+ All adjectives may be compared by more, naturals, deride diligence, and mock at and mosi, even when they have comparatives terms when they understand not things. Ben Jonson. and superlatives regularly formed; as fair, . faires, or more fair, fairesi, or most fair. Powerful, by Miloon. lo adjectives that admit a regular compari We have sustained one day in doubtful fight, son, the comparative mere is oftener used than What heav'n's great King hath pow'rfullest the superlative most, as more fair is oftener writ. to send ten for fairer, than most fair for fairest. Against us from about his throne. The comparison of adjectives is very un Paradise Lost. certain; and being much regulated by commodiousness of utterance, or agreeableness of The termination in ish may be accounted in sound, is not easily reduced to rules. some sort a degree of comparison, by which the Monosyllables are commonly compared. signification is diminished below the positive, as black, blackish, or tending to blackness; salt, · Polysyllables, or words of more than two saltish, or having a little taste of salt : they syllables, are seldom compared otherwise therefore admit no comparison. This terminathan by more and mosi, as deplorable, more de tion is seldom added but to words expressing plorable, most deplorable. sensible qualities, nor often to words of above Dissyllables are seldom compared if they one syllable, and is scarcely used in the solemn terminate in some, as fulsome, toilsome ; in ful, or sublime style. as careful, spleenful, dreadful; in ing, as trifiiaz, cbarming ; in ous, as porous; in less, as Of PRONOUNS. careless, barmless; in ed, as wretched; in id, as candid; in al, as mortal; in eni, as recent, Pronouns, in the English language, are, I, fervent ; in air, as certain; in ive, as mise sbou, be, with their plurals, we, ye, tbey; it, sive; in dy, as woody; in fy, as puffy: in ky, cubo, woico, wbat, wherber, whosoever, wbatas rocky, except lucky ; in my, as roomy; in ny, soever, my, mine, our, ours, iby, tbine, your, as skinny ; in py, as ropy, except bappy; in ry, yours, bis, ber, bers, their, theirs, ibis, ebat, orberg as boary. another, the same, some. Some comparatives and superlatives are yet found in good writers, formed without regard The pronouns personal are irregularly into the foregoing rules: but in a language sub- flected. jected so little and so lately to grammar, such Singular. Plural. anomalies must frequently occur. Nom. I We So shady is compared by Millor. Accus. and other Me Us obl.que cases. Tun'a her nocturnal note. Paradise Lost. Nom. Thou Ye Thee And virtuous. Oblique You You is commonly used in modern writers for where the second person plural is used for the So trifting, by Ray, who is indeed of no great second person singular, You are my friend. authority. li is not so decorous, in respect of God, Sing. Plural. that he should immediately do all the Nom. out making use of any inferior or subordinate minister. Nom. Ray on the Creation. Famous, by Milror. I shall be nam'd among the famousest Nom. It They' | Applied to neuters of Of wonen, sung ai solemn festivals. Oblique. Its Them), things. Moltond's Agonistes. leventive, by Ascham. For it the practice of ancient writers was Those have the inventivest heads for all to use be, and for its, bis. purposes, and roundest tongues in all mat The possessive pronouns, like other adjeco ters. Aschim's Schoolmaster. lives, are without cases or change of ferMaria', by Bacon. mination. The martolese poisons practised by the The 'possessive of the first person is my, West Indians, have some mixture of the mine, oxr, ours; of the second, iby, thine, your, blood, fat, or Alesh of man Bacon. yours; of the third, from be, bis; from sbe, · Natural, by Woroon. ber, and bers; and in the plural ibeir, ibeirs, I will now deliver a few of the properest for both sexes. and naturalest considerations that belong to Ours, yours, ners, theirs, are used when the subthis piece Wotton's Architecture. stantive preceding is separated by a verb, as Wretchel, by forson. These are our books. These books are ours. Your The stretcheder are the contemners of all children exced ours in stature, but ours surpass yours helps; such 25, presuming on their own in learning. VOL. I. k meanest and inflinger things himself, with