Thou too sail on, O Ship of State! What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel."-Longfellow. 50. Case of Nouns. 1. Case denotes the relation of a noun or pronoun to other words. 2. There are three cases—the nominative, the possessive, and the objective. 3. The nominative case is the simplest form of the noun, and is commonly used as the subject of a proposition; as, "George: speaks." "The door was shut." (See Introduction, Lesson XIX.) 4. Besides being the subject of a proposition, the nominative case may be used, 1st, as the attribute of a proposition; 2d, it may be used to identify the subject or attribute; 3d, it may be independent of any other word; as, 1st, "Peter was an apostle ;" "The stars are suns;" 'Milton, the poet, was blind." "It was John, the beloved disciple;" 3d, Henry, attend to your studies;" "Mary, are you ready?" 2d, 66 66 5. The possessive case denotes the relation of property or possession; as, "David's harp." 6. The possessive singular of nouns is regularly formed by adding an apostrophe (') and the letters to the nominative; as, man's, David's. 7. When the plural ends in s, the apostrophe only is added; Case, nominative. Uses of the nominative,-possessive. Formation of the possessive, as, boys', ladies'. But the (') and s are added when it ends in any other letter; as, men's, women's, brethren's. 8. The possessive termination ('s) in the singular, is evidently a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon or Old English genitive es or is. The (') in the plural is a modern invention, used to denote the possessive case. In Lord Grey's letter to the Prince of Wales, written the latter part of the twelfth or the first of the thirteenth century, are these expressions, -"Our liege Lordes pryve seal;" "The Kynges commaundement;" "The Erles ground." 9. When the singular ends in s, or in a letter or combination of letters having the sound of s, and the addition of a syllable would be harsh, the poets and some prose writers add the (') only; as, Peleus' son, goodness' sake, conscience' sake, Moses' seat, the cockatrice' den. 10. Some difference of opinion prevails among writers respecting the form of the possessive in other cases where the singular ends in s, some adding the (') only, and some the (') and s. Thus we have Adams' express, or Adams's express; Otis' letters, or Otis's letters. The weight of authority is in favor of the additional s, whenever the laws of euphony will admit; especially if a syllable is added in pronouncing the word; as, Bates's Sermons, Barnes's Notes. 11. In nouns whose singular and plural are alike (45, 4) the apostrophe should precede the s in the singular, and follow it in the plural; as, deer's, deers'; sheep's, sheeps'. 12. For the sound of the apostrophic s, and the increase of syllables, see (42, 2, 3). 13. The use of the apostrophe and s to mark the plural of letters and signs (43, 9), has no connection with case. 14. When a noun follows a transitive verb or a preposition, it is in the objective case; as, "Thomas opened his knife." bird sat on the tree." "The 15. The nominative case answers the question Who? or What? as, "Who writes ?" "John writes." "What alarms him?" "The storm alarms him." The possessive case answers the question Whose? as, "Whose book have you?" "I have my brother's book." The objective case answers the question Whom? or What? as, "Whom do you see?' "I see the captain." "On what does he stand?" "He stands upon the deck." 16. The possessive case may be known by its form. But the forms of the nominative and the objective are alike; hence they must be determined by their relation to other words. Origin of ('s.) Objective case. Questions answered by each case. 51. Declension of Nouns. The declension of a noun is its variation to denote number and 1. Put the following nouns in Italics into the possessive case, and let each expression be written on your slates, thus:: Abraham son. ster Dictionary. The carpenter axe. The carpenter's axe. David harp. Moses law. Adams Arithmetic. Web The coachman dog barked at the herdsman sheep. The lion roar aroused the shepherd dog. The farmer corn was destroyed by his neighbor cow. Declension of nouns. 2. Give the rule for forming the possessive case. 3. Write the following nouns in the possessive plural, and place some appropriate noun after them, thus: : 'The tailors' shears." "The men's apartment." Tailor, seaman, captain, doctor, brother, valley, folly, alley, ally, hero, arch, child, director, president, sheep. 53. Parsing. 1. Parsing consists, (1.) In telling the part of speech. (2.) In telling its properties or accidents. (3.) In pointing out its relation to other words, and giving the rule for its construction. 2. In parsing a noun,— (1.) Say it is a noun, and why. (2.) Common or proper, and why. (3.) Of the 1st, 2d, or 3d person, and why. (4.) of the singular or plural number, and why. (5.) Of the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender, and why. (7.) The rule for construction. NOTE. The pupil who has been thoroughly drilled in the Introduction, may be able to introduce this third element of parsing, if the teacher choose. The Rules of Syntax will of course be anticipated, if applied here. The teacher can omit or use the rules, as he may think best. 54. Exercise. MODELS FOR PARSING NOUNS. 1. Washington, the successful general, was also a true patriot. Washington, is a noun,—it is the name of an object; proper,—it is the name of an individual object; third person,-it denotes the person spoken of; singular number,-it denotes but one; masculine gender,—it denotes a male; nominative case,—it is the subject of the proposition "Washington was a patriot," according to Rule I.: "A noun or pronoun used as the subject of a proposition, must be in the nominative case.” Outlines for parsing. Models for parsing. General .. is a noun (why ?); common (why); third person (why?); singular number (why?); masculine gender (why?); nominative case, and is put in apposition with Washington. Rule VI.: "A noun or pronoun used to explain or identify another noun or pronoun, is put by apposition in the same case." Patriot. . . . is a noun (why?); common (why?); third person (why?); singular number (why ?); masculine gender (why ?); nominative case (why?); it is used as the attribute of the proposition, "Washington was a patriot." Rule II.: "A noun or pronoun used as the attribute of a proposition, must be in the nominative case." 2. John, bring me Fanny's History, that book lying on the desk. John... is a proper noun, second person, singular number, masculine gender, and nominative case independent. Rule X.: "The nominative case independent, and the interjection, have no grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence." Fanny's. is a proper noun, third person, singular number, feminine gender, possessive case (why?) and limits History. Rule VII. : "A noun or pronoun used to limit another noun by denoting possession, must be in the possessive case." History. is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is the object of bring. Rule VIII.: "A noun or pronoun, used as the object of a transitive verb, or its participles, must be in the objective case." Book... is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is put in apposition with History. Rule VI. Desk... is a common noun, third person, singular number, neuter gender, objective case, and is the object of the preposition on. Rule XIV.: "A noun or pronoun, used as the object of a preposition, must be in the objective case." 3. Select the nouns in the following examples, and parse them according to the forms given above: : The first land discovered by Columbus, was an island, to which he gave the name of San Salvador. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? In truth, the proper rest for man, is change of occupation. In autumn, there is no sudden blight of youth and beauty; no sweet hopes of life are blasted, no generous aim at usefulness and advancing Models for parsing. |