Third, by prefixing another word; as,

Man-servant, maid-servant; male-child, female-child; hegoat, she-goat; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow.

NUMBER.

In English Grammar there are two Numbers-the Singular and the Plural.

The Singular denotes one object; as, a pen, an apple. The Plural denotes more objects than one; as, pens, apples.

Almost all common nouns are made plural by adding s to the singular; as, tree, trees; horse, horses.

When the singular ends in oh soft, sh, s, or x, the plural is formed by adding es; as, march, marches; blush, blushes; miss, misses; box, boxes. Words ending in ch hard, as, monarch, require s only.

When the singular ends with y preceded by a consonant, the y is changed into ies; as, pony, ponies.

When there is a vowel before the y, the plural is formed by adding s; as, boy, boys; day, days.

In the following words the plural is formed by changing ƒ or fe into ves :— —Calf, half, leaf, life, knife, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, staff, thief, wolf, wife.

But in the next class the plural is formed by adding s :Brief, chief, cliff, cuff, dwarf, fief, fife, grief, gulf, handkerchief, hoof, muff, proof, puff, reproof, roof, ruff, safe, scarf, sheriff, skiff, snuff, strife, stuff, turf, wharf, whiff.

To each of the following words es must be added to form the plural :-Armadillo, buffalo, calico, cargo, desperado, embargo, hero, lazaretto, manifesto, motto, mulatto, negro, no, potato, proviso, supercargo, volcano.

But to the following list s is sufficient:-Bamboo, canto, cuckoo, embryo, folio, grotto, junto, nuncio, octavo, portico, punctilio, quarto, ratio, seraglio, solo, tyro.

The noun man and its compounds, such as, footman, gentleman, nobleman, &c., have the a in the last syllable changed into e.

The following nouns are irrregular:-Ox, oxen; child, children; brother, brothers or brethren; foot, feet; goose, geese; tooth, teeth; mouse, mice; louse, lice; penny, pence or pennies; pea, peas or pease.

CASES OF NOUNS.

Case denotes the situation which a noun occupies in

a sentence.

Nouns have three cases-the Nominative, Possessive, and Objective.

A noun is in the Nominative case, when it is the subject of a verb; as, Papa loves me.

A noun is in the Possessive case, when it denotes a possessor; as, Mamma's watch.

A noun is in the Objective case, when it is governed by an active verb or preposition; as, I love papa, I sat at table.

The Possessive case, singular or plural, is formed by

adding to the noun an apostrophe and the letters; as, man, man's; men, men's.

Plural nouns ending in s require only an apostrophe ; thus, ladies', queens'.

Man, lady, eye, orphan's tale, goose, brothers, sheep's horn, duck, horse, stable, lamb, bird's nest, eagles' wings, nation, desk, uncle, boy, friend, ladies, landlord's papers, trees, Arthur's Seat, Advocates' Library, men's hats, papa, enemies' cannon, miss, Victoria's sceptre, son's portion, enemy's spy, misses' frocks, ram's head, mamma, father's blessing, mother's kindness, wives, children, parlour, candlesticks, King William's niece, son's dresses, daughter's bonnets, Milton's poems, David's lamentation, Albert's position, uncle's wife, miss's slippers, papa's boat, children's toys, queen's throne, grief, lion's mane, horse's foot.

DERIVATION.

Derivation denotes the formation of one word from another; thus, from grace is formed gracious, graceful.

Some nouns are derived from other nouns by adding age, an, ant, ar, ary, atry, dom, eer, er, ery, gist, hood, jan, ier, ion, ism, ist, ite, kin, let, mist, ock, r, ry, ship, ster, y; thus, Duke, dukedom, lady, ladyship, factor, factory, &c.

Sometimes a slight alteration is made in the primary word; as in-Grain, granary.

Contrariety of meaning is often expressed by prefixing ir, in, ig, im, il, dis or un; thus, Ability, inability: but very often by a different word; as, Wisdom, foolishness; hatred, love.

ADJECTIVES.

An Adjective is a word attached to a noun to express quality or number; as, a tall man, five horses.

The Numeral Adjectives agree in number with the nouns to which they are prefixed; as, a book, this book, these books.

The words this and that form the plurals these and those.

A is used before words beginning with a consonant, with w or y, or with the open sound of u; as, a pen, a watch, a yard, a unicorn, a European.

An is used before words beginning with a vowel or silent h; as, an army, an acorn, an hostler.

Adjectives are varied by Degrees of Comparison. There are three Degrees of Comparison-the Positive, Comparative, and Superlative.

The Positive is the simple form; as, sweet, large, beautiful.

The Comparative expresses a higher or lower degree of a quality; as, sweeter, more beautiful, less beautiful. The Superlative expresses the highest or lowest degree; as, sweetest, largest, most beautiful, least beautiful..

The Comparative is formed by adding to the positive ror er; as, wiser, greater.

The Superlative is formed by adding st or est to the positive; as, wisest, greatest.

Adjectives of one syllable ending with d, g, or t, preceded by a single vowel, have the final consonant doubled before er or est; as, fatter, fattest.

When the Positive ends with y, preceded by a consonant, the y is changed into i before er or est; as, lovely, lovelier, loveliest.

Those adjectives which have more than one syllable, are commonly compared by prefixing more or most. Some adjectives are never compared; as, same, infinite, eternal, one, two, second, third, true, all, American. A few are compared irregularly; as,

In some grammars a or an is called "the indefinite

article," and the "the definite article."