Optique. Him Therm} Applied to masculines. Oblique . Her Them} Applied to feminines. Ods, yours, kers, ileirs, notwithstanding their ed in use. The rest seem to be passing seenung plural termination, are applied equally by degrecs imo neglect; though proper, ustto singular and phíral substantives, as This book fúl, and analogous. They are referred both is ours. These books are ours. Mine and thirie were formerly used before a to singular and plural antecedents. vowel, as mine amiable lay; which, though now Therc are two more words used only in disused in prose, might be still properly con conjunction with pronouns, own and self tinued in poetry: they are used as ours and yours, Own is added to possessives, both singular and are referred to a substantive preceding, as and plural, as my own band, our own house. thy house is larger than mine, but my garden is It is emphatical, and implies a silent con. more spacious than shine. trariety or opposition; as, I live in niy oqe'n Their and theirs are the possessives like bous,', that is, not in a bired bouse. This I did wise of tbey'; when ikey is the plural of it, and with tray own band, that is, wirbout belp, or not: are therefore applied to things. by irixy, Pronouns velative are, zebo, wbich, obat, selves; and sometimes to personal pronouns, Self is added to possessives, as myself; zohrce beiber, cubosoever, whatsoever. as bimself, itself, tbemselves. It then, like Sing. and Plural. own, expresses emphasis and opposition, as I Nom. Who did this myself, that is, rol anotber; or it Gen. Whose forms a reciprocal pronoun, as We burt ouro Orber oblique cases. Whom selors by vain rage. Nom. Which Himself, itself, themselves, are supposed by Wallis Gen. Of which, or whose to be put, by corruption, for his self, ir self, their Orber obliqué cases. Which. selves; so that self is always a substantive. This seems justly observed, for we say, He came himself, Who is now used in relation to persons, and Himself shall do this; where himself cannot be an which in relation to things; but they were an accusative. ciently confounded. At least it was comnion to say, the man which, though I remember no example of the thing whe. Of the VERB. Whose is rather the poetical than regular genitive of which : English verbs are active, as I love; or neuThe fruit ter, as I languish. The neuters are formed Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste like the actives. Brought death into the world. Milron. Most verbs signifying action may likewise sigWhether is only used in the nominative and nify condition or habir, and becone neuters, as I accusative cases; and has no plural, being ap levi, I am in love; I strnie, I am now striking. plied only to one of a number, commonly to Verbs have only two tenses inflected in one of two, as Whether of these is left I know nol. their terminations, the present, and simWhether shall I choose? It is now almost obso- ple preterit; the other tenses léte. pounded of the auxiliary verbs bave, sball, Wbai, whether relative or interrogative, is wvill , let; may, can, and the infinitive of the acwithout vatiarion. tivc or neuter verb. Whosoever, whatsoever, being compounded The passive voice is formed by joining the of who or, whai, and socver, follow tlic rule participle preterit to the substantive verb, 25 of their primitives. I an loved. To bave. Indicative Mood. Present Tense, Plur. We have ; ye have; they have. Has is a icrmination corrupted from hath, but The plural others is not used but when it is now more frequently used both in verse and referred to a substantive preceding, as I have sant other horses. I have not sent the same horses, but others. Simple Preterit, Anotber being only an ober, has no plural. Sing? I had ; tbou hadst; be had; Here, there, and where, joined witli cer. Pfr. We had; ye liad ; they had. täin particles, have a relative and pronuminal use. * Hereof, bereit, bereby, bereafier, bere Compound Preterit. sünth, theref, ibercir, thereby, ibeitupion, tbere. Sing. I have had; thou hast had; be has os wirb, wbereof, wberein, wbereby, wobereupon, hath' bad; cobertwub, which signify, of this, in this, &c. Plur.We liave had ; ye have had ; tbey have had of hat, in that, &c. of tobicb, in which, &c. Therefore and wherefore, which are proper. Preterpluperfect. lý