When letters are put together so as to mean something, they form words Before letters were invented certain pictures or signs were used in writing instead of words.

REMARK.-The whole number of words, consisting of about 40,000, is divided into eight different classes or sorts.

LESSON III. (Classification of words.) Nouns, Pronouns.

One class of words consists of the names of things which we can see or think of.

Write the names of the objects which you can see or think of.

Does every object have a name? Ans. A large number of objects of the same kind has a common name. There is a great number of horses, and but one common name for all, viz: horse.

The name "tree" is given to a great number of objects.

Do any objects have a particular name which is applicable to no other object? Ans. Some objects are so important that we wish to speak of them separately, and for convenience, we give them a particular name; as, Washington, Boston, Amazon, James, Charles, &c.

Will you give particular names to some mountains? cities? rivers? towns? persons?

Do trees, birds, fish, stones, have particular names? Why not?

Words which denote the names of objects and things are called NOUNS.

Write the words 1, thou, he, she, it, we, you, they, him, he, them, who, which. Are these words names of things? Ans. They are not names or nouns, but they stand in place of nouns and are called pronouns.

EXAMPLE. I heard from my brother yesterday; he was well. The word he is used to avoid repeating brother.

LESSON IV. (Classification of words.) VERBS.

Write the words sings, runs, neighs.

Do these words denote the names of objects?

What do they denote? Ans.
What runs? What neighs ?

They denote what something does. What sings?
Write other words which will denote what a man, a horse, a lion, a dog, does.
How does the word bird, differ from the word sings? Ans. The first is the
name of a certain animal, the last denotes what the bird does.

What is the difference between the words fox and runs? horse and neighs? dog and barks? sun and shines? wind and blows?

Words which denote what any thing does, has done, or will do, are called VERBS.

REMARK. The two classes of words explained, viz: the noun and the verb, comprise a large part of all the words in the English language.

LESSON V. (Classification of words.) ADJECTIVES.

Write the words good, great, wise, prudent. Are these words nouns? Why not? Write each before the noun man. What do these words denote, when used before man? Ans. They denote what kind of a man, or the quality of a

man.

Write words which will show what kind of a house you live in-what kind of a book you hold in your hand · what kind of a day it is.

-

These words which denote what kind or quality, are called AD

JECTIVES.

NOTE.-The words an or a and the are generally called articles, but as they resemble in their office the words one, this, that &c., they are sometimes classed with adjectives which limit or restrict the meaning of nouns, and are called Definitive adjectives.

What is the difference between the words horse and gray? Ans. The word horse is the name of an animal, the word gray denotes the kind, or quality of something.

What is the difference oetween the words light and pleasant? boy and good? tree and high? house and large?

Apply three adjectives to mun; three to child; three to day; three to night; four to horse.

The adjective is a part of speech next in importance to the noun and verb. It comprises a large number of words which are used to express the qualities or to limit the meaning of nouns or pronouns.

LESSON VI. (Classification of words.) ADVERBS.

Write the words pleasantly, sweetly, cheerfully.

Can these words be joined to a noun ? In the expression, the sun shines, to which word can pleasantly be joined to make sense? What kind of a word is shines?

"The bird sings sweetly." "The night was very dark." What kind of a word is dark?

Which word shows how the bird sings?

Which word 'shows how dark the night was? "He came yesterday." Which word denotes

the time? With which word is yesterday covected?

Words which denote manner, time, quantity, &c., are called An

VERBS.

There are three other classes of words, termed PREPOSITIONS, see § 105; CONJUNCTIONS, see 107; INTERJECTIONS, see § 41; which comprise but few words compared with the classes which have been explained above.

SUMMARY.

What is the number of words estimated to be in the English language? Into what sorts or classes are these words divided, as explained in preceding lessons.

Name the Parts of Speech. Ans. THE NOun, the pronoun, THE ADJECTIVE, THE VERB, THE ADVERB, THE PREPOSITION, THE CONJUNCTION, and THE INTERJECTION.

