ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Proper names or substantives, are the names appropriated to individuals; as, George, London, Thames. Common names or substantives, stand for kinds containing many sorts, or for sorts containing many individuals under them; as, animal, man, tree, &c. To substantives belong gender, number, and case; and they are all of the third person, when spoken of, and of the second, when spoken to ; as, 66 Blessings attend us grateful, children of men !" that is, "ye children on every side: Be of men." GENDER. Gender is the distinction of nouns, with regard to sex. There are three genders, the Masculine, the Feminine, and the Neuter. The masculine gender denotes animals of the male kind; as, a man, a horse, a bull. The feminine gender signifies animals of the female kind; as, a woman, a duck, a hen. The neuter gender denotes objects which are neither males nor females; as, a field, a house, a garden. Some substantives naturally neuter, are, by a figure of speech, converted into the masculine feminine vender: as when we say of the sun 3. By a noun, pronoun, or adjective, being prefixed to the substantive; as, one or more. Substantives are of two numbers, the singular and the plural. The singular number expresses but one object; as, a chair, a table. The plural number signifies more objects than one; as, chairs, tables. Some nouns, from the nature of the things which they express, are used only in the singular, others only in the plural, form; as, wheat, pitch, gold, sloth, pride, &c. and bellows, scissors, ashes, 19. face, faces; thought, thoughts. But when the substantive singular ends in x, ch, sh, or ss, we add es in the plural; as, box, boxes; church, churches; lash, lashes; kiss, kisses. Nouns ending in ƒ or fe, are generally rendered plural by the change of those terminations into ves; as, loaf, loaves; wife, wives. Those which end in ff, have the regular plural; as, ruff, ruffs. Such as have y in the singular, with no other vowel in the same syllable, change it into ies in the plural; as, beauty, beauties; fly, flies; but the y is not changed, when there is another vowel in the syllable; as, key, keys; delay, delays. CASE. In English, substantives have three cases, the Nominative, the Possessive, and the Objective.* The nominative case simply expresses the name of a thing, or the subject of the verb; as, boy plays;""The girls learn." "The The possessive case expresses the relation of property or possession; and has an apostrophe, with the letter s coming after it; as, "The scholar's duty;""My father's house." When the plural ends in s, the other s is omitted, but the apostrophe is retained; as, eagles' wings";""The drapers' company." "On Sometimes also, when the singular terminates *On the noriatz ENGLISH GRAMMAR. in s, the apostrophic s is not added; as, "For English substantives are declined in the follow *ing manner : ADJECTIVES. * An Adjective is a word added to a substantive to express its quality; as, " An industrious man ;” "A virtuous woman;" "A benevolent mind.” In English the adjective is not varied on account of gender, number, or case. Thus we say, "A careless boy; careless girls." The only variation which it admits, is that of the degrees of comparison. There are commonly reckoned three degrees of comparison; the positive, comparative, and |