rörre for and were for, for tbar, for wbieb, sing. I had had; thou hadst had; be had had are now reckoned conjunctions, and continuo Plät. We had híd ; Je had had ; they had had are com prose. Future. There is likewise a double Preterit. Sing. I shall have ; tbou shalt have; be shall Sing. I should have had; sbou shouidst have have ; had; be should have had; Plur. We shall have ; ye shall have ; tbey shall Plur. We should have had; yr should have have. had;iboj should have had. In like manner we use, I might have had ; I could have had, &c. Infinitive Mood. Present. To have Pretorit. To have had. By reading these future tenses, may be ob. Part. freseni. Having. part. prçuerit. Had. served the variations of shali and will. Verb Active. To Lore. Indicative. Present. Plår. Let us have; have, or have ye; let them sing. I love ; ihou dovest; be loveth, a laves ; have. Plur. We love ; ye love; i bey love, Prelerit simple. Sing. Iloved ; i bou loyedst; be loved ; Piur. We loved; ye loved ; tbey loved. Preter perfect compound. I have loved, &c. Plur. We have; ye have; tbey have. Preterpluperfect. Thad loved, s, Future. I shall love, &c. I will love, 3c. Imperative. Sing. I have had; ebou have had; be have had; Sing. Love, or love iban; let bim love; Plur. Let us love; love, or love ye; let them Plur. We have had; we have had; sbey have love. Conjunctive. Present, Sing. I love; box love; be love; Plur. We love; ye love; obey love. Preterit simple, as in the Indicative. Preierit compound. I have loved, &c. be shall have had ; Future'. I shall love, &c. Plur, We shall have had; ye shall have had ; Second Future. I shall have loved, &c. Porential. Present. I may or can love, &c. ed by may, can, in the present; and miglot , Double preterit. I'might, could, or should have Pr!!erit. I might, could, or should love, &c. could, or sbould, in the preterit, joined with the infinitive mood of the verb. loved, &c. Infinitive. Present. To love. Preterit. To have loved. have; Plur. We may have ; ye may have; they may The passive is formed by the addition of have. the participle preterit to the different tenses of the verb to be, which must thercfore be Prelerit. here exhibited. Sing. I might have; tbou mightst have; be might have; Indicative. Present. Piut. We might havc; ye might have; they Sing. I am ; tbou art; be is ; might have. Plur. We are, or be ; ye are, or be; they are, Present. Sing. I can have; thou canst have ; be can The plural bo is now little in use. have; Preterit, Plzt. We can have; we can have; they can Sing. I was; tbou wast, or wert; be was; Par. We were ; je werc; they were. Were is properly of the conjunctive mood, and Sing. I could have ; sbou couldst have; be ought not be used in the indicative. could have; Piur. We coud bave; we could have ; sbey Preterit compound. I have been, &r.. could have. Preizpluperfect. I had been, en In like manner, sisult is united to the verb. Font. I shall or will b., s. or be. thou wert; be were ; Imperative. It is sometimes used emphatically; as, Sing. Be tbor; let bim be; I do love ibee; and wben I love thee not, Plur. Let us be; be ye; let them be. Chaos is come again. Shakspeare. It is frequently joined with a negative; as I like ber, but I do not love ber; I ruished bim success, but did not belp him. This, by cus. Prelerit, tom at least, appears more easy than the Sing. I were; other form of expressing the same sense by a Plur. We were ; ye were ; they were. negative adverb after the verb, I like ber, but Jove ber not. The Imperative prohibitory is seldom ap plied in the second person, at least in prose, Potential. without the word do; as Siop bim, but do not I may or can; would, could, or should be ; burt bim; Praise beauty; but do not dote on it. could, would, or should have been, Sc, Its chief use is in interrogative forms of speech, in which it is used through all the Infinitive. persons; as Do I live? Dost tbon strike me? Present. To be. Preterit. To have been. Do tbey rebel? Did I complain? Didst tbou Par.present. Being. Par.preterit. Having been. love ber? Did sbe die? So likewise in nega. tive interrogations; Do I not yet grieve? Did Passive Voice. Indicative Mood, sbe not die ? I am loved, r, I was loved, &c. I have Do and did are thus used only for the prebeen loved, &C. sent and