A man's house is his castle.

A lady's feelings are sensitive.

Children's toys are soon broken.
Ladies' boots are small.

In these examples, "house" is spoken of as belonging to "a man;" "toys," as belonging to "children;" "feelings," as belonging to "a lady;" "boots," as belonging to "ladies.” In other words, 66 a man " is spoken of as the possessor of a "house;" "children," of "toys;" "a lady," of "feelings; ""ladies," of "boots." Man's, children's, lady's,

ladies' are said to be in the POSSESSIVE CASE.

As a rule, the possessive case of nouns in the singular number is formed by adding "s" with an apostrophe ('s); but sometimes EUPHONY pleasant sound requires the omission of "s." With nouns in the plural number the apostrophe is generally used alone; but when the plural does not end in "s," the rule is to add "s."

These are the only case-forms of English nouns. Relations which many languages express by inflections are expressed in English by the aid of prepositions.

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Pronouns. - When I "I shall say go when you come," I use two pronouns that make distinctions of person; “I” stands for the speaker, "you" for the person addressed. Pronouns that make distinctions of person I, thou or you, he, she, it are called PERSONAL PRONOUNS. I is said to be in the first person, thou or you in the second, the others in the third. Personal pronouns are compounded with "self": e. g., "itself," "myself."

When I say "This is my book and that is yours,” I use the pronouns "this" and "that" to point out, or show, what books are meant. This and that are called DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.

When I say "Who is there?" I use the pronoun "who" to ask a question. Pronouns that are used to ask questions—who, which, and what—are called INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.

When I say "The man (or, He) who has just called is my brother," I use the pronoun "who " to refer to " man (or, "he"), and to introduce words which limit " man (or, "he"). When I say "His voice, which is so agreeable, is weak," I use the pronoun "which" to refer to "voice," and to introduce words which describe "voice." Pronouns who, which, what, that which thus refer or relate to nouns or pronouns, and join to them words which limit or describe, are called RELATIVE PRONOUNS. As is a relative pronoun after "such," "many," or "same": e. g., "Take such things as are needed." The noun or pronoun to which a relative pronoun relates is called the ANTECEDENT of the relative. The antecedent of a relative may be several words, if these words, taken together, are used as a noun.

Other pronouns are: each other, one another, which are sometimes called RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS; each, either, neither, which are sometimes called DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS; some, any, either alone or in compounds, e. g., some one, any one, something, anything, somebody, anybody, somewhat; compounds of every and no with one, thing, and body; and all, aught, naught, both, few, many, none, and one.

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The inflections of pronouns, like those of nouns, are called declensions. The declensions of pronouns, like those of nouns, comprise changes of form that indicate number and those that indicate case; but in pronouns these changes are more numerous and more marked than in nouns.

When I say "I think we shall go," "I" stands for the speaker alone, "we," for the speaker and some other person

or persons.

Thou art the man.
He has gone to Paris.
She is a charming girl.
It is bitter to the taste.
I must have a good one.
This is a good book.
That is a spirited horse.

Ye are my children.
They have gone to Paris.
They are charming girls.
They are bitter to the taste.
He gave me two poor ones.
These are good books.
Those are spirited horses.

I, thou, he, she, it, one, this, and that stand for but one person or thing, and are therefore in the singular number. We, ye, they, ones, these, and those stand for more than one person or thing, and are therefore in the plural number.

These pronouns and their compounds are the only ones that have one form for the singular and another for the plural.

When I say "I liked her, but she did n't like me," I use "I" and "she 99 as subjects, and "her" and "me" as objects, of "liked" and "did n't like."

In each pair of these examples, the same pronoun appears in the nominative case as subject of the verb, and in the objective case as object of the verb; in each, the objective case of the pronoun differs from the nominative in form. We becomes us; he, him; they, them; who (relative) and who (interrogative), whom. These, with I and me, she and her, are the only pronouns that have one form for the nominative and another for the objective case.

When I say "This is my book," or "This book is mine," I use "my" or "mine" to say that the book belongs

to me.

We have bought our tickets.
You have lost your hat.

He has found his boat.

She has torn her new dress. See that bird! It has broken ils wing.

Did they bring their baskets?

These tickets are ours.
That hat is yours.
The new boat is his.

My dress is worse than hers.

I think these boxes are theirs.

Whose is it?

Who knows whose turn will come next?

The man who was here just now is the man whose horse ran away yesterday.

The pronouns my, our, your, his, her, its, their, and whose refer to the possessor, and are therefore in the possessive

case.

Mine, ours, yours, his, hers, and theirs are the forms which the possessive pronouns take when used alone. Whose (interrogative) has but one form, whether used alone or in connection with a noun. "Its" and "whose" (relative) are never used alone.

As my, our, your, his, her, its, and their are used in connection with nouns, they are sometimes called POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES. Whose also, when used in the same way, may be termed an adjective.

Verbs. When I say

"Thomas picks," I use a verb which requires an object to complete the sense: e. g., "berries." When I say "Thomas sleeps," I use a verb which does not require an object to complete the sense.

The men are raising the barn. They have laid the foundation of the house.

Did John set the clock?

I sent him to buy a hat.

We rise early at our house.
The boy was lying on the grass.

I like to sit under the trees.
Little birds must learn to fly.

The italicized verbs in the first column have an object. Those in the second column have no object. Verbs that require an object to complete the sense are called TRANSITIVE VERBS. Verbs that do not require an object to complete the sense are called INTRANSITIVE VERBS. Many verbs are used both transitively and intransitively.

The inflections of verbs are called CONJUGATIONS. Some

of these inflections correspond to differences in the subject of the verb.

When I say "I dream," I couple one form of the verb with a subject which is in the first person. When I say "Thomas (or, He) dreams," I couple another form of the verb with a subject which is in the third person. The relation between subject and verb is so close that we speak of a verb as in this or that person: e. g., the FIRST PERSON, the THIRD PERSON, etc.

With the great majority of verbs, the only change of form that corresponds to a change in the subject occurs in the third person singular of the verb when used of present time: e. g., "He loves or "hates," " "She weeps or "laughs." All the other persons (except the second person when the subject of the verb is "thou") have the same form as the first person singular.

Some inflections of the verb correspond to changes in the meaning of the verb itself. Of these, some serve to fix the time of the action or state spoken of.

When I say "I live in Albany," I speak of present time; when I say "I lived in Washington last winter," I speak of past time.

Move, drifts, sings, sting, drives, come, brings, buy, sells,