Synopsis Of English Grammar (See 1323) is so brief, that its substance may, if desirable, be committed to memory in an hour or two. The uninitiated may acquire knowledge by its perusal; it may serve to refresh the memory of some; the accomplished grammarian may glance, and proceed.

2966."Grammar is the art of speaking or writing a language according to established Rules.

"It is divided into four parts: Orthography, Etymology, Syntax and Prosody.

2967. "ORTHOGRAPHY teaches the powers of the letters, and the art of combining them into syllables and words.

2968. "The Letters of the English language are twenty-six in number; of which a, e, i, o, and u (and y in the middle or end of a word) are vowels, and the remainder consonants.

2969. "ETYMOLOGY treats of the different kinds of words, their modifications and derivations.

"There are nine sorts of words, or parts of speech: the article, substantive or noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

"2070. There are in English but two Articles - a, and the.

"A is styled the indefinite article, and is used in a vague sense to point out one single thing otherwise indeterminate; as a mam. A is changed into an before a vowel or silent h; as an acorn, an hour. The is styled the definite article, and is used to point out some particular objects, as the man, the men.

2071. "A substantive is the name of any thing that exists, or that we conceive. To substantives belong gender, number, and case. There are three genders, the masculine, feminine, and neuter. The masculine gender denotes animals of the male kind, as a man; the feminine, animals of the female kind, as a woman; and the neuter denotes objects which are neither male nor female, as a house. There are three methods of distinguishing the genders: by different words, as king, queen , by a difference of termination, as abbot, abbess; executor, executrix: or by a noun, pronoun, or adjective prefixed to the substantive; as a man-servant, a maid-servant, etc. Substantives have two numbers, the singular and plural. The plural is generally formed by adding s to the singular; as a tree, trees; but those ending in ch, sh, ss, or x, form their plural by the addition of es.

2072. "Nouns ending with a single f, or fe, generally change those letters into re in the plural; as leaf, leaves: those in y change into ies, as lady, ladies; unless there be another vowel in the syllable, in which case they form their plural by the addition of s; as key, keys. Many substantives form their plurals irregularly, as die, dice.

2073. " Some words have no plural; as bread, reheat; others no singular, as riches, ashes; and some are alike in both numbers, as deer, sheep.

" Substantives have three cases: the nominative, the possessive, and the objective. The nominative simply expresses the name of a thing, and is 16 placed before the verb, when it affirms, and after the verb, when it asks a ques tion; as Charles is; Is Charles ? The possessive denotes the possession of something by another; as Charles' book. The objective is placed after the verb, and expresses the object of an action; as Charles hurt William.

2074 "An adjective is a word prefixed to a substantive to express its quality; as a wise man. Adjectives have no variation but that of the degrees of comparison, which are three; the positive, which simply expresses the quality, as large; the comparative, which increases or lessens the quality of a thing, as larger; and the superlative, which increases or lessens the quality of a thing, in the highest or lowest degree, as largest. The comparative and superlative degrees are generally formed by adding er and est to the positive, when it is a word of one syllable, as old, older, oldest; and by prefixing the word more or most, when the positive is a word of two or more syllables; as correct, more correct, most correct. Some adjectives form their degrees of comparison irregularly; as good, better, best.

2075. "A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun to avoid its too frequent repetition. Pronouns may be divided into personal, relative, and demonstrative; and they admit of gender, number, and case.

2076. "There are five personal pro nouns; I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, you, and they. The relative pronouns, which relate to some word or phrase going before them, are who, which, that and what. who, which, and what, are also termed interroga-tives, when they are used in asking questions. The demonstrative pronouns point out the subjects to which they relate: they are this, that, these and those.

2077. "A Verb expresses action, being, or Buffering; as I write, I am, I endure. Verbs are active, passive, and neuter. An active verb expresses an action and implies an agent who acts and an object acted upon; as, I love Mary. A passive verb expresses an action endured or suffered by an object from some agent; as, Jane is taught by the master; and if distinguished from an active verb by having the object before, and the agent after it. A neuter verb merely expresses a state of existence; as to sit. Auxiliary verbs are those, by the help of which other verbs are conjugated; as, I do love, etc.

2978. "To verbs belong number, person, moods, and tenses. There are five moods; the indicative, which simply declares a thing, or asks a question; as, he loves, does he love ? the imperative, which commands, exhorts, or entreats; as, bring me that book, be attentive; the infinitive, which expresses a thing in an unlimited manner, or without respect to number or person; as, to speak; the subjunctive, which expresses a doubt, or contingency, and is preceded by a conjunction expressed or understood; as, if I go; and the potential, which implies possibility, power, will, or liberty; as, it may rain.

2979. "The Participle is a form of the verb, deriving its name from its participating in the qualities of the verb and adjective. There are three participles: the present, the perfect, and the compound perfect; as loving, loved, having loved.

2980. "An adverb is a word added to a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, to express some quality respecting it; as, he speaks correctly; a very excellent scholar; he speaks very correctly.

2981. "Prepositions serve to connect words with one another, and to show the relation between them; as, he went from London to Paris.

2982. "A Conjunction serves to connect words and sentences. Conjunctions are of two sorts; the copulative and the disjunctive. The copulative is used to connect a sentence by expressing an addition, supposition, or cause; as, he and his brother are going to London. The disjunctive expresses an opposition of meaning; as, they came with her, but went away without her.

2983. "Interjections express some sudden emotion; as, Alas! what have I done 1

2984. "Syntax is the arrangement of words into sentences. Sentinces are of two kinds: simple, and compound; as. I write; I write, while you play.

2985. "A verb must agree with its nominative in number, and in person as, / write, he reads.

2980. "A relative pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person; as, thou, who lovest wisdom; you, who speak truth.

2987. "Two or more nouns, joined by a copulative conjunction, must have verbs, nouns, and pronouns agreeing with them in the plural number; as, John and James are industrious.

2988. " Nouns connected by a disjunctive conjunction have verbs, etc, agreeing with them in the singular number; as, John or James is at home.

2989. " Prepositions always govern the objective case; as, / spoke to him.

2990. "Prosody teaches the correct sound and quantity of syllables, and the laws of versification.

2991. "The kind of feet employed in English poetry are three; the Iambic, Trochaic, and Anapaestic. The Iambic consists of two syllables; the first short, the second long; as, 'secluded from domestic strife.' The Trochaic has the first syllable long, the second short; as, 'When our hearts are mourning.' The Anapaestic consists of two short syllables and one long one; as, ' May I govern my passion with absolute sway.'