simple preterit. Conjunctive Mood. There is another manner of conjugating If I be loved, &c. If I were loved, &c. If neuter verbs, which, when it is used, may I shall have been loved, &C. not improperly denominate them neuter pas. Potential Mood. sives, as they are inflected according to the I may or can be loved, &c. I might, could, passive form by the help of the verb substanOr should be loved, &c. I might, could, or tive to be. They answer nearly to the reshould have been loved, &c. ciprocal verbs in French; as I am risin, surrexi, Latin; Je me suis leve, French. I was walked out, exieram; Je m'étois Preterit. To have been loved, promené. Participle. Loved. There is another form of English verbs, In like manner we commonly express the in which the infinitive mood is joined to the present tense; as I am going, eo. I am grieving, coleo. She is dying, illa moritur. The tempest is verb do in its various inflections, which are raging, furit procella. I am pursuing an enemy, therefore to be learned in this place. hostem insequor. So the other tenses, as We were To Do walking, toującropery writtzöv115, I have been walks ing, I had been walking, I shall or will be walking: Indicariye. Present, There is another manner of using the active șing. I do; tbou dost; participle, which gives it a passive significaPlur.We do; ye do ; they do. tion; as, The grammar is now printing, grum matica jam nunc chartis imprimitur. The brass is Preterit. forging, æra excuduntur. This is, in Sing. I did; thou didst; be did; a vitious expression, probably corrupted from Plur. We did; ye did ; ibey did. a phrase more pure, but now somewhat obso lete; Th: bréis a firinting, The brass is a forging ; Pretorit, Sc. I have done, &c. I had done, 64. a being properly ar, and printing and forging verFuture. I shall or will do, &c. bal nouns signifying action, according to the Imperative. analogy of this language. The indicative and conjunctive moods are by Sing. Do tbou ; let bien do; modern writers frequently confounded; or raPlur. Let us do; do ye; let tbem do. ther the conjunctive is wholly neglected, when Conjunctive. Present. some convenience of versification does not inSing. I do ; tbou do; bo do; vite its revival. It is used among the purer Plur. We do; yc do ; tbey do. writers of former times after if, though, ere, before, till or until, whether, exceps, unless, whatsoever, The rest are as in the Indicative. whomsoever, and words of wishing; as, Doubless bu art our Infinitive. To do; to have done. father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israch acknowledge us mor. Participle present. Doing. Par. preterit. Done. Do is sometimes used superfluously, as I Of IRREGULAR VERBS. do love, I did bove; simply for I love, or I loved; but this is considered as a vicious The English verbs were divided by Ben mode of speech. Jonson into four conjugations, without any be doth; my opinion, Teason arising from the nature of the lan In the same manner sorun, shurun, bewun, guage, which has properly but one conju- mown, loaden, laden, as weil as sow'd, sbew'd, gation, such as has been exemplified; from bew'd, mow'al, loaded, laded, from the verbs which all deviations are to be considered as to shw, to shew, to bew, to mori', to load or anomalies, which are indeed in our mono lade. syllable Saxon verbs, and the verbs derived Concerning these double participles it is from them, very frequent; but almost all difficult to give any rule; but he shall selthe verbs which have been adopted from dom err who remembers, that when a verb other languages, follow the regular form. has a participle distinct from its preterit, as Our verbs are observed by Dr. Wallis to be write, wrole, written, that distinci participle irregular only in the formation of the preferit, is more proper and elegant, as The book is and its participle. Indeed, in the scantiness of written, is better than the book is wrote. our conjugations, there is scarcely any other Wrote, however, may be used in poetry; at place for irregularity. least if we allow any authority to poets, The first irregularity is a slight deviation selves perhaps entitled to trample on gram who, in thc exultation of genius, think themfrom the regular form, by rapid utterance marians. or poerical contraction : the last syllable ed is