Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin
page 36 of 188 (19%)
some particular _number_, by the _definite_ article.

_Nouns_, in one form, represent _one_ of a kind, and in another, _any
number_ more than one; they are the _names of males_, or _females_, or of
objects which are neither male nor female; and they represent the
_subject_ of an affirmation, a command or a question,--the _owner_ or
_possessor_ of a thing,--or the _object_ of an action, or of a relation
expressed by a preposition.

_Adjectives_ express the _qualities_ which distinguish one person or
thing from another; in one form they express quality _without
comparison_; in another, they express comparison _between two_, or
between _one_ and a number taken collectively,--and in a third they
express comparison between _one_ and a _number_ of others taken
separately.

_Pronouns_ are used in place of nouns; one class of them is used merely
as the _substitutes_ of _names_; the pronouns of another class have a
peculiar _reference_ to some _preceding words_ in the _sentence_, of
which they are the substitutes,--and those of a third class refer
adjectively to the persons or things they represent. Some pronouns are
used for both the _name_ and the _substitute_; and several are frequently
employed in _asking questions_.

_Affirmations_ and _commands_ are expressed by the verb; and different
inflections of the verb express _number_, _person_, _time_ and _manner_.
With regard to _time_, an affirmation may be _present_ or _past_ or
_future_; with regard to manner, an affirmation may be _positive_ or
_conditional_, it being doubtful whether the condition is fulfilled or
not, or it being implied that it is not fulfilled;--the verb may express
DigitalOcean Referral Badge