Theologiæ Professor, a
Professor of Divinity

V. vide, see, Verse

q. d. quasi dicat, as if he Viz. Videlicit, that is to say

should say

q. 1. quantum libet, as much

as you please

U. S. A. United States of

America

Xn. Christian

q. s. quantum sufficit, a suf-Xt. Christ

S. A. secundum artem, ac-yn. then,

ficient quantity

ye. the

cording to art

Sep. 7ber, September

ys. this

& et, and

Sr. Sir

&c. et cætera, and the rest.

S. S. T. P. Sacro-Sanctæ

219. Capital letters are also used to express

numbers, as in the following table.

A PRAXIS ON THE GRAMMAR.

A PRAXIS on the rules of grammar will properly depend on the particular plan of the tutor, and the different circumstances of the pupil. The following is subjoined merely as a hint to those who may be unacquainted with the customary forms of instruction.

DIRECTION I.

Let the pupil accurately commit to memory the first and second parts, reserving the Notes and Appendix to be learned in such time and manner as circumstances shall direct.

II. Let him be well exercised in the way of examination, till he can give ready answers to such questions as the tutor may propose. for example, in Part I.

Thus

How many kinds or classes of words do we reckon in the English language? (Art. 14.) What is a noun? (18.),

(20.) What do we understand by a noun common? What do we mean by a noun proper? (21.) On what accounts do nouns vary their terminations? (21)

How many numbers are there ? (22.)

What do we mean by the singular number? (23.)
What do we mean by the plural number? (24.)
How is the plural number formed? (25)
Are all plurals thus formed? (26.)

If the singular end in y, or ey, preceded by a consonant, how shall the plural end? (27.)

If the singular end in y, preceded by a vowel, how is the plural formed? Ans. By adding s; as boy, boys, &c.

III. He may be usefully exercised for some time in inflecting the variable parts of speech; for example the regular nouns, horse, bird, fish, table, song, commandment; the irregular nouns, Man, woman, ox, goose, tooth, foot.

He may compare the adjectives, kind, elegant, noble, handsome, recent, bountiful.

He may inflect the regular verbs, To regard, to believe, to play, to hope, to follow, to rejoice; and the irregular verbs, To beseech, to buy, to weep, to understand, to catch, to speak..

For a more concise way of inflecting the verbs, it may be sufficient to mention the present, and the preterite tense of the indicative mode, in the first person singular, and the two participles. Thus the verbs, To believe, to play, to write, to -see, may be inflected in the following manner :

I believe, I believed, believing, I have believed..
I play, I played, playing, I have played.

I write, I wrote, writing, I have written,
I see, I saw, seeing, I have seen.

IV. After such preparatory exercises, the pupil will be better qualified to distinguish the several parts of speech. And to perfect him in this necessary work, he may be required to write down separate lists of words belonging to each sort; or in reading sentences, to name each word according to its class; or to write the words of sentences in columns, and the names opposite to them, thus:

This to the English scholar, unacquainted with any language but his own, is commonly a work of considerable difficulty. In the Latin tongue, the pupil is continually directed by the variety of inflection that belongs to different classes of words, and is from hence insensibly led to some knowledge of their abstract nature. It is desirable that the English scholar should avail himself of the same advantage as far as the nature of the language will admit, and be well practised in its few inflections, which will greatly assist him in distinguishing the different parts of speech.

V. He may now proceed to what is called PARSING, that is, the resolving of sentences into their grammatical form and construction. And it will be of use to him previously to observe,

1st, That EVERY NOUN in the nominative case, is either connected with a verb (unless it be spoken to in the second person,) or put absolutely with a participle.

2nd. That a noun is connected with a verb either as its subject or its object; or it is governed by a preposition.

3rd. That every noun in the possessive case, comes before another noun signifying property or possession.

4th. That every PRONOUN is substituted for a noun, and every RELATIVE supposes an ante cedent.

5th. That the objective case of the pronoun or noun follows verbs and prepositions.

6th. That every ADJECTIVE refers to a noun either expressed or understood.

7th. That every VERB, except in the infinitive mode, has relation to a subject

8th. That every transitive verb is followed by its object.

Examples of Grammatical Resolution.*

EXAMPLE I.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sin. ners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Ps. i. l. BLESSED, is an adjective, (Art. 52); blessed, more blessed, most blessed (62.) lates to the substantive man (53.)

Blessed re

Is, a verb, (65;) I am, I was, being, I have been. Is, is in the indicative mode (74,) the present tense (72,) and agrees with its subject man in the third person singular (106.)

THE, the definite article (17.)

MAN, a noun (18,) irregular (28;) sing. nom. man, possessive man's, objective man ; plural nom.

* In the first of these examples the scholar is supposed, with respect to every declinable part of speech, first to mention its name: as Man is a noun, secondly to inflect it, Sing. Nom. Man, Poss. Man's, Objec. Man; Plur. Nom. Men, Poss. Men's, Objec. Men: thirdly to particularize its grammatical form and connexion, as man is in the nom. case, sing. number and third person, and the subject of the verb is. In the following examples the inflection of words is omitted.