often joined with the former by suppression There are other anomalies in the preterit. of e; as lor'd for loved; after c, ch, sb, f, k, *, 1. Win, spin, begin, stvim, strikr, slick, sing, and after the consonants s, tb, when more sting, fling, ring, wring, spring, swing, strongly pronounced, and sometimes after m, drink, sink, sbrink, stink, come, run, find, bind, ?, r, if preceded by a short vowel, r is used grind, wind, both in the preterit imperfect in pronunciation, but very seldom in writing, and participle passive, give won, spun, begun, rather than d; as plai'!, snarcb'l, fisb'i, waki, swum, struck, stuck, sang, slang, fiung, rung, develo, smeli; for plac'd, snatco'd, fisb’d, wrung, sprung, swung, drunk, sunk, sbrunk, wai'd, drvel'd, smeld; or placed, snatched, stunk, come, run, found, bound, ground, wound. fisbed, weaked, dwelled, smelled. And most of them are also formed in the Those words which terminate in / or ll, preterit by a, as began, rang, sang, sprang, OP p, make their preterit in t, even in solemn drank, came, ran, and some others; but most language; as crept, felt, dwelt; somerimes of these are now obsolete. Some in the parafter x, ed is changed into t, as vext: this is ticiple passive likewise take en, as stricken, not constant. sdrucken, drunker, bounden. A long vowel is often changed into a short 2. Fight, teach, reacb, seek, beseech, carcb. one ; thus, kepi, siept, wepi, crept, szept; big, bring, think, work, make fougbi, taugbt, from the verbs, to keep, to sleep, to weep, to raugbi , sougbe, besoughi, cauzbi, bougbt, broug by, creep. to sweep. thongbi, wrougbt. Where dort go before, the additional letter But a great many of these retain likewise dor, in this contracted form, coalesce into the regular form, as teacbed, reacbed, beseechone letter with the radical d or t: if I were ed, calcbeit, worked. the radical, they coalesce into t; but if d were the radical , then into dori, as the one or the break, speak, bear, sbeur, swear, rear, wear, 3. Take, shake, forsake, wake, awake, stand, other lercer may be more easily pronounced : as read, led, spread, sbed, sbred, bid, bid, ibid, weave, cleave, strive, thrive, drive, sbine. fud, Lled, bred, sped, serid, slid, rid; from the chouse, chuse, tread, get , beget , sceibe, 915€, arise, smile, qurite, bide, abide, ride, verbs to rend, to lead, to spread, to shed, to sbread, to bid, to bide, to cbide, to feed, to make in both preterit and participle 100k, bleed, to breed, to speed, to siride, to slide, to sbook, for sook, woke, au oke, stood, broke, spoke, ride. And thus casi, burt, cost, bursi, car, beat, byre, shore, stvore, torę, wore, wove, clové, sspel, sl, quil, smil, writ, bit, bit, mei, sbot ; sirove, i brove, drove, sbone, rose, arose, smole, from the verbs to casi, to burt, to cost, to bursi , wrote, bude, abode, rode, cboss, trede, gul, begoi. to cat, to beat, to sweat, to sit, to quit, to forgot, sod. But we say likewise, ibrive, rise, suite, to write, to bile, to bit, to moet, to smit, writ, abid, rid. In the preterit sonic sbost. And in like manner, lent, sent, rent, are likewise formed by a, as brake, spak?, girt; from the verbs to lend, to send, to rend, bare, sbare, sware, tare, 'ware, clave, gai, be to gird. gai, forgal, and perhaps some others, but The participle preterit or passive is often more rarely. In the participle passive many formed in en, instead of ed'; as been, inken, of them are formed by en, as iaken, shaken, green, slain, known; from the verbs to be, to forsaken, broken, spoken, born, sborn, swor», iake, to give, to slag, to knowv. torn, wôrn, woven, cloven, ibriven, driver, Many words bave two or more participles, misen, smitten, ridden, chosen, trodden, gutien, And many do 29 not only curitien, bitten, caten, beaten, bida begotten, forgotten, sodden, den, ebidden, sooien, ebosen, broken ; but'like-likewise retain the analogy in both, as wated, Se Whil, bii, ca:, beat, bid, cbid, short, chose, awaked, sbeared, weaved, cleaved, abided, éseke, are promiscuously used in the par seetbed. ticipic, from the verbs to write, to bite, to cat, 4. Give, bid, sit, make in the preterit gave, to bear, to bude, to cbide, to sboci, to choose, to bade, sate; in the participle passive, drven, Great, and many such like. bidden, sitten; but in both bid. |