define the term, and give four or five examples. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that hardly one student in a hundred thousand becomes able to supply words that are understood with a tolerable degree of readiness and correctness. That our students of grammar are thus deficient is not altogether the fault of their teachers; for grammar can not be thoroughly taught without the use of a well-digested system of printed or written parsing exercises. Nor is it the fault of the authors who have prepared our text-books in grammar. We have many excellent treatises which are all that a text-book in grammar ought to be. The introduction into a text-book of such an amount of drill exercises as would be necessary to make learners perfectly familiar with the parsing and analysis of all kinds of sentences, would either make a volume too large to be conveniently handled, or it would crowd out every thing else that should find a place in a text-book on grammar. It is, therefore, indispensably necessary that we should have a book specially devoted to the subject of parsing. The present volume is designed to be a companion of any of the text-books used in our schools. It is not intended that the articles shall be taken up and studied consecutively in the order in which they stand in the book, but that such articles shall be taken up, or referred to from day to day, as will serve to impress more deeply on the minds of the pupils the lesson of their text-book. The author would suggest that in going over an example parsed as a "model," the members of the class should close their books. It would not be advisable that every word of a sentence should always be parsed, but only so much of the sentence as serves to illustrate the rule or principle under consideration. Neither would it always be expedient to parse all the examples belonging to any particular section or sub-section. The author would advise that, in parsing, the pupils should apply the rules of their text-books. ARTICLE XXIV.-The Possessive Case ARTICLE XXV.-A Noun singular preceded by two or THE RULES OF SYNTAX. Rule I.—A noun or personal pronoun used to explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put by apposition in the same case. (See Examples in Article XIX.) Rule II.—A noun or pronoun in the possessive case is governed by the noun denoting the thing possessed. Note 1.-When two or more possessives refer conjointly to the same thing, the sign of possession is used only in the last. (See Examples in Article XXIV, 1, a.) Note 2.-When two or more possessives refer separately to the thing possessed, the sign must be used in each. (See Examples in Article XXIV, 1, b.) Note 3.—When the governing noun is expressed, the possessive in apposition has the sign expressed, and the noun with which the possessive is in apposition omits the sign. (See Examples in Article XXIV, 2, a.) Note 4.-When the governing noun is understood, a possessive in apposition with a preceding noun omits the sign, and the preceding noun has the sign expressed. (See Examples in Article XXIV, 2, b.) Note 5.-When a noun denoting occupation, office, etc., is in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun in the possessive, if the governing noun is understood, the noun in apposition omits the sign. (See Examples in Article XXIV, 2, c.) Rule III.—Transitive verbs in the active voice govern the objective case. Note 1.-The transitive verbs to call, to name, and the like, govern two objectives denoting the same person or thing, the one being called the primary, and the other the attributive object. (See Examples in Article XXVI, 1.) Note 2.-A transitive verb sometimes governs the subject of an infinitive as a primary object, and the infinitive itself as an attributive object. (See Examples in Article XXVI, 2.) Note 3.-The passive verbs to be asked, to be taught, and a few others, are sometimes followed by the objective case. (See Examples in Article XXVII.) Rule IV.-Prepositions govern the objective case. Rule V.-A noun or pronoun is in the nominative case independent, when its case depends on no other word. Note 1.—When a noun is of the second person, it is in the nominative case independent by way of address. (See Examples in Article XVIII, 1.) Note 2.-When the name of an object is uttered without connection with other words, to give expression to some emotion of the mind, it is in the nominative case independent by way of exclamation. (See Examples in Article XVIII, 3.) Note 3.-When a noun in the nominative case is not the subject of any verb, but is represented by a pronoun which is the subject of the next verb, the noun is in the nominative case independent by way of pleonasm. (See Examples in Article XVIII, 4.) Note 4.-A noun written on any object as its name, is in the nominative case independent by way of inscription. (See Examples in Article XVIII, 5.) Note 5.--When a noun associated with a participle or infinitive is, in construction, independent of the sentence with which it is connected by location, it is in the nominative case absolute. (See Examples in Article XVIII, 6; and in Article V, 1 and 3.) Rule VI.-Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in person, number, and gender. (See Examples in Article XI.) |