LESSON VII. (The sentence.)

Write on the board or slate, in separate columns, the following nouns and verbs.

Place the nouns and the verbs together in such a way that they will make How many things can be said with the six words above?

sense.

Words put together in such a manner as to express an idea, form a SENTENCE; as, The wind blows, the stars shrine.

Write sentences, using the following words.

Water, ice, trees, sun, horse, grow, melts, freezes, shines, dogs, children, bark, play, walk, men, boys, ride, rolls, ball.

What parts of speech have you used in each sentence?

NOTE.-Every sentence contains at least he verb, and one noun, or something standing for a noun.

Write six sentences using such nouns and verbs as you can recollect.

LESSON VIII. (Modifications.)

Join some adjectives to each of the nouns in the following sentences to denote some quality; as, The oak falls-join an adjective to the noun oak, and the sentence will read, "the sturdy oak falls."

Join an adverb to each of the verbs in the sentences above; as, The youth learns readily; readily is an adverb joined to the verb learns.

Point out the adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs in the following senten

ces.

Pine trees grow rapidly.
The gentle wind blows softly.
The little bird sings sweetly.

The angry waves dash violently.
The joyful tidings came to-day.
A wise man acts prudently.

LESSON IX. (Formation of sentences.)

Write in separate columns the following adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs.

Place four of the words above together, so as to form a sentence; as, The dark cloud hangs frowningly.

LESSON X. (Object.)

Write on the board or slate, "The wind shakes the leaves."
Which noun denotes the thing that acts? Ans. Wind.
Which noun denotes the thing acted upon? Ans. Leaves.

Which word expresses the action of the wind upon the leaves? Ans. The verb shakes.

Write the following sentences, and point out the nouns which denote the actor, and the thing acted upon.

The sun melts the snow.
The wind drives the ship.

The frost swells the ground.

The boy strikes the bell.

The hawk seizes the dove.

The rose perfumes the air.

In what condition or relation is the noun sun, in the first sentence? Ans. In the condition or relation which denotes the thing that acts.

In what state or relation is the noun snow? Ans. In the state or relation which denotes the thing acted upon.

The condition or relation of a noun in a sentence is called its

case.

The noun which denotes the doer or the thing spoken of, is in the nominative case.

The noun which denotes the thing acted upon is in the objective case.* Point out the nominative and objective cases in the sentences above. See § 54, § 55, § 57.

NOTE.-The cases of nouns need to be illustrated more fully than the limits of these first lessons will permit. But the teacher will be able by a little oral instruction to make the subject perfectly intelligible to young learners. In this connection may be explained the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb; and also the number and gender of nouns.

Place some word before "the clouds" to make sense.

*The subject of a verb in the passive form is an exception to this remark.

Place a word before "Boston" and one before "the cars" to make sense. The words which have been supplied are called PREPOSITIONS. For further explanation and exercises, see § 31.

Write," James Charles Thomas are brothers."

What words should be supplied, to connect James with Charles? Charles with Thomas? reads with writes?

He is happy because he is good.

What word connects he is happy with he is good?

The part of Speech used to connect sentences or words, is called a con. JUNCTION. See § 39.

INTERJECTIONS are exclamatory words, as, O! ah! alas! See § 41.

LESSON XII.

When the parts of speech and their offices are well understood, the learne can proceed to the exercise of forming sentences, gradually extending them by joining qualifying words to the principal parts, according to the following method.

SENTENCE. The wind drives.

Join an adjective.-The tempestuous wind drives.

Join an objective case.-The tempestuous wind drives the ship.
Join an adverb.—The tempestuous wind drives the ship violently.
Join a preposition and

a noun following.

The tempestuous wind drives the ship violently against the rocks.

Extend the following sentences in a similar way.

Such exercises can be varied or extended at the pleasure of the teacher.

REMARK.-Exercises of this kind not only impart an interest to the study of Grammar, but also serve to facilitate the progress of the young learner, in acquiring a knowledge of the essential principles of language.